Latin Times Magazine Volume 14 No 1 | Page 20

Florida’s Latino Business Leaders and accepted that we were not meant to be. Latin Times: Tell us about your professional journey, when did you first get started in business? Martha Viveros: I started real estate when I bought my first property at 19. Enjoyed the process so I interned and later started working for Coldwell banker as a receptionist to a few months later getting my real estate license. I did very well at a young age; at 21 I grossed 120,000! I did so well my husband and partner at the time decided to join me. We opened our own brokerage firm V & V Real Estate. We expanded; grew rapidly survived the recession and managed close to 250 properties of investors and their real estate portfolios and grossed in its last year of boom close to 3.5 million in revenue gross. Latin Times: 2014 was a game changer year for you, you got divorced, closed the company you shared with your ex-husband, and started a new company, tell us about what were your biggest challenges of the year, and how did you deal with them? Martha Viveros: Wow… that will be a year never to forget. I think my biggest challenges were facing reality of closing down a business. Closing down a failing business after 8 years of hard work and reaching the top and making a shift of a long term marriage of 9 years and sharing together 12 years of our lives to being single was very rough on me. To be honest if it wasn’t for my family and close friends who supported me and God’s angels that came along the way I would not have survived. There were times all I did was cry and shut myself to the world. Growing up I went through many challenges however these were ones I never thought I would face in my life and wasn’t prepared to deal with them. Frankly at times when dealing with a failing business you don’t know what to do with each situation. I am very fortunate to say that my x husband/partner and I have a wonderful/ true friendship and actually collaborate together in many business transactions. We realized we cared for each other deeply 20 Latin Times Magazine Latin Times: Tell us about your new venture, and company. Martha Viveros: MV Real Estate LLC is me coming back into retail Real Estate; just like when I started. I love it!! There is a passion and a drive for it. It’s totally me; from the office location to the alliances I have created it; to my new website; to my fan page; to its look and feel! It’s small we just opened but however we have many promising opportunities and of course my experience of the good and bad are slowly shaping it to a successful venture. We have a great following, a very unique website, and of course the support of many key important bay area leaders and previous clients. Latin Times: Tell us – who is La Diva, and how you have evolved from wife and partner, to a single Latina entrepreneur. Martha Viveros: La Diva- I invented her! She came actually out of a meeting I was invited to. I thought I should have never been invited to that meeting; however God has you in places for specific reasons. They teach in marketing that you must have a brand and she is my brand. She is the Latina real estate cartoon that is a fashionista, loves her Golden Retriever- Louis Vuitton, her business, and she has a quirkiness and funny side to her; she is not ashamed of being a goofball. I think people embrace and relate to her in many ways. She has a warm smile and that is said to be something that people compliment in me or my signature trademark. She is down to earth and very smart too – why she wears her glasses. Lol. I have evolved from wife and partner to single Latina woman entrepreneur that lives and breathes her business but when tired yearns for the affection of her dog at home and just sitting at home in PJ’s and maybe cooking with her close friends. When looking for love I turn to my family outside of town in Orlando, NY, Seattle, and Cali Colombia. Yes I still believe in love and hope to one day find my soulmate and create a family. Evolving to a single woman has not been easy after such a long term relationship and marrying so young. To my young single girls out there listen to mom’s advice when dating. www.Latin-Times.com Latin Times: Who is a hero/role model that you admire (Living or deceased) and why do you admire them? Martha Viveros: I say this time and time again. My hero is my mom and since little it has not changed. I think that is where I grab my courage to continue on with life. When you gain much and then lose all including your marriage; you think life is over. You want to just surrender to life. Not come out of the shell. When you see so much harm people do to you; their greed and maliciousness, envy, and jealousy you tend to forget the good of life. My mom went through many challenges. Growing up with her made me learn how she coped with them and still smiled and still grew up to earn a living for her two kids. Martha I. Viveros 5010 W. Carmen St. Suite 2290 Tampa, FL 33609 P: 813-385-7574 F: 813-769-3917 D: 347-850-7731 www.ladivaofrealestate.com Abraza el calor de tu cultura!