Today we’d like to introduce you to Georgina Miranda.
Georgina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After my first dream of becoming a doctor took a shift my last year in college, the seed was planted for the dream of entrepreneurship. After spending a brief two years in Corporate America, I decided to go back for my MBA with a focus on Entrepreneurship and International Business. I worked while I went to school and took my first leap of faith and joined my first startup post-MBA in Downtown LA at a real estate development firm. We were a small team of three to start and I loved every second of it. We created something out of nothing, got investors, communities, and individuals to buy into our vision and had a solid intention to do good and add value in the city. So many lessons came from this experience, even though in the end we had to close the company, for me it was never more clear that entrepreneurship would always be a part of my life. Failure is only failure if you didn’t learn something from experience and failure is the biggest breakthrough to growth-lessons that would be reinforced many times over.
Since those early days, I have led and advised cross-functional teams and clients in Fortune 500 companies globally, having spent a decade as a management consultant. I have climbed 6 of the highest peaks on each continent (including Mt. Everest) and in the process of completing the Explorer Grand Slam (8 Summits + 2 Poles Across the Globe). A feat which less than 15 women globally have completed an effort to raise awareness around gender-based violence and climate change. I have lived in 3 other cities and consider myself a global citizen.
I continue to try and combine my love and passion for accelerating gender equality, adventure, mindfulness, unlocking human potential, and exploring the world in everything I do and work on.
She Ventures is technically my 3rd startup. It was born out of the desire to create a space and visibility for women to lead, rise, and unlock their potential in every aspect. My personal passion of mountaineering had a huge impact and provided the inspiration. For much of my life and career, I have been the only woman in the room, one of few women on the mountain, especially the only diverse woman being that I am 100% Latina and 2ndgeneration in the US in my family. (I was born in the US, my family came from central america)
Today, I am considered a social entrepreneur, adventurer, public speaker, consultant, coach, writer, and activist.
This journey of life continues to teach me the greatest adventure we take is the one inward and that sometimes the biggest mountains we climb are those in our mind.
I’m a mountaineer, skier, traveler, yogi, meditator, reiki practitioner, and overall external and internal adventurer of the soul.
Has it been a smooth road?
My road and journey has not been a smooth ride whatsoever. As an entrepreneur, my companies have been self-funded with the exception of the 1st startup I joined, which had two male founders. To give perspective in 2018 only 2.2% of global venture capital funding went to companies with exclusively female founders. Over the course of almost 5 years I took hundreds of investor meetings, went to more networking events I can ever imagine, was told “NO” what felt like thousands of times, lost all of my personal savings trying to keep things running with my previous startup, and in many ways lost my true essence in pursuit of the hustle and the dream of being a business owner and doing work that had a positive impact on women.
By the end of 2017, I experienced a massive burnout and had to make major changes in my life to allow me to keep the dream alive of entrepreneurship while having a better life and wellness balance. Life sometimes requires us to take a pause and these are the times for growth and lessons, yet they are not times to stop following your dreams.
In the mountains, I suffered from Hypoxia on my first attempt of climbing Mt. Everest in 2011 reaching just 5-6 hours from the summit after living on the mountain for two months. For those of you unfamiliar with hypoxia, it’s when your body doesn’t have enough oxygen. Without oxygen, your brain, liver, and other organs can be damaged just minutes after symptoms start and it’s a highly dangerous condition. It took me two years to be able to go back and make another attempt. On May 21, 2013, I did reach the summit and got to stand on top of the world to raise funds and awareness for gender-based violence.
I have had two other near-death experiences in the mountains on falls I took. One that gave me a full labrum tear in my shoulder with a six month recovery period and required surgery. Many have asked me why I keep climbing. The simple and best answer is that my heart asks me to.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the She Ventures story. Tell us more about the business.
She Ventures is global social enterprise accelerating gender equality and the wellbeing of women. We are unleashing the untapped power of women because it’s good for the world.
Our Offerings Include A Platform, Event Series, Coaching, Consultancy, and Upcoming Podcast.
We are a global community of business leaders, entrepreneurs, adventurers, dreamers, doers, change-makers, lightworkers, globally conscious citizens living life on our terms and with the greater good and collective in mind. We actively work with brands and companies around strategy, recruitment, content creation, brand activation, gender-equity best practices, media amplification, and event creation.
Research shows women are the world’s largest untapped resource and that given equal opportunities, women hold the key to being the largest contributors of positive economic, social, and environmental change in the world.
Since 2016 we have hosted over 20 inspirational, impactful, and immersive events reaching thousands and look forward to growing and engaging with communities around the world. We are a movement and vibrant testimony to women rising and living beyond measure.
All of our services are available in English and Spanish.
I am most proud that while our focus is on the advancement of women, our WHY is because it is good for the world and the collective good. When you hold back half of the world’s population on some capacity, EVERYONE loses. This is what really sets us apart.
Our work always takes a holistic approach-mind, body, and spirit. A shift in mindset will lead to a more equal world, a shift in mindset is the key to any major transformation.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The world is changing at a rapid pace and asking of us for more global and social consciousness in how we live, work, lead, and preserve our earth. My work is grounded in the belief and studies that a shift in mindset is the key to any successful transformation.
Our work spans so many industries and sectors and markets. Some consistent shifts you will see across the board is more of a focus on conscious leadership, more emphasis on spirituality in coaching and leadership development encouraging people to gain more self-awareness and development, a higher investment in mental wellbeing given the increased rates of stress, anxiety, and depression, companies only focused solely on profit will not succeed, creating gender equal workplaces will become a priority for organizations.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sheventures.co
- Email: hello@sheventures.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/she.ventures.co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheVenturesCo/
- Other: www.georginamiranda.com
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