Olga's Small Business Development Story: “It made me wake up.”
“When you love what you do, it flows better.”
- Olga Lopez, Small Business Owner and Adelante Mujeres graduate.
Olga lives in a house that she owns in Beaverton. Her three adult sons each live within a few minutes, allowing her to see her grandchildren often. One of them is so close that she can walk there every day to help babysit while her son works. “I’m blessed to help them do that,” says Olga. Family is important to her. In fact, it’s what keeps her going when times get tough.
Olga with her mother and part of her family.
Olga grew up in Woodburn, Oregon. She remembers having to help her mother pick berries in the fields, alongside her six siblings, as a child. “I hated being dirty, and I did not look forward to being cold.”
Their mother, a first-generation immigrant from Mexico, worked two jobs to support all of them, and Olga often had to help take care of her younger siblings.
“At 17, I ended up pregnant,” says Olga. She quit her job at Kentucky Fried Chicken to focus on being a mother. But in the back of her mind, thoughts about her future began to surface. “I need to do something for myself,” she thought. She took a few computer classes at a community college which had an empowering effect on her. She began to believe in herself and started to envision a bright future ahead for her and her family.
Olga’s next step was an intimidating one. She decided to leave the father of her children and move to Beaverton. “I wanted to be able to give my kids a better life.” And a better life she built, indeed. Olga spent the next ten years working at a bank, got remarried, and built a flooring business with her husband. She even got licensed as a general contractor. Life was stable.
Olga with her three sons.
After nineteen years of marriage, Olga and her husband got divorced and he took the flooring business with him. With no money, Olga’s house was all she had. But without the flooring business and stable income, the threat of losing her house was becoming a reality.
Her house was her secure home base, a place where her sons and grandchildren could gather. It was something she couldn’t even imagine losing. “I filed for bankruptcy for it,” said Olga. Tears fill her eyes as she reflects on this painful time of her life. “I had to figure out how to keep the house.” She paused. “I mean, I made it.”
With her house secured once again, she began to think about her next career steps. “That’s when I decided to go to Adelante Mujeres.”
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“I was trying to figure life out...trying to figure myself out...trying to put everything back together again.”
Olga wanted to do something new that would clear her mind, something that was fully for herself. A fresh start. She enrolled in the Empresas Program at Adelante Mujeres, not knowing what to expect. “Whatever I get out of it is going to help me,” said Olga. “I’m not going to be depressed and sad. I have to keep going. And that class made me show up.”
Adelante’s Empresas Program teaches and supports budding Latinx small business owners, opening up opportunities for them to pursue their dream businesses.
Olga with the Empresas team and other participants.
Olga came up with the idea of starting a cleaning business. She decided to call it Royal Maid Services. In the Empresas classes and weekly workshops, she learned about marketing, business plans, and more. She created a business card, launched the business, and started building her list of clients.
“In the beginning, I almost gave up like three times,” said Olga. Javier Urenda, Adelante’s small business coach at the time, urged her to not give up and started giving her referrals.
“And then I started getting more accounts from that.” The business took off and even survived the pandemic, when she lost all but one client. The Empresas team helped Olga secure grant funding which provided small businesses owners with financial support during the pandemic . “If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have made it,” said Olga.
Being her own boss allows her to have the flexibility and freedom to spend quality time with her grandchildren, a vital part of her life. She brings this same compassion and flexiblity to her employees – all single mothers. She says it doesn’t bother her if they need to get off work early to pick their kids up. This compassionate leadership is embedded into her business, and always will be.
“I’m super grateful for Adelante Mujeres because it made me wake up. It made me realize that before I was living his dream, not my dream.” Today, Olga is living her dream. By providing her with training, resources, and one-on-one business coaching, Olga was able to start a business that is 100% hers. And in the process, she learned that she can truly overcome anything.
Every year, Olga creates a dream board where she maps out her goals for the upcoming year. It hangs on the wall above her computer. Glancing at it gives her a sense of purpose and reinforces her ever-present ability to always keep going.
Olga’s words of advice to other women and single mothers flow from her with confidence: “Do what you love. Live your own dream.”
Olga with her dream board.
Want to support programs like Empresas? Click here to donate to our holiday fundraising campaign.
Want to support Olga’s business, Royal Maid Services? She’s currently selling gift cards. Click here to learn more.