Posted by Elena del Valle on August 24, 2016
A Lumé bikini
Photos: Lumé
Paula Daza was born in Colombia and raised in the United States. As a young woman she decided she wanted to raise funds for people in her country of birth. In 2014, she founded Lumé Swimwear, a Katy, Texas based company Daza describes as “a 100 percent ethical luxury fashion brand that combines fashion, art, and giving back.” Lumé makes swimwear, beachwear, mochila bags and shoes from nylon and spandex in Medellin, Colombia and sells the vast majority, 90 percent, to customers in Europe. She hopes to grow her domestic market share.
The company, which Daza says follows fair trade practices and supports underprivileged children, offers 49 styles, including men’s trunks, ranging in price between $140 and $170 each. A page on the company website features photos of people with sewing machines in the background holding signs that say “I made your clothes” at the top. At the bottom there are photos of adults and children some of them holding toys. Lumé donates 10 percent of proceeds to the JuanFe Foundation (juanfe.org/en/). To date donations have reached $4000.
Paula Daza, owner, Lumé Swimwear
When asked about her company’s charitable donations Daza said by email via her publicist,“…and every summer I spent it in Colombia and would see the need of the people, the homeless children without shoes, the poor living in slums and it would just break my heart. I promised myself at that young age that one day I would find a way to give back to my native country in some way how ever little it may be.”
Before establishing her own company Daza worked in merchandising, buying and developing and launching other brands and designers. After many years in the fashion industry in New York City she found a path to follow through on the promise she had made herself. Overcoming a period of life changes led her to decide she wanted to start fresh by pursuing her three passions in life: fashion, art, and giving back. That in turn prompted her to establish her company.
Euphoria, a painting by Edgard Medina, served as inspiration for Lumé products.
Lumé beachwear inspired by art by Edgar Medina
To make its swimwear products Lumé transfers the original paintings of artists into prints for women who like fashion and art, seek to be unique while at the same time like purchasing items that are sustainable and eco-conscious. In exchange the artists receive a 10 percent license fee and exposure for their art. The 2016 collection features the work of two artists, including Edgar Medina whose art appears above. Medina is a Houston, Texas based abstract painter originally from Mexico.
“The process of picking artist to collaborate with is a very organic process, many artist write to us and some we have found by seeing there art work first,” Daza said when asked how she selects the artists she works with for the designs. “We also look to work wth artist that are involved in their community, it is important to work with artist that share that same vision of giving back and helping other through art. It is important for us at Lume to work with artist that are both an exceptional artist with unique work and at the same time philanthropic, because that is at the core of our co mission.”
“The reason I participate in this model is because I liked the idea to have my work in swimwear collection,” said Medina by email. “But, what made me fall in love even more is the charity work behind Lume Swimwear. A percentage of the sales goes back to a charity of choice. As an artist, I am very committed to give back to my community and help others in need through my work. I am so blessed to be able to give back to my community through my work. It is so satisfying to see the proceeds from a sale of an Edgar Medina original go to help a child with cancer, provide medical services to low-income teens or send a child with Muscular Dystrophy to camp. It is very important to me to give back to the community in honor of all that I have achieved and overcome in my own life.”
According to his bio, Medina originals have been shown across the country at galleries in Chicago, New Orleans, Santa Fe and Houston; and Medina has been a featured artist at Art Chicago, The Los Angeles Art Show, Art Santa Fe and Red Dot Miami. He works out of his studio space in Montrose within Native Citizen, which features his gallery where clients can visit him at work.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 15, 2016
Chris Edmonds, CEO, The Purposeful Culture Group
Photo: The Purposeful Culture Group
A podcast interview with Chris Edmonds, CEO, The Purposeful Culture Group, is available in the Podcast Section of Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations, HispanicMPR.com. During the podcast, he discusses driving results through culture with Elena del Valle, host of the HispanicMPR.com podcast.
After a 15-year executive career leading high performing teams, Chris began his consulting company in 1990. He has also served as a senior consultant with The Ken Blanchard Companies since 1995. Chris is one of Inc. Magazine’s 100 Great Leadership Speakers and was a featured presenter at South X SouthWest 2015. Chris is the author of The Culture Engine, Leading At A Higher Level with Ken Blanchard, and five other books. Chris’ blog, podcasts, research, and videos can be found at Driving Results Through Culture and on Twitter at @scedmonds.
To listen to the interview, scroll down until you see “Podcast” on the right hand side, then select “HMPR Chris Edmonds” and click on the play button below or download the MP3 file to your iPod or MP3 player to listen on the go, in your car or at home from the RSS feed. Some software will not allow flash, which may be necessary for the play button and podcast player. If that is your case, you will need to download the file to play it. To download it, click on the arrow of the recording you wish to copy and save it to disk. The podcast will remain listed in the August 2016 section of the podcast archive.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 10, 2016
Soledad poster
Photos, video: Candy Factory Films
Soledad, a suspenseful, soulful 95-minute indie drama released in theaters July 26, 2016 features a world-weary ex-con limo driver and a high school couple he’s driving to their prom in Los Angeles. The work of first-time writer-directors Eduardo Maytorena and Wayne Mitchell the film received the Grand Jury Prize Runner-Up at the 2015 Dances with Films Festival, and was an Official Selection at the San Francisco Latino Film Festival and the 31 Chicago Latino Film Festival. Soledad, a Candy Factory Films movie, was released via VOD (video on demand) and digital HD on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu. Scroll down to watch a video clip.
In the film, Victor (Jesse Celedon), a lonely, Latino limousine driver lives a solitary existence: lifting weights in his small apartment, saying silent grace over breakfast, and enduring the disrespect of his clients night after night. One evening, after defending Raquel (Montanna Gillis, The Vatican Tapes, Don Peyote), his well-off passenger, from being assaulted by her prom date, Victor’s simple act of compassion sets off a series of events destined to bring back a past he has fought desperately to escape. The film takes viewers on a meandering and sometimes violent road trip with sexual situations (no nudity), through the city of Angels focusing on the unlikely friendship between Victor and Raquel.
A scene from Soledad
Soledad was shot over 17 days between January and April of 2014, mostly in Downtown Los Angeles, Silverlake, Echo Park, Pico Rivera, Glendale, and Mission Hills, with a budget of $120,000. In 2015, it toured U.S. and international film festivals.
“We never shot more than three nights in a row since we could only afford to use the limo on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, (Weekend rates were too steep), ” said Mayortena by email through the film’s publicist when asked about the making of the movie. “Post production lasted 10-12 months as we continued to make changes up to our delivery to the distributor.”
When asked about funding for the movie, Mayortena replied, “I work at a Spanish radio station as a creative sales director. I shared my vision of Soledad with one of my clients Douglas Bravo and he was intrigued. After a few more conversations he agreed to give us the money on two conditions. One was that we (myself, writing directing partner Wayne Mitchell and lead actor Jesse Celedon) invest our own money in the film so his investment was protected. The second was to take our vision of a short film and grow it to a feature so there would be an opportunity to see some return on investment. We are very blessed and grateful to Douglas for challenging us to dream bigger.”
Candy Factory Films, founded by Jason Ward, strives to be a “forward-thinking, filmmaker-friendly multimedia company dedicated to producing and distributing high impact, unique and compelling films.”
Click to buy Soledad
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 5, 2016
Investing Simplified
Photos: Chuck Price
After 40 years in the financial advice business Chuck Price, CRFA was convinced he could provide information for his clients and prospective clients better than the many books already published on the subject. Toward that goal he teamed up with nine colleagues to publish Investing Simplified (Advantage Media Group, $19.99) in 2014. They dedicated four years from idea to publication to make it happen.
“To me most Financial Books seemed very complicated and my clients told me I simplified concepts for them, so Investing Simplified became our slogan and a book,” Price said by email when asked why he wrote the book. Investing, he said “means to take a risk on your principle expecting returns, but may have losses as well.”
Chuck Price, author, Investing Simplified
The question most frequently asked by his clients is how much income they need to retire. He addresses the issue in Chapter 12. He began by suggesting readers figure out the following about their financial and life situation: current income and expenses, fixed and variable income sources, debt, life plans for retirement, life expectancy and long term care needs.
When asked what were the biggest challenges to writing and publishing his book he said, “Time, there are only so many hours in a day would be 1st. but second is writing does not come easy and anyone that thinks you can just set down and put your thoughts on paper and have it make sense is fooling themselves. Anyone that thinks it’s easy should try it.”
The 337-page softcover book is divided into 15 chapters and nine appendices. The final 100 pages make up the appendices written by the contributors. Price said he wanted to the book to be used as a training guide for the Average Person. He proposed a concept through which the advisor would work directly with a client’s attorney, accountant, long term care planner, and insurance agent. His next title? Why you need a Financial Doctor, just like you need a Medical Doctor.
Price, president and wealth manager, Price Financial Group Wealth Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor firm in Portland, Oregon, has 40 years of financial experience. He is host of the Investing Simplified radio show that airs live Saturday mornings on Freedom970.
Jerry Murphey, president, FolioMetrix, LLC contributed The Four Principles of Risk-Intelligent Investing; Carl Jepsen, partner, in Warren Allen LLP Law Firm, contributed Estate Planning; Keven Steege, CPA contributed Finding and Hiring a CPA; Mei Wong of Senior Resources Today contributed Hidden VA Benefits; Rick Dimick, Life Insurance Linked/hybrid Benefits & Long term care specialist, contributed Long-Term Care; Mark Eshelman, loan officer, Reverse Mortgage, contributed Reverse Mortgages; Karen Kane contributed Medicare the Big Unknown; Janelle Markovich, sales executive, Propel Insurance, contributed Protecting Your Business; and Michael Dougherty, preplanning advisor, Dignity Memorial contributed Planning Your Funeral.
Click to buy Investing Simplified
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