Lesbia is a young mother from San José, in Nicaragua.
Lesiba has always been characterized as a young woman who aspires to succeed. Her parents have a small convenience store that they operate, and Lesbia helped her parents from a young age.
Now that Lesbia’s five-year-old daughter is a little older and doesn’t need constant care, she wants to help with the family’s bills. When she was younger, Lesbia learned how to make aromatic candles. It was just a hobby but she wanted to generate income so she started making and selling them to her friends and family.
After a few months, Lesbia realized that her product was not in high demand. She only sold her candles occasionally. She was looking for ways to improve her vocational skills. That is when she learned about Mentors International from a friend. She decided to start studying English at Mentors International. She could take the course from home, so she didn’t need to find a babysitter for her daughter.
While taking this course from Mentors International, she began to think about other business ideas. She wanted to run her own business so that she could work, but still be able to take care of their daughter.
When she learned about the small business mentoring from Mentors International, she asked to be assigned one of our professional mentors.
During her initial business mentoring meetings, she shared her desire to own her own business and her idea to start selling shakes and smoothies. Her first lessons were about turning her idea into an actionable business plan. She was mentored and guided throughout the start-up process. Her mentor helped her accomplish actionable tasks and set goals in the proper order.
She started by making improvements in their garage area and cleaning out a space where she could run her business. Next, she created a budget and purchased some needed equipment, such as blenders and ingredients. After several weeks, with great dedication and sacrifice, she was able to open her small business. She named it “Menapops.”
“I feel very grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Mentors International business mentoring program. I have learned many important principles. However, the one lesson that helped me the most was helping establish a business plan. This served as a guide as I was working to establish my new business. My mentor kept cheering me on and encouraging me when times were difficult. He is more than just a mentor, he is a valued friend. I thank all the donors who make it possible for these programs to exist that help us become more self-sufficient.” – Lesbia
