Her Story
About Rikki
Rikki Quintana founded Real Impact Stories LLC to help purpose-driven businesses and organizations share the real impact from the people they serve through client impact storytelling. She has been working in storytelling formally as a business owner for a little over two years, building on her prior career as a lawyer, mediator, and teacher, as well as running her fair trade business with artisans in Central Asia. Quintana earned her undergraduate degree from the University of New Mexico, where she majored in Spanish and studied German and Portuguese, including a junior year abroad in Ecuador. She then attended Stanford Law School with visions of becoming an international lawyer. She practiced law in Southern California for a little over four years before returning to New Mexico, where she continued her legal career. After retiring from law, she volunteered with an organization hosting professional business delegations, which led her to found Hoon Arts Fair Trade in 2014. Her success is attributed to her lifelong vision of building bridges between people across cultures, industries, and political boundaries. She values authenticity, collaboration, and respect in both her work and personal life, and advises staying true to one's values.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rikki
01What do you attribute your success to?
My success is primarily a function of the vision I've had since I was a little girl of building bridges between people across cultures, across industries, across political boundaries. That when people can really see and get to know each other, everything's possible.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Stay true to your values no matter how topsy-turvy the world is. If you're clear on your values and what motivates you and what inspires you, that's always an anchor that allows you to come back to who you really are and work from that place.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Help your clients focus on their clients' perspective rather than chasing algorithms and vanity metrics. Really look at it through the buyer's eyes.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
As a new business one of the biggest challenges is I wear all the hats so setting priorities and managing all the balls I'm juggling is always a challenge. Getting traction and particularly online traction when I don't have a giant budget for marketing is also a challenge because the algorithms are not designed for small business owners. Another challenge is simply remembering to take care of myself while juggling all the other balls and staying true to my values.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity, collaboration, and respect. Authenticity means being authentic myself and creating a space where other people feel safe enough to be their authentic selves. Collaboration because I am absolutely committed to the concept that together we can build a better world for everybody. Respect for other people and for myself creates a foundation and boundaries that allow us to move forward. These values are the same in work and personal life.
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