Sophia Rodriguez

I attribute my success to the motivation of my kids and wanting a better life for them. They have been my biggest motivation. A lot of the reason I started my own business and have continued to grow is to show my kids that you can have anything you want - it's going to depend on you and how much you want in this life. Nobody can limit you, you limit yourself. I want them to be exposed to entrepreneurship and know that at any point, if they want to have their own business, they can. I want to show them that no matter how much is in your pocket, you can do it. You can do whatever you want. So they're a big motivation factor in that.

The best advice I've received comes from my best friend, who is also a single mom. She's always pushed me and told me there's no dumb idea, that I have the right mindset, and not to give up or be discouraged. She's taught me not to listen to other people, to tune them out, and really listen to myself - my inner self - and make the right choice for myself at the end of the day. She always tells me to sit down and do a process of elimination, have my pros and cons for whatever situation I'm facing. When I was hesitant about starting my business, she told me 'just do it' - that if something is pushing me to do it, there's a reason. She encouraged me to take that leap of faith, saying 'what could go wrong? We'll figure that out later on down the road.' She reminded me that if I don't take those chances, how else would I know if it's going to work or not?

I would say don't let anybody limit you or make you feel belittled in any kind of way. You have the capacity to achieve anything. I think it's all about being willing to put in the hard work. You have to believe in yourself and ignore others around you too, because there's going to be so many challenges - being a woman, depending on your line of work, you're working with a lot of men, and there's going to be things that are said. It's one of those things where you just have to tune everything else out and just go for whatever you want. Don't be afraid of trying different things, because throughout the years, I've been in so many different lines of work, and it's only led me to better opportunities. So don't fear change either, because that's a big factor too. Just keep basically pushing forward in what you want to achieve.

I want to say maybe in my industry, the biggest challenge is the opportunity for growth. You stop at a certain point. I've been doing my role for 7 years, and there are executive levels and all that, but it's very limited. If I go into any other state organization, it might be doing something else. It is challenging being a woman, and I'm also Hispanic too, so coming from South Florida to here in Tennessee, it's a little challenging. But I'm all about perseverance, and I just keep going, because as many doors that shut, there's always one that opens. I've applied for many higher positions and the door just keeps getting shut, but that's fine - it doesn't keep me from stopping, because there might be better opportunities. You never know. Sometimes no just means not right now. I've always had a Plan B, Plan C, and that's how I am with my business too - if this doesn't work, then here's the other plan.

When I look at my priorities and values, God is number one on my list, my family is second, and then my job is third. I feel like if you are not taking care of yourself first in faith, it's going to interrupt your family and then your job. So I value self-care and being able to take care of yourself first, and then your family. I'm always about respecting others. I preach a lot about love in our family, and with all the bullying that occurs in school with the kids, I teach them to be kind to other people even when it's hard. I love animals too, so I try to teach my kids about kindness toward animals and the importance of helping when we can, whether that's fostering or volunteering at events. I want to show them that it's not just us - everything is a community in a way, even in the workplace. It takes more than one person to fulfill an organization's vision or job.