Influential Woman · Wellness, Equestrian, Pet Breeding

Tabatha Patino

Entrepreneur, five Paso Fino

Miami, FL

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Four years of college Degree Harvard Business College Leadership and Business Fundamentals Cohort Cert Harvard Business College Leadership and Business Fundamentals Cohort

Her Story

About Tabatha

I've been an entrepreneur since 2012, managing three different businesses that reflect my passions and values. After working in the corporate field for a long time as an asset manager handling Class A luxury properties and condo association management, I found myself stuck in HOA meetings three to four times a week, barely seeing my kids except for brief moments in the morning before school. I did that for about a year and a half, and then I just blinked and my kids were growing, and I wasn't there for the moments that mattered. So I decided to do something different and give myself the opportunity to be home when they get home from school. During the pandemic, I made one of the scariest decisions of my life - I left the corporate world and took all my savings, money I had planned to use to purchase a house, and put it into my first brick-and-mortar location for my business. I told myself, what's the worst that can happen? It doesn't work out, I can just go back to the corporate world. But it ended up paying itself back four times over. I've never had this much success since just taking a chance on myself and believing that you have to be so delusional that it's gonna work out, that you have no other choice but to make it work. Today, I manage a golden doodle breeding business, an equestrian business with five Paso Fino horses native to my country Colombia, and a wellness company that I started to give myself grace and opportunity to do things for myself. As moms, I feel like we pour into everyone else's cup, and by the time we realize that ours is dry, it's been dry for a while. Now, everything I do is scheduled around my self-care first - I drop off all the kids at school and go to my Pilates every day, five days a week. I've become a better person, a better mom, more patient, and more able to regulate my nervous system.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Tabatha

01What do you attribute your success to?

I think my mom, honestly. My mom raised six of us as a single mom, and I was the oldest of six, and she always worked so, so hard. We never went without, and she always taught us as girls to always make our own money and never to rely on a man for a paycheck or security. I can't ever thank her enough, because I didn't have the easiest childhood growing up, but she did teach us things that I've been able to carry with me into my adult life. I think that's probably one of the reasons why I've been so successful - I knew that I had no choice but to continue. I had kids I had to take care of, and that was it. It wasn't a choice. She went through a lot. She had a really hard life, and her mom died really young, and she did the best she could, and she did an amazing job.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice I've ever received was from the Vice President of Equity Residential, Robert Greeley. He told me to never be the smartest person in the room, and always give yourself opportunity to learn. This advice has stuck with me throughout my career and has shaped how I approach every situation. I never want to be the smartest person in the room because I'd rather learn from someone else than think I know it all. If I thought I knew everything, I would never be able to continue growing.

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say don't take criticism personally. If someone has something to say, or if someone has feedback to give you, be open to feedback, be open to criticism, be open to just getting an outsider's opinion on things that could possibly be better. Have the ability to shift your perspective. Be flexible. Don't be so stuck on 'it's been this way for so long, and it's worked this way for so long, and I just really don't want to change it.' Be flexible. Take advice. Don't take things personally. Be receptive to feedback.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I would say right now, just being audacious and having the courage to not think that I don't belong in rooms that feel too big for me. Not struggling with imposter syndrome - knowing that yeah, I am able to do these things, and I do belong in those rooms, and I do belong around those people, and just believing that.

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I would say just being a good person. Being emotionally available to your family and friends, because that's a hard one sometimes. And then being delusional - you have to be delusional to be an entrepreneur. You have to believe in yourself more than anybody that you will be okay and you will succeed. Because I don't get a paycheck every two weeks. If I don't go out and find it, I'm not getting paid. So you have to have an obscene, crazy amount of delusion. You just have to be delusional and believe it's going to work out.

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