As a first generation honor student, Caterine Quintero Alvarez is opening doors for the next generation of her family…with sass!
This spicy, salsa-dancing Colombian-born princess is here to make her mark in Atlanta! Dressed in a crisp white blazer and her luscious curly hair tossed to one side, Caterine starts our conversation by speaking passionately about her Colombian roots. The first thing she mentions is family, proving to me just how much they mean to her as she creates a life here in the Atlanta area.
“I have two homes now!” she expresses when speaking candidly about missing Columbia. “I represent the other Colombians in order to show people that we’re not just loud, but we are also nice people.”
Once way she holds on to her Columbian roots, is through salsa dancing. She explains to me that salsa is one of the main forms of music in Columbia as the songs are often about it’s significant places and the history of the country. When she salsa dances, it brings her right back to Columbia as it’s her way of celebrating her country and her people.
She further explains that moving to Atlanta has opened up her mind in a way to make her understand that Women of Color can hold important, sought-after positions, which differs from her native country. “We are still trying to reach that point,” she says. She is reminiscent of the evolution her country has experienced with the influx of foreigners who now have the education and desire to learn about the culture, in which she expresses how lucky she is to witness.
As the youngest of four kids, it’s clear to me exactly where Caterine’s drive comes from. She tells me a story of how she started a bakery at the age of 17…something she almost deems as an accident.
“I don’t necessarily want to call it an accident, but it was like a need for the moment.” She goes on to say that due to her family needing money, she came up with the idea of baking desserts to sell at her high school. This caused Caterine to think bigger! She moved past selling to high school students to selling her desserts to restaurants. While having to think quick on her feet due to the fact that she didn’t have access to an industrial kitchen, in just a few months, Caterine turned her desserts she was making in her mother’s kitchen into a full fledged business by having to open a store due to demand. This started her journey towards greatness and leaving an impact on others as she was able to move her mother into a better neighborhood while helping family friends.
In that moment, I can understand just how impactful Caterine must have been to others watching her journey. She speaks about this experience in a calm and cool tone – with no ego or conceitedness, but still with a confident, matter-of-fact attitude. To Caterine, she was helping her family, to others she was becoming somewhat of a trailblazer in her community as her business quickly moved to having multiple locations ranked number 1 on Tripadvisor.
She further recognizes that especially when you’re young, the wisdom may not be developed yet, but with the help of a good team by your side, your achievements can be limitless.
“We can’t build a business by ourselves…we need a team. I always tell people, do not judge anyone if they don’t know something but rather, try to understand their strengths,” she says.
This leads us right into her journey from small-business owner to working in operations for one of the largest restaurant companies in the world which she describes as feeling like a “playground.” While she’s so thankful for the opportunity to learn on such a large scale, she’s also excited about the hard work it takes to learn from her mistakes.
Not only is she exploring a new landscape for her career, Caterine has also landed a role as small business advisor for the Latin American Association, which she describes as being a beautiful, and safe place for Latinas to work for a good cause to break into the U.S. market.
She urges us to all think twice before underestimating others, especially those with an accent. “Each human being will surprise you in the end.”
With hopes of still pursuing an MBA, sitting on boards and being a community leader, Caterine shows no sign of slowing down. She continues to express how she wants to continue helping others navigate a new world. When speaking about balancing it all, Caterine livens up and cracks a reflective smile when speaking about just how important a role a little commotion from her family in Columbia can play in keeping her laughing in order to decompress from the responsibilities of daily life.
Caterine represents so many of us women who innately strives for greatness with every single thing she does, complete with her mother being at the forefront of her inspiration. Not only is she determined to change the trajectory of her family legacy for the better, but leans into her multi-passionate life in a way that is representative of her many skills and talents, along with her culture…all while strutting her salsa moves! We at The Bold Maven™ can’t wait to see what else Caterine has in store!
