Our planet is all we really have; without it we will cease to exist. Yet we continue to abuse our greatest gift. Some (large companies) pilfer our planet simply for greed; others (mankind in general) pilfer it because they do not know any better. The clocks are chiming and the wake up calls have been sent out, we just need to stop long enough to hear them ringing. Our planet is in desperate need of our help. We cannot accomplish this on our own or within a day, but by starting at home, one step at a time, we can make a difference.

The term Energy Efficiency should not be a phrase we hear only on the News, it should be a lifestyle that we choose to adhere to. It should be your home’s new fashion statement. With the economy being what it is, the excuses are over; if you want your dollar to last longer then you should definitely find the time to adjust your lifestyle at home.

The following is a list of products you can integrate into your home. All these products can be picked up at your local Home Depot and installed in one weekend, saving you money and helping our planet.

Light Bulbs

• You can start by replacing the existing light bulbs in your home to CFL Bulbs. CFL stands for Compact Florescent Light. CFL bulbs consume up to 75% less energy and they last up to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. They will reduce your energy cost at the end of every month. If all homeowners in this country were to change their five most frequently used light fixtures with energy star qualified fixtures and/or bulbs there would be a savings of about $8 billion in energy cost to this country.

Thermostat

• The second most efficient way to save on both cost and energy is by replacing your existing thermostat. You may say to yourself, “the one I have at home is fine and I do not need to spend time or money on replacing something that is not broken”. That is where you are mistaken. Replacing your manual thermostat to a programmable thermostat can save you $150 or more on your energy bill at the end of the year. A programmable thermostat allows 4 program periods per day (each day of the week can be different) and can regulate your HVAC according to your schedule and lifestyle.

A Motion Activated Light Control/Sensor

• My children have a habit of going into the bathroom, turning on the light and leaving it on after they finish. Obviously this is a waste of energy. With a motion sensor, the light turns on when they enter the room and turns off when they leave. If you need to have the light on for an extended period of time, the ON/OFF switch permits normal ON/OFF operation.

Eco Dimmers

• Replacing switches with dimmers conserves energy and adds fewer light bulbs to landfills. In eco mode, you can save at least 15% on energy and extend the life of your bulb as compared to using a standard switch. You can install a dimmer in as little as 15 minutes.

Timers

• Timers are convenient and save you money. You can automatically control the time your air conditioner, holiday lights, indoor lamps and even lawn and garden lights turn on and off without being at home.
• If you do not have central air conditioning, you can program your air conditioner to turn itself on a half-hour before you get home so that it is cool when you walk in from a long day of work.
• You can also program it to turn off during the early morning hours. It’s also useful to use with door lamps when you are away on vacation to give the illusion that someone is home. Best of all, when utilized correctly timers are sure to save you money on your energy costs.

Shower Heads

• To save our planet’s precious resources while also saving on our monthly utility bills, Moen now provides water-saving faucets. These environmentally friendly faucets, which are offered in both standard and upgraded KB Home kitchens and baths, are designed to conserve water in everyday use without compromising performance

Sealant

• Sealing your home is not just for keeping the cold out during winter, but for keeping the cold in during summer. Check all your doors, windows and moldings for cracks

When Marlene and I first discussed starting a home and lifestyle brand for the US Hispanic market, I was so enamored with the idea and confident that we would fill a vacuum in the market that we jumped in without thinking it through.

Looking back, our biggest mistakes were that we started without a business plan and underestimated how much money we would need to launch our venture. I initially believed the strength of our concept – combined with my experience in the television market and Marlene’s on-air experience – was all we needed to enlist a primary sponsor and move forward.

That thinking was naïve. It took eight years and several incarnations before our concept developed into Casa Latina and began to take off. When we started, I never could have imagined that being an entrepreneur and launching a venture would be a continuous journey, one that is as exhilarating as it is frustrating.

I am starting the Hispanic Entrepreneurs Series because I believe it is best to learn from those who ‘do’. I will be interviewing accomplished Hispanic entrepreneurs and business people to learn directly from individuals who took their dream to the next level.

If you have a burning, obsessive passion to make your idea/business venture a reality, if there is no other road for you, if everything is about making ‘IT’ happen, then welcome to the club! I wish you all the success in your venture and hope to have the opportunity to interview you once you make your dream a reality.

Interview Conducted and Edited By Nora Diaz Bretherton

Maritza Gutierrez Creator of the Maru and Friends Doll

WHAT IS YOUR CULTURAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?

I was born in Cuba and my parents left when I was two years old. We lived in Spain then from Spain I went to the United States.

What I have been doing is advertising and marketing. I own an agency for 25 years in the South Florida area. I am also the current Chair of the Miami Dade Expressway Authority. That is an organization that runs the five major expressways here in South Florida. I also work with two social advocacy groups, one which (Community Partnership for the Homeless) is very dear to me and I have been involved with them since they started. It has been recognized as the model center for the way they work with the homeless.

WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR THE MARU DOLL?

Dolls have always been my passion. There is (something) so unique and special about dolls. I still remember my first doll and what my mom had to go through to be able to get that doll. We won it in a contest. So for me there is (something) unique about playing with a doll. It allows you to create ideas and fantasy and dream and develop yourself.

Maru is my nickname. So the name comes from the nickname my mom gave me and what I wanted to depict was a Latina girl and I wanted to capture her journey here in the United States. Then I wanted to depict a doll that not only can showcase and elevate the Latinos in this country but at the same time show how we have assimilated in the United States.

WHAT WAS THE PROCESS FROM THE IDEA OF MARU TO GETTING THE DOLL MADE IN TERMS OF RESOURCES AND TIME?

For me what I thought was a challenge or the barrier was the kind of money that I was going to need, not knowing how much a toy would cost. And I know if you were going to do a toy you had to do it right. You had to do it sort of to the max magnificent. Let it be fantastic and beautiful and something really special and unique. So I didn’t know the magnitude of money. So that was the biggest barrier. The idea was the easy part.

I knew what I wanted because for years my husband kept telling me, “Well, open up a doll company.” But I didn’t just want a doll company. I wanted something special. And in creating something special it was, “Let me create a unique doll with her friends. Let me write a book.” So that way it’s not just one book, it’s a series of many books where I can help to elevate the Latino message and at the same time elevate how important friendship is.

YOU HAD YOUR IDEA, YOU FINESSED IT INTO A WAY THAT YOU THOUGHT EXPRESSED THE EXPERIENCE WELL. THEN HOW DID YOU FIND THE FINANCING OR RESOURCES?

I think you start with your family. You’ve got to write the idea down. I wrote what it (Maru) was, what the doll was going to do, what else it would have, why it would be unique and all the different opportunities for it. And I gave a basic idea of how much I thought it was going to cost. I had no idea the investment factor, and yes, I was really off.

WHERE DID YOU START GETTING YOUR SEED MONEY FROM?

To tell you the truth I got my seed money from my husband, and my son also promised to give me money. They both were extremely encouraging. My son wanted me to quit my day job to do this. So he put a caveat to the money. There was never any talk of, “you pay me back.” It was always, “I’ll give you the money.” But my husband said, “I know you can’t quit your day job and this is going to take awhile. We’ll take it out of our earnings.”

AFTER THAT DID YOU PUT TOGETHER A BUSINESS PLAN?

I don’t have a full-fledged business plan. What I do have is a marketing plan, knowing from my point of view where I needed to take this company.

BUT YOU STILL HAD A PLAN?

Yes, I call it a blueprint because to me it was everything that I thought that I needed for the doll: how I would need to promote it, how I would open the (online) store and what elements the store needed to have.

YOU WENT THROUGH ALL THE CHANNELS TO TRADEMARK AND PROTECT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS?

That is a journey that’s never ending. That’s something that I probably took just a year in that development because I didn’t go out to talk to anyone until I actually had everything trademarked.

AND DID YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PROTOTYPE?

No prototype. I had illustrations of what I wanted the product to look like and then I went out to trademark everything and copyright. And I obtained one of the leading law firms in the United States to be able to do all this. And I spent a lot of money doing so and I felt that is the first big step. As much as I wanted the product to be fabulous, I needed to do the legal aspect first and I needed to do that right before I went anywhere else.

MANY LATINOS ARE IMMIGRANTS OR WE HAVE IMMIGRANT PARENTS. SO WE SOMETIMES HAVE MORE OF A LEARNING CURVE WITH REGARD TO THE SYSTEM. HISPANICS REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BEFORE THEY EVEN THINK OF JUMPING INTO ANYTHING. WOULD YOU AGREE?

Absolutely, I mean it was extremely important. Once you have a wonderful idea and you think it’s wonderful, and you talk to ten other friends that are extremely successful and they themselves tell you what a wonderful idea you have, before you do anything you must protect your concept. And the only way to do it is to seek the help of a professional. If you don’t, you’re only hurting yourself. All the efforts would have gone to waste. I’ve always thought you have a good lawyer and a good CPA because those are things you just don’t know.

WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE ASPIRING LATINO ENTREPRENEURS WITH AN IDEA AND A DREAM?

It all starts with a dream. And it’s the American dream that you can achieve and the only barrier is the one that you yourself create.

If you tell yourself you can’t, of course you’re not. Why is anyone going to tell you the opposite? If you tell yourself you can, and even if it takes a long time, you need to have discipline and dedication that you want to succeed and you want to get out of the shell and do something different. And I don’t see a barrier.

Everyday there is a challenge but the challenge cannot be greater than you. Your discipline and your belief in what you want has to be greater than that challenge.

As our country faces one of the worst economic crises since the 1930’s, we must be prudent with our spending and keep our credit safe.

Credit is very important.

It lets us enjoy the things we need today with the promise of paying it back tomorrow. However, we should be careful not to get carried away or we could end up in debt.

Scriptures say “For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Unfortunately, we live in a material world and, as people of faith, we need to stay away from material things and focus on investing for the future.

Best selling book by Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr.

This is where credit comes into play, specifically good credit history. Without it, you may not be able to get a mortgage to buy a home, or a loan to buy a car.

“Trouble with credit is a problem you can’t ignore. No matter how much money you earn or where you live, if you’ve made mistakes with credit in the past, those mistakes will haunt you –unless you empower yourself to fix your credit. And you can.”

Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr.

Excerpt from How to Fix your Credit by the Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr. For more information about this and other books by Rev. Cortés, please visit: www.esperanza.us.

Some things you can do to protect your credit now are:

1. Set your financial long-term goals –maybe your goal is to retire by a certain age or to become a homeowner. No matter the goal, set a plan to make it happen.
2. Review your budget –check your monthly expenses and see which are really necessary and which ones you can reduce or eliminate. Always stick to your budget.
3. Be on time to pay your bills –avoid late fees or missing payments. This can quickly ruin your credit.
4. Build your savings or your emergency funds –each month set a side an amount of money for your long term financial goal. Even if it is a small amount, this is always a good idea. Experts say that you should have between three to six months’ worth of expenses saved in case of job loss or any other financial emergency.
5. Avoid making the mistakes of the past –having self control is of utmost importance for your financial wellbeing.

We are living in difficult times and we must pray to the Lord to help us through it. Just stop and listen to what God is trying to tell us to be able to set everything into the right order.

At the same time, we must give thanks to Him for all that we have –our family, our friends, and our community; our physical and spiritual health. We thank the Lord because “we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13).

This year it’s all about saving money. With the economy being what it is, everyone is looking to save as many pennies as possible, even at Christmas. Working on a budget does not mean a dreadful looking tree; it simply means getting a bit more creative in an inexpensive way.

I was tight on time and money for this project. I was told that I had to get it done spending less than $250.00 and within two days.

The first store I went to was to the Home Depot where I found a 7-foot 5-inch pre-lit artificial pine Christmas tree for $149.99.

Decorating A Christmas Tree On A Budget:

For my next stop I didn’t think twice. I went directly to the Christmas Tree Store in Paramus New Jersey. In this store you can find everything you need within budget and in under an hour.

The trick to it is to not walk directly to anything. Instead, time yourself, give yourself five minutes and walk the entire floor looking but not touching. Once you’re certain you’ve seen everything, then go back and start selecting.

I found an assortment of decorations ranging from 29 cents to $99. Many were inexpensive and striking.

Just as I realized I had not selected a theme for the tree, I looked across the store and saw white and silver branches. At that moment I envisioned a white, blue and silver tree. Up close, the white and silver branches were even more beautiful. And they went from beautiful to exquisite once I saw the $6.99 price tag! Each of the branches had an assortment of about ten smaller branches within its group. Once I cut and separated them I got about 24 individual decorations.

I also found fig like branches that were quite pretty. They were even more impressive once they were cut. The figs were only a dollar a branch. I was in heaven.

I had a hard time finding the decorative balls. But once I found them it was as if they were made for my project; they were available in an assortment of white, blue, and silver. There were six balls in a case for $2 a case. God is good.

With my shopping done, homemade decorations were next on the list.

Add A Homemade Touch To Your Holiday:

Homemade decorations are a great way to beat the credit crunch and an even better way for keeping the kids busy and involved in creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Remember to always take some time out to spend with your kids, especially around the holidays. Your children will not remember anything special about you having to go to again, but they will remember making ornaments around the kitchen table and accidentally gluing sprinkles to your hair!

This year I made homemade Blue and Silver Glittered Christmas Stars and Snow Flakes. They are easy to make and a lot of fun for the entire family.

Supplies Needed:

• Glitter (blue & silver)
• Glue/Hot glue gun
• Skill sticks made of wood ($1.99)
• Snow flake made of wood (40 cents)
• Spray paint (blue & silver)
• Clear Lacquer

Start by taking five sticks and placing them on top of each other in the shape of a star. Once you are certain of where all the sticks go, glue them to each other by placing a dot of glue in the center where they meet.

If you use regular glue it will take a while to dry, but if you use a glue gun it glues instantly. Be very careful, I’ve lost a few layers of skin on occasion for not being careful enough when using the glue gun!

Once the glue has dried, spread some newspapers and spray paint the stars the color of the glitter. Make sure you are in a vented room when spraying paint.

Check to make sure the stars are dry, if so spray the other side. Once the stars are completely dry, spray a bit more paint on one side and immediately sprinkle the glitter directly on it.

This step takes a bit longer, because the glitter has to dry and adhere to the surface with the paint. The next step is to spray them with a clear coat of lacquer. The lacquer will help keep the glitter in place.

Once completely dry to the touch, take some ribbon, loop it and glue it to the back of the star. If the ribbon is shiny, remember to turn it as you glue it so that both sides of the ribbon show their shiny side.

Follow the same directions for the snow flake.

Have fun and Happy Holidays!!