Brooklyn woman becomes first Latina CEO of children's entertainment company, Encantos
NEW YORK -- In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we sat down with the first Latina CEO of a children's entertainment company.
She shared her journey -- from following her dreams, to advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Susie Jaramillo is an author, artist and CEO of the children's entertainment company Encantos.
"I was born in Venezuela. My father is 100% Venezuelan, and my mother is Ecuadorian-Irish," she said.
Jaramillo sat down with CBS2's Zinnia Maldonado for a chat inside her Brooklyn studio, where he passion for art, technology and the Hispanic culture collide. It's also where she runs her brand.
"As a Latina who went to art school and paints traditionally and illustrates children's books and writes children's books, but also has built a tech company and uses tech to reach families, I'm a bit of a unicorn," she said.
The idea for Encantos came about when she realized there was a gap in the children's education market.
"I'm a Latina and I'm trying to raise bilingual kids here in this country who appreciate where they came from, and there was nothing out there -- no books, no apps, no animated content -- that represented us and our nursey rhymes," she said. "Fun fact: 26% of kids in the United States are Latino. Only 5% of roles in our kids media space are represented with Latino talent."
Encantos helps children learn in both English and Spanish via books, videos and games.
Most recently, Jaramillo launched an app called Canticos. It helps kids, no matter their background, learn Spanish or English, and it was named App of the Day by Apple last month.
"Our app is designed to help Latinos celebrate Hispanic Heritage every day," she said. "As Latinos, I really do think we have the best of both worlds. We have what we love about our culture -- our warmth, our sense of humor, our music, our food, our sense of familia. There's all of that, and then there's this American preparation."
While her company is successful today, Jaramillo said navigating the tech space while being a Latina artist was difficult. But she hopes her story inspires other Latinx entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams, no matter how unique.
"Lean into what you do well and follow that," she said. "Don't let anything hold you back. Don't let the down talk, the negativity hold you back. Just go for it 100%."