The Life of a Queenpreneur is an interview series that showcases young women who balance the role of a queen and the role of an entrepreneur. A queenpreneur is unique because she possesses a graceful style mixed with a hustler’s ambition. This interview will feature Genesis Fernandez, national beauty pageant consultant and online consignment shop owner.
Tell us about yourself.
I am a 22 year old college student residing in New York City. I own my own consulting company where I work with national beauty pageants on helping their contestants with social media marketing, runway, and overall personal presentation. I also started my online consignment shop when I was 19 and homeless, and made my first $3,000 within the first month. My family owns property in both New York City and The Dominican Republic that sparked my interest in real estate landing me a job at the NYC offices at M&T Bank doing commercial loans. The pageantry that I am involved in is very volunteer based also making me interested in politics and running for office. While attending school full time, I work part time for one of the largest real estate companies in the world, Hudson Bay Company. HBC owns Lord & Taylor that has been in business for over 300 years and the famed Saks 5th Ave. This combines my love for high end fashion and real estate.
What made you want to become an entrepreneur?
I was 19 and homeless. I had less than $250 in my bank account, was a full time student taking 18 credits and couldn’t afford to live in New York City. I asked a friend to help me put my stuff in a storage unit, packed a bag and hit the road. I would attend school in the morning, work nights, showered at school, eat and study when I could and eventually was forced to drop out and start my own business. I was always business minded. My first college major was Business where I held a 4.0 gpa so I knew what to do; I just didn’t think it would eventually save my life.
What are some of your business endeavors?
I once held a $100,000 check made out to M&T Bank from The New Yorker Hotel. I held it, touched it, heck I even smelled it. I would like to continue working for a bank in real estate where I have my own office with a door that locks! Perhaps I will run for office and give back as much as I can to my community. I’ve thought about establishing my own non-profit and writing a book, but my journey has yet to be close to climax, and so I don’t believe it would be fair to just write one; I would need an entire series. It would be really nice if I could also continue my family’s legacy and open up a hotel in NYC and affordable housing in The Dominican Republic.
Did competing in pageants prepare you for running a business? If so, how?
Absolutely. Pageantry gave me the poise that I needed to pitch any idea. I have yet to walk into any room and not have someone know me. Not because I’m this huge public figure but because I’ve networked enough to be well connected. I’ve traveled to over half of all US states and have friends everywhere. Because of networking and having a strong volunteer based pageant resume, I was able to travel to San Antonio, Texas, and be a part of a national conference sponsored by The National Council of La Raza where I was able to promote learning and higher education. Being from an immigrant family but still having both my parents receive higher education, is important to me. People need to know that just because you weren’t born in a country with an advantage doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have the true American dream. You can achieve that through pageantry.
What are some of your entrepreneurial goals?
Many people have been interested in entrepreneurship especially real estate. What I have noticed is that there is a lack of fast and inexpensive notary publics. Typically it’s $2 per page but places only operate from 9am-5pm and are closed on the weekends. Becoming a notary public that operates 24/7 will not only solve the solution of real estate agents and brokers needing hundreds of documents notarized but I can also continue to network and give people great needed service while I get the advantage of seeing where real estate is going in my own city. It’s also as close as I’ll ever get to being a lawyer, but I feel it connects me to my grandfather that serves in the state of Florida.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I. Don’t. Know. And I absolutely love that. I would not have pictured myself modeling for Mac Duggal, getting paid to walk on runways, holding national pageant titles, meeting Rev. Al Sharpton, three NYC mayors including the first African-American, countless senators from Dominican Adriano Espaillat to receiving multiple city and senate citations for my work in social justice. I am so proud of the person that I am becoming because of pageantry. Pageants don’t make me who I am but it definitely reinforced the power I have to succeed. It showed me where I can go and how it’s worth it to work hard.
Please provide your contact information so that others can reach
out to you.
Genesisf95@aol.com
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