Month: January 2023

2022: A Year to Remember!

January 16, 2023

Puente Annual Report 2022

puente-annual-report-2022Download

Eventos 2022

Durante el año 2022 tuvimos un índice de participación en nuestros eventos que nos sorprendió. Nos gustaría agradecer a quienes nos invitaron a su(s) evento(s), nos acompañaron, a los dueños de negocios que nos permitieron ser anfitriones en sus locales, a los panelistas que participaron y, sobre todo, a nuestros patrocinadores. Esto no hubiera sido posible sin todos ustedes. A continuación se muestran imágenes y un pequeño resúmen de algunos de los eventos del año anterior.

¡Estamos emocionados por lo que vendrá en 2023!

During 2022 we had an outstanding participation rate in our events. We would like to thank those who invited us to their event(s), joined us, the business owners who allowed us to host at their establishments, the panelists who participated, and most of all our sponsors. This would not have been possible without all of you. Below are pictures and link recaps of a few of the events from this previous year.

We are excited for what is to come in 2023!

Chelas & Cheers con Contratistas

Empezó con la idea de reunir a los contratistas y celebrar a aquellos que reciben su certificación en reducción de plomo, junto con los empleados de la ciudad que pueden ayudarlos. Sin embargo, este evento lo organizamos para reunir a todo tipo de emprendedores para establecer contactos y forjar nuevas relaciones mientras disfrutan de una bebida y comparten ideas.

¡Felicitaciones a los participantes de la reducción de plomo que recibieron su certificado en 2022!

May 3rd, 2022 at Los Altos Restaurant

October 4th, 2022 at La Palapa del Parian

December 21st, 2022 at La Posada Mexican Restaurant

Initiated in an attempt to bring contractors together and to celebrate those who receive their certification in Lead Abatement as well as city employees who can assist them. We hosts these to bring together every kind of entrepreneur to network and forge new relationships while enjoying a drink and sharing ideas.

Congratulations to the Lead Abatement partcipants who received their certificate in 2022!

Cheers! with Business Alianzas

El propósito es reunir a los miembros de Business Alianzas, así como a otros empresarios, para conocer dónde se encuentra su negocio y cómo podemos ayudarlos. Este es un buen momento para tomar un descanso y pasar el rato con otros. A veces tenemos invitados especiales quienes comparten información valiosa para los emprendedores.

January 18, 2022
 at La Posada

August 24, 2022
Cheers to 50 Years!

Is meant to bring together Business Alianzas members as well as other entrepreneurs to learn about where their business stands and how we can help. This is a great time to take a break and hangout with others. Some times we have guest speakers who share predominant information with the entrepreneurs. 

Cafecito with Business Alianzas

Cafecito con Business Alianzas es un evento trimestral de networking en la mañana para dueños de pequeñas empresas y líderes comunitarios en el suroeste de Detroit. Los eventos de Cafecito han sido patrocinados por Alliance Catholic Credit Union desde 2021. Estamos agradecidos por su continua coperación. Los Cafecitos trimestrales ya están programados para 2023: el primero se realizará el 24 de enero.

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February • May • November

2022

Cafecito with Business Alianzas is a quarterly AM networking event for small business owners and community leaders in Southwest Detroit. Cafecito events have been sponsored by Alliance Catholic Credit Union since 2021. We are grateful for their continued partnership. Quarterly Cafecitos are scheduled for 2023 – the first one is coming up on January 24th. 

Mercadito

A finales de 2021 iniciamos un evento en colaboración con El Artesano llamado Mercadito para promover las pequeñas empresas y ayudarlas a hacer crecer su negocio. En 2022 organizamos 2 Mercaditos y asistieron más de 30 vendedores. Planeamos continuar con estas ventanas para ayudar a otros proveedores.

Toward the end of 2021 we initiated a pop-up event in collaboration with El Artesano called Mercadito to promote small businesses and help them grow their business. In 2022 we hosted 2 Mercaditos & had more than 30 vendors who attended. We plan to continue these pop-ups to help other vendors.

Develop with Business Alianzas /
Bilingual Bootcamp Credito Commercial

El propósito de este evento bilingüe es ayudar a los dueños de negocios a conocer las diferentes formas en que pueden aumentar su crédito comercial. Los panelistas, banqueros y prestamistas se unen a nosotros durante estos eventos para brindar más información sobre cómo pueden ayudar o cómo y por qué es importante el crédito comercial.

The purpose of the Bilingual Bootcamp & Develop with Business Alianzas is to help business owners learn about the different ways that they can grow their business credit. Panelists, bankers, and lenders join us during these events to provide more information about how they can help or how/why business credit is important.

Charlas

Estamos ofreciendo Charlas virtuales breves en español o bilingües  de temas para emprendimiento durante todo el año. Se puede conectar por zoom a cualquier de las Charlas con este enlace de Zoom: bit.ly/micharla

We also offer short (bilingual or Spanish only) virtual presentations about entrepreneurial topics throughout the year. You can connect by zoom to any of the Charlas with this link: bit.ly/micharla

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Lead Abatement classes have been a success!

Durante el año tuvimos 70 participantes y ayudamos a certificar a 59 de ellos; esperamos ayudar a certificar más en 2023. Las clases fueron de forma gratuita para los residentes de Detroit y contratistas que trabajan o planean trabajar con la ciudad de Detroit. Aparte de completar todo el papeleo, nuestro equipo se comunicó con la ciudad y el estado para programar las fechas de clases y exámenes. Nos gustaría agradecer a todos los contratistas que participaron en estas clases, los inspectores estatales y los empleados estatales que nos ayudaron a hacer esto posible.

We had 70 participants and helped certify 59 of them and look forward to helping certify more in 2023. Classes were provided free of charge to Detroit residents and to other contractors who are working or planning to work with the city of Detroit. Our team helped fill out all of the paperwork and had communication with the city and state to schedule the class and exam dates. We would like to thank all the contractors who participated in these classes, state inspectors, and the state employees who helped us make this possible.

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Small Business Gala

“The Small Business Ethnic and Minority Media Appreciation Dinner on Wednesday, September 7th, 2022 brought together micro-business owners, Black and Brown community leaders and our Metro Detroit ethnic press together to network and celebrate at one of the most prestigious locations in the midwest, the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Our incredible team spent weeks inviting and confirming the guest list for this free event. Puente is so thrilled to have partnered with the Latino Press Foundation to host this celebration of our small businesses in Southeastern Michigan. I am so proud and grateful for my staff!”… Keep Reading

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN OUR 2023 EVENTS

TE ESPERAMOS EN NUESTROS EVENTOS DEL 2023

Seek Harmony: Work-Life Balance Doesn’t Exist!

January 2, 2023

PG13 Title: Seek Harmony … f*** work-life balance, it doesn’t exist

By Bridget B. Espinosa, Puente Cultural Integration

 “Balance” is a misguided metaphor because it conveys the idea that we have to give up the prospect of success in one part of our lives in order to have it in another part—one or the other. ” Stewart Friedman

This perfectly explains why I reject this idea of “work life balance” and embrace the idea of HARMONY!

For years we have been told that we need to find a work-life balance. There is no such thing. This is a myth that does nothing but generate stress, and frustration. Having studied music in my youth, I have been drawn to the word harmony. Harmony is different from balance, it reflects the idea that there can be multiple layers working together in a pleasing way. There are many definitions of harmony, but the easiest to understand and achieve I found on yourdictionary.com “A combination of parts into a pleasing or orderly whole; congruity or agreement in feeling, action, ideas, interests, etc.; peaceable or friendly relations.”

We often use the word harmony to describe both the environment and our relationships – living in harmony is a common mantra. However, it is an uncommon description of our internal relationships with our responsibilities. Harmony is not difficult to achieve if you accept that different aspects of your life will be “singing the melody” while other factors provide the harmony. This metaphor shows that our family, work, social, health, and community lives can all live alongside one another – each one can take its turn providing the fundamental melody and our lives can be just as harmonious and beautiful regardless of which takes the lead. 

Harmony represents the world I want to live in: people of many backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientation, sizes, professions, abilities, languages, all connected – different voices, religions, cultures, perspectives, opiniones, ideas – all living in harmony.

Important to the analogy is when even one note is played or sung wrong the whole chord sound awful! When even one part of your life is out of whack, your whole life can feel like it’s falling apart. But the reality is that the adjustment to find harmony again is usually just a small tweak. When one person in the choir or one instrument in the band is out of tune, you have two choices:

  1. In a rehearsal, you pause for a moment, address the issue and then start over making the correction.
  2. In a live performance (aka real life), you just keep going. Normally the issue will work itself out, but if the problem continues you need to figure out what is causing the harmonies to go array and make the changes necessary so that it won’t happen again.
Based on a thorough review of the literature we introduce an integrated conceptualization of
work-life balance involving two key dimensions: engagement in work life and nonwork life …
Work-life balance: An integrative review
MJ Sirgy, DJ Lee – Applied Research in Quality of Life, 2018 – Springer

So F%^& this whole idea of “Work-Life Balance”, toss it out the window and just seek harmony. 

I love listening to amazing vocal harmonies of diverse and talented singers. I sang for my entire youth and music continues to play an impactful role in my life. I searched for harmonies on youtube and found this incredible video. One of my former colleague’s sons is even featured in the best harmonies of 2021. This is soooo worth the time to take a listen and visualize these voices as the different elements of your life and how they can find harmony with one another.

Gifted Voices – Best Singing Videos (Best Harmonies 2021 – Pt.5)

#Giftedvoices #Singing #Voice

The word ‘Harmony’ has been following me over the last year!

I was asked to sit on the advisory board of Detroit Harmony, an initiative led by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to provide musical instruments and experiences to every child in the City of Detroit.

My friend Laura LaBrie rebranded her Mysterious Mexico platforms to Maya Harmony. I have been following the Maya calendar, The Sacred Tzolk’in, trying to learn how to align my life to find the harmony that often eludes us.

Sacred Maya Calendar – The Path to Life

“The Sacred Tzolk’in is the story of  humankind wrapped in a calendar, reminding us daily of our journey from birth into the heart of the Divine. We cycle endlessly through the story, reliving each chapter every 20 days. And so, the wheel turns, its path reminding us of our own story. And if we come into alignment with it, we come into alignment with the Heart of Sky, the Great Spirit. And when we come into alignment, we find balance, we find center, our lives come into flow, things go well with us, and we find our place in the Universe. And when we find our place in the Universe, we discover our connection to the One Heart that is in all and is all. “

I love this question:

“And so, as the Maya greet each other, I ask you, “Bix a bel?  How is YOUR path?”

Another one of my passion projects is a weekly summer strolling music festival called Corktown Sounds. I have the honor to work with small businesses, musicians, and my team provides the content creation for this very cool event in Detroit. Shameless plug: We are hosting a Corktown Sounds Benefit Concert on February 4th. Tickets are on sale now!

I believe that we can have some really interesting discussions regarding harmony in our lives.
Join the discussion and give your experiences regarding how to embrace harmony in:

  • Relationships
  • Work
  • Business
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Finances
  • ??

What areas of your life need more harmony?

Here are other articles and blogs that embrace Harmony vs. Balance:

https://crossfitodyssey.com/sunday-story-balance-vs-harmony

Life ‘Balance’ Is Really More About Harmony, Forbes