A graduate tells us her entrepreneurial story

Family is the main inspiration for Pilar Constanza Martínez, a business administrator who graduated from UCundinamarca and who, more than six months ago, made her life project a reality, the one she has worked on for so many years: having her own company.

Manos Creativas y Algo más was born in 2004 as a business idea that Pilar Constanza shaped years later at UCundinamarca. “It all started when I sold crafts for Father's Day and Mother's Day and collected the money I needed to pay for the first semester of Business Administration,” recalled the UCundinamarca graduate.

Each day of training at UCundinamarca allowed Pilar Constanza to give more life to her business idea; she continued with the crafts and visited business fairs to generate income and thus continue studying.

Finally, in 2008 she presented her thesis and that's when Manos Creativas y Algo Más became a reality. "The professors always instilled in us the need to create a company, they motivated us to grow as people and professionals to undertake and generate development and employment in the region," said Pilar Constanza.

After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, she decided to pursue her dream and attended business fairs, training sessions, and meetings. This Business Administrator offered her products on a personalized basis; however, the pandemic hit, and the situation for her and her family changed drastically.

“While in quarantine and unemployed, my husband and I decided to organize our house and create space to display our crafts and handmade items, and we began offering everything we have. The dream came true in July 2020, and it’s a great opportunity to be able to offer our products and services this way,” said the UCundinamarca graduate.

A family business

The popular saying goes that what is inherited cannot be stolen, and it is true. Pilar Constanza is the daughter of artisans; her parents lived their whole lives selling handicrafts at fairs, and today they work with her.

“My parents, my sister, and my husband, we all know how to work with fique, burlap, iraca, fabric, guadua, ceramics, wood, totumo, jewelry, porcelain, pyrography, painting, card making, and porcelain clay,” said the businesswoman, who also assures that her business also provides decoration and piñata services, surprise gifts, posters, models, among others.

The whole family makes handicrafts and sells them in the business that materialized years of work. They put their teachers' lessons into practice and plan to expand their business by including more services, so the family is financially secure and does what they love, what they have always done.

Pilar Constanza's sister is also a graduate of UCundinamarca, and the two combine their business knowledge to continue fulfilling their dream of becoming successful entrepreneurs.

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