Q&A with Latin American Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County President Paula Sours
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As president of the Latin American Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, Paula Sours focuses on advocating for the community and ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard.
With over 25 years of experience in meeting customers’ needs, Sours is also the owner of Visions GPS Branding LLC, a branding and marketing company specializing in promotional products. She serves as a facilitator in the Spark Program at Saint Mary’s College, which supports women entrepreneurs.
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, Sours spoke with Inside INdiana Business on the importance of creating space for Hispanic entrepreneurs to thrive.
This article has been edited for brevity and clarity.
How has your Hispanic Heritage influenced your approach to business and leadership?
First off, I started working in the fields as a farm worker from the age of eight. Being Latina and working in that community, everybody was always helping each other. I learned at a small age the importance of making money because I just wanted to help the family. So I began my entrepreneurship at the age of eight because I always wanted to try and do something. My family traveled from Michigan to Florida to Ohio to Idaho for work in the fields. We eventually ended up in South Bend.
How have the traditions and the values from being raised by the family you were born into shaped your entrepreneurial approach?
When you’re young, you say your parents are strict but they’re imparting values into you. For me, some of those values included hard work, always trying to do better and always trying to help the next person. Those are the kinds of values I grew up with and were instilled in me.
Have there been any unique challenges that you have faced as a person of Hispanic heritage that comes to mind?
I knew there was always something different, always something I could do better. I didn’t go to college, I had to go back and graduate high school. That’s as far as my education went because of always moving around and never having the opportunity. So there were barriers that were always ahead of me. I was tired of always being put down. I was in a job for a long time and I was always told that I didn’t look the part, that I was uneducated and that I didn’t know how to speak properly. It got to a point where I was like, “It can’t always be this way.” I’ve always believed in God, that God has a way for me to go and He always orders my steps. So He’s always put people in front of me and there’s always been that one person that showed up right when I needed help, when I wanted to give up and say, Why am I even trying? Because every time I tried, there was always this big wall, this big hole, this big mountain. I’ve had a few mentors in my life that have helped me to scale up no matter where I’m at.
You mentioned that you didn’t go to college and there’s a lot of first-generation students in colleges right now. How do you think that is going to affect their prospects in the future, especially with the hindsight you have now?
So I am a first-gen high school grad and I think it’s amazing that there’s a lot of first-gens. It just warms my heart that they are in college. I always feel that it’s very important and I think this is going to open a lot of doors for a lot of other first-generation students to attend college. And I know they have their life skills with them, so it’s a great motivator.
How can businesses better support and promote diversity and inclusion especially in leadership roles from your experience?
The one thing that I always say when I enter a room of people who do not know me is, “I am that face that nobody sees. I am that voice that no one hears. We all know that you see us and you hear us but you turn a blind eye and deaf ears.” It’s important that everybody that has gone through some kind of barriers or whatnot, always try to reach back. Then there are a lot of people that have not gone through what we have gone through and they have a different journey. But they still reach out and they help, those are the people that have helped me. It’s important that we realize there are a lot of people in both sectors that are constantly trying to help. I applaud those that do and those that may be on the border line and do not know if they should, I encourage you to at least help one.
Sours speaks about noticing the lack of representation in the room and why she has made it a point of note to bridge the gap.
And how do you foster connections between Hispanic businesses and the broader community in your role with the Latino Chamber of Commerce?
Things slowed down with the pandemic but we’re getting geared up again. Starting on Oct. 25, we’re hosting a Business 101 event to help business owners in the Latino community, whether they speak English or not, we’re going to do it in Spanglish. We’re going to have mentors come in and work with them. There’s a black table beside me here and I always tell people that it’s a revolving table of entrepreneurship because I have had so many people who have sat there. We have talked about how to start a business, what they did wrong when they started, and how we can help. My biggest thing is networking. I always say I have lots of tentacles, I have an arsenal behind me of people that are willing and wanting to help. So if I can’t do it, I know somebody else who could.
What has been your biggest motivation for doing the work that you do?
Number one, the man upstairs who orders my steps, and number two, I do not want anybody left behind. I always am trying to help the next person to get a little bit closer to their vision and their mission. Because that’s my heart, to see everyone thrive. When I say everyone, I’m talking about everyone, not just the Latino community because when we break those barriers and stop putting us in silos, we’re all working together to create a great community. That’s my goal: for all of us to work together and keep growing.
What’s the significance of Hispanic Heritage Month to you?
It means a lot to me. First being a woman because we all know that’s a huge barrier. Second, being Latina, going back to my voice not being heard, not being seen and people telling you you’re not speaking properly. To have that camaraderie, to see people celebrating their culture, their heritage, brings a lot of warmth and blessings to my heart that we can openly celebrate each other and Hispanic heritage. We all look different, we all sound different and we can celebrate that.
I just think that celebrating our culture and being able to voice who we are without being looked upon as if we don’t belong is huge. That’s one of the things I’m doing with the Latin Chambers. I’m working with a lot of businesses and people so that you can see the difference in our community.
Can you tell me about your own business, Visions GPS Branding?
I was a single mom when I started my journey as an entrepreneur, now my kids are all grown and out of the house. But Visions is for the vision that God gave me. GPS is my name, Gudelia Paula Sours. We do branding, marketing, embroidery, screen printing, videos, photography, anything that a corporation needs. I’ve learned on my journey and that’s the other reason I say I have an arsenal behind me because I have a network of small businesses behind me. So if I can’t do a job, I know that they can and that’s how we work together.
How important is representation in business and how can the South Bend-Elkhart region ensure more visibility for Hispanic leaders?
By allowing them to come to the table. I have been to many different tables in the community, and when I see I’m the only one there, I ask myself, “Why?” I’m now a little pushy but I wasn’t always like this. Things have changed in the last couple years; it’s been getting better. Getting the word out and allowing people that look like us to be able to sit at the table and have an opportunity. And not just to be at the table but asking them questions like, “What do you think?” So not simply, a seat at the table but actual involvement.