For Maritza Rojas the transition from the corporate world into entrepreneurship has been a whirlwind. After deciding to be her own boss two years ago, she began laying the foundation for her new career with the help of her husband, David Giraldo.

Today she is the proud, albeit very busy, owner of two East Orlando-based businesses: Step by Step Learning Academy, a childcare and education center on South Goldenrod, and Innovative Language Services (ILS), a workplace-specific language and cross-cultural education institution for medical and service oriented providers that provides translation and interpretation assistance.

“The hardest part for me has been definitely finding the economic resources to keep the businesses moving forward while raising a family and continually defining what ‘time management’ actually means,” says Rojas. “It takes a lot of careful planning, in these times especially, to determine what lending options are available, where cash flow comes from, but the business is there. Finding the capital has been the hard part.”

Still, she could not be happier with her new businesses and the direction they are both taking. In fact, after being opened for just over one year, Step by Step is already in the process of expanding to more than double its original size.

So far, the center has a roster of about 50 families and handles a maximum of 34 children at a time. Upon completing their expansion sometime between September and December, she will be able to accommodate an additional 60 children. “There is a great demand for a business like ours here. A place that offers quality childcare, an accredited learning curriculum for kids aged one through voluntarily pre-kindergarten (VPK) age and special activities like karate with a family feel and a personal touch was so needed, we were glad to be the place,” she says.

So far the center has created six and a half jobs. By the time the expansion is complete, Rojas hopes to have in the neighborhood of 15-18. “We don’t want to get any larger than that,” she says. “That way we never get too far away from the personal attention and family atmosphere we feel is so important to succeed in this industry.”

Set in the zip codes of 32822 and 32807, Rojas says that almost 50 percent of the residents are Hispanic, which is something that has played into the success of both of her current business ventures. “There are so many professionals out there, both Spanish and English speaking, that want to reach out to each other because they know there is a viable market literally down the street, but they aren’t quite sure how to do that, that’s where ILS comes in,” she says.

Offering everything from translation services on official documents and marketing collateral to interpretation of multiple dialects for business clients, ILS also has an education component for the general consumer as well.

“We also offer basic English courses, either in-person or online, for people that want it,” says Rojas. “Most people coming to this country want to live here and function as a U.S. citizen should, so we want to be able to instruct them not only how to pass the immigration exam, but how to live day-to-day and become a member of their community.”

In both businesses, Rojas attributes her immediate success to a lot of hard work, being in the right place at the right time and a people-first attitude. “You can talk to an individual, get to know them on a personal level and you can really feel the difference that level of service brings - that’s what we want to do in every interaction we have with a client,” she says. “People remember you that way, they recommend you that way and it gives a whole new level of satisfaction.”

Down the road, Rojas hopes to continue and improve the people-first business model she is utilizing for both businesses. For the childcare center, her goal one day is to open up more centers throughout Central Florida, and maybe even explore franchising opportunities. As for the language services business, gaining the trust of the corporate world and showing them how language training and cultural understanding of the Hispanic community can create a positive image and increase their client base has been the biggest hurdle.

But no matter what, she wants to remain happy and busy, just like she is right now. “I love what I do,” she says. “In both businesses, one person needs another, and, if you’re able to make those connections, you can really go home feeling like you accomplished something for the day, and nothing is better than that.”

Article by Corey Gehrold