From heartbreak to hope, this episode shares the powerful story of how Letty Vélez rebuilt her life and business after deep personal and financial loss in the millions. We talk about resilience, reinvention, and what it really looks like to rise again when life doesn’t go as planned. If you’ve ever felt like it’s too late to start over, this conversation will remind you of your strength, your purpose, and the possibility waiting on the other side of courage.
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The Dr. Sev Talks Money podcast’s mission is to empower women to approach money confidently, reframe their financial habits, and build a future where their money is a tool for opportunity and security.
Through Dr. Sev Talks Money YouTube channel and Podcast, I provide actionable advice and inspiration to help you achieve financial freedom.
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Transcript
Hey, hey, hey, Savvy Squad. Welcome to another episode of the Dr. Sev Talks Money, YouTube and podcast where we empower women to manage money confidently ever dreamed of starting something new after 40 or 50, and wondered if it’s too late. Today we’re diving into second acts and unstoppable women, those who rebuild, relaunch, and refuse to be counted out.
We’ll talk about the grit it takes to close one chapter and start another. Finding purpose in reinvention and how determination can literally bring money back to the people you serve. My guest today, Letty Velez, is a powerhouse serial entrepreneur and community advocate known as the Latina Robin Hood, and I wanna know more about that.
She’s the CEO of Velez Global Enterprises and IC Clean Energy. A grant strategist who’s helped clients secure over 9 million in funding and a fierce champion for small and minority owned businesses across the USA. Letty. Welcome to the show. I’m happy to have you. Yay.
Thank you for having me. I’m so excited.
There’s so much that , we’re gonna dig into. I love to start on a fun note, so here’s the question. If your great, great grandchildren, open a time capsule from you a hundred years from now.
What’s one personal item or message you’d hope they find? Wow. And while you’re thinking, about that, I will share mine. Okay. I want ’em to find a journal that shows my whole story, the beautiful, the broken, the mess, everything that shaped me. And I include a note that says something along the lines of.
Lead with love, not judgment, because compassion for self and others, and authenticity, which is my favorite word, build bridges that last far longer than perfection or hate ever could. That is the message I would want them to have and take to the next generation.
How about you?
That’s precious. Because I am a bling girl, they would find a whole bunch of diamonds and I would include a story called The Field of Diamonds.
It’s an amazing story about how there’s diamonds around us and sometimes we don’t know, and people are so busy looking around or feeling lost, or they don’t see the value in things, and there’s preciousness everywhere, and sometimes there just could be an uncut diamond. And someone that they don’t realize.
And so I think, yeah, that’s the one that most likely I’d have in there besides having a cross to my CEO boss in heaven. Yep.
Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So let’s get into it. You’ve been called the Latina Robinhood. Yeah. And I really love that phrase. Where did that name come from and what does it represent to you?
Well, it’s funny, and thank you for that question. That’s a real good one. There’s different people in history that, have impacted my life. But growing up when I was little, my dad and I used to sit there, and just watch tv and I’m the baby of four. And, one of the two shows that were my favorite that I would watch with my dad was, Robin Hood, and then the other one was the Lone Ranger.
That’ll help with my age, because I’m in my mid fifties. But, so because of the grant writing, grant hunting, I do. That’s how I feel. I feel like a warrior and, I can’t remember if I thought it up or I was coined that ’cause I was written up by the largest Hispanic media print in the country as the Latina Robinhood.
But yeah, that’s how I feel and that’s how I see myself and that’s how I am.
So we’re gonna get more into the work that you do, but I want to ask about this because this is such a huge shift. You once owned a multimillion dollar bus company and later had to close it during an estate battle.
What are some lessons that you learned that taught you resilience and reinvention?
Oh God, that’s so good. Well, being a female in a male industry, that’s one thing. When I started my bus company in 2004. I was still married and I became a widow in 2005, so barely a year later.
And I got into this huge estate battle. So being a female male industry, having, growing the business, being multimillion annually, revenue, I think one of the biggest things was being unstoppable and thinking that no one could stop me, even though I was in the beginning at that time when he passed away of an estate battle.
That was gonna be so pivotal for my life because I learned so much during that case, and it was an almost 10 year battle. And I closed the bus company only because I was tired of the fight and the millions and millions of dollars that I lost. But one thing that I knew is that my team and the people that I served.
Were my driving force and my son, who today is a veteran from the Air Force, Antonio, but yeah, they were my driving force and so everything that I did was for them and then my clients, and the work that we did and my former bus company.
Wow. That had to have been a rough time, for you, but look at you now, right?
Yeah, yeah,
I think it’s an encouragement to those who may be going through a rough time right now, to realize that, and I know it’s cliche, but tough times don’t last. But tough people do, when you’re in the middle of things, it’s so hard to see the end.
It’s so hard to see a way out. , But many times all we need to do is look at the last battle we fought. Yeah. And see that, hey, I came out of that. And what are the things that I learned that I can apply to this battle?
Yeah.
I hope that encourages someone who’s listening.
Yeah. And Dr.
Sev, if I can add one of the other components, and this is extremely personal, but I am an advocate for domestic violence. I also have that in my marriage. And so to do that, have my bus company do all the things that I was doing. Nobody ever knew when I would show up for work what had happened the night before or that morning.
Because I was so driven on showing up. I mean, fast forward a psychiatrist I used to have said, oh, he started applauding after our first meeting. He was like saying, you are such a great actress. And at first I was like, why is this guy clapping? But it’s ’cause he saw me. He saw what I was hiding.
And I must have communicated it out. And I only share that because so many people hide that and some people don’t know how to navigate that. And, it was just a lot of prayer and encircling myself with good family and friends to, to help me through that and to know that I was not to blame. It was just a circumstance of what I was in.
Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that. Because sometimes memories are not easy. Even though we’re over it, it still sometimes brings some things back. So thank you so much for sharing that. So many women are in their forties and fifties and they’re launching new chapters, a business a degree, or investments, something.
So for you, what mindset shift helped you move from grief and loss into building again, with purpose?
It’s interesting because I remember when I had to make that pivotal decision, I was praying a lot and I was like, God, give me a sign. And then I started getting different signs and I remember one particular one and, it was, Steve Harvey and he was on TV and he was being interviewed and he said, you know, when life changes? he goes, when you get sick and tired of being sick and tired.
I was like, oh yeah, I’m beyond sick and tired. And so when I closed my bus company, which was very difficult, because it was so embedded in my DNA that I started telling people, you know, even now I talk about it and I say I had a God appointed sabbatical, and I went into trying to heal and learn, what can I do now?
And. Who can I be? But when I had the bus company, I created my own access to capital program and hopefully we’ll talk about that and why I created that. Then I was also connecting people and businesses, whether they were for-profit or nonprofit, were making thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands or millions because of my intros.
And then, I loved, amplifying people’s brands and nominating people for awards, and I was just driven on all these things and now they’re part of my consulting company. Yeah, so that’s what I started doing. And I’ll tell you something really interesting. I think this is key, Dr. Sev I said, well, when you have to recreate yourself, at that time, LinkedIn was like, fairly new-ish.
And I’m like, who do people wanna know? I only had 245 connections or whatever. And I was like, well, who do I know that they wanna know? And I had this massive relationship with Sam’s and Walmart and I was like, that’s it. So I started hunting in my mentors networks on LinkedIn, and then I was hunting like a beast, you know?
And before you knew it, my numbers started growing and I was like, my new chapter.
Yeah. Out of ashes, right? Yeah.
It’s the Phoenix, right? Yeah.
I love that, connection right there, that wraparound, out of ashes. Yep.
Literally.
So you mentioned, that program, access program. Can you, talk a little bit about that,
the access to capital?
Yeah, so it’s funny because I remember that for most of my years in my business, I had to do my own funding, you know, self-funding or friends and family. I always made it as a contract with whoever it was, friend or family. I always gave ’em a percentage more, made them sign the agreement. I put on the timeline of the borrowing of the funds.
I always made it an actual business transaction. So they didn’t think that I was just trying to get a favor. So many people along the journey that helped me. I had one particular friend, she’s like, I was gonna buy, a townhouse and I needed extra money. I didn’t know what was gonna come from.
Then you reached out to me and that extra 10% helped me have the deposit I needed. And I was like, wow. Who would’ve ever thought about things like that? Right. And then I found nontraditional lenders, so CDFIs, which are nonprofit lenders, other non-traditional lending tools for small business. And then I was like, I gotta tell people.
And then I did my own event and I brought different, lenders and, because of my relationships in the state of Chicago and, the current mayor at the time, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, I had his office endorsing me and supporting me. So it was really great to see that extra support.
You’ve done a lot and you’re still doing a lot.
Yes.
So before we jump into, the next question, I want to have a quick break and that is. Reminding everyone that if you are enjoying today’s episode, the best way to support the show is to share it and leave a rating on your favorite podcast platform.
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never miss a new episode like this fabulous one that you’re listening to. So you’ve become known for helping small businesses, pastors and nonprofits secure millions in grants. For someone hearing grants and thinking that’s out of reach for me, what are some things that they should consider?
Where should they begin?
The first thing is they need to be document prepared. Document prepared basically means that you have your articles of incorporation, you have your I-R-S-E-I-N tax paperwork, and you have other information that you’re also gonna need in one. I recommend digital folder.
That’s the beginning. That is beyond essential. Having all that information ready and then doing research to find different brands that might work for you. Whether it’s, woman owned, minority owned. Veteran owned L-G-B-T-Q, disabled. There’s so many different things. And then looking at what does that mean and how do you apply?
Is this a for-profit entity? Is this for a nonprofit? Are you doing stuff to give back to community in your for-profit? So now you’re doing social enterprise work. There’s so many benefits there. And it might seem daunting to some people, but you just have to know what is it that you want, what are you building on and where do you need help, what type of funding amount you’re looking for.
And then, knowing and believing that every time you send an application and you have to believe in it. Like I pray when I start an application for myself or a client, and then I pray before I hit send. I also PDF, everything, and I save it in a digital folder with the title of the grant so that I have documents to show what that application was for.
I love your energy around this. Yeah. And the structure that you are, sharing with our listeners. You’ve been called a community navigator and ultimate connector. How has relationship building played a role in your business success and advocacy work? And I think I’ve heard a lot of it, and our listeners have, but share some more about that.
I’m a collector of amazing good people. And I joke with people and I’m like, if someone’s bad, I throw ’em back on their islands and let someone else pick someone. But I mean, the way that my heart and soul is that if I like and love you, it’s for life. It doesn’t matter where you go. I think one of the key things about me is because I’m so authentically me.
Am I corporate appropriate? Am I whatever appropriate? You know, I just speak from my heart. But the one key thing that I think has always been very instrumental in any relationships that I have is I always get to meet the person first. Then I learn about their title and then their position at whether it’s their own company or corporation.
During that discovery, if you will, because I’m looking for my next BFF. I’ll ask them key things about themselves and key wishes and aspirations that they have. And I always make it within that year timeline. So I’m not looking for 10 years away. Most people are in shock and surprise that someone would care that much.
And then as I’m building those relationships, I’m very intentional and focused. When I processed and filed information, they gave me about their wishes or their goals, is to make sure that if there’s any way I could help them on any of those, I will do that for them.
And that is such a sad state of the world, that when someone is genuine and authentic and they offer help that people think there is something attached.
Yeah. And I believe, I understand ’cause authenticity my prime word for my business. Yeah. And the prime word for my life. And I see people on. Social media and they’ll say, oh, I wish I could, go live. Or I wish I could go on YouTube and I offer to, Hey, I can meet with you.
And I’m thinking, I’ve been doing this for a while. I have something I can offer, but they probably think I’m going to want to get paid, no, I’m just doing this because I see a need and I feel like I can give you a few tips. Yeah. But it’s a sad state of the world where people think that if you are offering something, there’s a catch.
Yeah. And I think Dr. Sev, if I could add to that, one of the key things that I’ve learned throughout my career, whether it was in the former bus company and even currently what I do, I’ve been mentored. I’m a mentor from people in government and corporate. Okay. And the lives I’ve impacted.
And I remember when I got the first opportunity with some massive corporate, like Fortune One company stuff. I thought, oh my God, not this little Puerto Rican chick from the hood in Chicago. Like who? I mean, I can’t be mentoring someone. They’re like corporate and they’re in the castle, and all this stuff.
And I remember one of my mentors, and she used to be with Sam’s Club and she said, Letty, Sam’s Club, and I have learned more from you. We could have ever mentored you on and helped you. And I was like floored. It was very foundationally shaped because I thought I didn’t have enough value. So I think if we reflect on who we are, like you were saying, and we’re coming from a genuine place of I just wanna help because I know that the impact of the things that I do, the people I touch, or what I’m learning and listening on, I can share it forward.
And I don’t show up as Letty. I show up as Letty and my community. And one thing I tell people, my community is not a Hispanic thing, it’s not a female thing, it’s a humanity thing. And so it’s always like all of us together locking arms and saying, what do we need to know? And I’m always, and I’m always hungry for knowledge and I wanna learn more too.
So I’m always telling people like, tell me, coach me, I’m open.
The mentor mentee relationships that succeed are the ones that are two ways. It’s not me being the mentor, the God I know everything and you coming to me to get information. We can all learn from each other.
If we’re open to that, we can have a beautiful relationship. So I love that you mentioned that.
And taking action. Because some mentees, if they don’t take the action and all they do is listen and they show up for the calls, don’t show up like, you’re doing me a favor. Show up because you want it. And you know what, take a chance and test out what I’m saying.
And because of some of the mentoring I’ve done, some of my mentees have had the most astronomical life changes, career changes. I had one in January, she even took me off for my birthday and she was like, Letty I gotta tell you everything that happened. ’cause of the mentoring you did a few years before, her career trajectory was astronomical.
But as a mentor, another thing we forget is to share the wins so that the mentor or sponsor can understand, I took your advice and this is what happened. Even when it doesn’t work, just sharing so they know.
We have a tendency not to share our wins too. Unfortunately, we think oh, it’s just a little thing.
It’s just this little progress that we made instead of really celebrating those milestones on to the big thing. The big thing that we view as that’s the area of success when I get there. Mm-hmm. And yes. And what you said about the mentor and the mentee, the mentee being open and not only just getting information, but applying.
I mean, I know some professional information gatherers, because they go to every conference they read, every book they read, take every course, but they never apply the thing. And so yes, it’s not just about getting a great mentor, it’s about applying what the mentor shared, because then.
You can go back and say, I tried this and it didn’t work. Okay, what? How did you do it? What did you, what steps did you take? Maybe it’s something you missed in our com communication, and now the mentee mentor can go in and say, okay, this is the part that you missed. But if you never apply, they don’t know where you’re struggling because you come in and you just.
Absorbing information over time and not applying. So, I’m a hundred percent in agreement.
Dr. Sev The other thing is saying thank you. I’m so grateful that you invited me to this and I met you through the invitation. You extended out. I was so excited. I was praying on it and I was like, I hope she picks me because, I thought about you.
I thought about the potential people I can touch. But most people don’t say thank you and share that gratitude whether there’s something bigger that comes out of it. How about some gratitude of just, thank you.
Yes, yes. I walk through my house and I’ll look around and I’m just, thank you.
Thank you. I’m going downstairs and I’m able to walk downstairs and I say thank you. There’s never a day passed when I don’t say thank you. And if somebody helps me even no matter what, even if they think what they did was nothing, I still say thank you because they didn’t have to. And to your point, it doesn’t take much for the mentee to come back and say thank you.
But then, if you look in the Bible, how many were healed and how many returned to say thank you,
yes.
And that’s an unfortunate thing,
But listen, you are giving people an access to a microphone and an amplified access to lives everywhere. The same thing when someone meets someone.
They could be another small business owner. Another thing that I think is really key that I’d love to add here, that I learned, especially one specific time. Too many people are discounting older people and their advice, which to me is horrific because to me, they’re the ones that have the wealth of history.
Yes. And so they get discounted and I’m like, do not make it about the influencers of this time and the little babies and the little toddlers, gen Zs and millennials walking around. You gotta look at the boomers. I’m an X and all of these people from the past that really have had so much and built amazing things, but so many people write ’em off.
We all have something to contribute and just because the world has changed doesn’t mean our knowledge and our wisdom has disappeared. And it, can be applied a different way in this new world that we’re living in, this world of technology or whatever it is, there’s always something that we can benefit from.
And unfortunately, there are older folks who write off the younger folks too. Yes. So we need to work together and yes. Pull from each other because I learned a lot from my daughter when it comes to technology. Yes. And for me to say, well, I’m the accountant and I’m the coach and I’m the whatever, and I don’t need your help.
’cause you just learning. I could go that route or I could humble myself and say, this is what I know and this is what I don’t know. Who knows the part that’s, there’s a gap? Who knows that? And humble myself to go to that person to get the information that I need. ’cause if I know everything, I don’t need anybody.
I shouldn’t even be here. I should be in the clouds somewhere.
By the way, that is really perfect because I’ve learned so much from my son and sometimes I look at him and I think, wow, he’s so genius at what he knows. And sometimes, they can’t see it for themselves, but his knowledge is so extraordinary that I’m like, oh my God.
Like he’ll say things to me. I’m like, I never thought about that. That’s a great recommendation. And he just helps me through things. So I love that you mentioned that, because we also have to look within our families and our inner circle.
Those kids can really surprise you. And you’re thinking, when I was that age, was I that smart?
I don’t think I was that wise, but that’s okay because , they’re here to keep you humble too. Yeah. So as we’re getting ready to wrap up, what is one thing that you may wanna talk to a woman who is listening to us right now? And, she might feel it’s too late or she may feel like, no, that couldn’t be me.
What is something that you can tell her and encourage her with right now?
We have different, sheros in our life. . And, uh, few of mine that are notable would be Joan of Arc, Cleopatra. But in my home, it was my mom. She was the lioness. And I learned so much from her. Now she’s in heaven and I’ll tell you, she was my ride or die.
I used to take her networking with me and people would be like, you brought your mom. I’m like, oh yeah, she gave me great advice, great support. She was hilarious. But she was also tough because she was an advocate at a time when there was a lot of racial tension in Chicago, in the Chicagoland area and we were in Chicago.
A lot of people don’t hear about the Hispanic side of things, but yeah, we’ve encountered a lot too, and we have to remember that in our hearts first of all, we’re God’s precious daughters, right? If we’re looking at the women’s side of things. But as children, we’re his precious children. We have to lean on him when we need the support and good family and friends.
But we have to know that we, some of us, and many of us have been appointed and anointed to do certain things in life. It’s amazing and it’s extraordinary, but it’s also a sacrifice, and we have to realize that if we don’t step forward and step in to do the things we need to do to lead or to heal a situation, then others will have a loss because we couldn’t move forward.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I had a trauma in 2014 when I closed the bus company. It wasn’t just because of the estate battle, but I didn’t close my bus company because of that. It didn’t define who I was. And who wrapped their wings around me is amazing. I actually wanna write a book about it. The relationships I’ve built over the years are extraordinary, but you all have to know I built those relationships.
Yeah. When I’ve had mentors from Sam’s and Walmart over the years, say things to me like, you talk too much about this, or you talk too much about that. I’m like, this ain’t about you. It could have been any other corporate name. You just happen to be the one that God put in my life. Yeah, we have to step in and create those stories and those relationships.
And we also have to understand that others also want to be nurtured and acknowledged, and we have to step in and do the work that’s needed and then learn together, build together. And then we also need to look at our children. And if I can put anything into whoever’s listening to this, pour what you’re learning good into your children, because those children are the future leaders.
Or entrepreneurs or they could be employees of companies, but if you don’t give them the potential of who they can become, they may not take the chance and risk. And if you pour stuff that doesn’t work in a relationship into them, it’s not gonna work for them or for you with them in the future.
So pour, love, and help ’em know that they can fly and soar if they decide to do that.
Yeah. This is a great place to end because , there is a saying that there is more riches in the graveyard than there are anywhere else because we never act on our potential. And this podcast is all about enlightening, uplifting, and encouraging women to be the best of themselves and.
Even if you think that I’m not the best at a thing or I’m not the best, I’m not in my best, purpose, or I’m not walking in my purpose, whatever you’re doing, it’s okay. Yeah. It’s okay. Celebrate where you are, celebrate what you’re doing and keep moving forward. Yeah. ’cause and another thing that I wanna encourage and that Letty has said, community is where we sometimes will rise and fall.
When
you’re in a community, you are more likely to achieve your goal because you’re held accountable. We’re gonna ask you, what are you doing? You said you wanted to do this, let’s do it. And so, community again and working on your purpose, what was I brought here to do?
And if you are not sure, find somebody who will help you uncover your potential because all of us were created with potential and purpose, and we just have to find it.
And Dr. Sev, one last thing as we wrap up. First of all, thank you again. My goal is that by the end of this month to launch online a training program for grant writing and grant hunting, and to show people how to look and how to do it.
Step one baby steps until we could get them to more advanced stages. And then those that are looking for bigger dollars, showing them how to look, how to be strategic, right. And pray for me so I can really share it forward. And people can learn because I work one-on-one with people, but it’s like in the Bible, if we teach ’em how to fish when their fish runs out, they can go back and get more.
I’ll be posting information when I launch. It’ll be in the website, so I’m excited about that.
Okay. And you can see her website here. It’s VelezGlobalEnterprises.com/grants, and that’s going to be in the show notes, along with other links for where you can connect with her. So Letty, thank you again so much for coming on the Dr.
Sev Talks Money podcast and sharing, so much. I mean, there is so much more that we could go into, and keep going with this conversation. But thank you for sharing what you have so far. And for those of you who are listening, who I’m sure is inspired by, Letty’s Story and the work that she’s doing, please go to her website so you can follow up.
And then when the show note comes out, go there and look and see where else you can connect with her so you know what’s going on in her world. And to my listeners, if you’re ready to start rewriting your own money story, don’t forget to subscribe and check the show notes and Dr. Sev talks Money Library of Content for resources to help you take that next step. Until then, this is Dr. Sev saying, stay savvy and we’ll see you on the next episode.
