Editor’s note: For this article, ADWEEK has departed from its style of using “Latin” in interviewees’ responses.
At 50, Beatriz Acevedo was supposed to downsize the “hustle and bustle of startup life.”
There were already multiple milestones in her career. At the age of eight, she was a member of a trade union at a Mexican radio station. She writes, produces, and hosts the Emmy Award-winning show, representing the 1% of Hollywood showrunners who are Latino immigrants. Her multiple startups targeting Latinx audiences in entertainment and media have proven to be more than successful. Mitú has become a leading media company that speaks to the “200% Generation” (100% American, 100% Latino) and has attracted major investors. .
But after seeing her community hit hard financially and physically by the pandemic, she tapped into her “superpower” of raising money through investors like Chingona Ventures. Fintech, digital media, and soon a major experiential activation called Dinero Fest.
Over the past three years, Suma has averaged over 350% year-over-year growth, with the app reaching 8 million monthly unique users. 30% of these users are not Latinx, which is a testament to what Acevedo is doing: reimagining financial inclusion by making finance approachable and understandable through culture-first creative. Match. To date, users have increased their savings by more than 2.5 times compared to the national average.
Acevedo speaks with ADWEEK about his work on rebranding finance for the Latinx community and beyond, why he’s focused on connecting with the next generation, and the cultural nuances that influence Latinx consumer behavior. We talked about our insights.
Her words have been edited for length and clarity.
Finance needed reinvention
My father had a family foundation in Mexico, but I wanted to bring it to the United States. After he passed away, I planned to run the foundation and serve on its board. Fortunately, I was asked to join the foundation. Please make a contribution to society.
Then the pandemic hit. Just looking at the data, our communities have been hit hard, not only by deaths but also by economic hardship. I told my friend Xavier Gutierrez (chairman and CEO of ImpactX Sports Group) that I wanted to raise money and support Latino entrepreneurs. I was already an angel investor, but I wanted to do more. And he said: “No, you don’t want to do this.” You want to start a fintech company. “I said absolutely no. I don’t know anything about finance. There’s no way I can do it. He (reassured me that I was the right person) because people who know about finance don’t know how to start a large company and attract an audience.
Finance needed to be transformed, reinvented. Finance is a very stressful subject for young people and even older generations. There are many financial education apps that can help you manage and grow your money. These are great products, but they are not made by Latin Americans.
I don’t mean to disparage my other CEO colleagues who run fintechs, but they tend to focus on language. There was a large demonstration that was conducted only in Spanish. I wanted to focus on young people, whose impact is greater. That is the key to moving the needle toward closing the wealth gap. So we had to reinvent (finance). It can’t be boring. It’s not a big deal. First, it had to be culture.
The ‘Safe to Spend’ feature shows users how much money they can spend each day without affecting their household finances, i.e. without exceeding a threshold. Suma
I enrolled in every class because I was scared to death. FinTech (at) Harvard University, Stanford University, Berkeley University, Wharton University. I studied day, night, and weekend, and (just) slept for about two hours to absorb everything. I said I’m not going to release this and then become a fake. I was very honored and lucky to have several investors, especially female investors.
If this really scales up, it will have a huge impact on community wealth. That’s very exciting. I feel like I can die in peace.
The key to the next generation
When I built a Suma and tried to understand that the American-born, English-speaking younger generation (neither here nor there) felt like “ni de aki, ni de ala.” It was a shock for me. They are “not American enough” here. When they visit their parents’ country of origin, they don’t speak perfect Spanish. They are almost in no man’s land.
The moment you start speaking English, you become responsible for interpreting for doctors, corporations, etc. Navigating the American psyche, both literally and figuratively, is what we do as Sherpas or navigators.
The young man we currently serve in Suma manages the finances of three other families, many of whom are older and Spanish. Being part of the sandwich generation puts a lot of stress on young kids in our community. Because they have a responsibility to their parents, or to their children when they become parents themselves. And it’s really difficult. Our parents didn’t plan for retirement. Or there is a perception that everything that[the mother]saved, she gave to her parents (and we are expected to do the same). “You are my 401K” cycle. So if we’re always trying to catch up with the little wealth we build, when will we be able to build generational wealth?
The other thing is that you’re the first person in your family to do a lot of things, and there’s no one in your family to give you that kind of advice. For example, let’s say you’re the first in your family to go to college. Whether it’s a college essay, how to navigate an internship, finding a job, career advice, or asking for a raise, there’s little they could have helped you with. The system here (in the US) is very different (than in other countries). In other words, we are having trouble with information education.
Many of these young people earn more money than their parents or grandparents made in their lifetimes. So one is guilt. The second thing is the anxiety of, “I don’t know how to deal with this.” The third is distrust. My parents didn’t trust financial institutions. They don’t have a traditional financial institution, a “financial Fabuloso” where the whole family uses Fabuloso and the whole family can trust this financial institution.
If you know you have a responsibility to your aging parents, and ultimately to your children and yourself, you should start early. You have no choice. And hopefully the next generation will be set up as you do so. Because, hopefully, your children won’t have to take care of you. Once we get there, we have a chance to make progress in reducing wealth inequality. That’s why I pay so much attention to this generation, which is burdened with great burdens and in need of help and support. They are the ones who can make that change happen in generations to come.
The biggest opportunity for Latinos (of this generation) is to make them feel “de aqui y de alla” (from all over). Not all brands do it well. I’ve seen a lot of people doing that now, and I’m glad they’re catching up, but it’s not just English or Spanish. I fully believe in the power of culture. Don’t lead with language, lead with culture.
It’s all about leading with culture
I go back to Latinidad in everything I do. So I ended up seeing luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) (on SNS). Paletas (Mexican frozen sweets made from fresh natural fruit) instead of emojis. To explain the difference between FICO and Vantage credit scores, we’ll look at arepas and gorditas (cornmeal cakes).
Since this is my demo, I always wanted to focus on English and culture. But then I started getting questions (from users). “Can you send this in Spanish to my mom or my Tia?” And I think, “Can you send this in Spanish to my mom or my Tia?” Why not go to other fintechs that cater only to Spanish and Spanish-speaking people? And they say, “No, it’s not fun, it’s not interesting, it’s not cool, it’s not smart.” Sho. Therefore, we are now rushing to create that content (content) in Spanish and make it available for all education as a core demo resource. Our core demo does not plan to consume (content) in Spanish. But again, we want to relieve them of the burden they have carried all their lives of having to translate for their families and recommending what they like. I’m thinking.
I want to create something that makes people feel like they belong. And when I think about Mitsu and Suma, I realize that my children are the ones I feel belong to, even if that wasn’t the experience I grew up with. I would like to confirm. My children were born in the United States. They speak perfect Spanish, but they also speak perfect English. They are proud to be Latino. They are proud to be American. They are proud to be Jewish. There is so much about their identity that they are proud of and I absolutely love that. And I tried very hard to make them feel that way. So I want to do the same for every other young person in America. I want them to feel like they have a place, whether it’s in the media or money. They deserve to build wealth and they belong here.
Being Latina is my superpower. I never feel inferior. It doesn’t feel small. I don’t feel any sense of lack. There is no one like me, so I can represent them. And when I come in, it takes up a lot of space. I come in wearing an embroidered shirt and big hoops and let my hands do the talking. I’m loud and passionate. I’m unapologetically Latinx, so that helped me.
