Perla Tamez is a Latina serial entrepreneur, child speech pathologist assistant, and public speaker. For the last decade she has dedicated her life’s work to empowering others to unlock their truest potential. From her thriving outpatient pediatric clinics to her advocacy work for healthcare and children’s rights policies, Perla is a powerhouse of unstoppable drive.
Perla grew up in the small town of Hidalgo, Texas, where she learned at a young age to run toward her dreams. An overachiever in high school, Perla graduated with fifty-two college hours already under her belt and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders, which allowed her to devote her passion to help children rehabilitate. Then at the age of just twenty-one Perla founded her first outpatient pediatric clinic, Dynamic Rehab Group, which over the past eleven years has grown into one of the largest providers in South Texas.
Lessons learned from a serial entrepreneur
Throughout her 12 years of business, Perla has had startups in 13 industries. She is a serial entrepreneur. She’s tried it all, from publishing a local magazine, owning a high-end furniture store, importing and exporting fruits and vegetables…the list goes on and on.
Not all of her ventures have been successful, but Perla sees every experience–even the failures–as an opportunity to learn and grow.
“I’ve had several business failures. Seven of my startups were not good deals, but the lessons I gained are invaluable and I continue to grow my expertise to help others not make the same mistakes,” says Perla. “A failure when accepted and turned into knowledge is gold.”
After years of experience, and many ups and downs, Perla has learned from past mistakes and offers a few words of advice to other young business women aspiring to conquer their dreams.
Her 3-step process is as follows:
- Identify your goal: Having a clear goal is key.
- Next, recognize your team: Those who support you will be the ones helping you reach your goals, so make sure you surround yourself with the right people.
- Finally, celebrate your success and accept constructive criticism.
Most importantly, Perla says, “Never give up and keep pushing.”
Finding success and fulfillment in speech pathology
Her ambitious, goal oriented mentality is what helped her find success in her passion as a child speech pathologist.
In an interview with Authority Magazine, Perla recounted how as a teenager she often visited her mother’s adult daycare center. “During those visits, I noticed speech therapists working with elderly clients who experienced issues with their speech following traumatic brain injuries or severe strokes,” she said. Seeing them find their voices again was an amazing and uplifting experience that would later inspire her to pursue a career in speech pathology.
Her rehabilitation clinic has helped thousands of children over the past decade to rehabilitate and progress in their language abilities. Child speech pathologists help children process and understand information, while also addressing other issues such as decreasing stuttering or improving articulation. Language is one of the major tools we use to express ourselves and connect with others and the work child speech pathologists do is often life-changing for children. For Perla, it has been incredibly inspiring to witness her patients reaching big life milestones.
“My favorite anecdote is recently when one of our patients with Down Syndrome graduated from high school,” she shares. “He was our very first patient, 12 years ago. Seeing him graduate was a big success to our therapist and family. As his mom said, we were a big part of his rehabilitation process.”
Moments like these are the true markers of success for Perla. Having started multiple businesses in her 12 plus years as an entrepreneur, she has learned that success is not found in monetary numbers, but in the impact of her work. She couldn’t have imagined how many lives she would help when she took that leap of faith and launched her first startup straight out of college at 21, but all the obstacles and challenges have been worth it.
Supporting Hispanic communities during Covid-19
In addition to her work in speech pathology, Perla’s passion for service extends to her work as the National Hub Director of Hispanic Star, leading 30 plus chapters of Latinos around the U.S., who are role models in their communities.
Perla joined Hispanic Star because of her passion for supporting fellow Hispanics reach their own goals and dreams.
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“As a minority owned business, I support women and minorities. I have 99% Latina women in my company and as we support them, we grow in support from our community,” says Perla.
At Hispanic Star, she is working to further amplify the voices of Hispanics.
“Hispanics have to be seen, heard, and valued! This is our time to shine!”
During Covid-19, the organization has been specifically working to help support Hispanic communities that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic in the U.S.
In the past 3 months Hispanic Star has helped over 200,000 people and raised $150,000 to help people secure food and hygiene essentials and pay rent and utility bills.
These numbers will hopefully continue to grow with donations and volunteer support from corporations, community members, and leaders.
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