Susana Baumann at Tecla Awards Hispanicize 2015

It was nerve racking, it was exciting, and it was intoxicating!  A newbie at the Hispanicize event –my first time participating–, the TECLA Awards at Hispanicize 2015 turned out to be such a combination of emotions!

The venue, the Marriot Marquis at Biscayne Boulevard in Miami 19^th floor was gorgeous: pool, outside setting for the welcoming reception; inside, the living-room style setting with white armchairs and a central stage. Manny “the man at Hispanicize” Ruiz gave the intro words in his own casual style to around 300 people who attended the awards reception.

Meeting new friends we have been following on Twitter was such a treat: Melanie GonzaLez @mendezgonzales, Lynn Ponder @Ponderful, Lissa Monet Morales @xoxoLizza, Jeannette Kaplun @JeannetteKaplun, and so many others we admire and follow!

Susana G Baumann @LIBizus and Claudia Krusch @ckrusch at Hispanicize 2015

Best Business or Finance Blog was one of the last to come up during the first part of the night. We were competing with Cuponeando and Think Multicultural. My kudos to both of them for the great job they do!

Although I wanted to win –of course, you work all year and live for these moments– I did not think being such a young platform we would have a chance– but when they mentioned LatinasIn Business.us as the winner, a feeling of fulfillment and completion took over me.

At only six months of launching LIBizus, we have over 5000 followers on our site and that is the most rewarding feeling: there is a niche looking for what we offer. Now, being recognized by our colleagues is even more exciting, the welcome to the Hispanicize family and the world of Latino social media. That is more than we could expect!

Hispanicize 2015 Tecla Awards at Marriott Marquis in Miami

I have met many bloggers I admire; many of them have been in the social media trend for a long time. I have a lot to learn from these amazing Latinas, and meeting them allows me to now reach out and invite them to be a part of OUR LIBizus. After all, this is what we are, this is what we do: we tell the stories of amazing Latinas in business making history.

A special thanks to the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (SHCCNJ) for always supporting LIBizus and for the great work they are doing at reaching out in social media. Gracias Prez Carlos Medina, my friend and mentor Luis O De la Hoz and all the team at SHCCNJ. I’m proud to represent you everywhere I go!

Susana G Baumann with Tecla Award 2015 for Best Business Blog