Lindamaria is a creative leader with international and multicultural experience managing and working in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the United States, showcasing strong partnership coordination and networking skills.
Over the past 25 years, she has worked with international organizations and multilateral agencies. She has helped launch or played an instrumental role in developing platforms and initiatives to advance economic prosperity, local empowerment, women’s entrepreneurship, creative and circular economy impact across the globe.
Passionate about practical and scalable solutions for sustainable development, focusing on inclusion, equity, and diversity. This characteristic has guided her professional and academic life, founding ACUDE Guatemala, Fralinor Creative Consulting, and Red and Green Connections. Organizations that work toward Education, innovation, and Creativity as a tool for changing lives and sustainable prosperity. She is also a visual artist, and that personality trait gives her an innovative approach to her endeavors.
She graduated in international business, art education, marketing, nonprofit management, economic development, and public administration from different universities in Latin America, Europe, and the USA. Universidad del Istmo Guatemala, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, and Florida International University.
Her expertise and knowledge in establishing systems and overseeing initiatives under different resources and circumstances are assets in her career. Also, her international vision and multicultural approach have influenced her research interest in public policies and administrative structures (government, nonprofit, and partnerships) to foster cultural activities as a catalyst for economic development and social well-being. Currently, she is a Public Affairs Ph.D. candidate at Florida International University.
“My professional experience allowed me to witness how education, innovation, and creativity can change lives.”
Learn more about Linda here:
Name of your business, website, social media handles
Fralinor Creative Consulting, LLC
https://linktr.ee/fralinor
What has been our greatest & favorite achievement so far and why?
Studying and graduating from two careers at the same time, I was able to study Art Education and Business and survive.
If you are an entrepreneur, what motivated you to start your own business?
I have experience and knowledge in establishing systems and supervising start-ups under limited time and resource constraints. In my 20s, I was part of a group interested in helping to recover Guatemala after Hurricane Mitch. We create ACUDE Guatemala. A few years later, I contributed to different projects for business development and export handicrafts from Guatemala, promoting small business producers. That’s how Fralinor Creative Consulting was born; it was evolving because I started to sell my art through it, and I also worked on some consulting projects for Europe and eventually in the USA. By 2017, Red and Green Connections was also another creation. Working with fellow artists from different countries, we could make exhibitions with our art, but our professions also allowed us to share expertise and help more creative entrepreneurs to make more sustainable businesses in the creative and cultural industries.
What does success mean to you?
Call me radical, but I am not a fan of the word “success” because it implies a vision from others of yourself, and sometimes outsiders would never know how much you have worked and endured to achieve goals. It is measured by perspective, and that is subjective. It is like the proverb, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, or something like that.
What is your mantra or favorite saying? (If it's a known quote, please let us know who said it first!)
“To develop a complete mind: Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
What failure taught you the most about life or business? What was the lesson?
When you are about to change your life for a company, ensure you are negotiating correctly because you are arranging your life, peace, and legal status. You have to be assertive, especially if you are a Latin woman. Many preconceptions put you in a disadvantaged position. That’s why we need to be bold and demand respect.
What's your favorite book - fiction or non-fiction! - in the past year?
The past year, all my reading was about the creative economy, but one of the different readings I loved was “La Companera”, by Agustina Guerrero
If you could teach the world one five-minute lesson, what would it be?
How to recover humanity through culture, and art with small gestures of kindness
Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently when you were first starting out?
Demand more respect and be more assertive with my decisions.
What does women's empowerment look like to you in action?
Being an alchemist, when you are able to see weaknesses and turn them into strengths, find problems and turn them into opportunities. With myself and with others. Be decisive and resourceful. Be aware of the power we have to change the world.
What would you tell 19-year-old YOU?
You will do everything you dream of, and some surprises will come around; you are like a chameleon, adaptable everywhere, which is your biggest asset. Trust your instinct; you are not crazy or highly paranoid. Just trust your got. And keep smiling. No matter what, that is your superpower.
What will 86-year-old you want you to know TODAY?
Pilates: look for a place to do some Yoga and Pilates
What is your favorite place for our audience to reach you?
Instagram, I love to share pictures with some artistic detail about my life, the places I visit, and the colors of the day.
What is your favorite quote? (It can be yours or from someone that you look up to.)
My quote Significant actions cause big movements, but the sum of small actions can change the course of the movements.
