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Bringing A Touch Of Cuban Culture to Business – Interview With Chen Lizra

Posted on 31. May, 2010 by in Entrepreneurs, Featured, Interviews

Chen Lizra is someone who turned a real passion for dance into a business, and a passion that she saw a need for in Vancouver.  In fact passion is what this lady is all about and her answers below just ooze it on every level. You’ll feel fired up just reading them.
After a successful 8-year career as an animator working for the top animation companies across Canada, Chen felt burnt out and longed for a career that would make a difference in others’ lives.

After business school and training professionally from the top dancers and teachers in Havana, Cuba, she started Latidos Productions and was one of the first instructors to bring Cuban dances to Vancouverites.

In addition to teaching dance classes, she runs annual tours to Cuba that bring people services and experiences that are impossible for tourists to find when traveling on their own on a two-week trip.

She also founded the Arab Latin events in 2005 and is bringing them back after a three-year hiatus, as a way of contributing to the culture that our city awakened to during the Olympics.

Everything she does stems from her passions for dance, music, and Cuban culture, and brings the joy of those elements to Canadians.

Here’s Chen’s take on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and doing it with passion!

What do you love most about running your own business?

Creating, inventing and being the driving force. My freedom and a flexible schedule. Spending so much time in Cuba each year. Being my own boss. Inspiring and helping others. The transformation that I cause in others. Doing something unique that I invented as my dream job. Enjoying every day of my life.

How do you translate your passion for music, dance and Cuban Culture to your business?

I inspire others to find the passion in them through the dance classes, events and tours to Cuba. People enter a world that asks them to behave differently than the way they do in their own lives based on the habits of their culture.

It challenges their way of thinking. They do it because the results they get in their lives make them feel livelier and feel good about themselves. They dare more. I mean, who doesn’t want to feel sexy and like they can easily attract the opposite sex.

I look for ways where the need of the people, and the music, dance and Cuban culture meet, and can enrich the lives of those interested. It’s as infectious as my passion is, and gives people a sense of fun, warmth and a reinforced positive self-image.

I also travel and perform internationally which gives me the ability to express myself and my creativity, which is amazing for me. I am always moved when I hear how my choreographic work inspired others or made them feel or think something.

What was the biggest hurdle you faced when leaving your career to start your own business?

The biggest was BELIEVING that I could have what I wanted. The second biggest was that it was a rough and rocky financial time and the third was all the sacrifices I had to make to turn my dream into a reality.

What’s been the most rewarding moment so far in following your passion?

My three top moments are:

  1. Doing what I love and getting to work at something which is an expression of who I am. I am enjoying every day. I don’t feel like I live a double life – work and personal life. There is just me. I really love what I do. That’s not a given for everyone.
  2. Seeing how my work is affecting people – inspiring them, seeing their relationships transform and become more magical, or simply seeing them have a breakthrough in their lives. Sometimes I am moved to tears by people.
  3. I call dance “my therapy.” Cuban dance allows me to discover all of me and to dive inside parts of myself that got tangled or I did not know existed. It makes me feel whole. That’s why one of my mottos is that the only thing that will always be consistent is change – ALWAYS changing!

It allows me to always keep growing and evolving as a person and as an artist. Cuban dance functions as a mirror into my life, my feelings and my balance.

I can tell at any given time how I am doing and how balanced I am, just by observing how my body moves differently every day based on what happened that day.

How do you juggle running your dance classes, tours and events and ensure you have balance in your life?

I am very connected to my well being and body. I pay attention to what my body says. I usually sleep 7-8 hours a night. If not, I will aim to catch up on that quickly.

I look at balance as a “per year”, not “per day” or “per month” thing. Stress comes and goes in waves. And I enjoy breaks in the middle of the day when I feel I need it, or a super slow 1-2 months in Cuba in contrast to the madness at other times of the year.

I aim to fully stop twice a year with no cell phone, electricity or TV somewhere beautiful in order to recharge, preferably with a stunning beach and lots of sun.

Because of my work I dance 5 days a week 3-8 hours a day. It helps in releasing the stress that’s stuck in my body and keeps me balanced.

I eat very healthy and use the help of a holistic nutritionist in order to balance my diet. It generates more energy for my body and allows me to do more, like an oiled machine.

I am very focused and pretty good at multi tasking. I set goals with attainable timelines. I adjust my goals as I go. I plan everything and then stick to my schedule.

If I feel that a situation is unhealthy for me, I look right away to change it and bring the situation back to balance. I then pamper myself with something that makes me feel good like getting a manicure.

I make time to spend time with people I love and to catch up to what is going on in their lives. I don’t keep many people close to me, but the ones I do are like family.

I love what I do. It gives me so much energy. It’s a natural high to have so many great things that make me happy happen on such a high frequency.

“The more I make my dreams come true and fulfill myself, the more energy I have, the more alive I feel, and the more I want to create.”

Which female entrepreneur do you admire most and why?

If I have to pick just one, I’d say Beyonce. She is super successful, her work is an expression of who she is. She built herself high enough that she can now have her own voice to send a message to the world.

I love her artistic work – music, dancing, production, sexiness. She is very warm and family oriented. She is the full package – artistic and successful. And I love her music.

And let’s not forget that Sasha Fierce is another part of her ,which she lets out on stage. That’s full expression! The woman is gold! She found a way to do what she loves and make tons of money doing it. Brilliant!

What are your top 3 habits that propel you to daily success?

  • Integrity – I keep my word very strong. I say it, then I do it.
  • Quality – I don’t put my name to anything that I don’t stand behind
  • Learning from mistakes – for every success I have had, I have made mistakes along the way. I don’t let making mistakes stop me, but I try to never repeat the same mistake twice and learn from them.

What do you have in the pipeline for the rest of this year that we should know about?

My own traveling TV show, which I plan to host. I just finished developing the concept and finished creating the demo.

Now the pitching stage starts and I am looking for production companies or networks that might be interested in picking up the project. I am not limiting myself to a Canadian one — whatever comes my way which will make this a reality.

I am also working on a new project which I cannot talk about yet but hope that I will be able to reveal it later on in the year, if all goes according to plan.

What is your key piece of advice to any female considering becoming an entrepreneur?

To be a successful entrepreneur you have to love the hunt and be passionate about what you do. If you don’t have that fire burning in you, you won’t last the ups and downs. They come with the territory. Having a business is for people that love excitement and rapid change.

You also need to have solid business skills – if you don’t understand the basics of marketing, for example, how will you get your business out there? And be ready to make sacrifices. Success comes at a cost.

You have to give it what it needs, not just what you feel like giving it. Take calculated risks and surround yourself by people who believe in you, not the ones that tell you how you will fail every time you try something.

And lastly, you have an edge as a female entrepreneur – you feel your way through. It is one of your keys to success. Master it.

If you’re interested in attending her upcoming event on June 18th then details are here

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