In April 2023, I met Ana at the Chic Geek Tech Summit through someone else I met at the Summit. I enjoyed the discussion at our table and everything I learned about her. I wanted to know more because I was amazed that she had already successfully run a business before returning to school, so we exchanged LinkedIn info to stay in contact. Her short LinkedIn videos explaining technologies in simple terms quickly became my favourite, and I needed to know more about her. The idea of The Successful Women blog came much later, but Ana was in my top 10 list of women I wanted to interview first and share her story with the world.
Name: Ana Joselyn Alarcon Figueroa Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada LinkedIn Profile (feel free to connect with her): https://www.linkedin.com/in/anajoselynalarcon/
Tell me about yourself, including your post-secondary studies and your current role: My name is Ana Alarcon, and I am a software developer in training. I am in school at SAIT in my third semester, which is half through the program. It has been a very interesting adventure because I come from a non-technical background. This completely changed my life, but I’m very happy I did it. I just love that I’m immersed in something different that challenges me and makes me learn so much in such a short amount of time.
My current role right now is that I’m a full-time student. I quit my summer job because, with school, I cannot handle more things on my plate. I have a part-time job that is the kind of job that I love because I interact with a lot of people. It is customer service, and I love talking and engaging with different perspectives.
What would you describe as your greatest accomplishment? Why was it so significant to you? That’s where my background comes from, as I think I have had such an amazing impact on my community in the past when I was running my business. As I told you, my background is nothing related to tech. I hold a bachelor’s degree in nutritional science, more or less the equivalent of a registered dietitian in Canada. And coming from that, I'm really passionate about it. I love that topic. I created a brand that portrays my philosophy around food: the balance between healthy and unhealthy things. I created this brand that was providing three services. The first one was the private consultation. I was doing one-on-one consultations to help people improve their eating habits. The second one was a brunch restaurant where we were serving healthy versions of unhealthy food. It was really good, and I opened 4 branches back in Mexico. The third service we were providing was some products. I had this line of products that we were selling, which is the first part of the business I developed before the other services. This brand I created fulfilled me so much - it was my passion, and I was super happy doing it. When I came to Canada 2 years ago, I still ran the business in Mexico. I had this horrible situation where the landlord took back the rental location, so it was impossible for me to continue remotely. I was very stressed with school, and being a mom of a 2-year-old is already a full-time job, so it was time to close that chapter of my life.
What is a successful woman? A successful woman would be someone who, no matter what the goal, the standard or the condition is, is happy. She feels confident, and she feels empowered to pursue her milestones. I feel that success is very ambiguous for me as it doesn’t have only one meaning and is very subjective for each person—a person who follows their passion and who is not just chasing money.
What skills are essential to be successful? Four essential skills, not in order of importance. Curiosity - Your willingness to learn, ask questions and look for solutions is essential. It’s something that will keep you moving in your role or career. Discipline - For me, sometimes it’s just a matter of time. If you do the same thing enough times, it will take you further than trying it and moving on to something else. Resilience - Adapting, changing or adjusting according to the context because everything will always change. So, being resilient is a skill we all need. Emotional control - In my experience, the hardest part of a job or running a business is the pressure put on you by the people around you. For example, the hardest part of running my business was reading the reviews, which I often avoided. You need to be aware of your feelings and that reviews are about your business and not against you. The reviewer is allowed to give their perspective and opinion. If I ever start a business again, that would be my number one priority to work on.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about successful women? That it is possible to have a “balanced life.” I feel that as I learn more and meet successful women, the more I see that a balanced life doesn’t exist. It’s something that we have it all, but not at the same time. You must sacrifice other things and put priorities, but at the same time, you only have a certain amount of hours, and no matter what you try, it still adds up to 24 hours. I feel it is okay, as life doesn’t have to be the same daily. Every day for me, as a mom, is an adventure. Even when I plan, sometimes things will change. I think that balance is just finding a way where you’re not worn out and where you accomplish things in your personal life and work, but sometimes you’ll accomplish more in one or the other. Sometimes, I feel bad if I work an extra hour and leave my child at the daycare for one more hour. Still, the worry is only mine because my child is happily playing for an extra hour. Sometimes, I wish I could just be a stay-at-home mom, but at the same time, I wouldn’t feel happy as I wouldn’t be pursuing my dream and wouldn’t be setting a good example for my child.
What are your superpowers (strengths)? I have the superpower of finding the things that no one else in my house can. That’s something I’m very proud of being super good at. 😀 Seriously, my superpower is being disciplined. I feel that if I start something, I will finish it while doing my best at it. My second superpower is that I have a positive attitude most of the time. Of course, we will have bad days, but I usually try to see the best of everything.
What advice would you give your 15-year-old self? You made me think about many things with this question, and I’m happy I did it beforehand. My advice for my 15-year-old self would be that it is okay to be intense and stubborn. If you have the extra energy, that’s okay. I remember always being an early bird, never sleeping until 10 a.m., as I probably only slept in 10 times in an entire year. I have been an early bird since I was very little. I do remember waking up very early and having these situations where I pushed my limits. I remember when I was 11 years old, and someone called me a nickname, and I answered, "I don’t like it,” people thought I was “too much,” but that’s my energy.
Bonus question: Why did you start making videos on LinkedIn about technological concepts and knowledge? You must know that you’re the second person asking me this today. I love social media. Of course, it has its downside, but overall, social media is a very nice way to get people to know how you provide value. When I started my business, back then, that was 2017, that’s how I started. I was creating content because I was very passionate about my topic. I shared a lot of value and felt I was positively influencing people’s lives. As I’m changing my career, I feel that LinkedIn is a way that I should share. As I told you, I’m very intense, so if I start something, I will finish it. During my winter semester at school, I decided I wanted to grow my LinkedIn network and asked myself, “how can I do it?” so I decided to use the same I did with my business. Creating value and generating meaningful content for people related to the industry. Also, sometimes I wished there was a video explaining this or that because I found some concepts or new knowledge hard to understand. The best way to learn is teaching.
A big thank you to Ana for her time and for sharing her answers with us. She is a Successful Woman!