From failure to triumph. It’s the script to nearly every entrepreneur’s story. When you examine the formula to success, at the center and heart of their journey is how they persevered in the face of their challenges. Elvira Guzman’s script began during her teenage years. With both of her parents incarcerated, all odds were stacked up against her.
And then came an illness at the age of 26, when she was in the midst and at the height of her professional career. How did this Mexican American become the public relations powerhouse and aspiring talk show host she is today?
The University of Southern California honor grad whose career spans some serious name dropping like the Steve Harvey Morning Show, BET, MTV and WB opens up in an interview with HER Magazine about what drives her the most.
Guzman, who was mentored by Steve Harvey while she worked on projects with the media mogul for nine years is now the CEO of Elvie G PR – one of the fastest growing PR & Branding companies serving Hollywood. The published author of Your Blueprint says the key to building a strong foundation in your business is recognizing your biggest weaknesses.
After spending years behind the scenes working as a producer of ten television and radio shows, and representing dozens of celebrities through her PR firm – Elvira is creating her own talk show she believes will not only resonate with her clients, but the young aspiring entrepreneurial women who need to hear her message.
Q: With a diverse and unique background in media, what prompted you to begin a career as a talk show host?
Elvira: I feel like I’ve done every job behind the scenes and now it’s time I get in front of the camera to get my message to a broader audience. When I first started in the industry, I was 18 and very shy. It’s taken me years to build my confidence and now being in front of the camera is fun versus terrifying!
Q: What topics are you hoping to cover?
Elvira: Millennials need someone besides the Kardashians to look up to. I want to show young girls that you can go to school, help others and still have success/fame. On my show, we will discuss how to achieve our dreams, obstacles, making mistakes and forgiving ourselves, forgiving others/letting go, and tons of other topics that will be intended to awaken the audience to their best life yet. The outcome I am looking for is to heal the audience from their past pain, so they can remember who God intended them to be and rediscover their purpose in life.
Q. You’ve gained a global following by hosting and speaking at women’s empowerment seminars worldwide.
Elvira: It’s extremely important that we all go back and teach/give/mentor others. I realize I am very fortunate to have had three millionaire mentors when I was 18 that taught me more than USC ever could. With them, I traveled the world and began doing philanthropy trips at 18. Through those experiences, I have gained knowledge that I must give to others because they have changed my life! I want others to experience the financial freedom and happiness I have attained from my mentors without having to go through all of the obstacles I’ve gone through. The main goal of my seminars is to remind people that from our pain comes our purpose, and if we can simply see beyond the pain, we will find our treasure!
Q. What is the biggest obstacle you faced in your career and how did you overcome it?
Elvira: I would have to say when I got sick when I was 26. I now realize the only valuable detail from that time is that God intended to redirect me to focus on my purpose versus my bank account. At that time, I didn’t understand how I could get sick when I played sports my entire life and I ate pretty healthy. But I found myself on a hospital bed not able to move and feeling depleted emotionally, spiritually and physically. It took me years to recover, and I did it slowly. I took myself to the spa, started working out more, complimented myself in the mirror even when I felt bad, took on clients who were kind, only saw friends who would speak positively, because at that moment, I could not deal with bad news. I had enough to deal with and I just wanted to talk about good things! Now years later, I am back and my body is better than it was when I played sports in college. It took time for me to get myself together again, but now I feel the pieces are assembled a little better because I feel a lot happier! Since then, I mentor, speak at juvenile halls and at-risk schools, help others in need and more importantly, I have a lot more compassion for others.
Q. If you were to give one piece of advice to women who are just starting their own business, what would that be?
Elvira: Only four percent of businesses make it past 10 years. My advice is to work smart and team up with great people who are strong where you are weak, and become one of the businesses that makes it! It’s possible, you just need to be determined, never give up, and always spend your time thinking about the solutions, not the problems!
