Mercedes Hernandez of Bow N Arrow Clothing, Holee Vintage and The SoCo Market is among North Bay Business Journal’s 2022 Latino Business Leadership Awards winners.

Here’s some information Hernandez submitted:

About me

After starting up my first business, Bow N Arrow Clothing, I wanted to create a platform that would give small businesses an opportunity to grow their business and connect with the community.

In 2020, the SoCo Market was created! The SoCo Market is an outdoor community market for small businesses. Our markets are currently hosted in Cotati and Santa Rosa.

The SoCo Market hosts up to 100 small businesses at our events. Many of the small businesses who have participated in our events, have been able to run their businesses full time! It’s been a blessing to watch them grow and be a part of their business journey.

As a successful professional, what were the biggest obstacles you faced and how did you overcome them?

Being an entrepreneur, you have to be ready to pivot when circumstances come your way. Through the six years of running a business in Sonoma County, I have now overcome flood, fires, and a pandemic.

It has not been easy, but one thing that kept me going was my passion.

That is my “why.” My passion is why I kept going when circumstances told me otherwise. Being innovated and optimistic has helped too.

What do you see as your biggest accomplishment?

The SoCo Market is my biggest accomplishment. I’ve always had a tug on my heart to be a resource to the small business community and the SoCo Market is just that.

It has been such a rewarding job being able to create a platform for small business owners to grow their business and build relationships with the community in real life.

Quotable

“The sad reality is that the Latinx and BIPOC community are not given the same opportunity as others. I am proud that when you attend a SoCo Market or step foot in to any of my other businesses, you will see diversity.”