Esmeralda Prieto, who now signs as Esmeralda Boss, opened her first business in Miami with between $6,000 and $7,000 in savings and a $10,000 credit card as her sole backup. The story of that start —and the setback that nearly sank it after 45 days— is the focus of the episode 5 of Show me the money, the podcast featuring Cuban entrepreneurs presented by Katia Sánchez.
He had accumulated the money through years of extreme discipline: when he arrived in Miami in 2010, at the age of 22, he lived with his father and did not pay rent, so he saved almost everything he earned working in a restaurant, then at Dolphin Mall, and later at a beach bar. He avoided brands and took years to buy a car. That savings became his seed capital.
The opportunity arose when her friend and colleague Arianna Rojas suggested opening a spa. "During that time, I had saved $6,000 to $7,000. That was all I had. I had a credit card with a $10,000 limit. And I said to her, you know what? I don't have the money right now, but I'm going to do it," she recounted in the episode.
Both , but with an apparent safety net: the owner of the plastic surgery center where they had worked promised to send them patients. "We started with zero administrative or business experience, but with a lot of faith and courage," Esmeralda recalled.
That network lasted exactly a month and a half. "After a month and a half, this same gentleman told us: we can’t send you any more patients," he recounted. The business was suddenly laid bare: rent for the premises was due, credit cards were maxed out, and there were no clients of their own.
"When that opportunity arrived, I felt relief and thought: I’ve got the business, this is super easy. The reality was different. And today I am very grateful for it, because it puts you in an uncomfortable situation: I have to go out and do it myself, because it’s not going to just fall from the sky," he explained.
The crisis forced her to learn digital marketing from scratch. It was 2018, and Facebook Ads was just starting to take off for small businesses. "I didn't even know how to make a video," she admitted. She studied intensely and turned that platform into her main channel for attracting clients.
The price of that gamble was sleeping little for months. "There were months when I couldn't sleep, worrying about how I was going to pay the rent for this place, and also how to pay my credit cards, which I maxed out to do this. It's crazy, but otherwise, I would have spent my entire life working for someone else," he stated.
While managing the spa, Esmeralda conducted systematic surveys with her clients. One complaint recurred: plastic surgery centers did not call patients after payment nor did they provide follow-up. This gap became the seed for her next business.
Just before the pandemic, Esmeralda and Arianna opened their own plastic surgery center. "I will never be ready. We're going to open the plastic surgery center and do the same thing we did with this, twice as much," she said at the time.
Today, Esmeralda Boss leads seven companies in Miami, including plastic surgery centers, a real estate agency, a Spanish-speaking medical center for seniors over 65, and a vitamin brand. The full episode, recorded at FE Medical Center, concludes with a quote that encapsulates her philosophy: "If you're waiting for perfection, everything will happen except for what you're looking for."
The podcast from CiberCuba is sponsored by Dolphy School. Watch the full episode with Esmeralda Boss here:
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