Valeria's Exit

Since my undergraduate years, I have been intentional about my career trajectory and the impact I want to leave on my community.  A pivotal decision in this journey was joining The Idea Village, which served as a launching pad for my early professional career in the startup space. After two and a half transformative years at The Idea Village, my chapter as the Strategic Marketing Associate has come to a nostalgic end. Now, please allow me to reintroduce myself as the Marketing Director for BYDcash, the first U.S. immigration finance company of its kind. This "exit" story, from undergrad through today, underscores my dedication to driving positive change through innovation and technology.

I graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a degree in Marketing and Communications in 2021. The last nearly two years of my undergrad career were under pandemic circumstances. During those challenging times, I pondered and reflected on my life, my dreams, and my career post-graduation. It was hard. I felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Internship opportunities were slim to none in the market, so I decided to pave a path to gain industry experience and hopefully secure a meaningful job when I graduated. That’s when I launched Imagen Marketing Agency to help small, minority-owned businesses in the Greater New Orleans region. At that point, my goal was to put textbook knowledge into practice and confidently walk across the stage at graduation with enough practical skills to secure a marketing job. One of those businesses I started working with was Jambalaya News Louisiana, a Hispanic newspaper in the Greater New Orleans region– which led me to the next career chapter, founding Al Día.

While working closely with the Jambalaya News team during the pandemic, my junior through senior year, I began ideating strategies to help them diversify revenue. I had a deep sense and confidence that I could help this company scale, and Al Día was born. Al Día is a subscription news service that sends hyperlocal news in Spanish via text messages, and it allows users to ask questions about it. I created Al Día on behalf of Jambalaya News Louisiana. The Google New Initiative Challenge awarded my project over $70,000 to bring this idea to life. The service became available in the summer of 2021. It launched with a party where dozens of community members, council members, small businesses, and more were in attendance. Ideating and building this software introduced me to the world of social impact x innovation x technology.

I joined The Idea Village team in January 2022. Since day one, I walked into the office and got to work! The Idea Village produces New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) in March, and the few months leading up to it are all gas and no breaks for the team. I learned a ton. I made mistakes. I celebrated small wins. I knew that this was precisely where I needed to be to grow. I credit much of my growth to Liz Maxwell, Director of Communications and Strategic Initiatives, whose graceful leadership and impeccable talent helped me sharpen my own. Liz quickly turned from manager to mentor to now  friend. Through this role, I deepened my passion for entrepreneurship and marketing and began considering the impact I wanted to make in the local startup ecosystem. Here are a few contributions I am proud of:

My early professional career journey has taught me the importance of pursuing one's passions, curiosities and striving for excellence. I am eager to continue in my career in my new role at BYDcash, where I look forward to collaborating on projects that create lasting positive change for immigrants and others. While I'll remain rooted in New Orleans for the time being, the future holds endless possibilities. However, one thing is sure: there's no place quite like NOLA!

Valeria Ali