{"id":7091,"date":"2026-04-09T14:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.openvaluefoundation.org\/?p=7091"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:08:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T14:08:00","slug":"blog-post-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/2026\/04\/09\/blog-post-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog post 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

My name is Leticia <\/strong>Gald\u00f3n<\/strong>, founder of the startup Blue Hope, and I want to tell you about my experience in social entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my university days, I had a professor who used to say, \u201cLoving you is hard work, but someone's got to do it.\u201d I remember at the time, the phrase caught my attention, but I didn't give it much thought. However, a few years later when I started my own business in the social sector, the phrase made perfect sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting a business is tough, and we all know that. But social entrepreneurship is even more so because what motivates us is finding a solution to a human problem that truly touches us. And if it's so hard, why don't we do something easier? Because, as my professor used to say: \u201csomeone has to do it\u201d and, above all, if you're driven by the need to help make life a little better. And that responsibility and commitment to the problem is what makes the difference and drives you to success. In my case,\u00a0I have focused on improving and accelerating the integration of refugees into the labour market.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My journey as an entrepreneur started long before I launched my first company, although I didn't realise it at the time. I've always been a creative and passionate person, driven by a desire to make a positive impact on the world around me. From school through to university, I spearheaded charitable projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it wasn't until I moved to London and met startup founders, many of whom had come from starting businesses in Silicon Valley, that I considered Perhaps I could also drive a company with impact.<\/strong> using the methodologies they followed. I had always thought that to start a business you needed a brilliant idea, and through them, I realised that wasn't the case; what you need is to find a problem that truly matters to you and commit to finding a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over all these years, I've faced all sorts of situations; I could write a book of anecdotes. And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that when things are going well, you're not as good as you think, and when things are going badly, you're not as bad as you think. Entrepreneurship is an emotional rollercoaster with ups and downs that often aren't dependent on you, but where it's essential Keep the focus on what's truly important and develop a growth mindset.<\/strong> It's not about being the best, but about being better each day than the day before, and not losing your commitment.
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When I decided to start my own business, I met two types of people: those who were happy for me and encouraged me, and those who feared I would fail and waste time and money. It was essential to create a community that understood my way of life and my motivation, so that I could feel supported and drive the launch of the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What's more, I would say that starting a business It would not be possible without the people and organisations that support us and join the project.<\/strong>. It is very important to choose who you want to be nourished by and Who do you want to co-create with?.<\/strong> In this regard, I am incredibly fortunate to have stumbled across Mar\u00eda \u00c1ngeles Le\u00f3n and her Open Value Foundation, which has an amazing team of people who have accompanied me every step of the way. While it is true that the path is full of obstacles, when you find people who truly believe in your vision and in your potential to make it a reality, it is a luxury. Entrepreneurship platforms and communities that generate safe spaces for us female entrepreneurs to navigate the ups and downs of launching a business are essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second big lesson came when I realised that on the market, a social project is often considered less powerful than a project solely seeking exponential economic growth. This annoys me and I continue to argue that it's very poor reasoning to think that just making money is important, because if you combine it with improving society, then you hit the mark and it's more sustainable and more satisfying for people. When your motivation is to generate a sustainable business model that helps solve a significant social problem on a large scale, and you also activate the economy, then the result is brutal, it's a win-win.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another the obstacle in my path has been defending the project as a young woman<\/strong>. It's very easy to feel deflated when you're applauded for your social work, but not given the priority you need to boost yourself commercially. Sometimes youth and being a woman aren't a good combination in some business sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here comes the next lesson, the most important thing is to believe in yourself and that you are capable of doing something that hasn't been done before. Believing in yourself means to trust in your ability to react to adversity<\/strong>. Overcoming the fear of making mistakes, of being wrong. Because we are guaranteed that if we act, we will always learn from it. Many times, we get stuck in the fall because we are unable to accept that we can be wrong, and while we are beating ourselves up, someone else has already started three businesses and overtaken us on the right, and we miss an opportunity. That is why I believe that as women entrepreneurs, we must be aware that overexacting ourselves can hold us back and that it is important to be compassionate with ourselves, to dust ourselves off and keep trying with conviction and constancy. This is something that has taken me a long time to learn, and which I consider vital for social entrepreneurship.

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Believing in yourself also means knowing Listen to your intuition and trust your gut.<\/strong>. Something that isn't easy when you combine the level of uncertainty, risk, and pressure involved in leading a project. That's why it's fundamental to seek out moments for yourself, to think, slow down, and listen beyond the day-to-day noise. The best ideas come to me when walking in nature; this allows me to gain perspective, get some fresh air, and put things into context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also very important to have women at the helm of large companies and initiatives as role models<\/strong>, because if all our role models are male, you might fall into the trap of changing your behaviour to fit a pattern, and that will work against you and make you feel more insecure. It\u2019s happened to me. I remember one day, during dinner at home, my parents asked me why I was speaking in a certain way. They were surprised because instead of seeing their daughter, they clearly saw that I had adopted a persona that wasn\u2019t mine, and they were worried. What was really happening was that I was so scared that I was behaving in a way I thought others would accept me more, and yet it had the opposite effect. The moral of the story is, your authenticity is your greatest ally. In the end, people believe in and invest in people, and it\u2019s important that you protect your essence and aren\u2019t afraid to be who you are. That\u2019s probably what has brought you this far.
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It's true that for men, in general, showing emotions makes them vulnerable and is considered a negative thing. But, from my point of view, emotion is a strength. How can you dedicate yourself to social entrepreneurship and not feel? If it is precisely that emotion of injustice, of anger, of sadness... that has made you bang the table and go for it. We must embrace being women and take advantage of our traits of identity such as empathy which helps us to understand the market and detect needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why I believe it's so important, as an entrepreneur, to surround yourself with other women who have driven major projects, because in them you will recognise your own greatness. Authentic and self-assured women are intimidating because they don't play the ego game. These women possess unstoppable strength, and that's because they know they have the capacity to learn, to find the necessary resources and allies to bring their projects to fruition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I had the opportunity to say something to my eight-year-younger self who was about to start a business, I'd say: trust your gut, don't let anyone make you feel like your judgment is worth less, don't be intimidated by big titles, and surround yourself with people who make you feel like you're going to succeed. Your strength is your ability to create and your emotional intelligence to react to situations of adversity. Don't get comfortable under the wing of those who want to protect you because, deep down, what they're doing is limiting your potential. In adversity you will find the lessons that will lead you to success, and you have the capacity to go beyond what you believe. So step out of your comfort zone and fly.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mi nombre es Leticia Gald\u00f3n, fundadora de la startup Blue Hope, y quiero contaros c\u00f3mo est\u00e1 siendo mi experiencia en el emprendimiento social. En mis tiempos de universidad tuve un profesor que sol\u00eda decir: \u201cQuererte es un trabajo duro, pero alguien tiene que hacerlo.\u201d Recuerdo que en aquel momento, la frase me llam\u00f3 la atenci\u00f3n, pero no le di mayor trascendencia. Sin embargo, cuando unos a\u00f1os despu\u00e9s comenc\u00e9 a emprender, en el […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-post"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7094,"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7091\/revisions\/7094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openvaluefoundation.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}