Over a year has gone by since I have written in this blog but much has happened in my life to lead me to where I am today! After graduating from BYU and finishing my internship with Microbusiness Mentors, I was still hungry to go out into the world and do something with micro finance. Before graduating I kept bugging my social entrepreneur mentor/idol, Warner Woodworth, about internships I could do outside of the U.S. He explained to me that the micro finance industry isn't what it used to be where some excited and adventurous kid could just show up to a micro finance institution in Mexico or something and start working there just because he had a big heart. You have to be somebody and have some kind of exceptional talent and experience to get involved, he explained. Nevertheless, he said he would send my resume to some of his contacts in Latin America and see if they wanted my help. As weeks went by Warner never heard back from anyone, and my own efforts to contact micro finance institutions hadn't produced any results. Still wanting to get out and conquer the world, I had a crazy idea come to mind.

                                                                                                 

Right after graduating from BYU I bought a ticket to Puerto Rico and just went. I figured that Puerto Rico would be ideal because it's very Latin, culturally speaking, and yet it's still a territory of the United States so I wouldn't need a work visa should I actually find work. During my first couple of days down there I found a few development banks and tried giving them a call. I soon found out that only one of these banks, called Corporacion Para las Microfinanzas, was really dedicated to the cause of micro finance, and fortunately, I was allowed to come in for an interview. To my utmost joy the interview went great and I was told that there was most likely at least a volunteer position available to me. The lady said she would get back in touch with me soon and let me know what they would have me do. The rest of this story is contained in the sealed portion of my blog and will be released when the moment is right. Needless to say I wasn't able to work in micro finance at that time, but through enrolling at Thunderbird School of Global Management I have been able to get involved in an amazing internship.

I currently work for Proyecto Salta, an NGO dedicated to mentoring female entrepreneurs coming from under developed communities throughout Lima, Peru. Thunderbird, along with partners such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Mibanco, and the Australian government are sponsoring the 6 of us Thunderbirds. My job is to visit with these ladies at their business, often times right in their house, and identify areas in which they can improve. Many of these ladies don't have any knowledge of finance or accounting, so quite often I'm teaching the basics of cash flow! We also talk about everything related to business- publicity, marketing, sales...you name it. I love this internship so much! The best part is getting these ladies excited and having them tell me what their dreams are. They have got to be the funnest and most creative people I have met!

This experience definitely has me thinking about where I'll go next. It's hard to get the travel bug out of your system so I wouldn't be surprised if I keep this up somehow. Directly helping people is so rewarding. I actually quite enjoyed different sales jobs I have had because I could also work directly with people, but in the end I still had to sell them something to get paid. Development is a broad industry but I want to somehow make it a part of my career, whether its through volunteer work on the side, extra business ventures, or even my full time job. We'll see!