Community Spotlight - Constanza Satalfe Ferrari
Constanza Satafle Ferrari is the owner and operator of Newbornlander, a popular social enterprise that manufactures baby accessories and clothing, with the goal to create employment opportunities for newcomers to Newfoundland. Started in 2017 they have grown from offering unique, safe, and durable hand made baby products for your family, such as baby sun hats, booties and bibs to having over 300 locally made and curated sustainable products as well as a wholesale division.
Newbornlander has been making waves not only in the world of her adoring customers but is also literally changing laws for immigrants wanting to start a business! She was recently in the news on a successful pitch on Dragons’ Den and was named one of five winners of Canada Posts Tales of Triumph Contest which celebrates small businesses in Canada deemed to be passionate, innovative & connected to their communities.
We sat down with Constanza to learn about Newbornlander and learn more about her adventures in entrepreneurship and her vision for the future of Newbornlander.
Constanza, Thank you for taking the time to chat with us today. We know that you are a very busy lady!
Can you share with us your inspiration or motivation to start Newbornlander?
Well thank you for having me. Newbornlander started as an answer for immigrant women who couldn’t find a job in Canada and have broken hope when they see this country.
This country is a big brand that is [seen as] welcoming and a pioneer in immigration and then when you arrive there is not always the resources and basic support that immigrants should have in place. In my case it was so hard to enter into the labour market. I believe that it is women that have a longer time [trying] to find a job and even opportunities to learn the language. I find many times we are isolated at home taking care of our children and so for me that was the inspiration to start Newbornlander. It was to bring an opportunity to other newcomer women like me that couldn’t enter the labour market due to language barriers or all the other barriers, and to create a space where they feel that they could belong and feel that it is an opportunity, where they could feel empowered and navigate the immigration ecosystem amongst peers, with the hope to encourage them to start their own business or to find a job that recognizes their past skills here in Canada.
Constanza with a team member of Newbornlander
Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What is your background?
I was a commercial lawyer. I studied for 7 years. So being a lawyer, I worked in the bank of Chile and I used to go to the court and fight against the banks and then the bank hired me and so that is my background.
Did you have any experience in creating accessories for babies?
No I didn't, and I think this is one of the beauties of our story. Many times I believe that people don’t start a business, entrepreneurship, or venture because they think that they need to be an expert in the industry.
I don’t think that is true and in my case I did not know how to use a domestic (sewing) machine, I never touched a sewing machine before and for me it was the pressure about, “I need to do something else and maybe starting a business would be a good idea.”
At that time I had a baby and I realized the baby niche would be a good market to start because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I bought a domestic machine and began to watch videos on YouTube and I started to design baby accessories and that’s how Newbornlander started, with zero knowledge.
Of course you are learning all the time and you see that there are certain procedures you can use in your favour to improve. That is how we work here everyday and everyday I learn something new. I am not an expert in business. I am not an expert at all in textiles and I learn using the resources you can find today but also using my intuition so I think that gives us our uniqueness you know, in our products. All of them are 100% designed by myself.
Newbornlander storefront, located at 3 Cashin Avenue in St. John's, NL
What were some challenges you experienced as an immigrant setting up a business in Newfoundland? Can you talk to us about that and how you managed to have an immigration law changed in this province?
Well first of all as an immigrant, I feel a lot of us face this challenge, to arrive at a new place and depending on your status of immigration you will have better luck than others. In my case I think the big challenge was [trying to figure out how to] feel as I did back home, to come back to [feeling like] myself, you know.
Unfortunately when I moved here [I realized] it was kind of like the system pushed you around, they tell you, “now you are not a lawyer anymore, now you will be a cleaner, you will be a cashier, you will serve coffee”, which is like, there is nothing wrong with that [doing those jobs], it is that it's not who you are maybe. It's this imposition, they put you in this role and they really take your identity and it takes such a long time to recover yourself and say “that is not me” and “what else can I do to show everyone who I am?”
Then when you go through those challenges and you realize that the system was not in place for you to succeed. The system really doesn't seem to want you to succeed. That is what I feel.
I felt like in this case, I was like “okay, sure I cannot be a lawyer anymore, okay I will figure it out, I will do business!”
Then there was this realization that I cannot do business, I am stuck because I cannot incorporate the business because I am not a permanent resident. Then they say “by the way you will never get your permanent residence doing business so you need to get a full time job on the side in order to become a permanent resident.” Then [you manage to start a business and work full-time] and as your business grows you cannot incorporate so you cannot hire on people. So [I wonder] how will I sustain myself? How do they expect immigrants to start new businesses?
It's really trickery, because it's this big call to “come here, do business, it's a place of opportunities” but the system doesn’t allow you to do that. So for me it was like, I don't care what I have to do, I will do my business anyways, so I gave control of the company to a Canadian friend in order to incorporate the business. That happened in 2020. The business grew and changed, oh my god, it just blew [up] and I was able to apply for funding, to mentorship, to basic programs and hiring newcomers like me (Constanza currently employs 7 women from various countries).
Then the ridiculous part that still persists is that I can provide permanent residence for my employees, as the owner of a business [because I offer them full time employment] but I will never be able to apply for my own permanent residence by running my own business [so I need my own other full-time job]!
However, I had the opportunity to lobby with the government and speak with ministers and let them know that this policy, that you cannot incorporate the business without permanent residence, doesn’t make sense at all.
I mean if you won’t allow me to work as a lawyer, then allow me to do business and create many of the jobs that you are not [creating]. I am creating the space that you cannot provide so that everyone feels welcome, like they belong, that is diverse; that way we can talk about inclusion in real action and show others how to do it.
So they (the government) listened, and I feel they changed the law because, for one, they realized it doesn’t make sense, and two, because they saw the impact of Newbornlander and I feel there was a shame for them to see the situation. So, in front of shame, I think they changed it, believing that, yes, it's an old policy. That is the point. Many times the policies are not updated to the times that we are living. So, that was my big, big barrier and today the problem that persists is the ability to get permanent residence while doing business, which is not reasonable at all. I would like to see the data. How many people get permanent residence while running their own business? I got my permanent residence while having to have a full time job on the side of this business which was crazy. So I wish that we could work and advocate on that because it's just not reasonable.
Constanza with some of her team at Newbornlander
Newbornlander employs women who are new to Canada, and helps them develop sewing, language and business skills, while also providing guidance on navigating their new lives in Canada.
Can you tell us more about why that is so important to you in business?
I think that I am a really privileged person right now because of my immigration status. I am now a permanent resident. I would say the business allows me to create a platform where I feel that people hear me and I feel that I can make change.
Every time that we are hiring women, a new member for our company, I have this flashback to remember how I arrived here and that is something I hope that I never forget because it is the only way we can not forget how we are humans. It doesn’t matter if you are a woman or not, you are an immigrant or not, we are humans, you know, and you see them arrive here and their vulnerability, without language and with a lot of isolation and a lot of disappointment about the country and it really makes me feel a lot of compassion and reminds me that at least at Newbornlander – which I hope to grow enough to create more impact – I am able to create a change in the life of those women and make them believe that actually, Canada IS a place of opportunities. It can be a place that can work in your favour; especially in Newfoundland and Labrador.
You know, I love my province and I think that we can do better and I can provide that experience and make that change in the life of women, of immigrant women, that is my why, that is what gives me energy everyday and to come here, see them and how they learn English. We have seven people, right now, on my team, and all of us speak different languages and so English is what we need to talk to communicate with each other. They observe it, they learn day by day and so I feel that is what gives me a lot of inspiration and what moves us, every single one of us. I believe every single member of my team knows that when they see a new member, they know how that feels, they know what it is like being in that position and they make all the effort of embracing that person, helping that person and making her feel that she belongs.
Constanza with some of her team
Newbornlander is known for its ethical, sustainable and adorable products.
Can you tell us a bit about why you felt offering safe and sustainable products were important and what your stance is on ethical work and social responsibility?
This is the other side (that) I don’t talk about a lot and I need to do it more because during the time I learned about the textiles industry I learned it is the 2nd largest industry in the world that creates the most contamination.
I was getting so much knowledge and becoming conscientious, even as a consumer, to think “where does my clothes come from? Who is behind the machine? What are the materials we are using?” [Many] things sell really cheap and on one side [you could say] it is more accessible, but if you are selling good quality products, the price plays a huge role.
It is also about trying not to over manufacture to create or stimulate the over consuming. So some companies over produce and now more people have access to things that they don’t need and the products end up in their garbage. If that product ends up in the garbage, what is the composition of that product that will be allowed to degrade over time?
When I realized all these big problems about the textiles trade I also started to think about who is behind the machine and how you create a decent space for them to work, a decent salary.
I also thought about creating the products, the materials, how much is needed, where they come from, how they were made, the fabric, all that and started to do deeper research to choose my suppliers. So for example our fabrics come from the USA, from a slow fashion approach company that doesn't have rolls of fabric printed. When you order, they print, and so I need to be smart enough and to learn what time I need my fabric so as to be one step ahead of the demand and because I know it will take time and its fine and its fair and I try to educate my customers to let them know we are a slow fashion approach.
We don’t have a lot of stock because we don’t over produce. When you order we will make it for you and you will need to wait and it's fair because every single member of the community pays a cost and should pay a cost for our planet. One way you can [help] is by waiting.
Are you able to wait more to have good quality and good fabric that is not creating a lot of contamination? You want to know that if you put that same hat in the washing machine 20 times it will look the same way [as when you bought it]; now you will be able to resell it and we will not put it in the can for garbage.
All of that has a cost and I try to do it in the best way that we can, to manufacture in a slow fashion approach, know our suppliers, how our things are made, our fabrics. We think about how we can create less waste and so then we develop other products on the side from the fabric we have left when we create, say hats, or we donate the fabric we can’t use for women to create quilts, or things like that, or to other businesses that can use that fabric. We also try to educate our community on who is behind the machine and how we are a good employer.
You can go to some other place, a retail place, to buy a hat at half price but how sustainable is that product? We also think about how we can create a hat, we know children grow really fast, so they change a lot, so how can we create a hat to use for a longer time, so then we add the stop lock in the back and the elastic so it allows it to grow with your baby so you will use it longer time. So it is these things that add value.
Now my challenge is about the price [as it relates to accessibility]. Manufacturing this way has a cost and that is why our price is higher than some and we hope to be able to pay our members (employees) better and better as we are growing. I think that sustainable fashion is so unfair as it's not accessible to everyone, so that is my problem and my challenge right now that I’d like to talk about. It's not my fault but it is my problem so we do what we can do.
We are trying to launch, for next year, I have the label and everything, a campaign to bring back the products that were bought and used, repair them and donate them to a thrift store. We are currently talking with Mokami, in Labrador, which is the center for women there. They have this social enterprise, a thrift store. So we can support them and increase their sales with our products that have been used and we are recovering and repairing, by educating our customers that they can bring back the product. We will take the cost of repairing them and we will make a donation and all of us will be a help to these social enterprises in Labrador. I hope to do a partnership with them (Mokami) to resell our products in their communities so then we will create more accessibility for people that don’t have the resources to get access to a Newborndlander hat, for example.
I know I can explore more opportunities like this now that I am devoted full time with only Newbornlander. Only 2 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago. So now I hope to use my time and creativity to solve this kind of problem.
Congratulations on being able to move into working full time on your business!
Yes it was a big milestone, thank you.
Constanza with members of Newbornlander holding a sign to support their slow fashion approach.
Babies wearing sustainable and ethically made Newbornlander designs
You were on Dragons Den!!! That is so exciting! Were you nervous??
No, actually I was not nervous. I was really impressed with myself! I am like that anyways. If I have something [that I am focused on] I do everything in my human capacity. Everything I can. That can mean lots of sacrifices. Wake up really early, say no to many invitations and fun things because I am focusing on one thing and that allows me to feel confident and feel empowered. It allowed me to say to myself that I did everything in my capacity and the rest is up to the universe and so I was very confident and satisfied with my presentation.
I was happy with my voice, my corporate language, and I think I did a good job. I tried to be the best version of myself that day because I think that I was not representing just a business; I was representing my team and I was representing the voice of many other immigrants that are in the same situation or a less privileged situation than me.
So my goal was to get a deal, of course, but it was also to make noise across Canada, not just in Newfoundland and Labrador, and I think that we were able to do it. Our video, a short video that we shared [on social media] has over 110,000 views, over 400 shares and it's because I am not unique. I remember one day the Minister of Immigration told me, “Oh, welcome here! Welcome, Constanza. Well, you are special, you know, you are unique”.
I was like, “no, I am not.” There are so many other people like me. I was trained and educated to speak. That is the difference. I was a lawyer, but there are many people like me that feel vulnerable to speak loud. I am not, but there are many other people with better skills like us, with a lot of things to bring to this community, and we are not giving them the stage to speak.
So if I can do that and move things here, that is what motivates me. That's why I prepared so much for that day. It was like, every time that you have the time to speak, to have a microphone or whatever, that is your momentum for change.
Constanza presenting her company Newbornlander on Dragons Den
Was it a success? What did the Dragons offer you?
Yeah, so, well, first of all for me, money is not the point. To be honest, today, in this stage of my business and with my immigration status, I can have access to that money, which was $60,000. However, I don’t have access, regardless of how well I am connected right now in this province, to expand across Canada.
I am not sophisticated enough in business to go big and farther. Maybe I will get there. I trust in myself. I can do it alone. It would take 10 years maybe. I don’t want to wait, I want to see it now. I am so eager for more.
First of all, Newbornlander is not a charity. It's for profit. That gives me a lot of freedom by the way. Then, Dragons Den, they are not a charity. They are investors. So, the key was that my business model needs to be good [for them to be interested] but my goal was, if I am able to call on their humanity, to speak to their humanity over and above the business side, they will be engaged. I think that was my big success.
Manjit (Minhas, one of the Dragons), she gave us the deal, and she took 25 percent of the company. I believe my 75 percent that I have today is more valuable than my 100 percent yesterday. I think that she will be able to guide us. I am really social but I need more business help so as to be more strategic and find contacts outside Newfoundland and Labrador that will allow me to get [my products and message] to other markets.
So that was my goal. And that is what we got. So I am super excited to see where we will be in a few years.
Constanza poses with her family after getting a deal on Dragons Den
What are your plans for their investment? How do you think it will change Newbornlander?
Oh, I think that will be marketing. I think that I am a really good manager, well, owner of my business and am good with creating business planning. My feet are on the ground. The team, the machines, the space. I am getting ready for all that is coming but I am not sophisticated enough to make a marketing plan that will inform us on where to sell and how to reach these markets and what marketing endeavors we should take, what to have on social media and the best way to target, you know, your people.
I know the basics, of course, but I need to do better and bigger. That is how I think that the money from Manjit could be invested in marketing. I think that we are ready to welcome that demand and be on time and provide to our customers a good experience, not just only in the product, but also in the education that many Canadians need to learn about immigration.
You know, I think there’s so many misunderstandings because they show you that. Like, “oh, they don’t want to work, or immigrants don’t want to do this or that.” That is not true. Things are not in place, the country is not ready to welcome the amount of immigrants that they are welcoming.
We are not an economic instrument. We are humans, but they are ready to receive us as an economic instrument. They are not ready to receive us as a human being.
You spoke about marketing and expanding. Do you think you will open other locations in Canada?
Well, I have a huge project right now. It may be too early to announce it but I hope that it happens in January. We are looking to rent the next door space here. We will be connected but it will be different. It would be under the umbrella of Newbornlander, but be different in aspect of employment.
Newbornlander is a company and we’re hiring people under contract but I hope to create a settlement plan, a program of employment for immigrant women. With my experience hiring immigrant women, depending where they come from and the situation that they arrive here in, they will have different challenges.
First of all, I think the settlement organizations can do better. Because Newbornlander is for profit so it gives me freedom. I don’t need to ask how I need to deliver my program. I can do it, show it, and say, “see, this is the way.” Because if I wait for innovation, unfortunately, in the not-for-profit sector that depends on government and funding; so they are really limiting actions. I am not. I want to create action.
My dream is to create a settlement employment program for immigrants. I cannot do it alone because I am not an expert, but I am a good employer. I am a space that creates diversity, multiculturalism, equality, and belonging. So I can show other employers, but also I can show organizations how you can do a social enterprise.
Doing business is good. Making a profit is good and that gives you freedom to move as you want. So my dream is to have an expansion in Newbornlander with one specific product that I don’t want to announce yet. I have the name, I have everything, and I am speaking with the landlord to have an expansion next to here.
It will be a space where we will provide English classes, where we will provide entrepreneurial classes. This will be part of the program of work. I will teach them how to sew. We will make a specific product. They will have a salary, of course. And after – I hope I will have a cohort of women – and after six months of everyday English classes, everyday working, you will have an income for yourself, you will learn English, you will learn a new skill. If you don’t know how to sew, we will teach you and after six months we will connect you with one employer and we will welcome new women. That is what I want.
I hope that if this works, that we see this happening in every province. I believe that if we are able to grow and increase our sales with this plan of marketing, the help from investor Manjit, the exposure from it and the Canada Post award, and create this new product, I think we will be able to see that happen and that is my dream really, to show innovation. I will not wait for the system to change. I will create the change. When I show that – and this is exactly what happened with the change of law – when I show them that this doesn’t make sense, that we can do better, that we can create change, change happens. So I always say, tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it. I will show what I can do.
Constanza has won several awards and led TaskforceNL
You were recently named as one in only five businesses to win this year's Canada Post Tales of Triumph contest! Congratulations!
What does that mean for Newbornlander?
Well, first of all, we were chosen as Canada’s choice. So, you know, you always, as a woman business owner, and even like as a normal human, you have this imposter syndrome that is telling you, “oh, but it's not enough,” or maybe, you know, “this is your dream, but it's not really important,” and many times you make many sacrifices, and I think in entrepreneurship people are not willing to make the sacrifices that you need to get there. It wasn’t fun many times, you know, I really was really tired sewing until 5 a.m. or waking up at 5 a.m. to do what I needed to do to move Newbornlander to the next step because I have a full time job on the side and two children.
Newbornlander was born just right in the middle, so I have a seven year old, a five year old and, Newbornlander is six years old. So, for me when the Canada Post award is awarded to Canada’s choice that means so much, to validate what we, I, am doing. Anyways, I don’t think that we need this to validate ourselves, you know? But, it does validate all that time. All that sacrifice, and it says, this is real. This is worth it and this is something else. It's not just a business. I am not just selling hats [and things for babies]. We are doing something else, something unique, that allowed us to win a Canadian contest. The same way we got onto the Dragons Den. [As a social enterprise] we are special. People try for seven years to apply to Dragons Den, and they never get it. To get there, to pitch to them, is such an opportunity. So I realized that this is special, this is unique, this is different. I am not, but this is.
When people think they know about immigration, they don’t know. People don’t know what is going on. People are concerned. Immigration touches every single department. I hate when people say (government employees in other departments), “well, that is the immigration department”. Well, you should be educated in it. Immigration touches every single department today and people and ministers should be accountable about that. Don’t delegate it just to the Minister of Immigration. So for me it was, well again, a great validation.
I will not lie, it was a little overwhelming because one week it was the Dragons Den and the next week the Canada Post, so it was a lot to handle. I try to have my feet on the ground to manage that momentum and I think that is one of the sacrifices; it's not that I am filled with joy and in my bed and happy and dreaming and taking a rest. No, now it's worse. It's more intense. The demand is high. I am hiring three new people (at the same time). I need to be there for this momentum. Then I know I will enjoy it and I will take the time. I am trying to enjoy it some but my husband is gone for a month so I am alone parenting right now with my two children, which is insane with everything happening and so I am trying to be smart and to take this as a great thing that is happening to us.
I tell myself don’t be paralyzed, because this brings to you a lot of pressure, social pressure. People say, “Oh, Newbornlander is doing great", or "you are doing great", or "you are everywhere. I see you everywhere", and it's like, oh my god, yes, I know, but, uh, I don’t know (hahaha). It's overwhelming. So I am trying to enjoy that, and have my feet on the ground and tackle the momentum and I am trying to be the best version of myself right now thinking that many other immigrant women are seeing this and saying, “if she did it, I can do it.”
[It says to them] “I don’t need to be an expert. I don’t need to create a tech company because today everything is tech.” Well, let me tell you that when you arrive here without language and everything, you will not make a tech company. So you will cook, you will sew, you will maybe... I don’t know, grow tomatoes so I want other people to see that and say, “Oh my God, she did it. I can do it.” I am super, super, grateful and excited, and I think I’m in the best creative moment of my life.
What is your favorite Newbornlander item to make?
Okay, I will tell you something to be honest, right now, if I make something on the sewing machine, my team corrects me. They are better than me right now! I think they understand the products even better than me, which is a dream of an employer, when your employees tell you “hey, this is not the way, you should be doing it this way because now this will look better.” It's so cool how they are so engaged with this business.
The thing I love the most is to see our customers wearing our hats. Especially in summer when everyone is at the pedestrian mall and you see them. I say hi to people and say we did that. You know, maybe they don’t know me, so I look like a psycho watching their babies (haha) but it's so amazing to make something and see it on somebody else, casually in the street. It makes us feel so proud. It's like, oh, this really worked, you know, like people love it. They look amazing and so yeah, I think that is the part that I love.
Children in Newbornlander's summer floppy hat
What is your least favorite thing to make?
Oh my god booties! Booties! We tried to move away from making them last year. We tried, we were like, no more booties! But people love them. So we continue to make them this year. I took it out of the wholesale catalog, so you cannot have a wholesale bootie. We just make them for our customers and we usually don't have a lot of stock.
They’re on the website. If you want them, we will make them for you. They are super cute, super good, but they are made up of so many pieces. It's really a joy when you finish one and you see like, oh, it's perfect, you know, they are beautiful but they are a lot of pieces to sew. It’s exhausting to make but we love them and customers love them so we continue to make them. But when we get an order we are like “UGH its a booty order.”
Baby in Newbornlander hat, scarf and booties
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring three things what would they be?
A sewing machine. Mm-Hmm. 100% a sewing machine. Hmmmm.....I think I would bring a book to write in. Since I was young, I’ve [liked to] write my ideas, you know, I write things and I love that and also that is good company to read later if you’re alone. I don’t know…uh, what else? Does it need to be a thing or can it be people?
No, it can be people, whatever you want!
Ok, my family, of course. My two children and my husband. I, they are, we are a team. You know, my husband, I love him. He’s so handsome. We make the best team ever. We are a good team. We work so well together. In everything. In business, in the house, parenting. We are a really good team. Yeah, and he's my best friend. Your children are yours and your husbands, but your husband, you choose. I think that is the key. You choose. I chose him. He didn't choose me. I was like, this is the man (haha). I think that is the key. When it's part of your recipe, you choose. Don’t let them choose you. And then, we really make a good team.
Constanza with her husband and two children
What are your future plans for Newbornlander?
Okay, I will tell you what will happen. We will launch this other thing (I discussed earlier). It will be a success. We will go to other provinces, and then what will happen? I think that this will be so successful as a social enterprise, as a settlement employment program for immigrant women, that it will become a foundation, and they will want to buy this, the model, and the brand.
If that happens, with the condition that it stays as it is, and because I am not ashamed to say, yes, I need money because my dream is to run as a politician one day and make change and you need money for that. I'll also be an investor for immigrants in Canada. That is my dream. To do that and be able to take the risk and give money to a startup for immigrants and hopefully women, I need money. So I am not ashamed. I think many times when we talk about money, it's kind of a taboo thing but it's not for me. Unfortunately, to make many changes and things, as you want with freedom, which is the pain of the not-for-profit sector, you need resources, and that means money. So in this case for me money is equal to freedom. I can use it to make changes. I don’t care about the house. I don’t care about the car. I like to travel hopefully to my country to visit my family but that is not my ambition to get wealth or to be able to get access to more material things for me or my family. It is to put it in the community. I cannot rely on the system to do that because I already experienced it working seven years in a not-for-profit. You cannot rely on the system because guess what, they will not come to save you.
So, if my dream is finished, if I can die (happy) one day, it will be as an investor for immigrants, hopefully women. Programs would be open to everyone, but I will be a better support for a woman, just because I believe that we have less privilege than men, so, that is what I will do, yeah, that is my dream.
Yeah, I hope to create a kind of social investor fund, supporting social enterprise ideas made for immigrants. I believe and I always say immigrants are travelers of time. We’ve been in the past, we’ve been in the future, so we see things that nobody else sees, because you can travel, but living in other places [where you are not valued the same], is a totally different experience.
So, I think we are able to solve many problems in Canada, because the problems that we have in Canada right now, in our countries, we have worse problems and there are SO, so many organizations that are solving problems. Here, the problems do not even compare with the deeper problems that we have in our countries. So there are many solutions we can help with.
So that is why we are travelers of time. When we talk about poverty, whether it’s different levels of poverty or immigration, because we come from other countries that maybe are more undeveloped, I would say, we are more resilient, one, and two, more creative, because when you are in moments, in tough moments that you need to survive, your brain works differently. Your creativity in finding solutions works differently because you don't have options. So I would take that as like, investing in immigrants is a good investment because we can help solve some of your problems if we are given the opportunities.
Constanza with members of government including the Premier
If you could give one piece of advice to anyone coming to Newfoundland and trying to start a business, what would it be?
Nobody will come to your door. Don’t send out your resume online, go into the business. Don't rely on the system. We are in the same place that we were 7 years ago [when I arrived], do what you need to do to get what you want. Arriving in a new country doesn't mean you can't be yourself, don’t play the role of the victim, play the role of the victor.
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https://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/pitches/newbornlander
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https://www.mokamiwomen.ca/home/donate-and-volunteer.htm
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The Newbornlander team, 2023