{"id":12353,"date":"2016-11-23T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=12353"},"modified":"2018-05-08T15:06:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T15:06:27","slug":"luciana-carvalho-mcr-03-shines-in-the-miami-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2016\/11\/23\/luciana-carvalho-mcr-03-shines-in-the-miami-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Luciana Carvalho, MCR ’03 Shines in the Miami Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all ventured down a new path at one time or another, uncertain of the outcome awaiting us. We\u2019ve all traveled beyond our comfort zone and come face to face with our fear of the unknown. While the promise of a brighter tomorrow often inspires hope and encourages us to move forward, change, even when welcomed, can be intimidating. Meet Luciana Carvalho, MCR \u201903<\/strong>, one courageous alumna who chose not to let fear stand in the way of her lifelong dreams.<\/p>\n

From a young age, Luciana was determined to join the United States work force. Deeply ambitious, she had already completed three years of college in Brazil before making her brave move to Miami and diving into another four years at FIU!<\/p>\n

Prior to starting her classes, Luciana\u2019s first six months in the U.S. were spent at FIU\u2019s English Language Institute<\/a><\/strong> (ELI). ELI is an intensive program that prepares students for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam, an English language proficiency test for non-native English speakers who want to enroll in U.S. universities. Although this could be intimidating for some, Luciana enjoyed the process. \u201cThis was my first exposure to FIU,\u201d she says. \u201cGoing through ELI\u2019s program was an amazing experience. I was able to make friends with other international students. Not all colleges offer this unique opportunity, and FIU brought that to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luciana\u2019s first year in Miami was wrought with transition. \u201cMy biggest obstacle was certainly the language,\u201d she\u00a0says. \u201cI\u2019m very outgoing and not being able to express myself was difficult. If I was not this positive person, willing to learn and open to change, I would not have been able to do this. I worked really hard, and still managed to graduate top of class, despite my language barrier.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2003, Luciana was approaching graduation and she was ready to figure out a career in financial services. She used a dictionary to obtain her Heath and Life Insurance license. \u201cBy this time, I was dominating the English language grammar-wise thanks to a good education at FIU,\u201d she says, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t have enough of a vocabulary. Any time I worked in a new subject, I had to learn a new set of vocabulary words. I kept a dictionary with me to study.\u201d After receiving her license, Luciana began working at a financial brokerage firm, helping clients with their business and individual financial needs.<\/p>\n

\"LucianaYears of hard work were starting to pay off for Luciana. \u201cBeing part of the Miami business community was inspiring,\u201d she says. \u201cI was finally starting to feel like I was achieving my goals.\u201d Luciana was actively participating in network events, engaging with professionals, and learning about new career opportunities. Near the end of 2006, she was introduced to real estate. \u201cI fell in love,\u201d Luciana says. \u201cI saw this beautiful city in front of me, and I loved the idea of uniting the community and working with local businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Luciana got into real estate. \u201cUnfortunately, it was around the time of the big recession and I was recently divorced,\u201d Luciana says. \u201cIt was an incredibly difficult time to start a new career, moving to commission-based work was financially unstable. I often look back at the beginning of my career in real estate – it felt like the beginning of my time at FIU \u2013 I had all the odds against me. The market crashed in 2008, but guess what? 2009-2010 were my best years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The market wasn\u2019t moving. Starting out in residential real estate, Luciana wondered how she was going to pay bills and survive. After seeing an ad in the paper for a marketing position at a commercial real estate company, Luciana made another leap. She spent 18 months working with this team, \u201cI walked 101 buildings,\u201d she says. \u201cThat means you go into a building, like a 30-floor high rise, and you move from floor-to-floor learning who the tenants are, who the building owners are and understanding the market.\u201d Beyond her notable walk through numbers, Luciana made 100 calls a day and managed to schedule 88 meetings in 18 months!<\/p>\n

After learning every aspect of commercial real estate, Luciana decided to become a broker and look for her own clients. \u201cToday, I\u2019m Senior Vice President of Blanca Commercial Real Estate<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0a full-service commercial real estate brokerage firm,\u201d Luciana says. \u201cAll the companies I worked with prior were national. Blanca Commercial Real Estate is local, which is how I\u2019ve always wanted to be working. This firm ties in with my values. I provide strategic real estate advisory services; I negotiate economic and non-economic terms of tenant contracts based on market conditions and provide a strategy aligned with their business goals and objectives. I watch the market very closely. I\u2019m educating clients who may be new to market and connecting them with the business community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Luciana\u2019s career journey is impressive, her work within our community really makes her shine. \u201cI have such a passion for our city and community. Now, I\u2019m in a position to give back and to mentor. I work with several organizations, including PACE Miami.\u201d<\/p>\n

PACE Miami<\/a><\/strong> is an innovative prevention and intervention program addressing the needs of young women ages 11-17 who have suffered trauma and are consequently failing in school or at risk of becoming involved in the Juvenile Justice system.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky to have loving and supportive parents,\u201d Luciana continues. \u201cI feel that it is my obligation to do whatever I can do to help these girls. I have to do it. The way I felt I HAD to learn English, I feel I HAVE to do this. Being a woman is hard in this male-dominated industry. Now, I\u2019m working with extraordinary women, teaching leadership skills. I believe women should help women. It is empowering to help them.\u201d PACE Miami is just one of many impactful organizations Luciana is involved with. Most of her service centers on empowering and uplifting women.<\/p>\n

\n
[vision_notification style=”tip” font_size=”12px” closeable=”false”] Learn more about the organizations Luciana works\u00a0with: [\/vision_notification]
\n\u00b7 Board of Governors Member, The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00b7 Leadership Miami Class of 2014, The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00b7 Board member and Chair of Marketing and PR Committee, PACE Miami<\/a><\/strong>
\n\u00b7 Board member and Annual Women\u2019s Conference Committee member, Extraordinary Women Leading Change Leadership Conference<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00b7 Member of Women\u2019s Leadership Council Committee, Switchboard of Miami<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00b7 Committee member, H.Y.P.E., The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00b7 Board member and Young Leaders Director, CoreNet Global-South Florida Chapter<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00b7 Committee member, Real Estate Committee, The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce<\/a><\/strong>
\n\u00b7 Member, Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce<\/a> <\/strong>
\n\u00b7 Co-Chair, Young Professionals Committee<\/strong>
\n\u00b7 Member of the Fashion and Lifestyle Initiative, The Beacon Council<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n

\"Luciana<\/p>\n

Beyond her career and community involvement, Luciana is also juggling life as a new mom! She lights up when the conversation transitions to her son. \u201cI was nervous that I wouldn\u2019t be able to keep up with my career and be a good mom, but he has made me a better person. I can\u2019t describe it any better than that,\u201d she says. \u201cHe lights up my day and I am so proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luciana says 2016 has been her best year. In the midst of mastering\u00a0motherhood, The South Florida Business Journal<\/strong><\/a> selected Luciana – among 1,600 applications – for the 40 Under 40 Awards<\/strong><\/a>. The 40 Under 40 Awards recognize 40 individuals under the age of 40 who have made significant impact in their field, at their companies and in their community.<\/p>\n

Luciana\u2019s parting words for students and young alumni:<\/strong> \u201cIf you can find pleasure in helping others, you\u2019ll be so much happier in what you are doing. Maybe you had a negative influence growing up. Maybe your parents were always fighting or were unsupportive. It can be hard to break through that. But if you have the desire to become a positive person, work toward becoming that person. Challenges in life shape outstanding individuals. You can do it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all ventured down a new path at one time or another, uncertain of the outcome awaiting us. We\u2019ve all traveled beyond our comfort zone and come face to face with our fear of the unknown. While the promise of a brighter tomorrow often inspires hope and encourages us to move forward, change, even when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":12356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369],"tags":[378],"class_list":["post-12353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","tag-featured-panthers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14962,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12353\/revisions\/14962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}