{"id":15817,"date":"2019-12-02T20:25:17","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T20:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/?p=15817"},"modified":"2019-12-02T20:27:23","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T20:27:23","slug":"qa-with-alexandra-ramirez-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2019\/12\/02\/qa-with-alexandra-ramirez-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with Alexandra Ramirez ’10"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIU alumna Alexandra Ramirez \u201910 arrived to the United States from Colombia as<\/span>\u00a0a single mother seeking educational and financial freedom. Her ultimate goal was to achieve the \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d of becoming a business professional in the United States. She is currently the TV Finance Expert of \u201cDespierta America,\u201d the CEO of Moneywise Business Group and Founder of FINANCIALLYFITLATINA. We spoke with Ramirez about what initially brought her to FIU, how she\u2019s involved with FIU, her advice to FIU students and alumni, and more.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read her story below.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

FIU Alumni Association:<\/strong> What brought you to FIU as a student?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

FIU alumna Alexandra Ramirez: I came from Colombia to the United States as a single\u00a0<\/span>mother\u00a0<\/span>in search of a better life for my son and I. I wanted to fulfill\u00a0<\/span>becoming a professional in the business field and FIU helped me achieve that dream. I graduated in 2010 with a Business Administration and Finance degree,\u00a0<\/span>while working full-time, being a mom, studying nights and weekends, and taking online classes. FIU\u00a0<\/span>prepared my path to become an experienced and recognized professional in the finance field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, I am the TV Finance Expert of the number one Hispanic show in the United States, “Despierta America,” of Univision TV, which transforms the lives of thousands of people. I was named the “Best Finance Content Creator in USA” by Hispanicize, the largest annual event for Latinx\u00a0<\/span>trendsetters and digital newsmakers, and recently, I was\u00a0<\/span>invited by the United States Hispanic Business Congress to speak about finance at\u00a0<\/span>Harvard University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FIU has not only helped me pursue my mission of assisting the community to achieve\u00a0<\/span>financial freedom, but also to make a difference in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was your most memorable experience at FIU and what did you take away from your time at FIU?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My most memorable experience at FIU was when, after many years of studying and\u00a0<\/span>long nights, I received my finance degree with my two children by my side. Another\u00a0<\/span>memorable experience was when I took Personal Finance, the class I loved the most,\u00a0<\/span>and I had to prepare my own personal finance plan, from taxes to retirement to my own\u00a0<\/span>investments. It was so exciting for me! That class prepared me to be the financial\u00a0<\/span>advisor I am today, one that helps hundreds of clients and business owners around the\u00a0<\/span>world to manage their finances and increase their flow of money.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you think Moneywise Business Group and FINANCIALLYFITLATINA can help women, students, and community members?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout my career, I realized the tremendous need for financial education to the community. I noticed the lack of knowledge and fear that many people experienced when making financial decisions. At Moneywise Business Group and FINANCIALLYFITLATINA, our mission is\u00a0<\/span>to provide financial literacy to students and\u00a0<\/span>young adults, and to create programs within the school system that teaches the basics\u00a0<\/span>of finance, money management and debt.\u00a0<\/span>In 2010, I was named “TOP USA Latina Influencer” by Latinos in Tech Innovation and\u00a0<\/span>Social Media (LATISM), and was invited to the United States Capitol to represent the\u00a0<\/span>Latino community, to talk about the growing student debt in the United States, and how\u00a0<\/span>we can reduce it.<\/span><\/p>\n

How are you involved at FIU currently?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, I partnered with\u00a0<\/span>Continuing Education at FIU to help educate the community\u00a0<\/span>about all things finance. Together, we created the first International Finance Coaching\u00a0<\/span>program, which will be held from March 13-15, 2020. This program will prepare\u00a0<\/span>individuals to succeed with their finances and become successful business owners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, I also created the first Finance Summit for Women at FIU, “Expofinanzas Mujer,\u201d which was held in August, 2019, and it was a total success! More than 1,000 women came from all over the world to learn about financial literacy, and ultimately, help the economic growth of FIU and Miami-Dade County.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you could give one word of advice to our FIU students, what would it be?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My advice to FIU students is to live with purpose and to work on their dreams. Take control of your money, avoid student loans, spend less than you earn, and create a plan to tackle debt. I would also advise any and all FIU students to create a smart balance\u00a0<\/span>between saving for the future and living in the moment, while controlling and limiting\u00a0<\/span>credit card usage.\u00a0<\/span>And finally, I would advise FIU students to create a solid financial f<\/span>oundation for the future that allows investment and financial freedom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why do you think it\u2019s important for alumni to stay involved with their alma mater – whether it is by attending alumni events, volunteering their time, or giving back financially?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a firm believer in giving back. As alumni, it is important for us to give back what we have learned and gained to help others succeed. When we give back to our alma mater, we get a sense of satisfaction in knowing that we’re furthering the goals of the school that did so much to educate us and provide us with a better life. Giving back with our money and our time helps support the next generation of students and alumni\u00a0<\/span>\u2014 whether it is for scholarships, research or new facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for your continued support of our FIU, our community, and the FIU\u00a0<\/span>Alumni Association, Alexandra!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIU alumna Alexandra Ramirez \u201910 arrived to the United States from Colombia as\u00a0a single mother seeking educational and financial freedom. Her ultimate goal was to achieve the \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d of becoming a business professional in the United States. She is currently the TV Finance Expert of \u201cDespierta America,\u201d the CEO of Moneywise Business Group and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":15821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,22,368],"tags":[415,12,463],"class_list":["post-15817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-community","category-philanthropy","tag-alumni-association","tag-fiu-alumni","tag-fiu-next-horizon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15817"}],"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\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15817"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15823,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15817\/revisions\/15823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}