NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Belmont professor Dr. José González is in the business of helping people start their own business, but now he's taking his lessons to a different setting.
"It's a project that I've been thinking about for a couple of years now," said González.
He and his co-host Dr. Frank González started a podcast called Latino Emprendedor, or 'Latino Entrepreneur'.
"And the important thing was that it would be done in Spanish," he said.
They cover everything from launching a business to dealing with failure.
"There's really quite a network of service providers and entrepreneur serving organizations, some great ones here in town, but it's all done in English," González said.
Nationwide, Latinos start more than 80% of all new business, opening them at three times the rate of the national average, according to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
"But the lack of access to capital, to information, to education is certainly one of the things that is true, it's a reality," said González.
That's one reason he co-founded the nonprofit Conexión Américas more than 20 years ago.
"It's mission is to build a welcoming community where immigrant origin families can really belong, succeed and prosper," said González.
Since then, he said the profile of Nashville's Hispanic entrepreneurs has changed.
"People that are doing stuff in fintech, in logistics, in transportation, in health care," he said.
As the community continues to grow, he hopes to reach more entrepreneurs, one episode at a time.
"It's a great moment to be a latino emprendedor in Nashville," said González.
