Student Spotlight
Irma Guzman started her own business to increase representation in the marketing industry for the Latino community.
“Guzman Studio is a bilingual digital marketing agency looking to help bridge the gap between language barriers and inspire other young Latinas,” said Guzman, a senior in marketing and apparel, merchandising, and design. “Our vision is to be the go-to agency for bilingual marketing for businesses seeking to reach Spanish- and English-speaking audiences. Our mission is to empower businesses to connect with their target audience by providing personalized and effective bilingual digital marketing solutions and helping them implement diversity and inclusion one post at a time.”
Guzman is heavily focused on helping the Latino community. She noticed a problem when her boyfriend’s family struggled to find a marketing agency they could communicate with to promote their Mexican grocery store.
She started her business by building a brand guide to outline how Guzman Studios would appear across all platforms. She created different social media channels and a TikTok video that went viral. This helped boost her brand awareness. She then made business cards and utilized resource meetings with staff at the Iowa State University Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship. She pitched at the Pappajohn Center’s College-by-College Pitch Off and placed second in the competition.
Guzman was recently a guest speaker at 1 Million Cups in Ames, a weekly event that brings entrepreneurs and the Ames community together over coffee and conversation. She shared the importance of what it meant to be a guest speaker.
“It not only meant I could offer my marketing services to the community of Ames, but I also received amazing feedback from other small business owners and brought awareness to topics such as the implementation of diversity and inclusion in small businesses,” said Guzman.
Her target market is Hispanic business owners, but she plans to expand to help all small business owners interested in implementing diversity and inclusion in their business.
“My favorite thing about having my own business is the creative freedom I get when it comes to my channels and seeing my vision come to life.”
— Irma Guzman
Guzman thought the hardest part was starting. She encourages those who want to start their own business to look for people who do what they do. She listened to entrepreneurship podcasts, which helped her escape the mindset of being too afraid.
“My favorite thing about having my own business is the creative freedom I get when it comes to my channels and seeing my vision come to life,” she said. “My favorite, above all, is helping my Latino community with my expertise in marketing as well as being able to help other people also connect with the Latino community and educate them about what diversity and inclusion could look like in their business.”
“My favorite thing about having my own business is the creative freedom I get when it comes to my channels and seeing my vision come to life.”
Sam Dilocker, marketing specialist with the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, attended Iowa State and met Guzman when she was a freshman. Dilocker has seen Guzman grow into a great entrepreneur.
“Having met Irma during my junior year at Iowa State, I’ve been so proud to see her make the most of her college experience and take advantage of the resources Iowa State offers. I couldn’t be more thrilled she chose to connect with the Pappajohn Center and take the leap and start something at Iowa State. She’s intelligent, creative, driven, and so talented. I know she will have great success in Guzman Studio and any other endeavor she takes on,” said Dilocker.
Learn more about the College-by-College Pitch off.
March 30, 2023
