Quite a Journey...

Throughout my life, I have acquired skills that have allowed me to improve my quality of life and positively impact the lives of those I care about most.

Education and perseverance have been at the core of my ability to overcome obstacles, and thankfully, I’ve had the opportunity to fulfill several meaningful roles. During my early school years in Chile, I was elected president of the Student Council. This position gave me the chance to work directly on fundraising and event planning. For two years, I led an incredible team of people that also became friends for life, together we raised funds for scholarships and provided financial support for students in our faculty through cultural events, performing arts, and exposure on radio and television.

Later, during my studies in the U.S., I joined the International Student Organization (ISO), where we organized a variety of activities, for both new and returning international students. One of our key goals was to provide meaningful exposure to the American culture.

Among my personal interests, I have always been passionate about the arts, which led me to become a teacher of aerial disciplines such as trapeze and silks. My sister and I founded a business called Aerial Mind, focused on circus arts and mindfulness. Our mission was to use these disciplines as tools for self-improvement in all areas of our students’ lives.

I was a teacher and manager of public relations and operations for the business, which enabled us to build partnerships with organizations like ArtsQuest (where this picture on the right was taken) and the Coco Foundation, helping to bring awareness to our work and values.

Thanks to my organizational and leadership skills, I was offered a position as the International Commercial Coordinator for a mining industry company based in Chile, my home country. In this role, I established relationships with previously untapped suppliers of manganese steel parts for the Chilean market. This was no easy task due to the varying business cultures and practices across different countries within the mining sector. Nonetheless, I successfully built partnerships with companies like Custom Alloy Corporation, All Metal & Forge, and Frogswitch. As their sole representative in the U.S., I managed all aspects of the process—from technical drawings, manufacturing,  quality control to final product delivery.

Eventually, I returned to a more people-centered role as a Business Development Coordinator at CACLV, a nonprofit in Bethlehem. There, I had the rewarding opportunity to encourage, teach, and guide aspiring entrepreneurs to launch their own businesses—with great results.

Over the past seven years, after helping others start their businesses, I launched my own in the hospitality industry. I now provide housing to traveling professionals, students, teachers, and anyone who needs a "home away from home" while passing through Bethlehem.

Of course, this is not the whole story. I’ve struggled and failed many times in the process, and some ideas and projects were left behind. But that’s how success is built. Through trial and error, sweat and tears. I could not have achieved anything without professionalism, empathy, ethics, transparency, and a driven mindset to be the best I can be in every role I’ve taken on—as often as possible.

My goal now is to share the experience I’ve acquired with anyone willing to listen, with the confidence that this tools will make the world a little better, one person at a time.

                                                                                                           

                                                                                                              Juan Pablo Gorigoitia