Emmy winner Brenda Carmona, is lead anchor for the top news show on Univision Chicago, en Español.

How do you define success?  My definition of success changes all the time. At first it was to graduate from college, and I did it. Then it was to work in my career and I am doing it. Now my definition of success is to be able to enjoy what I do, and contribute to my community in any way I can. Success to me, is about my family, having a stable relationship and good friends. Having a full life, to me means success is not only about work.

What are some career challenges you have overcome? The biggest career challenge is moving around so much, looking for bigger opportunities. When I was single it was easy but now, I've had to pass on several opportunities because at the moment, the opportunities that my husband had at work were better. So to be able to combine both of our careers is a challenge.

How do you keep a healthy work/life balance? My husband works from 9-6 and I work from 1:30 to 10:30 pm, so for us the only time of the day to see each other is during dinner and on the weekends. At first it was hard, but now we see it as very healthy, that way both of us have our own time. I have mornings to work out or do what I want and he has evenings, and we spend weekends together, so it has worked out really well. We make time for responsibilities, for ourselves and for each other individually, so that is a great way to balance.

What advice would you give a Latina wanting to enter the field of television?  The advice I will give is not to look for a job on TV just because you want to be on TV. It's not as glamorous as it sounds, especially in Spanish TV where we have smaller crews and there is a lot of work, you just don't sit and read and everybody does the work for you, not at all. You have to like to tell stories, and be willing to move a lot, and be willing to work weekends and holidays when everybody else is taking the day off. It's worth it, but it's really hard work.

What do you see in the future for US Latinas?  I see a bright future for US Latinas. I firmly believe that we can excel in every field that we decide to. We are motivated, we are eager to work and are hungry for better opportunities than what our mothers or grandmothers had. We are ready to take on the world!

Brenda Carmona also serves on the March of Dimes planning committe: Mujer Latina Un Dia Para Ti which this year takes place on November 22nd in Chicago.

Eleven years ago Thea Chassin was diagnosed with alopecia areata, an autoimmune skin disease which causes partial or total loss of hair on the scalp, brows, lashes and body.

Determined to put herself and other women with alopecia in the "drivers seat" Thea founded Bald Girls Do Lunch a non-profit organization that brings together women with alopecia through lunch events held across the country. Her mission is that “no woman should feel alone with this condition”.

Today, Thea is a busy woman, delivering lectures in the US, Canada and Spain; breaking stereotypes that make it okay for men to be bald but not so for women; and bringing together women in an environment that is social and fun. Thea spoke with Mujeres camino al exito about her amazing journey and the crusade she’s launched.

Paula: Tell us a little bit about alopecia.

Thea: There is a lifetime chance of alopecia, the condition strikes1 in 50 and not just women. Oftentimes the condition will manifest itself but then will disappear and may or may not come back.  In some cases it can be very aggressive taking as little as three weeks for all the hair to fall off. On the other hand, I know women whose hair has fallen out and it all has come back but very case is different.

Paula: What is a good day like and what is a bad day like?

Thea: Everyday is a good day. The key is that women who don’t talk about alopecia and want to keep it a secret loose their options. If you don’t let people know and don’t explain that you have this condition you face a situation like having to wear a wig on a hot day or while on a boat. If you choose to make this a big secret you are limiting your options. When you are open about it you have more choices that let you be physically comfortable like wearing a scarf or a hat. You should truly believe that you deserve to be comfortable.

Paula: Tell us about Bald Girls Do Lunch.

Thea: It actually began in New York some years ago. I wanted to start a support group but found it hard to get people together when I called it a “support group”. Then, I asked a group of ladies if they’d be up for doing “lunch” and go bald. The idea was to create a context where we were not isolating ourselves but rather out there as we where. This approach worked better and women got very excited at the idea of having lunch with women that where going through the same thing they where going through.

The site came later, I launched it 18 months ago with the goal of helping women understand that talking about alopecia is a far better option to keeping it a secret. I have discovered an underlying theme among women with alopecia and that has to do with not knowing how to talk bout this, not knowing how to bring it up. There are different levels of coping and adjusting, and as I was launching this effort and talked to more and more women I found that they all have the same concerns.

Paula: Do you feel like you’ve succeeded in promoting awareness for alopecia?

Thea: We have made a tremendous impact on the life of many women. Women didn’t have an organization or a voice and now women phone me, email me and say “I’m so happy you're doing this, I felt so alone and now I don’t feel alone”. This relieves the burden. Right now we have the meetings in different cities. It’s positive but at the same time we are recognizing that we grieve, because there is a loss that takes place. We come together and help each other as equals.

Paula: What is a major challege you face?

Thea: At this stage it’s securing funding to help us grow and have greater reach. I’m hoping to attract a major sponsor like a cosmetics company that will recognize that what we are doing is so valuable because we need to switch up the topic of what it means to be bald. People often think that women with alopecia are cancer survivors. On the other hand, women with cancer feel awful because when they assume a woman with alopecia has cancer she is told “I don’t have cancer I’m just loosing my hair”. We need to be more open about being bald.

Paula: How long before mainstream media gets it about true beauty?

Thea: It’s a matter of time, I’m creating the tipping point, Bald Girls will continue to build until it gets to that point. We’ll continue to promote our organization in various ways. Maybe someday there’ll be a character on a TV show that will be bald. It’s a matter of women getting out and the public getting used to it. The more women want to keep it a secret the harder it will be to break down barriers. It’s not only okay but it’s imperative to shrug your shoulders and say I’ve got alopecia and be as nonchalant as bald men.

Paula: What are your future plans?

Thea: I want to do a book called Stories From Lunch. It’s going to allow any woman that picks it up, flips through and finds a story to say “I get it”.

Network with Thea Chassin, President and Founder of Bald Girls do Lunch or contact her to schedule a lunch in English/Spanish in your city. Email: thea@baldgirlsdolunch.org or visit her website: www.baldgirlsdolunch.com.

Last month Miss Venezuela, Dayana Mendoza, was crowned Miss Universe making her the fifth Latina to win the title in the new millennium. Today Dayana took time from her crazy busy schedule to chat with me. She quickly told me the next best thing to wining Miss Universe was spending a day with her mother in New York City, whom she now misses very much. Dayana shared with us this moment in her journey as Miss Universe.

Paula: What is the role of beauty pageants today when the role of women has shifted and women are leading from business to politics?

Dayana: All of this is proof that women can make their dreams come true. The beauty of a pageant is that it brings people from all over together in a Universal festivity where we can forget about our political and personal diferences. People and countries come together.

Paula: What example do you hope to set for other latinas?

Dayana: I would say that respecting yourself and making other people respect you. Also, have faith in your own abilities and where they can get you. Look for ways where you can improve becasue we are all human there is always room to improve ourselves.

Paula: You’ve chosen as you mission to educate about AIDS/HIV. What compelled you to choose this?

Dayana: I’m putting my grain of sand on this very critical issue and being Miss Universe gives me the platform to do it. In the Latina culture many times these kind of topics are tabu so people are afraid to discuss them but prevention is so important it is here that education becomes the key.

Paula: Who is your greatest source of inspiration?

Dayana: My family

Paula: What is the mark you wish to leave as Miss Universe 2008?

Dayana: I’d like to make this world a little bit better.

If there’s one thing Molly Robbins knows for sure it is that persistence pays off. Las month her never-give-up attitude landed her on the cover of the June issue of Entrepreneur magazine. Born in Mexico and raised in the United States Molly Robbins is no stranger to the beloved Latin American icons we grew up loving like Topo Gigio and the Osito Bimbo and is bringing that touch of nostalgia back with a modern twist through the birth of her two brands Palomita and Chucho.

The t-shirts are quickly becoming a hot item among fashionistas and celebrities alike but Molly is always looking to the horizon to grow her company even further. She talks about her journey forward.

Paula: How are Palomita and Chucho doing since their launch in ’07 and ’08 respectively?

Molly: It’s going well; we launched Palomita initially as a test with JC Penney and had moderate success. We now have expanded and placed product through Kmart and Mervyns also as a test. Then, based on how it goes the stores will reorder.

Paula: What is your favorite character?

Molly: Topo Gigio, it took me such a long time to get the rights.

Paula: Celebs are wearing your t-shirts, that’s a great plug right?

Molly: Yes, Selma Hayek is the most recent this week and all blogs and gossip mention she’s wearing Palomita. I always wanted Selma to wear one of our shirts; she’s all about promoting Latinas who are entrepreneurial. Dollar- wise I don’t know how it will impact us but personally the fact that she wore means a lot.

Paula: Where do you want to take the Palomita and Chucho brands?

Molly: I would love to stand for a genuine Latino brand. Something that when you wear a Palomita or Chucho garment you know it’s coming from one of us in the Latino community. One thing I’ve struggled with is many people try to target Hispanics by getting involvement from a Thalia or Daisy Fuentes to design the clothes. In reality, those clothes are not created by anyone Latino, celebs are busy and aren’t a big part of the design process. I hope to establish our heritage and make it about us, the Hispanic community.

Paula: Where can we find the t-shirts?

Molly: Palomita is at Mervyns, Sears, JC Penney and Kmart. We’re looking to expand into specialty stores. I would love to expand internationally, back to Latin America but people didn’t see it as fashionable they thought it was a promo. That was the challenge. We may have to modify how we market them to avoid that perception.

Paula: Did you always want to venture into the garment industry?

Molly: No, not at all! My education background is law but because I started my career working in the law dept. at Levi Strauss I got a taste for this industry.

Paula: Tell us a bit about the Palomita Educational Fund and the Pink Carpet Fund raiser event.

Molly: Education is important to us and the Latino community, Palomita and Chucho provided the perfect opportunity to offer something tangible through the event. It was a fun way of getting people together, have an auction of t-shirts with a design created by celebrities. We raised 25K in our first event!

Paula: Being so busy how do you find the work/life balance?

Molly: My husband is involved in the business as CFO also my 17 year-old son is interested in what we are doing. So, a family that works together stays together!

Paula: What is a recent book or other media you’ve seen that you’d recommend to our readers?

Molly: A site called "Hispanic Tips" covers international and national highlights. I also read Latina Style, Latina Magazine and Siempre Mujer.

Paula: What advice would you give to women wanting to get into the garment industry?

Molly: Be very thorough about your research, don’t jump into it. Find out all about your competition, look at the resources available to you: Chamber of Commerce, Internet, Small Business Administration. If you’re not prepared to do that you are not prepared to launch your business.

Paula: What’s the best piece of advice you ever got?

Molly: My mentor at Levi's always taught me to follow through. Whether it’s good or bad even to say “I won’t be able to send out the order today”. I now follow through with everything and I mean from returning people’s calls to due diligence on research.

Website: www.palomitaclothing.com

Teresa Arredondo is President and CEO of Art-Craft Paint, Inc. a company founded in 1983, in a portion of a hangar located at the Santa Maria airport. Teresa was born in Michoacan , Mexico and this year is the recipient of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) -- San Francisco National Enterprise Center (SFNEC) -- Minority Service Firm of the Year.

In 1994, Art-Craft Paint sales net were $250,000 and by 2008 sales are expected at the $2 million level. Teresa was able to expand her business based on training she received at TUCK School at Dartmouth University seminars, through two sponsorships from MBDA, in 2007 and 2008. Teresa has worked with MBDA since 1998, became a Gold Key member, and recently traveled to Toluca and Mexico City , to win a contract to paint the Lear Jet of the President of Mexico. Art Craft was rated 3^rd in the top 5 aircraft paint facilities in the USA in 2006, by the Aviation Consumer Report.

To speak to Teresa Arredondo you’d think the joy she radiates has never dimmed and imagine that her rise as entrepreneur, community leader and role model was smooth and fated. But twenty five years ago Teresa Arredondo was not heading up a multimillion dollar business, or her own foundation, or being invited to a dinner event with the president of the United States . Back then Teresa was one of thousands of immigrants that labored in the fields, farming fruits and vegetables season after season. She was following in the footsteps of her mother who had struggled for ten years to save enough money to obtain visas for Teresa and her ten brothers to join her in California .

But even then, Teresa's entrepreneurial instincts flourished when at 19 she rented an acre of land and became a farmer planting strawberries. The work was harsh and “back breaking” as Teresa puts it. She didn’t want a lifetime of that, she wanted something better, she wanted another life and it was then and there that one journey ended and another one began. Teresa Arredondo shares her story:

Every journey begins with a first step

I signed up at a vocational center and took an electronic assembly course. The training took six months but I was so desperate to advance that I finished it in four months, by then I also learned to speak English moderately well. I also began taking night classes at the community college to accelerate my learning and four months later I began working for an electronics company but by then I had three children and had difficulty making ends meet with the minimum wage I was earning.

My best investment totaled .25 cents

I took another local job in Santa Maria but still was not making ends meet. One day I bought a paper for .25 cents and saw in the calssifieds a listing for a furniture upholsterer. I went and filled out an application but they were looking for a man not a woman. So I asked my husband to fill out an application. He did and they gave him the job he then got me a job at the same company. I knew how to upholster because we did upholstery in our home and I had also taken a sewing class in Sta. Maria. The thing was that I did more than was expected; I did whatever was needed from answering phones to assisting around the office. I made sure I was valuable to the company to the point of being indispensable.

Going from employee to owner

One year later the owner offered to sell me the interior upholstery portion of the business. He could see how dedicated my husband and I were and knew we’d make it thrive so I bought it from him for $700. A year later he was having financial hardships so he offered me the paint portion of the business as well for $150,000. At first we were partners but then he got a divorce and I bought the remaining part of the business from his wife. After some financial challenges I started Art Craft Inc. in January of ‘94.

My greatest weakness in business had been that I never went to college to study business; I learned lessons from life and my day to day experiences. I listen to my subconscious and my gut instincts to guide me.

Finding inner strength in the face of tragedy

After 17 years of being in an abusive relationship I left my husband and the business to take a year to find myself and recover physically and mentally. When I returned the company was thousands of dollars in debt and it was then that I decided to take control of my life. No one was going to walk all over me again. I bought my husband out of the business and took charge knowing I had to go on living and supporting my three children. I knew if my mother could do it with a 3rd grade education I could too. I only have a 8th grade education but I didn’t give up. I continued working to grow the company. I got my children to graduate from high school and it was such a proud moment. I was able to send my daughter to Paris to study international relations and my son to México.

Giving back to those in need

I’ve made it a personal mission to support all the organizations that helped us when we were hungry and needy. I organize fundraisers and donate money and time.

I also began working to develop a non-profit organization Adelante Mujer Hispana which has a mission of promoting leadership and help women lead a better life. We have an annual conference and invite women like Rosario Marin, former treasurer of the United States as speakers. The event includes a fashion show where dressing, runway walking and posture lessons are given to women laborers who want to improve their personal development. To be a model in the show the shape and color of your body don't matter, all women are beautiful.

Along my life I have learned that nobody can take away your freedom. I want to help other women reach their full potential.