My journey begins in the land of coffee beans & pristine beaches; well-known from its history as the Banana Republic. A land home to the ancient Mayan Civilization and shaped by the multi-cultural influence from Europe during the Spanish colonization till this day. A land I call home.

My name is Mirtha Sierra Leiva. I am from Honduras, located in Central America, smack in the middle of the American Continent.

I graduated my bachelor’s degree from UNITEC at the age of 23. UNITEC is one of Honduras’s most prestigious universities pertaining to the Laureate International Universities’ network. Upon admission to the university I was granted a Fulbright scholarship.

I learned from my time at the university many important lessons that I would hold on to with me in my journey to Asia. In the University, I was in an enriching environment, surrounded by different personalities, business owners, entrepreneurs and bright minds. I grasped a deep understanding of the importance of networking and concise communication. I had developed great friendships and diverse relationships with individuals from all fields and backgrounds by the time I was to graduate.

After graduation, I started off my career at Mercaplan-Millward Brown – I was given the position of Market Research Assistant. The job gave me my first glance into the world of marketing, brands and statistics. There I met a group that inspired me and won my upmost respect and admiration; coincidentally they were all women. They were strong communicators, deep thinkers and solution providers. Their strength and ambition sparked a desire in me.
I later moved on to take another job as a Marketing Agent for a local Clothing Retail Company; and as it happens with small businesses, I had to quickly learn to be an individual with many different hats, tackling various responsibilities. I learned how to multitask; from marketing agent to social media marketer to customer service, juggling the various responsibilities all at once. The skills learned from working in that small business was an experience that propelled me to land a job at StarTek.

I advanced rapidly during my time in StarTek, beginning as a customer representative and later moving up to Quality Assurance Specialist. I was put in charge of various teams, mentored as a coach on customer service and took on the responsibility of providing feedback to the customer representatives.

My yearning to continue growing in my personal and professional life, pushed me to the decision to study for a master’s degree; and what do you know – a post I made on Facebook led me to Asia; to a beautiful island known as Taiwan.

Indeed, because of the power of social media, and through persistent inquiry, I was gifted the opportunity to study for a master’s degree in a well-founded school in Taoyuan, Taiwan. I successfully applied and obtained admission to Chang Gung University, School of Business – for M.B.A. I was blessed once again to be able to study on a full scholarship ride.

During my studies at Chang Gung University, I was thrust into a multi-cultural environment, with classmates and students from each corner of the world. This experience strengthened my networking and people relation skills. I conversed and shared ideas with diverse personalities, friends and business minds.

While studying to obtain my degree, I took on a working position at a local school as a language facilitator. My job was to teach young minds in the English language through various methods (e.g. – Art, Music, Drama, etc.). I progressed to teaching adults as I flourished in this position.

Aside from teaching, some friends and I started our own small restaurant. From that experience I learned another prime lesson; don’t do everything at once. Planning and intelligent execution with the right timing is crucial to achieving success. A lesson we learned the hard way, as we didn’t succeed in the venture.

They say: “What doesn’t break you, only makes you stronger” – and stronger I yearned to become, picking myself up and striving to be more mature and business savvy. My friends, and eventual business partners too at the time, referred to our venture as “Our MBA in practice”, – we referred it as such because we were taking the classroom to the real world, putting our textbooks to action and I am categorically grateful to those friends and relationships I made for life.

It’s been three years now since I graduated from the M.B.A program with my master’s degree. I am still a language facilitator for young minds and adults in Spanish and English language. I also continue to provide customer service workshops. I am striving towards setting up a Language and translations service for Taiwanese professionals, and oh yes, I continue to reside in beautiful Taiwan! As I work towards my dream, I continue to slowly build a clientele and keep my eye on potential niches with needs and wants yet to be fulfilled – that I can fulfill.
My biggest marketing project right now: Myself. I believe that we are all walking brands, so let’s become the best representation of ourselves.

Yours Truly,
Mirtha Sierra Leiva.

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