As a shoe lover nothing gives me greater pleasure than to bring you this amazing section In Her Shoes… where we will get to see our featured guest’s favorite pair of shoes, a hard decision to make for sure, but more importantly what it means to walk in her shoes. For Fanny Miller a pair of black Colombian pumps is what fits the bill, she bought this unique pair on her 50th Birthday trip to Colombia in Santa Martha. These babies can match anything from a formal dress to a pair of chic jeans, and their biggest contribution is how comfortable they are. Ironically, Fanny had never been a shoe lover (good grief!!) but during one of her Celebrando Latinas Conference she lost her shoes before having to go on stage and had to quickly find a pair, luckily one of her vendors specialized in shoes and she was able to save the day, although she admits the impromptu blue shoes were not only uncomfortable, but being blue like her dress and the lighting of the stage she couldn’t help but feel like Smurfette. This was the experience that made her an instant convert and she now pays close attention to buying good shoes that she loves.
Walking in her shoes is a whole other story, as a mother of six children with ages ranging from 7 to 19, her days begin at 6:15 a.m. Getting the three young girls ready, some breakfast, making lunches, maybe coffee, feed the dogs, drop off kids, come back home and get ready for a busy day that may include meetings with clients, luncheons, sales calls, staff meetings, and at the end of the week on Thursday, Friday or Saturday you can expect to add to her day an evening gala, fundraiser or networking mixers. And often it might mean an out of town commitment. Every Friday she tries to go home early and spend some time with her family, watching a movie, out for games at a local amenity, or cooking together. It is no surprise that as a modern entrepreneurial Latina woman, her biggest daily challenge is the home making needs such as cleaning, and keeping the family on track of healthy living; she shares these chores with her children teaching them responsibility and service to the family.
She has taken some very big steps in her shoes, steps that have literally changed the course of her life. When she took the step to jump into the El Latino Newspaper project at 21 she recalls that taking that step did not seem such a huge change at the time, she saw it as an opportunity and she stuck with it. In retrospect, it was the different stages that the newspaper has gone through over the years what has shaped and evolved her path. She had to learn the ropes, come out of her shell, learn to negotiate, and sell. As she puts it, sticking to it gave her no option but to grow up. She learned to pay herself first, to take care of the community, get along with others and learn the business of it. She certainly continues to walk tall and strong every step of the way.
