#WhyNotMe GBC Entrepreneur Spotlight: Santiago Alvarez, CEO, NUD Paramedical Tattoo
As we hop into April and the signs of plant life begin to push through the soil, what better way to celebrate that than to highlight another exciting company launch this month by a current George Brown College student! We are so pleased to announce that Santiago Alvarez has launched a personal care business, NUD Paramedical Tattoo operating out of a central downtown Toronto location. We had the pleasure of catching up with Santiago during his hectic schedule to capture some of his wisdom to share with other budding entrepreneurs!
About Santiago Alvarez
Santiago would define himself as a serial entrepreneur and has created 8 companies that have provided a wide variety of services in the health, beauty, food, tech, entertainment, tourism & personal care sectors, nationally and internationally. Always willing to take on new challenges, he is a very committed professional and versatile individual, forward-thinking and inherently reliable, a goal-minded leader that is enthusiastic, hard-working, and self-motivated.
Academic Background
Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University Externado of Colombia. Strategic Relationship Marketing, George Brown College.
What made you want to become an entrepreneur?
I have been an entrepreneur since 2014. It has always been my passion to create innovative ways to solve people's needs and bring a positive impact to all my team members. I have a lot of fun being an entrepreneur, taking risks, making mistakes, and sharing benefits. The best word to describe why I became an entrepreneur is happiness. I enjoy creating companies from scratch, and I always find a way to make things happen.
Why did you create your business?
I saw an opportunity in helping people who have hair loss problems, and I always thought what would be the best way to solve it. I decided to create "DHI Hair Restoration Clinic Canada" as a way to bring natural results at a fair price to the market. This company took more than 10 months to become a reality, and bringing together a medical team with a very complicated regulatory environment was the biggest challenge, the training of the medical staff and the protocols to deliver the best results were also a crucial part of this journey. We offered a patented technique of Hair Restoration that has been succeeding worldwide.
Parallel to that we also saw another opportunity to address skin problems, specifically stretch marks and scars in general. Due to my long experience creating companies in the healthcare industry, we decided to create "NUD paramedical tattoo", an option to cover and camouflage stretch marks in the market with an exclusive technique. This idea came about also due to the fact that we had a lot of space in our hair clinic and decided to use our installed capacity to the maximum. This is a great example of how an initial idea has evolved into a project that now has multiple operational units.
What successes have you enjoyed so far with building your company?
Having fun with my team during the training, getting to know patients from different backgrounds, and changing people's lives. When you have an alopecia problem, and you recover your hair density, your confidence comes back and we definitely have empowered all of our patients. I am proud of all of my team members and their commitment to the company.
What is one piece of advice you would give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Take risks now and execute small actions every day. Have fun and be open to changing roads when you enter the entrepreneurial journey. Keep things simple, show up every day. In the initial phase of every project, there are some things you cannot delegate. Grow your network as much as possible, work on your communication skills, and learn how to stay humble, expressing empathy every day. - Santiago Alvarez
Finals thoughts you would like to share?
Work as many hours as possible on your vision, be consistent and surround yourself with people who are better than you. Get things done even if you don't feel like it. Learn from your mistakes and strengthen your character, nobody owes you anything.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do” Steve Jobs.
“I have not failed I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” Thomas Edison.
Any books, videos or podcasts you would recommend?
The Hard Thing About Hard Things. By Ben Horowitz.
Any organizations or learning resources you would recommend?
Definitely, startGBC at George Brown College, Neal Lilliott and the startGBC team has had a huge impact on my project in terms of helping me expand my networking.
Website and Socials
Clinic Address: 30 St. Clair Av. West suite 202, EQ Bank Tower. Toronto, Canada
Clinic Telephone Number: +1 (647) 202 1110
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/santiago-alvarez-9b31064a/
