[Lwvcnmtopics] Business Outlook article re Trish Lopez and Teeniors

Wed Apr 6 00:07:51 MDT 2022

Thank you, Mary. I’m honored that you would share this.

If your or anyone who reads my interview is interested, here’s a 93-second
video of the African woman, Camilla, who’s referenced in the article,
sharing her first experience with a Teeniors coach. I think the quick clip
might move you to tears. Let us never underestimate the power of — or our
need for — human connection.

https://youtu.be/a7LhLBzXUhI

Cheers,
Trish

On Tue, Apr 5, 2022 at 5:59 PM Mary H Smith <maryhenrie at msn.com> wrote:

> The April 4 ABQ Journal Business Outlook has a great article re our own
> Trish Lopez and Teeniors. Where she gets her energy, …..!?
>
>
>
> Mary H Smith
>
> maryhenrie at msn.com
>
>
>
>
>
> Monday, April 4, 2022
>
> TRISH LOPEZ — TEENIORS FOUNDER/CEO
>
> ROBERTO E. ROSALES/JOURNAL
>
>
>
> *BY ELLEN MARKS*
>
> FOR THE JOURNAL
>
> The African woman was alone in Albuquerque after her husband died, far
> from other family members and without an easy way to communicate with them.
>
> When an Albuquerque teenager showed her how to use a cellphone and how to
> get in touch through WhatsApp, "she was just ecstatic and crying and
> talking about how she'd been so depressed before this," says Trish Lopez,
> founder and CEO of the 7-year-old Teeniors program.
>
> It's one of the stories that has touched Lopez most since she first came
> up with the idea of hiring teenagers and young adults to help seniors learn
> about FaceTime or texting or even just the basics of using a computer and
> cellphone.
>
> For a kid who grew up in Belen with five siblings and a widowed mother, it
> was a tough road from the time she first voiced her idea at a women's
> startup weekend to the launching of her business in 2015.
>
> "When you're winning, everybody is in your corner," Lopez says. "When
> you're starting something that isn't popular ... when you don't have the
> support ... it is all you.
>
> "I have this slide that I show at presentations, with first-, second-,
> third-place winners, (surrounded by) all these photographers and media
> people. And then it shows what you can't see underground, where there's
> these bricks of loneliness, hardship, long nights, blood, sweat, tears,
> depression, failure, etc., etc. I love that visual because that is what
> success looks like."
>
> Lopez became an entrepreneur after a career in the film industry, both in
> Los Angeles and, after returning home, with the New Mexico Film Office.
>
> She won national recognition last year as one of 12 people to receive an
> "Influencer in Aging" award for her work in connecting younger and older
> generations.
>
> Teeniors has tutored more than 4,000 older adults and provided work for
> dozens of teens over the years. In-person tutoring sessions are back, but
> the pandemic pushed everything online and expanded Teeniors' reach to 27
> states.
>
> "What was cool about virtual was, for the first time ever, we got to help
> people outside of New Mexico," Lopez says.
>
> *What was the inspiration for Teeniors?*
>
> "The idea was inspired by my mom, who is now almost 83. She has struggled
> with technology many times. Me and my brothers would be called upon to
> help, but we couldn't always be there ... and I don't think we were (such)
> great teachers when we were there.
>
> I used to think if I could just send a kid to my mom's to help her recover
> her password, do whatever ..."
>
> *Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?*
>
> "No! My then-partner had gone to a startup weekend, and then I heard about
> this one for women. I said it was the last thing I was interested in, but a
> friend said they didn't have enough women signed up. So suddenly I was
> jumping in, but as a volunteer ... to help with marketing or whatever. I
> was just sitting in the audience listening to people's ideas, when they
> said, 'Does anyone in the audience have something they're thinking that
> they're not saying?' Everyone was pitching apps, but I said, 'I would like
> to see more youths helping elders, and I can think of a million ways they
> could do that, from mowing their lawns to taking them to the store. For the
> purposes of this startup weekend, I will hone it to tech-savvy teens
> helping seniors learn technology.' And it was just like noisy crickets in
> the room. I got a lovely team of strangers to help out, and we ended up
> winning first place."
>
> *What were you like as a kid?*
>
> "The way I grew up in New Mexico was not easy. We were born and raised in
> Belen and did not have any money. Dad died when I was 8, and all five of us
> kids were under the age of 13. My mom was a cashier at Walmart. I give her
> all the credit in the world ... but she could only handle so much, so we
> really raised ourselves in a lot of ways. I got in fights. I was in trouble
> all the time."
>
> *Who inspires you?*
>
> "Can I give you some characteristics rather than a person? People who are
> brave, people who are articulate.
>
> People who are humble. People who advocate for a cause but don't shame
> others while they're doing it. Angela Davis, Maya Angelou. Those are some
> people."
>
> *Do you have any quirks?*
>
> "I find it extremely difficult to go to a restaurant and order just one
> thing. I always order two or three entrees — every time. It's really hard
> for me to decide."
>
> *When you first pitched Teeniors, did you have a clue it would be this
> successful?*
>
> "No, but I also didn't think about it much, period. I remember when we won
> the startup weekend, even my partner was just kind of like, 'Wow.' I just
> remember a lot of people didn't get it — 'That's cute, but that's not what
> the startup weekend is.' That's the problem, too. I think that the
> entrepreneurial world, they try to make it all Elon Musk-like. There are
> tons of entrepreneurs in New Mexico ... and they're solving real problems.
> Teens and seniors?
>
> It was just completely out of my wheelhouse. Nobody understood what was
> going on.
>
> So no, I didn't expect it to do as well as it's been doing."
>
> *What's the best compliment you've received?*
>
> "I remember a 16-year-old teenior's parents reached out to me and asked me
> over for lunch. They said, 'We just want to tell you the difference this is
> making in his life. This is a kid who did not have friends before. His
> entire social world — he's a gamer — was online. And now it's like he's
> starting conversations with people he's never met. He's applying for jobs
> and colleges and internships. It's like he stands straighter now.' You
> know, like seniors, these kids can be marginalized and underestimated. When
> you tutor someone, it's like a video game — they see the immediate
> gratitude. They're respected for their knowledge, and they become the most
> important person in the room.
>
> The beauty of seeing those intergenerational connections is really
> something."
> ------------------------------
> ------------------------------
>
> Copyright (c) 2022 Albuquerque Journal, Edition 4/4/2022
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-- 
*TEENIORS**: *Tech-Savvy Teens Empowering Seniors*
Trish Lopez <https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishlopez?trk=hp-identity-name>
(505) 600-1297 office | (310) 266-4128 cell
teeniors.com <http://www.teeniors.com/> | facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/teeniors/> | twitter
<https://twitter.com/Teeniors> | instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/teeniors/> | linkedin
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/10110352?trk=tyah&trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Acompany%2CclickedEntityId%3A10110352%2Cidx%3A1-1-1%2CtarId%3A1469429361848%2Ctas%3Ateeniors>

*As featured on NPR, New York Times, Univision, Oxford University Press,
Albuquerque Journal and more! Check out our multi-award winning work at
www.teeniors.com.
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