She Lost Everything. Then Built a Fintech With No Plan B. | Magreth Gutiérrez

<p>What does it take to walk away from everything you built — and start again from nothing?</p><p><br></p><p>And what happens when the financial system tells you that fifteen years of building a major business simply doesn&#39;t count?</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Magreth Gutiérrez — founder and CEO of AAvance, a fintech providing financial services to migrants and vulnerable populations across Latin America and beyond.</p><p><br></p><p>Magreth spent fifteen years building one of the largest food import businesses in Venezuela. When she returned to Colombia, the banks treated her as if she didn&#39;t exist. </p><p><br></p><p>That injustice — and the millions of migrants she saw crossing the border with even less — became the founding story of AAvance.</p><p><br></p><p>Today AAvance has provided financial services to more than 30,000 people, financially certified over 4,500, partnered with Visa, the World Food Programme, and the UN, and is expanding into Europe.</p><p><br></p><p>But behind the numbers is a deeply human story about what it means to lose everything, rebuild from scratch at 40, and build a company not just for profit — but out of love.</p><p><br></p><p>This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, financial inclusion, migrant rights, and what it really takes to keep going when the system says no.</p><p><br></p><p>🎙️ In this episode, we explore: </p><ul><li>What it means to have a &quot;professional heartbreak&quot; — and how to survive one</li><li>Why starting over at 40 is different from starting at 25</li><li>How becoming a mom changed the way Magreth thinks about entrepreneurship</li><li>Why the financial system is invisible to millions of migrants — and what AAvance is doing about it</li><li>How one person inside a bank changed the entire trajectory of AAvance </li><li>The link between financial independence and freedom from violence for women</li><li>What it takes to get Visa and the UN to believe in your mission</li><li>Why financial education must come before financial inclusion</li><li>How to handle rejection as an entrepreneur — and turn every no into a better yes</li><li>What the heroic task of entrepreneurship really demands</li><li>Why the world needs more companies built on love — without forgetting monetization</li></ul><p><br></p><p>🎧 This is the English-dubbed version of the conversation. Original in Spanish here on the channel.</p><p>🇪🇸 ¿Prefieres escuchar la c