New Ventures Maine has hired Stella Hernandez to join the microenterprise staff team, focusing on the needs of entrepreneurs in Central Maine. She will also teach classes and provide individual coaching for small business owners statewide online.

“Working with entrepreneurs gives me so much joy and energy,” Stella commented upon starting her new role in mid-March. “There’s always something new to learn or a new problem to tackle.”

Prior to joining NVME, Stella was the Business Hub Director for the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center. There, she advised business owners on compliance, growth strategies, and access to capital; developed resources and training; and administered grants to fund programs.

Stella was a small business owner herself for 17 years before joining the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center. During that time, she and her husband, Chef Guy Hernandez, founded and operated two restaurants–Bar Lola and Lolita. They also took over ownership of Hilltop Coffee Shop, operating it for twelve of its twenty years on Munjoy Hill. All three businesses received mentions in the national press, including Travel & Leisure and Bon Appetit.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, she was a management consultant and also served four years as executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Maine.

When asked what she would bring from her previous experience to her new position, Stella said, “Two key aspects of my career provide both context and insight for the work I will do at NVME. The first is my lived experience as an entrepreneur for the better part of two decades. I know what it’s like to dream of starting a business and what it can take to make it a reality. The other is my previous work as Business Hub Director at the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center.  While there, I was a business advisor and created workshops to help grow the business skills of entrepreneurs, including a business basics bootcamp.”

Stella earned a Master of Business Administration from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis after studying civil engineering and architecture at Princeton University and earning a Master of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

“I am most excited about connecting with the entrepreneurs in the central region, through our classes or individual advising,” Stella said. “It’s a great privilege to be able to support someone as they start or grow their business.”