In this energizing and honest episode of Exit-Ed, host Gabriela Smith speaks with Nicaraguan-born founder and Dallas-based entrepreneur Tatiana Chamorro. Tatiana opens up about her evolution from college student and young mom to serial founder, franchise builder, and now Chief Marketing Officer of an innovative cocktail startup. Her journey is packed with sharp business insight, heartfelt lessons, and deeply personal reflections.
Tatiana walks us through her early entrepreneurial roots—selling unbreakable cookies with a friend as a child—and how that creative, problem-solving spirit shaped her path. She shares how she bootstrapped her education in the U.S. as an international student, hustled to build a marketing agency with recurring revenue, and joined forces on an ambitious digital franchise model that scaled fast across the U.S.
But success wasn’t without conflict. Tatiana candidly details the emotional and legal complexities of exiting a business that once defined her. From co-founding a multi-million dollar operation to navigating a difficult merger and ownership dispute, she unpacks the realities many founders face but rarely discuss: burnout, misaligned values, legal battles, and the identity crisis that follows an exit.
Now, she’s found renewed purpose as a partner and CMO at Toucan Cocktails, an award-winning ready-to-mix beverage brand that’s disrupting the alcohol industry with patented packaging technology. Tatiana shares how she leveraged lessons from her past to build better foundations this time—clear values, strong boundaries, integrated systems, and healthy partnerships.
This episode is for anyone—especially women and immigrant founders—who’s juggling business, family, self-doubt, and ambition. Tatiana’s story proves that reinvention is not only possible, it’s powerful. Whether you’re building your first startup or bouncing back from burnout, this conversation will inspire you to own your narrative, learn from the hard moments, and dream boldly.
For more about Tatiana: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tatianachamorro/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatianachamorro/
Fore more about Toucan Cocktails: Website: https://toucancocktails.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toucancocktails/
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