Sharing a helping hand to Rio Grande Valley businesses

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — For many people, the biggest challenge when building their own business or even a non-profit is not knowing where to start or even how to develop a strong team.

You can call Sabrina Walker Hernandez a community advocate or the woman with a plan. Either way, the president and CEO of Building Better Boards is dedicated to seeing others succeed.

"You have to invest in your nonprofit and make it grow and what do you need to invest in, what do you need to be looking for? You need to be looking for the right team. I call it the dream team, which is your board members that can help you develop the vision and get to the vision where you want to be,” Walker Hernandez said.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, the U.S. Army veteran has always had drive and determination.

Yet in 2018, she was diagnosed with two types of blood cancers at the same time.

"I got diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and those two cancers were Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and multi myeloma and when you're diagnosed with cancer you start looking at lifestyles, so a part of that was stress and it's stressful running an organization and so I wanted to create something that would help those nonprofits/CEO's and so they don't experience as much stress as I did," Walker Hernandez said.

While she was in isolation due to her stem cell transplant, she decided not only to get better but also to create her own business.

"In my head, I sat in that hospital bed it was about providing hope to the people who provided hope to the world,” Walker Hernandez said.

She now trains CEOs and boards of directors for employees across different sectors, along with leadership skills focusing on revenue, relationships, and retention.

"There are a lot of questions you need to ask yourself before you start a nonprofit more than like 50% of nonprofits just like businesses, small businesses start and fail because people are in shock about the work the work that's required to make it successful,” Walker Hernandez said.

She says what got her through those challenging times was her loved ones, like her mother and her faith.

"What I do know, is when you are not focused on yourself and focused on others it allows you some type of comfort so in a way it's selfish right because in seeking that comfort for me is helping others and so doing that process that's what I needed to do to move through that journey,” Walker Hernandez said.

She advises the next generation to never be afraid and use their experiences to fulfill their desires.

“If you find joy in it I see nothing wrong with learning how to monetize that, because you do not want to give up and go to work every day, you want to get up and experience your passion every day,” Walker Hernandez said.

Walker Hernandez says she's not done because this year, she plans on doing 12 keynote speaker events all connected in the keys of building unstoppable teams.