What does it take to walk away from everything you built — and start again from nothing?

And what happens when the financial system tells you that fifteen years of building a major business simply doesn't count?

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.

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't exist.

That injustice — and the millions of migrants she saw crossing the border with even less — became the founding story of AAvance.

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.

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.

This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, financial inclusion, migrant rights, and what it really takes to keep going when the system says no.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• What it means to have a "professional heartbreak" — and how to survive one
• Why starting over at 40 is different from starting at 25
• How becoming a mom changed the way Magreth thinks about entrepreneurship
• Why the financial system is invisible to millions of migrants — and what AAvance is doing about it
• How one person inside a bank changed the entire trajectory of AAvance
• The link between financial independence and freedom from violence for women
• What it takes to get Visa and the UN to believe in your mission
• Why financial education must come before financial inclusion
• How to handle rejection as an entrepreneur — and turn every no into a better yes
• What the heroic task of entrepreneurship really demands
• Why the world needs more companies built on love — without forgetting monetization

🎧 This is the English-dubbed version of the conversation. Original in Spanish here on the channel.

🇪🇸 ¿Prefieres escuchar la conversación original en español? Puedes verla aquí.

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 Trailer: "This Is My Life Project. It Must Work."

00:00:56 Meet Magreth Gutiérrez: From Business Leader to Fintech Founder

00:01:55 Building One of Venezuela's Largest Food Import Businesses

00:05:39 Professional Heartbreak: Leaving Everything Behind to Start Again

00:07:40 Starting From Scratch at 40

00:09:20 How Motherhood Changed My Approach to Entrepreneurship

00:12:28 "This Is My Life Project, and It Must Work"

00:15:02 Why I Decided to Help Migrants

00:17:58 "To the Bank, I Was 18 Years Old"

00:22:43 Building a Fintech for People the Financial System Ignored

00:28:58 Visa, Banking Partnerships, and Launching AAvance

00:32:24 Serving 30,000+ People Through Financial Inclusion

00:35:04 A Story That Made It All Worth It

00:42:31 Financial Freedom and Violence Against Women

00:49:26 Being a Woman Founder in a Male-Dominated Industry

00:52:49 How to Handle Rejection as an Entrepreneur

00:54:11 The Heroic Task of Entrepreneurship

00:55:01 The No Is Already on the Table — Go Find the Yes

01:00:11 The Pitch That Made Her Cry

01:07:00 Expanding AAvance to Europe and Beyond

01:11:32 The World Needs More Companies Built on Love

📺 Watch more episodes:

Catch The Upswing is a podcast for people building meaningful things in a rapidly changing world. Honest conversations with leaders, founders, investors, and changemakers about what it actually takes to keep going, lead well, and stay hopeful about the future.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

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¿Qué haces cuando la vida que construiste durante quince años deja de existir?

¿Y qué pasa cuando vuelves a tu país, después de haber construido una gran empresa, y el sistema financiero te trata como si no fueras nadie?

En este episodio de Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza conversa con Magreth Gutiérrez, fundadora y CEO de AAvance, una fintech nacida en Colombia que está transformando el acceso financiero para migrantes, mujeres y poblacionesvulnerables en América Latina y más allá.

Antes de AAvance, Magreth había construido una de las mayores importadoras de alimentos en Venezuela. Tenía experiencia, trayectoria, resultados y una vida profesional consolidada.

Pero al regresar a Colombia, todo eso dejó de contar.

Para el banco, era como si tuviera 18 años.

Esa experiencia — sumada a lo que vio en la frontera colombo-venezolana, donde miles de personas cruzaban buscando una oportunidad — se convirtió en el origen de AAvance.

Una empresa que no nació solo de una oportunidad de mercado, sino de una historia profundamente personal.

Hoy AAvance ha llevado servicios financieros a más de 30.000 personas, ha formado y certificado financieramente a más de 4.500, ha trabajado con aliados como Visa y Naciones Unidas, y se está expandiendo hacia nuevos países.

Pero esta no es solo una conversación sobre fintech.

Es una conversación sobre perderlo todo, volver a empezar, convertirse en madre, construir con miedo, liderar con fe, insistir cuando nadie entiende tu visión y crear una empresa cuando no hay Plan B.

🎙️ En esta conversación hablamos sobre:

• La “tusa laboral” que la obligó a cerrar un ciclo yvolver a nacer
• Lo que significa empezar de cero después de haberconstruido una carrera exitosa
• Por qué emprender a los 40 no se siente igual queemprender a los 25
• Cómo la maternidad cambió su manera de construir empresa
• El día en que entendió que el sistema financiero dejabapor fuera a millones de personas
• La frase que lo cambió todo: “Para el banco yo tenía 18años”
• Cómo nació AAvance desde el agradecimiento, la migración y la necesidad de ayudar
• Lo que tuvo que hacer para que bancos, Visa y grandesaliados creyeran en una idea que muchos no entendían
• Por qué la independencia financiera puede cambiar la vidade una mujer
• Qué significa realmente trabajar con poblacionesvulnerables desde el territorio
• Cómo convertir cada “no” en una forma de llegar mejor al“sí”
• Por qué emprender es una tarea heroica
• Cómo construir empresas con impacto, amor y monetización

🌍 Esta es la conversación original en español.🎧 English-dubbed version available here on the channel.

⏱️ Capítulos:

00:00 “Este es mi proyecto de vida y debe funcionar”

01:26 La historia detrás de AAvance

05:54 La “tusa laboral”: cerrar un ciclo para volver a nacer

07:33 El miedo de empezar desde cero

09:15 Emprender antes y después de ser mamá

12:28 “No estoy jugando a ser empresaria”

15:02 El momento que cambió su vida

17:49 “Para el banco yo tenía 18 años”

21:29 El amor por Venezuela que dio origen a AAvance

24:47 Cuando nadie entendía la visión

27:36 Cómo logró que Visa apostara por la idea

28:53 La persona que abrió una puerta imposible

31:08 Lo que aprendió después de ayudar a miles de personas

32:18 Cuando el dinero decide tu libertad

41:24 La conexión entre independencia financiera y violencia

48:23 Ser mujer fundadora en fintech

52:57 Qué hacer cuando todos te dicen que no

53:11 Por qué emprender es una tarea heroica

59:45 “Sí soy capaz”

01:07:28 El próximo capítulo de AAvance

01:09:58 Si tienes que empezar de cero, hazlo

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What happens when the life you carefully built — the city, the career, the plan — gets taken away?

And what if every redirection, every closed door, every forced departure turned out to be exactly what you needed?

In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Julia Villaseñor. Julia has spent years working at the intersection of art, culture and communication, including at Kurimanzutto, one of Latin America's most influential contemporary art galleries.

Julia's story moves across Mexico, Paris, India and back — not by design, but through a series of unexpected turns. A visa rejected after nine years in France. A move to India she never planned. A decision to return home that allowed her to spend her father's final years by his side. A family restaurant closing after seven years.

And through all of it, a growing willingness to trust paths she never planned to take.

This is a conversation about loss, reinvention, identity, and what it means to build a life around trust rather than certainty. And about why art — at its best — is one of the most human things we do.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• What it actually feels like when a carefully built life plan collapses — and what you do next
• How living between cultures — Mexico, Paris and India — shaped who she became
• What India taught her about letting go of control and trusting the unexpected
• Why the most painful redirections often open the most important doors
• What it means to make art accessible without making it shallow
• The difference between curating and communicating — and why she's done both
• How to trust a process you can't see or predict
• How to embrace a future you never planned for

🔗 Check out Julia's work:

Instagram: @julibertad

Kurimanzutto: https://www.kurimanzutto.com/

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

00:30 Episode Starts

01:17 Meet Julia Villaseñor

06:02 Living Between Two Completely Different Worlds

10:16 When a Chapter of Your Life Comes to an End

12:14 Searching for Home Across Three Continents

17:06 The Country That Changed Me Forever

18:14 Why You Sometimes Need to Let Go of Control

20:13 The Opportunity of a Lifetime

22:55 The Turning Points That Changed Everything

24:23 The Visa Rejection That Changed My Life

26:36 Why I Chose to Leave India

27:37 The Decision I'll Never Regret

29:13 Losing My Father and Returning to My Roots

30:17 When Life Keeps Closing Doors

31:14 Learning to Trust the Process

32:40 Do Things Really Happen for a Reason?

38:14 Why Art Shouldn't Be Exclusive

46:42 What Makes Us Human?

48:53 How to Embrace a Future You Never Planned For

📺 Watch more episodes:

Catch The Upswing is a podcast for people building meaningful things in difficult times. Honest conversations with leaders, founders, investors, and changemakers about what it actually takes to keep going, lead well, and stay hopeful about the future.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

🔗 Follow & connect:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswing
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswing
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@catchtheupswing