Ñeque: The Spirit Of A Resilient Mindset - ROSIE PAULSEN
By Gary S. Hatrick
Thirty-three years ago in the Ecuadorian city of Quito, young Rosie Paulsen had a dream. She wanted to play sports. The problem was that at that time, sports were considered to be for boys. “I used to play basketball,” Rosie said, “but I started to like playing soccer, but soccer was a no-no, it was an ‘only boys’ sport, so why would girls play soccer?”
Skill was not the problem, Rosie was good at soccer, it was the molds of society that made a wall, and not even a glass one, to keep girls from the playing field.
“I was actually a goal keeper, which is another very coveted position that no girls were going to play,” Rosie explained, “but I was good at it because I had the basketball background. So I struggled because people did not want to play with me.”
Rosie was used to struggling for acceptance. Born in Quito - the capital of Ecuador - of parents from the coastal city of Guayaquil, the family accent made her stand out.
“I never belonged when I was a kid because my parents were from the coast, they spoke with a different accent,” Rosie said. “So I came with the background of another culture. In the capital I was like an outsider because my parents were from another region of the country. So I never fit in people's boxes.” Boxes is just another name for walls; but the tween never did quite fit in the boxes. “They always wanted to put me in boxes,” Rosie said, “but I broke every single stereotype in my life. Every time they wanted to put me somewhere, I just shattered whatever box they put me in.”
One day Rosie went to the playing field and found her male friends willingly playing soccer with a green-eyed, blonde-haired girl. She asked why they did not have a problem playing with her. The explanation was that she is an American. Rosie was not certain what that really meant in the scheme of things, but she befriended the girl and learned that she was the daughter of a Christian missionary who had come to bring the gospel to her community. Suddenly, Rosie knew what she must do.
“I ran to my house and I told my mom, 'OK, great. I know how I'm going to play soccer! We have to move to the United States and I have to meet a guy named Jesus - and that's how I'm going to play soccer,'” Rosie recalled. “At 10 years old I started talking to my parents about America and I started becoming very knowledgeable. I wanted to learn English because that was the language you spoke there.”
To make a long and interesting story short. Rosie got to America visiting for the first time when she was 12. “When I got to New York, I learned the subway system within three days, about a week later I was talking to people in English and then like the second week when we were visiting Manhattan I found an Otavalo lady in the middle of Manhattan. So I knew I'm just an American, born in the wrong place of Ecuador,” Rosie recounted with a laugh.
At 17, Rosie came to America as an exchange student and learned American culture. Her parents followed shortly after and settled in Tampa. Rosie had realized her dream. She was in America where girls could play soccer and anything could be achieved if you have Ñeque.
Ñeque is the title of her new book outlining her experiences and demonstrating how having Ñeque can serve you in business and help you to achieve your goals. The word comes from the country of her roots.
“It is actually a Quechea word,” Rosie explains. “It's a dialect from a tribe in Ecuador called Otavalo. They are very humble, they may be poor in things but they have the spirit of entrepreneurship. That is bred into their psyche from when they are little. The women do embroidery on blouses by hand. The men are always producing by planting and things like that but they always have their own business. They are always doing something. Thirty three years ago they were just starting, now they have factories and are international designers. There is this lady that has her own line of Otavalo clothing. They think outside the box.”
“Ñeque - The Spirit of a Resilient Mindset” shows how Ñeque, which Rosie defines as an indefatigable inner grit and resilience, can lead you to success in business and in your personal life. “It's my story on how, not having a background in business, I found my purpose in life to help others to find their God-given talent,” Rosie said.
Promotional material for “Ñeque - The Spirit of a Resilient Mindset” reads “Rosie has used these four components – Purpose, Persistence, Perseverance and Pivot – to build two happy successful businesses, all while juggling her dream career with having a family and a life. She starts with a positive mindset, and an ongoing commitment to learning, growing, and improving. Her book offers support, advice, and actionable tips for finding – and living – your best business and life. If you want to be the next happy success story, find your Ñeque today!”
“I feel that all of us have a purpose we were all created to be. Once you find your purpose then you invest in yourself and you become the best that you can be. By being that best person and knowing what you were meant to be, you project that into your community. Then people get attracted to you. They get to know you. They like you. They trust you and now they want to support your business. You have to get that grit, that inner strength and go for it,” Rosie said.
“Once you find your Ñeque you will be become the next happy success story by achieving a thriving successful and profitable business and have a life that you are happy to have,” Rosie continued. “By having a profitable business now you are able to not worry about money and you can put your family first. I have not met a business owner who said, “Oh, I want to build a business because I want to be away from my family” - every business owner wants to give financial freedom to their family and a financial legacy to their family. So if I help them to achieve that then I help that family, then I help that community and we make a change in the world.”
Rosie, who just turned 50, is a successful Medicare broker by trade. She lives in Lutz with her husband Scott. Together they have three adult children, Tabatha, Steven, and Krystle.
Rosie has been honored as one of the Fifty Most Influential Hispanic Business Leaders in Florida. She has received a Leadership Award from the Tampa Bay Hispanic Heritage, and is an alumnus of Smart Start Pasco and Inner-City Capital Connection. She currently serves as a commissioner of The Florida Commission on the Status of Women and City of Tampa Equal Business Opportunity Council.
At 50, the young girl from Quito has achieved her dream and continues to set her sights on new dreams. Rosie gets emotional when she talks about becoming an American. She believes that native-born Americans do not appreciate the opportunities they have for bettering themselves as well as the opportunities they have for hearing the gospel. By the way, she did meet Jesus. “He chased after me for 20 years though,” she said. Now one of her dreams is that others would meet Jesus through her.
Learn more about Rosie; “Ñeque - The Spirit of a Resilient Mindset;” her businesses, Rosie Paulsen Enterprises and S&R Services; her future endeavors; and how to contact her for speaking engagements at www.rosiepaulsen.com.