Potomac man voted top Hispanic entrepreneur

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Susan Whitney-Wilkerson⁄The Gazette Carlos Devis, 52, who was voted as the top Hispanic entrepreneur in America in an online event sponsored by Ford Motor Company and American Online Latino, poses for a picture with the two books that he has written.

America is known as the land of opportunity, but the Colombia native said it wasn’t easy to start his new life in a country where everything was unfamiliar to him.

‘‘For me, it was very, very tough to start here,” Devis said. ‘‘You really start from zero in many ways.”

Devis, 52, has pushed himself to achieve much since starting from that low point. Today he has his own educational consulting company, has written two books and was just honored by Ford Motor Company and American Online Latino as top Hispanic entrepreneur in America.

Devis, who lives in Potomac, first came to the U.S. in 1978 because a large part of Colombia was under guerrilla influence and it was becoming too dangerous for his family.

Although Devis was a well-known attorney in Colombia, he had to start as a loan officer when he first arrived in the United States. After 23 years of working and living in an environment where he faced daily challenges — from language to the education system to financial problems — Devis realized he could help other immigrants.

‘‘I’m an immigrant and being an immigrant is a very hard job,” he said.

His company, Bosa Systems Corp., aims to help immigrants through a Web site subscription service that provides stories of success to motivate and educate people.

Devis writes stories that are examples of typical real-life situations that immigrants face day to day after coming to this country. There are thousands of stories, but all have the same message: There are two ways to look at events that happen in life. Some people look at the negative and some see an opportunity to improve their situation, he said.

The Web site, Club Positivo, which he created in 2001, is designed to make people believe in themselves, and therefore pursue their dreams.

Now, four years later, more than 280,000 people from all over the world read Devis’ stories of hope and inspiration.

‘‘Most people don’t remember their success and they keep remembering their failures,” Devis said. ‘‘You can help other people to believe in themselves or kill their dreams.”

It is not only the Web site that has earned him the honor of being the top Hispanic entrepreneur in America. Four years ago, Devis partnered with Montgomery County Public Schools and launched an empowerment program for Latino parents called ‘‘Conquista tus sueños,” which means ‘‘Realize your Dreams.”

The program helps Latino parents become aware of their abilities and encourages them to take an active role in the community by offering a variety of workshops, teaching parents how to pay taxes and introducing them to an education system that encourages parent involvement.

‘‘The key in this country is to be educated,” Devis said. ‘‘Once they trust themselves and once they start educating themselves, they become more important for the community.”

As the top Hispanic entrepreneur in America — Devis received more than 50,000 votes from online voters to secure the title — he was awarded $25,000, a 2006 Mercury Mountaineer and $25,000 worth of legal, finance and marketing consulting.

The online contest was sponsored by Ford Motor Company and American Online Latino and it was a way for Ford to reach out to Hispanic business owners and to give back to the Hispanic community, said Eddy Davis, public relations representative for Ford.

Four years later, Devis admits creating a Web site wasn’t his initial plan. He said he started writing the stories for himself.

‘‘Because I wanted to give hope to myself,” Devis said. ‘‘But I realized that most [immigrants] keep working without knowing the rules and without educating themselves.”

‘‘I have an 8-year-old that sends me a letter saying after reading my stories, he was brave enough to go to school,” Devis said. ‘‘And a 104-year-old man thanked me for helping him find more reasons [to live] in life.”

It’s free to subscribe and the key to the popularity has been the word-of-mouth, he said.

And Devis said he is ready to make it happen again.

With the $25,000 he received as a prize, he plans to build another online community for Latinos, which he has been working on for the past two years.

‘‘My next project is to save 1 million dreams,” he said. ‘‘We want to do a program to help 1 million high school kids to keep their dreams alive. Everyone has the ability to build a life they deserve.”

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