Latinos In The US: Anita Rincón Talks Growing Up Latina And Being A Role Model

Latin Times had the pleasure of interviewing an international model who has not only made a name for herself as a Latina, but also serves as a role model to women around the world: Anita Rincón. While Rincón is globally recognized as a fashion and entertainment powerhouse, the Finland-born model is also a successful entrepreneur with her luxury eyelash line Luz Lashes and high-end Argentine hair extension collection Luxurisima. Later this year, Rincón will publish her first book — American Dream - A Fashion and Beauty Mogul's Guide to Building a Million Dollar Empire — and we got the pleasure interviewing her about her roots, her career and her life.

Latin Times: Tell us about your ethnic background. What was it like growing up with two heritages and how did you stay in touch with both of your roots?

Anita Rincón: I was born in Finland, Northern Europe. It's a small country between Sweden and Russia with a little over 5 million people. People are quiet and calm - basically the complete opposite of Argentina! I lived my late teenage years in Argentina and I think that period right before you become an adult is when your own personality and style develop the most. I go to Argentina every year and even when I'm in New York, Argentina is always present in my everyday life. At 17, I made a promise to put Argentina on the map and I plan on keeping that promise!

LT: What inspired you to write your book ("American Dream - A Fashion and Beauty Mogul's Guide to Building a Million Dollar Empire") and what do you hope to achieve from it?

AR: I used to write a weekly style and beauty column for Metro International (the largest international newspaper in the world) while I was in college in Sweden for international economics.

When I graduated, I already had a vision of a beauty empire and I had pretty much everything planned out. Most importantly, I knew I wanted to pursue that dream 100%. When I quit writing I would still continue to get emails from my readers and people who would follow me on social media, asking questions on how to make a career in fashion and beauty.

Not even a year later that I was offered a book deal in the US with LFF Publishing and my first book is now on the way! It's a business guide written from a woman's point of view based on my life and career. The questions that I would receive on a daily basis gave me an idea of the topics that interest young female entrepreneurs around the world. I love to interact with my followers so I recently started a social media segment #AskAnita on Instagram that gives my followers a chance to send their business/career/entrepreneur questions to me in English and Spanish and I post one randomly selected question with my answer every week. I love to see women helping each other instead of being vicious and catty.

Latinos are often very traditional and the macho culture still exists. In countries like Argentina, I've seen that it's often hard for men to accept the success of an independent woman without feeling inferior. Luckily female entrepreneurship is starting to become more and more common every day and I absolutely love that. I want women around the world with different circumstances to look at me or read my story and say, "if she could do it I can do it, too." If I can inspire even one person along the way to have the courage to start fulfilling their dreams, I feel that my job is done.

LT: What made you want to start Luz Lashes and Luxurisima Hair Extensions?

You can follow Anita on her Facebook page, on Twitter at iamAnitaRincon and on Instagram at OfficialAnita.