Toti Cadavid

Toti Cadavid, a native of Colombia and founder of Xcelente Marketing and Public Relations, is a communications strategist with far-reaching experience in both domestic and international arenas.  Toti has extensive expertise in marketing, public relations, and market expansion into U.S. Hispanic markets.

>>  I’ll be speaking with Toti about how her background and how she came to found her company.

Additionally, she is experienced in design and implementation of fully integrated global, national, and statewide marketing and public relations efforts, as well as multicultural training, event planning and trade shows.

>>  What precisely does Toti do in her position and what can we learn from her about this career path?

At Xcelente, Toti works closely with her clients and her agency’s team in the development and deployment of innovative, Hispanic-focused communication strategies.  These strategies incorporate social, ethnic, and cultural nuances into all marketing, branding, public relations, community outreach, public information, and advertising initiatives, with the end result being generating increased consumer response and awareness to the client’s products and services amongst targeted Latino groups.

>>  What does Toti enjoy about her career and what led her to pursue this path?

Toti also manages the agency’s creative team in the production and implementation of client’s campaigns while ensuring that ongoing strategies are aligned with and successfully support client’s business objectives.

>>  What lessons can we learn from Toti and what challenges has she encountered?

Her leadership and guidance has provided clients such as Starz Encore Group, Cox Communications, Fastracks, City of Commerce City, CDOT, Charter Communications, First Data Corporation, Metropolitan State College, Solera National Bank, The Denver Preschool Program, Elitch Gardens and others, with ways to effectively communicate with and market their products and services to Hispanic consumers.

Since moving to the U.S. in 1990, Toti has held leadership positions in a number of local and national community and civic organizations, including the Junior League of Denver, the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, Hispanics in Technology and Telecommunications Association, the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau, the Denver Metro Convention and Visitor’s Bureau’s Multicultural Tourism Task Force, the Minority Advisory Council of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the advisory board for the Leadership for Community Change project, the Leadership Council of Escuela de Guadalupe, and the Community College of Denver Foundation.  In addition, Toti was appointed by Mayor Hickenlooper’s to his Denver Early Childhood Council and to his Latino Commission.

>>  How does Toti find time for all these commitments and how does she choose where to spend her time?

Toti currently sits on the boards of the, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, and Junior Achievement.

Toti was recognized in 2005 as one of the nation’s Top Latina Business Entrepreneurs by Hispanic Magazine, as one of the 11 finalists for the Colorado Rockies Adult Leadership Award, and byThe Denver Business Journal as one of the “Top Forty Under 40” business leaders in Colorado.  In 2006 Toti received the Businesswoman of the Year award by the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and her business, Xcelente, received the Minority Small Business Champion Award by the Small Business Administration.  Toti was recognized as a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts Mile Hi Council in 2007.

>>  How do these recognitions benefit Toti in her business and community success?  How do they benefit her?

Toti holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business, masters’ degrees in Marketing and Management, and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship, all from the University of Colorado.  In addition, Toti is a graduate of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government Executive Management Program, the 2004 Leadership Program of the Rockies, the 2005 Leadership Denver program, the 2005 National Hispana Leadership Institute, and the 2005 Dartmouth University’s Tuck Minority Business Executive Program.

>>  How did she decide what degrees to pursue and have they helped her directly or indirectly with her business success?

Toti, her husband Luis Colón, and their children live in Lone Tree, Colorado.

>>  Finally, I’ll be speaking with Toti about how she combines work and family responsibilities.