Meet The Latina Behind the Chispa Dating App: Julia Estacolchic

From serving fast food to becoming the head of the most downloaded dating app in the Latin community, Julia Estacolchic walks us through her journey as an immigrant in this country with an optimistic and contagious joy. Now, she is helping millions of people connect romantically through Chispa, the Latin branch of Match. Let’s get to know her:

When did you move to the USA and why?

I came with my ex-boyfriend for two months just to learn English. I had a good job in Argentina in the world of marketing and I didn’t imagine at that moment I would stay longer than that.

But life had other plans for you…

Yes, I soon realized that 2 months wasn’t enough to learn English or about the culture so I extended my trip. While I was studying English at a community college I landed my first job in the U.S. which was in telemarketing where I met people from so many different places and so many different backgrounds and stories.

Julia talked about her first years while she was getting settled and the importance of mentorship with other women. She got her first big opportunity at a multicultural marketing agency thanks to another Latina who recommended her for the job.

I can’t stress enough the importance of mentorship and women supporting women. It’s key.

Then let’s talk about Chispa’s evolution from 27 followers on Instagram to 183 million matches and 890 million exchanged messages. What do you think makes this app stand out in this overcrowded space?

One of the successful tips to find a partner is to find someone with who you share commonalities and a similar cultural upbringing is a big one. I think the Latino community was craving that familiar connection to people who could relate to the same struggles if they happen to be Latino immigrants, or to the second and third generations who are born and raised in the U.S. but in their households the Latin traditions are still prevalent and strong.

What were some of the challenges to reach Latinos?

Some of the obstacles is how we represent and include the most diverse and segmented community in the U.S.; we have U.S.-born, foreign born, who speak Spanish, and those who don’t. Latinos are also not united by race, religion and their cultures and their accents vary from one Latin country to another. So the challenge was to celebrate their commonalities as well as honoring their differences.

Going back to the power of mentorship and getting advice from the right people. What is your advice to any Latin entrepreneurs out there pursuing their dreams?

One is to find a team of people you trust that you can learn from and grow together. There is a saying I love “alone you go faster but together you go further.”

The second one is that when there is “if there’s a will there’s a way.” So, if you really, really want something, you will find a way. If you don’t really want it, you will find an excuse.