How this immigrant built a thriving Wisconsin business

Carmen Solis shows how immigrants can continue to thrive when they have access to resources — and community investment.

Carmen Solis had no way of knowing as a child in the Mexican province of Michoacán that she would someday run a successful business in the Chippewa Valley. What  she did know was that she was going to do something big wherever she put down roots.

“It’s about 26 years since I have seen my family, but my family is very proud,” Solis said. “My parents are always telling me to keep going. And they have always encouraged me, since I was little. I was always dreaming of doing more things.”

Solis owns her own business, MKS Cleaning Services, and she recently shared her story with the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce and on our morning radio show. While Latinos across the country worry about a government hostile to their American dreams — and maybe even their existence in this country — there are still people like Solis carrying on with the pursuit of success as well as the pursuit of happiness. 

“So how this started was, I had a job that was a normal, 9-to-5, eight hour job,” Solis said. “And as a mom, having to drop off my kids at school, at daycare, it was sometimes challenging because sometimes I would have to leave work to go to an appointment or for something for school. I worked at a cleaning job and I decided that I wanted to have my own schedule and that I wanted to work for myself. And so at first I was a little scared, but at the same time I was prepared to start working for myself.”

The work has grown to the point where she has four to five people alongside her, putting her among just the 10 percent of Latino-owned businesses in the state that are not just solo endeavors. There are an estimated 12,000 Latino-owned businesses in Wisconsin — about 3%of the state’s businesses, even though Latinos make up about 8%of the state population, showing plenty of room for growth. Solis credits the Latino chamber for helping her get started and thrive.

“The chamber helps us have a firm purpose,” Solis said. “And what we’re doing, it gives us more security and confidence and what we’re doing, as a person, as a business. And it helps us be able to share our businesses with others. And so not being afraid to talk to others to network.”

Solis now has a growing family and a willingness to share the advice that helped her forge her own path through the free enterprise system.

“I have been living 26 years in the United States,” Solis said. “I currently have three kids, two daughters and one son and one granddaughter. I have been living 15 years in Altoona and I really like this place because it is very calm and it is very nice. I always feel the support from the community and although English isn’t my first language, I still am able to connect with others in the community.”

The metaphorical “melting pot” is at the heart of our national origin story — as noted in one study about the benefits of immigrant entrepreneurs: “There’s something inherently entrepreneurial about leaving your home to start a new life in another country [that explains] why immigrants tend to start businesses at a disproportionately higher rate than native-born Americans”. 

“It doesn’t matter what business you open. It is always important to be open to any skills that you might have, that you might be able to develop or continue developing and always discovering those talents that you have. And always trusting in God that you have something special and that if you keep continuing, whether there is any challenge in the road, there is always going to be success — and to always be humble and have faith that things will turn out well.”

The Latino Chamber of Commerce advocates for public policies that support business development and access to markets. It conducts market research about the Latino impact on the Wisconsin economy and offers programs for business growth and strategic planning. 

“How this helped me was with meeting different people,” Solis said, “knowing how to get my first client, either my first house or my first commercial location. And it was through the courses [that] helped me overcome this fear of reaching out to people and make that outreach to potential clients.”