Nataly with SKI Charities’ program manager, Anita.

Before Nataly Becerra became a SKI Charities microloan beneficiary, she was relying on income earned selling snacks at her children’s school at special events and holidays. “With the few resources I had, it was difficult for me to sustain my business and support my family,” she says.

Despite her circumstances, she “radiated confidence,” says our program coordinator on the ground in Lebu, Chile, Gaby Lopez. “The first thing we noticed was her perseverance and enthusiasm, and the clarity of what she wanted for her business,” Gaby says. “It was all based on her self-reliance to support her family.”

Her enthusiasm and potential made Nataly a perfect candidate for a microloan—and she’s lived up to expectations. Nataly now has a successful business selling cakes, tarts, pies, bread, dough and more. Thanks to her microloan, she’s been able to purchase a refrigerator, a generator and a popcorn machine, which have allowed her to produce more goods and work more consistently, and even lease her supplies for events. “I have been able to sustain my business and expand my business,” she says. “With this project, all the expenses of my home are 100% supported, and I feel like an empowered, self-sufficient woman who wants to move forward and specialize my business.”

Nataly with some of the purchases she was able to make with her microloan.

Nataly’s dedication to her work and her family is part of what makes her so successful, says Gaby, but she’s also an innovative businesswoman who knows how to make smart investments and use her resources strategically.

What’s next for Nataly? Her goal is to open her own amasandería, or bakery where she can sell a wide variety of quality products. According to Gaby, Nataly has everything it will take to make that dream a reality. “We have seen her empowered, fulfilled, happy and with many ideas and tools to continue advancing in her entrepreneurship,” says Gaby. “What surprises us about her is the joy she places in what she does and her willingness to reinvent herself. She has been able to get up from all the difficulties she has faced as a determined woman.”

Through it all, her microloans have been the fuel propelling her towards success. “It means a lot to me,” says Nataly. “They gave me help without knowing me. They trusted in me, and that made me believe that I could. It gave me the push I needed and it keeps doing it.”