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If you ask Richard Paredes where his desire to carve out a niche in the business world first took shape, he’ll take you back to Ecuador, where he grew up.

That’s where his father, an entrepreneurial salesman with a talent for connecting with customers, taught him valuable lessons — including knowing your target audience. Paredes carried those lessons with him after moving to the U.S. with his family at age 12. They inspired him along with his cousin Sebastian, who, after graduating from Babson College in Massachusetts, launched his own recruitment company, , in 2022.

Paredes, a senior in ��ñ��’s School of Management (SOM), couldn’t pass up a chance to help build a business. He became the chief marketing officer for Interlix, which connects talent from developing countries, particularly in Latin America, with U.S.-based small businesses and startups.

“Our main purpose has been to bring professionalism at a more affordable cost while also helping position independent business owners for growth,” Paredes said. “We work with people who want to become the best possible version of themselves.”

The company works with nearly two dozen clients, but in the beginning, Paredes said its biggest challenge was establishing credibility and growing a professional network. Overcoming that obstacle became a bit easier after January 2024, when included Interlix in a feature about common practices for successful entrepreneurs.

Paredes said one dilemma with outsourcing to places like the Philippines or Pakistan is dealing with different time zones, which is why Interlix has used the recently shifted trend toward remote work to its advantage. The Forbes article interviewed Sheikha Al-Otaibi, another of Interlix’s co-founders, who shared the company’s role in placing remote business professionals and software developers with prior experience at the likes of PwC, EY and Google with other businesses in the U.S.

“What I’ve learned during my time at SOM, especially the strong emphasis placed on networking in my entrepreneurship class, has been key to establishing our success in building our own business,” Paredes said. “We went to at least 60 networking events this past summer, with many in New York City, and balancing my academic demands with commitments to such a key role in the business has been a welcome challenge.”

Driven to succeed

Interlix’s first customer was a small client seeking a software developer skilled in Python (a high-level programming language). By chance, one of Paredes’ cousins in Ecuador was skilled in Python and seeking a remote job. It proved a perfect pairing, and that’s when Paredes and his cousin realized they had found a niche clientele.

“Hiring a software developer can be expensive if you’re a small business owner, and there are so many skilled workers who might go unnoticed because of where they happen to live or if they don’t have the right connections,” he said.

Paredes is guided by that message in his marketing role, which entails managing a four-person team based in Latin America: two people centered on video production and two handling other promotional materials.

He also oversees Interlix’s social media presence and the . Each podcast episode shares stories about business owners and professionals and discusses various industry trends, with one recent podcast featuring Bianca D’Alessio, a real estate broker based in New York City who manages a portfolio worth $10 billion.

“If you have a business, you have to be good at communicating with your team and giving enough attention to your clients. As a student, you have to recognize the need to strike the right balance to ensure you give enough attention to classroom work,” he said. “It’s not easy, but it can be done if you’re committed to making it a reality.”

As Paredes and his colleagues explore new ways to expand their business and client network, he can’t help but smile about the long and grueling hours that lie ahead. He’s embraced the work ethic his father instilled in him.

“My colleagues and I are driven to make this business succeed. We’re grinders.”