GoKawiilEva Longoria is a human force of nature. The actor and creator has starred in a million things like Desperate Housewives and Only Murders in the Building, and produced and directed a ton, including Flamin’ Hot, the biopic about the creator of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. And beyond entertainment, she’s built an incredible business empire spanning tequila, a production company, and multiple soccer teams.
But for all the success she has personally achieved, Eva’s true passion is empowering others to win. Her work to create business pipelines for Latinas was recognized with a cover story of Entrepreneur magazine’s 100 Women of Impact issue, and most recently, she teamed up with Lenovo on their Backing Every Business program. The initiative offers tech packages tailored to small businesses, mentorship, training, and a global network of entrepreneurs. Eva recently joined me on How Success Happens to talk about purpose, partnership, resilience, and building teams that win on and off the field. We’ve broken down her insights to help your personal success take off in three, two, one!
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Three Key Insights
1. Pick Partners Who Match Up With Your Principles
Eva has spent more than two decades partnering only with brands that align with her deeper mission, not just her image. She’s been with L’Oréal for 22 years because, as she puts it, “we share this same passion about making sure women understand their worth in life, not just buying makeup and haircare.” She looks for partners whose purpose matches her own work supporting Latinas through entrepreneurial and educational programs, especially since Latinas start small businesses “six times the national average.” For her, getting on board a program like Backing Every Business begins by asking herself the same questions: “What is the point of doing this and is it really going to move the ball forward? Will it create sustainable change?”
Takeaway: Before you say yes to any partnership, ask if it clearly advances your mission and creates sustainable change, not just short-term buzz.
2. You’re Nowhere Near Rock Bottom
When entrepreneurs feel like giving up, Eva sees that as a signal to widen their support system, not walk away. She believes “If you are an entrepreneur, you have tenacity, you have tough skin, you have a passion,” and that every mistake is “not the end of the journey, it’s just a lesson to learn from.” She reframes complaints as customer feedback, asking, “How can we be better? How can we better serve our community?” and reminds stuck founders, “You’re so far from the end of the road, so far from rock bottom,” because there is so much mentorship and information —podcasts, books, YouTube — just waiting to be tapped.
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