Lina and Osvaldo Henao | Treating Everyone with Dignity
Article Written by: Tiffany Anderson
Creating financial freedom takes a lot of work and effort. There’s educating yourself about a topic you may not know (or understand) very well, plus you’ll need to work with trusted advisors to help you make the best financial decisions possible. It’s a lot of complicated conversations about money, finances, and how to prepare for the future, making it a challenge to know where to begin.
But what do you do when you’re unsure of how the local financial institutions work? And how can you navigate the ins and outs when you aren’t fluent in the native language? For many first-generation Latino families, there’s a knowledge gap in understanding how to save for the future, how to prepare for retirement, or how to set up and invest in a Roth IRA.
The Hispanic Alliance saw this need and stepped in, creating financial stability as one of the original four pillars to serve the community. And champions of our cause, like Osvaldo and Lina Henao, help us bring it to reality. For these two, helping people through financial education is what they do best.
Osvaldo mentioned how, when he and Lina came to Greenville, everything was incredibly difficult to do on their own. “It was so hard to learn how to even get a credit card or to understand retirement. Through that experience, I saw the need for financial education in our community — to help people live their lives to the fullest.”
Debbra Alvarado, Director of Programs & Network Engagement at Hispanic Alliance, sees Lina and Osvaldo as examples of personal experiences becoming resources for our community.
“Lina and Osvaldo are such a powerful example of what it means to build a life in a new country, equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to succeed, and then turn around and share that knowledge with your community. They didn’t just learn how to navigate systems that were once unfamiliar to them—they made it part of their purpose to make those systems easier for others to understand. That willingness to bring others along with you is what strengthens our entire community.”
Understanding their purpose is how the Henao’s approach their roles as financial advisors at G & H Financial Group LLC. Lina mentioned, “Of course, everyone needs a job that provides income, but it really is more than a job to us. We believe part of our work and mission in life is to educate our community about everything related to financial stability.”
Finances looked a lot different thirty years ago in the Upstate, according to Lina. “People came here because of the textile industry to support their families and raise kids by sending those earnings back home.” But for many of these families, the lack of education and access to financial resources left them with little else to do but spend their earnings. Those first-generation Latinos worked, raised families, and didn’t have the tools to prepare for their financial future.
A lot of the Henao’s clients, now managing their parent’s assets, are seeing firsthand the enormous gaps and misunderstandings of qualifying for retirement, 401Ks, and pensions. “We help make some of those confusing conversations easier,” said Osvaldo. “We want to teach people that life insurance is important to build and leave a legacy behind for others.”
While the two of them do so much work for the community through their own company, their purpose also fuels their passion and love for helping others, including young business owners. “We’ve had the privilege of working with clients from scratch, and it’s incredible to see how our work helps them diversify their business to protect and plan for the future,” says Osvaldo.
And their giving extends further — together, they’re huge supporters and advocates of the Hispanic Alliance, both through volunteer work and by introducing sponsors. No matter who you speak to about the Henao’s, everyone feels their generosity and warmth. For Lina, that all starts with focusing on people.
“I love working with people, and I really believe in the power of building trusted relationships with others. You’ll meet someone from other organizations and be able to refer to one another, and I think those kinds of bonds are very important.”
Osvaldo continues, “The Hispanic Alliance was the right fit for us to help our community. Their discipline, purpose, and mission really affected both of us. I remember telling Lina, ‘This is the right one; I want to invest our time here.’”
Working together brings its own challenges, but for Lina and Osvaldo, those are minor compared to what they get to create together.
“Of course we struggled when we first started — we’re very different personalities,” Lina laughed. “But even if you’re not related, you need to learn how to work together.”
Through trial and error, they learned from their strengths and weaknesses, finding creative ways to work better as a team. “We always agree on serving and helping our community,” mentioned Osvaldo. “That’s the passion we share.”
Lina continued, “We really want to make a difference in the lives of others. That’s our job, in my mind. What makes us different is our compassion, understanding that we needed a personal touch for every single client. Everyone becomes part of our family. For Osvaldo and me, it’s the respect that we have for other people and for one another. No matter where our clients are financially, we’re there for them. To us, everyone is important.”
Comments