Creating Lil’ Treasures With Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein

Although the word entrepreneurship was not part of their vocabulary, from the time they were in high school, best friends Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein, began dreaming up ways that they could create successful business ventures, from hot dog stands to clothing lines. Their zeal for innovation finally paid off when they launched a publishing house to produce bilingual books for kids, which they named, Lil Libros. Born out of their desire to share their culture and heritage with their own children, the intrepid first-generation Mexican Americans tapped into an unexplored market. Today, their bilingual picture book series is hugely successful, but Patty and Ariana say that it might never have come to fruition if they hadn’t overcome their fear of failure and given themselves permission to reach for the stars.