By Brenda Porter-Rockwell
Hilda H. Gurdian has received many accolades, including publisher, CEO, mom, wife, friend, community leader, success coach, faith leader, speaker and author. But behind the titles is simply a hard-working woman passionate about helping others manifest the same success she’s seen over more than three decades.
Whether it’s helping inform her Spanish-speaking community in the Charlotte area about the important issues of the day through her media company La Noticia, sharing her faith with her church parishioners or counseling professionals as a success coach so they can take their talents to the next level, Gurdian is always there for those in need.
Paying it forward
“I believe in paying it forward. I have been blessed with the best mentors, so I want to help others in the same way others helped me,” said Gurdian.
Born in Venezuela to a family that had already had a successful media business, Gurdian didn’t choose the easy route. Instead of graduating college and returning to help steer the family business, she started her own advertising and marketing agency. As a solopreneur she helped clients create ad campaigns that would run in the family publications, generating revenue for herself and her family.
“I was always inclined to continue in journalism and publications. I love the opportunity to serve my audience with valuable news and information that they can use,” said Gurdian.
By 1986, Gurdian was ready to reinvent success. She closed her advertising business in Caracas, Venezuela and
moved to the U.S. with her husband and their two sons. In 1992, Gurdian launched, La Noticia newspaper in Charlotte. Ten years after that she proudly became an American citizen.
The news of the day
Today, Gurdian is the publisher and CEO of La Noticia, her family-owned 30-year-old Spanish language newspaper. La Noticia prints four Spanish-language papers that serve more than 300,000 readers across North Carolina. The paper — soon to be a digital-first publication thanks to her son, Alvaro Jose — has been recognized by the National Association of Hispanic Publications as the “Outstanding Spanish-Language Newspaper in the Country.”
She credits her family’s success to their passion for the work and to the advice and support of community members who believed in the vision of La Noticia.
“We were determined to succeed. This included sacrifices like getting up early, working for 10 to 12 hours every day and being happy about it. No complaints!” Gurdian said.
“We have also been blessed with the best mentors anybody can have,” she said. ”Prominent and kind members of our community who believed in us. They supported us with sound advice at the right time and opened doors of opportunity for us” she said.
And it’s that early kindness and community support for La Noticia that lives in Gurdian’s heart and plays a leading role in her promise to maintain close ties to her Latino community.
“Our mission is to keep our Latino community informed, so they can make informed decisions. We strongly believe that an informed community is a community that feels they belong in the larger community and therefore act with confidence and participate,” Gurdian explained.
Now more than ever, she said, local media like La Noticia need to be at the forefront of telling impactful stories.
“An informed community will participate in the growth and well-being of the entire community, including showing appreciation for the democracy that we are blessed to have,” said Gurdian.
Between 2004 and 2005, she also served as on-air host of the local PBS affiliate WTVI “Charlotte Hoy” Spanish television show interviewing prominent members of Charlotte’s Latino community, sharing news and important topics with viewers.
The bounty of success
For the last five years, Gurdian has taken her know-how off the pages of her book, Discover Your Path to Success, and translated that into a second career as a success coach.
“I love the opportunity to advise aspiring entrepreneurs on how to become successful,” she said. A Certified Jack Canfield Trainer of The Success Principle and Certified Living Your Strength Coach, Gurdian teaches success principles to people at any stage in their career. Canfield, a writer and motivational speaker, focuses on 12 principles said to lead to greater success.
“These are the same 12 principles I used in my journey towards success and continue to use in my life,” said Gurdian. She said she’s focused on helping those, “who believe in the importance of being a student for life and are ready to come to a success principle class ready to learn new things or refresh a [skillset] they knew but forgot or have not used in a while.”
Her coaching business tag line — #MakeItHappen — aptly reflects the advice she shares in her coaching sessions.
“Work hard every day. Be prepared, so you can take advantage of any opportunity that would come your way. Always strive for growth, but also be grateful for what you have,” Gurdian said.
In addition to finding inspiration from business leaders, Gurdian lets her faith influence her pursuit of success. “Believe in this verse from the Bible — Luke 6:38: ‘Give and it will be given to you.’ Share your talent, time and treasure with others in your community without expecting anything in return,” advised Gurdian.
For the last 23 years she has served as Eucharist Minister at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Charlotte, assisting church leaders in delivering Holy Communion and volunteered as an usher greeting parishioners and collecting the weekly offering.
Even with a thriving profession, Gurdian doesn’t plan to slow down. She sees her future doing the same work at the paper and in her coaching business — helping others succeed.