Estelia Mesiner is a woman with a mission: to get the rest of her family out of Colombia and join Estelia and her two sisters in the States. Estelia moved to the U.S. with an older sister and went to high school in Pennsylvania, then moved to Florida. “I got homesick after being five years in the U.S. and wanted to go back to Colombia,” Estelia says. “When I got there it was culture shock. I wasn’t the little girl daddy could tell what to do anymore. I was independent.”

Estelia took her independence and went to architectural school and then technical school for civil engineering, all the time staying with a sister in Colombia. She moved back to the U.S. and worked at a civil engineering company for five years, drafting road and architectural plans. She enjoyed the work but after she had her first child she wanted to have more control of her time.

She wanted time with her kids, now 5 and 1, and had a supportive husband, but still felt a need to work, with the main goal of getting her family out of Columbia. Her father had already been kidnapped and killed there. So far she has brought over her mother and a sister and her daughter. She has another sister with two kids to go. “I feel like I’m running against time because my niece is 17, my nephew 16, and this is the last year (before they turn 18) to get them out,” Estelia says.

The effort takes a lot of time and money and, fortunately, Estalia has the support and help of her two sisters in the U.S. Estalia found her niche as well as a way to earn an income and still have flexible time in real estate. “It’s something I really, really enjoy. I believe that if you enjoy doing something you will always make money at it. I love helping people find their dream home. I have been very successful and have won many awards.

“The money I earn is to make sure I can take care of my family and help them get a new life. This country is full of opportunity and if you work hard you will be able to achieve whatever you want to achieve,” Estelia says.

Despite a long battle with rheumatoid arthritis and enduring a hip replacement, Estelia is committed to helping others. In the future, she wants to give more volunteer time to worthy causes and she and her older sister, who is a doctor, envision going to poor countries to help the people, especially the children. She presently is a member of the All Children’s Hospital Evening Guild and is on call with the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House to serve as a translator.