Isabel Guzman is obsessed with giving small business owners the access to resources they need to grow and thrive.

She currently serves as the small business administrator for the Biden-Harris

administration, managing billions in funding for America's small business owners. We talk about how the

SBA can support your small business, but we also talk about how Administrator Guzman made the pivot

from being a behind-the-scenes player in her role as deputy chief of staff in the Obama-Biden SBA

to her current role in the presidential cabinet, the time she took off to be with each of her

sons when they were young, and her best much for making the time to do this.

Oh, Alicia, it's great to be here with you. Thank you.

Every profile of you begins with the story of you working at your father's veterinary chain.

So I'm going to actually skip past that and move directly to your first business, a framing studio.

What was the inspiration and vision for that? Well, I mean, frankly, I've always loved

art, so I wasn't surprised that I ended up in a business with serving artists, serving art

galleries, really integrated in the art scene in Los Angeles. This was a picture framing

company that I opened up with the partner that served a lot of

Latino artists in particular. And it was just a fun business, frankly, as we of course had a product

that we were producing as well as credible shows that we would support across the region. So it was

so much fun. A lot of energy was put into it, and clearly it was a passion of mine.

It was actually named after me. My middle name is Inez, and that was just an incredible experience.

What did you learn actually running a business or what were the mistakes you were able to make as a small business owner that were fundamentally different than having a front seat

to your father's business.

Being with my dad prepared me for this, but the decisions that you have to make every single

day to really ensure that your business keeps afloat is such an incredible challenge, really,

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