Are You Looking to Start or Grow Your Small Business?
From 2015-2020, the San Diego & Imperial SBDC team helped strengthen our regional small businesses.
San Diego & Imperial SBDC Business Advisors
The business advisors of the San Diego & Imperial SBDC Network are highly skilled in their fields and industries as well as knowledgeable in specific business topics.
Diana Barbiani
Advisor
Retail specialist, retail/wholesale strategies, military markets
Marisa Castaneda
Advisor
Restauranteur, managerial experience, entrepreneurial advising
Pam Covarrubias
Advisor
Brand builder, podcaster, speaker, visionary
Eduardo Landeros
Advisor
Consultant, educator, business appraisals and plans, financial literacy
Shawn Lynam
Advisor
Franchise entrepreneur, C-level executive, strategic approaches
Miguel Magdaleno
Advisor
Program specialist, serial entrepreneur, business coach
Stepheni Norton
Advisor
Former chief petty officer, decorated military veteran, farming entrepreneur
Rosalva Sandoval
Senior Project Clerk
Fellow Jaguar, community supporter, entrepreneurial guidance
Joel Sedeno
Advisor
Financial entrepreneur, banking expert, creative professional strategist
Diana Barbiani
Advisor
Marisa Castaneda
Advisor
Pam Covarrubias
Advisor
Pam is dynamically skilled as an intuitive brand builder, business coach, podcaster, speaker, certified crystal healer, EFT practitioner, and recovering procrastinator. She primarily spends her time elevating womxn and small businesses by helping them develop their brand in intuitive ways, while also staying true to their unique story. Throughout her diverse career, Pam learned the importance of branding and positioning in an ever-changing market. She uses her natural skills, as a highly intuitive and creative human and as a strategic marketer and coach, to develop systems that help individuals accomplish their intentions. She brilliantly blends creativity and practicality to help her clients achieve success. Pam’s mission is to spread ideas and move people by helping humans find their voice so they can own their unique story. As a creator, speaker, coach, and visionary, she strives to bring products, support, insight, and accountability to those around her. Pam has been a South San Diego advisor specializing in marketing, branding, and mindset.
Eduardo Landeros
Advisor
Eddie has been working with small businesses for close to 20 years in Southern California. Throughout his career, he has owned and operated six different businesses in various industries including business consulting, restaurants/bars, real estate and the Mexican candy industries, among others. He served as the president/CEO for the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and built a career in the business banking/finance industry with important institutions such as Citibank, Union Bank, and CDC Small Business Finance – where he currently works as a part-time senior business advisor. His current consulting company specializes in business appraisals, business plans, access to capital, financial literacy consulting, entrepreneurship training, and more. Eduardo is a certified valuation analyst as well as has a bachelor's in marketing from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Learning and an MBA in accounting from National University. Aside from working full-time as an assistant professor for San Diego Mesa College, he's also an adjunct professor at Southwestern Community College in the accounting department.
Shawn Lynam
Advisor
Shawn has focused his career on entrepreneurial and strategic approaches to elevate business. He started his professional career by opening a single franchise business and grew to 28 locations over a five-year period. Through a 20-plus year career focused on supporting the launch of over 3,000 franchised businesses, Shawn has gained an appreciation and expertise in scaling and operating high performing businesses. He's a well-rounded executive, with management experience for start-up, Nasdaq, and NYSE companies. In 2009, he was recognized by the International Franchise Association as a Certified Franchise Executive. Over his career, he was an executive team member responsible for one of the largest corporate rebranding projects, managed one of the fastest growing franchise concepts (670 U.S. locations in three years), and facilitated corporate liquidity events generating over $300 million. In his most recent position, as COO of a national franchise brand, he elevated the ranking of the company by over 500 positions to achieve #162 on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 list.
Miguel Magdaleno
Advisor
Miguel has a bachelor's from San Diego State University in sociology with a minor in Mexican-American studies. He currently plays a strong role as a program specialist as well as a business advisor with SBDC. He's an experienced entrepreneur, has experience in the non-emergency medical transport field. He's a serial entrepreneur, having a series of online stores and working in different platforms. Miguel plans to further his education with a master's in business to better support small business. As a business coach, Miguel helps you grow and maintain a level of income that's needed to be happy. He also has experience assisting small business start-ups and existing small businesses to grow. He's honored to be part of the South San Diego SBDC and help small business achieve their potential.
Stepheni Norton
Advisor
A retired chief petty officer and decorated military veteran with over 20 years of hands-on entrepreneurial experience, Stepheni started and ran multiple successful businesses before breaking ground on W.D. Dickinson Farm, House, Mercantile. Experience and expertise with local, state, and federal regulatory compliance as well as in start-up and growth strategies for emerging markets, leadership in transitioning and operational environments, administrative and program development, and research or data management has helped make the farm a success. Stepheni is a certified PSA Grower Trainer, the author and lead facilitator for Business of Farming, a semester-long course, and works with the SBDC to help aspiring food and farm entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses. She has a certificate of sustainable agriculture from CalPoly Pomona, a bachelor's in business management with a focus on entrepreneurship from Pepperdine University, and she's currently working towards her masters of professional studies in food business from The Culinary Institute of America.
Rosalva Sandoval
Senior Project Clerk
Rosalva is the senior project clerk for the South San Diego SBDC at Southwestern College. Rosalva, a fellow Jaguar herself, is an accomplished and experienced professional who has served our community for over five years providing services, resources, and guidance for aspiring and existing entrepreneurs. Rosalva’s interests include walking, reading, gardening, and spending time with her daughter and son (Teresa and Esteban) and her two granddaughters (Penelope and Zoe). Her professional goals include furthering her education to better serve the community, with personal goals to assist her granddaughters in starting their online businesses.
Joel Sedeno
Advisor
Joel is a creative professional strategist with a strong background in finance, banking as well as managerial and communication skills. His additional abilities include creating or improving businesses. He holds a master's in science specializing in finance as well as a master's in science and information technology systems. He is also an adjunct professor in economics. More about Joel – banking experience: personal banker, personal financier, and business loans officer; investment experience: financial advisor, portfolio manager, and financial analyst; business experience: business creation, business expansion, purchasing and buying businesses, and business operations; business financial analyst consultant: assisted with penetration of new markets and/or creation of markets; and Small Business Development Center: business advisor with a focus in finance, start-up business, expansion, access to capital, business purchasing, business operations, and more.