Arvielo and Santos Hosted Thrive and Lead Conference

The event brought nearly 700 Latina attendees to Las Vegas following a self-funded effort.

Updated on Oct. 10, 2026 in Health and Wellness

Arvielo and Santos Hosted Thrive and Lead Conference

Live Poll

Would you self-fund a professional networking event if corporate sponsors turned down your request?

Patty Arvielo and Vanessa Santos successfully hosted the Thrive and Lead conference for nearly 700 Latina women in Las Vegas. The founders organized and financed the event themselves after failing to secure corporate sponsorship.

Why it matters

The conference highlights a growing push for independent, founder-led professional development spaces tailored to minority women. By self-funding the initiative, the organizers maintained full creative control over the programming.

The conference was developed in under 100 days to serve 700 Latina attendees. The initiative builds on a mentorship program that has operated for 9 years.

The players

Patty Arvielo

She is a co-founder of the Thrive and Lead initiative and a lead organizer of the Las Vegas conference.

Vanessa Santos

She serves as a co-founder of the Thrive and Lead event and collaborated on the development of the mentorship-focused conference.

The details

Speakers from organizations including Beautyblender, Cuyana, Primera Sports, and the NFL participated in the sessions. To ensure authentic engagement, organizers prohibited phones during most segments and did not provide speakers with questions in advance.

Arvielo began planning the conference track in April 2026.
The Thrive and Lead conference occurred in October 2026.

Industry Dynamics

The conference signals a shift toward boutique, founder-funded professional gatherings that bypass traditional corporate sponsorship models. This trend prioritizes attendee experience and curriculum control over mass-market commercial partnerships.

The event offered 700 attendees an exclusive, phone-free environment focused on direct mentorship rather than standard corporate networking. Participants gained access to speakers from major brands like the NFL and Beautyblender without the influence of commercial sponsors.

The takeaway

Organizing major professional events through self-funding allows founders to bypass corporate restrictions and maintain total control over session content. Such models demonstrate how niche leadership networks can successfully scale when traditional sponsorship is unavailable.