Lizmarie Montemayor ‘24 wins the LaunchPad’s Build Your Side Hustle competition

Anthropology major Lizmarie Montemayor ‘24 was the winner of the inaugural Build Your Side Hustle LaunchPad competition on April 20.  The competition was part of a pop-up market, with the top venture capturing a $500 prize. The series was organized by Ruby Bender ’24, Maxwell who is a student entrepreneur and volunteer with the LaunchPad.

Montemayor has a hand-made jewelry business called Limon Dulce PR based in Puerto Rico. She started making jewelry in high school and began dedicating more of herself to it in college. Limon Dulce draws inspiration from nature, femininity, films, and mythology, among other themes. Her purpose is to inspire people to be their authentic selves and create something for everyone. Limon Dulce PR promotes inclusivity, diversity, and inclusion through statement jewelry anyone can wear.

Lizmarie Montemayor was born and raised in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. She is a sophomore majoring in Anthropology at Syracuse University, with a minor in Linguistic Studies. She began experimenting with polymer clay jewelry making. Later, she began working with resin, before discovering beaded jewelry. She wanted show that people like her, a Puerto Rican woman from a low-income household could be successful and creative.

Montemayor participated in the entire Build Your Side Hustle series which included:

March 23 with Makeda McGowan, a vintage collector and wardrobe stylist, and owner of Inventory New York, who discussed how to create, develop, and manage an online store at our first Build Your Side Hustle workshop.

March 30 with Abigail Minicozzi and Michelle Pfaff, co-founders and owners of The Cherry Pit, a vintage store located in the Mercantile Market in Armory Square, who discussed branding your side hustle. Abigail is an SU student studying fashion design and focuses on collecting merchandise.

April 6 with Lindsay Mastrogiovanni, a HR and business strategist, development professional, business analyst, and psychic, who discussed negotiating sales.

April 13 with Regina Padilla, a Mexican entrepreneur and shareholder in one of Mexico’s largest shoe store chains who has expanded ventures in real estate and restaurants, who discussed budgeting and making financial decisions.

April 20 pop-up showcase competition which featured student side hustle ventures.

The goal of the program, supported through the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, was to provide outreach programming and innovation prize funding to expand participation by diverse and underrepresented women in the LaunchPad.