In this recurring monthly special, Nonahood News will be featuring those who’ve graduated from Lake Nona High School and will recognize the achievements they’ve made since. Some will have been a part of the first graduating class. Others might have graduated a few years later. Few have stayed in the Lake Nona area, and many have explored the world or are still doing so. Let’s see where life’s journey has taken them so far!

Name: Jazmin Diaz

Age: 25

Year Graduated: 2011

Occupation: Owner/Founder of Queens for Queens (Q4Q)

Current Location: Orlando, FL

This month’s alumna founded an oath “to instill the power of female-to-female connection amongst millennial women through unifying events.” Jazmin Diaz is working toward shaping the way women are viewed.

Diaz moved to Orlando in 2005 from Seattle, Wash., for her father’s job. Her family then decided to move to the Lake Nona area in 2008. Once Diaz graduated high school in 2011, she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.

While a student at Lake Nona High, she had some pretty CEO-like goals for after graduation. “I wanted to have the freedom to dictate how I spent my time. Whether that meant owning my own business or having the ability to decide my own schedule. … Freedom is what I desired most,” stated Diaz. Once she graduated, she was able to achieve those goals. “After moving to Salt Lake City, I got an amazing opportunity to start and run the social media department for a very successful marketing agency. I had the pleasure of traveling all over the country, styling in-house photoshoots, and working from home at my own leisure. That portion of my life truly felt unreal at times!”

Diaz laughed as she reminisced on what seemed like a dream. That’s something we all strive for and, luckily for her, she obtained that dream right out of high school! Diaz has since moved back to Orlando and has created her own company, Queens for Queens (Q4Q).

“After the company I worked for in Utah sold, I decided to pack up and move back to the Sunshine State to finish school. In conjunction with pursuing my international marketing degree, I got a job with Apple. There, I met so many incredible women that reignited my passion for female empowerment. I was reminded how much female unity mattered to me and could never shake the fact that we live in a society that expects nothing but cattiness and judgment to come from female relationships. I would often look for any/all reason(s) to remind women how incredible they are. Because if it wasn’t me, then who? And if not now, then when?” Diaz questioned.

“This thought process motivated me to host my first Q4Q event in November of 2017. The reaction and impact we received from having 15 women in a room that were strangers but somehow connected on a deeper level than they ever thought they could is what began my determination to see Q4Q grow,” stated Diaz, who couldn’t shake the feeling of how wrong it was for women to be expected to compare themselves with one another. “Women have the ability to create such an incredible power and energy when they’re together, so I couldn’t help but dream of what could happen if women were united as a whole.”

Looking at her past jobs as something that has prepared her for her current role as owner/founder, she sees women. “Ironically enough, every job I have ever had I reported directly to a woman. Each time I transitioned into a new role or job, I was able to fuel off of the work ethic of those female leaders. Whether that included demanding a seat at the conference table or asserting my ideas and views, I saw what that looked like first-hand. From that point, I was able to gain a confidence that the world didn’t tell me I deserved as a female leader. Even now at Apple, which is amongst a very male-based industry, I still look to our store leader, who is a woman, as an example of leadership in a very male-dominate[d] environment.”

Diaz continues to find her daily inspiration for Q4Q by stepping outside of her everyday routine and intentionally connecting with the people who come across her path. But how does she plan on inspiring other women in their everyday lives? “By showing them the power of female unity. What I hope women walk away with from every Q4Q event is a sense of belonging or community. Seeing each event as a[n] opportunity to connect, communicate, and grow with women that were once deemed ‘strangers,’ attendees walk away feeling understood, supported, [and] charged up because of the women they wouldn’t have normally connected with.”  

As Diaz speaks of uniting women and female empowerment, one begins to wonder where all of that passion comes from. What fuels that fire and keeps it burning stronger and stronger? “The first time I realized my passion for women was when I was 16 and overheard my mother talking about all that women do and accomplish innately. EVERY SINGLE DAY, I might add! Conquering is something that is ingrained in our being because women are QUEENS. Carrying grace and ferocious love wherever they go and sometimes have no idea they are doing so! Ugh, I can go blue in the face listing out the 43,209,732,901 reasons why I am passionate about women and the power they carry!”

Some of Diaz’s current goals at this point in her life are to host a Q4Q event every month for all of 2018, launch a membership program, and expand further along the East Coast and to the West Coast. When asked where she sees herself and her company in the next five years, Diaz is completely optimistic. “Not only do I see Q4Q branching out nationally, but I know in five years I will be forecasting timelines to launch internationally. We are living in such a remarkable time for women right now, and I do not see Q4Q slowing down our initiatives to unify women anytime soon!”

In less than a year, Diaz and Q4Q have had many successes. “A few major milestones for Q4Q is that we have gained two sponsors, hosted a profitable launch event, and have doubled in our following within the last month. As a woman, an even greater milestone is the fact that this vision and idea to reconstruct the way women connect is resonating with hundreds of women in our community,” said Diaz as she ponders the Q4Q ultimate goal. “Ultimately, breaking the stigma and expectation for women to have barriers toward one another is what I hope to accomplish as a whole.”

From being a Lake Nona Lion to becoming a queen and inspiring others to embrace their inner queens, Jazmin Diaz will help bring change to connections and relationships among women. For events and updates, visit www.queensforqueens.com and on Instagram, @queenss4queenss. The next Q4Q event will take place on June 30, but the venue is yet to be determined. The seminar will focus on men and the role they can take as feminists and is officially titled, “Kings for Queens.”

Written for current and future Lake Nona alumni by a Lake Nona alumna. Check back in to our July issue to learn about our next Nona graduate(s)!