Moving Forward

Part One: Tragedy on the Land
When Nelcy Martinez was five years old, she watched a group of people place her father’s body on a pile of boards in the living room. He had been murdered by his neighbours. Forty-nine years later, she remembers every detail from that day.  

Nelcy Martinez came from a world of pain, injustice and struggle but became an important and admirable businesswoman. From living in the plains of Colombia, fighting for her life and her family’s, to managing multiple businesses in Canada and becoming a leader for some and an example to others.

Martinez was born on Feb 27, 1970, in a small town called Tauramena, in the department of Casanare, Colombia. This small town was her home. It was a land abundant in crops and livestock and where she had her first and happiest childhood memory.  

This land Martinez remembers belonged to her father for whom she had a deep admiration. She remembers him coming home one night after closing an important business deal and bringing a bunch of clothes for her and her siblings. She can’t forget the texture of the new clothes, the shoes her father brought for her and the warm feeling of happiness she felt every time he walked into the house. 

Her father was an intelligent entrepreneur, leader and mentor. He was also a dominant, intimidating and sometimes aggressive man with her family. Despite that, he was strong and capable, her first influence during her childhood.  

She remembers it as if it were yesterday. The terrifying sound of her father sharpening a machete with which he threatened her siblings. He told them he would smack them with the plane part of it if they didn’t learn the multiplication tables and other study subjects.

She wasn’t old enough to be questioned by her father yet, however she would hide with fear under the table and read early education textbooks, studying for hours getting ready for her father’s questions. One day, she came out from under the table and said to her father, “Daddy, I’m ready for the questions, ask me anything.” He sat her on his lap and asked her question by question. Surprising her father, she answered even before he could finish the question.

Her father was shocked by her intelligence, she remembers the feeling of him saying; “You are so smart! I promise you. I will pay for the best education ever and get you to the best university.” His words inspired her and created a dream inside her, a dream of having an education and making her father proud.

Unfortunatly, destiny would be cruel to Martinez’s dreams as one day her family received the horrible news that her father had been murdered by a neighbour. From that day, despite the fact she was only five years old, she remembers it perfectly. Locals carried his corpse and put it in the Livingroom on top of some wooden boards.

“My brother was asking me not to look at him,” said Martinez.

The next day, his corpse was moved and she remembers running behind the people who were going to bury him to town. A woman grabbed her by the arm, threw her over her shoulder and took her back home, a place she did not want to go.  

After her father’s death, leaving a family of five children behind, all his lands and livestock started falling apart as her mother became the new person in charge. By not having too much experience with business, she would get involved in bad deals in which her family would lose more than gain. Martinez encouraged her mother to sell the crops rather than giving them away. At a young age, she already understood business.

Part Two of Six: The Beginnings of an Entrepreneur, Coming Soon