KISSIMMEE, Fla. — This Hispanic Heritage month we are taking a look at immigrant generations. 

Through assimilation, it may become easy for some to stop identifying as Hispanic but one Kissimmee family is making sure to incorporate their Hispanic identity into their everyday lifestyle. 

Laura Martinez came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in the 1980s. Maintaining her heritage, customs and traditions while building a life here in Kissimmee didn’t come easy. 

In Spanish she told Spectrum News 13, “I had my job, my school, my family, I left everything behind and started from zero. All to give my children a better opportunity… It’s hard.” 

Cooking isn’t the only thing she’s passed down to her daughter Andrea Benitez. Martinez who raised Benitez as a single mother, also passed down traits like hard work and dedication. Benitez said her mom taught her the value of not just empowering herself but other women around her. 

“I believe when you look good on the outside, your inside shows as well," Benitez said. "You feel confident. And when a woman feels confident she can take over the world."

Benitez has a massage and spa business. 

She’s also working on launching her own clothing boutique, Latina Glam. And before the pandemic, she was cast in a Netflix series that is currently under production. As a Latina woman, representation for Hispanics is what she wants to see more of. “I mean anything that has to do with bringing up our latina women, I am in it,” Benitez. 

Benitez said her mother worked two jobs to raise her back in the day, all sacrifices that made her journey in this country easier. Now as an entrepreneur Benitez feels like she is living the American dream, alongside her number one fan. 

“My pride and joy are my children. They’ve come so far and they did things the right way,” Martinez said. All things Benitez wants to pass down to her own kids and grandkids. “And that is what I want us to feel. We are powerful and we can do it,” Benitez added.  

Pew Research said that out of 42.7 million adults with Hispanic ancestry in the U.S., about 90 percent self-identified as Hispanic or Latino.