\u201cLeading a generation of women who fearlessly lead and turn ambition into action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fun fact about yourself: I\u2019ve ran 3 marathons!<\/p>\n
Hometown: Houston, Texas<\/p>\n
High School: Bellaire High School<\/p>\n
Major: Finance and Entrepreneurship<\/p>\n
Minor: Construction Management<\/p>\n
Favorite Business Course: Behavioral Finance<\/p>\n
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:<\/p>\n
Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship \u2013 Program Student<\/p>\n
Bauer Ambassadors \u2013 Member (23-24), Vice President (24-25)<\/p>\n
Empowering Women Out of Prision \u2013 Student Representative (25-26)<\/p>\n
Houston Business Journal (Women Who Mean Business) 2025<\/p>\n
Negocios Now (Latinos 40 Under 40) 2025<\/p>\n
Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship \u2013 2nd place Small Business Pitch Winner 2024<\/p>\n
Where have you interned during your college career? <\/p>\n
Mccoy Rockford, Houston, TX, Accounting Intern<\/p>\n
Social Behavior, Houston, TX, Creative Curator<\/p>\n
Backyard Oasis, Houston, TX, Marketing Intern<\/p>\n
Aztec Contractors Houston, Houston, TX, Founder<\/p>\n
Where will you be working after graduation? Aztec Contractors Houston, CEO<\/p>\n
Who is your favorite business professor? Dave Cook, Director of the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, has been instrumental in my journey. He helped me see the difference between running a small business and leading a scalable enterprise. His mentorship pushed me to think bigger, implement KPIs, and build Aztec\u2019s financial foundation with confidence.<\/p>\n
What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? Execution beats ideas.<\/p>\n
Everyone has ideas but very few people have the discipline to act on them. Business school taight me that strategy means nothing without action. It is showing up when no one is watching; showing up even when you\u2019re rejected; and showing up even when it would be easier not to.<\/p>\n
What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Don\u2019t wait for permission to start building school. College is the place were ideas are created and there\u2019s low risk to just start.<\/p>\n
Start the company.<\/p>\n
Host the event.<\/p>\n
Raise the sponsorship.<\/p>\n
Pitch the brand.<\/p>\n
The classroom becomes infinitely more valuable when you take what you learn into the real world.<\/p>\n
Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you\u2019d do differently in business school and why? I would have gotten involved sooner. Although I had a perfect GPA my freshman year, I had no sense of community. However, that all changed my sophomore year when I joined organizations like Bauer Ambassadors. That organization gave me the platform to find my voice, find my people, and find the spark that was always inside of me.<\/p>\n
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? I have seen AI integrated in case studies, market research, sales practice, and content strategy. One insight I have gained from using AI is that it is not a replacement for thinking. The quality of output is dependent on the quality of the prompt.<\/p>\n
Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? One of the awards that I am most proud of is being named one of the Houston Business Journal\u2019s Women Who Mean Business winners. I was the youngest to win the award and it reminded me that discipline compounds faster than doubt.<\/p>\n
Which classmate do you most admire? The classmate that I admire most is Isabella Mixon.<\/p>\n
She built a startup matcha and coffee shop here in Houston. I have seen her build the business from the very beginning and have even turned into a matchrista (barista but for matcha) a few times.<\/p>\n
Her business is her life. Her life Is her business.<\/p>\n
What I admire most is her excellence and discipline. She treats quality as a standard, not an option. Every detail reflects intention. Watching her build her business reinforced my own belief that excellence is earned through disciplined execution.<\/p>\n
Who would you most want to thank for your success? I would would like to thank my partner, Parsa Tork.<\/p>\n
Since the day he met me, he knew I would be someone great. Through all the ups-and-downs, he has supported beyond being a partner but one of my greatest friends. Even when the world and business are moving fast, he keep me grounded and joyful in the now.<\/p>\n
What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? <\/p>\n
Build Aztec Contractors into a nationally recognized construction firm.
\nRun all seven World Major Marathons.<\/p>\n
What made Valeria such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?<\/p>\n
\u201cValeria has exceled in each endeavor she has been a part of and fearlessly tackles any obstacle or opportunity. Watching her grow as a student has been remarkable, and certainly very special to see. She will continue to break barriers and shatter glass ceilings!\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitney Johnson
Director of Student Success<\/p>\n
DON\u2019T MISS: 100 BEST & BRIGHTEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS MAJORS OF 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a9 Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLeading a generation of women who fearlessly lead and turn ambition into action.\u201d Fun fact about yourself: I\u2019ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[90593,90594,90595,90596,52316,56,58,57,28988,513,90597],"class_list":["post-234581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-2026-best-brightest-business-majors","tag-business-major","tag-business-school","tag-c-t-bauer-college-of-business","tag-class-of-2026","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-undergraduate","tag-university-of-houston","tag-valeria-serenil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}