Meet Gina Alagata | Founder – Wink, Women Inkorporated® Business Women’s Networking

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gina Alagata and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gina, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Wink, Women Inkorporated® was started with a vision for making businesswomen’s networking better, more effective and of high integrity for all women in business. It had been on my heart for awhile to open my own business and after having some not-so-great experiences at a few other networking events, I decided it was time to take the leap and open my own company.

I got together several other women that I knew in business and took them out to dinner to ask for their support in launching. They all were thrilled with the idea and agreed to be on my original launch team. So in April of 2010 we launched in San Diego county with our first of many business women’s networking chapters. Since that time, we have connected with and impacted thousands of women in business.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
In what I do, it takes a lot of help from other people, so I’m grateful to the many women that have come alongside me to help grow Wink. I also have a very supportive husband of 30-years who has always encouraged me to go after my dreams as well as my four amazing kids (all adults now), I can’t imagine getting this far without all of them.

Was it easy? Definitely not. There’s been some highs and lows, but I choose to celebrate the good times and leave the bad behind. The women that I’ve met along the way inspire me to keep going and reach for more that this life has to offer. Hearing of their successes and having the opportunity to be one piece in their puzzle of life is so gratifying. I love to hear their stories and know I was a small part in their journey, and they mine.

I’ve learned to lean on my fellow Wink sisters in business when things get tough. We all have gone through something in life or business that has made us stronger, more resilient, and it’s nice to know I’m not on this journey in life or business all alone.

Some things I’ve learned along the way are:
-don’t quit on a bad day, tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities.
-lean on others when things get tough, we were created for community so let those around you help you through it.
-most people want to see you succeed so borrow their belief in you and go after your dreams.
-don’t let the naysayers get in your head, if you’ve been called to what you’re doing then stay focused & go after it.
-surround yourself with those who support you and your goals, they will help to fuel you on the hard days.
-help people out when you can, even by a small gesture, it can make a huge difference in their lives.

After the loss of my brother I knew I still had a lot of work to do while on this earth. While this hasn’t been an easy journey, it’s one that I feel I was called to do in life and to impact as many women’s lives as I can in a positive way, be it personally or professionally. If I can help women go after their dreams in life and business and be a part of their journey in some small way, then that to me is success. I’m honored to have already met so many women and lots more to come, for that I am so very thankful!

Remember, God gave YOU that vision, not someone else, so believe in yourself and go after it. He will open doors for you that no one can shut and bless you in ways you cannot even imagine. My motto in life is to: “be kind, give generously, and make someone’s life better”. I hope at the end of my life I can look back and say that I fulfilled that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love to live in San Diego, we have so many options of things to do here, as we say “we live where people vacation”. We would eat at one of my favorite restaurants over looking the ocean; The Fish Market, C Level Lounge, Bali Hai, or Tom Ham’s Lighthouse. Make sure to check out Seaport Village for shopping and sightseeing. Take a drive over the bridge to Coronado, it’s beautiful day or night. Go see the famous Hotel Del, especially at Christmas time with all the lights.

Take in a baseball game at Petco Park, voted the best baseball park in the USA. Go early or stay afterwards for some fun at the Gaslamp area, enjoy food, drinks and live music.

A beach day at La Jolla shores with the family, bring along the boogie boards and enjoy the area. Or playing volleyball at south Mission Beach is one of our favorites. Take a stroll on the pier and enjoy some appetizers and drinks overlooking the ocean at Sea 180 in Imperial Beach.

Take a hike, literally, because there are so many beautiful, scenic places to hike in San Diego county and because of the weather you can do it almost year round. A day (or weekend) trip to wine country Temecula for wine tasting and/or a country concert is fun too.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Thankfully I had an older brother, Darin Umbarger, who supported and believed in me more than I did in myself. He was always a risk taker and encouraged people to go after things they wanted in life or business, because that’s what he would do. He had encouraged me to start my own business or go after being the CEO of a large company. I never saw myself the way he did but I’m so thankful he believed in me in such a BIG way. So, I chose to borrow his belief in me, because I know God created me to do big things.

He passed away unexpectedly in July of 2022 but I am carrying on his legacy (and mine) by choosing to not only believe in myself, but in others too because there’s lots of people that want to see you succeed in life, and I’m one of them!

Website: www.wink2link.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wink2link/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginaalagata/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wink2Link

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Wink2Link/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/wink2link-san-diego-2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Wink2Link