Deedee Carreras has big dreams. Currently, a managing partner at Greenlight Financial LLC, as she knows what it takes to get exactly what you want out of life. She says dedication, hard work, networking and savviness is what has helped her fortify a successful career of almost 20 years, traits that she embodies effortlessly which are evident upon meeting her.
Her trajectory to her current success was not a typical one. She was born and raised until 12 years old in Cuba, where she had a rich educational and social life despite the realities of living in a communist regime. At such a crucial age, everything she knew as her life would change when she was forced to immigrate to a new country she knew so little about. When Deedee and her family arrived in the US, they had nothing but a suitcase full of books and the clothes on their backs. Despite knowing very little English, she applied herself, graduated middle school and excelled in High School, eventually graduating college with an Accounting degree.
In college, she had to find a way to make ends meet but going for the typical retail job wasn’t what Deedee was after; she soon secured a job at a boutique firm in Coral Gables. Her rise in the field was an uphill battle, she quickly expanded her skills and took on high-level accounting work like analyzing business, bookkeeping and mergers and acquisitions. While she was smart and really good at her job, Deedee recalls having to consistently work around other people’s doubts due to her being a young woman in a male-dominated industry. But Deedee was highly dedicated and demonstrated a common sense approach to business that came naturally.
In a few short years, she had gathered enough experience where she stepped into Wireless Latin Entertainment, LLC (WILAEN) as an outsourced controller. WILAEN was a small Miami based communications company that was on the brink of global expansion. Over the next 7 years, Deedee would be instrumental in the growth of WILAEN; the company soon expanded into 17 different countries in central and South America and another 7 countries in Africa. At this time, she managed over 85 employees worldwide and reported directly to the CFO. WILAEN was one of many projects to come and was simultaneous with the boutique accounting firm, Greenlight Financial.
Deedee played an instrumental role in making Greenlight Financial what it is today, a top accounting firm in Miami, FL that serves a wide range of clients all over the world. Along with her business partners, Gerry Mujica and Monica Uscategui, Greenlight Financial has grown from a boutique firm to a major player in the industry with strategically oriented, financial and operational analysis as well as accounting and bookkeeping services.