Must Have Balance

A happy and positive disposition is like oxygen to Laura Parraga, a former professional cheerleader who once danced the sidelines for the Atlanta Falcons in a Super Bowl.

Yet Parraga was sour in summer 2011, when bank after bank rejected her business loan application. Parraga and her husband, David, a world champion gymnast from Venezuela who also played minor league baseball in the States, sought to open a gymnastics training school in east Manatee County. The couple worked for a gymnastics academy in Pinellas County for a decade and wanted to venture out on their own.

Bankers didn't share the enthusiasm, and, given the economic climate, the nos piled high. “Nobody took us seriously,” says Laura Parraga. “Everyone was like 'what's gymnastics?'”