LatinxAmerica's podcast

Pabel Martinez, Global Account Director at Tik Tok,  founder of Plurawl, and podcaster at ¿Quién Tú Eres?. In this conversation, he talks about his journey to work in his dream company and how he overcame imposter syndrome.  We discuss the importance of therapy, navigating corporate America as a Latinx in tech. Pabel also shared the skills he developed to land jobs at social media companies such as Facebook and Tik Tok.   Listen and get inspired!

Henry Quintana, Operations Manager at Capsule in New York, shares the skills and resources that helped him develop professionally. He talks about his experience at different startups, how he overcame challenges, and how companies could develop more inclusive cultures. Learn about his story and connect with Henry via LinkedIn.

Cuco Vega is the founder of Bexi, the tool that helps people who have never run a digital marketing campaign or run their digital marketing for their business according to the goals they want to accomplish. Cuco talks about his journey as a co-founder and how to inspire others to follow the same path or learn from some of the challenges and opportunities that come his way. https://bexi.io

Jennifer Garcia is the founder of Fluential Leadership and the COO of the Latino Business Network (LBAN).  Through her company, she provides individual solutions for personal and professional growth, equipping individuals to uplevel their leadership ability. In this episode, we talk about Leadership shift, personal development shift, and passion shift amongst other topics. Learn about her story and connect with her: https://www.fluentialleadership.com/

Jennifer Garcia is the founder of Fluential Leadership and the COO of the Latino Business Network (LBAN).  Through her company, she provides individual solutions for personal and professional growth, equipping individuals to uplevel their leadership ability.  Fluential Leadership also supports small businesses with growth strategies, retaining top talent, and maximizing productivity.  In this episode, we focus on how and why leaders can develop effective communication skills as we focus on helping our community level up. https://www.fluentialleadership.com/

Cristina Trujillo talks about her path to becoming a founder of REEM. REEM Media is a full-service bilingual MediaTech agency owned and operated by Women of Color, leading a diverse talent pool of high-caliber creatives in media and tech.   https://www.reemmedia.org/

Miguel Gomez, CFP is a is Financial Advisor for Hispanic Investors. In addition to being a Financial Advisor, he is passionate about helping people take the mystery out of personal finance through “Dinero en Español”, a podcast where he talk about money and finances in a clear way and also interview experts and successful entrepreneurs. https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguelggarcia/  

Cheryl Campos Talks About VCFamilia and Building a Community of Latinx Investors VCFamilia founding member Cheryl Campos talks about the future of the organization and how others can join and become active members.  VCFamilia is a community of 200+ Latinx investors supporting current & emerging VCs + founders - posting venture jobs, opportunities, and events.This is a second interview with Cheryl where we talk about her career advancement as an investor and other exciting opportunities in the pipeline for her and for the VCFamilia community.   https://www.vcfamilia.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylcampos/

VCFamilia founding member Af Hernandez is an investor focused on cleantech, IoT, industrials sustainability. He was previously at Ecosystem Integrity fund where his responsibilities include sector research, pipeline development and tracking, and investment due diligence support. Before EIF, Af was a Senior Strategic Planner at the newly formed Lockheed Martin (LM) Energy. At LM Energy, Af oversaw the research and development investment portfolio and was key in developing the long-term strategy. Af is a co-founder of VCFamilia and an advocate for diversity and inclusion.

VCFamilia member Rebecca Danta is the Managing Director of Miami Angels, the largest angel network in Florida, which funds pre-seed and seed software companies with early traction across various sectors. Miami Angels has deployed $18M into 33 companies since 2014, and Rebecca built a sustainable, independent business model for the organization. Prior to joining Miami Angels, Rebecca managed global campus operations for General Assembly in New York City, the first accelerated learning provider, and the "Top Most Innovative Company in Education" per Fast Company. General Assembly had a successful exit in 2018. Prior to that, Rebecca worked at Macy's in their Executive Development Program. Rebecca is a Miami native and passionate about investing into markets and teams that are often overlooked in traditional venture capital. She serves on the board of the Florida Venture Forum and is a Class XI member of Miami Fellows. https://www.miamiangels.vc/team

VCFamilia member Marco Casas  is a Venezuelan-born professional who has been named to Business Insider's "100 rising stars who represent the future of venture capital." His career extends across early-stage ventures and global public companies. Marco is passionate about fintech and other disruptive technologies closing gaps of access to capital, opportunity, and outcomes. Marco pursues these interests via a partnerships and business development full-time role at American Express, and via Angel investing and active participation in organizations like VCFamilia, a Latinx in tech community, Toy Ventures, an operator-led venture fund, Rally Cap Ventures, an emerging markets fintech fund, On Deck Fintech and the Council of Foreign Relations, where Marco is a Term Member.  Marco received his BA in political science from Middlebury College and MBA degrees from Columbia and London Business School. He's a proud Latinx immigrant, now settled in New York by way of Swaziland and Russia. Outside of work, Marco is active in the community, serving on the associate board of the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club. He is a happy husband and father of two girls. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcocasas/

VCFamilia member Samantha Batista is a native New Yorker who deeply admires entrepreneurial hustle. Sam started her career on Wall Street before making her way to investing in 2015. Since then, she's worked on debt and equity transactions in both the U.S. and Latin America across several different industries. In 2017, she co-founded Who Is Raising?—a deal sourcing newsletter that aims to connect early-stage founders to investors. Today, she is an investor at a Mexico-based family office and consults and advises companies on growth strategies, fundraising strategies, and business development. She also runs syndicates on pre-seed and seed stage transactions. https://www.whoisraising.vc/about-us

A VCFamilia member, Carlos is currently the co-founder of Novel Capital a Kansas City firm that leverages Revenue-Based Financing to provide growth capital to early-stage software companies that don't fit the traditional venture or banking models. In the last two years, Novel has invested over $9M in 26 companies across the US and Canada. He is an active member of the prestigious Kauffman Fellows and Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship. In addition, he serves as board member for LeanLab Education and the Enterprise Bank & Trust Advisory Board. Prior to Novel, Carlos was the cofounder and CEO of Netchemia for 14 years. Under Carlos' leadership, Netchemia grew to provide their Talent Management platform to over 3,500 school districts across the country and was recognized as one of the leading technology companies in K-12 education. Netchemia received many accolades including being named District Administration Magazine's top products. Of all the recognition, Carlos is most proud of his company being named one of Kansas City's “Best Companies to Work For.” In 2015, Carlos successfully sold Netchemia to Vista Private Equity, one of the best PE firms in the world. Carlos immigrated to the United States from the highest city in the world, La Paz, Bolivia, when he was 18 years old. He studied computer science and graduated from Washburn University with a bachelor's degree. Later, he completed his MBA at the University of Kansas. He lives in Kansas City with his wife, a children's author. In his free time, he enjoys giving back to the entrepreneurial community as a mentor and advisor, traveling, dancing salsa, and experimenting with tasty cocktail recipes that he can share with friends and family. https://novelgp.com/

Taj Ahmad Eldridge is a 25+ year investment professional whose career has included high level executive roles in banking, asset management, alternative investments, and entrepreneurship. As General Partner of Include Venture Partners and  Senior Director of Investments at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), Taj has built a longstanding career with expertise in the fields of fintech, media, energy, transportation, and the circular economy. Taj is also one of the 70 Black Investors in Bevy.com - a $325 million virtual conference platform as noted in AfroTech.  At LACI, Taj established both the LACI Impact Fund I (LIF I) and the LACI Debt Fund to allow cleantech companies to grow with diverse capital. These funds utilize an equity impact lens to encourage invested companies to have environmental, economic, and social impact - particularly on increasing the number of underrepresented voices in the cleantech industry. In addition, Taj created programs such as LACI Investor Talks (LIT), the LACI Investor in Residence program, and the Player to CEO Athlete-Investor Impact Summit Series with JP Morgan Chase. Taj has been named one of the 53 Investors to Watch in 2021 by Pitchbook & 101 Black Titans in Tech while nurturing and building a team of investment activists. Prior to LACI, Taj was the Director for the Incubator at the University of California in Riverside, California. During his tenure as Director, Taj's team brought a $10M venture fund (Highlander Fund) to the Inland Empire - the first for the region.  Because of Taj's focus on blending entertainment, policy, and entrepreneurship, the region was named the #4 city in the United States for Diverse Entrepreneurs via Entrepreneur Magazine. Taj began his career as a banker and economist with Wells Fargo Bank, UBS Investment Bank, and TRW Investments. Taj has also been a Founder, Board Member, and Investor in companies such as ILTG Media, Boswell Official Apparel, Voter, Xtopoly, Rookielook, iListen, KYC Hospitality, KIGT, Majira Project, CleanTek Capital and ConCreates. Taj also serves on the Climate Finance Advisory Team of the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), the Executive Board of the Homeboy Industries Ventures Fund, and The Majira Project - a Boston Consulting Group Venture Studio. Taj has been profiled in publications such as Impact Alpha, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pitchbook, Forbes, GreenBiz, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more regarding his tireless efforts on achieving alpha while also advancing equity.  Taj has a BA degree in poetry & literature from Texas A&M University-Commerce, an MBA degree in International Business from Pepperdine University, and studied geopolitical economics at Claremont Graduate University as a PhD. Taj also studied abroad at The Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Santiago, Chile, The Universidad Do Porto in Porto, Portugal, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Hong Kong, China.  Taj is an avid audiobook bibliophile and a lover of music of all genres.

A VCFamilia member, Jesús Salas is rooted in the belief that making culturally conscious investments is a path to increasing opportunity and positive economic outcomes for otherwise overlooked communities and founders. Jesús is a former Associate with Omidyar Network where he supported the sourcing and evaluation of venture investments and tools that catalyzed the supply of purpose-driven technology. Jesús has worked domestically and abroad in a variety of capacities such as a management consultant, impact investor and investment banker with global organizations working across industries ranging from agriculture, education, and financial technology. Outside of Slauson & Co., Jesús is involved in a range of organizations committed to increasing diversity at all professional levels. These efforts include the Toigo Foundation, the Access Project, and VCFamilia. Jesús is a 2021 HBCUvc Emerging Venture Leaders Award recipient and a Board Member of Microlumbia- Columbia Business School's student-run impact investing fund. Jesús is from the northside of Fort Worth, Texas and is the son of Mexican immigrants. Jesús is a proud first-generation graduate of Stanford University, holds an MBA from Columbia University and recently completed a fellowship with the Just Economy Institute.

A VCFamilia Member, Adriana C. Embus Figueroa is a first-generation Afro-Latina working at the intersection of business, policy, and technology. Currently, Adriana serves on the Investments Team at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). In this role, she manages the LACI Impact and Debt Funds and supports entrepreneurs in accessing and securing capital from investors across the world. Prior to LACI, Adriana served as a Financial Analyst at Samuel A. Ramirez & Co., Inc., the largest Latino investment banking firm in the country. There, she focused on providing quantitative banking analysis and support for the procurement of funds for local, regional and national capital improvement projects. Prior to Ramirez, Adriana worked as a Development Analyst for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, helping daily to secure funding for the more than 10,000 scholarships HSF distributes to Latino students nationwide. Outside of work, Adriana is a member of the member of the Young Alumni Board for 21st Century Leaders; a delegate for the National Alumnae Strategy Task Force for Girls Incorporated; and an active young alumna of the Yale Latino Alumni Association. Ms. Embus Figueroa graduated with honors from Yale with a B.A. in Ethnicity, Race & Migration and Political Science, and was a QuestBridge Scholar. She is of Colombian & Puerto-Rican descent, and was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia.

Mariana Garza is an associate at XYZ Venture Capital. While at school she researched venture capital, innovation, and intellectual property and interned at Bessemer Venture Partners on the investment team and on the entrepreneur selection and growth team at Endeavor Global. Outside of her interests in entrepreneurship and tech, Mariana loves todo stand-up comedy and boxing and talk about Mexican art and culture. Mariana goes by Mars (like the planet) and is based on the East Coast. She graduated from Harvard College in May of 2020 with an Honors concentration in Economics and a secondary in the History of Art and Architecture.

A VCFamilia member, Leandro Bedolla is a VC at M25 in Chicago, the most active Pre-Seed and Seed stage firm investing in Midwest-based startups across most industries (14 states, 117 companies). He sources and meets with founders, conducts analysis and due diligence, supports portfolio companies and firm operations, and initiatives including MidwestStartups.com and the Midwest Startup City Rankings. Additionally, Leandro volunteers with LatinxVC co-leading the Breaking into VC Fellowship, VCFamilia, mentors for Techstars and NVCA/Venture Forward's VC University, and was recognized by HBCUvc as a 2021 Emerging Venture Leader. Previously, Leandro was an associate for the Techstars Anywhere accelerator, Tech Coast Angels' volunteer analyst program, and built up Startup San Diego's ecosystem as MD of sponsorships and a lead organizer for San Diego Startup Week. He graduated from Valparaiso University, grew up in Illinois, and is originally from Central Mexico.

A VCFamilia member, Daisy Garcia is a passionate Sr. Investment Analyst at JetBlue Technology Ventures, where she optimizes investments by conducting in-depth analyses and due diligence of early stage startups. Her analytical focus is on startups that operate at the intersection of travel, hospitality, and technology. Some of her areas of interest include artificial intelligence, sustainability, and cybersecurity.  She previously lived in Sweden for over two years, where she worked with an early stage VC and angel syndicate, while acquiring an international education. Her career has also taken her abroad to Israel, Uganda, India, and Latvia. She holds dual MSCs in International Business from the Stockholm School of Economics, and double BAs in Mathematics and Environmental Economics from UC Berkeley. https://www.jetblueventures.com/

VCFamilia member Ashley Aydin, a Principal at Vamos Ventures talks about early stage investing in critical areas. She started her career in Capital Markets at Morgan Stanley and moved into strategic roles at Y-Combinator Shoptiques.com, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Estee Lauder. She has been an investor at Brand Foundry Ventures, Founders Factory and Dorm Room Ventures.

A VC Familia member, Yesenia Avila Gallardo from Occam Advisors helps clients execute their impact investment strategies. As a Principal at Occam, she works primarily with Potencia Ventures, a family office, to source, diligence, and manage early-stage venture investments in companies with business models that serve or impact low-income customers.  She is also the founder of Papalotzin where she works with artisanal mezcal producers in Mexico to import distilled agave spirits into the US.  http://www.occampdx.com/team.html

A VCFamilia member, Amelia Gandara is a Principal at Nationwide Ventures. She has a dual role, managing the fund's operations and investing alongside the team. She focuses on Nationwide's early-stage investments with a passion for insurtechs. Amelia has additional experience in investing, operations, strategy and partnerships with stints at GE and a pre-seed funding program.  We talk about trends in insurtech, her passion for ballet and art, and advice for people wanting to transition into the corporate VC space.

This is another episode in the VCFamilia series where we highlight Latinx in Venture Capital. In this episode, we highlight Bianca Caban who is a Principal at Heartland Ventures (HV), a Seed & Series A fund with an investor base of strategic corporations located throughout the Midwest. At HV, Bianca is responsible for leading the firm's deal sourcing, co-investor relations, and founder interactions in Silicon Valley. Prior to that she was Head of Partnerships at Republic, an AngelList spin-off, and CEO of SheWorx, which was acquired by Republic in 2019. Before Republic she worked for a decade in financial services including at firms, Credit Suisse, BlackRock, and Atlas Merchant Capital, which sought investment in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Bianca also established a consultancy, Taino Capital, where she worked with clients on fund formation and strategy. Bianca received a BA from Harvard College and an MBA from Columbia University.  https://www.heartlandvc.com/

Monique Villa leads Mucker Capital's Nashville office, investing in companies across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. She is also the co-founder of Build In SE, a community of startup founders and ecosystem partners committed to company building in the Southeast.  Prior to joining Mucker's investment team, Monique's career in early-stage venture capital began in 2013 leading investor relations for Velos Partners, and more recently with Core Innovation Capital. Earlier in her career, Monique advised digital entertainment startups on business development and strategic partnerships and later went on to lead a startup accelerator for students in the Greater Los Angeles area. Her love for startups began in 2008 while interning for TOMS, where she supported finance and inventory management projects for several nationwide launches. To request an intro, email monique@mucker.com.  https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/02/vc-meets-the-land-of-opportunity/

Alejandro Guerrero is a co-founder and General Partner at Act One Ventures, a Los Angeles-based pre-seed/seed fund investing in business software. Since 2015 the team of Alejandro Guerrero and Michael Silton have raised $65mm in AUM. They have invested in more than 40 companies, 70% of which were founded by women or minorities. He is the creator of the Diversity Term Sheet Rider for Representation at the Cap Table and the Diversity Riders Podcast. Previously, Alejandro was the co-founder and CEO of Uniq Apps, a SaaS platform for encrypted work messaging. Prior to Uniq, he was the co-founder of Live Entertainment Network, an interactive video player platform that helped artists monetize live shows on a “premium-content-only” destination.  As a founder by background, Alejandro takes an empathetic approach to the challenges founders face raising money and building startups. He and his partner at Act One have been working together since 2013, while both were volunteering at UCLA Ventures. https://actoneventures.com/diversity-rider/ https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08JJLPNZ1  

Marcos Gonzalez, founder and managing partner of Vamos Ventures, is being recognized in this special series co-hosted by VCFamilia.  Marcos is committed to supporting founders in high-growth and overlooked opportunity: early-stage tech companies led by Hispanic and other diverse founders. VamosVentures has successfully closed Fund I at $50mm and is now deploying capital.  Learn about his journey and how his commitment to the community, coupled with his extensive experience in finance and consulting, and long-term relationships led him to successfully launch and fundraise for his own fund. https://www.vamosventures.com/  

Adrian Mendoza is the Founder and General Partner of Mendoza Ventures. After having two VC-funded startups in Boston, he started Mendoza Ventures to address the funding gap in the pre-seed investment stage for underrepresented founders. He launched his firm in 2016 focused on investments in AI, Fintech, and Cybersecurity companies. Mendoza Ventures is minority and women led as well the first VC firm in the east coast founded by a latino. Learn about his journey and how he approached raising a fund. https://mendoza-ventures.com/

Juleita Moradei is a partner and founding member of Hometeam Ventures.  She drives dealflow and operations while focusing on bringing innovation to the world's largest - but least innovative- industries: Construction and housing. Learn about her untraditional journey into VC and the innovation happening in impact driven construction tech led by companies like Icon whose team is building 3D printed homes.

As part of VCFamilia's Venture Capital Series, we highlight Pilar Johnson and Debut Capital.  She talks about her journey into VC and how she went from DNI trainer to co-founding a venture capital fund. Debut Capital invests in companies led by Indigenous, Latinx, Black and Brown founders who focus on impact and growth.  https://debutcapital.com/  

Dr. Chavez is the Director of Mental Health at Caminar, Inc. and an expert in Substance Use Disorders.  This is one of two episodes focusing on diagnosis, treatment and how Latinx dealing with this chronic illness can access effective treatment options. We explore some case studies to help our listeners understand how to access treatment and/or advocate for a loved one experiencing addiction.   https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamrachavez/

Dr. Chavez is the Director of Mental Health at Caminar, Inc. and an expert in Substance Use Disorders.  According to a report from the American Addiction Center, 11% of tech workers have admitted to using illegal drugs. About 60% have used marijuana and 20% of the workers that they surveyed have used painkillers. Dr. Chavez talks about treatment options and how support systems can make a difference in treatment during remission. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamrachavez/ https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics/tech-industry

In our founder series, we talk about Miguel's extensive  experience in brand development, marketing and customer experience for Fortune 500 companies and purpose-led ventures. He shares how he works with startups, companies and individuals in identifying and focusing on the intersection between culture, community & purpose. https://colabworks.co/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgarcast/

Erika Zarco is a licensed marriage and family therapist, certified clinical telemental health provider with a certification in grief therapy. In this episode Erika talks about different therapy resources to heal or learn from the stages of grief. Deal with the grief of a person who passed away or a relationship that comes to an end is complicated. Grief is different for everyone, and there are many options approaches to heal, such as Meditation, Attachment Theory, Emotionally Focused Therapy, or Tapping to recover in a healthy process with expert providers as Erika.

Erika Zarkos is the Directive Counselor of the non-profit organization Women United and Active. She offers a more humanistic therapeutic approach for patients: Narrative Therapy, a clinical orientation with a postmodern perspective. Narrative therapy helps employers to face the new emotional challenges Covid brought. It provides the patient with knowledge of their abilities and values to effectively confront current and future problems. She talks about the difference and advantages compared to traditional therapy. Narrative therapy approaches the patients as the expert, navigating their problems without stigmatizing or pathologizing professional and personal challenges. In this episode, Adriana and Erika simulate a therapy session, so you could see the great benefits of Narrative Therapy that Erika has been offering to Latina women and employees.    

This episode is part of our mental health and leveling up series.  Dr. Abby Medcalf talks about how to start creating connections to begin building lasting relationships to succeed personally and professionally. Learn more about her work and connect with her: https://abbymedcalf.com/

Erika is a bilingual and bicultural Mental Health Specialist (LCSW) with 10 years of outpatient experience working with diverse individuals and families in terms of race/ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and mental/dual diagnoses. Learn  how she works with Lstinx in Silicon Valley through her work at Stanford Health Care. https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikagarciarangellcsw/

Dr. Palacios joins us again to talk about how she works with entrepreneurs who are exhibiting tremendous amounts of stress and anxiety.  She discusses strategies in her Stress Management Program and how entrepreneurs benefit from identifying stressors which are sometimes induced by cultural expectations in our community.  You can connect with Dr. Palacios to learn about her work or to tap her expertise to support you or your company:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-palacios-consulting/ Or email her at: stephaniepalaciosconsulting@gmail.com, or find her on Clubhouse

AJ DeLeon is the founder of Innovare through which he is leading a scaling social enterprise which drives continuous improvement and social innovation within the education ecosystem.  We talk about his journey as a founder and how he and his co-founders are leveraging their diverse skill sets to launch a successful app that helps leaders in education and the nonprofit sector use data strategically to combine usually disparate systems into one single dashboard to guide decision-making in schools and school districts. https://innovaresip.com/

Monica Black is the founder of Function, an investor syndicate connecting South Florida's private wealth community with early stage technology, investment opportunities across the world. We talk about her journey into VC and why she decided to relocate to Miami before other VCs made the move there.  She talks about how and why she decided to create a syndicate, how investors can join and how founders can fundraise from syndicates.  https://function.vc/ Twitter: @monicasblack

Lynda Ruiz grew up in a small farming community in California’s Central Valley.  As the daughter of educators, she learned from her dad about the importance of learning to code and pursued the STEM path.  We talk about her growth as a software engineer and how she has overcome some challenges as a Latina by joining communities such as Techqueria and also becoming a role model to my underrepresented youth in rural communities.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndarubyruiz/ https://techqueria.org/ https://keeptruckin.com/

Claudia is a LatinX entrepreneur, community advocate and an alumna of Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Education-Scaling Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  She is the Founder and CEO of Calibueno, a licensed cannabis company in Oakland, CA. Claudia uses her passion for cannabis along with her life experience in a working-class Latino community to build a cannabis industry that is inclusive and diverse.   https://www.calibueno.co/

Dr. Palacios’ mission is to empower others through her work and experiences as a clinical psychologist, business consultant, and public speaker.  She talks about her journey, her personal experience with trauma, approaches to treat anxiety and depression and how this moved her into a new direction.

Brad has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He is also a best selling author, an advocate and an active venture capitalist.  We talk about learning, growing, the importance of diversity and becoming part of entrepreneurial ecosystems.  We center the conversation on his latest book, The Startup Community Way, which he co-authored with Ian Hathaway.   https://foundrygroup.com/team/brad-feld/ https://www.amazon.com/Brad-Feld/e/B0043MYSL8

Javier Llerena is an Executive Coach elevating and empowering Latinx leaders. Javier started his corporate career at Oracle as a Direct Marketing Executive and ended it as a Managing Director of Magpie Technologies. After realizing that his passion lies in helping others propel their careers forward and enhance their personal lives, he transitioned into leadership coaching and strength-based facilitation.  www.thealistleaders.com

Dr. Roman is a clinical psychologist licensed in California and Mexico with 28 years of experience. She offers a combination of both cultures and both worlds of psychology. She specializes in trauma, sexual abuse, and immigration issues. We talk about trauma and how it manifests itself in the workplace and at home - especially for Latinx in tech. We also role play strategies for overcoming the fear of asking for a raise and discuss how one can tap therapy and practice self-care. Please note that this conversation is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical, psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a licensed professional. https://emotionsinharmony.org/

Arthur Garcia is the Co-founder & COO of SOMOS, the first dynamic platform impacting +650 million Latin@s for future tailored health and drug discovery. Arthur is also Co-founder of the Contabi Alliance, an international association of independent accounting firms. We talk about his journey from keeping the books for his parents' Taco truck and paleteria businesses  to eventually being recognized as a Top 20 under 40 leader in accounting twice in the last 5 years.  Arthur is also an alumnus of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Scaling Program cohort 7. https://www.somosancestria.com/ https://contabialliance.com/

Cheryl is passionate about the intersection of finance, technology, and social impact. She is the Head of Venture Growth and Partnerships at Republic, a one-stop-shop for founders to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors. She is focused on introducing underrepresented founders to both traditional and alternative funding sources in order to help their startups thrive. In other direct investing roles, she is a scout for Lightspeed and an investment partner at The Community Fund. Cheryl is also one of the founders of VCFamilia, a community of Latinx VCs supporting current & emerging investors through collaboration.

Trailer featuring Cheryl Campos, Brad Feld, Arthur Garcia, and Dr. Stephanie Palacios.  Latinxamerica.com LatinxAmericamedia.com

Raul Hernandez Ochoa is an author, business coach and consultant.  We talk about his journey and how he helps startups and executives grow. We also discuss his book Productive Profits: The Founder’s Guide to Scaling Your Impact and his podcast Do Good Work.   https://dogoodwork.io/work-with-raul

Sarah Irene Mendoza is a Bay Area Producer at Pandora.   She talks about breaking into tech and how she has grown from starting as a receptionist to becoming a producer.  She was podcasting when podcasting was new and she has been able to combine her passion for music, production skills and experience to tackle new career challenges, beat any mental blocks and learn how to advocate for herself at work.   https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahirene/

Susana is the Chief Operating Officer of Pandia Health.  We talk about her journey into tech and how she became a serial founder. She talks about how she transitioned into becoming a COO and why she is focused on women health and her keen interest in the Latinx community.   https://www.pandiahealth.com/