The American Dream with Elias Torres

"When you've just hit that rock bottom or whatever, you just figure it out. And you find something that you love, and you find something that you enjoy, and you know you gotta get it done. And you just get it done."

That's how Lilian Rincon, Senior Director of Product Management at Google, defines "perseverance with a passion." It's how she came to hold senior positions at tech companies like Microsoft, Skype, and Google...

Celina Miranda, the Executive Director of Hyde Square Task Force, is no stranger to being the only Latina in a room of white people. Feeling the sense of "otherness" firsthand, and witnessing the Latin heritage get lost as Latinos attempt to assimilate into white culture, Celina and her team at Hyde Square Task Force are on a mission to help all Latinos feel like they can bring their whole selves to every room...

"Ask. Keep going. Don't stop. Be your mama, be your grandmother. Elegant, but still be that, and you will get through."

Martha Montoya, CEO of Agtools - a dashboard platform for agribusiness operators - follows this mindset every day, as she aims to transform the agriculture industry and create more food security for all.

In this episode of The American Dream, Martha breaks down what the agriculture industry looks like both in the United States and globally...

“You know there’s ups and downs, two steps forward, one step back. In the last 30 years, we’ve created great change, great opportunity. So that keeps me going.”

Kevin Marinacci visited Nicaragua for the first time in 1996. Little did he know then that he would be getting involved with an organization that now defines his over 25-year career in service...

"I always say do not be afraid to take risks, especially early in your career. Even if everything doesn't work out perfectly. I believe it's important to reframe failure as learning and experience."

Lidia Fonseca (Chief Digital & Technology Officer at Pfizer) immigrated from Mexico when she was 10 years old. She taught herself English by watching television shows, and she paved her own way to the University of Berkeley...

"A lot of people are afraid to dream big because they think they will fail, but if you don't ask for it, you won't get it."

Rocío Medina van Nierop co-founded Latinas in Tech to empower Latinas across the globe to grow in their tech careers...

“Part of the reason I think diverse teams outperform is because a lot of the times you have people that are hungry to succeed and you have people who are not just doing it for themselves.”

Miriam Rivera paved her own way into tech. Growing up a Puerto Rican in New York, Miriam found her way to a private high school in New Hampshire, went onto Stanford, which introduced her to tech, and from there, onto Google...

"Don't overcomplicate decisions because nothing is final."

This week's American Dream episode highlights the lessons Elias has learned from being a student at the University of South Florida to CEO and co-founder of a billion-dollar valued company today.

We're throwing it back to a discussion Elias had with the Harvard Business School Class of 2020...

"Until we have economic power, we'll never have true power in this country."

While it sounds harsh, Beatriz Acevedo, the co-founder and CEO of SUMA Wealth - a financial technology company devoted to increasing prosperity, opportunity, and financial inclusion for young, U.S. Latinos - believes it's the reality for Latinx in the United States today...

“I don’t know if there was a specific figure or person, but it was just that concept of opportunity and not being tied down because you weren’t born in the right borders or to the right family.”

That's the reason Diego Panama, Chief Revenue Officer of Olo - an online ordering platform for revenue brands - gives for why he dedicated the first 17 years of his life in the United States to pursuing an American passport...