Latinos Who Tech

Aileen Tapia is a daughter, a sister and a nieta. She is a first-gen industrial engineer and currently serves as a Strategy & Management Consultant @ Accenture.



We spoke during the first Virtual SHPE 2020 Convention in October. She told us her story breaking into the industry and gave us an intimate look and the challenges she has faced and how she overcomes them every day.



You can learn more about Aileen via her LinkedIn







This episode is brought to you by Triplebyte, the best way for Software Engineers to find their next opportunity.

Getting Ish Done: Making time for all the things that matter 



@ishverduzco is one of the hardest working people I know. Wether he is at his day job as Director of Growth & Marketing for @craveitsf , DJing, podcasting, writing or doing community outreach via webinars or social media. He likes to keep busy and it shows. But, how does he manage all of this? He has a system. He is very particular on how he manages his time and most importantly his energy and attention. He even wrote a book about it called “How Successful People Get Ish Done”. On it he synthesized 900+ hours of research on productivity, mentorship, career development with a focus on making the content accesible to underrepresented groups. You can find it in @amazon and his website ishverduzco.comYou can watch the full conversation on YouTube or listen to it on any podcast platform —- You’ve often heard me talk about SHPE and how it’s helped me become the professional I am today. I am happy to announce that this episode is brought to you by @shpenational.  If you are looking for your dream job or internship, the SHPE National Convention happening October 26th-31st is the easiest way to land your next opportunity.  Join thousands of professionals on this virtual gathering offering cutting-edge content and workshops, and a best-in-class career fair. The event includes:🚀250+ world class companies and universities actively recruiting 📣More than 200 live and on-demand sessions that will be recorded and available for a full year after the convention👩🏽‍💻Unparalleled opportunities to network with other Hispanics in STEM👨🏽‍💼Resume reviews, special events, competitions, and more#latinx #latinosintech #podcasting #UCMerced #CraveitSF

Do you remember the last time you had to give a presentation for work? Do you think you could have done a better job? No worries, you are not alone. Public speaking is not easy and in our current reality even less so. Not only do we have to overcome issues like bad wi-fi or unexpected household noises, but we also need to talk to the camera naturally while still delivering our message. It’s exhausting. Nevertheless, there are lots of resources to help you become a better speaker and virtual presenter. One of them is Toastmasters. A global organization with the mission to help individuals improve their communication and leadership skills. My friend Zoraida Martinez has been a Toastmasters member and club officer for years and spoke to us about how it has helped her as well as her process to deliver memorable virtual presentations. All the way from crafting a compelling story to practicing a great call to action.







Learn more about Toastmasters and find a virtual club to join: https://www.toastmasters.org/ If you are in the job market you can register for the upcoming SHPE Convention where +250 companies will be recruiting: https://www.shpe.org/events/nc2020

About Pamela Martinez



Pamela Martinez, is a Mexican-American with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Snowball Wealth. She is a first-generation college graduate. Pamela started her professional career right out of college as a Program Manager at Microsoft and was involved in the launch of Xbox One. In search of building things and other missions, Pamela left the corporate world and began her start-up journey. First, she worked at Clever, then Seesaw Learning, and finally at Snowball Wealth, a start-up company she founded with two co-workers. Snowball Wealth offers tools and different options to help people not overpay on their student debt so they can have financial freedom and stability.



About The Episode



Pam combines her expertise at large companies like Microsoft with first-hand knowledge of the challenges first-generation students face. This includes getting your first full-time job, repaying student  loans and building wealth. Learn about her day to day at Snowball, financial literacy and the challenges that millennials face when tackling student debt. 



We spoke about how she got to San Francisco, her time as a Program Manager at Microsoft, and her transition from the corporate world to start-ups. We also talked about Snowball Wealth, her experience being a CTO, problems she wants to solve, and about what happens when one is no longer a user. Finally, we covered advice for those who want to jump from the corporate world to a start-up, how to handle impostor syndrome, and what she does to keep up to date with tech.



This episode was recorded before the Covid-19 outbreak, so we didn’t touch on it on the conversation. However, here are some resources curated by the Snowball Wealth team. We hope they help you navigate your finances during these difficult times: https://www.covidcheatsheet.com/



Connect with Pamela via linkedin:



* Pamela Martinez



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts to LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned resources:



* Stanford University* Clever Inc.* Snowball Wealth* Glassdoor* Salary.com* Seesaw Learning* YCore



Would you like to get exclusive content about tech careers and productivity? Sign up  for the Latinos Who Tech newsletter here: https://latinoswhotech.com/



Who is Hugo Castellanos?



Who is Hugo Castellanos? Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones.io

About Marcos Ciarrocchi



In this episode, I spoke with Marcos Ciarrocchi, a Venezuelan electronics engineer turned product manager. Marcos is a partner at Graphite, a boutique digital marketing firm that builds scalable growth engines for consumer technology companies. Customers include Ticketmaster, Thumbtack, MasterClass, and Honey. Additionally, Marcos is the co-founder of the Code for Venezuela, a non-profit side project dedicated to gathering talented technologists to address Venezuela’s needs. 



About “Breaking into Product Management“



We spoke about product management, what is product growth,
strategies to build the audience of digital products. Learn how to get started
in a career as a product manager and the basic approach for informational
interviews. Marcos talks about the qualities someone should have to be great at
growth, as well as Code for Venezuela and one of the data-driven projects they
are working on.



Connect with Marcos
via Linkedin:



* Marcos Ciarrocchi



Want to help us grow?
You can:



* Leave us
an iTunes review:* Send us a note with your thoughts to LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned Resources:



* Universidad Simon
Bolivar* Politecnico Di
Torino* Code
for Venezuela – To learn more about their initiatives* Opencollective  – For whoever wants to support Code for
Venezuela* Podcast
episode on SEO with Graphite Founder, Ethan Smith* Diseño
Chachacha – The podcast about Latinos in design careers* MasterClass* Ticketmaster* Thumbtack* Honey* Sachi* “Chaos
Monkeys” – author of book: Antonio García Martinez and quote, “If we have data, let’s look at the data. If
all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine.” By Jim Barksdale, the former
CEO of Netscape – book and quote summarizing growth* Angostura– One of Code for Venezuela’s projects



Who is Hugo Castellanos?



Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for
listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the
show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones.io

Cyber Security is a field that is often misunderstood. It seems that there is a massive data breach every other day and that our personal information is common knowledge to hackers. In 2018 alone, there were over 1200 massive data breaches affecting 174 million records.



However, we seldom hear from the thousands of data breaches and cyber-attacks that are avoided every day. Organizations count on cyber security professionals like Diego Alvarez Molina to help them create a strategy to minimize their risk and be prepared for when cyber-attacks come.



Diego Alvarez Molina currently works as a Cyber Risk Manager
in the Risk and Financial Advisory practice of Deloitte & Touche in
Chicago, Illinois. He is also the Hispanic Network President for Deloitte
Chicago.



In his episode we spoke about Diego and how he broke into
consulting, what a cyber risk manager does and potential career paths for young
professionals that want to be part of the growing field of cyber security. We
also talked about different cyber-attacks, how to be prepared for them and
cyber awareness campaigns, ethical hacking and governments at federal and state
level using privacy rules.



Connect with Diego
via:



* Linkedin: Diego Alvarez
Molina* Identity Force



Want to help us grow?
You can:



* Leave us
an iTunes review:* Send us a note with your thoughts to LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend* Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/latinoswhotech/creators



Mentioned Resources:



* Deloitte* Creighton
University’s Heider College of Business* Nike* Tik Tok* Alexa* CCPA for
California* CISSP (Certified Information
Systems Security Professional)* CISM (Certified Information
Security Manager)* CEH
(Certified Ethical Hacker)



Who is Hugo
Castellanos? Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for
listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the
show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones.io

In this episode, I spoke with Brianne C. Martin, Senior
Manager for Membership Relations at Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
(SHPE). Brianne is one of the most authentic persons I know. She has a passion
for career development and growth that is impossible to ignore. Brianne is a
mechanical engineer, musician, and speaker. She has extensive experience in
advanced manufacturing techniques and project management.



We spoke about why she chose mechanical engineering, what it
means to be an “ally” for others, how men become allies and advocates for women
that work in STEM, and how people can find their own values. Finally, we
discussed at length ideas of mansplaining, microaggressions, and how
micro-affirmations can help build a stronger team.



Connect with Brianne
via Linkedin:



* Brianne C. Martin



Want to help us grow?
You can:



* Leave us
an iTunes review:* Send us a note with your thoughts to LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned Resources:



* Support
us on Patreon* The
Values Game: Find out your top 10 values* Brianne’s
interview on Buzzfeed* Brianne’s
blog* The
People Engineer podcast* How
to know if you are mansplaining* SHPE



Who is Hugo
Castellanos? Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for
listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the
show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones.io

Code for Venezuela Fireside Chat


In this episode I spoke with Joaquin Delgado, PhD a Venezuelan-American Engineer and Head of Music Search-Applied Sciences at Amazon music. Joaquin is a veteran from Silicon Valley Startups and tech giants such as Oracle, Intel, Yahoo and was a cofounder for Lending Club. We spoke about his experience and the advice he has for people looking to build a career in Silicon Valley and the field of business analytics.
I had the opportunity to record this episode in front of a live audience as part of the 2020 Data Analytics Hackathon organized by Code for Venezuela and students from the Hult International Business School.
During this particular event more than 100 students and volunteers got to work together to build data analytics solutions to benefit Medicos por la salud, a Venezuelan non-for-profit at the front lines of the current health crisis in Venezuela.


Follow Joaquin Delgado on Twitter: @Joaquind

Follow me, Hugo Castellanos on Twitter: @hugocast_

Would you like to study in Japan? Here is a helpful guide to Japanese Government Scholarships: https://www.studyinjapan.go.jp/en/planning/about-scholarship/

Amazon Music reaches 55 million users: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/22/21077187/amazon-music-service-55-million-customers-spotify-apple-music-prime-members

Learn more about Code for Venezuela, a community of technologists and innovators: https://www.codeforvenezuela.org/

Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com






Who is Hugo Castellanos?
Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for
listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the
show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones

Happy 2020! We kick-off our first episode of the year touching on what we accomplished on 2019 and the systems that helped us do it. We also talk about one of my favorite habit-tracking apps, everyday.app







This episode is brought to you by Code for Venezuela: a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing together technologists and innovators who care about Venezuela leveraging their talent and network to solve the most pressing needs of the country.



Learn more about them via: https://www.codeforvenezuela.org/about-us-1



If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can sign up for their February Hackaton @ the Hult International Business School here: https://www.codeforvenezuela.org/sf-hackathon-2020



If you can’t attend, you can still support by donating here: https://opencollective.com/code-for-venezuela







Resources Mentioned:



http://everyday.app/ https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus/ Getting Things Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCswMsONkwY



Join our Slack Community clicking here or going to LatinosWhoTech.com

In this episode, I spoke with Yuri W. Ramirez, Puerto Rican, with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de Puerto Rico, and an M.B.A. in Operations and Technology Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Once Yuri graduated, he came to the US in search of a Ph.D., and with the enthusiasm of knowing what the implications of the business were, he started taking business classes. He ended up with an M.B.A. in Operations and Technology Management.
Yuri is working as a Technical Program Manager at Intel and has been there for more than thirteen years. Yuri wants to bridge the gap between engineering and business, mediating and negotiating conflicts between people and organizations. He does managing through influence and cross-functional matrices organizations, with a focus on strategic development and execution. He is very active in the Intel LatinX Network and other professional organizations.
We spoke about engineering seen as depth versus M.B.A. seen as breadth, his Technical Program Manager role, and his approach to a conversation when trying to optimize somebody else’s product that isn’t good enough. We discussed if he manages any people, his leverage, and how he approaches it. We cover his purpose and jobs in the company, the reason why he has built a long career at Intel, and the difference between program management and project management.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com


Connect with Yuri via
Linkedin:



* Yuri W. Ramirez



Want to help us grow?
You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review:* Send us a note with your
thoughts to LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned Resources:



* Universidad de Puerto Rico* University of Wisconsin-Madison* Intel
corporation* SHPE* Intel Latino Network



In this episode, we
talked about:



* 01:42 – Welcoming Yuri* 01:54 – About Yuri* 04:15 – Engineering seen
as depth versus M.B.A. seen as breadth* 06:57 – About a Technical
Program Manager role* 12:33 – Optimizing
somebody else’s product that isn’t good enough; how Yuri approaches the
conversation * 14:30 – Do you manage any
people right now?* 15:24 – Yuri’s leverage
and how he approaches it* 17:35 – Thirteen years at
Intel. Purpose and jobs in the company* 26:01 – Reasons why Yuri has
built a long career at Intel* 32:07 – Difference between
program management and project management, and last words to audience



Who is Hugo Castellanos?
Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for
listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the
show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones

In this episode, I spoke with Mariana Briones, Incoming Hardware Program Manager at Microsoft and Alejandro Davila, FDSE at Palantir Technologies, both born in Mexico and raised in the north of the country. They share their experience as international students studying in the US and crossing the border every day to go to UCLE in El Paso, Texas. Having gone through so many struggles to get their first internship and trying to make it easier for others, Mariana and Alejandro founded InternMakers, a YouTube channel with resources in one place to help students get prepared for their intern opportunities and full-time opportunities. They are Latino content creators in STEM that want to bring more people like us to conferences and careers.



We spoke about how they got into tech, Mariana as a Latina in Microsoft, her experience when crossing the border, and the time she met Satya Nadella, InternMakers, and finally, about what students can start doing right now to get an internship.



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Connect with Mariana
and Alejandro via Linkedin:



* Mariana Briones* Alejandro Davila



Want to help us grow?
You can:



* Leave us
an iTunes review:* Send us a note with your thoughts to LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned resources:



* UTEP* Palantir* Cummins Inc.* Satya Nadella* GitHub* Cracking the Coding Interview* Cplusplus* InternMakers* NACE* SHPE



In this episode, we talked about:



* 01:42 – Welcoming Mariana and Alejandro to LWT* 04:12 – Getting into tech * 15:38 – The time Mariana met Satya Nadella * 20:40 – About crossing the border* 25:32 – A Latina in Microsoft* 27:30 – Both at university together; Mariana in Seattle and Alejandro in New York; what about InternMakers?* 37:48 – Main things students can start doing right now to get an internship* 44:41 – Last words of advice



Who is Hugo Castellanos?
Learn more about him on Linkedin



Thanks so much for
listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the
show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones

In this episode, we catch up with my favorite Cuban American engineer, Emily Anne Vargas. Emily is an Industrial Engineer and a 2nd year PhD student in materials sciences and engineering at the M.C. Gill Composites Center at the University of Southern California.



We previously talked with Emily about mental health for high achievers in episode 11 of my other podcast: Conexiones. Click here and take a listen.On this new episode we talk about her road to grad school, what her experience pursuing her PhD has been like so far plus EVERYTHING you wanted to know about ceramics and composites 🙂 ResourcesGE on Ceramic Matrix Composites (2:40)Follow Emily’s Lab



Our Sponsor:



Audible, the best way to take advantage of your commute time via audiobooks.



Would you like to try Audible for free for 30 days? Follow this link: http://audibletrial.com/latinos

In this episode, we spoke with Rosa Delgado, a Civil Engineer & Sr. Project Manager.



Rosa is a 1st generation engineer and shared with us her challenges and key learnings as a woman in STEM.



We spoke about civil engineering, productivity and the art of having difficult conversations.







Notes:



Follow us on IG: @LatinosWhoTech and sign up for our newsletter at latinoswhotech.com



Resources:



The DESC framework to succeed at difficult conversations Books: How Women Rise The Power of VulnerabilitySign up to Audible and listen to them for free + support our podcast

I recently got back from my 11th SHPE Conference. This particular one was held in Phoenix, Arizona where 9000+ professionals, students, and STEM advocates gathered for 4 days of workshops and networking. A big highlight of the conference is the 200+ companies that attend to recruit talent. Attending as a professional is different. Granted, you have less stress since you already have a job. Still, making time to connect with everyone can feel overwhelming.



This particular conference was very special for me since I had the opportunity to host a live podcast and panel (stay tuned! You’ll listen to it in episode 17), as well as to do my workshop on “Taking the Work out of Networking”. I was extremely humbled to connect with so many professionals and students. In this particular episode I want to welcome the new podcast listeners that just signed up for LWT by bringing them one of my favorite epiosdes from #SHPE2018 : The SHPEtina Origin Story. I got to chat with Ximena Aristizabal, Andrea Sanchez Sours, PhD and Stephanie Serrano about their role starting a dedicated track of the SHPE Conference focused on Latina professionals, their issues and how to empower them to become the best version of themselves.



Please enjoy! and as always, you can follow the show on IG: @LatinosWhoTech or drop me a note with your feedback at latinoswhotech@gmail.com



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

In this episode, I spoke with Aaron Ramirez, Mexican American, Technical Solutions Engineer at Google. We spoke about how he got to Google and how being a SHPE member helped him with the interview process, his role at Google and his definition for Googliness, advice on how to get prepared for an interview and other words of advice.



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com























Connect with Aaron vía linkedin:



* Aaron Ramirez: 



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned resources:



* University of California, Santa Cruz* The National Conference SHPE* Google Travel Grant* SHPE* MESA Engineering Program – MEP program (engineering program)* Drupal



Timestamps:



* 01:45 – About Aaron Ramirez* 02:47 – How Aaron got to Google* 05:32 – SHPE according to Aaron* 08:59 – How being a SHPE member helped Aaron with the interview process* 10:54 – Aaron’s role at Google* 12:03 – Interacting with external customers – A possible career roadmap  * 16:28 – Aaron’s definition for ”Googliness”* 20:52 – How Aaron would get prepared for an interview at Google* 25:27 – Aaron’s parting piece of advice



Key Takeaways:



* Apply for Google Travel and Conference grants! (Google Conference and Travel Scholarships for selected conferences in the tech industry and related fields).* SHPE is a big “familia” support network. Get involved and make SHPE be your internship!* For interviews, focus on remembering the basics!



Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin



Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones 

In this episode I share with you a conversation I had with Adriana Flores Ragade, Social Entrepreneur and host of the podcast LatinxAmerica. She asked me about my story and my journey from Electronics Engineering to Technical Marketing. We also spoke about how I got to Silicon Valley, my involvement with SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) and podcasting.



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com























Connect with Hugo vía :



* Linkedin: Hugo Castellanos* Twitter: Hugo Castellanos / Hugo Castellanos@conexionescast / Hugo Castellanos@LatinosWhoTech* Podcast: LatinosWhoTech* Podcast: Conexiones * Gmail: LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com



Connect with Adriana vía:



* Linkedin: Adriana Flores Ragade* Podcast: LatinxAmerica



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned resources:



* Intel Corporation* Valencia College* UCF University of Central Florida* SHPE* Conexiones – Carlos Montesinos* Linkedin Learning* Galvanize* Product School* General Assembly* Getting Things Done by David Allen* MacSparky by David Sparks* Melvin Rivera Velázquez



Timestamps:



* 01:41 – Introducing Adriana Flores Ragade who will be interviewing Hugo Castellanos – All about the reason why he does podcasting, his day to day job and how he got to Silicon Valley* 04:12 – Welcoming Hugo at LatinxAmerica and his journey into Tech* 09:30 – Full time tech person with a podcasting passion in spare time.

In this episode I spoke with Jimmy Galvez, a Project Manager @ Sherwood Design Engineers. We spoke about his journey coming from Guatemala to the US, his experience managing civil engineering projects in California, Texas and overseas and his involvement with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineer (SHPE).



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com























Connect with Jimmy vía :



* Linkedin: Jimmy Galvez* Instagram: @instalexglvz



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Timestamps:



* 01:44 – Introducing Jimmy Galvez* 02:29 – The first Civil Engineer and Guatemalan in the Podcast* 03:22 – Who’s Jimmy and where does he come from* 04:05 – Immigrating to the US* 07:21 – From Community College to Cal Polly* 08:41 – Studying at Cal Polly; Civil Engineering* 10:12 – The difference between Civil and Structural Engineering* 11:08 – Jimmy’s first job out of College* 12:24 – A Master in that particular Craft* 13:16 – Land development and community planning* 17:04 – Jimmy’s current title and role* 18:08 – Construction administration support services* 19:07 – The handoff from design to construction* 21:17 – Pre-construction meetings; The relationship between designers and contractors* 24:01 – Jimmy’s favorite project* 27:17 – International Experience; Projects in the Baja Dessert; Desalination* 29:33 – Love for structural engineering; Always paying attention to constructions* 30:51 – The Challenges that a project manager faces* 33:53 – What are the skills that a Star Project Manager needs?* 37:43 – Communication; email vs phone call* 38:18 – Running meetings as a project manager* 42:13 – The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineer (SHPE)* 44:04 – Learning at SHPE; Soft skills, communication, networking* 47:16 – Being a SHPE Chapter President* 51:01 – Hugo’s SHPE inspiring story* 54:55 – Last words for audience



Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin



Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones 

In this episode, I spoke with Dushka Zapata, Executive Communications at Zendesk, writer, and author of seven books. We spoke about writing as a part of her life and how she captures ideas to do so, her work at Zendesk, Quora and her seven books, the process she goes through to write a book, and her encouraging words to audience.



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com























Connect with Dushka vía :



* Linkedin: Dushka Zapata * Quora: Dushka Zapata



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Mentioned resources:



* Edelman* Zendesk* Dushka’s seven books: How to be ferociously happy – Amateur – A Spectacular Catastrophe – Your Seat Cushion is a Flotation Device – Someone Destroyed My Rocket Ship – How to Build a Pillow Fort – You belong everywhere * Quora



Timestamps:



* 01:45 – Welcoming Dushka Zapata* 01:56 – How Duska got to San Francisco* 02:57 – The way in which Duska brings her whole self to work* 03:54 – Writing as a part of Dushka’s life* 05:04 – How Dushka captures the ideas she writes about and her seven books* 07:38 – About Dushka’s work at Zendesk* 08:43 – How Dushka would coach an executive who wants to give a speech* 10:55 – How Dushka personally gets prepared to give a speech  * 16:00 – The meaning of Quora according to Dushka* 16:23 – Dushka’s process when sitting down to write a book* 19:16 – To connect with Dushka* 19:41 – Last words to audience



Key Takeaways:



BRINGING WHOLE SELF TO WORK



To be able to take your whole self to work,

In this episode, I spoke with Carlos  Sarmiento, Software Engineer at Facebook. Originally from Venezuela, Carlos joined Facebook in 2017. We spoke about how he got to Facebook, the company’s recruiting events and engineering bootcamps, his day in the life as a software engineer, and all about referrals. 



Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!



Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com



Connect with Carlos via linkedin:



Carlos Sarmiento



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend!



Mentioned resources:



* Facebook Recruiting Event* Facebook Engineering Bootcamp* ERG (Employee Resource Group)* Latin@ – Facebook Diversity* Latin@ – Facebook Careers* PHP* Hack – programming language 























Timestamps:



* 01:42 – Welcoming Carlos Sarmiento* 02:06 – About Carlos* 02:40 – Reaching Facebook: from Caracas to Facebook* 05:38 – About Facebook’s recruiting events* 08:28 – A Software Engineer at Facebook: The experience of a day in the life* 10:55 – About Facebook’s Engineering Bootcamps* 13:30 – Process to select a bootcamp* 15:18 – A story from Instagram Ads* 19:31 – How a referral works* 23:44 – Diversity at Facebook* 27:09 – Last words for audience



Key Takeaways:



Facebook Recruiting Events



A good way to select the best people for a company is through recruiting events. During these event recruiters give interviews to potential candidates, share with the community information and the experience of what it is like working at Facebook



The experience of a day in the life



Working in a team with a collaborative process has better results when looking for a high impact. 



Having a mentor helps somebody ramp up and succeed in a company



Facebook engineering bootcamp



Any engineer that wants to work at Facebook, has to go through a bootcamp. Bootcamps are great onboarding programs. They are opportunities for working right away, learning everything about the company and having a senior engineer mentor through the whole process



Fix and Learn!



Everybody at Facebook roll in the same direction, so if somebody fails or makes a mistake, the whole team takes responsibility,

In this episode, I spoke with Angela Romero, Principal Manager at Coursera.  We spoke about her experience working in a PR agency, cold calling and her role in sales at Google, Duolingo as a startup with an e-learning environment giving people practical and fun learning opportunities through technology and access to better jobs, all about Coursera, and the importance of Employee Resource Groups in working environments.



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Connect with Angela via linkedin:



Angela Romero



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Mentioned resources:



* Coursera* FleishmanHillard* AI For Everyone – One of Angela’s favourite short digestible language course about AI and how it is going to transform the world* Learning How to Learn – Another favourite short course at Coursera with powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects* You Tube Red (You Tube Premium) – watch and listen without announcements * Duolingo* Hola, Latino ERG (Employee Resource Group) – Diversity and inclusion group* USP, FIA, UNICAMP, and Insper – Coursera expanded in Brazil with 25 courses from these top universities * Self-Driving Program from University of Toronto–  top program at Coursera launched by Angela



Time Stamps:



* 01:43 – Welcoming Angela Romero
* 02:00 – About Angela and Coursera
* 02:53 – Angela’s favourite course or specialization 
* 03:52 – Angela’s favourite learning technique
* 05:25 – How Angela gets to Coursera
* 07:55 – What is it like to work in a PR agency
* 08:41 – When Angela realized she wanted to switch into sales
* 10:38 – Role at Google in sales
* 11:01 – Good at cold calling
* 13:35 –  How Angela would write a perfect pitch email
* 17:17 – What is the perfect phone call
* 20:10 – Switching from Google to Duolingo, a startup e-learning environment
* 23:04 – What Angela was most proud of at Duolingo
* 26:34 – Why Coursera?
* 32:10 – Principal Manager at Coursera. What does a Principal Manager do?
* 34:14 – Coursera’s challenges for the next two quarters
* 35:29 – Wanting to get into the e-learning industry… What kind of opportunities can I get at Coursera? Where will I be needed the most?

In this episode, I spoke with Erika Torres, PhD., a Product Manager and Social Scientist, Marketing Officer at Prospanica Sillicon Valley. Erika has a PhD. in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International University. We spoke about her path to a PhD, her work as a professor and in hospitals, the 100 career discovery interviews she had for breaking into tech, and what would she do differently if she would have to do her career discovery journey all over again.



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Connect with her via linkedin:



* Erica Torres























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Mentioned resources:



* The Lean Startup (The Lean Startup process and Customer Discovery Process)- book by Eric Ries* UCSF* NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health)* SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) – data analysis tool* SQL (Structured Query Language) –  to handle data analysis tasks.* Python* Slack – networking tool* Latino ERG – Latino employee resource group



Show Notes:



* 01:45 – Welcoming Erica Torres* 02:10 – About Erica and her journey in Silicon Valley



DISCOVERING PRODUCT MANAGEMENT



Erica is a tracked psychologist fascinated about Tech, people, what inspires them and what gets in their way. She joined the National Institute of Mental Health Program for diverse first generation college students to help her get to Grad school and do an intensive fellowship research at UCSF. Beaten by the system, she started digging into Tech, having her first introduction back at Undergrad school working on an online smoking cessation program, and approaching over 100 people through career discovery interviews, choosing to do Product Management.



* 06:57 – With a PhD, almost four years as a professor. What was it like?



A PROFESSOR DISCOVERING AREA OF INTEREST



Erica was a professor for more than three years, and loved it.

In this episode, I spoke with Ismael Verduzco III, aka DJ Ish, Social Marketing Lead at LinkedIn. Ish graduated from ​the University of California, Merced​ with a B.S. in Management. We spoke about life at LinkedIn, how he found his way into tech and his role as a Social Media Lead.



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Connect with Ish via linkedin, Instagram and Twitter:



* Ismael Verduzco III* Djishh – Instagram* Ish@Djishh – Twitter























Show Notes:



* 01:16 – Welcoming Ismael Verduzco III* 01:19 – About Ish* 02:18 – About going to school in University of California; from urban area to the countryside* 03:08 – Things Ish does in his free time* 03:38 – Social media expert at Linkedin, fitness enthusiasm and DJ engagement – How does he organize himself with so many things to do* 05:47 – Time of relax – Downtime* 09:24 – How Ish got to Linkedin* 15:57 – Role description* 17:14 – Process for making content* 19:13 – What makes a good headline for Linkedin* 21:55 – The project Ish is proudest of* 25:39 – 60 MM Latinos in the USA but only 3% are in Tech. What can companies do better to bring diverse talent in. Ish’s viewpoint * 27:03 – What is life at Linkedin like* 28:40 – Next play/challenges as a Social Media Lead* 29: 45- Next Play Concept* 30:28 – What does Ish likes best of Linkedin besides their people* 31:48 – Last words for audience 



About the episode:



Linkedin has grown in the past 5 years, and in 2016 was acquired by Microsoft. They started off with 6000 employees and today have doubled. One of them is Ish, a Dj and fitness enthusiast, working as the Social Media Marketing Lead of Talent Solutions, one of their four business brand channels, finding different content to inform HR managers, recruiters and  talented professionals on latest recruiting trends. 



Ish was born in Southern California, and graduated from University of California, Merced with a B.S. in Management,

Everyday 1 billion people take at least one pill that was manufactured by Gilead Sciences. A company devoted to manufacture antiviral drugs that treat HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and influenza. 



One of the many researchers at Gilead Sciences is Liliana de la Paz, PhD. A Bay Area native with Mexican roots. She has the unique distinction of being the first ever Latina to graduate from Stanford University with a PhD in Chemical Engineering. 



Liliana is used to being one of the few women in the room and sometimes the only Latina. From her undergrad days at Berkeley where she majored in Chemical Engineering to her Stanford lab where she spent 6 years researching protein engineering, all the way to her current role developing the next generation of antiviral drugs. 



We talked about her experience going to school at Berkeley as a first generation student attending college and the first in her family to become an engineer. We went deep into understanding what imposter syndrome is, how it manifests itself and how she deals with it. Full disclaimer: You never fully overcome it, you just learn to manage it better. 



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Key Takeaways:



* On being the only Latina in the room:* “My attitude is that if I am here, I am here to play.”* It’s important to stay positive and to avoid falling trap of the victim mentality. If you are called into a meeting is because your opinion is valued* To overcome imposter syndrome, keep a record of all your KUDOS and achievements handy in your email or notes app. I keep all my presentation review notes and thank you emails I’ve received from others to remind me that I am good at what I do* It’s OK to feel nervous before doing a presentation, you feel nervous because you want it to come out well* Imposter syndrome is the feeling that you are not the right person for a job or a project and that other people are going to “find out” that you are not qualified for it. * “Go to your TA’s office hours. They are probably more scared from you than you from them”* You never really “overcome” imposter syndrome. You learn to manage it better* The more you grow into an organization and take bigger projects, the more important is to be self- aware of your imposter syndrome* Ignorance is bliss! Since Liliana was a first generation student, her parents didn’t put pressure on her to attend college or had a 12 year plan for her career. Her parents supported her and told her she could transfer to a less demanding school than Berkeley anytime. * Motivation is BS. You have to show up and do the work whether you feel motivated to do it or not. * Art Tatum story- as a young blind kid, Art was obsessed with playing the piano and would learn how to play songs by ear. He would often listen to the radio and piano roll recordings to discover new tunes. In one occasion he heard a tune that was original...

In this episode I spoke with Juan Lopez Marcano, Software Engineer at Uber. Juan has been at Fortune 100 companies, startups and Silicon Valley Unicorns like Uber. In this conversation we spoke about his strategy, the in-demand skills he has developed, how he preps for technical interviews, salary negotiation techniques and the 3M framework to define whether an opportunity is for you or not.



One of the most interesting takeaways from this conversation was the 3 Ms framework Juan uses to evaluate career opportunities. 1st M stands for Making: What are you building?, What kind of technologies are you using? What is the purpose behind it? ,the  2nd M stands for Management: What is your Boss like? What is the Team like? Is it a healthy environment where you can thrive? And the 3rd M stands for Money: Are you being compensated fairly for your effort? Does your compensation track the market? What other perks besides Money does your company offer?



Join in as we cover the taboo of talking about salaries, how to overcome the fear of negotiating and strategies that Juan has used to be successful at technical interviews and finding the right job for his skills.



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Podcast Show notes:



* 01:15 – Welcoming Juan López Marcano* 01:30 – About Juan in Silicon Valley and his thoughts on salaries, compensations, and underpaid vicious cycle “The taboo talking about salaries”



ABOUT JUAN AND THE TABOO OF TALKING ABOUT SALARIES



Juan started his professional journey at Intel. Once he had finished his internship, he received a return offer from the  manager, and after having gone through salary negotiations and playing it risky he started his new role as a Software Manager. There is a taboo in Silicon Valley’s hispanic community about salaries and how much they get paid. They create a vicious cycle where they are underpaid and get used to it, either because they are afraid or feel uncomfortable talking about it. Nobody should be frightened. Juan talks about salaries with most non hispanic friends and they both know how much money each other makes, it is the only way to make sure they do not get underpaid. “Don’t be the first person making money in your team, be number two. Number one will get laid off if there is a budget cut”



* 05:26 – Juan’s risky salary request when getting a return offer from manager at Intel* 10:56 – Jumping from Intel to number 43 startup at Cloudminds – Approaching job search process and process meeting 3 Ms * 14:52 – Interview process at different companies while having a full time job



INTERVIEWS AND THEIR PROCESS WHILE HAVING A FULLTIME JOB



With a fulltime job at Intel, Juan was going through interviews with Cloudminds, Magically and Facebook in search of a strong management team and leadership. All companies used coding interviews that consisted in a phone s...

In this episode, Hugo welcomes Amir Abou Baker, an American Lebanese-Puerto Rican Industrial Engineer with a masters in Engineering Management and Business Strategy working at WhatsApp Inc., as the Head of Global Markets. He is a technology and operations executive with skills in retail, operational transformations and scaling strategy for global operations that has travelled a lot and worked and led teams overseas. Amir shares his exceptional labour journey at Accenture, GE, Google, Oscar Insurance, TaskRabbit and Whatsapp, transitioning from one to another into different fields.



Tune in as they talk about his reason for this transitioning from one field to another, the GE’s OMLP rotational program Amir went through to build leadership and functional skills and focus on operations in Media & Entertainment for NBCUniversal where his first project was managing Highlights at the Beijing Olympics Highlights Factory, his operation management and retail skills at Google, his member services at Oscar Insurance, directing Global Operations at TaskRabbit and what they are, and his role at Whatsapp.









Show notes:



* 01:15 – Welcoming Amir* 01:26 – About Amir* 02:16 – Why Industrial Engineering* 02:57 – “Engineers make things, industrial engineers make things better” Operation mentality leading into personal life* 05:35 – About GE and why operations* 07:12 – Work at NBCUniversal – First project Highlights at the Beijing Olympics Highlights Factory



SETTING A PROCESS FOR HIGHLIGHT CLIPS AT BEIJING OLYMPICS



Universal has between 2 and 5 OMLPs, so the projects they worked on were the most strategic in the company. Amir’s first project was the Beijing Olympics managing the highlights factory, where he would get a request from the director, give it to the shot pickers that would put together and edit highlight clips, and then ship them off to the different work stream. The Olympics lasted 16 days and on the first day they set a process of seven steps to cut a clip and get it to the profit partner. They started making daily improvements, and the process evolved taking every day less time to develop a clip. First day they took 1 hour, and by the end of day 14, it took them only 20 minutes to get a request, cut a clip and get it to the profit partner



* 09:37 – Feeling about making decisions on highlights* 10:22 – GE’s OMLP Rotation program – Process to ramp-up quickly* 12:09 – Same process for Google and WhatsApp?* 13:04 – When leading, meeting every single team member across different geographies?* 15:26 – Transition between industries – From GE to Google



TRANSITION FROM ENTERTAINMENT TO TECH, A NEW FRONTIER



While  finishing GE rotational program and being the manager of strategy and operations at Universal Studios Sound Department in Los Angeles, everybody was starting to talk about a fast growing Google in Bay Area of San Francisco. Went online and randomly applied for a job in strategy operations in Google with success. A new frontier in Tech.

In this episode, Hugo welcomes Rocio Mendez, a Mexican American industrial engineer at Tesla. Rocio was fascinated by engineering early on and earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. #GoMustangs! Rocio shares her journey from her first job at Covidien, a medical device company that was acquired by Medtronic in 2015, to her current role at Tesla as an Industrial Engineering Manager. Join in as they talk about the Tesla culture, the importance of building relationships with cross functional teams, the challenge of being a woman in manufacturing engineering and what it’s like to work with Elon.









Show notes:



* 01:15 – Welcoming Rocio Mendez* 02:16 – About Rocio* 06:17 – What it is like working in an operations team* 08:06 – How Rocio got to Tesla: First time at the factory floor* 12:33 – What makes Tesla a great choice for an industrial or mechanical engineer * 15:30 – Rocio’s day to day, previous role and how she got prepared to do what she is doing now at Tesla* 21:32 – Strategies Rocio uses when developing her team* 25:30 – Meeting and working with Elon Musk* 27:53 – The Mission; Rocio’s favorite part of working at Tesla* 30:33 – Challenge of being a woman in a manufacturing environment* 34:13 – Rocio’s feeling about engineering mentality leading into personal life* 43:11 – Rocio’s parting words to latinos in STEM



Key Takeaways:



* “Coming down to common ground with people who have different mindsets is very important in any management”* “Important to market yourself and tell people what you are all about” * “Manufacturing experience is a plus when looking for a job at Tesla”* “To be an engineer you have to be on the sharp floor to understand what it is all about”* Need to be aligned in order to go the same direction; building relationships with cross functional teams* “What do you need from me, and what do I need from you”* Be straightforward when something is not working out right to find a solution* “You need to be empathetic to be a leader”* Having a mentor during your career is important when taking on new roles



Mentioned resources:



* Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future – Book recommended by Rocio* XCase CD Comic – webcomic designed by Randall Munroe’s, a physics that worked in Nasa* Cal Poly – University where Rocio finished her masters degree



Connect with her via linkedin:



* Rocio Mendez



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In this episode, Hugo welcomes Roxana Ruvalcaba, a Mexican-American industrial engineer born in LA, working as an operations finance specialist at Intel Corporation. Roxana went to Berkeley University to study industry engineering and operations research, and at the time, had her first exposure to business school in an intense summer venture at Harvard Business School. Once graduated, she joined the Pacific Gas and Electric Company through the Energy Procurement Rotational Program. Dive in as they talk about her decision to apply to an MBA while living at home and having a fulltime job, the programs and processes she went through and the experience she had being a mexican-american female engineer.







Show notes:



* 00:18 – Welcoming Roxana Ruvalcaba* 00:30 – About Roxana * 03:03 – About Yale and people who attend their Pre-MBA Programs* 03:57 – Programs and application process for business school* 09:56 – About MLT program (Management Leadership for Tomorrow) and what comes next* 12:32 – Balancing full time work and MLT* 13:36 – Why UCLA?* 13:50 – Applying to an MBA through consortium program and what it is* 18:59 – UCLA and MBA experience* 23:57 – MBA internship at google and what it was like working there* 25:45 – Two things to be considered in any MBA program* 28:09 – Mexican-American, female and engineer getting in MBA. Different experience to others?* 29:29 – Job searching process. Balancing between MBA classes and interviewing for companies* 33:00 – Roxana’s parting words for the audience



Key Takeaways:



* Taking time off and focussing on course leads to a better outcome* Depending on the style of studying, taking on a tutor will attend personal needs and be more intensive * “Having solid foundation in finance will help no matter what she decided to do after; it is important to know  how to manage a company”* “Even though you are not prepared,do it, you will learn later on”* “GMAT good for five years, so if you have time, get it out of the way; there are ways of funding”* “Doing an MBA is a great. You gain a lot of personal and career experience”



Mentioned resources:



* MLT Program (Management Leadership for tomorrow) – programs that start in college to help set milestones to apply and get ready for an MBA program* GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) to gain entrance into an MBA program* Manhattan Prep > GMAT Prep courses



Connect with her via linkedin:



* Roxana Ruvalcaba



Want to help us grow? You can:



* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend



Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedinThanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones

In this first episode, Hugo welcomes Nicole Gonzalez and Elio Morillo, Puerto Rican engineers working at Nasa JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Nicole is an electronic engineer who develops electronic systems for both the Mars 2020 and Psyche exploration missions, and Elio is a testbed engineer that verifies avionics, payloads, and software, to ensure that operations on route and on the surface of Mars are fully characterized. Dive in as they talk about how difficult living and growing up in Puerto Rico is, their talented and diligent work in the NASA and the week they spent back in a school of Puerto Rico, after having been recovered from hurricane wreckage and gang destruction, voluntarily giving STEM workshops to school students in between eight and fourteen years old. This is a story about how Puerto Rico rises #PRseLevanta



#PRseLevanta







Show notes:



* 00:01 – Welcoming Nicole Gonzalez Cejo and Elio Morillo* 02:28 – Nicole’s role at Nasa JPL* 05:08 – Elio’s role at Nasa JPL* 06:30 – Aspect of redundancy* 07:30 – Robot or human missions (JPL robotic space exploration hub)* 09:48 – About Puerto Rico and the lack of their daily supply of power* 13:55 – STEM Program; Voluntarily teaching kids from 8 to 14 years old STEM back in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico* 19:46 – Projects and things Elio and Nicole built with the kids in Marisa’s community centre “Sinergia Los Naranjos” * 23:16 – The story about Marisa “La Guerrera” and how she recovered the school from hurricane wreckage and gang destruction * 27:57 – Next steps with projects to continue showing what engineering is* 31:33 – Sharing stories during their week in Puerto Rico* 38:35 – If you want to help, connect with Elio and Nicole on their program Stemcoqui, via linkedin: Nicole Gonzalez Cejo Elio Morillo, or instagram: Elio Morillo



Key Takeaways:



* “Sleep one hour less and use it for your side hustle”* Everybody’s background can find a solution to problems* Rethink with what there is accessible in order to elaborate new things and create new solutions



Mentioned resources:



* Nasa education curriculum for teachers – Science resources for educators that support Elio and Nicole’s STEM curriculum; they simplified and translated them for this project



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Connect with them via Linkedin:



* Nicole Gonzalez* Elio Morillo



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Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedinThanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show,