In this episode of season two of the Dr. B show, I interviewed my lovely friend, malaria principal and founder of alpha quest consulting and founder of the science of extraordinary results.
This is a combination of two interviews. We discuss her road, her journey to where she's at today, and also her new book.
My name is Dr. Jairo also known as Dr. B and welcome to the Dr. B show, I'm your host, Dr. B I have my great guest today. I have Valerie, Valerie. How are you today? Very good. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Thanks. This is recorded during the holiday season. So happy holidays to you and your wife. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Let's get right to it. Let's jump right to it. So tell the audience who you are and then what you do, which your two respective brands, which is alpha quest consulting. And then. So I'm a Latina. I am from Argentina. I came to the US in 2002 for an MBA, uh, Dartmouth. Um, My story starts in a small town in Argentina, in a small rural town.
I'm from a little town. And I always joke that we were 10,000 people and 20,000 cows
in a rural town. And I was the first one to go to college, the first one to achieve many things in my, in my family college, corporate career. Came to the US I paid for my full dedication since I was 18. So it was a long journey up to this point. And one thing that I learned from my family was to serve, to use our talents that have been role models for my parents.
I learned that from them, they are very active with the community in Argentina. My brother is extremely active as well. So I learned that growing up, the importance of contributing everything that you'll receive an all the opportunities you have on your, the talents you develop, the educational opportunities you received to better the community.
So that's how essentially I opened my own business that self-awareness. And I can tell you a little, little bit more later about that has a social mission of serving our Hispanic community. Yeah. It's one of my questions. So I'm going to get to it in a little bit, so cool. So, so I, I checked out your profile.
Um, you mentioned something interesting about Dartmouth. Tell me about, I remember you, I think I sat in one of your recorded seminars, but it's okay. Uh, it was recorded, but I'll take it. I'll take it. So you spoke about your journey about Dartmouth. I know you had a lot of struggles. Uh, can you tell us about that experience?
Yeah, so getting into Dartmouth was, um, and that point was extremely challenging. We were in Argentina in 2001 in the middle of a huge, huge economic upheaval. So it's at the same time that the bubble here exploded in 2001. So in Argentina, the cycles economic cycles are even more pronounced. So. All my life I had been about what's next for me?
Right? What's next. And in terms of education, I worked on careers. So my husband and I, we got married and a year later we decided to come to the US in the middle of that huge crisis. So we still have our jobs, but our money got trapped in the bank. So savings to come to pay the little we had to pay for a vacation.
And then we had huge student loans got trapped in the bank. So it was a very, uh, difficult situation and many in our countries may have heard about. And not only that, it was a cultural adjustment. So I have to say, and I have, I do not say this. Publicly too much, but I used to hang out only with people who spoke Spanish when I moved here.
Right, right. It's okay. Under dumbly. So, right. So for me, to really feel comfortable in a different culture, I had studied English for 10 years, but I didn't feel. Really confident about my English. So I did, I avoided as much as I could that contact with the American community. So I used to hang out a lot with the Hispanics.
Then the job search was a huge challenge as well because my husband and I were looking for a job in the same city and we had a student visa. So it was really hard work and a lot of barriers and self-doubt. And lack of self-confidence to overcome, you know, to really achieve what was next in my life.
So, that was a hard part of Dharma. Then I helped to say, we got our jobs. I started my corporate career and I, again,, I started my family. I had two kids and that's when. A huge challenge showed up again in my life because I had this corporate job, I had my kids and I tried to do everything perfectly, you know, like check all the boxes and perfectly, which perfect is an illusion.
And in 2016, I had a burnout that's when physically, emotionally, I just had to stop everything that I was doing because I just couldn't continue. That's when my life completely changed. And that's how I discovered my purpose on my mission, which is what I'm onto now. So, you know, you can see that every challenge brings a black scene, and I was a major challenge in 2016, that brought a major blessing.
No, I agree. A hundred percent of everything. Everything happens for a reason. Right. So you got, you just burnt out and then obviously at that point you found your purpose. Right. But we'll get to 2017 and under the pit. Right. So I want to go back in time a little bit. So you did work at the big four, one of the big four PWC, Procter and gamble McKinsey for a bit.
So how did that, how did that experience help you to in your business today? That experience was, um, I have to say those experiences were great schools, the exposure to people from different backgrounds, different countries, the training that I received in those companies particular with, if you think about PWC, um, learning numbers.
And financial statements to the detail, like being super comfortable with financial statements and then with Procter and gamble, it was all about marketing and business development. So areas or four people are usually different, like completely apart, whomever. They dedicate their life to finances.
Usually it doesn't go into marketing and vice versa. So having exposure to those two gave me like a breadth of skills. That I can now help businesses and organizations looking into a road range of issues. And I understand the role of racial features. So that's, you know, the great experience from those few corporations where they fact that learning and being young, I was in my twenties and being exposed to that huge training.
They really invest in their people. So that was really, really great. That's awesome. It looks stepping stone for the rest of my career. Great. You also worked at, uh, Tia Cref and Citibank bank, and then which leads to your burnout 2016 and then the chamber. So how did that, how did that all come about? So for those who don't know this thing nationally, where's the heavily involved with the statewide Hispanic chamber of commerce in New Jersey.
Can you, can you explain the bridge there? So when I had to stop everything and it was really a lot of soul searching, like what's next for me? Or how can I do this in a way that I can find balance? How can I have my professional career and be fulfilled with that? And at the same time, raise a family away from family, my family and my husband's family.
Everybody's in Argentina. We are the only ones here. So it's extremely hard when you have no support network. Right. So how can I. You know, be really successful in all of these areas in my life. So it became a point in my life that as I said, life forced me to stop. And that's because I had not been listening to the warning signs.
And that's important for people right now in the times when leaving, not to take yourself to the point of exhaustion, right? If your body. Tired and needs to eat or sleep. Take the time to do that. I did not give myself the time to do that. So that's why we then listen for those warning signs. And I ended up like I ended up, so, but what happened in 2016 is because I stopped everything and I took some time off from work.
Um, I, as I say, I step, I stepped away from my level.
Hey, long time. Right? I went to a community event. I participated in a Hispanic event organized by the Hispanic chamber of commerce of New Jersey. So I really liked that event. I really like the, I felt very welcomed. It was really a great experience. And I went for a second one. So that's what I met the leadership at the chamber.
And they approached me and they invited me to live for them, their Hispanic entrepreneurship training program, which is a program that serves small businesses, helps them put together a business plans, build their pillars so that they can scale up, grow their businesses and access opportunities. And I said, yes.
So that's how I started to be involved with Hispanic community. So, so for the chamber, what happened with the chamber is that when I stopped everything that I was doing. And as I always like to say, I stepped out of my laptop for the France Latina event organized by the Hispanic chamber of commerce of New Jersey.
And I really liked the energy. I felt very welcome and I really, I really enjoyed the experience. So you went to a second event and I started to meet all the leadership in the chamber, and they eventually invited me to be a coach for small businesses. And after that to lead offer for free to small businesses, In the tri-state area, mostly New Jersey, but in the tri-state area is open to minorities, particularly Hispanics.
And that's how I got involved for the first time, really closely. And that's the blessed corporate life and working with the clients. And then, you know, my life was limited to a group of maybe 10 people at work, maybe 15 at some point, but this became hundreds of people. I estimate that I work closely with roughly four to 500, three to four years.
So it was, you know, a lot of people and really an immersion, a huge immersion in our Hispanic community, the problems that our people have in terms of access to capital access to opportunities, you know, w we, we ourselves built right into our community. Wow. Very powerful stuff. So 4,500 business owners. So.
Well, how do you think, how do you think, um, we could just a network as to the host always mentioned, how do you get with people like you and I could help address? So it's a problematic that has to be tackled from many angles. So it's not only one organization that can really solve this issue is all of us together.
So one end. Corporation programs and they really do not open those opportunities up to you. How many micro-businesses to give you a number? 90% of small businesses in the us. Have less than $250,000 of sales per year. So those are corporations preferred to opportunities, to the big ones. It's easier for them to sign a $1 million contract than to sign 10 contracts for a hundred thousand dollars.
So the opportunities are not really available right now. The government, same thing. There is no clarity, particularly in the state of New Jersey as to the percentage of contracts from the government that go to women and minorities. Apparently the percentages are really low, less than 5%, but then with them, that compiles all the contracts in the state of New Jersey.
So, and definitely places like the chamber are key because they gave these businesses, these opportunities available to them. They gave these businesses, individual coaching, which is extremely important that you're hand holding, you know, to help. In English or Spanish to really understand what they need to do next.
That coaching is extremely important to connect with each other, what we call community building, and they end up referring each other. So the chamber has been extremely successful in the last years to create these types of opportunities, but a lot has to be done from other Corp, our own responsibility to have to say, as business owners.
And I include myself. Something that I learned, and that brings me to Wyatt. Grade-level that second sentence, something that I learned by working with four to 500 Hispanics in the last three to four years as the business plan, the best coach, and they will take it and they will grow. That happens. They experienced growth, which is extremely important and great and great news news.
But at some point they stopped growing again, particularly immigrants and 60% of Hispanic business owners are immigrants. And those who are first generation that we are not in the mindset of creating success as business owners, we grew up not seeing. Use guidance from our close family members. We do not have that generally.
So he has to be worked from within that. We support our people to create that mindset and really change and believe that something big. So that's how you know, I've embarked on that mission within a second center. I love it. I love it. Um, before I get jumped into your organization. So from a what's it, what advice would you give small business owners that are struggling or have people, um, in this pandemic?
Well, what comes to mind is a generally for small businesses, it has been all about the money. So, and I understand it's extremely stressful when your numbers do not help you. And at the end of the month, you're struggling. But now we have, thankfully I have seen the last year, many opportunities in the shape of grants and small business loans and that the energy, the NJ EDA has been extremely involved with that as well.
So there are resources out there like were not available to us. Important and it's great news. However, we need as a community to think beyond money, right? It's not about the money and my advice to people, whole become entrepreneur and they have a business is think about how can you that you're bringing, because unless you have a good value, you're really creating a difference.
You're solving a problem. And you know how to communicate what you're doing. No one will buy from you, right. Or if you people may buy from you because it could to your fullest potential. So think about go beyond what's the problem today that is money, finances, and think about taking the time to think, how can I use.
That what I offer my product, my service, people who are looking for this that have a problem that I can solve. So I have a solution for them. I'm a painkiller for what they are experiencing, who are those people and approach them. When you ask them who's your market, they say all women in the U S right.
So the lesson is you need to narrow it down. You need to find, you may not need to have millions of clients for your business to really prosper the a hundred clients. So be very narrow and that will help, help you focus your narrative and really go after the people who are willing to invest in you as far as focusing on a niche, right.
And now damn it down. And don't focus on the mass on the mass market. Love it. Uh, small businesses with it. Is it, uh, strategy, personal development? It both, can you kind of elaborate three years ago, I helped them with strategy with understanding their client base with positioning themselves in a way that is unique and really reinforces what they are and anything that has to do with business development finances.
So that's how I started. Business plans. But then I learned that, you know, there was this mindset thing going on, that where our people need support in really, I want to create right, because, and this I've been working with a lot of women, a lot of Latinas and some men as well, but a commonality across the board has been a sense of success in the U.
USC is not for me, or it's very grow, but really be like a big scale. That's not available for me. I don't think I have. The, the tools that I, that I need for that particularly, I don't think I have the confidence, or I don't think I have the personal abilities that I need to take my business to hesitate about their own abilities.
And that shows when they go to meetings with proposals or approach new clients that shows the lack of confidence or hesitation. And sometimes that's subconscious. Like most of us, most of us are the first ones to do something that no one in our funniest day before. So your beliefs, your system, your, your, the way of thinking gets quite set by the way you are 18 years old.
So think is available for you before 18 years old and what's available now. So the world changed and the opportunities for us, Hispanics are completely different. Than what they were when we were 15, 16, 18, or even what we come in now, that's what I do in my curriculum is to help our people identify how we are blocking ourselves from success and how to overcome those, you know, mindset blocks.
Love it. Love it, love it. Uh, so tell me about the initiative with, with this blog. Tell me how, how back to you about Cynthia was born roughly. I would say less than a year ago and was born, thanks to COVID blessings of COVID started to have some calls. I invited people to participate entirely for free. And I had like two months of weekly, some calls in which I share with them, all the tools that I myself try with me.
Remember that it says four years. I really did a lot of research on, you know, how the brain works, how we operate, how you know, human being. And they operate and their belief system and how we essentially broke ourselves from success and abundance that we can have. And I did a lot of research about that and implemented that in my life because I said, I'm not going to make this mistake differently.
I didn't want to make that mistake twice. I want to achieve success, but also in my family, my filing Argentina, my parents, my husband here, my kids having relationships with friends, you know, having time to the things that I love to do, hobbies fun. Tackle all the areas in my life. So our, in my second year of a masters in spiritual science, all those tools, I'm bringing to our community through our wellness center.
So I tested them with me. I worked with other people and then with the pandemic I put together this. And people shall be saved. And that's when I decided to, you know, I was invited to be on TV actually for the TV of like the TV TV, which is a channel from Venezuela, but they are here in Miami and they broke us to the U S nationally or a website for my company for, for, I want a second sentence.
So that's when I said, this is really getting to people. They see value in this, they are embracing this and then I created their website. You can find a bilingual blog, everything's bilingual, a bilingual blog. I will start with a podcast very soon, entirely inspired. That you can complete, or you're at your own pace and it's six weeks long because worksheets and webinars, and you can learn about these tools and how to incorporate them in life.
Wow. Wow. You've done a lot. That's good. That's good. It forces us a forced system. Pretty veteran. Yes. Hello. This is a time to, I was challenged to stop in 2016, but this is for humanity. The time to stop. I don't know where. Uh, first of all, we have learned that we can work from home companies now are learning that they do not need to have this massive overheads.
So we have proved that a good hybrid is possible right time in the office to be with people turn from home. But the most important part is to have more time. To have more time to have more time. He goes, we don't come out right to work. We don't go to see clients to have more time. So the question is, how are you going to use your time?
Are you going to use our thing to use your time to connect with yourself and really take this as a pause in your life where you can find out what's next for you? And I have seen people around me making huge decisions. Career changes, people who left corporate things. This is kind of, let's say accelerating a process for us, for human beings globally.
And people who really embrace this as an opportunity for inner connection are finding that they want to. Right. So that's the opportunity we have to really pass and use that time to go in and understand what is it that I want, what is it that I can contribute to better my community and use this time to make the 100%, what could people find you?
Uh, what could people find information regarding the course, or just find it was like for people who are looking to. Grow themselves is on dancier consented.net or conscious abundance.net. Now, for organizations, I want to bring these infestations is a longer term program. That is a habit changing program.
So it brings new habits for people to build resilience and to navigate these times, you know, we balance those problems are more longer. Hilarious pleasure having you with us. We had a great deep conversation about you, your roots, where you came from and everything that you've how far you've come along to career.
So thank you very much, doctor, do you want to promote your product or services to your target audience, but don't know how. Do you struggle with social media, marketing and management? Do you have challenges of lead generation for your business online? Well, look, no further. Get more clicks. Media helps with SMS MMS and email marketing.
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Thank you. Thank you. Just a little followup combination of two interviews. Uh, a lot has happened over the past couple of months, and I know you, uh, wrote a book. Tell us about your book. So I'm writing a book with the support of Georgetown university. For Latinas in the us. And this book was born from the idea of how can I help more Latinos based on my work with hundreds of Latinas in the, in the last two years, I made it my purpose, my mission to support as many Latinos as I can with the tools and knowledge and what I have learned from working with them.
How can we share this collective knowledge in a way? So the book is launching in December. Printing in December is going to be on crowdfunding in July. So it's coming out very soon and I'm going to be building a community that way. You know, kind of support me and I will support them through the launch of the book, choosing the final title so far it's and colonized Latinas, but choosing the final title, you know, giving me feedback on some chapters, choosing the design and so on.
Amazing, amazing job. And I know I. Part of that journey. So thank you so much. So why, why did you write the book? So everyone, I always ask this question to all my authors and why, sorry. Everyone has their, why. So what is your why in writing my way with this book is to help more people. So in the last three to four years, I have been supporting the Latino community in different ways.
And I learned a lot too. It was like a, like an immersion into our struggles into also our victories. And I have been sharing that in my consulting projects in workshops, but I found the opportunity. I was thinking, how can I reach more people? Because there is this opportunity that we have as Latinas to share our story.
And as they say, they'll travel because we don't talk too much about what we gained. You know what we went through when we came here to the us or growing up, and we also do not share enough of what works. Right? What the work for you, our victories. How do you negotiate pricing? How do you find your voice?
How do you. Stand up in an environment or you're the only Latina. So gathering those stories from people who went through those experiences, you know, and sharing that with a community named rose our way. So that was my wife, essentially amazing. I mean, it was a segue to my next question, as far as a process, right?
So, you know, I, I wrote a book of course, networking with success and minds is very more qualitative where I had some 2 cents as far as my perspective on network. And I interviewed four folks that I thought were. Masters in networking. Right. So I, it sounds like you was, yours is more qualitative. Can you kind of walk us through the process?
Uh, me the way I did it, I, I did it as far as outline. So I wrote chapter one when I talk about this 2, 3, 4, 5, and I kind of wrote at that point, and then at the end I do the interviews. Right. So how was your process? You kind of elaborate on your process. So let's say that I had figured out the book entirely from the very beginning and they want to start it to talk to Latina.
My book changed almost entirely. So what I felt was going to be the book became only 20% of the book. The remaining 80% was navigating with them, learning with them, through their experiences, you know, listening to them. And really, you know, what I discovered through the process is that. I didn't know as much as I thought about some people that I had very close in my life, like people who I have known for maybe five to 10 years.
The hardest story growing up that I didn't know, or how this story immigrating to the U S that I didn't know. So it was such a big learning personally, you know, as a professional, as a human being of how Latinas we don't share those stories and how there is so much power in sharing what we went through.
So that became part of the book. So healing our past in a way and everything that happened. And then. So I, I got to say that I interviewed maybe 50 Latinos, so it was very, very good. That's a lot 50 is a lot. And they always, I remember from my, uh, dissertation that said, uh, uh, from a phenomenological, I can't even pronounce it, but, but it is to that.
Design you interviewed 20 people. I was like, whoa, that's a lot, but 50, I can. And that's like double or triple so that's but honestly I was planning to interview 20 and then there was some word of mouth happening and some friends said, oh, you should interview this person and this president. So I started to interview more people and it became so rich in content because.
Suddenly I had Latina business owners, Latina executives in corporations, Latinas who worked with the community to say how this breadth of experiences and also Latinos from, you know, immigrants or born in the us. Afro-Latina. That we need to hear Afro Latinas. You know, the colorism in our community is big.
So making sure that we include all the voices became very important. And then I also did research. So I read like many research reports. There is not a lot of information about. You know, the book is about what limits us as Latinas, how we carry these ancestral cultural behaviors that come from the times of colonization.
We come from colonized countries and how to they, more than 500 years later. Those behaviors still exist. Right? We do a lot of hard work, but we keep our heads down. We generally do not ask for what we need. We have a hard time expressing our opinions because we are becoming self-conscious. What people will think or will this limit my career, you know, so there are many behaviors that have been limiting us.
So the book went in depth into exploring those. So it's a collection of those stories, those experiences, but also research psychologists, PhDs participating in this. I got some dissertations from France, PhD, France. Uh, he has, you know, input from professors from. Doctors psychologists. So it has, it's a, it's a way the range of, you know, of a collection of information of research and of, of interviews.
Amazing. I mean, it sounds like it's very enriching and I'm excited to read it, so I'm looking forward to it. So I have two questions should be, um, next to last question is. Um, what advice would you give to someone who who's always wanted to write a book for whatever reason hasn't put pen to paper, whether it's time, money, there's a lot.
There's a lot of excuses. So what, what advice would you give to the federal, especially Latina, um, entrepreneur who for whatever reason has not put pen to paper, what advice would you give him? As far as to write that book? In my own experience, I decided to write a book in 2015. And I started to write a book, but then I didn't finish that.
So in 20 21, 1, I said, I'm going to write a book in 2021. And I started this book the second, the first one never published. It's not finished. And the second one I started and it was very blessed, will find the community. That to me was key two things, one to find a community, right? Like a program or a community.
You need to be held in a way. I'm not saying that Kountable, but moving forward together makes a big difference. So when you see that others are going through, because it's not easy, you know, this work is not easy. So you need that support. The community that will help you move forward with it. Number one, number two, micro steps.
I made it very intentional that each single day I was went to write, write something or research or talk to people in trouble. So it was very intentional about, you know, every single day he had to move forward a little. So in four months essentially wrote the entire book. Now I'm going to be editing it, but it happened in four months just because you know that the Microsoft intentionality behind the micro steps and the community that we all move together.
So those two working, I don't think I would have written the book without those love and I get it community support and micro steps. I wrote them down for sure. Absolutely. Last question. Where can people find your book work when they purchase your book? So my book will be coming out in December and we'll be in Amazon, in bars and noble and in Walmart.
But until then you can follow, follow me on Instagram or I share, you know, some of the contents, some stories by Lydia. Underscore author. That's my, my Instagram address. Love it. Love it. Thank you for malaria once again. Appreciate it. And I'm looking forward to the read. Thanks for being on. Thank you. Okay, well, thank you so much, everybody.
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