July 23, 2025 • 46 mins
In this inspiring episode, Dr. Amilcar Guzman shares his powerful journey as a first-generation Dominican-American who broke traditional career expectations to build a life rooted in purpose, financial stability, and impact. From turning down Ivy League schools for better value to juggling full-time work and a PhD, Dr. Guzman walks us through how he designed a career across philanthropy, academia, and consulting—all while staying true to his values.
We explore:
- His work supporting early childhood systems as a Program Officer at the Pritzker Children’s Initiative
- Teaching future educators as an adjunct professor at American University
- Launching a consulting firm focused on advancing Latino leadership
- Navigating salary realities: philanthropy ($100K–$200K), adjunct teaching ($3K–$12K/course), and consulting ($100–$200/hr)
- Choosing the right graduate school for your needs, not just the brand name
- How transformative fellowships and mentors helped him conquer imposter syndrome
- His favorite tools for personal growth, including podcasts, books, and meditation apps
Dr. Guzman’s story is a masterclass in designing a career that honors your identity, builds multiple income streams, and makes space for impact. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why not me?”—this episode is for you.
Disclaimer:
The views shared on Career Cheat Code are those of the guests and don’t reflect the host or any affiliated organizations. This podcast is for inspiration and information, highlighting unique career journeys to help you define success and take your next step.
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, rate, and subscribe to this podcast on whatever platform you’re using, and share this podcast with your friends and your networks. For more #CareerCheatCode, visit linktr.ee/careercheatcode.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
People ask me you know when I tell them this part
of my journey do you regret notgoing to these Ivy League
institutions?
And I say, no, right, I thinkyou get to where you're going to
be.
Case in point, a couple of Imentioned my cohort of doctoral
students that we went intogether.
A couple of them were at theIvy League institutions right as
(00:22):
master's students that Imentioned before, and we all
ended up in the same doctoralprogram, right.
So that to me, was even morevalidation of me making the
right journey and me making thatright choice about getting to
where I needed to be and whatthe future held in that
particular way.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome to Career Cheat Code.
In this podcast, you'll hearhow everyday people impact the
world through their careers.
Learn about their journey,career hacks and obstacles along
the way.
Whether you're already havingthe impact you want or are
searching for it, this is thepodcast for you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
All right, dr Guzman.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I appreciate you taking the time to join the
Career Cheat Code podcast.
Let's dive right in.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Let's tell the world what it is you do for a living.
So I do a couple things.
So first, you know, in my dayjob, I'm a program officer with
the Pritzker Children'sInitiative.
We are a program of thePritzker Family Foundation based
in Chicago, and our workcenters on the earliest years,
so we focus on prenatal to threeand we help provide resources
and supports for NGOs and alsostate governments to help
improve services for infants,toddlers and also their families
(01:34):
.
At the foundation, I'm aprogram officer and so what that
means is I help managedifferent relationships with our
grantees, and that meanswriting recommendations for
funding.
That means finding new groupsto fund.
That means monitoring theirreporting.
That also means internallyfocusing on measuring their
success.
(01:54):
And what does that look like?
How are we ensuring that thework that they're doing is
aligned with our strategic planbut also creating the impact
that we hope to see in statesand also nationally?
In addition to that, I'mresponsible for a couple of
additional pieces.
Here at the foundation, I'm ourlead for measurement.
So I spent a lot of timethinking about not only my
(02:16):
grantees but everyone's on theteam, and how are those tracking
towards our larger goals?
I'm also have started uprecently, a new strategy focused
on nutrition and making surethat more families have the
adequate food supply that theyneed in order to be healthy and
happy.
And because my portfolio isnational, I spend quite a bit of
(02:38):
time traveling to visit mygrantees and to connect with
them and to really ensure thatthey are feeling supported in
their work.
A buzzword that has come up inrecent years is this notion of
trust-based philanthropy, inwhich you are leading with trust
, and so I really try to embodythat in the work that I do and
(02:59):
really getting to know theindividuals that I'm working
with and ensuring that they aresuccessful.
In addition to that work, I alsoserve as an adjunct professor
at American University inWashington DC.
I teach in their College ofEducation, so it's virtual, and
that work is particularlyimportant to me, as I'm able to
really help educate the nextgeneration of individuals who
(03:22):
want to get involved in thepolicy space, and so lots of the
students that I've had sinceI've been there in 2021 have
been really K-12 teachers whowant to pursue, who are pursuing
their master's or doctorate andthen want to go on to work
within the policy space, and sothat, for me, is, given my
background working in DC,working in the policy space,
(03:45):
it's a really nice way to buildthat bridge right and to help
individuals think about how dothey want to maximize the work
that they're doing from theclassroom to a more systemic
level.
So something that I truly, trulyenjoy and really love giving
back and connecting withstudents in that specific way.
Lastly, I'll also say I alsohave my own consulting firm, so
(04:07):
AG Consulting and that body ofwork which I co-founded the
company with my advisor from mydoctoral work, and him and I
have really engaged in thiseffort in the past several years
to really provide an analysisof what does Latino leadership
look like at the national level.
And in particular, we focused onreally two groups recently, but
(04:29):
both of those groups havereally run kind of these large
scale either internship orfellowship programs for Latino
students and young professionals, and so we're trying to help
those groups further understandthe impact of the work that
they're having and reallylooking at what does the future
hold for Latino leadership, notonly now but in the years ahead.
(04:50):
That consulting work, that bodyof work, really started in my
dissertation work in which Iworked with my ed advisor and we
really launched a survey toreally understand what does
Latino leadership look like.
Survey to really understandwhat does Latino leadership look
like.
So we've really built off thatwork and have fortunately been
able to make it into a small butmighty business.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
See, and so that's great.
Right, it sounds like you'renot sleeping, but doing all the
things in the world.
One of the things that I reallyI connected with when I met you
was the fact that you are veryintentional about designing your
own life and your career andnot just doing one thing.
Right, Because we aremulti-layered individuals and we
have so many different passionsand gifts and skill sets that
(05:34):
we can put into the world, but alot of times we don't explore
them, for whatever reason.
So first just want todefinitely appreciate and
commend that.
Let's start with the consultingright.
So you're pursuing your PhD andat the time that you started
this PhD program, did you thinkyou were going to be a full-time
professor, or was the goal toalways launch your consulting
firm?
What was your thought processthere?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, so it's interesting.
So, you know, I got mydoctorate at the University of
Maryland and I was in a cohortof five other students and it's
interesting because we allapplied in our application
saying that we wanted to befaculty.
But after the first class weall went out for dinner and we
were all like nah, right.
(06:15):
So it's like a little hiddensecret, right, at least at where
I was, that that helps you kindof get in the door.
But I knew right away that afull-time faculty route was not
where I wanted to be.
I mentioned how I really have apassion for and love teaching.
It's something that I thinkI'll be an adjunct forever,
right, it fills this part of me.
And, to your point about that,we're complex individuals, we're
(06:39):
multifaceted, right, but Idon't think I could do that all
the time, right, I think themost that I've ever taught is is
kind of two semesters back toback, and that's because after a
while I personally get burnedout and need a break and need to
recharge, right.
So I knew that that was not inmy future.
And also, I think to be realright, where the financial piece
(07:00):
, right, like for me, I didn'tsee, uh, the return on
investment in terms of what?
For assistant professor, rightIn terms of those roles, it
didn't.
For me wasn't where I sawmyself and also lifestyle right.
At that point, when I was goingthrough, the information that
we received was you have to gowhere the jobs are right and you
know there's.
You know I grew up on the Eastcoast my entire life.
(07:22):
I'm in the Midwest now but,like there's some parts of the
country I don't want to liveright and that's real.
And so that also came into playin terms of what is the life
that I envision for myself.
So I knew from the beginningthat my path was not to teach
full-time as a faculty.
But I knew that why I waspursuing the degree.
(07:44):
I think first and foremost forme it was to be a better
advocate for the communitiesright For low income, for Latino
families, right.
Folks like that had the samebackground that I did first gen
right.
Like that to me was the purposeto be a better advocate, to be
a better researcher, to writebetter policies, right To
(08:04):
evaluate policies better, rightTo be in that researcher, to
write better policies, toevaluate policies better, to be
in that particular role.
I think secondary was tomonetize the degree.
So let's be real, seeing thatreturn, but seeing it in the way
that I wanted to.
So, for being a faculty member,the main things are teaching,
research and service right.
Those are the three things thatthey often talk about.
(08:25):
I still do those things right,but not under the guise of a
full-time faculty role.
So for me, knowing that I couldpursue these things separately
right and monetize my degree inthat way was the path forward.
So I had that vision very earlyon to be able to know that I
(08:46):
wanted to teach afterwards right.
So when I was going through mydoctoral journey, I got teaching
experience right and so I saidhere are things that I need to
do so that when I'm done I cansay I've taught graduate level
right.
And I had taught before mydoctoral program a bit, but I
taught a lot more right.
And I got to, you know, learnfrom faculty about teaching
(09:06):
practices right, knowing that Iwanted to do that afterwards and
that I could monetize it.
I got experience doing researchright, knowing that I wanted to
do this consulting firmafterwards right.
Knowing that I could bring inkey people like faculty, like
other students, right.
So having that vision veryearly on, knowing how I could
(09:27):
make the degree work for me andfor those that I cared about the
most in a non-traditional way.
Right, and not being afraid todo that right.
Not being afraid, like I wastold very early on from, you
know, in my journey, where itwas like this is the way that
you should do it, right.
You should be a researchassistant, right, making $25,000
(09:48):
a year right.
And you know, I had beenworking full-time for a couple
of years when I applied for mydoctoral degree and again I knew
that I wasn't going to be afull-time student again, that
that just was not going to work.
So I went to school full-timebut also had a full-time job,
right Again.
That's how it worked for me andI had that vision because
(10:09):
financially I just could not,right, and I wasn't going to go,
and at that point in my life,after having made money, I just
couldn't go back.
Right, but I wasn't afraid toput that vision forward.
And people said you know thatmay not work.
And I and people said you knowthat's that may not work.
(10:29):
And I said it may not work foryou, right, but I'm going to put
the path forward, right, it'sgoing to work for me, right, and
, and so that's what I would sayto those right who are
considering, I think, not only adoctoral degree.
But what does what does yourlife look like?
It doesn't have to look one wayRight, and as long as you have
that vision right and work hardright, you can craft whatever
life that you want right, inwhatever way it works for you
specifically.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
See, and I can appreciate that right Like as
someone that I have usually hada full-time job, then started
some consulting, then alsowanted to do some podcasting,
right Like, my mind works indifferent pieces, right, and I
try to do different things, andfor me, I've been fortunate
enough to be able to design mycareer in a way that I've always
wanted.
(11:09):
I'm wondering kind of where youfirst saw that approach, right,
like did you see folks that youcan look up to that had a
version of this type of life?
Or like where did you get thisfrom?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Yeah, and so you know , I think, a really
transformative experience for me.
You know I went toundergraduate.
I did my undergraduate inPennsylvania and grew up in the
Eastern part of Pennsylvania, inAllentown, but you know I, I I
then moved to Washington DCwhere I spent close to 15 years
(11:42):
and really the bulk of my careerup to now, and I moved there
through a fellowship with theCongressional Hispanic Caucus
Institute, chci, and so duringthat first year I met a mentor
to this day and I remember itwas one of the first events that
they had for the conferencewhich they have each year in
September.
And I remember meeting him.
(12:02):
He's an alum from the 80s and Iremember speaking with him and
he had gotten his doctorate fromColumbia, but he wasn't a
professor, he had been workingin philanthropy right At that
moment in time.
He had been an elected official, he had launched a.
You don't need to follow oneroute.
(12:25):
And when I met him and got toknow him, he reinforced that and
he shared you can do manythings right, life is long,
right.
You don't need to get a PhD andthen be a faculty member for 30
years and then retire, right,you don't have to do that.
So that's kind of the firstperson that I met that really
turned that light bulb on for me, and he said it depends on what
you want and how you craft it.
(12:46):
A second person is my doctoraladvisor.
We're close, right, we're veryclose now and close colleagues
and friends.
I learned more of his story, inwhich he wasn't always a
(13:09):
professor, right, he had beenworking in research prior to
that, right Within the higher edspace, and you know, he's he,
he, he is from a differentcountry, right, so coming to the
United States learning hisstory, and so for me, you know,
that was particularly tellingtoo right, that you can change
whatever career you have acrosstime, right, it doesn't have to
(13:33):
be linear, right, and life islong.
Right, it depends on what yourpassions are, right, and again,
where do you see yourself, right, and how do you line up your
passions with those kinds ofactivities and how are you
willing to work for them?
Right, in different ways, right, working hard and working those
long hours.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
See, and that's so important, right, like finding
people that you can take piecesof what it is they've done for
their careers and their livesand applying it to however it
works for you, right, likeyou're not necessarily going to
replicate every piece of it, butthere are aspects of it that
may very well align with whatyou want to do and the impact
that you want to have in theworld.
So, you know, definitelyappreciate being able to find
(14:10):
those people, and some of them,as you said, come in different
points in life, right?
Some are while you're, like,right out of undergrad figuring
things out.
Some are while you're about to,you know, become a doctoral
student, right?
So, like, they come atdifferent places but they all
play a role.
So it's just important for usto be able to find those people.
(14:33):
Is this the type of life youwould have designed in your mind
when you were younger?
Like, walk me through one kindof your upbringing, where were
you born, raised?
That type of work, and then,when you were like a teenager,
did you see yourself as aprofessor, as someone in
philanthropy, as any of thatGood?
Tell us.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Excellent question.
So I am Dominican.
You know family, both mom andbiological dad, are from DR,
from Santiago, but I was born inWashington Heights, so you know
, spent some time there as ababy and then also some time in
DR, but mostly brought up inPennsylvania.
And you know I I mentioned thatI'm a first generation student,
(15:08):
right.
So first in my family, to go tocollege, graduate school, and
you know I didn't.
College was never really reallyan option, right, I mean, it
wasn't something that wasdiscussed much right, growing up
, you know, until you know, Ihad this conversation with my
cousin and you know, for methere's these, there's these
moments in life that you lookback on and you're like that's a
(15:30):
moment that my life changed.
And one of those was when mycousin sat me down.
I was in fifth grade.
You know, fifth grade, you're aknucklehead, right, you're out,
you don't want to listen, youmay not want to do your homework
.
And I remember he sat me downand he told me you know, you
have an opportunity to changethe trajectory of the family,
(15:52):
right, and he met my immediatefamily.
You know I have an olderbrother and a younger sister.
And he said, you know, thinkabout your sister, right, and
think about how she's looking atyou as a role model and you
have a real chance to do thingsdifferently and to go to college
right and to want to be aprofessional.
That's the first time I canremember the mention of college,
(16:16):
right, but that wasn't a donedeal, right?
Middle school was a difficulttime.
Since I was young, I've kind ofhad a stutter right.
That I've dealt with, and so itstarted showing up quite a bit
then.
That led to some mental healthissues.
Back at that time In highschool, the high policy we were
consistently in correctiveaction, which meant there was
(16:49):
always this fear of, like, thestate coming in to take over the
school, right, so schools thatare not good.
And so for me, you know, usingthe arts during that time, using
theater and choir as an outlet,helped me to kind of think
about and position myself aswanting to go to college right.
And even in college, right, Iknow I was interested in
(17:12):
sociology, right, in socialissues, right.
How can we improve society as awhole?
Right, and so I pursuedsociology and it wasn't until I
had an experience at City Hallin the town where I went to
college, williamsport,Pennsylvania in which I started
to understand the importance ofpolicy and how policy could be a
(17:33):
tool to change society andchange the outcome of different
issues.
That then led me to DC for mypublic policy fellowship, and I
would be lying if I told you Isaw myself as a professor right,
ever right, or working inphilanthropy.
I didn't even know whatphilanthropy was until my time
(17:54):
in DC.
Right to be honest, and I thinkabout what would I tell me at
five years old, right, if I toldthem that you would be a
professor?
It would be crazy, like Ididn't even know what that meant
.
Right, Absolutely.
(18:14):
And that, to me, was somebodyelse right.
That wasn't someone that lookedlike me or that had like my
background in terms of income ormy stutter, or was Dominican
right.
So I think, over time, it'sreally the people that I've met
that allowed me to see myself inthese roles and that giving me
the confidence to pursue thoseroles right, whether it is
(18:38):
getting involved in high schooland seeing people you know years
ahead of me that were doingthese things, whether it's
getting involved in college orCHCI or all these other roles.
Right, how I saw myself as adoctoral student was another
doctoral student right, who toldme I had that potential right
and said they saw me as someonewho could get a PhD right, who
(19:01):
was committed right, who wouldbe able to achieve those things.
That was something that was outof the realm of possibility.
And so I think you know acommon notion right that I think
or a phrase is if you see it,then you believe it right and if
people see it in you right, ithelps reinforce those things
right and the things that wedon't see within ourselves that
others see helps reinforce that.
(19:23):
That's been at several stagesof my life, critical junctures
that I've had those peoplewithout I wouldn't be here right
that have seen something in methat has allowed me to push
forward.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
No, you're absolutely right.
Right, like it takes both usseeing people that are doing the
work and having people seesomething in us that just sparks
us at different points.
Right, so you'll have peoplethat, like I was actually just
speaking about this recentlylike my fourth grade teacher
gave me so much confidence,right, just by telling me that I
was really good at formingarguments and like a way that
(19:57):
was positive, right, like she'slike, wow, you could really like
tell a story and argument andlike argue about anything in a
positive, like you could be alawyer or something, right, and
I'm like right, but I'm likenine and I at that time, that
was my first class in English.
Right, like I was a Dominicanimmigrant, so that was my first
time in an English class.
And this person's telling me,not only do I speak the language
, well, I'm able to formulatereal, articulate thoughts and
(20:19):
you should consider being alawyer.
And I was like what, that's athing that I could do?
Right, but like there's so muchvalue in that and people seeing
so much greatness in us beforewe're able to see it.
So, you know, I think this isnow the second time that you
mentioned CHCI, so we'd love foryou to both articulate kind of
what is CHCI and at what pointcan people get involved in it
(20:40):
right, and the way that you wereinvolved.
And then two you're also reallygood at finding professional
development continuously anddifferent fellowships and things
that continue to expand yournetwork and presence in the
field.
So we'd love for you to talkabout both CHCI but then also
just generally why do you dothese fellowships, what are you
getting out of them, andhighlight any that you think are
(21:02):
appropriate.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, thank you, thank you.
So I think fellowships, I think, are I see them as critical,
(21:29):
no-transcript You're continuingto build your network through
these experiences, right, someof the best relationships, right
, are built across time.
Right, so you have a jointexperience, whether that is a
week or several months together,and then that then carries on
(21:51):
across time and you're able tocollaborate with individuals in
different ways.
So to me, the time investedthere is invaluable, right.
I've been able to call on myfellows for personal reasons,
for professional right and inmany different ways.
Right, so you're building yournetwork and meeting people in
(22:11):
different ways.
Right, there's a lot ofresearch that talks about as we
get older and as we age, it'sharder to meet people, it's
harder to make friends, right,because we become isolated right
Once we leave these spaces,right, in particular school.
So fellowships are a way tocontinue meeting people, to
continue your development indifferent ways.
So I'm a strong proponent.
(22:32):
I think for me, theCongressional Hispanic Caucus
Institute, chci life-changing,transformative.
I went to a predominantly whiteundergraduate institution,
small, private, liberal artsLycoming College.
It was a great education, butup to that time I hadn't seen
other Latinos who were pursuingtheir degrees right, or who were
focused on leadership orinvolved in student senate or
(22:55):
doing all these different things, much less Latinos, who were
older than me, who had donethose things right, who had done
, who had gotten degrees indifferent ways.
Right, that just wasn'tprevalent and close to me where
I was, chgi changed that.
It is a program that bringshigh school students or
(23:15):
undergraduate students or, in mycase, college grads, to DC to
learn about policy, policy,right, how does policy work, how
does it not work?
Right, and how do things getdone or not get done in
Washington DC?
Right, the epicenter ofpolitics.
And so for me, I didn't majorin political science, right, I
(23:38):
mentioned, I majored insociology, but I got to learn
about how policy gets done andwhat are the inner workings of
political science, right.
And so that for me was on thelearning component, right, which
I mentioned before.
I learned all about that.
But I also developed theselifelong friendships to this
very day right.
People that I'm closest toright in my life came from that
(24:01):
experience, whether when I was afellow or when I was on the
alumni board.
Right, those experiences, thatnetwork that has really
transformed me and supported mein so many different ways
through CHCI, so that I thinkfor any Latino students right
who might be listening to this,who are in college right now,
that would be one that I wouldrecommend highly, highly, right.
(24:23):
You can come to DC.
You spend nine months, rightFrom August till May, working on
the hill or a government agency.
You get seminars on what itmeans to be a Latino leader and
you get to learn right and youget to explore all these
different things.
Additionally, through myexperience with CHCI, I learned
about other fellowships rightFor professionals.
(24:44):
You know, I think it's between30 and 45.
The US-Spain Council is aweek-long experience in which
professionals go to Spain andlearn about the intricacies of
policy within Spain.
Who are the key players, whatare the key sectors?
So you're talking philanthropy,government, business.
(25:05):
Those experiences strengthenyour understanding, right?
So while there are domesticfellowships, like CHCI, which
give you that understanding ofwhat's going on, there's also
these international fellowshipsthat provide you an opportunity
to go out and learn about workin other countries, right?
What's happening and what doesthat mean for the United States?
Like other countries, do thisdifferently.
Huh, wow.
(25:26):
So now I can compare, now Iknow about the United States,
now I can compare what happensnationally or internationally
with different countries.
Great opportunity for folks whoare even curious about
philanthropy, want to know aboutphilanthropy.
It is a great way to makeconnections.
(25:51):
So I did their fellowship backmany years ago, before I was
even in philanthropy.
But I just wanted to know whatis this all about Like?
What is philanthropy Likereally Right?
So that, I think, is a greatway for folks who are either
working in the philanthropicspace or are interested Right
Again.
Expanding your horizons,learning, making connections
(26:15):
that's what it's all about.
That's how we continue toimprove as individuals, but
that's how really we continue toimprove as a community.
If you're moving forward, thenyou're helping to lift up others
too.
Moving forward, then you'rehelping to lift up others too.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right.
You know fellowships absolutelymatter.
It is really important for usto continue to professionally
develop, to build our network,to understand how our industries
are moving and growing andshare best practices and worst
practices, both nationally andinternationally.
Right, like you mentioned, theLideres cohort for Hispanics in
philanthropy like that was areally transformative experience
(26:47):
.
And then now I'm able to meetother people in philanthropy
that look like me, right.
So like that to me was veryvaluable, especially when it was
at a time when I was newer tophilanthropy, and meet others
that are also on the grounddoing the work, right, so it's
just a good kind of mix of folksthey bring together.
I've also done like theInternational Career Advancement
(27:07):
Program, icap.
It's a really great cohort ofpeople that are really in
looking at ways to betterdifferent communities throughout
the world.
Basically, we look at things interms of what is now.
You know some bad words whenyou think about, you know,
diversity, equity, inclusion,but like people that are really
(27:27):
thinking about how to makecommunities better for all.
That program specifically has,you know, a good number of
federal government folks, somepeople in philanthropy and
others.
You know you get to spend sometime in Aspen, colorado, and you
get to make friends that aregoing to last forever, right.
So you know it's a greatopportunity and colleagues are
like you can now look out foreach other and support each
(27:49):
other.
So, yeah, definitely echoeverything you just said about
fellowships and their importance.
You know, I think we'd love tohear a little bit about.
You mentioned, you know, goingfor your doctoral degree.
You mentioned some of your workin your undergrad Wondering at
what point did you decide to goget a master's and subsequently,
at what point did you figureyou know what a PhD is going to
(28:12):
be the route?
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yep, that's a great question.
So you know I had applied formy master's degree when I was in
undergrad.
So I applied to CHCI, I appliedfor my master's at several
universities and then I alsoapplied for TFA right, and I had
gotten into all of thesedifferent routes right.
So I was tremendously blessedwhen I was deciding between the
(28:34):
degree and CHCI.
You know I had a fully fundeddegree opportunity for my
master's and I remember my mombeing like, you know, it's free,
right With this piece aroundfinances, right, and as a
first-generation student, right.
Or I went to my undergradlargely because of the quality
of the education but thefinancial package that they
(28:56):
provided, and for many Latinosit's like wait free or it's like
go where it makes the mostsense financially, right.
And so that was a tough choice,right, to kind of turn down
that degree that was for freeand pursue that route in CTI.
It took some time for my momand family to understand, but I
knew that that was the longerterm investment, that I knew
(29:16):
that it would change my life inways I couldn't quantify, and it
did.
And so I knew that I was goingto pursue a master's when I
started the fellowship.
That was clear and I actuallydeferred admission for my
master's program to do thefellowship.
And then, after being in thefellowship, I said I wasn't
going to go there, that I wasgoing to stay and work an extra
year, which was great.
So I took two years in betweenmy bachelor's and master's and
(29:41):
at that time I had been exposedto all these different issues.
Right, college access wassomething near and dear to my
heart, and so I did.
While doing my fellowship andsome other work at different
nonprofits in the DC area,learned about the importance of
college access and I was likehere's where I want to focus.
And then so I started theapplication process.
I had many options, right, andI got into several programs.
(30:06):
I got into some Ivy Leagueprograms and then I got into the
University of Maryland, collegePark, which at that point was
top 10.
And my advisor, and now dearfriend, was a giant Right, and
so he was someone I just wantedto work with in many different
ways.
But I think a lesson here isI'd gotten into the Ivy League
(30:27):
institutions and there was acertain price for each of them.
Right, maryland at the time wastuition free.
Right, they were givingassistantships where you worked
on campus, got that experience,and then that also, that paid
your tuition and I felt liketheir program was a bit more
rigorous.
But ultimately I came down tothe choice of do I pursue this
(30:50):
Ivy League opportunity?
And I think, as a Latino firstgen, you're like, oh, if I can
get an Ivy League degree, that'sa game changer, right, but what
does that mean for my debt,right?
What does that mean for thefuture, for my ability to do
things like buy a house right,or buy cars or do these
different things, versus goingto Maryland, right, which I
thought was more rigorous.
(31:11):
So that, to me, was a.
I talked about these moments,right, that you remember and
that you're like which way do Igo?
How is this going to change?
That was a moment in time.
Right, I stayed in the DC area.
Right, I went to the Universityof Maryland College Park.
Stayed in the DC area.
Right, I went to the Universityof Maryland College Park.
A great degree, great education.
Got to get close to who is nowa dear colleague and friend.
(31:32):
Right, got to build my, build acommunity right there.
And when I was pursuing mydoctorate right, my doctoral
degree, I believe I was able itwas easier to be accepted at
Maryland because I was amaster's student, right, and the
faculty remembered me and thatfacilitated me being able to
work full-time right and gopart-time.
(31:54):
I feel that if I was not knownfor my master's degree, I don't
think that that would have beenthe case, right.
I don't know if I would havebeen accepted there.
I don't know if, when accepted,they would have allowed me to
work full time Right, and so Ithink it was very intentional
Right.
And you know, I think peopleask me, you know, when I tell
(32:16):
them this part of my journey, doyou regret not going to these
Ivy League institutions?
And I say no, right, I thinkyou get to where you're going to
be.
Case in point, a couple of Imentioned my cohort of doctoral
students that we went intogether.
A couple of them were at theIvy League institutions right,
(32:36):
as master's students that Imentioned before, and we all
ended up in the same doctoralprogram, right.
So that, to me, was even morevalidation of me making the
right journey and me making thatright choice about getting to
where I needed to be and whatthe future held in that
particular way.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
I think that's you know, right on point.
Like, we have these decisionmoments and for you to weigh out
, like, what does it mean for meto go to an Ivy League
institution as a first-genstudent, right?
Does that outweigh what youmentioned earlier in the episode
about thinking about changingthe lineage of your family and
the finances of your family,right?
Like, do you want to do thatwhile being in more debt, or
(33:15):
would this degree put you in abetter position to actually
accelerate that goal?
So it's just remarkable thatyou were able to make that
decision in that moment, becausethat can be a really tough one
to overcome and, as you said, itled you to a program with
people from all backgrounds thatcame from Ivy League
institutions, that came fromdifferent spaces, but, you know,
you ultimately end up with avery similar, robust education.
(33:37):
So that's great.
You wear many different hats,right.
But part of the show here istrying to have some salary
transparency and what people canactually expect to make in
different fields at differentpoints in their careers.
We'd love to hear, kind of,what would that look like and I
know for you that's amulti-layered answer because you
don't have one source of incomebut, like, what could that look
(33:58):
like?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:59):
you know I think it varies, right.
So first I'll talk about withinthe philanthropy space.
You know there's many different, I think, versions of
philanthropy set up.
Right, you have like a smallfamily foundation, you have
corporate, you have, you know,different regional foundations.
You have large scale, right.
All of those have differentbands and different structures.
(34:20):
And so you know, I think, when,when typically the smaller and
more localized ones have a lowersalary band, right, so we're
talking, I think you know,$100,000 and less right, I think
, is where those are at.
The bigger ones right are themore prestigious family
foundations.
You're talking kind of a highersalary range, so like between
$150,000, $150,000 and $200,000,right, so, depending on where
(34:45):
you are and your seniority inthat field, so that's, I think,
something to consider when folksare looking at it.
You know, I think for me for thelongest time again, first-gen
low-income, it was like if I canjust make six figures, then I
am good, right.
And then when you get thereyou're like, ok, if I can just
(35:07):
make whatever it is the nextlevel, right.
So you're always driving formore Right.
And so I think, yeah, so Ithink philanthropy for folks who
are interested in kind ofhigher salaries, I think it's
great.
I think if we compare to likepolicy from the space in DC that
I was, I think there is achange to like policy from the
(35:28):
space in DC than I was.
I think there is a change rightand it allows for kind of more
compensation, I think, in thatregard.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
I mentioned, I love teaching.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
I love being an adjunct professor.
Well, I would not do that as myfull-time, right, and I you
know folks who are serving inadjuncts in different places.
That's a tough gig.
Adjuncts typically get paid byclass, right, so it's not
typically hourly, it's by here'sthe lump sum for the class, for
the semester, right?
So you're talking aboutpreparing for class.
(35:55):
You're talking about teaching,you're talking about grading,
you're talking about meetingwith students, right.
Sometimes you're talking aboutengaging in faculty
conversations around certainissues, right.
So that, I think, is adifferent structure, right?
I've taught at a number ofdifferent institutions and I
think you know the range I'veseen has been like a couple
thousand, like three 4,000, upto like 12,000, right Per class,
(36:18):
right.
So, again, you're thinkingabout that being your full-time
gig and you're teaching across anumber of institutions.
That could be difficult, right,and you're teaching across a
number of institutions thatcould be difficult, right,
because you're not sure of likewhat, how much, when you add
that all together.
Now, if you have a full-timejob and you're doing this as
like a passion, but alsoadditional income, not bad right
(36:38):
, like, if you're not solelyliving off that, if you're
perhaps saving that or puttingit towards something right, it's
a nice additional chuck ofchange, right, but even then you
really got to love doing itright, because if you sit down
and do the math for the hoursyou're like, wait a minute.
You know that's tough.
The consultant is a littledifferent, right, and I think
for folks there's a couple ofroutes, right.
(36:59):
I think there's folks you know,like myself, who do it on the
side and have all thesedifferent pieces right, and
there's folks who do it as thefull time right, and the
difference is there is you canset different kinds of rates,
right, that are hourly, right,for your time, right, you can
really hone in andprofessionalize the aspects of
(37:20):
what that looks like anddepending on what that rate is,
I've seen, you know, $100 to$200 an hour, right, depending
on what the work is that you'redoing.
So that I think if you sit andkind of add those things up,
right, you could make a goodchunk of change.
In those cases you'll have tothink about things like
healthcare, things likeretirement, right, since there's
no employer, you have to thinklike taxes, right.
(37:43):
What does that mean?
Calculating all of that that'snow on you versus the employer,
right?
So that I think is and there'sa financial component that comes
along with that.
The thing I like about it havinga full-time doing it on the
side I'm able to that'sadditional income that I'm
bringing in right that I'm ableto not solely rely on right but
(38:03):
to use in different ways, and sothat I think is great.
And the way that I've done itis it's typically per project
right, so I'll kind of lay outthe scope and say here's what's
going to be done and then attacha dollar amount to that.
I think if I would expand thatI would make it hourly right,
because that's the next step.
I haven't done that right, andI think for both the teaching
(38:25):
and the consulting that would bekind of where you take it to
the next level.
But because I have my nine tofive, I haven't had the need to
do that.
But if I would, that's how Iwould do things a bit
differently.
One thing I'll say here as wellthat my mentor told me back when
I was in the fellowship.
It said you need to havemultiple streams of income.
(38:46):
I was like what do you mean?
He's like you need to be ableto make money in many different
ways and you need to monetizeaspects of your skills and that,
I think, is how I've appliedthis Right.
I mentioned teaching, researchand service.
The teaching monetize.
The research is monetized Right.
The service I love to do Rightand giving back by serving on
(39:09):
boards and, you know, havingconversations.
But I found that the way tohave multiple streams right.
I think none of those I wouldwant to stand alone, I don't
want them combined, but it'sstill.
I'm being able to be monetizedfor aspects of my work and
aspects of my skills that Ithink about.
Yes, like this is how I saw,you know and this is how I'm
(39:30):
living that right.
And when I talk to folks, I sayyou got to have multiple
streams of income right, and yougot to figure out, within your
bandwidth, within your skills,how do you monetize different
aspects of that in order tobuild that?
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Yeah, no, I think that's exactly right, man.
You know that's how I'veapproached life Different
pillars, different things,different interests.
You find ways to sometimesconnect them.
Sometimes they're justcompletely different, and that's
fine too, but you I love thephrase monetize your skill sets
in different ways.
That's great.
Are there any forms of mediathis could be books, podcasts,
subscriptions, anything thathave shaped you personally or
(40:06):
professionally that the worldshould check out?
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, you know, I think I'll offer a couple of
things more on the personal side, right, I we've been talking a
lot about the professional but,like, unless you're you're
personal, you're you're at Zen,it's hard, it's hard to want to
monetize, it's hard to to grindon these different ways, right?
So I mentioned a couple ofthings.
One you know, I've gotten intomeditation, so I think the calm
app right, calm, that's what Iuse in particular is a great way
(40:32):
to start the day off.
I'm a morning person, so it's agreat way for me to start the
day centered, right, and to beable to go through the day and
through breathing exercises andto feel solid and sound, right,
I mean, without that, it's hardto show up and do everything
else that you need to do.
In addition to that, I think,in multiple spaces I've been in,
(40:54):
I mentioned a predominantlywhite institution my fellowship
in CHCI graduate school.
I think you feel like impostersyndrome and you're like I don't
think I'm supposed to be here.
Is it me?
There is a number of podcaststhat focus on to break down
imposter syndrome, right, andwhat does that look like and how
(41:15):
are you supporting yourself andhow are you showing up in
different ways, right.
So I've listened to several,but really any podcast that
focuses on imposter syndrome Iwould kind of go to for folks to
kind of listen to, especiallyas you're navigating these
different spaces and you'retrying to move forward and live
(41:36):
your life in a positive way.
Two more things that I wouldoffer.
I recently read a book.
It's called no More Mr Nice Guy.
Right, I think, for me, on thepersonal side, right, I consider
myself a nice person, welcoming, friendly, but I think, across
time, I think, certainly in theprofessional, I've had to
sharpen my elbows, right.
So what does that mean?
Right, when you're advancing inyour career and you're trying
(41:59):
to carve out and visualize anddesign the life that you want,
sometimes you got to have thosedifficult conversations, right.
So what does that mean?
What does that look like?
And then I think, lastly, andthis is kind of more of a recent
trend, when you're, when youhave those conversations and
people don't get it, you got tolet them right.
So I think Mel Robbins, right,talks a lot about this, and so
(42:22):
Mel Robbins and the Let themTheory, right, she's written a
book, she's done a podcast,really tremendous resource to
help when, when, when for you tostay grounded and if folks are
not where you are, you got tokeep moving forward, right, like
you've got to let them be whothey're going to be and you've
got to keep being you.
One more thing sorry, that justcame to mind.
(42:43):
Another podcast that I really,really enjoy is Pivot right, and
and and it's by a couple offormer NFL players, right, that
that basically bring somebody oneach week and talk about a
point in their life when theyhad to pivot and make a change,
and we all have to do that againand again and again.
And what they learn from thatchange, right, because as much
(43:07):
as I have seen my life in thesedifferent ways, a lot of things
have come my way that I didn'texpect, right.
And now, what do you do whenyou need to change and you have
to pivot, and what do you learnfrom that?
That, I think, is somethingthat we could all use as we
pursue this journey and want todesign this life that we want to
design and want to be theperson that we want to be, I
(43:28):
think, both professionally butalso personally.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
That's great.
No More, mr Nice Guy.
That was a great book.
I read that actually.
Actually it was recommended tome a while ago and it was a
really informative,transformative book for the
personality that I inherentlyhave.
But just to be mindful aboutwhat does that mean, how does
that come across, how to usethat to your advantage and how
to just be mindful of some ofthat.
(43:51):
So that's great.
Thank you for that.
Just across the spectrum of allthe things you do, we'd love to
just hear kind of, what are youmost proud of in terms of the
work that you're doing and theimpact that you're having?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yeah.
So I think for me I mentionedthe importance of people I've
had in my life and when I seepeople that I've been able to
have a conversation with aconversation like the one that
we've had today, and just share,you know, parts of my journey,
and they're then able to then goon right and do amazing and
incredible things, that, I think, is what I'm most proud of.
(44:20):
Right, that, from being peoplein my family to interns and
fellows that have done CHCI, topeople through graduate school,
that to me, is the mostimpactful thing, because to me
is what it's all about.
Right.
Going back to you know why Iwanted to pursue the work I've
done and my degree.
It's like about the people andthe issues that I care about
right, and making sure that theyare uplifted and successful
(44:43):
right.
So, at the end of the day, thefellowships and the
accomplishments are cool, Iguess, right, but it's not
really about that.
It's about the people and howyou're building a community and
lifting up others, right.
So that, to me, is the mostimportant thing and I think what
I'm most proud of and again,that's when students graduate
and get their degree and right,or when people get that job or
(45:05):
get that fellowship and you'relike I'm proud of you right.
That, to me, is the mostimportant thing and that's the
true impact of the work thatyou're doing and the legacy that
one has.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
That's awesome.
Is there anything else wehaven't discussed that the world
should know about?
Dr Guzman?
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, I think I mentioned this, but I think
really being able to sit downand visualize, I think,
personally and professionally,where you see yourself right,
and not letting other peopletell you this is who you're
going to be right or this is howyou're going to do it I gave
the example of my doctorate,where it's like, traditionally,
here's how it's done, and I waslike, well, that's cool, but I'm
(45:42):
not going to do it that way andI'm still going to finish right
.
So having that drive, thatconfidence right, that the way
that you're doing it is the waythat works for you it may not
work for them, but it works foryou right that is something that
I would impart on those who'velistened to this.
And, yeah, and really take theleap right.
I think I mentioned impostersyndrome and sometimes that
(46:04):
holds its back.
But I mean, why not you right?
Why not you for that job?
Why not you for a professor?
Why not you for consulting?
Right?
That I think is.
And if you need someone to backyou up, you let me know and we
can sit down and chat about it.
But why not you?
Speaker 3 (46:21):
I love that.
That's what career cheat codeis about doing the thing.
Why not you?
Let's get to it, people.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you did and believe on themission we're on, please like,
rate and subscribe to thispodcast on whatever platform
you're using, and share thispodcast with your friends and
your networks.
Make sure you follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn at Career
Cheat Code and tell us peopleor careers you would like to see
highlighted.
See you next week with somemore cheat codes.
Peace.
People ask me you know when I tell them this part
of my journey do you regret notgoing to these Ivy League
institutions?
And I say, no, right, I thinkyou get to where you're going to
be.
Case in point, a couple of Imentioned my cohort of doctoral
students that we went intogether.
A couple of them were at theIvy League institutions right as
(00:22):
master's students that Imentioned before, and we all
ended up in the same doctoralprogram, right.
So that to me, was even morevalidation of me making the
right journey and me making thatright choice about getting to
where I needed to be and whatthe future held in that
particular way.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome to Career Cheat Code.
In this podcast, you'll hearhow everyday people impact the
world through their careers.
Learn about their journey,career hacks and obstacles along
the way.
Whether you're already havingthe impact you want or are
searching for it, this is thepodcast for you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
All right, dr Guzman.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I appreciate you taking the time to join the
Career Cheat Code podcast.
Let's dive right in.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Let's tell the world what it is you do for a living.
So I do a couple things.
So first, you know, in my dayjob, I'm a program officer with
the Pritzker Children'sInitiative.
We are a program of thePritzker Family Foundation based
in Chicago, and our workcenters on the earliest years,
so we focus on prenatal to threeand we help provide resources
and supports for NGOs and alsostate governments to help
improve services for infants,toddlers and also their families
(01:34):
.
At the foundation, I'm aprogram officer and so what that
means is I help managedifferent relationships with our
grantees, and that meanswriting recommendations for
funding.
That means finding new groupsto fund.
That means monitoring theirreporting.
That also means internallyfocusing on measuring their
success.
(01:54):
And what does that look like?
How are we ensuring that thework that they're doing is
aligned with our strategic planbut also creating the impact
that we hope to see in statesand also nationally?
In addition to that, I'mresponsible for a couple of
additional pieces.
Here at the foundation, I'm ourlead for measurement.
So I spent a lot of timethinking about not only my
(02:16):
grantees but everyone's on theteam, and how are those tracking
towards our larger goals?
I'm also have started uprecently, a new strategy focused
on nutrition and making surethat more families have the
adequate food supply that theyneed in order to be healthy and
happy.
And because my portfolio isnational, I spend quite a bit of
(02:38):
time traveling to visit mygrantees and to connect with
them and to really ensure thatthey are feeling supported in
their work.
A buzzword that has come up inrecent years is this notion of
trust-based philanthropy, inwhich you are leading with trust
, and so I really try to embodythat in the work that I do and
(02:59):
really getting to know theindividuals that I'm working
with and ensuring that they aresuccessful.
In addition to that work, I alsoserve as an adjunct professor
at American University inWashington DC.
I teach in their College ofEducation, so it's virtual, and
that work is particularlyimportant to me, as I'm able to
really help educate the nextgeneration of individuals who
(03:22):
want to get involved in thepolicy space, and so lots of the
students that I've had sinceI've been there in 2021 have
been really K-12 teachers whowant to pursue, who are pursuing
their master's or doctorate andthen want to go on to work
within the policy space, and sothat, for me, is, given my
background working in DC,working in the policy space,
(03:45):
it's a really nice way to buildthat bridge right and to help
individuals think about how dothey want to maximize the work
that they're doing from theclassroom to a more systemic
level.
So something that I truly, trulyenjoy and really love giving
back and connecting withstudents in that specific way.
Lastly, I'll also say I alsohave my own consulting firm, so
(04:07):
AG Consulting and that body ofwork which I co-founded the
company with my advisor from mydoctoral work, and him and I
have really engaged in thiseffort in the past several years
to really provide an analysisof what does Latino leadership
look like at the national level.
And in particular, we focused onreally two groups recently, but
(04:29):
both of those groups havereally run kind of these large
scale either internship orfellowship programs for Latino
students and young professionals, and so we're trying to help
those groups further understandthe impact of the work that
they're having and reallylooking at what does the future
hold for Latino leadership, notonly now but in the years ahead.
(04:50):
That consulting work, that bodyof work, really started in my
dissertation work in which Iworked with my ed advisor and we
really launched a survey toreally understand what does
Latino leadership look like.
Survey to really understandwhat does Latino leadership look
like.
So we've really built off thatwork and have fortunately been
able to make it into a small butmighty business.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
See, and so that's great.
Right, it sounds like you'renot sleeping, but doing all the
things in the world.
One of the things that I reallyI connected with when I met you
was the fact that you are veryintentional about designing your
own life and your career andnot just doing one thing.
Right, Because we aremulti-layered individuals and we
have so many different passionsand gifts and skill sets that
(05:34):
we can put into the world, but alot of times we don't explore
them, for whatever reason.
So first just want todefinitely appreciate and
commend that.
Let's start with the consultingright.
So you're pursuing your PhD andat the time that you started
this PhD program, did you thinkyou were going to be a full-time
professor, or was the goal toalways launch your consulting
firm?
What was your thought processthere?
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, so it's interesting.
So, you know, I got mydoctorate at the University of
Maryland and I was in a cohortof five other students and it's
interesting because we allapplied in our application
saying that we wanted to befaculty.
But after the first class weall went out for dinner and we
were all like nah, right.
(06:15):
So it's like a little hiddensecret, right, at least at where
I was, that that helps you kindof get in the door.
But I knew right away that afull-time faculty route was not
where I wanted to be.
I mentioned how I really have apassion for and love teaching.
It's something that I thinkI'll be an adjunct forever,
right, it fills this part of me.
And, to your point about that,we're complex individuals, we're
(06:39):
multifaceted, right, but Idon't think I could do that all
the time, right, I think themost that I've ever taught is is
kind of two semesters back toback, and that's because after a
while I personally get burnedout and need a break and need to
recharge, right.
So I knew that that was not inmy future.
And also, I think to be realright, where the financial piece
(07:00):
, right, like for me, I didn'tsee, uh, the return on
investment in terms of what?
For assistant professor, rightIn terms of those roles, it
didn't.
For me wasn't where I sawmyself and also lifestyle right.
At that point, when I was goingthrough, the information that
we received was you have to gowhere the jobs are right and you
know there's.
You know I grew up on the Eastcoast my entire life.
(07:22):
I'm in the Midwest now but,like there's some parts of the
country I don't want to liveright and that's real.
And so that also came into playin terms of what is the life
that I envision for myself.
So I knew from the beginningthat my path was not to teach
full-time as a faculty.
But I knew that why I waspursuing the degree.
(07:44):
I think first and foremost forme it was to be a better
advocate for the communitiesright For low income, for Latino
families, right.
Folks like that had the samebackground that I did first gen
right.
Like that to me was the purposeto be a better advocate, to be
a better researcher, to writebetter policies, right To
(08:04):
evaluate policies better, rightTo be in that researcher, to
write better policies, toevaluate policies better, to be
in that particular role.
I think secondary was tomonetize the degree.
So let's be real, seeing thatreturn, but seeing it in the way
that I wanted to.
So, for being a faculty member,the main things are teaching,
research and service right.
Those are the three things thatthey often talk about.
(08:25):
I still do those things right,but not under the guise of a
full-time faculty role.
So for me, knowing that I couldpursue these things separately
right and monetize my degree inthat way was the path forward.
So I had that vision very earlyon to be able to know that I
(08:46):
wanted to teach afterwards right.
So when I was going through mydoctoral journey, I got teaching
experience right and so I saidhere are things that I need to
do so that when I'm done I cansay I've taught graduate level
right.
And I had taught before mydoctoral program a bit, but I
taught a lot more right.
And I got to, you know, learnfrom faculty about teaching
(09:06):
practices right, knowing that Iwanted to do that afterwards and
that I could monetize it.
I got experience doing researchright, knowing that I wanted to
do this consulting firmafterwards right.
Knowing that I could bring inkey people like faculty, like
other students, right.
So having that vision veryearly on, knowing how I could
(09:27):
make the degree work for me andfor those that I cared about the
most in a non-traditional way.
Right, and not being afraid todo that right.
Not being afraid, like I wastold very early on from, you
know, in my journey, where itwas like this is the way that
you should do it, right.
You should be a researchassistant, right, making $25,000
(09:48):
a year right.
And you know, I had beenworking full-time for a couple
of years when I applied for mydoctoral degree and again I knew
that I wasn't going to be afull-time student again, that
that just was not going to work.
So I went to school full-timebut also had a full-time job,
right Again.
That's how it worked for me andI had that vision because
(10:09):
financially I just could not,right, and I wasn't going to go,
and at that point in my life,after having made money, I just
couldn't go back.
Right, but I wasn't afraid toput that vision forward.
And people said you know thatmay not work.
And I and people said you knowthat's that may not work.
(10:29):
And I said it may not work foryou, right, but I'm going to put
the path forward, right, it'sgoing to work for me, right, and
, and so that's what I would sayto those right who are
considering, I think, not only adoctoral degree.
But what does what does yourlife look like?
It doesn't have to look one wayRight, and as long as you have
that vision right and work hardright, you can craft whatever
life that you want right, inwhatever way it works for you
specifically.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
See, and I can appreciate that right Like as
someone that I have usually hada full-time job, then started
some consulting, then alsowanted to do some podcasting,
right Like, my mind works indifferent pieces, right, and I
try to do different things, andfor me, I've been fortunate
enough to be able to design mycareer in a way that I've always
wanted.
(11:09):
I'm wondering kind of where youfirst saw that approach, right,
like did you see folks that youcan look up to that had a
version of this type of life?
Or like where did you get thisfrom?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Yeah, and so you know , I think, a really
transformative experience for me.
You know I went toundergraduate.
I did my undergraduate inPennsylvania and grew up in the
Eastern part of Pennsylvania, inAllentown, but you know I, I I
then moved to Washington DCwhere I spent close to 15 years
(11:42):
and really the bulk of my careerup to now, and I moved there
through a fellowship with theCongressional Hispanic Caucus
Institute, chci, and so duringthat first year I met a mentor
to this day and I remember itwas one of the first events that
they had for the conferencewhich they have each year in
September.
And I remember meeting him.
(12:02):
He's an alum from the 80s and Iremember speaking with him and
he had gotten his doctorate fromColumbia, but he wasn't a
professor, he had been workingin philanthropy right At that
moment in time.
He had been an elected official, he had launched a.
You don't need to follow oneroute.
(12:25):
And when I met him and got toknow him, he reinforced that and
he shared you can do manythings right, life is long,
right.
You don't need to get a PhD andthen be a faculty member for 30
years and then retire, right,you don't have to do that.
So that's kind of the firstperson that I met that really
turned that light bulb on for me, and he said it depends on what
you want and how you craft it.
(12:46):
A second person is my doctoraladvisor.
We're close, right, we're veryclose now and close colleagues
and friends.
I learned more of his story, inwhich he wasn't always a
(13:09):
professor, right, he had beenworking in research prior to
that, right Within the higher edspace, and you know, he's he,
he, he is from a differentcountry, right, so coming to the
United States learning hisstory, and so for me, you know,
that was particularly tellingtoo right, that you can change
whatever career you have acrosstime, right, it doesn't have to
(13:33):
be linear, right, and life islong.
Right, it depends on what yourpassions are, right, and again,
where do you see yourself, right, and how do you line up your
passions with those kinds ofactivities and how are you
willing to work for them?
Right, in different ways, right, working hard and working those
long hours.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
See, and that's so important, right, like finding
people that you can take piecesof what it is they've done for
their careers and their livesand applying it to however it
works for you, right, likeyou're not necessarily going to
replicate every piece of it, butthere are aspects of it that
may very well align with whatyou want to do and the impact
that you want to have in theworld.
So, you know, definitelyappreciate being able to find
(14:10):
those people, and some of them,as you said, come in different
points in life, right?
Some are while you're, like,right out of undergrad figuring
things out.
Some are while you're about to,you know, become a doctoral
student, right?
So, like, they come atdifferent places but they all
play a role.
So it's just important for usto be able to find those people.
(14:33):
Is this the type of life youwould have designed in your mind
when you were younger?
Like, walk me through one kindof your upbringing, where were
you born, raised?
That type of work, and then,when you were like a teenager,
did you see yourself as aprofessor, as someone in
philanthropy, as any of thatGood?
Tell us.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Excellent question.
So I am Dominican.
You know family, both mom andbiological dad, are from DR,
from Santiago, but I was born inWashington Heights, so you know
, spent some time there as ababy and then also some time in
DR, but mostly brought up inPennsylvania.
And you know I I mentioned thatI'm a first generation student,
(15:08):
right.
So first in my family, to go tocollege, graduate school, and
you know I didn't.
College was never really reallyan option, right, I mean, it
wasn't something that wasdiscussed much right, growing up
, you know, until you know, Ihad this conversation with my
cousin and you know, for methere's these, there's these
moments in life that you lookback on and you're like that's a
(15:30):
moment that my life changed.
And one of those was when mycousin sat me down.
I was in fifth grade.
You know, fifth grade, you're aknucklehead, right, you're out,
you don't want to listen, youmay not want to do your homework
.
And I remember he sat me downand he told me you know, you
have an opportunity to changethe trajectory of the family,
(15:52):
right, and he met my immediatefamily.
You know I have an olderbrother and a younger sister.
And he said, you know, thinkabout your sister, right, and
think about how she's looking atyou as a role model and you
have a real chance to do thingsdifferently and to go to college
right and to want to be aprofessional.
That's the first time I canremember the mention of college,
(16:16):
right, but that wasn't a donedeal, right?
Middle school was a difficulttime.
Since I was young, I've kind ofhad a stutter right.
That I've dealt with, and so itstarted showing up quite a bit
then.
That led to some mental healthissues.
Back at that time In highschool, the high policy we were
consistently in correctiveaction, which meant there was
(16:49):
always this fear of, like, thestate coming in to take over the
school, right, so schools thatare not good.
And so for me, you know, usingthe arts during that time, using
theater and choir as an outlet,helped me to kind of think
about and position myself aswanting to go to college right.
And even in college, right, Iknow I was interested in
(17:12):
sociology, right, in socialissues, right.
How can we improve society as awhole?
Right, and so I pursuedsociology and it wasn't until I
had an experience at City Hallin the town where I went to
college, williamsport,Pennsylvania in which I started
to understand the importance ofpolicy and how policy could be a
(17:33):
tool to change society andchange the outcome of different
issues.
That then led me to DC for mypublic policy fellowship, and I
would be lying if I told you Isaw myself as a professor right,
ever right, or working inphilanthropy.
I didn't even know whatphilanthropy was until my time
(17:54):
in DC.
Right to be honest, and I thinkabout what would I tell me at
five years old, right, if I toldthem that you would be a
professor?
It would be crazy, like Ididn't even know what that meant
.
Right, Absolutely.
(18:14):
And that, to me, was somebodyelse right.
That wasn't someone that lookedlike me or that had like my
background in terms of income ormy stutter, or was Dominican
right.
So I think, over time, it'sreally the people that I've met
that allowed me to see myself inthese roles and that giving me
the confidence to pursue thoseroles right, whether it is
(18:38):
getting involved in high schooland seeing people you know years
ahead of me that were doingthese things, whether it's
getting involved in college orCHCI or all these other roles.
Right, how I saw myself as adoctoral student was another
doctoral student right, who toldme I had that potential right
and said they saw me as someonewho could get a PhD right, who
(19:01):
was committed right, who wouldbe able to achieve those things.
That was something that was outof the realm of possibility.
And so I think you know acommon notion right that I think
or a phrase is if you see it,then you believe it right and if
people see it in you right, ithelps reinforce those things
right and the things that wedon't see within ourselves that
others see helps reinforce that.
(19:23):
That's been at several stagesof my life, critical junctures
that I've had those peoplewithout I wouldn't be here right
that have seen something in methat has allowed me to push
forward.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
No, you're absolutely right.
Right, like it takes both usseeing people that are doing the
work and having people seesomething in us that just sparks
us at different points.
Right, so you'll have peoplethat, like I was actually just
speaking about this recentlylike my fourth grade teacher
gave me so much confidence,right, just by telling me that I
was really good at formingarguments and like a way that
(19:57):
was positive, right, like she'slike, wow, you could really like
tell a story and argument andlike argue about anything in a
positive, like you could be alawyer or something, right, and
I'm like right, but I'm likenine and I at that time, that
was my first class in English.
Right, like I was a Dominicanimmigrant, so that was my first
time in an English class.
And this person's telling me,not only do I speak the language
, well, I'm able to formulatereal, articulate thoughts and
(20:19):
you should consider being alawyer.
And I was like what, that's athing that I could do?
Right, but like there's so muchvalue in that and people seeing
so much greatness in us beforewe're able to see it.
So, you know, I think this isnow the second time that you
mentioned CHCI, so we'd love foryou to both articulate kind of
what is CHCI and at what pointcan people get involved in it
(20:40):
right, and the way that you wereinvolved.
And then two you're also reallygood at finding professional
development continuously anddifferent fellowships and things
that continue to expand yournetwork and presence in the
field.
So we'd love for you to talkabout both CHCI but then also
just generally why do you dothese fellowships, what are you
getting out of them, andhighlight any that you think are
(21:02):
appropriate.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, thank you, thank you.
So I think fellowships, I think, are I see them as critical,
(21:29):
no-transcript You're continuingto build your network through
these experiences, right, someof the best relationships, right
, are built across time.
Right, so you have a jointexperience, whether that is a
week or several months together,and then that then carries on
(21:51):
across time and you're able tocollaborate with individuals in
different ways.
So to me, the time investedthere is invaluable, right.
I've been able to call on myfellows for personal reasons,
for professional right and inmany different ways.
Right, so you're building yournetwork and meeting people in
(22:11):
different ways.
Right, there's a lot ofresearch that talks about as we
get older and as we age, it'sharder to meet people, it's
harder to make friends, right,because we become isolated right
Once we leave these spaces,right, in particular school.
So fellowships are a way tocontinue meeting people, to
continue your development indifferent ways.
So I'm a strong proponent.
(22:32):
I think for me, theCongressional Hispanic Caucus
Institute, chci life-changing,transformative.
I went to a predominantly whiteundergraduate institution,
small, private, liberal artsLycoming College.
It was a great education, butup to that time I hadn't seen
other Latinos who were pursuingtheir degrees right, or who were
focused on leadership orinvolved in student senate or
(22:55):
doing all these different things, much less Latinos, who were
older than me, who had donethose things right, who had done
, who had gotten degrees indifferent ways.
Right, that just wasn'tprevalent and close to me where
I was, chgi changed that.
It is a program that bringshigh school students or
(23:15):
undergraduate students or, in mycase, college grads, to DC to
learn about policy, policy,right, how does policy work, how
does it not work?
Right, and how do things getdone or not get done in
Washington DC?
Right, the epicenter ofpolitics.
And so for me, I didn't majorin political science, right, I
(23:38):
mentioned, I majored insociology, but I got to learn
about how policy gets done andwhat are the inner workings of
political science, right.
And so that for me was on thelearning component, right, which
I mentioned before.
I learned all about that.
But I also developed theselifelong friendships to this
very day right.
People that I'm closest toright in my life came from that
(24:01):
experience, whether when I was afellow or when I was on the
alumni board.
Right, those experiences, thatnetwork that has really
transformed me and supported mein so many different ways
through CHCI, so that I thinkfor any Latino students right
who might be listening to this,who are in college right now,
that would be one that I wouldrecommend highly, highly, right.
(24:23):
You can come to DC.
You spend nine months, rightFrom August till May, working on
the hill or a government agency.
You get seminars on what itmeans to be a Latino leader and
you get to learn right and youget to explore all these
different things.
Additionally, through myexperience with CHCI, I learned
about other fellowships rightFor professionals.
(24:44):
You know, I think it's between30 and 45.
The US-Spain Council is aweek-long experience in which
professionals go to Spain andlearn about the intricacies of
policy within Spain.
Who are the key players, whatare the key sectors?
So you're talking philanthropy,government, business.
(25:05):
Those experiences strengthenyour understanding, right?
So while there are domesticfellowships, like CHCI, which
give you that understanding ofwhat's going on, there's also
these international fellowshipsthat provide you an opportunity
to go out and learn about workin other countries, right?
What's happening and what doesthat mean for the United States?
Like other countries, do thisdifferently.
Huh, wow.
(25:26):
So now I can compare, now Iknow about the United States,
now I can compare what happensnationally or internationally
with different countries.
Great opportunity for folks whoare even curious about
philanthropy, want to know aboutphilanthropy.
It is a great way to makeconnections.
(25:51):
So I did their fellowship backmany years ago, before I was
even in philanthropy.
But I just wanted to know whatis this all about Like?
What is philanthropy Likereally Right?
So that, I think, is a greatway for folks who are either
working in the philanthropicspace or are interested Right
Again.
Expanding your horizons,learning, making connections
(26:15):
that's what it's all about.
That's how we continue toimprove as individuals, but
that's how really we continue toimprove as a community.
If you're moving forward, thenyou're helping to lift up others
too.
Moving forward, then you'rehelping to lift up others too.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right.
You know fellowships absolutelymatter.
It is really important for usto continue to professionally
develop, to build our network,to understand how our industries
are moving and growing andshare best practices and worst
practices, both nationally andinternationally.
Right, like you mentioned, theLideres cohort for Hispanics in
philanthropy like that was areally transformative experience
(26:47):
.
And then now I'm able to meetother people in philanthropy
that look like me, right.
So like that to me was veryvaluable, especially when it was
at a time when I was newer tophilanthropy, and meet others
that are also on the grounddoing the work, right, so it's
just a good kind of mix of folksthey bring together.
I've also done like theInternational Career Advancement
(27:07):
Program, icap.
It's a really great cohort ofpeople that are really in
looking at ways to betterdifferent communities throughout
the world.
Basically, we look at things interms of what is now.
You know some bad words whenyou think about, you know,
diversity, equity, inclusion,but like people that are really
(27:27):
thinking about how to makecommunities better for all.
That program specifically has,you know, a good number of
federal government folks, somepeople in philanthropy and
others.
You know you get to spend sometime in Aspen, colorado, and you
get to make friends that aregoing to last forever, right.
So you know it's a greatopportunity and colleagues are
like you can now look out foreach other and support each
(27:49):
other.
So, yeah, definitely echoeverything you just said about
fellowships and their importance.
You know, I think we'd love tohear a little bit about.
You mentioned, you know, goingfor your doctoral degree.
You mentioned some of your workin your undergrad Wondering at
what point did you decide to goget a master's and subsequently,
at what point did you figureyou know what a PhD is going to
(28:12):
be the route?
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Yep, that's a great question.
So you know I had applied formy master's degree when I was in
undergrad.
So I applied to CHCI, I appliedfor my master's at several
universities and then I alsoapplied for TFA right, and I had
gotten into all of thesedifferent routes right.
So I was tremendously blessedwhen I was deciding between the
(28:34):
degree and CHCI.
You know I had a fully fundeddegree opportunity for my
master's and I remember my mombeing like, you know, it's free,
right With this piece aroundfinances, right, and as a
first-generation student, right.
Or I went to my undergradlargely because of the quality
of the education but thefinancial package that they
(28:56):
provided, and for many Latinosit's like wait free or it's like
go where it makes the mostsense financially, right.
And so that was a tough choice,right, to kind of turn down
that degree that was for freeand pursue that route in CTI.
It took some time for my momand family to understand, but I
knew that that was the longerterm investment, that I knew
(29:16):
that it would change my life inways I couldn't quantify, and it
did.
And so I knew that I was goingto pursue a master's when I
started the fellowship.
That was clear and I actuallydeferred admission for my
master's program to do thefellowship.
And then, after being in thefellowship, I said I wasn't
going to go there, that I wasgoing to stay and work an extra
year, which was great.
So I took two years in betweenmy bachelor's and master's and
(29:41):
at that time I had been exposedto all these different issues.
Right, college access wassomething near and dear to my
heart, and so I did.
While doing my fellowship andsome other work at different
nonprofits in the DC area,learned about the importance of
college access and I was likehere's where I want to focus.
And then so I started theapplication process.
I had many options, right, andI got into several programs.
(30:06):
I got into some Ivy Leagueprograms and then I got into the
University of Maryland, collegePark, which at that point was
top 10.
And my advisor, and now dearfriend, was a giant Right, and
so he was someone I just wantedto work with in many different
ways.
But I think a lesson here isI'd gotten into the Ivy League
(30:27):
institutions and there was acertain price for each of them.
Right, maryland at the time wastuition free.
Right, they were givingassistantships where you worked
on campus, got that experience,and then that also, that paid
your tuition and I felt liketheir program was a bit more
rigorous.
But ultimately I came down tothe choice of do I pursue this
(30:50):
Ivy League opportunity?
And I think, as a Latino firstgen, you're like, oh, if I can
get an Ivy League degree, that'sa game changer, right, but what
does that mean for my debt,right?
What does that mean for thefuture, for my ability to do
things like buy a house right,or buy cars or do these
different things, versus goingto Maryland, right, which I
thought was more rigorous.
(31:11):
So that, to me, was a.
I talked about these moments,right, that you remember and
that you're like which way do Igo?
How is this going to change?
That was a moment in time.
Right, I stayed in the DC area.
Right, I went to the Universityof Maryland College Park.
Stayed in the DC area.
Right, I went to the Universityof Maryland College Park.
A great degree, great education.
Got to get close to who is nowa dear colleague and friend.
(31:32):
Right, got to build my, build acommunity right there.
And when I was pursuing mydoctorate right, my doctoral
degree, I believe I was able itwas easier to be accepted at
Maryland because I was amaster's student, right, and the
faculty remembered me and thatfacilitated me being able to
work full-time right and gopart-time.
(31:54):
I feel that if I was not knownfor my master's degree, I don't
think that that would have beenthe case, right.
I don't know if I would havebeen accepted there.
I don't know if, when accepted,they would have allowed me to
work full time Right, and so Ithink it was very intentional
Right.
And you know, I think peopleask me, you know, when I tell
(32:16):
them this part of my journey, doyou regret not going to these
Ivy League institutions?
And I say no, right, I thinkyou get to where you're going to
be.
Case in point, a couple of Imentioned my cohort of doctoral
students that we went intogether.
A couple of them were at theIvy League institutions right,
(32:36):
as master's students that Imentioned before, and we all
ended up in the same doctoralprogram, right.
So that, to me, was even morevalidation of me making the
right journey and me making thatright choice about getting to
where I needed to be and whatthe future held in that
particular way.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
I think that's you know, right on point.
Like, we have these decisionmoments and for you to weigh out
, like, what does it mean for meto go to an Ivy League
institution as a first-genstudent, right?
Does that outweigh what youmentioned earlier in the episode
about thinking about changingthe lineage of your family and
the finances of your family,right?
Like, do you want to do thatwhile being in more debt, or
(33:15):
would this degree put you in abetter position to actually
accelerate that goal?
So it's just remarkable thatyou were able to make that
decision in that moment, becausethat can be a really tough one
to overcome and, as you said, itled you to a program with
people from all backgrounds thatcame from Ivy League
institutions, that came fromdifferent spaces, but, you know,
you ultimately end up with avery similar, robust education.
(33:37):
So that's great.
You wear many different hats,right.
But part of the show here istrying to have some salary
transparency and what people canactually expect to make in
different fields at differentpoints in their careers.
We'd love to hear, kind of,what would that look like and I
know for you that's amulti-layered answer because you
don't have one source of incomebut, like, what could that look
(33:58):
like?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (33:59):
you know I think it varies, right.
So first I'll talk about withinthe philanthropy space.
You know there's many different, I think, versions of
philanthropy set up.
Right, you have like a smallfamily foundation, you have
corporate, you have, you know,different regional foundations.
You have large scale, right.
All of those have differentbands and different structures.
(34:20):
And so you know, I think, when,when typically the smaller and
more localized ones have a lowersalary band, right, so we're
talking, I think you know,$100,000 and less right, I think
, is where those are at.
The bigger ones right are themore prestigious family
foundations.
You're talking kind of a highersalary range, so like between
$150,000, $150,000 and $200,000,right, so, depending on where
(34:45):
you are and your seniority inthat field, so that's, I think,
something to consider when folksare looking at it.
You know, I think for me for thelongest time again, first-gen
low-income, it was like if I canjust make six figures, then I
am good, right.
And then when you get thereyou're like, ok, if I can just
(35:07):
make whatever it is the nextlevel, right.
So you're always driving formore Right.
And so I think, yeah, so Ithink philanthropy for folks who
are interested in kind ofhigher salaries, I think it's
great.
I think if we compare to likepolicy from the space in DC that
I was, I think there is achange to like policy from the
(35:28):
space in DC than I was.
I think there is a change rightand it allows for kind of more
compensation, I think, in thatregard.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
I mentioned, I love teaching.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
I love being an adjunct professor.
Well, I would not do that as myfull-time, right, and I you
know folks who are serving inadjuncts in different places.
That's a tough gig.
Adjuncts typically get paid byclass, right, so it's not
typically hourly, it's by here'sthe lump sum for the class, for
the semester, right?
So you're talking aboutpreparing for class.
(35:55):
You're talking about teaching,you're talking about grading,
you're talking about meetingwith students, right.
Sometimes you're talking aboutengaging in faculty
conversations around certainissues, right.
So that, I think, is adifferent structure, right?
I've taught at a number ofdifferent institutions and I
think you know the range I'veseen has been like a couple
thousand, like three 4,000, upto like 12,000, right Per class,
(36:18):
right.
So, again, you're thinkingabout that being your full-time
gig and you're teaching across anumber of institutions.
That could be difficult, right,and you're teaching across a
number of institutions thatcould be difficult, right,
because you're not sure of likewhat, how much, when you add
that all together.
Now, if you have a full-timejob and you're doing this as
like a passion, but alsoadditional income, not bad right
(36:38):
, like, if you're not solelyliving off that, if you're
perhaps saving that or puttingit towards something right, it's
a nice additional chuck ofchange, right, but even then you
really got to love doing itright, because if you sit down
and do the math for the hoursyou're like, wait a minute.
You know that's tough.
The consultant is a littledifferent, right, and I think
for folks there's a couple ofroutes, right.
(36:59):
I think there's folks you know,like myself, who do it on the
side and have all thesedifferent pieces right, and
there's folks who do it as thefull time right, and the
difference is there is you canset different kinds of rates,
right, that are hourly, right,for your time, right, you can
really hone in andprofessionalize the aspects of
(37:20):
what that looks like anddepending on what that rate is,
I've seen, you know, $100 to$200 an hour, right, depending
on what the work is that you'redoing.
So that I think if you sit andkind of add those things up,
right, you could make a goodchunk of change.
In those cases you'll have tothink about things like
healthcare, things likeretirement, right, since there's
no employer, you have to thinklike taxes, right.
(37:43):
What does that mean?
Calculating all of that that'snow on you versus the employer,
right?
So that I think is and there'sa financial component that comes
along with that.
The thing I like about it havinga full-time doing it on the
side I'm able to that'sadditional income that I'm
bringing in right that I'm ableto not solely rely on right but
(38:03):
to use in different ways, and sothat I think is great.
And the way that I've done itis it's typically per project
right, so I'll kind of lay outthe scope and say here's what's
going to be done and then attacha dollar amount to that.
I think if I would expand thatI would make it hourly right,
because that's the next step.
I haven't done that right, andI think for both the teaching
(38:25):
and the consulting that would bekind of where you take it to
the next level.
But because I have my nine tofive, I haven't had the need to
do that.
But if I would, that's how Iwould do things a bit
differently.
One thing I'll say here as wellthat my mentor told me back when
I was in the fellowship.
It said you need to havemultiple streams of income.
(38:46):
I was like what do you mean?
He's like you need to be ableto make money in many different
ways and you need to monetizeaspects of your skills and that,
I think, is how I've appliedthis Right.
I mentioned teaching, researchand service.
The teaching monetize.
The research is monetized Right.
The service I love to do Rightand giving back by serving on
(39:09):
boards and, you know, havingconversations.
But I found that the way tohave multiple streams right.
I think none of those I wouldwant to stand alone, I don't
want them combined, but it'sstill.
I'm being able to be monetizedfor aspects of my work and
aspects of my skills that Ithink about.
Yes, like this is how I saw,you know and this is how I'm
(39:30):
living that right.
And when I talk to folks, I sayyou got to have multiple
streams of income right, and yougot to figure out, within your
bandwidth, within your skills,how do you monetize different
aspects of that in order tobuild that?
Speaker 3 (39:44):
Yeah, no, I think that's exactly right, man.
You know that's how I'veapproached life Different
pillars, different things,different interests.
You find ways to sometimesconnect them.
Sometimes they're justcompletely different, and that's
fine too, but you I love thephrase monetize your skill sets
in different ways.
That's great.
Are there any forms of mediathis could be books, podcasts,
subscriptions, anything thathave shaped you personally or
(40:06):
professionally that the worldshould check out?
Speaker 1 (40:08):
Yeah, you know, I think I'll offer a couple of
things more on the personal side, right, I we've been talking a
lot about the professional but,like, unless you're you're
personal, you're you're at Zen,it's hard, it's hard to want to
monetize, it's hard to to grindon these different ways, right?
So I mentioned a couple ofthings.
One you know, I've gotten intomeditation, so I think the calm
app right, calm, that's what Iuse in particular is a great way
(40:32):
to start the day off.
I'm a morning person, so it's agreat way for me to start the
day centered, right, and to beable to go through the day and
through breathing exercises andto feel solid and sound, right,
I mean, without that, it's hardto show up and do everything
else that you need to do.
In addition to that, I think,in multiple spaces I've been in,
(40:54):
I mentioned a predominantlywhite institution my fellowship
in CHCI graduate school.
I think you feel like impostersyndrome and you're like I don't
think I'm supposed to be here.
Is it me?
There is a number of podcaststhat focus on to break down
imposter syndrome, right, andwhat does that look like and how
(41:15):
are you supporting yourself andhow are you showing up in
different ways, right.
So I've listened to several,but really any podcast that
focuses on imposter syndrome Iwould kind of go to for folks to
kind of listen to, especiallyas you're navigating these
different spaces and you'retrying to move forward and live
(41:36):
your life in a positive way.
Two more things that I wouldoffer.
I recently read a book.
It's called no More Mr Nice Guy.
Right, I think, for me, on thepersonal side, right, I consider
myself a nice person, welcoming, friendly, but I think, across
time, I think, certainly in theprofessional, I've had to
sharpen my elbows, right.
So what does that mean?
Right, when you're advancing inyour career and you're trying
(41:59):
to carve out and visualize anddesign the life that you want,
sometimes you got to have thosedifficult conversations, right.
So what does that mean?
What does that look like?
And then I think, lastly, andthis is kind of more of a recent
trend, when you're, when youhave those conversations and
people don't get it, you got tolet them right.
So I think Mel Robbins, right,talks a lot about this, and so
(42:22):
Mel Robbins and the Let themTheory, right, she's written a
book, she's done a podcast,really tremendous resource to
help when, when, when for you tostay grounded and if folks are
not where you are, you got tokeep moving forward, right, like
you've got to let them be whothey're going to be and you've
got to keep being you.
One more thing sorry, that justcame to mind.
(42:43):
Another podcast that I really,really enjoy is Pivot right, and
and and it's by a couple offormer NFL players, right, that
that basically bring somebody oneach week and talk about a
point in their life when theyhad to pivot and make a change,
and we all have to do that againand again and again.
And what they learn from thatchange, right, because as much
(43:07):
as I have seen my life in thesedifferent ways, a lot of things
have come my way that I didn'texpect, right.
And now, what do you do whenyou need to change and you have
to pivot, and what do you learnfrom that?
That, I think, is somethingthat we could all use as we
pursue this journey and want todesign this life that we want to
design and want to be theperson that we want to be, I
(43:28):
think, both professionally butalso personally.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
That's great.
No More, mr Nice Guy.
That was a great book.
I read that actually.
Actually it was recommended tome a while ago and it was a
really informative,transformative book for the
personality that I inherentlyhave.
But just to be mindful aboutwhat does that mean, how does
that come across, how to usethat to your advantage and how
to just be mindful of some ofthat.
(43:51):
So that's great.
Thank you for that.
Just across the spectrum of allthe things you do, we'd love to
just hear kind of, what are youmost proud of in terms of the
work that you're doing and theimpact that you're having?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yeah.
So I think for me I mentionedthe importance of people I've
had in my life and when I seepeople that I've been able to
have a conversation with aconversation like the one that
we've had today, and just share,you know, parts of my journey,
and they're then able to then goon right and do amazing and
incredible things, that, I think, is what I'm most proud of.
(44:20):
Right, that, from being peoplein my family to interns and
fellows that have done CHCI, topeople through graduate school,
that to me, is the mostimpactful thing, because to me
is what it's all about.
Right.
Going back to you know why Iwanted to pursue the work I've
done and my degree.
It's like about the people andthe issues that I care about
right, and making sure that theyare uplifted and successful
(44:43):
right.
So, at the end of the day, thefellowships and the
accomplishments are cool, Iguess, right, but it's not
really about that.
It's about the people and howyou're building a community and
lifting up others, right.
So that, to me, is the mostimportant thing and I think what
I'm most proud of and again,that's when students graduate
and get their degree and right,or when people get that job or
(45:05):
get that fellowship and you'relike I'm proud of you right.
That, to me, is the mostimportant thing and that's the
true impact of the work thatyou're doing and the legacy that
one has.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
That's awesome.
Is there anything else wehaven't discussed that the world
should know about?
Dr Guzman?
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Yeah, I think I mentioned this, but I think
really being able to sit downand visualize, I think,
personally and professionally,where you see yourself right,
and not letting other peopletell you this is who you're
going to be right or this is howyou're going to do it I gave
the example of my doctorate,where it's like, traditionally,
here's how it's done, and I waslike, well, that's cool, but I'm
(45:42):
not going to do it that way andI'm still going to finish right
.
So having that drive, thatconfidence right, that the way
that you're doing it is the waythat works for you it may not
work for them, but it works foryou right that is something that
I would impart on those who'velistened to this.
And, yeah, and really take theleap right.
I think I mentioned impostersyndrome and sometimes that
(46:04):
holds its back.
But I mean, why not you right?
Why not you for that job?
Why not you for a professor?
Why not you for consulting?
Right?
That I think is.
And if you need someone to backyou up, you let me know and we
can sit down and chat about it.
But why not you?
Speaker 3 (46:21):
I love that.
That's what career cheat codeis about doing the thing.
Why not you?
Let's get to it, people.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you did and believe on themission we're on, please like,
rate and subscribe to thispodcast on whatever platform
you're using, and share thispodcast with your friends and
your networks.
Make sure you follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn at Career
Cheat Code and tell us peopleor careers you would like to see
highlighted.
See you next week with somemore cheat codes.
Peace.
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