The American Dream with Elias Torres

Few career trajectories are linear, but sometimes, the zig zag paths teach you the most.

Ariel Lopez started college with the goal of going to law school and creating change, but she dropped out and become a recruiter, then an entrepreneur, and is now helping more founders achieve their own dreams.

On this episode of The American Dream podcast, Ariel tells Elias what she's learned from all those life milestones and why she believes e...

The tables have turned.

Sergio Claudio, Head of School at ONE School, an online portfolio school for Black creatives, joins Elias on the show; but unlike most episodes, Sergio flips the podcast on Elias, asking him things like why it's important to pay attention to community, how to find the right thing to double down on, and the value of saying no.

• (1:19) Sergio’s origin story
• (3:35) The Drift <> Sergio connection
• (6:14) El...

Go big and build relationships. That's been the secret sauce to Mariana Cogan's (CMO of Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence) success.

On this episode of The American Dream podcast, Mariana and Elias go back in time to how they first met, discussing how a business meeting turned into a longstanding friendship, and how understanding cultural differences leads to strong leadership.

Jump to:

• (1:18) How Elias and Mariana became friends
• ...

Today, Latinos comprise just 6% of technical roles across the largest U.S.-based tech companies. Look to executive roles, and the percentage becomes even less. Lili Gangas, Chief Technology Community Officer at Kapor Foundation, is determined to increase both percentages.

On this episode of the American Dream podcast, Lili shares how she became interested in technology, why she believes diversity drives innovation, and the key areas...

Viviana Faga is General Partner at Felicis Ventures, but she never saw herself in venture capital. On this episode of The American Dream Podcast, Viviana explains how she has built her career around finding the next tech wave and why she believes working in startups builds a strong foundation for successful venture capitalists. Make sure to subscribe, so you never miss a new episode.

• (1:54): Viviana’s childhood
• (10:46): Viviana s...

What does it mean to be a venture capitalist? What is a "Fund" and where is the money allocated? What are the metrics for success?

Sergio Monsalve, Founding Partner of Roble Ventures, answers these questions and more on this episode of The American Dream.

(2:17): Who is Sergio Monsalve?

(10:40): What does it mean to be a venture capitalist?

(18:36): The math behind a VC fund

(26:04): The lifecycle of a VC fund

(31:30): The face of the ...

We're thrilled to be back for Season 3 of The American Dream Podcast!

Elias kicks off the season with Liz Agosto, former Chief Operating Officer and Head of Cybersecurity Strategy at BNY. The two chat about how Liz's childhood shaped her into the driven leader she is today, the importance of planning, and being your authentic self. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss when another episode drops every other Tuesday.

(1:35) Liz's ...

Maria Medrano knows first-hand the value of opportunity: the opportunity to receive an education, the opportunity to pursue higher education, the opportunity to break out of poverty, and the opportunity to start a company that has investors knocking on the door.

In this episode of the American Dream podcast, Maria shares all of those experiences, and explains how they taught her, and now her children, the value of saying “yes.”

• ...

From thinking she wanted to be an athletic trainer freshman year of college to graduating with a bachelors (and masters) degree in information systems, Deena McKay, scrum master and host of Black Tech Unplugged podcast, is no stranger to the nonlinear trajectory of tech careers. In this episode of The American Dream podcast, Deena and Elias discuss the role of a scrum master, Elias argues if it’s really worthwhile, and the two agre...

This episode is a special one.

Elias shares a conversation with his mother, Consuelo Rios. The two stand in the kitchen of the brand new house Elias just bought his mother — his largest purchase since selling Drift. The two discuss their journey to the United States, the early years, and life today. It’s a can’t miss episode.

• (1:45) The home Elias grew up in
• (3:34) Elias’ mom makes the decision to move to the United States
• (6:30) E...

We're continuing Women's History Month with La Jefa herself, Enna Jimenez. Emma immigrated from Puerto Rico to Massachusetts with her family as a young girl, became a first-generation college graduate, and paved her way into Vice President positions in quality assurance.

Within the first few minutes of the episode, you'll understand why Emma is La Jefa, but make sure to listen to the end to find out how she fought for her position i...

To kick off Women's History Month, we're highlighting one of Elias Torres' role models: Freada Kapor Klein.

Freada has considered herself an activist since high school, and since then, she's founded SMASH — an organization that helps low-income students get into STEM, co-founded Kapor Capital, which invests in early-stage startups focused on closing the equity gap, and even wrote a book all about what it takes for companies to actua...

Today, Harvard University juniors Hannah Zhou and Rhea Acharya join Elias on the show to discuss the upcoming Harvard WeCode Conference happening on February 17 and 18.

Register for the conference or learn about sponsorship opportunities here: https://www.harvardwecode.com/

• (2:26) Hannah’s backstory
• (4:24) There are so many more technology careers than software engineering
• (5:43) Rhea’s backstory
• (7:51) We need to break out of the m...

Growing up in Colorado, Guillermo Diaz Jr. always dreamed of having palm trees in his backyard. Now, after many years of hard work and diligence, he has more palm trees than he knows what to do with, which is why he created Conectado.

Conectado aims to leverage technology to bring individuals and institutions together to increase equality from the classroom to the boardroom.

In this episode of The American Dream podcast, Guillermo ex...

Growing up in Colorado, Guillermo Diaz Jr. always dreamed of having palm trees in his backyard. Now, after many years of hard work and diligence, he has more palm trees than he knows what to do with, which is why he created Conectado.

Conectado aims to leverage technology to bring individuals and institutions together to increase equality from the classroom to the boardroom.

In this episode of The American Dream podcast, Guillermo ex...

Do you need to go to college? How do you find the career path right for you? These are the types of questions Elias and his guest, Erik Cardenas, discuss on today's episode.

Growing up in Texas, Erik was the first in his family to go to college. He was also the first to get kicked out. Nevertheless, Erik entered the corporate world, got a degree, and then pivoted towards entrepreneurship.

This episode covers how to figure out what pa...

Elias Torres is back for another season of the American Dream podcast. This season, you can expect more conversations with underrepresented leaders who have pushed themselves to get to the top, raw truths from those who are no stranger to being the "other" in the room, and advice for how to achieve your own version of the American Dream.

We're working our way to a more equitable corporate America, and we hope you'll join us.

First, a...