Backstage with BobbyD: Featuring Catalina Peña and Her Tech Journey.

As the vibrant mural walls of Miami's Wynwood district envelop us in their artistic embrace, Tech Hustle's third season launches with an energy that's palpable and a perspective that's transformative. We had the pleasure of inviting Catalina Pena to the mic, whose life story is as colorful and impactful as the setting around us. Revel with us through a journey that traverses childhood upheavals, professional pitfalls, and the tenacity in creating a six million dollar wave of empowerment through career coaching and workshops, especially within the black and brown communities. Catalina's narrative is a testament to the strength found in our roots and the profound support systems that elevate our collective futures.

The heart of our discussion beats to the rhythm of diversity in tech, a melody that Catalina and I both harmonize with. Reminiscing about our early Twitter days, we recount the vibrant Blackbirds 2018 event, where the seeds of change were sown, fostering growth that we see flourishing within our peers today. Catalina's influence, particularly on individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, Afro Latinos like her, is a beacon for the industry. We share stories that underscore the power of elevating others and celebrate the far-reaching impacts of our collective efforts in amplifying diversity in tech.

Navigating through the corporate labyrinths, Catalina's wisdom as a career coach shines a spotlight on aligning one's profession with their values and the courage required to pivot towards more fulfilling horizons. We peel back the layers of adversity to uncover pearls of resilience, underscoring the importance of gratitude and the unexpected opportunities that arise from seemingly unrelated job experiences. As we weave these tales, we invite you to reflect on your own journey, embrace the community around you, and recognize the incredible strength that comes from the support and kindness of others. Join us for an episode that's more than just a conversation; it's a celebration of the human spirit in the world of tech.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome, welcome, welcome to season number three of the Tech Hustle. Yeah, what up D Hustle, how you doing player, it's beautiful weather today. Yo guess what? We out in these streets player Miami stand up. Miami stand up, wynwood, we taking a look outside looking beautiful Indeed, but it's a little too cold though, A little too cold.

Speaker 1: 0:20

We got a special guest for our special segment that we're introducing in season number three, which is Backstage with Bobby D, we have our first guest, catalina Pina. What up, catalina? Welcome to the stage. So excited, yeah, no doubt. Well, welcome to the Tech Hustle, and definitely appreciate D Hustle holding it down in the cut right. You got us player. Yes, sir. All right, catalina, what's going on how you doing?

Speaker 2: 0:48

I am doing fantastic, Fantastic. I I feel just so connected and so excited for this. And I'm just I'm so grateful to that. You had the vision to do this.

Speaker 1: 1:05

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 1:06

And then I get to like start my day.

Speaker 1: 1:08

Yeah, that's how we started bright and early.

Speaker 2: 1:10

Yes, yes, yes so.

Speaker 1: 1:14

Catalina, give us a quick introduction of yourself. Let us know where you're coming from and some good intro here.

Speaker 2: 1:20

Ooh, this is an interesting question, because I'm starting kind of a new chapter today. Oh talk to me Super new, super, just out of nowhere almost, and so I'm really excited that I'm starting it with you, because in this new chapter, I think it's all about community and being held and being supported and being uplifted.

Speaker 1: 1:43

I like the hand. It's a good moment too. Appreciate this thing, too, for hand. I took a moment to appreciate these things here, for sure, and that's what's up, catalina. And, like you said, this journey that you and I have been on goes way back to like the days when I was holding it down at Twitter, can you?

Speaker 2: 1:58

believe that that's like 2017, D-Hustle. It's insane, it's crazy. That's so long ago.

Speaker 1: 2:06

And one thing that this backstage with Bobby D my main goal is to travel the country and have a conversation with a lot of people that I've encountered during my career and definitely get a chance number one to shine some light on you.

Speaker 2: 2:20

Hey.

Speaker 1: 2:20

Because big ups to everything that you've been doing and we're definitely going to cover all that. But also just talk about our intersection in terms of where we've met each other, what we've worked on together and definitely the impact that you've had in a lot of people's lives, because a lot of people don't know that me on the sideline observing, I've been rooting for you since day one and definitely want to continue to encourage you because you're impacting people's lives, including myself, because we'll get into that story, um, but first of all, just big shout outs and I wanted to give you some roses. Let's give a round of applause, big round of applause, for sure. So, um, talking about your journey, um and I know that you've started your own company we'll get into the moment of uh shout and not out.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Yeah, yeah, you know how we hustle, de-hustle right. So tell us a little bit in terms of just your impact in starting tech and getting into tech and more or less just where where that journey started for you.

Speaker 2: 3:15

Yeah, definitely. So, you know, I think first, before starting, I just want to take a moment to really acknowledge that I haven't really shared my full story a lot, because I, you know, I think there's a lot of fear sometimes about sharing the things that you've been through. And big ups to you because I think that you've been a really safe space for me to just open up and, you know, like share really big things that are happening happening. But yeah, you know, I think I, you know, my journey really got started in tech was when I was nine years old and, you know, my life changed in a really drastic way.

Speaker 2: 3:53

I was living in Bogota, colombia, at the time and, like you know, great life, amazing life, like I loved it. You know, miss it to this day. Um one day, you know, my dad kind of walked away and that completely shattered everything. And you know my, my dad was very present and he was very loving, so it wasn't like he wasn't there for me so that really was really difficult.

Speaker 2: 4:23

And so to go from having so much support, so much love, being in a marriage household to having family around and having to basically move everything in six months and move to a new city, while you're by yourself now in a single mother household who's working all the time and you're by yourself a lot like that's where my story started. Um, because I quickly realized that the environment that I was in and the um and and the place that I places that I was in weren't safe for me and they weren't safe for a really long time.

Speaker 2: 4:56

Um and so, for me, really getting out was the only option, and I was. You know, I've been leaving my house since I was nine years old because to find safety and to find experiences and I was. You know, I've been leaving my house since I was nine years old because to find safety and to find experiences.

Speaker 2: 5:08

And you know, I think that's that's really hard for a lot of people to hear and a lot of people maybe can relate and you know, for those people I'm sorry that you can relate to that, cause it's really hard, but the reason why I start with that and I've never shared that so like.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Thank you for sharing with us yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 5:28

Oh my god, my mom's the best, my mom is the best um and thank you.

Speaker 1: 5:32

This space is all for you in terms of just feeling safe, so we really do appreciate you, thank you.

Speaker 2: 5:37

I I really like, I really appreciate that, and the reason why I start with that is because I have been doing this for I'm 33 33 now, so like 24 years.

Speaker 2: 5:46

It's almost 25 years of just getting out of my own comfort zone because of I had to. So I want people to understand that that's a skill. It's not something that people are born with and me I was just very exposed to it very early on, so for me it just became my norm. So after Houston I stayed there until I was about 17. And then I got a scholarship to go to Nebraska and then after that I didn't know anything about tech. I didn't even know you could get a job. Like I didn't know you could choose your job. I thought jobs found you somehow I'm not sure, like the things that you you know. The jobs found you right, like the people you met. They just found you and then you get a job and so through that I was able to land an internship and then, um, at like a tractor publishing ad company because it was in.

Speaker 2: 6:41

Nebraska, it was agriculture which is insane. Like I was, like and then I had the decision of becoming a admissions counselor. I had the decision of becoming a um like a tractor ad salesman.

Speaker 1: 6:58

I don't know about you, but I'm hearing that she's blowing up. She's on fire right now.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Um, and then I had the option to go be a pharma rep. Uh, for johnson, johnson, and so for me it was a purely I. I loved being an admissions counselor. I did a lot of di work in the in university. I was like, yes, if we can get more people of color to college, like why not do that? Yeah, yeah catch, was it paid like twenty thousand dollars, and I was like, oh, and then, you know, looking at my other two options, I was like, well, um which one is more recognizable?

Speaker 1: 7:31

right.

Speaker 2: 7:32

Johnson and Johnson and I was like I need to go with the name. Yeah, yeah, for sure and so it wasn't a decision that I made like intentionally. It was just like I need to get out of that right, it was a survival decision. And then from there I went to. I worked there for about two years and then I decided to make my switch into recruiting because I wanted to help people.

Speaker 1: 7:54

That's what's up.

Speaker 2: 7:55

And then I made my switch into recruiting. I got fired, that's all right. And that begins a whole new chapter for me, where it happens to the best of us. I mean, but did it happen three times or?

Speaker 1: 8:08

four times because I think I have to live and learn, live and learn, live and learn.

Speaker 2: 8:12

I definitely lived and learned, but then, you know, pretty soon after that I worked for companies like um, I was able to get introduced, uh, to facebook, twitter, where we met and then, andreason, horowitz, and then asana, and after getting fired four times, I, you know, was in a point in my life where I was like you know what?

Speaker 2: 8:30

Like? All the feedback I'd heard was don't, like, you, don't, like, basically, you're too much Right, like, you, don't. You don't know the rules and I'm. I just got so tired of people hating on me for me, not because of my job, not because I was doing anything wrong, but just because of who I was, and I was like I want to work with myself. I think I'm great, I'm awesome, so why not do it? And I started my company.

Speaker 1: 8:58

Big shout-outs to her. They should do what she's doing. If she's full, you can always get her Facts.

Speaker 2: 9:07

And believe in yourself and love yourself enough to believe, to like, really trust yourself, that what you're choosing and what is being called to you is the right thing. Um, because I had no idea how to start a company, I just was like, okay, I guess I'm gonna do this. Like I, the first six months I didn't have an LLC, um, and didn't get incorporated until then got in myself into a lot of debt because I bootstrapped and I thought that was the only way and it wasn't good debt, right, it wasn't like a loan or anything like that was credit cards and I had never had debt.

Speaker 2: 9:37

So I was like, okay, cool, but please don't do that Please do not do that Um whoever's listening. Do not do that and thankfully I can say now, four years later, I'm debt free. So my investment paid off.

Speaker 1: 9:51

Investing in yourself. That's key right there. Appreciate you.

Speaker 2: 9:56

And, yeah, now, in four years you know, after I made that decision, I was able to land some pretty big clients. To date, we've served about 5,000 people. We've been able to, you know, have 1,000 hours of coaching and about $6 million generated in new offers and salary raises, say that again, say that again $6 million.

Speaker 1: 10:23

Big round of applause for Catalina very much, and this is like listening to your story and understanding where you started from being able to get to a point where other organizations just didn't see your value and then you believing in yourself, even though that first ledge did require you to get that. But then afterwards, just think about this impact, six million dollars in impact and people's lives that you have directly influenced. Give her another round of applause.

Speaker 2: 10:51

Bring that up, yeah, yeah for sure not to um, not to like brag too much, but it's that I know of exactly right because, because people go and get and you know I help, I help them really think through their process um, and they don't sometimes they come back, they don't come back.

Speaker 2: 11:04

So you know, I help, I help them really think through their process. Yeah, yeah, um, and they don't, sometimes they come back, they don't come back. So you know, I don't know exactly what that number truly is, but I just, I love that if someone meets with with me or one of my coaches or attends one of my talks or workshops, like they come away with something maybe it's not just financial but everything.

Speaker 1: 11:22

So you know that's a just a good number to throw out there, yeah, and all she's saying is that the number is actually up and it's higher than what you think it is I think so, and then we have a goal to actually generate a billion dollars in salary raises and new offers um over the course of the company lifetime yeah, because it's.

Speaker 1: 11:42

it's really important for for uh people of color, specifically to um black and brown people specifically, to have access to economic, economic mobility and career fulfillment 100% and and let me tell you this is something that, um, I've always known Catalina for is represent being an Afro Latina and, um, definitely appreciating the contributions you make, because, and definitely appreciating the contributions you make because our first encounter at Twitter was like yo, first of all who's that over there? Because she looked like she's like familia right there. It was like yo.

Speaker 1: 12:17

And then seeing what contributions you were actually making were truly impactful to me because during that time in 2017, I believe it is I was really at the keyboard and I was just going extra hard on this idea of, like, becoming this elite engineer, right, and then I really changed my focus because it was like I was with these blinders just focusing on code, but then when I looked around me, I didn't see anybody look like me, right, and then you're one of the first peoples that I was like yo. Let's link up and see what we can do about, you know, increasing diversity and or impacts that I can have directly. So my question is is like, how did you feel about that being in Silicon Valley, in the industry, and just understanding your impact to the next generation and ultimately, like the results?

Speaker 2: 12:58

So, first of all, thank you for seeing me, because I don't think I saw myself for a really long time. So that question really is a retro, retroactive reflection versus like an intentional thing. I just wanted, like I was like, I want to just like be present so that people have access, like that was what I was thinking, but I wasn't thinking that I was impacting people in such deep ways in life.

Speaker 2: 13:26

You know some of the people that I helped hire at Twitter. They now have been in tech for almost 10 years and it's insane to think about and like what that means for their livelihoods, their financial stability and their just mental stability, and like what they're able to do, the experiences that they're able to create with, like their families and themselves and their friends, and like I, like, I like.

Speaker 2: 13:50

When I stop to think about it, I'm like that is what it's about, right I just want people to, at the end of the day, to be so connected to themselves, so aware of what they want, that a job is like a conduit to getting the life that they dream of right. Not, not something that they feel like they have to go to every day, that they're really hating, and so many people out there are just in that right now, yeah, 100%.

Speaker 1: 14:22

And, like I said, uh, actually, uh, the other day we was chatting up about an old picture that I seen. Check this out DeHustle. This is. This is the crew right here. This is Blackbirds 2018. And during that era, we were actually getting ready to go to NSBE, I believe.

Speaker 1: 14:39

One of the conferences that Kathleen and I got to work at, or not work, but more or less supporting Twitter, and I was looking for this picture because I was like yo uh, this right here represented that time for me and how much I felt like um the influence that we could have on the industry, um, and also the people that were going to come and work at twitter um and how much that would change people's lives, like you said, because I see one cat in there, uh, the tall guy in the back. Uh, teo, what's up, teo Big?

Speaker 2: 15:07

shout-outs to Teo. What's up? Man? He's actually my birthday twin, is he? He is, that's what's up, december 15th.

Speaker 1: 15:15

I always message him like Teo, happy birthday twin, that's what's up, and Teo is like one of the first black interns that we hired at Twitter. Um, and every time I see this picture. When you showed it to me, it just brought me back to those moments and, um you, you just didn't know how much of an impact it had to me. Uh, so I definitely want to let you know like scenes like this.

Speaker 2: 15:35

Uh, just takes me back to a time where um I was very grateful for my opportunity to work at also being able to be on these streets and talk about it and see the influence and see the growth of that.

Speaker 1: 15:53

I love that. Yeah, big shout outs to tell you and everybody in the picture there. We're going to pull up on them. We want to, we want to say I'm friend and I guarantee you, we're going to have a good conversation with tail, yeah. So, uh, tell me a little bit um um about, in general, um your, your efforts as a career coach and challenges that you face or that you kind of like highlight to your mentees or people that are in your coaching program.

Speaker 2: 16:13

Yeah for sure. So it's really interesting. I was like, how am I going to read this in? But that picture you showed of me and I was smiling and you know I was just like next to you and looking at that picture and there's a lot of people in that picture.

Speaker 2: 16:25

that really traumatized me at work um and so a lot of the experience I talk about with my, with my um clients is is so that they don't go through the same thing. So you know, um, that was a really hard team for me to work in um, because it was very much about me and there was really a lot of comments made in that team about just very off comments that should not have been made and I literally went into a free state until.

Speaker 2: 17:01

I left six months in and I talk about this with my, my clients, because I think it's really important to recognize is the team around you supporting you or is it hurting you? And so many people are on teams that are hurting them and at the very least, it should be neutral.

Speaker 1: 17:22

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2: 17:23

And so I made it my mission to really help people not get stuck in jobs just because they think they can't do better and basically if they, you know they can't really see a way out, like, I try to help them, you know, take that first step, because I think once you take a first step into a better, like soil or better ground, like you're like, oh wow, this feels so nice. Yeah, it's like yes, your job can feel nice, your job can feel great.

Speaker 1: 17:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the thing that I enjoy here in this story is that the help that you give into your clients as a coach is like given life experience. Right, because a lot of mentees that I have are the first time that they talk to an engineer, first time they talk to a black engineer. But then it's also the first time that they hear some of these stories right. Because number one. It's like oh, twitter, everybody wants to work there.

Speaker 1: 18:16

But, there are always some challenges you have not just with the organization, but with your teammates, management, and if you don't have the right structure around you, doesn't matter that you work at Twitter you're still not going to grow, like you said, a plant that seed right. So it's really enlightening and definitely I hope the audience caught. This is like you want to make sure that you're working in an environment that provides value, not just you providing value but they provide value. To you say that again because I'm a big.

Speaker 1: 18:42

That was like really just thinking that big, big shout outs to our third member. I can't understand that. Say that again. It's like really just thinking that Big shout-outs to our third member Raymond, Don't call him Ray-Ray, what up player, he's dropping jumps. Hold on, I'm going to steal your spotlight player just for a little bit. And what I'm really getting to is that I don't want the audience and our listeners to get confused that hey, just because a title or a company name, that you have to basically be in that ringer right or constantly just being brutally.

Speaker 1: 19:09

You know, unsatisfying in your role is that the company should be providing value to you as much as you're providing value to them. Right, and as soon as you realize that you're only the person that's feeding or pouring into the cup, that means it's time for you to go find some other cups to pour into right Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 19:26

And you know, I think sometimes it's really hard for people to see right. So I'll speak for myself kind of in that story. Like I went into a free state and because of my childhood, like I just knew how to do that and I didn't know how to get myself out and like so I don't think if someone hadn't reached out I wouldn't have left because I didn't. I don't think if someone hadn't reached out I wouldn't have left because I didn't realize that I had a choice to leave. Right, it was the one time in my life where I was like I don't, I can't leave because you know, I had experienced homelessness when I was, when I was younger, a lot of hardship, low income, hardship, and so for me I was like I can't, I can't leave because where am?

Speaker 2: 20:02

I going to go Like I don't have, you know, there's no offers waiting for me, you know, and so I felt very um, stuck. And then you know, linkedin actually popped up.

Speaker 1: 20:13

Big shout outs to LinkedIn, big shout outs to. Linkedin.

Speaker 2: 20:16

And I advocate for LinkedIn like, I think, for the rest of my days, because and just networking in general and LinkedIn is like an amazing place to do this because I got a message from andreessen horowitz, someone who worked there, um, and that someone is like nigel robinson love him big shout out love him so much to this day.

Speaker 2: 20:41

And he he was telling me afterwards he was like and this is the importance of having people that look like us in the room because he was a black recruiter as well. I think he's also Latino as well I don't know if he identifies as Afro Latino, but we'll just leave that there but he purposely was looking for somebody who had the expertise of a recruiter but also could reflect the students that he was seeing.

Speaker 2: 21:08

And he found me. He found me on LinkedIn, like that's crazy and so for. For y'all that don't know, andrews and Horowitz is a VC that funds, you know, uh, like big names like Twitter and Meta and all of these, all of these companies. And, um, they hired like maybe a hundred people and like I swear to you that as soon as I got hired there, my life changed, because it was. Everybody was like wow, you work there. And to this day, there's two things that people are just like wow about yeah it's super interesting to me nebraska they're like

Speaker 2: 21:44

what are you? What did you do there? Like it doesn't matter who it's like. What did you do in Nebraska? And the second is Andreessen Horowitz. It's a level of like prestige that I imagine only like that comes from prestigious places right Like the Ivy Leagues, like really top companies, and it was the first time I've ever I'd ever experienced that and I am very thankful because I went from a place that was not feeding me at all and that I could not get myself out of and literally got a message from someone who was looking for me, who again saw me and was like, yes, and plucked me out. And that was the best soil I could have gone to, because that was where my life started to really change and I started to take ownership of who I was. Again, big shout outs to Nigel, because he saw me and he coached me. He was like you're amazing.

Speaker 1: 22:39

Yes, I still can't get over the Nebraska shit. I want to interfere.

Speaker 2: 22:51

What's in Nebraska? Actually, nebraska is very cold, so, oh, yeah, okay. So this is a good story to tell. So for those of you who are in college and are listening to this and are like, oh my God, how am I going to get to tech, how am I going to get to all these companies, I used to give tours in the snow in like February for, like I think like I worked there for like 20 hours, so in 20, for 20 hours of my week.

Speaker 1: 23:19

Chuck into the snow.

Speaker 2: 23:20

I was like taking people through the snow like a tour guide. Doing that, I was getting paid $7.75 an hour wow, and to me that was a lot of money, to me that was so much money, like, and I was like, okay, well, at least I can eat and I would treat myself to chipotle and I would treat myself, maybe once a month, to guac, like that's how, like yeah dire it was, but I was so grateful for that job.

Speaker 2: 23:46

But I think about it and I'm like what? Like I'm in Miami, I'm in a tank top. Like you know, this is 12 years later 12 years later, pulling it down. So don't give up right. Like don't let your current circumstances dictate your future ones. Because, again, like if I had given up 12 years ago, I would have stayed as a tour guide in Nebraska in the snow.

Speaker 2: 24:08

Right, and instead I was like you know what and how I've had done prior in my childhood, like I was like there has to be something out there that's better than this.

Speaker 1: 24:19

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:20

And that's more aligned. Let me not say better, that's more aligned, because I think that sometimes you get caught up in this better mentality um, because of the brand name or because of the money or because of this or because, and so it creates like a FOMO kind of thing?

Speaker 2: 24:34

yeah, for sure. But I think you really have to go in and ask yourself what does this feel like to me? And in nebraska, like I felt very isolated, I felt very alone and I was like I don, I don't belong here. I know, this is great and I'm grateful.

Speaker 1: 24:49

I don't belong in Nebraska.

Speaker 2: 24:51

I mean people love it. There's people who will be Nebraskans for life.

Speaker 1: 24:56

I haven't met one person that said yo, we should go to Nebraska.

Speaker 2: 25:00

So, actually, actually, though, I will say, if you ever want to experience the coolest thing and one thing Nebraska like really helped me experience was a Husker football game oh yeah, and so it is like the thing to do yeah and I. Because of my tour guiding right, I was able to be a football tour guide, so I went from the snow to the stadium yeah and I was talking to all these high school kids about football.

Speaker 2: 25:27

I don't know anything about football, but I was just like okay, and so here's like the gym yeah, but the cool thing is I got to go on the field with the players because of, because I was a tour guide, because I was showing them the experience, and I got to experience what I'm sure like football players experience of 80,000 people, like looking up at you.

Speaker 1: 25:48

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 25:49

And, like you're in the middle of that, and so I share that story, because had I not trekked through the snow literally, I also wouldn't have gotten that opportunity had. I not trekked through the snow, literally. I also wouldn't have gotten that opportunity. So a lot of people do not understand that what you're doing right now could open doors that you would have never even asked for, because that was never a dream of mine, that was never a thing I wanted to do, but to this day it's one of the coolest experiences of my life.

Speaker 1: 26:16

You know what? That explains a lot, because Catalina is also one of those that does public speaking, speaking on stage, and if, at a beginning, you were standing in front of 80,000 people being that confident, right You're like, that's why you can get on these stages and be, you know, killing it. So the other thing I want to mention in terms of our journey together, catalina and I, is that we've had some really cool partnerships with some clients and together, catalina and I, is that we've had some really cool partnerships with some clients.

Speaker 1: 26:45

And one thing that I've always admired about your abilities is being able to get in front of people and really be effective and really relate, connect, and sometimes I always wonder like, where does that story start from and how do you get build that confidence for that? So what do you feel about that?

Speaker 2: 26:55

Yeah. So I don't know if it's confidence that actually made me do that. No, I don't. I don't think so. It's necessity.

Speaker 1: 27:01

It was necessity.

Speaker 2: 27:02

So, um, when you come from an unsafe environment and you know thank you so much for giving me this platform and things happen when they have they, they have to, because my answer to that question would have been very different a few years ago. Um, but now I feel really vulnerable to share my story. I was not safe.

Speaker 2: 27:17

I was not a safe child, and I was not in a safe environment, and so the only place I could turn to for safety was strangers at one point in my life, and I'm going to share a story that I've never really shared, but I'm going to share it.

Speaker 1: 27:30

Exclusive here. Exclusive On the tech hustle.

Speaker 2: 27:32

So I was living with my dad at the time and he did not care, To the point where I had to go out in my apartment complex and actually just be like okay, I need to find somebody to eat. I was able to make friends with a family right across.

Speaker 1: 27:52

Is this in Nebraska?

Speaker 2: 27:54

This is in Texas, not Nebraska. I was able to make friends with like a family that like literally took me in and took me and my sister and then my mom in and we became really good friends and like so to me I was like, wow, the power of strangers like strangers can be very powerful if they are willing and able to fulfill a need of yours, and all you need to do is ask for sure.

Speaker 2: 28:20

And so that's the origin of that story, right, it isn't. It wasn't because of confidence is out of necessity, and now it has grown into um, into a really beautiful gift, and that I'm able to teach people. Because a lot of people get so scared? Right, because a lot of people have had the opposite experience of only the family is safe. You know, the community is not and and I want to, you know, challenge those people to be like. Not everyone is going to help you and it's going to feel deeply uncomfortable when they you hear a no yes and when you hear those yeses it's a relief.

Speaker 2: 28:59

It's a relief, right, because it the help won't come in the ways that you expect it to, but it like it it does. It does come. Like never did I expect to be on this podcast, never did I expect to like be on a football field in nebraska, never did I expect to like work for all these companies Like never, right. And all of that happened because of me having a conversation with someone.

Speaker 1: 29:32

Yeah, for sure. And and let me say that these stories are really number one appreciative, that you feel safe enough to talk to them, bring them up, but really to the audience, just listen to this journey because, like you said, it's like most people don't realize what snow you had to trek through to get to where you are right now, and it's something that is always when you start to hear the backstory, backstage with Bobby D. It empowers me even more, right, and also I look at you even in a brighter light, because it's like I even did not go back that far to really understand the struggle and or the accomplishments. So big shout outs, big round of applause to Catalina and for sure I want to say thank you so much for those stories and give us some inspiration Before we close this out. The thing that I really want to give a shout out is to your company and talk to us a little bit about it about the services you offer and all that good stuff yeah, definitely so there we go, raymond, check out these nuggets.

Speaker 2: 30:26

Player love it um. So yeah, my company is catalyst creation and it is again catalyst creation.

Speaker 2: 30:37

It came to me on a plane, it was great, uh and it really focuses on empowering um underrepresented folks to really create career fulfillment and financial freedom on their terms. And I have a model that is business to business, so b2b, which means that if you want to work with me, it's your organization should hire me. And the reason I do that um, I was very adamant about doing that is because I don't believe coaching is something that you should pay for, like if you can help it, right, I think if there is no way you can, you can get out wherever you are and you need a coach like definitely pay for it. But if you can get it through your company, either by you know, having them host a workshop or having them bring in coaches, or if you're part of a student community, like a university, and you're like, hey, like I want coaching, like let's bring this person in, you know, I think that's that's the key, because you're putting your resources to work for you 100% yeah.

Speaker 2: 31:35

And so for me, how I help support, there's two ways. Right One is through coaching support, so I will go in and provide coaching support on demand to organizations that need it for their clients. Right is keynoting, speaking panels, all the things where I can share my story and help coach as well through workshops, and it's very important to me that when people leave my workshops they understand and know themselves more because something that I haven't mentioned is I'm a self-love advocate.

Speaker 1: 32:11

And.

Speaker 2: 32:12

I truly believe getting to a job you love, getting to a life you love starts with self-love, and self-love starts with questions. Why do I do this? What is interesting? What about this like? What does my day look like right? And my workshops are full of those questions. Because I think that the more you ask those questions to people, the more it forces them and or not forces them that's a really harsh word but invites them or not forces them.

Speaker 2: 32:36

That's a really harsh word, but invites them, sometimes worse, but invites them into themselves, and it's like, hey, you have a story to tell. So, to whoever is listening, you have a story to tell. And if you don't know where to start, start asking yourself what is my story?

Speaker 1: 32:51

Roger that.

Speaker 2: 32:52

Good show. Mr Catalina, some jam right there, there we go A jam.

Speaker 1: 33:03

I love it all right. Well, catalina, I want to say thank you so much for being our first official guest for backstage with bobby d and very much appreciate, uh, the journey um. One quick story I want to tell you all before we jump off is catalina was one of the first people that um told me face to face. Like yo, I'm doing a disservice to our community if I don't come out here and talk this talk and be me right Be.

Speaker 1: 33:23

Bobby D out in public right and I want to say thank you so much for lighting that fire under me, because the path that I'm going on definitely is inspired by you and you've been supportive since day one, so you already know. Welcome, welcome, welcome everybody.

Speaker 2: 33:39

Appreciate you. Can I say something to that?

Speaker 1: 33:41

Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 2: 33:44

I think when, because I remember this Zoom call that we had and you were like I just you know, I want to do what you're doing and I'm like do it Right yeah. You know, do it, and I think sometimes we are seeking validation from somebody else who's done it before.

Speaker 1: 34:01

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 34:02

Right, who like is doing it? And the reality is like, if you have something in your heart, if something is calling tunes like I should do this figure out a way to start, Even if you don't know anyone who's done it before, even if you're like this is insane, like, start it. Because I would hate to think that if I we hadn't met facts and if we hadn't been in that zoom call, that you wouldn't be here right now, because what you're giving to the community is so valuable and so needed that, like I would hate for that to be the story for someone else, because that's the hard part about being a coach you can't help everybody. You can't reach everybody. We try, but you know there's people who fall through the cracks. So you know, if you're listening to this and you know someone sent this to you or you're just you know you found it on your own. Like, just believe in yourself, do it for yourself. Like, map it out for yourself, validateidate yourself, because from there, that will create everything you're trying to do 100%.

Speaker 1: 35:05

Give Catalina a big round of applause. Oh my gosh. I love her because she's got those gems For sure, for sure, all right, so let's cue up the closeout music. I want to say, first of all, thank you all for tuning in to Backstage with Bobby D. This is the first of many episodes that I'm going to be traveling the nation, like I said, pulling up on all my peoples, and obviously, you see, I got some gems with me right.

Speaker 1: 35:30

I got a lot of people that I've had some really great encounters with and I'm only inspiring you to achieve great things. D Hustle, how, how you feel about the episode, kid, I feel great yeah.

Speaker 2: 35:39

I'm loving it right, I got some gems For sure.

Speaker 1: 35:43

I'm here at the Tech Hustle 100%. So definitely, thank you all for tuning in. Stay tuned, because we got even more coming up. Holla at your boy, it's Bobby D.