Latinos Who Tech

Latest Episodes:

LIVE from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Convention – #SHPE2019 Nov 12, 2019

Show notes

First-ever live episode! Over 150 people attended a panel we hosted at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The SHPE National Convention happens every year and over 9k students and professionals converge during 4 days to network, attend workshops and find career opportunities.
In this panel we explored the question: “What Drives Us?” with a panel of SHPE Lifetime Members:Javier Cortavitarte, Customer Success Manager, Broadcom Natalia Ariza, Account Management Lead, Uber Eats Juan Lopez Marcano, Machine Learning Engineer, Uber Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager, IntelI’d like to thank SHPE National for making this possible. Namely, Dr. Dora Renaud, Jimmy Galvez, and Rosa Delgado.
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SHPEtina Origins – Igniting Latinas in STEM Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

I recently got back from my 11th SHPE Conference. This particular one was held in Phoenix, Arizona where 9000+ professionals, students, and STEM advocates gathered for 4 days of workshops and networking. A big highlight of the conference is the 200+ companies that attend to recruit talent. Attending as a professional is different. Granted, you have less stress since you already have a job. Still, making time to connect with everyone can feel overwhelming.
This particular conference was very special for me since I had the opportunity to host a live podcast and panel (stay tuned! You’ll listen to it in episode 17), as well as to do my workshop on “Taking the Work out of Networking”. I was extremely humbled to connect with so many professionals and students. In this particular episode I want to welcome the new podcast listeners that just signed up for LWT by bringing them one of my favorite epiosdes from #SHPE2018 : The SHPEtina Origin Story. I got to chat with Ximena Aristizabal, Andrea Sanchez Sours, PhD and Stephanie Serrano about their role starting a dedicated track of the SHPE Conference focused on Latina professionals, their issues and how to empower them to become the best version of themselves.
Please enjoy! and as always, you can follow the show on IG: @LatinosWhoTech or drop me a note with your feedback at latinoswhotech@gmail.com
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

Life @ Google: Aaron Ramirez, Technical Solutions Engineer at Google Oct 07, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I spoke with Aaron Ramirez, Mexican American, Technical Solutions Engineer at Google. We spoke about how he got to Google and how being a SHPE member helped him with the interview process, his role at Google and his definition for Googliness, advice on how to get prepared for an interview and other words of advice.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Aaron vía linkedin:
* Aaron Ramirez:
Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend
Mentioned resources:
* University of California, Santa Cruz* The National Conference SHPE* Google Travel Grant* SHPE* MESA Engineering Program – MEP program (engineering program)* Drupal
Timestamps:
* 01:45 – About Aaron Ramirez* 02:47 – How Aaron got to Google* 05:32 – SHPE according to Aaron* 08:59 – How being a SHPE member helped Aaron with the interview process* 10:54 – Aaron’s role at Google* 12:03 – Interacting with external customers – A possible career roadmap * 16:28 – Aaron’s definition for ”Googliness”* 20:52 – How Aaron would get prepared for an interview at Google* 25:27 – Aaron’s parting piece of advice
Key Takeaways:
* Apply for Google Travel and Conference grants! (Google Conference and Travel Scholarships for selected conferences in the tech industry and related fields).* SHPE is a big “familia” support network. Get involved and make SHPE be your internship!* For interviews, focus on remembering the basics!
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin
Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

From Engineering to Technical Marketing: Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager @ Intel Sep 23, 2019

Show notes

In this episode I share with you a conversation I had with Adriana Flores Ragade, Social Entrepreneur and host of the podcast LatinxAmerica. She asked me about my story and my journey from Electronics Engineering to Technical Marketing. We also spoke about how I got to Silicon Valley, my involvement with SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) and podcasting.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Hugo vía :
* Linkedin: Hugo Castellanos* Twitter: Hugo Castellanos / Hugo Castellanos@conexionescast / Hugo Castellanos@LatinosWhoTech* Podcast: LatinosWhoTech* Podcast: Conexiones * Gmail: LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com
Connect with Adriana vía:
* Linkedin: Adriana Flores Ragade* Podcast: LatinxAmerica
Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend
Mentioned resources:
* Intel Corporation* Valencia College* UCF University of Central Florida* SHPE* Conexiones – Carlos Montesinos* Linkedin Learning* Galvanize* Product School* General Assembly* Getting Things Done by David Allen* MacSparky by David Sparks* Melvin Rivera Velázquez
Timestamps:
* 01:41 – Introducing Adriana Flores Ragade who will be interviewing Hugo Castellanos – All about the reason why he does podcasting, his day to day job and how he got to Silicon Valley* 04:12 – Welcoming Hugo at LatinxAmerica and his journey into Tech* 09:30 – Full time tech person with a podcasting passion in spare time. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

Keeping It Civil: Jimmy Galvez, Project Manager @ Sherwood Design Engineers Sep 09, 2019

Show notes

In this episode I spoke with Jimmy Galvez, a Project Manager @ Sherwood Design Engineers. We spoke about his journey coming from Guatemala to the US, his experience managing civil engineering projects in California, Texas and overseas and his involvement with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineer (SHPE).
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Jimmy vía :
* Linkedin: Jimmy Galvez* Instagram: @instalexglvz
Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend
Timestamps:
* 01:44 – Introducing Jimmy Galvez* 02:29 – The first Civil Engineer and Guatemalan in the Podcast* 03:22 – Who’s Jimmy and where does he come from* 04:05 – Immigrating to the US* 07:21 – From Community College to Cal Polly* 08:41 – Studying at Cal Polly; Civil Engineering* 10:12 – The difference between Civil and Structural Engineering* 11:08 – Jimmy’s first job out of College* 12:24 – A Master in that particular Craft* 13:16 – Land development and community planning* 17:04 – Jimmy’s current title and role* 18:08 – Construction administration support services* 19:07 – The handoff from design to construction* 21:17 – Pre-construction meetings; The relationship between designers and contractors* 24:01 – Jimmy’s favorite project* 27:17 – International Experience; Projects in the Baja Dessert; Desalination* 29:33 – Love for structural engineering; Always paying attention to constructions* 30:51 – The Challenges that a project manager faces* 33:53 – What are the skills that a Star Project Manager needs?* 37:43 – Communication; email vs phone call* 38:18 – Running meetings as a project manager* 42:13 – The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineer (SHPE)* 44:04 – Learning at SHPE; Soft skills, communication, networking* 47:16 – Being a SHPE Chapter President* 51:01 – Hugo’s SHPE inspiring story* 54:55 – Last words for audience
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin
Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

Thriving as an Introvert: Dushka Zapata, Writer and Executive Communications @ Zendesk Aug 26, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I spoke with Dushka Zapata, Executive Communications at Zendesk, writer, and author of seven books. We spoke about writing as a part of her life and how she captures ideas to do so, her work at Zendesk, Quora and her seven books, the process she goes through to write a book, and her encouraging words to audience.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Dushka vía :
* Linkedin: Dushka Zapata * Quora: Dushka Zapata
Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend
Mentioned resources:
* Edelman* Zendesk* Dushka’s seven books: How to be ferociously happy – Amateur – A Spectacular Catastrophe – Your Seat Cushion is a Flotation Device – Someone Destroyed My Rocket Ship – How to Build a Pillow Fort – You belong everywhere * Quora
Timestamps:
* 01:45 – Welcoming Dushka Zapata* 01:56 – How Duska got to San Francisco* 02:57 – The way in which Duska brings her whole self to work* 03:54 – Writing as a part of Dushka’s life* 05:04 – How Dushka captures the ideas she writes about and her seven books* 07:38 – About Dushka’s work at Zendesk* 08:43 – How Dushka would coach an executive who wants to give a speech* 10:55 – How Dushka personally gets prepared to give a speech * 16:00 – The meaning of Quora according to Dushka* 16:23 – Dushka’s process when sitting down to write a book* 19:16 – To connect with Dushka* 19:41 – Last words to audience
Key Takeaways:
BRINGING WHOLE SELF TO WORK
To be able to take your whole self to work, --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

Life @ Facebook: Carlos Sarmiento, Software Engineer @ Facebook Aug 12, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I spoke with Carlos Sarmiento, Software Engineer at Facebook. Originally from Venezuela, Carlos joined Facebook in 2017. We spoke about how he got to Facebook, the company’s recruiting events and engineering bootcamps, his day in the life as a software engineer, and all about referrals.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com
Connect with Carlos via linkedin:
Carlos Sarmiento
Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend!
Mentioned resources:
* Facebook Recruiting Event* Facebook Engineering Bootcamp* ERG (Employee Resource Group)* Latin@ – Facebook Diversity* Latin@ – Facebook Careers* PHP* Hack – programming language

Timestamps:
* 01:42 – Welcoming Carlos Sarmiento* 02:06 – About Carlos* 02:40 – Reaching Facebook: from Caracas to Facebook* 05:38 – About Facebook’s recruiting events* 08:28 – A Software Engineer at Facebook: The experience of a day in the life* 10:55 – About Facebook’s Engineering Bootcamps* 13:30 – Process to select a bootcamp* 15:18 – A story from Instagram Ads* 19:31 – How a referral works* 23:44 – Diversity at Facebook* 27:09 – Last words for audience
Key Takeaways:
Facebook Recruiting Events
A good way to select the best people for a company is through recruiting events. During these event recruiters give interviews to potential candidates, share with the community information and the experience of what it is like working at Facebook
The experience of a day in the life
Working in a team with a collaborative process has better results when looking for a high impact.
Having a mentor helps somebody ramp up and succeed in a company
Facebook engineering bootcamp
Any engineer that wants to work at Facebook, has to go through a bootcamp. Bootcamps are great onboarding programs. They are opportunities for working right away, learning everything about the company and having a senior engineer mentor through the whole process
Fix and Learn!
Everybody at Facebook roll in the same direction, so if somebody fails or makes a mistake, the whole team takes responsibility, --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

Transforming Lives Through Learning: Angela Romero, Principal Manager @ Coursera Jul 29, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I spoke with Angela Romero, Principal Manager at Coursera. We spoke about her experience working in a PR agency, cold calling and her role in sales at Google, Duolingo as a startup with an e-learning environment giving people practical and fun learning opportunities through technology and access to better jobs, all about Coursera, and the importance of Employee Resource Groups in working environments.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com
Connect with Angela via linkedin:
Angela Romero
Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend
Mentioned resources:
* Coursera* FleishmanHillard* AI For Everyone – One of Angela’s favourite short digestible language course about AI and how it is going to transform the world* Learning How to Learn – Another favourite short course at Coursera with powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects* You Tube Red (You Tube Premium) – watch and listen without announcements * Duolingo* Hola, Latino ERG (Employee Resource Group) – Diversity and inclusion group* USP, FIA, UNICAMP, and Insper – Coursera expanded in Brazil with 25 courses from these top universities * Self-Driving Program from University of Toronto– top program at Coursera launched by Angela
Time Stamps:
* 01:43 – Welcoming Angela Romero
* 02:00 – About Angela and Coursera
* 02:53 – Angela’s favourite course or specialization
* 03:52 – Angela’s favourite learning technique
* 05:25 – How Angela gets to Coursera
* 07:55 – What is it like to work in a PR agency
* 08:41 – When Angela realized she wanted to switch into sales
* 10:38 – Role at Google in sales
* 11:01 – Good at cold calling
* 13:35 – How Angela would write a perfect pitch email
* 17:17 – What is the perfect phone call
* 20:10 – Switching from Google to Duolingo, a startup e-learning environment
* 23:04 – What Angela was most proud of at Duolingo
* 26:34 – Why Coursera?
* 32:10 – Principal Manager at Coursera. What does a Principal Manager do?
* 34:14 – Coursera’s challenges for the next two quarters
* 35:29 – Wanting to get into the e-learning industry… What kind of opportunities can I get at Coursera? Where will I be needed the most?
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

How to Become a Product Manager without a Tech Background: Erika Torres, PhD Jul 15, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I spoke with Erika Torres, PhD., a Product Manager and Social Scientist, Marketing Officer at Prospanica Sillicon Valley. Erika has a PhD. in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International University. We spoke about her path to a PhD, her work as a professor and in hospitals, the 100 career discovery interviews she had for breaking into tech, and what would she do differently if she would have to do her career discovery journey all over again.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com
Connect with her via linkedin:
* Erica Torres

Want to help us grow? You can:
* Leave us an iTunes review* Send us a note with your thoughts at LatinosWhoTech@gmail.com* Share it with a friend
Mentioned resources:
* The Lean Startup (The Lean Startup process and Customer Discovery Process)- book by Eric Ries* UCSF* NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health)* SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) – data analysis tool* SQL (Structured Query Language) – to handle data analysis tasks.* Python* Slack – networking tool* Latino ERG – Latino employee resource group
Show Notes:
* 01:45 – Welcoming Erica Torres* 02:10 – About Erica and her journey in Silicon Valley
DISCOVERING PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Erica is a tracked psychologist fascinated about Tech, people, what inspires them and what gets in their way. She joined the National Institute of Mental Health Program for diverse first generation college students to help her get to Grad school and do an intensive fellowship research at UCSF. Beaten by the system, she started digging into Tech, having her first introduction back at Undergrad school working on an online smoking cessation program, and approaching over 100 people through career discovery interviews, choosing to do Product Management.
* 06:57 – With a PhD, almost four years as a professor. What was it like?
A PROFESSOR DISCOVERING AREA OF INTEREST
Erica was a professor for more than three years, and loved it. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

Summer Special: Life @ LinkedIn: Ismael Verduzco III, Social Media Lead @ LinkedIn Jul 08, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, I spoke with Ismael Verduzco III, aka DJ Ish, Social Marketing Lead at LinkedIn. Ish graduated from the University of California, Merced with a B.S. in Management. We spoke about life at LinkedIn, how he found his way into tech and his role as a Social Media Lead.
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com
Connect with Ish via linkedin, Instagram and Twitter:
* Ismael Verduzco III* Djishh – Instagram* Ish@Djishh – Twitter

Show Notes:
* 01:16 – Welcoming Ismael Verduzco III* 01:19 – About Ish* 02:18 – About going to school in University of California; from urban area to the countryside* 03:08 – Things Ish does in his free time* 03:38 – Social media expert at Linkedin, fitness enthusiasm and DJ engagement – How does he organize himself with so many things to do* 05:47 – Time of relax – Downtime* 09:24 – How Ish got to Linkedin* 15:57 – Role description* 17:14 – Process for making content* 19:13 – What makes a good headline for Linkedin* 21:55 – The project Ish is proudest of* 25:39 – 60 MM Latinos in the USA but only 3% are in Tech. What can companies do better to bring diverse talent in. Ish’s viewpoint * 27:03 – What is life at Linkedin like* 28:40 – Next play/challenges as a Social Media Lead* 29: 45- Next Play Concept* 30:28 – What does Ish likes best of Linkedin besides their people* 31:48 – Last words for audience
About the episode:
Linkedin has grown in the past 5 years, and in 2016 was acquired by Microsoft. They started off with 6000 employees and today have doubled. One of them is Ish, a Dj and fitness enthusiast, working as the Social Media Marketing Lead of Talent Solutions, one of their four business brand channels, finding different content to inform HR managers, recruiters and talented professionals on latest recruiting trends.
Ish was born in Southern California, and graduated from University of California, Merced with a B.S. in Management, --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/latinoswhotech/message

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