Diego Corzo is, what the U.S. Government considers, a “DREAMer.” More specifically, he is someone who immigrated to the United States before the age of 15 and has lived in the country for at least five years of the DREAM Act being enacted. He is natively from Peru, who then came to the States with his parents to pursue the American Dream, and ultimately overstayed their original Visa. And as of 2012, Diego is a DACA recipient.
As Diego explains, even with DACA on his side, he still has no straight path to American citizenship. And it wasn’t any easier to navigate life before that. Diego always knew he was an illegal immigrant, but it wasn’t until his early adolescence that he realized that his course in life would be a little different than most of his peers. Just to name a few examples, before DACA, Diego couldn’t obtain a driver’s license, qualify for student loans and financial aid, and most certainly couldn’t be approved to mortgage any real estate.
But as Diego shares, his story isn’t one of misfortune. It’s one of triumph and overcoming adversities.
Up to date, Diego works full time as a Realtor in Austin, TX, where just last year, he helped sell over 50 homes. He has a portfolio of about 20 odd units, consisting of various House Hacks, traditional rentals, and Air BNBs. He’s involved in a dropshipping business, and is one half of the coaching circle for Rat Race to FI Mastermind.
Highlights and lessons learned from Diego: 1) Resourcefulness. Diego has his parents to thank for this lesson in life. Growing up, Diego’s parents made it clear to him that he had to work with whatever he’s got. He wasn’t going to have the same “advantages” as other people he’d come across, but he had all the same potential to accomplish whatever he put his mind to.
2) Relationships are like seeds. In other words, they’re not planted and picked all at once. As Diego was wrapping up college, he was seeking a full time position at GM as a software developer. But because of his legal issues with being able to work a W-2 job, he could not be hired as a traditional employee right away.
3) ”Build a bigger life, not a bigger lifestyle.” Diego heard this quote from his mentor Adam Carroll, and at its core, it simply means to live below your means and to purchase experiences, not things. As Deigo explains, if you play the game right and do the right things, in the end, you’ll have the things anyway, as well as the experiences to go with it. But if you go for the things in the beginning, there’s no guarantee that you’ll still have them in the end, and you’ll have no experiences to show for it as well.
4) Ask “Why is this happening for me?” as opposed to “Why is this happening to me?” Diego explains this simple change in syntax is key to start thinking creatively, solving problems, and overcoming obstacles because it opens your mind up to the possibilities and alternative perspectives, as opposed to closing your mind and allowing yourself to become the victim of your situation/circumstance. You begin to look for the opportunity in that particular challenge instead of giving yourself an easy excuse to quit.
You can join us in conversations such as this one, and receive so much business related knowledge when you are part of our mastermind community. SEEKING MENTOR-SHIP? Join our Mastermind: https://www.ratracetofi.com Send Us A DM On Instagram: Diego Corzo: https://www.instagram.com/realdiegocorzo Felipe Mejia: https://www.instagram.com/felipemejiarei
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