AI is an extremely powerful tool that is currently accessible to anyone with an internet connection. We, in the Latino community, can use to give ourselves the leg up we may not have had access to before. Say, for example, you couldn’t get a Master’s in Marketing Data Analytics when you were in college, but now you need to make a marketing plan for your business. AI can help you create a personalized marketing plan that appeals to any and every algorithm out there. That being said, not everyone knows how to use AI or use it well. 

A lot of people are afraid that AI is going to steal their jobs and leave them destitute. But AI is a tool – it’s as much a tool for you as a hammer is to a carpenter. And in this week’s episode, we’re talking to an expert in tech to teach you how to take your business to the next level. 

This week’s guest is Nikki Barua, the Interim CEO of Latinas in Tech. Nikki is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and leading expert in helping people and organizations accelerate success. In her 25-year career in innovation, she has helped global brands transform their culture and capabilities. Now she is on a mission to help business leaders reinvent the way they lead, live, and succeed in the age of AI. Nikki has won numerous awards, including Entrepreneur of the Year by ACE, named as an EY North America Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, honored as one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, recognized as Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Women, LA Woman of Influence by The Business Journals and Women of Entrepreneurship by LA Lakers. Nikki holds three Master’s degrees and is a lifelong learner with insatiable curiosity. She believes that we are all limitless and leads her life committed to inspiring people to live up to their highest potential.

In this week’s episode, Nikki tells us how we can level up as business leaders and use AI to take our businesses to the next level. We are entering a new age of leadership, and I don’t want any of you to get left behind just because you didn’t know how to use the most powerful tool of our generation. Tune in to hear how you can leverage AI to improve your business and hear all the leadership lessons Nikki has learned to become the powerhouse she is today.

Follow Nikki on:
Instagram: @thenikkibarua

Instagram: @latinasintechorg

LinkedIn: Nikki Barua

Website: https://latinasintechsummit.org

Get your tickets for the Latinas at Tech Summit here!

Follow Erika on:
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

Website:
http://www.theerikacruz.com

How to work with Erika:

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Join the waitlist for the Magnetic Mastermind here.

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST.

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello. Hello. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Chingona Revolution podcast. This is your host, Erika Cruz, and I am so excited to introduce today’s guest, who is somebody that embodies what it means to lead with vision, with courage, and with. Purpose. Nikki is the interim CEO of Latinas in tech, and honestly, her resume is stacked.

She is a serial entrepreneur, a bestselling author, keynote speaker, an innovation expert who has spent over 25 years helping global brands evolve and thrive. But what I love the most about Nikki is her passion for helping people, especially helping women tap into their limitless potential. As you know, that’s very on-brand and aligned with the purpose of this podcast.

 Not only does Nikki have one or two, [00:02:00] but she has three master’s degrees. Yes, you heard that correctly. And Nikki is the definition of a lifelong learner. I think if you’re a listener to this podcast, you can relate to that. You obviously, obviously love learning. I love sharing educational content, and you are consuming it.

So I think you will definitely enjoy this. Episode she has received major recognition from being named Entrepreneur of the Year to Being honored by Entrepreneur Magazine.

The LA Lakers and more. Now she’s using her voice and leadership to make sure Latinas are not left behind in the age of ai. So you are going to walk away from this conversation feeling inspired, informed, and ready to lead in your own way. Let’s get into the interview.

Nikki, welcome to the podcast. I’ve already had an amazing time speaking with you before we hit record, so I know that this interview is going to be full of gems for for my audience. How are you doing today? I’m doing great, and I’m so thrilled to be on this [00:03:00] podcast. Thanks for inviting me. I’m excited to, uh, get to know more about your audience and how I can share the wisdom.

Yes. I definitely think you have a lot of wisdom to share. You’ve worn a lot of hats from being an entrepreneur, an author, a speaker, um, even before we were recording, you mentioned, right, really building become, being an immigrant, building a corporate career, walking away from it all. And you know, now you are the interim CEO of Latinas in tech, an organization that I respect and value, and so do a lot of my, um, friends that have been in the tech industry as well, and also identify as Latinas.

I’m wondering what is, what is it that you think about your journey? What’s the through line that has always guided you through all of these different shifts? That’s such a great, uh, starting question because, uh, it really captures my entire journey and the lessons I’ve learned throughout, um, in, in one single line that, you know, the through line [00:04:00] of my journey has been all about creating impact.

Nikki: Um, that’s been, um, something that was very much inculcated in me, uh, watching my mother as a young girl, you know, just. Seeing all the things that she was able to accomplish and give back against all odds, like literally could not have had a harder life. And, uh, was so driven by purpose and impact that she fought hard, not just to better herself, but to lift everybody else around her.

And that was an experience that shaped me growing up and throughout my journey. It’s always been about recognizing that it’s very easy to be, um. Undervalued and overlooked and underestimated, and you cannot just rely on keeping a head down, working hard, and hoping someone takes a chance on you. What I’ve learned over and over again is first you [00:05:00] gotta dream big yourself because your success.

It’s completely limited by the size of your dreams. So if your dreams are small, you cannot expect to be more successful beyond those dreams. So number one, it’s always dreaming big. And that’s been very much true for me at every stage, whether coming here, coming to America as an immigrant with no resources, no money, no support system, but dreaming big and wanting to make something of myself to achieving success in my corporate career and dreaming even bigger and saying, no, I wanna be an entrepreneur.

Building a successful business and then saying, no, I wanna build an even bigger multimillion dollar global company. So each step has been about really pushing the boundaries of my dreams and dreaming even bigger. And the next step that comes after that is doing is greater than dreaming. ’cause you can have all of the big dreams in the world, but unless you are willing to take action, nothing changes.

[00:06:00] And that’s where you have to have the self-belief, the discipline, and the determination to keep doing it. But the big question then comes about is why, you know, why have big dreams? Why have the determination to overcome every obstacle and like to still keep at it? And that why comes from place of purpose.

Because if it’s not purpose driven, ultimately, you know our own selfish needs. Are not big enough to fight the hard battles, but when you do it for something that is bigger than yourself, you find the courage, you find the confidence, you find the, you know, tenacity and the resilience to keep going. And that’s why, you know, uh, it’s when you look at anyone’s journey of, um, accomplishing things, uh, look for that real purpose that’s driving them.

And look, find that within yourself and everything else will fall into place. Wow. Already we are so in alignment with so many things that, that you mentioned from, you know, the, the action [00:07:00] and you having the courage to walk away from what, from the outside looking in was already I. Successful. Mm-hmm. And, um, my audience has heard my story many times, but, um, I walked away from an engagement.

Erika: I was engaged and I also walked away from my tech career to start my own mm-hmm. Business and pretty much create content. Right. And yeah, give back to the community, which you can imagine. My immigrant mom thought I was crazy. So, um, it sounds like you’ve walked away from a lot of things that, from the outside looking in, looked great.

I wanna know, how did you know it was time to walk away? Uh, it’s, um, it’s something I have held very, very dear to myself of having an honest conversation and asking myself, am I fulfilled? Because success that has achievement, but no fulfillment is not real success. It doesn’t matter what you’ve achieved, but if you’re not deeply fulfilled inside, it [00:08:00] feels hollow.

Nikki: It feels really empty. And so for me, there’s always been those two questions of, am I achieving what I want? All of those big dreams, but I am. I also fulfilled along the way because you could get to the destination and absolutely resent being there, right? Or yeah, just feel regret every step of the way because you’re making those sacrifices.

Always choose something that is true to yourself because that’s where real fulfillment lies. And, you know, chase the dreams that are truly your own, not the ones that you were conditioned to chase, or what other people expect, or the dreams that give you that external validation because if you get there, somebody else will appreciate you or recognize you.

I think all of those things, you know, we, we tend to. Adopt other people’s expectations so easily, because that is our conditioning in society, right? But you know, when you cannot distinguish between what is truly yours versus someone else’s expectations, [00:09:00] you end up achieving it and then you have no fulfillment.

So for me, the big driver has always been about successes, achievement plus fulfillment, not one without the other. And I think in your own journey, I’m sure you’ve seen that, is that making the choice to walk away from a tech career and building content, um, that is not very easy to monetize, especially in the early days.

And, you know, having the expectations that other people have about what, where is that really leading? What’s the big game point? Yeah. It takes tremendous amount of belief and conviction to stay true to that. But when you do become successful in doing exactly that, it’s priceless because you’ve done it on your own terms and nobody can take that away from you.

Erika: Yes, all beautifully said. Very, very well said. I was gonna start asking you about something else, but I feel like you have such an interesting journey that the audience relates with. So I wanna stay here for just a little bit longer. When it comes to, um, you building, because you know, it’s [00:10:00] the type of business I have.

And the businesses that you’ve built are, are a little different, right? You have employees, you have, you’ve had to fundraise. Yeah. Okay. I’ve done that. What have been, I’ve done multiple businesses. Um, so it’s been all different kinds, you know, so I’ve learned a lot of, uh, had a lot of different experiences in each of those.

What has been. I guess the biggest challenge that you’ve faced building businesses, and what did that challenge teach you? I feel like that’s such a, a blanket question. Yeah. But I, I’m just giving you the freedom to pick kind of whatever you think would resonate. Yeah. Um, well first off, um, I think that decision that people make to walk away from the safety of a paycheck.

Nikki: Is, is, uh, is this first step of the journey, right? Because this, that’s where the rubber meets the road because you’ve got bills to pay, you’ve got, um, you know, healthcare, insurance needs and all [00:11:00] of those kind of things. There’s very real responsibilities. And to walk away from that and say, I’m gonna just start my own business.

Um, and or if you start to scale and you have people on payroll that are dependent on you, that takes it to the next level of responsibility. Then when you start scaling it even further, I mean there, there’s just different levels that you achieve in each of those stages. Um, but I think the one common element that I’ve learned over and over and over again is it all comes down to self-belief.

You have to have a reason that is bigger than yourself. And whether it is your belief that yes, I can quit that safety of a paycheck and a 401k and health insurance and bet on myself, you know, that’s self-belief because there are no guarantees. No matter how confident you may be about something, life happens, you could start a business and covid hits, what are you gonna do?

Right? There are things that are widely out of your control. [00:12:00] The self-belief isn’t so much about you coming up with a perfect business idea or being the best of marketing and sales to generate revenue. The self-belief really comes down to knowing that no matter what obstacles you face, you will find a way to overcome them.

That’s what their self-belief really has to be about. That challenges will come about, you know, things will go wrong. Um, yeah, you know, all of my best efforts may fail. But whatever I end up with, I can find a way through. That belief I’ve found, has guided me every step of the way and helped me scale bigger and bigger businesses after four companies, um, global employees and um, you know, client customers, um, from some of the world’s blue chip brands to multimillion dollars in revenue growing 500% year over year.

All of those things have happened. Simply because I was able to take a [00:13:00] risk, but I took the risk because that self-belief that even if things go wrong, I can figure it out. And the question I’ve been asked is, well, does that just mean that you’re more confident than somebody else who is dealing with self-doubt?

How do they solve it? If someone’s struggling with self-doubt, how are they supposed to overcome that and take a risk or do something that feels uncomfortable? The thing with self-belief is it’s like a muscle. It is not something you’re born with. It is not something they’re gonna have on day one, but it does get bigger and stronger and better the more you exercise it.

So each time you bet on yourself just a little bit. You’re giving yourself evidence that, yes, I can do it. Yes, I can figure this out. Yes, I can try just a little bit more or risk a little bit more. So the key to all of this is keep betting on yourself. Keep taking chances and trust that the more you do it, the stronger you’ll get.

Erika: [00:14:00] I love what you said about self-belief and how it’s not. A guaranteed success, but it’s believing that you can figure it out because obstacles will arise. And I think people assume sometimes the, the self-belief means, oh, I need guaranteed success, but success is never guaranteed. Right? It typically absolutely.

The, the route to success is the route we least expected, and then it ends up working out just like it needed to. But I, I love what you said there, and one of the exercises I take my clients through because they can. Immediately go to the worst case scenario. I have them write down, write down everything that you’re worried about right now that could happen.

And then ask yourself, what would I do if that happened? I. And it’s, they always have a solution for it. And that’s what self-belief is, right? Yeah. That you are gonna figure it out and if it doesn’t work out, you’ll figure out what it is that, that will work out. Right. It’ll redirect you. So, absolutely. And, and sometimes, even if you cannot think of a solution, if that happens, sometimes when we can come up [00:15:00] with an idea to solve a problem, it’s because we don’t know enough.

Nikki: You know, there’s ignorance in knowing the strategies and things like that, but that’s where community comes in. Right When you have the right pure community that, um, can help you solve those problems. You’re never alone. And that’s where you simply have to have the courage to ask and the humility to ask for help.

And when you do that, there’s always a way, and I’ve found that to be true. I’ve gotten into some of the craziest challenges throughout my career that I. Um, the previous me would’ve never imagined being able to get through, right? Like the, the previous version of yourself is like, oh my gosh, I would quit.

I would give up. I would like never be able to get through. I would die if that happened. Like, all of that talk that goes on in your head. And yet I’ve overcome all of those things, um, including one of my businesses, which I started. Um, and three months later covid hit and the entire business model [00:16:00] fell flat.

But changing that around led to enormous success. So each time when you are able to overcome that, you are training your mind to trust that you can. And the more you trust yourself, the more you’re able to take risks and the more risks and chances you take, you increase your odds of success. Beautiful.

Erika: Okay. Let’s transition to talking a little bit about ai, which has been the hot topic and you know, it is something that is evolving so fast and it can feel very overwhelming. I mean, as you know, I was in the tech industry for many years, so I, I feel like I’m pretty tech savvy. I try to keep up with things.

Mm-hmm. But I can imagine that for the individual who has not worked in tech and. AI just can feel very overwhelming. My question is, what should Latinas in the workforce or even in entrepreneurship know how AI is changing the game [00:17:00] and what. Is truly at stake if we don’t keep up. Why is it important for us to, to learn about ai adopt ai and how can it support us?

Nikki: Yeah. Well, it’s, um, the most transformative, uh, event in human history. Uh, in modern human history for sure. Right. Uh, it’s, um, in my career I’ve kind of seen the waves of, you know, the, uh. eCommerce dominating to seeing, you know, uh, mobile commerce taking off and social media and all of those things. But the difference with AI is not just the scale of impact, the difference is the speed.

If you think back to brick and mortar businesses building online stores, that took years, 20 years later, I mean, you could still technically sell things through a physical store and not go out of business today if you’re not adopting ai. [00:18:00] You’re gonna get left behind. So I, I think what makes it a true disruption of this scale and magnitude is the speed of change.

And I think that’s what we’re all feeling, right? I mean, just few months ago, six months ago was when things, uh, you know, a lot of new technologies and LLMs got introduced. And now here we are six months later, where every business, every type of work. Every business model is completely transforming with that.

And, the thing to keep in mind is when things, when something changes at this speed, it can either be the greatest disruptor. Or the greatest equalizer because the systems that exist in place that sometimes hold some people back or prevent some people from getting access, it breaks those systems.

And to me, that’s the reason I’m really excited about AI is because it’s. Take breaking the existing barriers, and it’s actually an opportunity for more people to [00:19:00] have economic opportunity, more people to advance in their careers, more people to amplify their value and their message. Um, it’s an opportunity for more people to, or business owners to have more profit without adding more headcount or operating costs.

There’s just so many things that were never possible before that frankly are available to everyone. Anyone that chooses it can take advantage of it. You don’t need a computer science degree for that. You don’t need to go to MIT or Stanford for that. You, you don’t need any kind of special skillset or mindset for that.

Um, the only thing that’s important is that you have an open mind. That’s it. You just have to have an open mind that I’m willing to unlearn the old way. I’m willing to experiment and have fun with a whole new way, and if you are able to do that. The world’s your oyster. You can have anything you want. And, [00:20:00] particularly for us at Latinos and Tech, the reason the AI disruption is so critical to our mission becoming even more important is that I believe there’ll be a new, kind of, new kind of divide of haves and have nots in in the.

In the olden days, it was all about wealth. Who has wealth and who doesn’t? I believe now there’s gonna be a new kind of divide of who embraces and leverages AI and who doesn’t, and in that, if we don’t prepare ourselves, if we’re not embracing it fully, we’re gonna get left behind and we’re gonna get left behind really fast, and that’s risky.

And so our focus is really threefold. Number one, we’re making it easier for, you know, our members and our community to embrace AI and become AI literate very quickly. Uh, so we have an AI academy that allows them to master those skills. Number two, uh, we really help. People think more strategically about the use of ai.

This is not just tactically [00:21:00] using AI for everything, but how do you amplify your market value? Because you’re not gonna get replaced by ai. AI isn’t taking away your job, but somebody who’s better at using AI will take away your job. So how can you actually leverage AI better and stay future ready and, use it?

Essentially make your power a superpower with ai. And the third part is we’re building community around it so that we all level up together and nobody gets left behind because there is an element of fear. there is an element of, well, yeah, I kind of use chat GPT, but do I really need to change everything?

You know, this sense of like. I still got time. Well, you don’t wanna end up being like the blockbuster that, that got replaced by Netflix, right? So, by leveling up together, there’s a sense of momentum and support and empowerment that everybody can embrace it. So that’s really where, um, our single biggest, um, focus as it relates to AI is how do you turn it from a disruptor that impacts people and, you know, [00:22:00] and they get left behind to an equalizer that opens doors and provides access for everyone to succeed.

Erika: Beautiful. And you, so for those of you listening, what Nikki’s really getting at here is, which I think you made very clear, but I, I just think it’s worth pointing out again. What you’re saying is in the past, unless you had access to some of these top universities, education or access to even like.

Financial knowledge or honestly Sure. Any knowledge. Right? Yeah. Was there was a barrier to entry. You kind of have either know somebody or you needed to attend one of these universities, but now with the power of ai, we have the power to learn pretty much anything that we, anything you want. So can you just like a few examples of what are, what some of the things are that you’ve either seen other people use or that you’ve used or some of the ways that it’s already helped equalize.

Yeah. 

Nikki: Yeah. I mean, um, I can share about it in the context of employees and entrepreneurs because there are different ways in [00:23:00] which that could be leveraged. I mean, yeah, you know, uh, if you own your own business, it doesn’t matter if you’re a solopreneur or if you have a small team, uh, whatever kind of business you run.

One of the biggest challenges for small businesses is often, uh, you know, the. Net income you’re left with, right? The margins are so low that even when you make good revenue, the reality is, you know, by the time you get to the, you know, the, the bottom of your p and l, there’s so little money left. Um, that, and each time you think of scaling your business or growing your business, you’re just putting in more.

And taking away less. To me, one of the biggest impacts that AI makes available to every entrepreneur, um, is that you are able to reduce operating costs, that you can actually scale your business, whether you’re generating leads using ai, whether you are delivering services or. Creating products using AI or that you’re actually like, you know, running your back off dysfunctions with AI without needing [00:24:00] to add a 10 person team or outsource more, right?

So these are things that have a dramatic impact where you could literally double your profit. With no additional costs simply using AI tools. That is life-changing for a business owner, right? For any business owner, when they think about how much money they actually have at the end of the year, if you’re able to double or triple that just by using ai.

That is truly game changing, and that’s a huge equalizer because now with that extra income or that extra profit, you can even decide to invest differently in your business or take do moves that you didn’t have available to you before. When it comes to, you know, uh, corporate professionals that, um, have, you know, that have built their careers based on certain job functions.

Mm-hmm. It’s an opportunity to reinvent yourself. Without waiting for your manager or your boss telling you how to do things differently, don’t wait for your company to send you to some AI bootcamp or training and say, how do I do my [00:25:00] job differently? Be proactive. You know, just use AI to, and you can even use chat GPT prompts to say, this is my job.

This is what I do every day. How can I do it faster, better, more effectively? Give me the exact strategies to break it down. So whether it’s re automating workflows, whether it is writing reports faster, creating better presentations, communicating better, um, building networks and connections more intelligently.

There’s just so many things you can do. And if you’re lost about, where do I start? Because it feels like there’s just so much stuff I could do with ai even for that, go back to AI and ask it. Here’s my life and my work. I don’t know where to begin. What do you think I should do? If all you can do is ask questions, you’ll get the answers, and that is a great starting point to start feeling comfortable in really integrating AI into your life and not getting left behind.

Erika: Wow. Yeah, I can, [00:26:00] I can agree that as an entrepreneur, it has saved me so much time when it comes to marketing and the beautiful thing is that you can customize it, right? Yeah. And so my AI bots have my entire curriculum. They have my ideal client persona. They have my tone of voice, so. It always sounds like me.

It knows my stuff and it has saved me so much time and saved me so much money as well. But I love what you said, especially with the careers, somebody who was in a career rather than waiting for management to ask them about ai, how can they just adopt it now? Because I think what you said earlier was also key where AI is not gonna take your job, but somebody who’s leveraging AI can.

Yeah, and that’s huge. So for anybody listening who is feeling behind or really limited by tech, or as we mentioned earlier, overwhelmed, what would you say to them to encourage them to lean in rather than to opt out and just completely avoid because they feel overwhelmed? [00:27:00] 

Nikki: Yeah. Well, um. Anything, uh, new can be scary and daunting, right?

Because every time this change as human beings, we’re naturally, uh, resistant to change. Change is scary. Change takes away the certainty that we’re used to. But one, there’s one element that takes turns fear into fun, and that is curiosity. Lean into curiosity when it comes to any kind of change. It doesn’t matter whether it’s AI or robots or whatever you throw in any kind of new technology.

The moment you get curious and lean into something that feels childlike and playful. That fear can very quickly turn into fun. And that’s honestly been my personal philosophy whenever I’ve looked into, I, I’ve switched lanes so many times into completely new industries, adopted new technologies faster than usual, been in the business of innovation for most of my [00:28:00] career and all of that.

And it’s not because I have any unique skill or higher intelligence or more discipline or anything of that sort. I’m just deeply curious and I lean into that curiosity and part of that curiosity is, you know, tinkering with things or being around other people that are just as curious, and that’s where community also plays a big role because being around the right kind of peer group normalizes success and takes away fear.

Because, and you have a community as well, right? So we see that like when people are around like-minded, ambitious professionals, a lot of times things that they might have hesitated about, I. They’re suddenly a little bit more comfortable ’cause they don’t feel so alone, they don’t feel inadequate in some way.

They’re seeing that everybody else struggles with the same thing, so they’re much more likely to try things out. Um, but also things that are aspirational. They can see [00:29:00] that, hey, somebody else has done it so I can do it too. So whenever it is, whether it’s AI or any other new technology, lean into it with curiosity and playfulness.

And surround yourself with the right kind of peers that normalize change for you. 

Erika: Curiosity. Amazing. So why specifically for Latinas, is it important for us to adopt ai? 

Nikki: Well, one of the challenges when we consider, the corporate world in general, or the business world in general, is that we have, uh, a huge gap in Latinos and leadership.

You know, when you look at the pipeline, the, this, uh, beyond mid-career, it starts to drop. Pretty dramatically. And the same is true for entrepreneurs as well. You don’t see businesses scale beyond a million dollars where there’s, you know, enough, Latinas that own those kind of businesses or that scale of success.

And it has nothing to do with talent, and [00:30:00] it has everything to do with access. Mm-hmm. And I’ve lived it firsthand. So I can categorically say that the first half of my career was completely different from the second half of my career. My intelligence was no different. My ambition was no different. My dedication and hard work was no different.

The only thing that was different between the first half and the second half was access. The moment I got access to the right resources, the right strategies, the right mentors and sponsors, mm-hmm My success accelerated, my wealth multiplied, and instead of chasing opportunities, I had opportunities coming to me.

That is, really when I think about, you know, what is so critical to solve, um, is simply that, that we cannot have a world where Latinas are getting left behind, that we’re already, underrepresented in the workforce and leadership. That now the [00:31:00] gap widens even more because of AI and the speed of change of ai.

What is critical in this kind of environment is to provide access. That’s, um, you know, a big part of what we bring to the table is we’re focusing on providing access to the right kind of resources and capabilities, uh, the right kind of connections that can open doors and, you know, open up, provide opportunities and the right kind of relationships and friendships, uh, with the peer community that can, that you can level up with.

Um, and we believe that that access will be a game changer to, uh, you know, build, um. All of the future leaders of our world because our world is better when there’s, um, you know, a, a reflection of diversity in, uh, everything that gets created. And, uh, you know, we’re determined to, uh, make HEAs that rule that world.

Erika: Love it. I have a little plaque right here [00:32:00] that says Lafa. Yeah, there you go. Great. So you have been named. One of the most influential women in entrepreneurship. And I wanna know, what is one mistake that you’ve made in your career that actually taught you your most important leadership lesson? 

Nikki: Hmm.

I would say

trying to fit in, For too long I, I was really focused on being accepted and really focused on belonging and fitting in. And, you know, as someone who’s an immigrant to this country and is non-white and female and gay, and like, I checked every box of diversity and I was, you know, uh, always on the outside of every inner circle.

So no matter what community I I was part of, I felt like I didn’t belong. And in [00:33:00] order to fit in, um, I felt like I was contorting myself to fit into that box defined by somebody else. The more I became like everybody else, the less there was of me to see, you know, because out of my, it was just like everybody else.

There was nothing different. Yeah. When I finally shed those expectations and I stopped trying to fit in, and I became unapologetically authentic, showing up exactly as who I am, saying exactly what I believe and leading exactly in the ways and with the principles that I live by. Everything changed. What I discovered is that what makes you different is actually your biggest differentiator.

And so instead of trying to live somebody else’s path plan defined for you or live by somebody else’s rules or say what you believe people will find acceptable, [00:34:00] um, you know, when you simply learn to be yourself. And be confident in that and lead with your own core values. It, it’s apparently what leads to becoming the most influential.

Yeah. You know, influence comes from simply being yourself. 

Erika: Yeah. Yeah, it really does. And it’s so much easier said than done, right? Because we have to figure out who we are. Um, and I think just as, as women of color, as women in general, sometimes we’re just conditioned to be who we’re told we’re supposed to be, right?

Whether it’s the media or culture and, you know, even family, which that has good intentions. But, um, I, I love what you said about that. That thing that makes you different is what’s going to make you stand, stand out. And for a long time, I, I didn’t talk about having called off an engagement or like I was really ashamed of 

Nikki: mm-hmm.

Yeah. You 

Erika: know, I, I let it go that far and then we, it didn’t, it didn’t move to the next step. And that has turned out to be [00:35:00] one of the most popular stories that people. Say back to me. So I’ve been asked to speak about it at, we All Grow Latina. I’ve been interviewed about it. I mean, it really, and it was one of those things that initially I wanted to hide and now it’s, I’m, I’m very aware that it’s what connects other people to me because it shows my humanity and it shows, it showed a lot of courage as well.

So I think people resonate with it in a, in a lot of different ways. So I can definitely see how you stepping into being an authentic leader is really when mm-hmm. Your magic started. Right. Yeah, 

Nikki: yeah. What you said about, um, your own experience in this. Um, all of us, you know, when we hide parts of ourselves or we’re afraid or we’re trying too hard to fit in, even though it’s not who we are at its core, it’s because there’s some element of shame.

You know, we were ashamed of our background or we’re ashamed of what we don’t have. Oh, I didn’t go to Harvard [00:36:00] for MBA. Okay. I’m ashamed to like, talk about that. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, I made a mistake and experienced a massive failure, or I lost money, or, you know, I, uh, you know, got divorced. Whatever those set of things are in our life, we hide them because there’s an element of shame in that.

Um, but when we embrace it as simply choices that we made. Because we are living true to ourselves and we proclaim that with courage. Mm-hmm. It actually inspires other people to take out a chance on themselves too. And that’s why they relate, you know, to courageous stories of embracing, of vulnerability and, and not hiding in shame.

Erika: Yes. Oh, you’re so right about the shame part. So that’s a good question for people to reflect on. What am I ashamed of? Yeah. What is it that I’m trying to hide? So, as the interim CEO of Latinas in tech, you’re now at the helm of one of the most powerful networks for Latina professionals. So I wanna know what excites you the [00:37:00] most about this chapter in your life and in your career, and what do you hope to accomplish?

I think you’ve already told us a little bit with ai, right? Yeah. Within, within the community, but what else? 

Nikki: Yeah. Yeah. Well, for me personally, it, it’s such an incredible honor and a privilege to be in this role and to lead this amazing community, uh, especially in this day and age. You know, because we’re at such a pivotal point in modern human history and technology, and also the general environment of being able to lead it during this time is enormous privilege for me.

And in many ways it’s sort of a full circle moment because. These are my own lived experiences, things I have overcome. And now to be able to pa it forward and to pave the way, uh, it’s tremendous. And, uh, years ago, somebody, uh, a mentor of mine had said to me that your career is really divided in, you know, two halves.

Uh, the first half is about legitimacy. I. Where you’re trying to prove yourself, [00:38:00] right? Become legitimate in some way, be taken seriously, gain credibility and all of that. The second half of your career is all about legacy. It’s no longer about what you know and what you have. It’s about what you give back and what you, um, create for others.

And, uh, for me, this is, you know, completely aligned with the path to legacy and. Um, that’s why it’s, um, everything we do has such personal meaning and purpose and fulfillment. So even going back to, you know, my own personal fulfillment is completely aligned with that. And, uh, in terms of, you know, what the focus is for the organization, um, our, uh, mission is all about advancing Latinas and tech and beyond.

And we wanna see, you know, more, uh, of our community rise up. Um. Without being held back because of access, uh, to opportunity or access to resources and skill building and so forth. And the [00:39:00] only way our mission gets even stronger is if we touch more lives. It’s as simple as that. You know, the more lives we touch, the more hefa we build, the, the, um, more relive our mission every day.

And so, uh, in achieving that outcome. Um, you know, we’re really focused on three pillars, and number one is creating the kind of programming and resources that, uh, empower our members to unlock their fullest potential, right? That they’re not, um, struggling or getting left behind because they just didn’t have the right mentors or the right programs, or the right access to things.

Number two, it’s, uh, partnering with, uh, you know, corporate. Um, companies, uh, you know, corporate leaders, um, in being able to get access to incredible talent. The success of any company is getting access to the best talent, um, and getting access to the best minds. And that’s what we are enabling through [00:40:00] our sponsorships.

You know, the relationships we build with all of these companies and. Um, they’re able to tap into a work workforce that is often, um, you know, underestimated. And, uh, we’re helping them get access to that. And the third part is the grassroots level effort of the chapters. We have 25 chapters around the world, uh, with.

Close to 25,000 members worldwide. And so our focus is on enabling our chapters to provide that grassroots level, local programming and events and community building, because it doesn’t matter how big Latinas and tech as an uh, organization gets for each person. What’s gonna matter is how do I feel? In my local neighborhood, when I go to a chapter event, you know, who am I meeting there?

Do I feel like I belong or you know, I feel like the only at the table in my workplace, but I go to one of the chapter events and suddenly I feel like I belong there and I have so many people I can relate to and they’re opening doors and they’re helping me [00:41:00] out and. We want to create more of that local grassroots community and support system, and it’s also building friendships for a lifetime.

So how can we facilitate more of that? So that’s really the three pound approach in terms of growing our member base. And um, and one thing that a lot of people, uh, don’t realize is this is not just for those that are in tech professions or the tech industry. It’s open to anyone, uh, who’s curious about tech.

Maybe they’re in media or marketing, or they’re in back office operations, but they’re curious about how tech, um, you know, can change their careers. We are, um, a, a community that allows you to switch careers or expand your perspective and provide you with those tools and with the free membership and free chapter events, um, it’s just a matter of signing up to be able to, you know, uh, step into your future.

Erika: I’m so glad you mentioned even for people who [00:42:00] aren’t in tech, um, because the next question I have for you is actually about the Latinas in Tech Summit, which is happening Yeah. Very soon. It’s happening in May. And I’m curious, what is it that attendees can expect this year and why should somebody make space to attend, even if they’re not in tech?

Nikki: Yeah. Well, uh, look, it doesn’t matter what you do for a living today. Everybody is, uh, in tech because of the Yeah. You know, role of AI and automation and everything that’s happening. It doesn’t matter. I mean, your podcast, for example, is just as influenced by tech. Uh, you know, whether it’s content production or distribution.

It’s all tech is everywhere. Nobody’s immune to tech. So, um, you know, don’t think that you are, uh, you know, sort of separated by tech because of what you do. I think everybody’s in the tech business today. Um, our, um, annual summit and this year is in San Francisco, May 28th, uh, 29th and 30th. It’s [00:43:00] three days of action packed transformation as the best way I can describe it.

It’s, um, the energy is gonna be out of the world because there’s thousands of people coming to this event, um, that are, um, not only getting an opportunity to get access to powerful leaders and, you know, uh, different kinds of career opportunities and growth opportunities. There’s a bunch of great actionable workshops where you’re not.

Sitting there, passive taking notes, you are actually stepping in, leaning in, mastering skills, and walking away with tangible transformation. Um, there’s, uh, a lot of community building where I really think of it as part career growth and part family reunion feel. So, uh, it’s, it’s gonna be incredibly fun to be able to do that.

But, um, this year’s summit, um, especially because of what’s happening in AI and with the uncertainty in the job market with all of the changes that. Companies are going [00:44:00] through and what it means to every person. Um, you know, in terms of their future, we’ve really taken the lens of how can you become future ready?

You know, what are the things you need to do, whether it is, um, mastering the right skills. Whether it is developing yourself as a professional, you know, in terms of the right sort of mindset and, uh, capabilities you need, whether it’s thinking about your fitness and wellness, you know, uh, we’re also focusing on that because that’s just as much part of how to avoid burnout and, uh, prepare yourself for big things.

And then finally, generational wealth building. How do you think about wealth creation and money? Um, and all four of these tracks. Are part of the three day summit, because we’re not just looking at it as you’re gonna come to the summit because it’s like a tech conference and it’s all these tech topics and all of that.

We’re looking at the transformation of the whole human, you know, how do you prepare for the future? You prepare by [00:45:00] learning the right skills, you prepare by developing the right mindset. Mindset, by having the right physical energy and, and wellness and by, you know, embracing wealth. And I think that too is.

Such a huge, um, you know, conditioning gap often that holds people back where no matter how successful you are, that your bank account may not reflect that. So we’re particularly focusing on that as, uh, one of the, uh, topics as well that we wanna enable at the summit. 

Erika: Great. Yeah, it sounds like a, a transformational three day event, to your point, not just about, about technology, but.

How you as a, as a person can get ahead regardless of the uncertainty. Yeah. Regardless of what’s going on outside of us, regardless of what happens with your, you know, company’s next round of funding and if you might have a job or not, how can you be prepared? Because the only thing we really have control over is ourselves.

So that sounds, I think that’s exactly 

Nikki: it. You know that in a world that’s changing so fast and it’s filled with [00:46:00] massive uncertainty and risk. Focus on what you can control and stop, you know, uh uh, let go of what you cannot control. Yeah. And what you can control is investing in yourself, surrounding yourself with the right kind of network that can help you advance.

I. And getting access to the right opportunities at the right time. And that’s really what the summit is about. So, um, you know, if you are on the fence or thinking about what would be a catalyst for your transformation, uh, so that you can leapfrog ahead this, you know, sign up for the summit. This is where the action is.

If you’re wanting to know what the future looks like, you’ll find out at the summit. 

Erika: And you’ll meet incredible people who are also looking to become the best version of themselves, right? Because they’re also absolutely gonna be there. Absolutely. Yeah. So we will, yeah. You know, it’s 

Nikki: sort of like that, uh, you, you become the average of the five people you surround yourself with, and I think that’s where, um, the more virtual and digital a world is getting.

Uh, it’s [00:47:00] easy to connect with people, but really hard to build deep connections. And in person summits, you know, I think one of the, uh, opportunities it provides is you can actually build a relationship, not just have a LinkedIn connection that goes nowhere. Right? Yeah. And, and the relationships you build are gonna be the ones that change your life, change your career, and, uh, make you feel like you belong.

Erika: Definitely. So, um, we will link down below the link so that people can secure their spot at the summit. And the last question that I have for you is you believe we’re, or the, yeah. Last question is, you believe that we’re all limitless and that is a message that I absolutely love. But for our listeners, navigating fear change or uncertainty, funny we were just talking about that or uncertainty.

What is the one mindset shift that can help them move forward with courage? 

Nikki: Hmm.

Everything, uh, we [00:48:00] do is defined by the I identity that we hold. Yes. So if you believe that you are middle class and you can have at most a six figure income, and that you only have so much energy and so many hours in the day. And, um, you know, you, uh, are not a confident speaker or, you know, all of those things are beliefs.

Erika: Yeah. 

Nikki: Right, wrong or otherwise. They’re all beliefs and those beliefs shape the identity that we attach our to ourselves to become limitless is as simple as changing your identity. Before you can change your skills, you gotta change your identity. Skills take time to develop. But identity takes a moment.

All you have to do is shift your identity and what you, who do you need to be? What is the next version of yourself, and how [00:49:00] do you design that identity and step into it and let the rest of you catch up to it. So every time I’ve taken big leaps. Um, big dreams and big ambitions before I took any action and before I build the skills or the network for it, the first thing I did was define the exact identity of who do I need to be in order to get there and simply, you know, design that identity.

And I think of it just like, um, you know, outfits in your closet, you know? Yeah. If this one’s a little dated and outta season. Just switch it out, put on a different outfit. You know, it’s like a, a superhuman cape, right? Uh, you just put on the cape that you need in order to get where you want to be. 

Erika: That is such a powerful message.

The opinion we have of ourselves is the opinion that determines what our life looks like. Right. And I’m going to a conference this weekend and I’m, I’m hosting a manifestation workshop. It’s a conference with all women entrepreneurs, all women of color entrepreneurs. And I was asked to [00:50:00] lead, I was already attending it and I was asked to lead a manifestation workshop and I was.

Thinking last night, I was actually, I was thinking about what I was going to talk about because it’s a pretty short workshop, but I was like, how do I make it the most powerful? And one of the things I wrote down is we don’t manifest what we want. We manifest what we believe we deserve. Mm-hmm. And we manifest the things that when we become that version of ourselves that is ready to receive it.

Because even if you don’t feel ready to receive, if you don’t have that identity of, oh yeah, I’m, I’m. Capable of figuring out the next step for this opportunity. I’m capable of getting this done. A lot of times we self-sabotage. I mean, there’s been times when I’ve invited people to the podcast and I don’t hear back, and I, they are people I know, right?

So I know it’s not from this place of, oh, I feel too good. It’s from this place of I feel not prepared. Yes. Then Yeah, e exactly. So, um, I, I love the, the message you gave us today about belief, because that opinion and that belief that you have. [00:51:00] Of yourself is, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. It matters what you think, right?

So you can be successful on paper, but if you don’t believe you are worthy of, of a fulfilling life, you’re never going to make those changes. So 

Nikki: it’s a little bit like a thermostat. You know? We all have our resting point. 

Erika: Yeah. 

Nikki: And yes, even when you aim beyond that resting point, if you don’t actually change your average, you’re gonna come back to that.

That’s where self-sabotage happens. That’s where you are, or you do the work and you deliver the results, but you are, uh, afraid to ask for the reward. You don’t ask for the money, uh, for the work that you created. Yeah. Because your resting point is at this level and you’re operating, you know, you’re aiming for this level, you’re gonna keep coming back.

Yeah. So identity changes your resting point. Yeah. Identity shifts. What you believe you deserve, what you believe you can do, and what you, um, expect the world to provide to you as well. [00:52:00] Everything changes with identity. 

Erika: And I can already hear my listeners asking, well, how do I raise the temperature? But I, it’s what you mentioned earlier, right?

Where it’s a practice, it’s a muscle, yeah. It’s something you, you get better at with time. But do you have anything else to share with shifting that? Yeah, I 

Nikki: mean, a very simple exercise and something I’ve done for many, many years is really. Uh, take the time to identify, you know, who you look up to, um, you know, whether it’s in business or life, whether it’s about values or results.

Identify clearly who the people are, um, you know, that you look up to, but rather than look at their results or don’t look at the fact that, oh, this person’s a billionaire, or they own five companies, or, mm-hmm. It’s not the results you wanna look at. You wanna identify what are the behaviors. Mindsets, decisions that got them to that outcome.

Yeah. Um, and it could be someone even in your family that you admire very much look at how do they live and then adopt those [00:53:00] behaviors or build those behaviors into your new identity. So if the person you admire or the people that you admire all have a common habit of, um, you know, uh, maybe they meditate every day.

Your new identity should embrace meditation as an example. If they all are super fit and are very health conscious, embrace that, even if that’s different from your current day to day, right? So when you start to identify, when you create your new identity, give it attributes and characteristics. It’s almost like designing a movie character, right?

You’re designing the next version of yourself. So give it personality. What does that person do? What does the day in the life of this new identity look like? What do they. Eat, drink, you know, work out where do, who do they hang out with? What kind of decisions do they make? How do they invest their time in things?

Give it a whole, write out a whole character for this new identity. And then simply bit by bit start to embrace those [00:54:00] characteristics. And that may take time, but once you commit to that identity, it becomes a lot easier to make that shift. 

Erika: So good. This is so valuable. Is there anything I didn’t ask you that you wanna share with us today?

Nikki: Well, um, no. I think, uh, we’ve covered a lot of ground. I, I think what I’d love to leave people with is. Um, really dream big, you know, um, bet on yourself and dream big because, um, the world doesn’t have the right to make you small, you know, and you have to bet on yourself and take space and, you know, dream those big dreams, and then take the action to follow up and make it happen.

And one of the best ways to be able to do that. And not feel alone is to be part of a community. And that’s why Latinas and Tech exists. And I hope for those that, uh, are already members, that they’re, uh, you know, excited about coming to Summit and, uh, those that are venturing, even if the outside of tech will, uh, [00:55:00] explore, uh, coming to one of our chapters or coming to the summit and, uh, you know, it’s all about leveling up together and changing the world.

Erika: Beautiful, and we will have all of those links down below. Nikki, this has been such a great conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, for your time and all of the gems that you dropped. We really appreciate it. It’s my pleasure. Thanks for having me. 

I.

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