Redefining Your Vision For Yourself: How a High School Dropout Evolved Into a Highly-Educated Small Business Owner
Hello, everyone! Happy to have you here for another edition of Generation Si! Today’s newsletter shows it’s never too late to trade in your modest dream for something much bigger. Jorge Valladares is the entrepreneur who will reignite that “can-do” spirit in you.
In this newsletter, you’ll learn the following:
🌴 Why difficulty learning in school at a young age doesn’t mean you can’t learn and achieve later in life
🌴How to deal with regret
🌴A free webinar on using AI (artificial intelligence) in your business for marketing
🌴 This is the story of Jorge Valladares, the founder of Aria Counseling, a counseling and psychotherapy practice. He’s a man who went from being a high school dropout to becoming a small business owner with not one but two Master’s degrees…
“When I was younger, I thought I would be a laborer.”
Becoming a laborer likely isn’t the big dream most people have in mind for themselves.
But for Jorge Valladares, it was what he thought was attainable when he was growing up in Brooklyn.
“If you worked in Manhattan, if you had a different kind of job, you went up the block… I just always felt like I was going down the block. I felt like that was where my life was headed.”
THE TIP JAR (Tips provided by Jorge Valladares)
STARTING OUT: “Everything worthwhile begins with some level of struggle and hardship. Don’t run from it. Joy and pain have kind of this inverse relationship. Usually, the things that give us satisfaction early in a process are not the things that last. Things that are worthwhile usually have some level of challenge or difficulty early on. And the joy and satisfaction that you experience comes on the back end of it. Don’t run from it.”
STEEPED IN SKILLS (mid-career): “The first thing I would say is, take care of yourself. For the single parent or the working parent or the parent who’s going to school and running a business [and] running a home, take care of yourself. Stay healthy. Stay strong. And if your journey takes time, that’s okay. That’s all right. It’ll be there for you…. When we become frenetic and anxious, we also become messy, sloppy, and we make mistakes. There’s time. And there will be even more time, if you take care of yourself.”
STARTING OVER: “It is hard to be the oldest person in the classroom. It is a very hard thing to be the oldest person. It’s a very hard thing to be the only parent, the only one who has, like, lived through some things… But, wisdom is so undervalued and so underestimated. It is incredible. I’d say, trust yourself. If you’re older and getting started, you can trust your intuition maybe a little more than your younger-aged peers can. What you’ve learned about life will serve you well.”
I’LL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN: “Maybe I did spend too much time on the should. Yeah, if I did anything when I was younger, I spent way too much time on the things that I felt should be.”
“What should be is not what is. Work with what is. Work with what is real and present… Do your best to manage that constant nagging thought that I should’ve started this earlier or should’ve done this, or I should’ve done that. Because it’s wasted emotional energy that you’ll need…”
BEST ADVICE FROM “LA CASA”/BEST “HOUSE” ADVICE:
This nugget of wisdom comes from Valladares’ mom. She noticed he was bothered when people would call him George, the English equivalent of Jorge, his given name. But he didn’t correct them.
She told him, “People will treat you how you decide they will treat you. And if you’re going to have a hand in how people regard you, start with having them get your name right.”
He says, “… that had such an impact on me. And she was so right about that. You do have some responsibility in how you are treated.”
YOUR PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT’S POSSIBLE ORIGINATE WITH CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
Not only did Valladares drop out of high school, but as the only legal citizen in his household until his younger brother was born, he witnessed a lot that influenced his perception of how to act and what he was capable of in life.
“Don’t talk to the police. Stay hidden, you know. So… those lessons remain. They’re buried pretty deep.”
He remembers, in particular, how his mom, an undocumented immigrant was treated.
DON’T CONFUSE LEARNING STRUGGLES WITH A LACK OF DESIRE TO LEARN
“My mother used to lug us around everywhere. And I just remember, everywhere we went, whether it was a bank or, you know, anywhere we went that seemed institutional, it always seemed like she was being mistreated. That’s how it felt to me.”
He believes it affected his ability to learn.
“I’m not an anxious person, generally. But institutional settings make me anxious… Now when I look back, I realize, this is why I couldn’t succeed in school as a young person. I’ve always been curious. I’ve always been a reader… I was always interested in learning. I couldn’t be in an institution.”
EVERYONE LEARNS DIFFERENTLY; FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
He got a second chance through a program called The Lower Manhattan Outreach Program. It helped him get a GED. The program also allowed him to discover his love of music.
Valladares says that program was a big factor in changing the course of his life.
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN AND ACHIEVE
It set him on a path to go to college at 24, despite working full-time and supporting a family.
It allowed him to dream bigger dreams.
He says that finding work at Valencia College, first on a part-time basis and, eventually, as a professor there helped him regain a sense of autonomy.
Valladares says the culture at Valencia College took into account that institutions can be tenuous for a lot of people.
That approach to learning helped him regain a sense of power over his life and control over his future.
Through the process, those early feelings of fear of institutions led him to want to open his own mental health counseling practice.
“I would attribute my desire for independence and entrepreneurship to almost a defiance of that.”
Valladares says he’s almost finished fulfilling all of the clinical hours and other requirements necessary to become a licensed mental health counselor.
But he was able to open his practice, Aria Counseling, and is now using his experiences and what he’s learned to help others.
INDUSTRY: Mental health counseling
STARTED BUSINESS: July 2020
LATINO CONNECTION: Parents are from Honduras
EDUCATION:
Rollins College - Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Nova Southeastern University – Master’s degree in General Psychology
Rollins College – Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Behavior
Certified with the National Board of Certified Counselors
DREAM JOB AS A KID: “I didn’t dream about jobs. And I am living a dream in the job that I have… This is a dream job that I’m living now.”
BIGGEST GOAL YET: “I told you I grew up in New York City. I grew up near a basketball court. Basketball’s another thing I dreamed about a lot…. I love basketball… I’ve worked with a lot of adolescent boys in counseling and, you know, part of this vision that I have is, you know, some of those counseling sessions would go much better if we were out on a basketball court… So I would love to get some kind of property or something I can build out in this way to do innovative things with counseling.”
NO NEED TO GO IT ALONE
HELP ON THE OUTSIDE...because we can all use a helping hand:
“Get To Know AI”
The latest buzzword is ChatGPT. But do you know what it can do and how to incorporate artificial intelligence into your business? Find out how artificial intelligence can be useful to you for marketing content and what it shouldn’t be used to do. See below for more details:
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)
“AI for Writing Website Content: Dos and Don’ts”
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
12:00 p.m. EDT - 1:00 p.m. EDT
Online Webinar
FREE
https://www.score.org/spacecoast/event/ai-writing-website-content-dos-and-don%E2%80%99ts
WORKING ON THE INSIDE...because we know our culture has a hard time asking for help:
Get In the Right Frame of Mind
Is there something that’s keeping you from going after your dreams? This webinar will take on your mindset to help you kick those barriers to the curb and move forward with better decision-making. Here’s more:
SCORE (Service Corps for Retired Executives): Coffee with a Leader
“Mindset for Success”
Thursday, April 13, 2023
8:00 a.m. EDT – 9:30 a.m. EDT
Online Webinar
FREE
https://www.score.org/orlando/event/mindset-success
INSPIRATION FOR THIS ISSUE:
Some people excel at school. Some just don’t.
That certainly doesn’t mean the student who doesn’t do well in an institutional environment isn’t capable of big things.
There are many factors that can keep them from thriving. And there are many alternatives that can also keep their dreams alive.
I definitely am not an expert. But just from my limited experience as a teaching assistant in college and mentor to several journalists throughout the years, I’ve worked to encourage students and younger peers about their potential.
At one point or another, it was clear that some had a very limited vision of what was possible for themselves and their future.
But I really believe that that vision can be expanded by understanding the circumstances of a certain person’s background and acknowledging how that may be inhibiting their learning and belief in what’s possible.
I love Jorge Valladares’ story because his experience shows that self-discovery, work, therapy and, yes, luck, finding people and programs that are committed to helping you become the best version of you possible, can make a difference.
To go from dropping out of high school at the end of the 9th grade to becoming a tenured professor and a small business owner later on in life is really impressive.
Overcoming any childhood trauma or learning barrier is difficult. Understanding how these past experiences and barriers can impact learning and relationships is the key to finding solutions and making things better for the person and the next generation.
I don’t know what difficulty you may have faced or trauma you may have experienced or, perhaps, are currently experiencing, but I need you to know that it is possible for you to overcome it.
Jorge Valladares’ story is proof of that.
Next week, be sure to read Part Two to find out the books that helped Valladares during his journey and the lessons he’s learned about starting late but finishing strong as an entrepreneur. #theskyisNOTthelimit
🌴 Enjoyed the article and want to get the newsletter emailed to you automatically? Subscribe!
🌴 Stay connected on social media: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
🌴 Thank you for supporting my independent Latina-created publication. Make it your best day yet! 😺