That Big Hairy Audacious Dream: go for it!

Have you had a dream, personal or professional that seemed out of reach? What not me, never! (ha, ha, yes!). Have you been trying and trying, and it's still a dream? Well, I have a story that might help you get inspired to persevere. And in my own way, gonna have a couple of tips to help you achieve these dreams, things that help me keep going. As my father always used to say, "sempre avanti!"

"sempre avanti!"

I accomplish something last week. It’s also a collective accomplishment of an ongoing movement to be more equity into the Angel investment world. I felt all the feels, the elation of being recognized for good work, the stress of almost 300 people voting for you, praying for no knees in the audience, and all A’s, It’s fitting the responsibility of so many women working so hard over the last 20 years to Angel invest in the right companies at the right time with the right product-market fit and founder market fit that people stand up and recognize that we make good decisions, we can lead organizations that empower, equip and educate other angel investors, and we deserve a seat at the table. I was going to write about something else this week, something about data analysis or trends in an economic market that’s hurting all of us, I’m an academic and a scientist, so sharing what I learn and what I constantly analyze, it’s totally my jam. But the reason why I started this newsletter was to bring more vulnerability to my community, bring my whole self into light, and give insight into the day-to-day thoughts and experiences of a uniquely intersectional woman leader, who is on a journey to bring massive value to her ecosystem. So, I’m diving in, and pausing a bit to reflect on an accomplishment, a big hairy audacious dream I didn’t even know I had when I started being an angel investor 10 years ago, and how the stream is part of a larger community of dreamers, creators, and investors who dream the dream and go for it.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.?

The peaks and valleys of my angel investment journey over the last 12 years have shown me how resilient I can be, how strong my community is, and how it’s never a sprint, but micro-moments of connection, of collaboration, co-investments, of syndication, with the right values-aligned investors, make all the difference in the world.

When reaching for a dream, these phases can be taken: (1) awareness & education, (2) deeper dives, (3) connections, (4) building networks of trust, (5) hyper engagement and (6) dream accomplished!

Here is my marathon with ACA, always showing up, elevating the entire community as we all invest together, and setting dreams to focus towards.

2022 :: DREAM FULFILLED ACA Summit in Atlantic City, NJ with a new position on the board, it was all about board duties now

2021 :: DEEPLY CONNECTED Fall Forum in Philadelphia. This special time together, created for an easy transition from sweatpants to jackets & deeply connected with the new ACA Cohort.

2019 :: HYPER ENGAGEMENT :: ACA Summit in Chicago. It was time to bring our team to ACA, so we had Briana and Ana attend to get a sense and experience of an inviting angel?investing event and I was able to champion the amazing Orianna Bretschger, founder & CEO of Aquacycl, for the stage, as she was a finalist nominee for the innovation award. Such a meaningful time to advocate for and showcase another STEM women leader?

2018 :: BI-COASTAL CONNECTIONS :: There was an energy in Boston of education and connection that was palatable. in these instances, take a seat on the rocket ship and watch it blast off with opportunities.

2018 :: SYNDICATION IS SENSATIONAL :: Investing locally allows you to build trust bridges other co-investors can feel your energy.

2018 :: PAY FORWARD TO SOUTHWEST :: Micro events in specific areas needing more investors is a great way to gain testimonials & your traction.

2017 :: GENDER LENS INVESTING :: Always love going to women’s investor events to connect with colleagues, engage with the researchers doing gender lens investing research and always hustling co-Investment opportunities into amazing women-led deals. Deepening connections is how the best syndication sparks and then there is the alignment of my investment thesis from day 1:?invest in women-led and BIPOC-led great startups with high returns, lucrative markets, interesting innovation, a solution that serves a need of their customers, and impact baked into their DNA. Yes, you can have significant returns intersecting impact, innovation, and gender. Always.?

2016 :: LOCAL NETWORK UPLEVELED :: SoCal is a hotbed for innovation and investment, and the angel investors are also ecosystem builders and connectors. I alwasys loved getting together at The Cove to talk and discuss local trends, locally grown entrepreneurs who were being supported by angel groups like OSEA Angels, Pasadena Angels, TCA (now NuFund Venture Group), and others. We are SoCal bright and strong.

2015 :: INNOVATION X INVEST x DATA :: The Halo Report on Angel Investing and Startup Trends just came out and eveyone was super excited & talking about trends, historical data and what's next in the innovation space.

2015 :: AWARENESS & EDUCATION?:: I made my first investment in 2013 into Antiva Biosceinece (formerly known as Hera Therapeutics) after taking 37 angels investor bootcamp and pipeline angels program for aspiring angel investors. I knew that an Angel investor looks like me. But I yearned for ongoing education and more connections to learn as much as I could - I was a sponge!!! ACA summit was in my back yard and I was blessed to learn from locals and nationwide experts like Catherine Mott. Fintech was on fire and the women angel investor network was growing.

INISIGHTS to get to that dream:

Now hearing about a living example of the grind to get your dream accompished. It's so worth jumping in with both feet. So here are a couple of insights I have come up with over years of consulting startups, a great combo of servant leadership frameworks, great leadership qualities, and constant improvement.

? Never give up

A large dream is most probably not attainable in the short term, it’s a long haul. Formulate your why around that dream, make it a tangible dream to go after by chunking it down into phases, tranches, goals, milestones,

Pick any word to help you stay motivated and never to give up the good fight. Never give up. Sometimes you have to allow for it to pivot, grow or evolve because of seasons in your life. For instance, when I started angel investing, I didn’t?have the dream of being part of the board of the ACA, but my dream was to be a leader in the angel investing world, to teach investors, to lead data analysis on the space, to ideate on how to democratize the industry for more diversity across the investor table. When I deemed the dream, as it fully fleshed out that it was a board seat? Not exactly. I just knew I wanted to have a seat at a table of influence for advocating for this asset class. I stayed the course of always learning more, leading in small ways like helping a local event or pitch prepping founders, speaking on panels, stepping in to give a seminar or help a fellow colleague of mine to her or his thing in their Angel group. But I never gave up, I stayed the course to learn to be a better leader amongst leaders of the ecosystem, that’s a tall order, but I thrived and I loved it. I wanted to impact more and thus, the dream became more fully formed until this opportunity was awarded to me. So honored and I am so glad I never gave up.?

? Dare to dream it?

Fear is typically what separates our current state and the dreams or goals we have. I have tons of fear, hesitation, and “what if’s”, and these thoughts take over our thoughts surrounding?abundance. I find abundance is a larger than life theme that I have had to really wrap my head around especially from a house that rationed chocolate chips in cookies because they were expensive and we might run out, froze milk so that we could have it if it ran out in the grocery store, sewing my own clothes, and only getting sundaes at McDonald’s in Venezuela because the meals were too expensive. So I took on this motto, “dare to dream it” to use my fiery personality, the rebel inside of me to dare to do something I thought was too out of my reach, dreams. The entire book of Brené Brown, Daring Greatly, I have read and re-read so I could have a framework and inspiration to dare my dreams. I had to convince myself to care enough that my dreams are valid. So, after chasing those dreams and learning a ton along the way, I give you full permission to DREAM that hairy audacious dream with abandonment, daring (SEE IF YOU CAN DEFINE IT HERE) is about caring enough about yourself and your thoughts to step out of your comfort zone and put on a new pair of confidence shoes, lacing them up carefully with every milestone or loophole you are threading through (because I feel Iike most times I am threading through small itty bitty holes that barely fit through to gain a new perspective and then just weave some more.?

? Surround yourself with champions?

Find and surround yourself with champions, as in people who believe in you and your awesomeness. There have been so many champions in my life, some whom bridged huge valleys in my life. My mom has been my unconditional champion my entire life, but my sister, is my super champion, always showing me unconditional love and caring at a very elementary level has always caused me to be even more grateful for the people and opportunities in my life. Dr. Tom Lee saw in me what I could never see in me and with his wife and family extended family and caring in unsurmountable ways. Dr. Wolf Berger whom I was blessed to work with on his dream project, a k12 sand kit to teach students/kids about geology through the raw observations of sand. This was at a time of having 2 kids under 3, one being special needs and having to be at Children’s Hospital 3 x a week, before it was cool to give people unlimited time off and embody empathy in work-life balance, he extended this to me. He was a champion of mine. All the Stella team whom exude a willingness to learn, grow together, champion each other’s strengths, and build a conSTELLAtion of entrepreneurs and investors.?Champions of each other, champions of the good work we do, champions of the collective progress or a more equitous venture table. Champions will walk alongside every piece of your dream you achieve and be at the summit when that dream comes true.?

? Show Up

I can't emphasize this enough. Being present and showing up is a huge gift to yourself and others when you are building a dream that is bigger than yourself. Magic happens when you truly show up for someone for moral support during a keynote, being the impromptu photographer of someone getting an award, making yourself available during our colleagues' huge event just because you know there is always another set of hands needed, texting someone when you think of them, and I can go on and on. However, the most important this is to take action on those feelings and insights to be able to rise to THEIR occasion and show up for them massively. Sometimes, though, for those introverted people, is to pick them up and take them out to coffee or PAUSE during a workweek and other go on zoom or invite out a friend who really needs you. Communicating needs is extremely vulnerable, so make it easy for them, show up and be available for those impromptu convos that shape new goals, take ideas and turn them into ventures, and show gratitude for being invited into their vulnerability to share.

? Be yourself?

Be authentically you when it comes to that dream you want to go after because it is the product of your wishes, typically your most thought after inner feelings of belonging, so the more you are yourself, the easier the dream will be to obtain. This does not mean a frilly, be yourself, light touch of whom you want other people to think you are. BE your own self, your strengths sharpen your impact, your shadows and awareness of them make you more relatable and coachable, your energy attracts the champions who multiple your being, and your essence is an embodiment of your past, present and future. I am intersectional, a mom, latinx, entrepreneur, investor, friend, prayer warrior, sister in Christ, aunt, wife, daughter, friend, shaped by my violent past, grinding present and *hopefully* more peaceful future.?

? Confidently work on what makes you, YOU

This is part of the dream is tough, because sometimes you feel like working on yourself is frivolous and not important, but the most shiny and glittery and powerful dreams can only be AMAZING if you keep on honing your craft, your own essence and increase your energy that attracts the prices of the drew together.?Noodle on it because no one has your perspective, experience and personality.?

? Be gracious?

This is an outward and inward tip for perusing your dreams. Be gracious to yourself if you don’t make a milestone or you have to pivot. Be gracious to others as they support your dream and aspirations.?

? Put in the Work

Every good dream needs good work to go into it. Yes, there are times that luck kicks in, but putting in the work to mold the dream that fits yourself, your goals, your career, personality, family dynamics and needs, is the dream worth pursuing. Good work pays off in high dividends that you don’t even know when you start the investment in yourself.?

? And when you arrive, stand in your own power

• I wanted to honor all for what women who can before me, so I wore that day, a bold symbol of women, a bright pink jacket, also in honor of one of the investors I look up to, from Dymynd Angels, Carolyn Leonard , who wore her pink jacket proudly and boldly on the stock exchange floor when she was the only women there.
• When I stand on a stage, I stand there confidently on the shoulder of greats - the women who came before me to pave the way - and I feel their presence - I pray for them - and I feel not alone because I know I stand there with all of my community around me who has supported me and each other through thick and thin. It is not a sign of weakness or non-confidence, quite the opposite, a sign of strength, courage and confidence rooted in community, collaboration and legacy.?

Your big audacious goal is YOUR LEGACY, so own it right now, work hard to get there, do good work, build trust, connect communities, bring progress, and make massive impact!