151: The Value of Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Mentoring with Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Welcome back, everyone, to the Grad School Femtoring podcast. This is your host of Dra. Yvette, and today I have a special episode, all about the value of leadership, entrepreneurship and mentoring. We also have a special guest. Our guest today is Dra. Esmeralda Adame. She is a first generation student with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, a Master's degree in Business Administration, and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Dra. Adame is the founder and CEO at Consulting Firm LLC, where she supports organizations by assessing and improving company culture, business processes and efficiency. She also works on research and one of her passions is persistence in STEM- exposing the diversity of career opportunities and the importance of soft skills, networking and giving back. She's also a fellow podcaster and has her own podcast- Persistence In Adversity, which y'all should check out. We'll have her talk a little bit more about that a little later. But she does a lot of things, wears many hats. I'm really happy to have her. Welcome to the podcast Dra. Esmeralda.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yes, of course. I'm happy we could do this. I would love for you to get started the way that I have most folks get started. I want to hear more about you. I want to hear about your background, your backstory, and essentially everything that led to you becoming who you are and doing what you do- your current career path, entrepreneurship. I know that's a big loaded question, so whatever you're comfortable sharing about how you got to where you are.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Of course. I tell people that I am Mexican. I'm the youngest of 13. My mom brought myself and six other of my siblings over when I was seven to the United States, and we settled in Mission, Texas, right on the border of Mexico. We're ten minutes away from the border. Way further down. When I said RGV, or we say valley or South Texas, people think it's San Antonio. No, it's way further- four hours further down than San Antonio. And this is where I've been. This is where the story began.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I am excited, again, to be here and share a little bit about my story. When I also describe myself, I say that if I can do it, anybody can do it. So I rarely introduce myself as Doctor or Doctora, I really don't. The reason being that it's a title, right? And it was really hard to obtain. However, I like to say that I'm just Esmeralda. This short girl from Mexico that was again, brought over here and I had the privilege and honor to go to college, even though my mom and my dad really only graduated third and fourth grade. They really didn't expect much from us. They really wanted us to finish maybe high school and that was it.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

After that, I told my mom I don't want to go to college and she's like, what are you talking about? Te casas...te mantiene el marido, and that's it. No vayas a la escuela. That was her thing. She wanted me to just graduate high school and get married and my husband was gonna support me. Later on, she told me, mijita, I'm so glad you didn't listen to me. I'm glad that you went to college. I'm glad that you're responsible, that you will be able to support yourself and don't need to depend on anybody.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

But she got to see the value of education afterwards. But when we were there, younger, she was like, you know what? You're studying so much. Don't do it. It's too many hours. It's three in the morning. What are you doing? Go to bed. But that was engineering, right? I didn't have a life. Doing mechanical engineering was really- it was a hard choice, but I did it. I'm happy that I finished that. Would I do it again? I don't know.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

May I ask, what brought you to pursuing Mechanical Engineering as a Mexicana? That's not the first major you think of.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

When I told my dad that I was gonna go and be a mechanical engineer, he was like, mijita, pa que vas a componer carros? Porque quieres hacer eso? He thought I was gonna go fix cars.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

That's so funny.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

You see, they didn't know what it was, and it's not a lot. But again, being in the valley, being Mexican, being first female, you get to study here. You don't go away. You need to study whatever's here. I remember graduating and I told my mom- mom, I need a car. She's like, what for? I was like, I want to go to college. She had no idea what to answer. But you know, being the typical Hispanic, you know, familia, you throw and go all out in the quincineras, right?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

But now, you get to graduate high school. And guess what? I wanted a vehicle. But we grew up poor. We didn't know we were poor until- we didn't know. I mean, we thought that it was normal. You know, taking a shower, and then you're drying yourself and you're sweating already, because there's no AC.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I mean, I remember being young, and my mom was in food stamps. You know, we would walk everywhere. Now- because I live in the same area, and I tell my kids, from here, this way, we would come all the way to HEB here walking, and push the cart full of groceries back home. No way, all the way to grandma's? Yes, really. Then we would go all the way to the store and then come- because why? Because we didn't have a car. We had to walk everywhere.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

There was no such thing as eating out. It was something I saw on Facebook the other day, that growing up Hispanic or Mexican, you use the bread for hot dog bread, a hamburger bread, and its bad.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

We had to work with what we had, right? So again, we grew up with a lot of- didn't have much, but it was a happy childhood. And just going back to why I chose engineering- well, some of my brothers have been in construction. So I was kind of leaning to architecture. But again, because there's just no way you're going to leave the house if you're not married- you're not going to go away, much less for college- I had to choose from what was here, nearby. So I went to the local college, South Texas College, and I earned a degree in design, which was CAD (computer aided design) design.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

That gave me the opportunity to work, having a job at a local company, which is in house engineering. From there, that's when I got to see that the boss will come in on Fridays in his golf shorts, and sign and leave. And it was other people- a lot of other people doing work and things like that. Hey, I think I want to do that. And I liked it. So I decided, you know, I started look into engineering. There were options here at the local university, and it was about thirty, thirty-five minutes away.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

By that time I was already working, got to save money to buy my own car. That's when I said, you know what? I'm going to do engineering. There weren't many choices here. The one that I liked the most was mechanical, so I signed up for it- not thinking twice. Then after a while, I was like, oh, it is a really difficult career. Again, it's very hard. I tell people when I mentor now and they asked me, what do you recommend? Should I do engineering?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I tell them mechanical- from a one to ten is a fifteen. But it's not impossible. That's how it just ended up. Then I moved on later to work with an architectural firm, and got to deal and work with a lot of design, and work with engineers. And I liked it. I liked the fact that I was being part of something that was getting designed, something that was being part of- hey, I worked on that building. Or I remember working on that bus station, things like that. So it was really neat and I liked the fact that again, I was being part of something that was gonna stay there for generations.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Wow. The way that you've built up to share your story, it sounds like you're gonna tell me that you then kept going and moved your way up in the company. Because you started with the jobs and realized-oh, I like what he's doing, or I like that he comes in on Fridays. So how did you pivot from that to now- you're an entrepreneur.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Okay, yeah. Well, I worked there and then after I graduated college, I was asked by the Dean of the local college where I had gone to school- he called me up and said if I would like to teach you. He had a teaching an opportunity. I was like, heck no. I didn't tell him that, right, but I was like no, I don't think so. Because teaching was never a- not even. If you would have told me you know what? You're going to teach one day, you're gonna do this. I would have said- hell no. No. So I said, you know what? Let me take it. Let me take the opportunity. Let me teach for a year, because I knew I wanted to do a Master's.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

At this point, you had-

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I had just graduated college.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Wow, okay.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I was working full time, going to school full time. And back then- right now is twelve hours, full time. Back then, I was taking nineteen hours, seventeen hours with labs and so forth, working forty hours.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Wow.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

It was crazy chaos, right? Then I said, you know what? Let me try it for a semester or two before I do my Master's. I had interviewed with several companies, but I knew that the timing was not going to allow me to go to college. So I remember I started teaching one semester and I said you know what? I like this. Then after a year, eighteen years later, I'm still teaching at a local college. And I love it. I love what I do. I love teaching. I love being in the classroom. I love that I get to impact people, the students. I love that I get students. I see me in them, you know, way back when I was green, and I had no idea.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

When I was- I can only say I was poor. You know, I had to miss school a lot of times because I didn't have gas. I had to miss classes at college because there was no ride. I had to miss- a lot of times, days with one meal a day. And this is how our students right now are showing up to the classroom.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

So I see that. I get to encourage them, say, you know what? I was where you're at. I was there. Please don't give up. Don't give up on your dream. Keep going. Keep moving forward. So going back, when I was doing a Master's in 2008, my husband tells me- he would tell me all the time. It's time for you to start your own business. Why don't you start a consulting firm? People charge for everything that you do.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

You do a lot of mentoring in the community. You do a lot of mentoring at church, at work, everywhere. He goes, you do so many things. You should start your consulting firm. Do this, do that. And I was like later, later, later. It's just that I wanted to give back, right?

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yes.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

You fast forward, during the pandemic, I said, you know what? I think it's time. So in 2020- well it was started in 2019. I started thinking, finally. So I got to do my LLC, which is consulting firm, LLC. The podcasting thing actually came- the idea came in 2017 when I graduated my doctorate. I was blessed enough to have a doctorate. I never had imagined that I would be a doctor ever, ever. That was not in my dreams at all.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Because I didn't even know what a Master's was. You know, being Mexican, being Hispanic, I had no idea. I knew I wanted to become an engineer, and that's it. To me, the top of the mountain was to become an engineer. When I reached age twenty-four, and I've becoming the engineer, I'm like, okay, now what?

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I feel I'm young, but I had never been exposed to anything else. Never been exposed to nothing. When I was there about to graduate, a professor came in and spoke about a Master's degree. That's when I said, maybe I can do that. I'll think about it. Then just thought about it for a couple of days, and I said, you know what? I'm gonna sign up. I think I want to do it. I think I can. That's how I ended up registering for the Master's. I ended up teaching at the local college.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Then you fast forward again- 2017, I start meeting with one of my mentors, and I tell her that, hey, I want to write a book. This is the idea that I have for the book, and this is another idea for a book. She was the one who said, no, you need to become a podcaster. You need to start a podcast. And I kept saying, no, I want to write a book. So I would meet with her weeks later, and she's like podcast. And I was like book. Then again, she'd be like podcast, and I'd be like, no, book. So that's how it started.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

You move over another year, then I started cleaning my office during the pandemic. That's when my notes started the book. You know what? I'm going to start writing away. So I start writing away, and I hit the notes where it says podcast. I said, you know what? This is the time to do it. I just started - buy the equipment, started doing the whole thing, started recording people, had the whole thing. That's how the podcast started.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

And the book is still there in the process. But now it's been almost two years with the podcast, and the book is there. With the doctorate in leadership, I get the opportunity to do a lot of coaching, a lot of helping other people. Just sharing my story. I'm not saying- because people see me. It's like, oh, you're so smart. You do this, you do that. Honestly, I just say, you know what? Maybe I have titles. Maybe I did school. Maybe I did that. And yes, I've gone through struggles. I've done that. But I like to share my story. My story is simple. First generation, didn't speak a word of English. And now I'm doctor. Guess what? It's not impossible. Let me help you get there. Really, that's my short story.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

I love that. So actually, today you're here to talk about some of the things that overlap. You said that you got your MBA degree, and then you got your PhD, or doctoral degree, I should say, in educational leadership. So leadership, entrepreneurship, and then also mentoring. Can you tell us about kind of why these topics are so valuable, so meaningful to you, aside from the fact that you have degrees in these topics too?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Of course, thank you. I think they overlap. You said the key word overlap, and I think they do. I think before I even became a mom, I was already a Sunday school teacher. I want to kind of help out. My heart is in the community. My heart is helping others, and I kind of felt like I was lacking mentors.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Same.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I was lacking guidance. I lacked the leadership. I didn't have that person to look up to, to say, I'm going to be like that person. Or that person that took me by the hand, or kind of would advise me- I didn't have that. So I want to make sure that my kids, that your kids, that everybody's kids have that. I think we have a duty as community members. We have a duty to give back. We have a duty to lead. We need to guide, we need to mentor.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

We can't just be complaining- oh, this new generation Z- whatever generation we're in now- like, oh, they're always on their cell phone. They're always doing this. They lack the soft skills. Guess what? Let's stop complaining, and let's help them. Let's equip them with what they need. Maybe that's all they know, you know. Maybe they don't know any better. I want to make sure that I teach and share the story to leaders in the community. Say, you know what? Let's take them by the hand, and maybe it's gonna take a day or two. Some are gonna take longer than others.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

But I want to make sure that when I get old- hopefully not anytime soon, that that nurse, that that doctor that takes care of me has those- not just the doctor skills, right, but the people skills. That he cares about the patients, that he cares about me. That he takes care of me, like I was the mom or the grandma, you know what I mean? They need to have that heart to do a little more than just their job. I want people to have the job- not just the profession, but I want them to choose the job that fills them. I want them to work- not only with their mind and their hands, but also with their heart. That's where this mentoring, leadership, guiding thing, coaching came about, because I feel that we're lacking that right now.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I mean, I have kids. I have a lot of nephews and nieces. I see kids in the community and the church where I serve. In a lot of places that I work with a lot of young people, they're lacking a lot of these things. And guess what? Maybe nobody has taken the time to literally teach them. So we need to take the time to be mentors, to be leaders, because we're getting ready to retire sometime soon, or maybe later. But they need to have what it takes to lead. They need to be able to again, to lead not just with their skills, you know, what they went to school for. But they need to lead with the heart. Know their why, find their passion, find their purpose and go with that and be happy. We know that. Research shows that happy employees don't mind staying the extra fifteen minutes. They don't mind going the extra mile. So I want everybody that I coach and lead and guide to be where they want to be, to be where they're flourishing. I guess have their dream job, that way they can be great at it.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah. I mean, I know that it's such a privilege to be able to mentor others. In my experience, not only is there a lot to teach them, but there's also so much to learn from them too, especially if they're of a different generation.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Yes yes. We don't know. I know I'm not on Tiktok. I barely got Intagram the other day. And they would tell me, you know, old folks are in- the viejitos are in Facebook. But of course. We learn from each other. There's a lot of things that you know that I don't know, and vice versa. Don't ever- anybody who's listening out there- don't feel like oh, I know it all. No, we learn every day. We live and learn. There's that saying, that sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. And you know what to do, what not to do, how to do it faster. So I love helping companies and teams and people go to the next level in leadership.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yes. Speaking of leadership, actually, I am curious to learn- because I knowthere might be folks listening in the audience who want to strengthen their leadership skills. I've heard of students who will say that if they didn't have any opportunities to get involved in any extracurriculars or anything like that, that they are lacking that leadership skills or they're wanting to learn more. So how did you learn leadership skills?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Honestly, there's that saying, right? I am not bossy, I am the boss. Or you see kids when when they're playing and you see oh, that's the bossy one. No, those are leadership skills already- that little girl or that little boy have already. I don't know, I think it's just when I started contemplating doctorate degrees, I got stood out. I got stood out -the education leadership, because I had been in education already for fourteen plus years. And leadership- I always like to speak up. I'm not one to stay quiet. I'm one to- hey, if I don't have a seat at the table, I'll make my own table. I'm one to speak for those that don't have a voice.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

And I said, you know what? I think I want to have a leadership degree. Kind of to go with the stuff that I was doing already, because I was doing a lot of things in the community, doing stuff here and there. I said, I want this leadership degree to kind of back me up on everything that I'm doing. And it does. It kind of puts a seal, right? Like when I got all the speaking things- I've been speaking forever. I tell people that I've been speaking, you know, engagements and being a guest speaker here and there for nineteen years. Now I'm charging, right, I'm getting paid for it. But the experience is a lot. So I earned and I received my John Maxwell certification. So with that, again, it kind of puts a seal on what you're doing.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Can you tell folks who may not be familiar with the certification what that is?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Sure. John Maxwell is a very known author, Christian- based author, that provides his leadership seals, or these leadership trainings. It's just speaking. Even though it's through Christian education, it also gives you, really, leadership. And we're talking about time management, leadership, and all that. That goes and applies everywhere. It can be in your personal life, anywhere. Because honestly, if you want to be a leader, the first person that you lead is yourself. So you need to learn self discipline, and how to manage yourself, your time and so forth. Then you can lead others, right? That's what this is about. If you need more information, you can check out my website.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

But it's just something that, I guess, filled me, that fills me. It was 2014 ish, around there. I said, one day, I think I want to earn that certification. I would really like to impact more people- not just my little circle. So that's why the podcast started also. I think I can impact more people- not just here, not just in the US, but all over the world. I don't like to limit myself, and I feel that those topics we talk about, the things that we do, and the things that I help with. I felt sometimes that I was mentoring- for example, a student would come by or I would get a call from somebody. They would tell me oh, can you talk to my neighbor's nephew? Sure.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I mean, just out of the blues and I didn't mind. So we're there, I would talk. Then another person would call me, and I felt I was repeating myself a lot of times- that same thing. I said, I want to start the podcast. I want to start a YouTube channel. I want to do this Facebook thing where I can just record what we're talking about, and it can impact more people at the same time. So again, leadership, I think is something that is very important, that our new generation needs- everybody needs. And again, you don't need to have a title to be a leader. You don't have to be in charge to be a leader. It comes at every level in management. Regardless of your industry, you need to be able to lead and guide others.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah, that's so true- especially if you plan to move up in your career. At some point, you're gonna be working with others, and you will be in a position to lead. So thank you for that.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Yes.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

The other thing that's coming up has to do with entrepreneurship, which we both have this in common. But I have had people approach me to ask, do I need to get an MBA? How did you learn about entrepreneurship, or what advice do you have for someone who wants to get involved? And I tell them, first of all, I'm still learning the process myself. Second of all, I don't have an MBA so I can't tell you whether or not it is necessarily the right thing for you to get an MBA, because I don't have that experience. So I'm curious from from your position, as someone who does have that degree, and you have had this kind of entrepreneurial background a little longer than mine, so you have more experience. How did you learn about entrepreneurship, and what kind of advice would you give to someone who is interested in learning more?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Of course. I think that's a very interesting question, because there's a lot of people, especially young girls. I know when I do mentoring for teenagers or even junior high level, they always ask, how can I be my own boss?

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

How can I do this? How can I open my own company? And I tell them that everybody's different. Everybody's different. There's different ideas, and never to give up. Sometimes you have this great idea and then you need money for it. Then you go out there and do it, invest- it doesn't work. And sometimes, you have this other idea and it goes crazy and it's selling a million dollars the first year. Now, you do not need an MBA, of course. You're proof of that. You don't need it. Does it have more weight? Well, not necessarily. I know a lot of entrepreneurs that didn't even go to college. They just had the ganas to do it. I know a lot of business owners that are really successful, that were high school dropouts or college dropouts.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Again, it just depends what you're doing, what you're selling. Are you selling a product? Are you selling a service? What is it that you're doing? And just give it all you got. Again, if you're doing what your passion is, you're going to be successful. Find your why. Find your passion and just go with it, and you're going to be successful. You don't need an MBA. Of course, it's a plus. You don't need all these degrees. If this is what you're doing, and you're great about it, you're passionate about it, and you're again, great at it- it's going to succeed, regardless of degrees or not.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

So how did I get into it? Again, it was just more of - I want to help others, I want to help others. I actually help people with business startups as well. And I share my story. I tell them, okay, you could do this, you can do this, or you could do that. I am not a business analyst. I am not a business advisor, by all means. I just kind of share my story, and that's how I start my business advice in mindset. I tell them what worked for me and how it works. I guide them to okay, this is where you go. This is how much you need to invest, and so on. And we go from there.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Now, enterpreneurs- can anybody be an enterpreneur? Yes and no. You just need to have, I guess, what it takes. What does it take? Well, consistency, right? You need to be persistent. Because a lot of times, people go into business, and they want to start making money the first month- no. If you do any of the business classes, they tell you that you need to go into that business with expecting no return in two years. I also advise people that- you know that phrase, don't put all your eggs in one basket? Try to do diversify. I know I am a believer of different sources of income. Find what's right for you, what works.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

And sometimes you might want to go at it alone. Sometimes you want to have investors. Sometimes you want to have business partners. But know that even if it's you and a really close friend of yours, or even if it's a family member, everything needs to be written. Everything that you do needs to be in an agreement. But entrepreneurship is something that- it might sound scary to some. But it's not- just do it. Again, just find what it is that you want to do. Find your niche, and you will succeed.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

That's great. That's great advice. I also want you to touch a little bit more on mentoring too, because that is critical to this podcast too- mentoring, femtoring. So what happened- your experiences with mentoring, or even being a mentee or a mentor- how have these experiences shaped you?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I think mentoring is very important. Honestly, I have not done the research of when this started, or when did the buzzword come about- mentoring. But I think we kind of knew before what it was. Again, I honestly didn't have mentors. But if I can tell you, I can point out three. I cannot even fill out one hand of the people that really had an impact on me. One of them was my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Lopez. He was there and he was really encouraging. He knew that my first language language was not English. He would encourage me. After that was Dr. Bagley in college. He was amazing. He would really encourage- he was one of my engineering teachers. Then later on in my doctorate, another professor.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

But when I started in finishing my doctorate degree, I looked back and I said, how is it that I've gone to school so many years and I cannot even fill out one hand? Why?

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

We're doing something wrong. I mean, we're entrusting our kids to be at school all day. Our kids spend more time at school than they do with us at home. They come home and then dinner, then homework and shower, go to bed. And yet, they're not- again, I have this saying that I say, that a lot of teachers- ninety, ninety-five percent of teachers- are teachers for three reasons. I don't know if you know what they are Yvette. But three reasons- June, July and August. It sounds very funny. But honestly, it is. What they want? The summers off.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

It's actually funny, but it's actually sad on the other side of the coin, because they're not doing their passion. Because again, why is it that- I mean, I can see it on my kids. I can see who the amazing teachers are. I can see who are the teachers to just kind of go by, who are just there for a paycheck.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

It's the only thing they could find, or there was nothing else because nothing else interested them when they were going to college. And I don't blame them. A lot of them, especially the elementary teacher, which is supposed to be the basic, a foundation for kiddos forever, right? They are supposed to be teaching every subject, and they're not. They're experts in English, they might be experts in math. They might be experts in one subject matter, yet they're required to teach all the subjects.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

You know what I mean? So there's something wrong here. Not just that, again. But I know my research, which is persistence in STEM, says that we need to expose young girls- or everybody right, but my focus was girls. We need to focus our kids and expose them to STEM since second grade. What happens if there's one child- your child, Dr. Yvette, or my child goes through elementary with not having one single professor or teacher whose focus is math, or focus is science.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

They could care less about teaching my child. Of course, research shows that the lower the socioeconomic status, the less likely students are going to pursue STEM. If the parents were not in STEM, they're not going to pursue STEM. And so many other statistics that I can share out there. But point is, it's the foundation. It's a foundation to start them as low as second grade, and they're not. So if they don't have those mentors, if they don't have those role models, if they don't have those people pushing- you know, I didn't have them. I didn't have them.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

So that's when I realized, again, when I was doing my doctorate, I said, how is it that I only had three people that were really, that had an impact on me. I wish- I mean, I don't know who's out there. I'm still having to have a person who can come to me and tell me I had- oh here's five, six, seven-none of them. You know what I mean? It's actually something that we need to change. And again, I kind of took it upon myself to say, you know what?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I'm going to be that mentor. I'm going to be the mentor to whoever I can. I'm going to be the mentor to those young girls that need it. I want to be that mentor to those young people, the young men that are so lost. They're eighteen, and they feel frustrated. I know I gave a speech at a church the other day, and I asked- because they invited me for Rey Eterno Church for graduation. And I said a question when I started my speech. I said, what do we think about when we hear graduation? What came to your mind Dra. Yvette?

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

When I think about graduation?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

When you just hear the word graduation.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Oh, just pride. Just what an accomplishment, a happy day. Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Happy day. Everybody's gonna say, party, balloons, cake, celebration, and all these things, right. I was focusing on high school- that moment, because there was high school graduates there. And that's not what's going through their head. Their heads going- decision making. I'm gonna go to college. Oh, my God, I'm freaking out. Nobody else has gone to college. All my friends are going out. My friends are going to UT State, they're going all these things. I have no idea what I'm going to study. What should I major- should I major in this, should I major in that? Or what if- and I tell them you're not married to your career.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

But we need to be- as parents- we need to be aware of everything that goes in there young kids minds.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Where- hey, it's not what they're thinking. They're thinking all these things, decisions. And it's really hard. So I think the mentors need to be at every level. And we need to have mentors, Dra. Yvette, on every stage of our life. I mean, I have my spiritual mentors. I have the mentors that I looked up to that have been moms for a long time, that I will call. I mean, these are older ladies from church. I have mentors that I talk to in leadership. I have mentors- now I know that I need them. Now I know how essential they are. Now I know who they are, and I can pinpoint and I can go out there.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

A lot of times they're not- I might say, oh can you be my mentor? No, a lot of times you know what? It's just a question, a phone call, a text. Sometimes you're like, you have time for lunch? Can we do brunch? You know I need you to guide me on this. Or what do you think about this? What do you think? And that's it. It doesn't have to be where you're meeting with this mentor every day or a monthly meeting. No, we need to go out there. If you're listening out there and you don't have mentors, you need to go out there and mentor and find mentors.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

A lot of times, people- they won't mind answering questions. I mean, I'm not saying go out there and find a coach and pay for one. If you can afford it, amazing, because I know I've got parents that call me and they pay me to mentor their kiddos once a month, weekly sessions. But a lot of times I know who needs it. I know who needs to hear it, and that's why I do my sessions. That's why the podcast's there. You know what? That's why this podcast is here- the work that you're doing Dr. Yvette. Hopefully somebody is out there listening and will benefit- for sure. Not just one but many. So we need to go out there and find mentors and be a mentor to others.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yes, I cannot agree more. We're getting close to wrapping up. So I wanted just to ask you, if you have any other closing words of advice, or what kind of advice would you want to share to a first gen student who might be figuring out what their next steps are? You know, they're maybe graduating or recently graduated from college or thinking about their last year in college. Or maybe they're someone- because I have a mix of undergrads and grad students- maybe they're in grad school, and they're trying to figure out the next step in their career after graduating. What kind of advice would you give them? Or it could be related to entrepreneurship. It could be related to an interest in leadership. Any closing remarks or advice that you want to share?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Yes, of course. I would love to actually. I know you said at the end- leadership or entrepreneurship. You know what? You can do anything you want. Dr. Yvette here, myself, we're first generation. What can I tell you? Again, I tell people when they meet me- they're like, oh, I I thought you were different. You know, because I'm really short. I'm like, what did you think? I was taller? But point is, you know what? If I was able to do it, you can do it too. Please- I know it sounds cliche when we say reach for the stars. But it's really true.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

One of my close mentors, good friends, he mentioned to me one day and said, your goals should scare you. And I wish I would have heard that years ago, because I was only limiting myself to what I thought I could do.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yeah.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

So change your mindset. Go as high as you can. Don't limit yourself to just a Bachelor's. Don't limit yourself to just a Master's. Don't limit yourself to a doctorate. And it's not for everybody. Sometimes you want to flourish, and you find your why. You realize that you're going to be your own boss, then you're gonna flourish there. And sometimes- you know what? If right now you just recently graduated, you want to get married and have a family. Great for you. You know, there's always room and time for everything.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

I know I tell people that I wear many hats. Yes, I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a mentor. I do leadership trainings. I'm a college professor. I'm an engineer. I'm a mom and so many things out there that I do. Guess what? You can do all these things. Don't think that because you chose engineering, you're going to be stuck doing that. Or because you chose mentoring, you're gonna choose that. Or because you chose the medical field- no, you can go out there and do everything you want, and anything you want. Again, don't limit yourself.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Find mentors. Ganas and persistence will get you anywhere. And I'm honestly here, reach out to me if you have a quick question. Anything that I can help with, I will be happy to help you. And we need more Hispanics.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

All right.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

We need more Hispanics out there to pursue their education, to become entrapreneurs, to be more of the inventors- someone out there to do more. Right? Regardless of your race, regardless of gender, regardless of what you think you're doing, don't listen to other people. Don't listen to the negativity. Again, my mom was like, mijita, para que estudias? No. You go and do it. Again, I wish I knew what I know now twenty years ago. And didn't. Again, the only thing I thought I could do was become an engineer and that was only limiting myself. So go out there and conquer.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Yes, yes. Thank you so much for everything that you've shared. I know you mentioned that if folks want to reach out to you, they can. For folks who have resonated, who may want to be in touch, how can they reach you?

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Yes, please reach out. I'm on Instagram with the Persistence in Adversity podcast. I also have a Facebook page- same thing, Persistence in Adversity. You can reach to my personal email or my website, www.EsmeraldaAdame.com. Again, it's my first name, last name dot com. I do services in English, services in Spanish, and a quick phone call, a zoom, anything. I'm serious. Maybe we can do some sort of live with Dr. Yvette and myself.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Aw, that'd be great.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Any of you that want to get out there, maybe we can start a sort of mentoring group. I know I do have a mentoring circle, actually, before I forget. You can find it also on my page, and it's just made up of entrepreneurs, business owners, dentists, psychologists, chemists, realtors and a lot of different community members who are out there. They have their email, contact information is there. You can reach out to them for anything. Let's go out there, and again, conquer the world. Let's conquer our circle and do more for the community. Let's give back and please please never give up.

Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu

Thank you so much Dra. Esmeralda Adame. It has been such a pleasure having you.

Dra. Esmeralda Adame

Thank you. Thank you for having me.