IAM599- CEO Enables Creation of Small Businesses

Juliana Cardona is the founder and CEO of Street Entrepreneurs. She is an inquisitive, passionate creator and organizer constantly working to drive action and local impact. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science and a minor in Communications and Latin American Studies from Florida Southern College. While in college, she spent time volunteering with 20 grassroots organizations in Florida, Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., the Philippines, Taiwan, and Mexico.

The service projects she undertook included installing solar bulbs in Manila with Liter of Light and mentoring children in Lakeland FL with Big Brother Big Sister. Juliana has received multiple awards for her service, including a United States Congressional Bronze Certificate. As well, Juliana has also been honored by being named a Diana Davis Global Good Fund Fellow, Ford Motor Company Global Scholar, Aspen Latino Institute Fellow, and Cologne Scholar.

Prior to starting Street Entrepreneurs, Juliana collaborated with the World Bank Group’s Information Communications Technology Community of Practice for Agriculture to design and support the first Agri-Hackathon program in Uganda.

• CEO Hack: Meditating in the morning and in the evening
• CEO Nugget: Don't wait for the perfect time or solution
• CEO Defined: Bringing an organization to life

Website: https://www.streetentrepreneurs.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/streetentrepreneurs/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StreetEntrepreneurs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/4SEntrepreneurs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/street-entrepreneurs/

Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place, Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Juliana of Street Entrepreneurs.

Juliana, it's great to have you on the show.

Juliana Cardona 0:39

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Definitely, the pleasure is all ours and what I want to do is read a little bit more about Juliana so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

Juliana is the founder and CEO of Street Entrepreneurs. She is an inquisitive, passionate creator and organizer constantly working to drive action and local impact. She graduated Summa laude with a BA in Political Science and a minor in communications and Latin American Studies from Florida Southern College. While in college, she spent time volunteering with 20 grassroots organizations across the world.

Juliana has received multiple awards for her service, including a United States congressional bronze certificate, as well who Jana has been honored by being named a Diana Davis Global Good Fund fellow, Ford Motor Company, Global Scholar and Aspen Latino Institute fellow, and a cologne scholar.

Prior to starting Street Entrepreneurs, Juliana collaborated with the World Bank's groups information communications technology community of Practice for Agriculture to design and support the first agri hackathon program in Uganda.

Juliana, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Juliana Cardona 1:45

Yeah, for sure.

Gresham Harkless 1:46

Awesome. All right. So the first thing I wanted to ask you is what I call your CEO story, and what made you get started with your business?

Juliana Cardona 1:53

So I really believe in creating a world where people with great hustle and talent have access to the education, capital, and networks, they need to solve the problems that matter to them. And what our organization does is create a credit funnel, right? We really believe that those three ingredients are key, and they should be the sole determinants of access. I am an immigrant, my parents came to this country and they had so much muscle and you know, just this the sheer passion of we'll figure it out. And they did you know, my mom didn't speak English and know the system, yet she found a way to pay the bills with entrepreneurship.

And it's that simple. So I recognize it all entrepreneurs that really drives me to drove me to start shrewd entrepreneurs. And I think whether you're helping kids with autism communicate using artificial intelligence, or you are starting a lifestyle company you can make the money you need and be the owner of your time. It doesn't matter, that same hustle was there. And you should have access to whatever it is you need to bring your vision to life.

Gresham Harkless 3:07

Awesome. Well, thank you very much. And I'll stop it here. Nice. I definitely appreciate you know, especially giving back to the entrepreneurial community, I feel like in somebody that creates more and more people that are creating things that start to create that kind of domino effect.

Juliana Cardona 3:22

Yes, for sure.

Gresham Harkless 3:24

Awesome. And what led you I guess, to start where did the idea for shoot entrepreneurs really come about?

Juliana Cardona 3:29

You know, I think I think it's been in me for quite some time. Um, I am an immigrant from Colombia. My family moved here when I was nine, we moved to Colorado for Collins. And my parents started a restaurant called Go GIS. And it went under post, a September 11, kind of economic crisis. And my mom being this, you know, fearless woman that had all the hustle in the world and would figure anything out, started a cleaning company to pay the bills. So this is a woman who doesn't know English and doesn't know the system, but she found a way to make money through to survive, right? So she was solving a problem for herself and for others by giving individuals a clean and peaceful home to come to and helping seniors who didn't have the means to do that for themselves.

So I had so much admiration for my mom and her capacity to figure things out. So fast forward a couple of years. I am working at the World Bank, as a consultant, and for me, that was just a dream job, quite frankly, you know, it was I was working for these brilliant people. And I was learning so much. And I, I just remember going into the office and passing by people who are experiencing homelessness, and wanting to support them. But not knowing how. So I just kind of started doing a little bit of research. And I figured out that, you know, a very high number, I think is up to 40% of homeless youth sell drugs to make ends meet. And the reasons they wind up on the streets are really beyond our control aging out of foster care getting kicked home for being gay.

So I wanted to work with these us to use, quite frankly, those skills to build legitimate businesses that would allow them to make enough money to get out of the shelter. So I saw, you know when I started, I really thought I was doing it for them. And later when I kind of kept asking myself why I realized that the reason I related and I cared is because I saw my mom's hustle in them. And then it evolved from there. So we had a retired corporate trainee show up to one of our trainings. And I asked him, Well, why are you here like, I've literally advertising homeless youth like, You're neither homeless and you're not in our youth. So while you have this really amazing teacher coming in to speak, and I want to, I just want to hear her. She was she was a sales teacher who charged quite a bit to do her training. And she was doing one of the costs for us.

So then I had other people who came because they hated their jobs. And yet others were not making enough. And some just really wanted to solve a problem, like, everyone wanted to help kids with autism communicate using artificial intelligence, and Jasmine wanted to create low carbon footprint shoes. So we completely got rid of any barrier to entry and said, if you have high talent and grit, and you have first-hand experience of the problem you're trying to solve, you're welcome. So what we see ourselves as kind of a group funnel, where people from all backgrounds are what's really sad is our welcome. And we have kind of tiered pricing to make things accessible. But what we really value is, is talent, and we define talent as a unique insight an individual has into a problem that only they can solve. Does that make sense?

Gresham Harkless 7:42

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I definitely appreciate you for breaking that down. And it's funny, I used to always say that I felt like entrepreneurship was hope. Because I think a lot of times, sometimes in just as you talked about with your mother, and you know, all the people that you worked with, and that you saw, you sometimes don't feel like there's a way out. And often having that entrepreneurial spirit or that mindset allows you to kind of create those opportunities. So I definitely, you know, appreciate you for sharing that. But on an even deeper level, obviously, you know, helping out so many other people helping yourself and as far as like making the overall world a better place.

Juliana Cardona 8:15

Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 8:17

Very, very welcome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. It could be for you personally, or it could be for your business and organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Juliana Cardona 8:27

So I think three things make our program unique, right? The first is that the education is really hands-on. And it's 30% content, 30% connecting with others, and 30% planning. The second thing is we accept founders of all business phases and industries, and then we place them into a cohort that is right for them. We go through the challenging exchange, where people typically connect with upwards of 10 people, we actually utilize, this technique that is really inspired by the Kiva method. That's an indigenous people facilitation technique from Southwest Texas. And that really harnesses people's experiences to create connections in a very practical and fast-paced way.

So, after the workshops, you know, it's up to the entrepreneur to stay connected, we simply kind of facilitate the connections. And then the last thing is, you know, we give people a platform to validate their ideas. It's through a page, right? So to have a successful business, you've got to be solving a problem for people right and there's a lot of assumptions that are made in this which is why we really want and then visual to have connection to that. So when they get on that stage, do you get to say okay, well is this just something that solving a problem for me? Or is it solving a problem for the wider community? A wider audience right to really get to kind of test that? Then, yeah, I could go on for a while. But I think I'll pause there.

Gresham Harkless 10:15

Awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So it could be like an app or a book or a habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Juliana Cardona 10:27

So the first is meditation. I meditate in the mornings, and I meditate in the evenings. And then sometimes I think about my personal reason, which is really creating a world where a person experiencing a problem has the access they need to solve it right.

So it's back to the nothing about us without our kind of mentality.

Gresham Harkless 10:49

Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your CEO, nugget, and that could be a word of wisdom, a piece of advice, or something you might say to your younger business self.

Juliana Cardona 10:59

So don't wait for the perfect time, or the perfect solution, the perfect plan, because it's just not going to come. I think now's a good time as I need to because now is the only time you have.

Gresham Harkless 11:17

Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote and quote, CEOs on the show.

So Juliana, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Juliana Cardona 11:28

The word itself is meaningless to me. Quite frankly, I think, if you were to ask me what it means to be, to lead a team, and to envision an organization and bring it to life now that has meaning, right? So I think there's great responsibility when people follow you, via a volunteer or an investor or a donor, or a team, right, they're believing in your vision, and they're believing in you to bring it to life. Right. And that, that to me, you know, has a deep responsibility, right? I don't believe in hierarchical management. Sure. There's, there's some structures where, where it works, right. But for the most part, I really like to have people own a piece of the puzzle and take accountability and responsibility for it.

So three things are three cultural aspects that I really want to build industry Entrepreneurs Organization, and I think the first is performance-driven, right? So it doesn't matter. You know, if, if you do it from home, if you do it from the office, if it takes you 20 hours, or if it takes you 50 Like I care that you, you get it done, you recruit the best lecturers who are deeply passionate about teaching entrepreneurs and skilled, right, you recruit on mentors and coaches, you find partners who can host our space, right? So like, that's what I care about. So I don't really care so much about, you know, the structure of it, but rather, you know, the performance.

The second piece of it is communications. So, we communicate a lot. So we have check-ins and checkouts. And I think the reason why I think that's important is because nobody leaves or works at home. Now, if your grandma was diagnosed with cancer, yes, it's going to impact your work. And yes, that is okay. And if your team knows, and they can better support you, right? And then the third thing is fun. Right? So ultimately, we, this is a beautiful mission. And, and we want to have fun while we're making it happen, right? And be kind to one another. So that's, yeah.

Gresham Harkless 14:20

Awesome. Well, thank you, I definitely appreciate that perspective and that definition, and how you kind of broke it down and manifests itself, obviously, in your day-to-day life, but also in your organization. So I truly appreciate that. I appreciate your time, even more.

What I wanted to do is pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and then of course, how best they can get a hold of you to find out more about the organization and all the awesome things you're working on.

Juliana Cardona 14:45

Yeah, of course. Um, so our applications for founder tweets are open right now. It's Friday through Sunday, Friday evening through Sunday. We scheduled it at this time because we might want to make access to work with people. There are scholarships and childcare assignments available for people who might be prevented from attending because of those barriers. All you have to do is apply. And after you're accepted, we'll have we'll have a conversation. The obligation of the scholarships is really simple. I just asked you to let me know how you're going to pay it forward to someone else. And that's it. So, yeah, I hope people apply and feel free to share Gresham, the podcast name as a partner code.

Gresham Harkless 15:47

Awesome. I will definitely have the link and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you. Do you have to be located in the DC area to apply?

Juliana Cardona 15:58

Yeah, in the DMV area.

Gresham Harkless 16:00

Okay.

Juliana Cardona 16:00

If you can make it to DC then you're welcome.

Gresham Harkless 16:03

Okay, perfect. I just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that as well too. But definitely appreciate you for sharing your story your mother's story and so many of the stories and people that you have affected we will have again the link and information in the show notes so that everybody can follow up with you.

But I appreciate you for your time and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Outro 16:21

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by Blue 16 Media tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE And leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless.

Thank you for listening.

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