Adriana Ocampo Senior, Business Consultant

05/23/2026

𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙄 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 '𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚' 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩.

That gap between adoption and results is exactly where I spend my time. The businesses I work with don't have dedicated AI teams or seven-figure tech budgets. What they have is operational complexity, tight margins, and leaders who are done waiting for a perfect plan.

According to Thryv's May 2025 survey of 540 small business decision-makers, 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟭𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟰𝟳% 𝘁𝗼 𝟲𝟴% in a single year. That is a fast-moving window. But adoption is not transformation. Clicking "subscribe" on a tool is not a strategy.

The operators seeing real results start with one question: where is waste bleeding us right now? AI layered on top of a broken process just automates the chaos. AI built into a clean, Lean-informed workflow creates a compounding advantage.

That is the difference between spending on AI and investing in it.

Which part of your operation do you think could benefit most from AI right now, and what has held you back from acting on it? Drop it in the comments.

If you are navigating this for your business and want a grounded starting point, send me a DM. Happy to think it through with you.

05/22/2026

𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙮.

Most leaders think they have a performance problem. They actually have a trust problem.

When people stop trusting their leader, they stop surfacing problems early. They start performing compliance instead of commitment. And by the time the numbers show it, the damage is already serious.

According to Gallup's Q2 2025 research, 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟯𝟮% 𝗼𝗳 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, and the cost of that disengagement now runs approximately $2 trillion in lost productivity nationally. That is not a culture slogan problem. That is a leadership behavior problem.

Transcendent Leadership, the 10 principles of integral transformation framework, puts trust at the center, not as a value you post on a wall, but as a daily practice: feedback given with honesty and care, accountability modeled from the top, and decisions explained rather than just announced.

The leaders I see turn their teams around fastest are not the ones who arrive with all the answers. They are the ones who make it safe to bring the real problems to the table.

Where does trust feel fragile on your team right now, and what is one behavior you could change this week to strengthen it?

=

05/21/2026

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙐.𝙎. 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨; 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙.

Only 5% of food wasted in the U.S. gets composted. The other 95% goes to landfill.

And according to the U.S. EPA, wasted food is responsible for 58% of all landfill methane emissions in this country. That is not a small number. That is an operational failure hiding in plain sight.

This is exactly the kind of problem the 𝗪𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 framework was built to surface. In manufacturing, I was trained to see waste before it became a line-item loss. Organic waste, misrouted recyclables, and contaminated material streams are no different. They are process gaps with a cost signature, a climate signature, and a community signature.

The businesses I work with often discover that their sustainability gaps and their efficiency gaps are the same gaps. Fix the process, reduce the waste, improve the margin.

Here is my question for you this Thursday: Has your organization ever formally mapped its organic or material waste streams as a process problem, not just a compliance checkbox?

Drop your answer in the comments. .

05/20/2026

𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙈𝘽𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

Your process isn't slow because your team is slow. It's slow because no one has ever drawn it on a wall.

This is the first thing I do with every operator I work with: map the actual process, not the one that lives in the employee handbook. Walk it step by step. Write every handoff, every wait, every workaround on the board. What you find is almost always the same: steps that exist because they've always existed, approvals that protect no one, rework loops that have become so routine no one calls them rework anymore.

𝗠𝗰𝗞𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝟮𝟬 𝘁𝗼 𝟯𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. For a $10M business, that's $2–3M sitting inside your own workflows. Not in the market. Not in your headcount. Inside the process design.

Lean Six Sigma gives you a methodology to see it clearly: define what value actually looks like from your customer's perspective, then trace every step backward to find what does not serve that value. Cut those steps. Standardize what remains. Measure. Control. Repeat.

What is one process in your business that you know has unnecessary steps but has never been formally reviewed? Drop it in the comments.

If you want to walk through a value stream map for your own operations, send me a DM. It is one of the highest-return conversations you can have.

05/19/2026

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙄 𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮, 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙭 𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

According to Thryv's May 2025 survey of 540 small business decision-makers, AI adoption among companies with 10 to 100 employees jumped from 47% to 68% in a single year. That pace is real. But speed without structure is just expensive chaos at scale.

Here's what I see repeatedly with small businesses: they layer AI tools onto broken or undocumented workflows and then wonder why the ROI never shows up. The waste doesn't disappear. It accelerates.

The work I do with leadership teams starts before any tool gets selected. We map what's actually happening, identify where friction lives, and build the operational foundation that makes AI genuinely useful, not just present.

Strategic AI implementation isn't about being first. It's about being deliberate.

What's one process in your business that AI is supposed to improve but hasn't delivered yet? Drop it in the comments.

If you're ready to stop guessing and start building, send me a DM. I'd be glad to talk through where your operation actually stands.

=

05/18/2026

𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚.

This is what I see on day one with nearly every client I work with. Revenue is growing, the team is working hard, and yet margins are thinning, and the owner is firefighting. The culprit is almost always invisible waste baked into the daily workflow.

In manufacturing, we had a name for this: non-value-added activity. Time, motion, inventory, rework; waste that your customers never asked for and your P&L is quietly absorbing.

According to Cin7's small-business research, inventory distortion alone costs $163 billion annually in manufacturing waste, largely due to human error. That number lives somewhere in your business, even if it doesn't look like a factory floor.

The Lean Six Sigma approach I bring to SMBs isn't about certification walls and binders. It's about teaching your operators to see what they couldn't see before, then building standard work around what actually functions. Map the process. Measure the variance. Eliminate what doesn't serve the customer. Repeat.

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲. It just gets louder.

What's one process in your business that you know in your gut needs to be rebuilt, not patched? Drop it in the comments.

Or if you'd rather take that conversation offline, send me a DM. I'm happy to think through it with you.

05/17/2026

The idea of the 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 came during a visit to CORAFLOR, the Center for Sustainable Rural Development of FUNDASES; a space where science, innovation, and rural tradition come together to demonstrate that it is possible to produce in a sustainable, profitable, and ethical manner.

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝟭: 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲

Vision isn't a tagline. It's the answer to a question you don't yet know you're asking. Waste to Wisdom exists because that engineer's question turned into a deeper one: what if kids learned engineering by tracing the lifecycle of the things adults throw away?

Clear vision works the same way in business. It's not about predicting the market. It's about knowing what question your company is actually trying to answer. Most founders I work with have a great product and no question. They scale anyway. Then chaos arrives.

Purpose is the discipline of returning to the question when the noise gets loud.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸:

▪️𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 the question your business is actually answering. Not the product. The question. (~10 minutes)

▪️𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 on your team what they think the company exists to do. Don't correct them. Listen. (~30 minutes)

▪️𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 between your written question and their answers. That gap is the work. (~15 minutes)

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝟭 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙅𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝘁𝗼 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙀𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 + 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴? 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯: https://a.co/d/0hcXqfoh

What question is your company really trying to answer? Share it in the comments. If your team answers differently from you, send me a DM. That gap is fixable, but it doesn't fix itself.

reveals the revolutionary framework that transforms ambitious professionals into transcendent leaders who create a lasting positive impact. This groundbreaking guide introduces the 10 Principles of Integral Transformation, a systematic approach to developing leadership that integrates mind, bod...

05/14/2026

I’m honored to have been selected as one of ten businesses to participate in the inaugural 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 & 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 Cohort hosted by the 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 - 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 and sponsored by JPMorganChase

Over the past two months, our cohort participated in four powerful sessions focused on strengthening and scaling our businesses through strategic operations management, marketing, funnel development, capital readiness, and identifying windows of opportunity for growth.

This experience reinforced an important truth: 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁. It happens when leaders are willing to invest in themselves, challenge their thinking, and build with intention.

Thank you to Southwest and for creating spaces that empower women-owned businesses with the tools, knowledge, and community needed to scale to the next level.

Congratulations to my incredible cohort for showing up, leaning in, and investing in your future. The journey continues, and I look forward to continuing to grow, elevate, and create impact alongside so many inspiring entrepreneurs.

05/09/2026

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the Dallas College Aerospace quarterly meeting at the remarkable Henry B. Tippie National Aviation Education Center and the data behind the conversation tells the story: 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗶𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 (𝗔𝗔𝗠) 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀.

is accelerating across every dimension: autonomous aircraft, air taxis, drone logistics, electric propulsion systems, emergency medical transport, and regional air connectivity. What once felt experimental is now moving rapidly into operational reality, and North Texas is strategically positioning itself as a national leader in this transformation.

A few takeaways from a remarkable morning:

▪️ The 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 at Texas A&M Fort Worth is the only federally funded AAM research effort in the country, with $130M+ committed over five years.

▪️ The 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 (EIPP) is one of only 8 regional programs selected nationwide, spanning 11 airports and 3 heliports, with operations beginning in 2026.

▪️ 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴 are now active across the Metroplex.

▪️ 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 are flying in 31+ Texas cities, with payload capacity expected to scale from under 10 pounds to 1,300 pounds by the end of 2026.

What this means: is building the regulatory, research, workforce, and operational foundation that the rest of the country will follow.

A sincere thank you to President 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗼 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘇 and the team at 𝗗𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 for leading this initiative with the rigor and vision it deserves. Convening operators, educators, public safety leaders, and industry advisors at this stage of the industry is exactly how you build a regional aerospace economy.

As a member of the 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 for the aerospace initiatives led by Dallas College, I have had the privilege of contributing to these ongoing efforts alongside dedicated leaders shaping the future workforce and innovation pipeline.

From my perspective, after nearly three decades in aerospace transformation, this is one of the most significant inflection points in our industry. The convergence of autonomy, electrification, and digital airspace management is redefining how people and goods will move across regions and globally.

For those of us advising on AAM strategy across multiple regions, what is happening in North Texas is not a local story. It is the model that other states will be measured against.

𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲. 🚁⚡

05/08/2026

𝗬𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜'𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱.

Thank you to 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 and 𝗔𝗟𝗣𝗙𝗔 𝗗𝗙𝗪 for organizing such a meaningful event, and to 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼 for the invitation to serve as a panelist alongside 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘆 (Franklin Templeton) and 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘆 (Hilltop Securities).

The two-part series exploring angel investing and traditional wealth management sparked exactly the kind of dialogue our community needs.

Representing 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 as the Dallas City Lead, I had the opportunity to speak about something I care deeply about: 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀.

The numbers tell the story:
🔹 Less than 𝟮% of U.S. venture capital reaches Latino-founded companies
🔹 Less than 𝟬.𝟱% reaches Latina-founded companies
🔹 Yet Latino-owned businesses grew at a median annual rate of 𝟮𝟱% between 2019–2022, compared to 9% for white-owned businesses
🔹 Closing this capital gap could unlock $𝟮 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻+ in additional U.S. economic output (Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative)

Angel investing is the earliest outside capital a founder receives, the check that comes before venture capital believes. When Latino capital reaches Latino founders at this stage, we don't just fund companies; we build the pipeline that the rest of the capital markets can't build without us. That's the work Angeles Investors is doing nationally, and that's the work we're building here in Dallas.

𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹, 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. A few takeaways I'm carrying with me:

💡 "𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭" — a reminder of why financial literacy and access to investment opportunities are non-negotiable for building generational wealth.

💡 "𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴" — and the leaders who grow are the ones who own those mistakes, especially the ones their teams make, alongside them.

💡 𝘉𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳. Be transparent. Be vulnerable. Leadership isn't about having every answer; it's about creating the space for others to bring theirs.

💡 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 — for yourself and for the people you lead.

💡 And the question that stayed with me most: "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥?"

For me, the answer is clear. I want to help build a future where Latino founders don't have to look outside our community to find capital, mentorship, and belief. Where the next generation of Hispanic and Latino entrepreneurs walks into rooms where someone who looks like them is already at the table; writing checks, asking questions, opening doors.

Thank you again to every attendee who showed up ready to engage. Conversations like these are how we move from awareness to action.

To the future. 🚀

05/06/2026

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 aren’t the backbone of our economy, they’re the engine driving it.

This Small Business Month, remember:
• 36.2M small businesses = 99.9% of all U.S. companies
• Nearly half of the private workforce, over 59M jobs
• ~44% of U.S. GDP
• 9 out of 10 new jobs created

Now look at where the momentum is building:

𝗛𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰-𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀
• 5M+ and growing faster than the national average
• $800B+ in annual economic impact

𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻-𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀
• 14M+ strong
• Nearly $2T in revenue
• ~40% of all businesses

This is where growth is happening. This is where the future is being built.

Small businesses don’t just create jobs, they create access, mobility, and generational change.

So don’t just celebrate them, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

Spend locally. Open doors. Make the connection.

Because when small businesses win, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱.