Martha Nino: Fighting for the American Dream - One first generation families success story

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I'm Guy Kawasaki and this is remarkable people. This episode's remarkable guest is Martha Nino. It's unlikely that you've heard of her, but someday you will. She currently works at Adobe in a marketing position. How she came to be a guest here is a good story. Ten years ago she saw me give a keynote speech. I guess I impressed her. A year ago, Adobe held a diversity conference and invited employees to submit stories. Hers was one of eight selected. Let's just say that typically we one doesn't seek opportunities to talk about an illegal alien past in front of your company. So that took courage. A few months ago she happened upon one of my LinkedIn live chats and reached out to me. I usually ignore LinkedIn messages because most are requests to be best friends for life from people I don't know, but I read hers. It pointed me to a video of that speech and I liked it so much that I sent it to Jacob Martinez, the executive director of Digital Nest, an organization in Watsonville, California that helps young people gain digital skills. I asked him if her message was suitable for this podcast. He loved her talk and told me.

To go for it.

So I reached out to her and asked her to be a guest. How she achieved success is remarkable because she was born in a grass shack in central Mexico. Her parents were laborers on cotton farms there seeking a better life. Her parents paid coyotes to smuggle the family across the border. She made the trip separately as another woman's baby. She grew up in Fremont, California in a multiple family one bedroom house. She began working at 10 as a newspaper girl. While in school she worked for a manufacturer for 15 years. She and her parents were illegal aliens. Her path was rocky, but she worked hard and achieved a college education. She entered the tech field in a facilities capacity and now she's working at Adobe. She's living the American dream of starting with nothing and achieving happiness with her husband and two daughters. America is lucky to have her. I'm Guy Kawasaki and this Is remarkable people. And now here's Martha Nino.

I was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, which is the center state of Mexico. My mother, she was 16 when she got married. She was 20 when she had me and my dad. No education. I mean, mom went to school till sixth grade and dad third. Nothing. Right. We were pretty poor. They picked cotton for a living, and they went from farm to farm to farm to farm, you know, picking cotton, trying to make a living and trying to take care of myself. And it wasn't enough. And they had to make a decision and figure out what they were going to do to get money. Right.

Now, when you say picking cotton, you mean picking cotton in Mexico or they would come across to the United States to pick cotton?

Oh, no, this is picking cotton in Mexico. So you can just imagine if picking cotton in the US Pays you nothing. There's a lot of export in cotton material in Mexico. A lot of things get outsourced. And they were one of those farmers that did that. So, yeah, they went from kind of like Mexico State to Mexico State picking the cotton, and that was their job. And it wasn't paying them anything. And they needed to make a decision and figure out how they were going to raise me. And they decided they're going to hire somebody, really, to come over the border. So it was kind of the easiest thing. And it sucks because I think had we were well off, right, we would have stayed in Mexico. But that situation is bad there. And, you know, they had to take that risk.

Who did they hire?

How did it work, the transaction? Well, they hire these people. They're called coyotes. Really. I don't know if that's their formal title. Right. But, you know, they hire people that are very familiar with the borders and can get them across. And it's very dangerous. And different coyotes have different routes, I guess you can say. I mean, some come through the desert, some come through the beaches. Some you've heard, you've seen some movies, some came through tunnels, like whatever it is. But this is a very, very dangerous trip. And, you know, I was a tiny little baby at the time, and basically I said, you can't. You can't bring her along. And my mom and dad had to make a decision, how are we gonna get this kid over? And it was tough. I mean, my mom tells me she cried. And they came along the border hills and beaches of Mexico, like through San Diego area. And I came through the border in a car. I passed to somebody's daughter, actually, and that's how I came across. And while I was doing that. My parents were coming through the beaches. I go, what was like the green light that you were gonna be okay, that you had made it over the border? And she says, well, it was D. And if you saw a flashing light that flashed twice, that meant run up to the car and then they take you over to la and that was it. Two flashing lights. They go up, and to them it meant freedom.

So let me get this straight. So now the coyotes are helping your parents get across, and they're helping you pose as a baby for somebody else, but both of these transactions are coyotes doing this?

Yes, guy, yes.

And how much did it cost?

I don't know how much it costs. My mom said she had to work a couple months after they kind of got established to pay back because they had to borrow the money. I mean, they didn't have any money to pay back. And that was kind of the first thing, right, is pay back what you owe or they know where you live, essentially. Right. And so they did that. They paid it off. According to my mom, the coyotes were very reputable. I don't know what that means, but yeah, they had to pay them off first. And then once that transaction was. Was cleared off the books, then free to kind of see how it's going to go in the United States.

Wait, now your father and mother were together when they get in this car with the two flashing lights?

Yes, they came together. Yes. They had one little bag with one change of clothes. That's all they allowed them to bring. I can't call it hard.

So now they get in this car and they go to la. And where are you when this is happening?

I'm in a car somewhere with some lady.

Yeah.

And the idea was to meet up in LA Long beach, actually, in Anne's house. And. Yeah, then kind of meet up. And my mom said it was. It was no more than a couple hours and we were both together at the same time.

And then what? So now you're in a new country, you basically have no money. Then what?

Yeah, you know, we're in a new country. We're at my aunt's house. I had a grandfather living here in Northern California, and he actually has eight other kids, my mom's brothers and sisters. And he was living here as a janitor, sending back money to Mexico to his kids. So he had told my mother to come to Northern California, AKA to Silicon Valley before it was anything like that, and come live down this way. And within a couple of days, he had helped and situated us in a one Bedroom, home. And I don't know why I remember this guy, but I was little. I mean, I wasn't even 2 years old. Like, I remember graffiti, like, black graffiti all over this house. And we lived there for 14, 15 years. So we ended up living in Fremont, California, which is on the outskirts of the Silicon Valley. And, yeah, my parents basically took whatever work came their way. Anything poured cement, gladiola fields. There was a lot of cherry orchards here in the past, apricot fields. Anybody who lives here kind of remembers those days. But, yeah, they did all of that.

Did you have to show a Visa, show a green card? How did it work back then?

There's a funny. Yeah, what Visa? What green card? Right. That was the whole thing. You don't have any documentation of yourself. So there's a lot of people out there that were before Photoshop that can get you, you know, green cards and licenses and all of that. So they worked with, unfortunately, fake documents until they hired a lawyer a few years after to kind of help with this whole thing.

And now are they still in the United States?

So my mom lives in Hayward, California, and she's here after 14 or 15 years. 14 or 15 years, by the way, is the penalty that we got for coming to this country illegally. Like, we had to prove to the government that we were worth giving a visa and, you know, citizenship. So there's a whole process there. And I honestly remember, like, checking in with immigrants, like, every year. They're making sure that we were not criminals, making sure that we were good people, all that good stuff that we were contributing. But, yeah, so my mom is inherited. My dad, he passed away when I was a teenager and died earning $7.75 an hour. And to him, that was. He did it honestly, and to him, that was success.

What's the 15 years again? How did that work?

Yeah, so when you come to this country back then, there was a law put in place, and I don't know the name of the. But if you came in here, you had to prove. First of all, you have to admit that you came here illegally. Second of all, you have to then basically sign a contract that says you're going to do everything right in this country, pay taxes, not ask for government help, put in your hours and check in with us and make sure you're good. And you'll have to do this for. For us, it was 14, 15 years before we can actually consider you for being a permanent resident here.

And this is before Trump.

Oh, yeah, this is way before Trump.

So this is when it was good.

Yeah, this is good. I mean. But, you know, it's interesting. When I was a kid growing up in Fremont, in a tiny one bedroom, I only remember three or four different nationalities in this country back then. And everybody started coming after that in the 80s. But I remember, like, green trucks coming to our neighborhood and picking up anybody who wasn't essentially white. Right. And questioning them. And I remember hiding from these trucks, and it was immigration basically stereotyping everybody and sending you back.

So you and your mother, you were.

Never sent back, anything like that?

We were never sent back. My mom did everything possible to keep things straight, to keep us in school, as far as I remember. I don't ever remember a time where she wasn't working. She could. Same thing with my dad. Never, Never.

And so now you're in the public school system of where, Fremont?

Yeah, I started bilingual school. I didn't know any English. I went to Vallejo Middle School in Fremont, in Niles, a little town. By the way, they're known for Charlie Chaplin. Very popular nowadays, which was kind of interesting, but that's kind of their claim to fame. But, yeah, I went to school. It was a bilingual school, and a bunch of other kids were there similar to me, so there was some likeness there. But, yeah, that kind of started my whole education in the public school setting. My dad poured cement, my mom sewed for people a lot of the years, and I didn't really have any samples of anybody being in colleges, going to school. I mean, as a matter of fact, the. The number one priority for my parents and people like my parents was to work. So there was a lot of push on working. Like, if you had a job, you better take care of that job. You better not talk back to your boss, you better do everything they say, because that's kind of like the golden ticket was working. So I was 10 years old, I was going to this public school. This boy comes to my house down the street and he says, have this paper route. My parents didn't know what a paper route was, but they offered me 30, 40 bucks a month to deliver papers every day and every night, you know, the month. And I didn't have money, so I was like, you know what? I want it. And I asked my dad if I can have that paper route. And he said, I'm very, very persistent guy. I mean, my dad, I must have asked him a hundred times, and he said, fine, go, just do it. And he didn't realize that it was all boys working. This is all boys field, I guess. And There was Martha with her pigtails, delivering newspaper every morning, every evening after school. I didn't go. I didn't do any sports, but I worked. I sold subscriptions before subscriptions were a thing, you know, door to door newspapers. And I was kind of taught the value of good customer service because we deliver that paper on the porch, you get tips, right? And people are nicer and they'll recommend you. So I learned that. I kind of learned that skill so early, and it served me for so many things. I could only do that route up until I was like, 14. And then I went to work with my mother at a manufacturing plant, and I sucked. I really sucked at the manufacturing plant guy. I really did. The boss was an American lady, and she wore the pearls and she had the blonde hair and very, very sophisticated lady. And she kind of looked at me and was like, why don't you come with me to the front of the office to answer phones and do that kind of thing? And I would do anything to get out of the back. And I said, yes, I'll do it. So she was. I had a mentor, like, very, very early on that kind of saw a thing or two in me that nobody else had seen. And, you know, my parents didn't even know, like, I could even work in an office. And at 14, my mom thought I had made it. She's not in a warehouse anymore. You know, she's not getting her hands dirty. She's in the office. And I could have probably stopped at 14 for my family. Yeah, that's very interesting to me. And I'm glad it did it because from there started a lot of other opportunities for me. I worked at that company, God, six or seven years, like every day after school, too. And I got kicked out of school.

So why.

That was. Yeah, so by this time, you know, I'm 14, 15, 16 years old, and I'm in high school and I'm working a lot, right. But schools never, never was a focus in my family. It was about work, right? So I kind of did that. And then my father developed cancer, and, you know, I kind of had to help out the family. And that's kind of the thing about certain families that you just do whatever it takes to help out. And I did that. I did that. And so school took a back seat and grades took a hit. And the first day of my senior year, the principal sat me down and says, what are you doing here? Didn't you receive all those letters? And my mom doesn't know English, so she dismissed all those letters. And it turns out I wasn't allowed to go to that school anymore, and I was sent to a continuation school.

Because of your grades?

Yeah, yeah, because of my grades. You know, I had, you know, been late because I had been working late the night before, so there was all of that. And he didn't even ask me why I was struggling. And, you know, to this day, the asking why something is happening is so critical for me because I was a young kid and had that person asked me why, I think he would have reconsidered his decision. Yeah, I was sent off, and within a couple days, I was at a school where there was a lot of gangs, pregnancies, you name it. Right. People with very high hair back then, and a lot of scary people, a lot of, you know, looking people. But it's interesting all these kids were there because they were also. They were not bad. We just didn't have the right upbringing or the right mentorship and examples.

And how did you get out of there?

I had a counselor, and he was checking in, kind of as part of standard. And he sat me down and he asked me, how are things going? And honestly, I was a little bit shocked about where I was, and I didn't want to be there. Although half my cousins were there. That was kind of interesting. So I have a lot of really good backup guy. But, no, he asked me how things were going, and I said, fine. And he was really trying to get to the bottom of it. And he was just one of these people just like my BO that just took the time to ask questions and see something. And he said, what are you doing here? And I said, you know, I just have bad grades. And he's like, why are you here? And he really. I must have talked to him for an hour. And finally he realized that my father had cancer. My parents needed my money to help support and keep the family going. And he says, you know what? We gotta get you out of here. And I said, how are we gonna do that? And he kind of came up with a plan. And he says, well, you're kind of behind about a year, so you'll have to quit working. And to me, that was like, what? Quit working? You kidding me? And. But yeah, I talked to my boss, and she's like, why don't you work, like, double on the weekends, and maybe you take care of our house when we travel? I basically did whatever. And I. You know, for the first time, I did not have, like, a real job. Monday through Friday, I focused on school, and I went to night schools, and I took on extra credits, and I basically made up a whole year's worth of time in just a few months. And then I was. I was back in high school within a few months, and I graduated with my class on time, actually.

And then what happened?

Yeah, so I went back to working in that company, the manufacturing company, and I didn't really know about colleges because nobody had ever talked to me about colleges. As a matter of fact, my mom didn't even know high school had four years. Like, they hadn't even taught her that ever. And actually, that's something that I kind of get annoyed about because I think had somebody whoever was giving us these visas and citizenships had said, you know, you need to memorize the, you know, educational process in the United States. I think they would have done it because that's kind of their number one goal is to try to be here legally. So I feel like it just. It could start at the top. But anyway, she didn't even know that. So nobody had ever talked to me about colleges or anything like that. So I went right to working, and I was happy because I was working full time now.

This is back at the factory.

This is back at the factory. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I worked there for a couple years, and then it was a manufacturing company, and it was back in the days where people were looking for other places to manufacture from and let the products be cheaper. So my company decided they were going to go to Mexico and manufacture. They call it a Macaladoria program, where you manufacture out of Mexico and you live on the US side. So they asked me to go with them, and I said no because my dad had just died. He was struggling with cancer, and I couldn't. I couldn't leave my mom. I couldn't leave my mom. And so I stayed, and it was time for me to venture out and see what else was out there. And, you know, I had made so many good friends at that manufacturing plant. That's kind of the beautiful thing about networking, right? If you're good, people will talk to you and they'll recommend you. And, yeah, one of the guys that was working with me, he recommended me to work at a office furniture company. And I was kind of an administrative assistant and eventually kind of moved my way up to main buyer. And I had a couple people working under me, and we ordered everything to make up an office cubicle. And that kind of started my whole career in Silicon Valley was actually making cubicles for these great companies in the Silicon Valley that were up and Coming eventually I ended up in one of those seats.

Wait, when you say making cubicles, you mean configuring the Herman Miller stuff? What do you mean, making cubicles?

Yeah. So let's say there was a computer company that had 300 employees and they needed places to sit. Their employees. We took their space. And this is how I got really good at math. We took their space and there was a six by six cubicle that needed to be built. We determined how much, how much wood was involved in this and we needed to order from whoever the, I think it was Weyerhaer, whatever lumber company at the time. And then how many screws it would take to put together, you know, kind of the side panels of a cubicle, how many, how much fabric we needed to kind of put around that. And that was kind of our job is to take whatever orders that were coming in from the Silicon Valley and determine how we were going to put these new up and comers in seats in the Valley. Yeah.

And at this time now you were born in Mexico. So what is your legal status as you're doing configuring cubicles in Silicon Valley?

It was only a couple of years that I had my permanent residency. I mean, before that we were still kind of improving state. Right. So I was legal at this time, but I was definitely illegal for about 14 or 15 years. And that was scary. I didn't even know what that meant back then. And now kind of looking back, I was like, well, no wonder my parents were scared to do a lot of things right.

You were literally illegal or you were in this 14 or 15 year suspended state.

I was in the 14, 15 year suspended state, yeah.

So it wasn't illegal?

No, no. But had I done anything wrong or my parents had done anything wrong? It was like no questions asked. You're going back to Mexico now, then what?

So now you're, you're making cubicles. How did you get to Adobe?

So I'm making cubicles. And I ended up working in another cubicle place eventually. That paid me a little bit more money, by the way. Worst mistake of my life because I went for like few thousand dollars more instead of staying with the people that I actually liked. But you know, you're young, you do stupid stuff like that. And then, yeah, at that company were the other office furniture company that I went to. That was not the best mov for me there was. It wasn't the right fit for me. And eventually we, I left that company and I was kind of stuck without a job. And I knew I needed to get a job, and I went and applied at one of these, like, agencies, like temp agencies, and said, I'll take whatever comes your way. Right. And one of those companies was called Creative Labs, and they made sound. Oh, yeah, I don't know if you remember that.

Weren't they from Singapore?

They were from Singapore, exactly.

Okay, so now you're the employee of Creative Labs.

I'm a temp. I'm a temp at this company. And, you know, it's interesting because just like in everything I was taught, you do whatever you're told. You work really hard. And I worked really hard at that company. And. But I have to tell you something, guy. When I got that interview, it was like a little bit of a phone interview to go to that sound company. I actually heard sand, like beach sand. Like, my landline was really bad because we didn't have that. That good of line. And I heard sand company. I thought, oh, I guess I'm gonna be in, like the, I don't know, some kind of a big equipment company or something like that. I thought I was gonna go to some company like that. And when I get there, it was actually sound. I'm oh, it's not sand, it's sound. And I went to that company as a temp. And I started basically in the channel marketing department, which was people who sold to retail stores. Back then it was Fry's Electronics and Best Buy stores and, you know, a lot of brick and mortar and distributors. And I started helping whoever needed help there. And one of my first projects there was building kits, you know, like, literally physical kits that you would send at the time of launching a product. I was assembling kits in this room, and you're sending data sheets and discs and real, real old school stuff there. But I did that and eventually somebody from that company sat me down and said, you know what, do you really want to do this for the rest of your life and just help out people? Maybe there's an opportunity for you to kind of move into this other route. And that's where getting into mainstream marketing came my way. Somebody actually saw it in me.

And what happened?

I kept doing it. I'm still doing it.

No, but you're at Creative Labs. How did you get to Adobe?

Yes, so I'm at Creative Labs. I did that for four years. And then, honestly, I didn't have my degree. Remember, we never focused on studying. Right. So I'm still at Creative Labs and I'm noticing people are getting promoted left and right and, you know, I don't know if this was the reason, but I was trying to analyze why is everybody looks like they're getting promoted and such and I'm not. And I said, you know what, I gotta get my degree. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I have to do it. So I actually quit Creative Labs and I had just gotten married and my husband's like, you did what? And he's like, we only have six months worth of money, right? And then I'm like, oh, crap. So I the six months. I got my degree within six months because I had kind of dabbling in college here and there, but not really focused. And yeah, I basically finished off my degree in six months of business and marketing. And one of my mentors at Creative Labs referred me over to another company called Handspring and they were kind of like these smartphone y before there were smartphones out there. And I went to go work with that company for a couple years and then obviously they went under and, and Apple kind of, you know, that guy Apple kind of took it on and went from there and I was left without a job. And I was five months pregnant too. And I'm like, crap, what do I do? And one of my managers at the job was at Adobe. So now we're getting to the point. Took me a long time, right. Was at Adobe and she's like, what do you need a job? And I'm like, yeah, actually my unemployment is going to run out. I just had this kid, like, yes, I'll do whatever. And I went to Adobe and I've been there for about 15, 16 years now.

And what do you do at Adobe now?

Yeah, I'm a partner marketing manager and I help out sales make their number, essentially. And I've been doing that for a while. I like it. It's all about partnerships and kind of figuring out how we're going to make our numbers and things like that and coming up with some cool programs and ways to get attention.

Now, when you say this, are you saying that you are putting together proposals for the enterprise version of PDF or is it Photoshop or what are you selling into who?

All of it. So, you know we have Acrobat, which makes PDF, right? And a bunch of other things. But yeah, I mean, different businesses need different products for different things. So my part of the business right now is selling to medium to small businesses. So anybody who has a need for Acrobat or creative, you know, creative products, which include Photoshops, we're selling to businesses which Will sell into other businesses. That makes sense. So the CDWs of the world, shis of the world, those types of folks.

And is it analog face to face or is it all digital and processing leads and that kind of stuff?

It's a combination. This is why I wanted to meet with the in person guy because I believe in in person relationships. Right. And then I also think that it's just, it's just nicer. But yeah, there's a lot of in person stuff when we're, you know, having negotiations and business conversations. But yeah, then we go back to our offices and we execute. And as you know, nowadays everything is seems to be digital. So a lot of our programs are digital, their websites, emails, that kind of thing. So we do a lot of that. And yes, every once in a while there's events where there's in person things going on and it's just part, it's just part of the, it's just part of the lever that moves the needle for us.

And did you ever get a college degree?

Yeah, I ended up getting my college degree. I have a bachelor of science in business and a minor in marketing. I got that at 26. I was 26 years old. And I'm so glad I got that because it's never been an issue like anywhere. But I felt like it was an issue before and it was just one less check mark that I had to worry about or explain. And once I kind of got that, it was such a relief for me. But yeah, it's been great.

But how did you get the degree? Did you just continuing part time and you eventually got enough credits or did you ever quit or take a sabbatical or something and go full time?

Well, yeah, I had to. I ended up kind of after high school dabbling in colleges here and there. Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing because nobody had explained that to me. And so kind of taking a class here, class there, like I took classes to be a real estate agent. I'm a certified massage therapist. Like I did everything and then eventually somebody actually sat down and says, look, if you want to do something, you got to focus. And then I kind of started focusing on the business side and dabbled in that. And then while I was in creative labs, I knew that it would take me forever if I didn't put 100% effort into my school. So that's when I left Creative Labs for those six months that my husband was so angry at me about. And I want to say I did 40 or 50 units in six months. That's crazy. I was not sleeping at all, but it was. Yeah, that's how I ended up doing it.

And what college is this?

University of Phoenix. Yeah, and it was just one of these like for worker type universities. And it's never been an issue, it's just. I got it, check mark. And I actually think that's one of the things I like to tell people who talk to me. And I have a lot of students who ask me about these things. It's like, you know what, Sometimes we just have to look at the whole person versus that name on a piece of paper too. And I think that's one thing that people have done with me. My whole life is looked at the whole story, the whole, you know, picture and not to get discouraged by things like that. And there's good people out there that are willing to do that. And I've been very fortunate to be around all those people.

How many kids do you have now?

I have two girls, they're teenagers. I have a 17 year old who's actually looking at colleges right now and, and I have a 13 year old. So very interesting time of their lives, but they're amazing. And I mean, I've been talking to them about colleges since they were in kindergarten. It's almost kind of like a non. It's a continuation of whatever school they're going to go to. Right. I mean, it's just part of who they're going to be. But it had to become part of my dialogue because I learned that if it's not, then, you know, it's not going to be. So we were visiting some schools over in LA a couple months ago and I just sat there in the orientations going, wow, these kids actually have options, you know. And so I get a little choked up because I did not. I kind of use people as that and they gave me that. But I have the opportunity to kind of make them a little bit farther ahead in the process. And that makes me feel pretty good.

That's very good. What schools did you visit in la?

We went to USD, we went to San Diego State. We. She. She has her eye on Chapman.

So wouldn't your mother be proud or isn't your mother proud?

Oh, my mom, she's so happy. I mean, you know, when I did that talk that I sent over to you, Guy, I mean, one of my good friends said, you know, you gotta make sure your mom is there. And I didn't realize like how meaningful this whole talk was gonna be, not only for me, but for my mom. Right And I'm standing there talking about the story and everything. And you know Shantanu, who's the CEO of Adobe's, like, front row.

Oh, really?

Yes, yes. And my mom is right behind him. And I didn't even pay attention to Shantanu. Sorry, Shantanu, we love you. But my mom. My mom was right behind him. And I remember getting out there and she immediately started crying. Immediately. And my two daughters were also there. That was kind of another thing. I also wanted them to see that, hey, we have these opportunities, just like I did, to talk about this. You need to take it sometimes and just run with it because you never know what might happen. And yeah, out of 660 something stories, mine was one of the top eight. And my mother was crying. And I remember asking her after the talk, I said, mom, what'd you think about this whole thing? I mean, Gloria Estefan was there. Guy. Like, she was talking. Yes. She stopped me backstage and she's like, I can't believe that was your first talk. And I was like, oh, my God, can I get a selfie? I turned into. And she said, yeah, come in. Just come find me afterwards. Which was really cool because her people didn't want to let anybody near her, but she let me. And my mom and my kids talked to her. That was pretty neat. So she was starstruck, my mother. And I asked my mom, what do you think about this whole thing? She's out, mija. Everything was great. She says, I just. I was so scared for you. And, you know, kind of dug into that a little bit. And I go, why were you so scared for me? She says, well, I know you and I know who you are, but all of these people, there's 1200 people don't know anything about you. And she's. For the first time, I couldn't protect you. And that was like, wow, that was pretty deep. And yeah, it was. It was. She's very proud. I'm very proud of her, actually, because I don't think I'd be anywhere without her taking risks.

What would your life be if you had never left Mexico?

I would probably be a grandparent right now or something, living in some farm somewhere. Yeah. You know, I went back to Mexico when I was 15 or 16 years old after we got our papers, because that was the other thing. When my parents got here, they couldn't visit their family. Like my mom couldn't. Couldn't see her mother for years. Right. And. Or her siblings. And you basically give up your whole life and start fresh so when I went back there with them for the first time, first, I was really glad to have hot water, like little things like that.

Wait, what do you mean you're glad to have hot water in Mexico?

Because. What? No, here. Because in Mexico.

Oh, you appreciate it.

Yeah. And that, honestly, everything that I was seeing, I was like, ah, that's why they came to the United States. Ah, that's why they took a risk. It's like it was, I mean, especially the family that my father came from because he was orphaned at 8 years old and he was like, from this farm that had nothing, no running water, no electricity, none of that. So this is like, I don't know, the 80s, early 90s. And my hair requires a lot of hairspray. And I'm like, how am I going to do that here? Right. So we improvised. Like the curling iron went into the fire and I heated it up that way. I had never been so, you know, happy to be in a different country. I don't think people understand that Mexico, it's so close to the United States that it's the easiest thing for us to kind of run to. And we're not running because, you know, we're running because we're going to die of starvation if we stay there and basically live in poverty our whole lives. And this is our only chance. And you know, my dad earning $7.75 an hour, that was a good thing. He was doing good. But yeah, just risking your life for $7.75 an hour, it just, it just, I can't even imagine, I can't even imagine.

We can go down a really deep hole right now. But a lot of times you hear, you hear people say that if these families try to sneak into the United States and they get caught and we separate the kids from the parents, it's the parents fault for taking a risk. They knew this was going to happen.

It's their fault.

Fault.

But in my humble opinion, they never stop and think, so the parents know this could happen. They know they could be stuck in cages and they still do it. Doesn't that tell you that things are so desperate there that even that worst case outcome is better than what they're leaving? You cannot see it that way. And I just, I don't understand these people.

I am one of those kids my mom literally gave me to somebody else, right. And I could have easily. Something could have happened to me. I mean, that could have easily happened. And I think about that a lot actually. And I don't think people understand the situation is so bad that you're willing to risk it? Because there is a chance. And if there is one little chance that things are going to go right for that kid, you're going to take it. And that's what my mother did. She knew that there was a chance that we'd be okay. She also knew there was a chance I might not be okay. I ended up okay. I ended up on that beautiful stage in Adobe. I'm talking to you now like my. I'm in Silicon Valley right now in a really nice home. I mean, she did that for a reason, so that things could be better, and they're better for me.

So what is, what is your opinion of what's happening now?

What's all really bad? I mean, which part of it. It's all bad.

I mean, the wall. I mean, everything. What?

Oh, God, all of that. Well, it's bad. I wish that more people. You know, it's interesting times, guy. I mean, right now we're kind of going through the whole COVID 19. I'm seeing so many people just have a little bit more humanity with each other. Right. And I think there's some silver lining around this, to be honest. And I hope that people can see. Start seeing people as people and you can't. There's reasons why the walls and all of that good stuff, why people say these things, but the bottom line is, if people are trying to do better, I think you should allow them to. Yeah. Granted, there's some criteria in place that needs to be put in there, but. And maybe ask yourself, why are people, first of all, trying to get away from your country? And I'm not a politician or anything like that. I don't know anything like that. But, you know, why are people trying to get away from the country?

You know, is that you're saying, fix Mexico so people don't want way.

Yeah, I mean, you know, if people who have money and have education in places like that don't come here, I mean, just, I've gone to friends houses in Mexico and I'm like, they have maids, they have, you know, all kinds of help. And I'm like, why would you even want to come here? It's the other people that are coming here. Right. And that's why there's such a big problem. It's like there's too much of that. Fix some of that. So we don't have the problem here. And now, like, I did a little research and it looks like, I don't know, 30 something, almost 40% of kids are of immigrant families here in the Silicon Valley. And they don't even believe they can do good things because they don't have the right examples. They don't have the right people telling them what to do. They don't have the right upbringing. They don't even have money. So it's hard. It's hard. So I do think that you kind of have to start at the root level sometimes, right, and kind of look at it that way, way.

As you look back. What are the lessons of your life? And wait, before you answer that, I'll tell you something. So the, the reason why you're on this podcast.

Yeah, why am I here, guy?

The reason why you're here is because I want my listeners to understand from not a academic, intellectual perspective about immigration and why people would risk their family and swim across rivers and all that. I want them from a first person's perspective, to understand what you and your family went through and why. So now, before you answer that, I'll tell you. So I'm third generation Japanese American. My grandfather came to Hawaii on both sides. And you know, if, if they were successful in Hiroshima, let's just say that they probably would not have moved.

So.

So, I mean, you could make that case about anybody in America. So you only move when you have to. Not because, oh, yeah, let's just, let's just throw everything away and start all over. That seems like a, a cool thing to do and be in suspense for 15 years. So anyways, so what's the lessons of your life?

Oh, wow. So many lessons. I feel like I'm in a unique position because I'm a zero generation, you know, immigrant, and I can talk that talk and be there. So I think that people need to understand where we're coming from. And I think one of the lessons that I've learned, one of the things that I'd love for people to know is that, you know, what is our story? Why are we getting away? Why are we even here? Why can't we get that education? Education? It's because we just don't know situations are bad. We just don't know what the systems are and things like that. And I work with many, many smart people who have very good educations. Ah, very good educations. I'm so lucky to be there. But they don't know anything of my story. They don't know anything about Mexican immigrants and kind of their struggles. And they surpass them sometimes in jobs because they're missing this and this and that, not realizing that they're probably Working right before they go to that job or they're working before they go to school. And it's a much tougher upbringing. Right. So I think it's very important to let our story out and not be scared in telling it. And I think that's one of the reason why we're only 3 or 4% of the tech business also. Right. Because of all those things. I mean, we're here in Silicon Valley, but we don't believe we could be here. We don't have the right examples, we don't have the right educations, we don't even have the, the right tools or upbringings to be there. So I think we just need to talk about that. It could be possible. Right. And other people need to hear it here.

So if I'm a zero generation immigrant of any race, what do I learn from you?

Yeah, to keep learning, to not be scared to ask for help, to not just let the color of our skins be telling them who to get guidance from. Everybody that I received mentorship from looks nothing like me, I would say. And that's okay. And that's okay. I take help from anybody. You could be purple.

Yeah.

I would say just be open to learning and being taught and guided because if you want to be at that, you know, certain level, look who's at that level and what are the doing, who are they talking to? Talk to them. Don't be afraid to reach out. And you'd be surprised. I mean, a lot of people are nicer than we think. And don't be afraid to learn, don't be afraid to keep learning. I'm not 27 years old, I'm not 37 years old. I'm still learning, I'm still learning. I learned all about that talking thing last year and I learned so much. I learned so much and I'm just going to continue that. So as a zero generation person, I would say do not be afraid, ask for help, be open to being helped. Do not let the color of your skin dictate who's going to help you either. And others look at, look at the whole story, look at the whole picture, you'd be kind of surprised what you might find.

So you just talk about all the good stuff, but then have you had bad experiences? So do you have advice about how to deal with racism, how to deal with, with those kind of things as a zero generation?

Yeah. So growing up there was a lot of that going on because we stuck out like a sore thumb here in Silicon Valley. There was, you know, three or four different races going on. So, you know, nobody ever stood up and said anything. And I think that's one of the things that, you know, people in different countries that come to this country are kind of taught to, like, not say anything and kind of just focus on your jobs and just keep saying, yes, yes, yes. And honestly, I think that that's a mistake. I mean, yes, do a good job, but, you know, do not be afraid to put your opinion out there and be open to all of that. I remember some really bad names being called at me in high school. And in the end, sometimes you believe those things. I don't even want to say those things on here. But the more you hear bad things, you sometimes start to believe it and ignore those bad comments and focus on the good. Focus on the good. Eventually I was like, I'm not that. What are they talking about? I'm definitely not that. But sometimes you hear it a lot. You start to believe it.

And what about to your daughter's generation?

Oh, God, yeah, that's. That's. Yeah, I, you know, they're gonna. Our kids are gonna surprise us. I. I feel like my generation had a lot of excess. Like, I was in tech and I had a lot of exes, I had a lot of equipment. I have a lot of extra things. And I feel like their generations focus more on some of these things that we kind of lost along humanity and environment and eating healthy. I remember that first job as a paper girl. I mean, the first thing I did was buy five ice cream sandwiches because I never ate sugar my whole life. So because I didn't know anything else they know about health, I would say to that generation, just keep pushing and keep pushing the envelope, you know, Keep pushing the envelope and prove my generation, you know, wrong. I think it's going to be good. I think it's going to be good.

What do you mean, prove your generation wrong?

Well, that excess. Right. That excess that I. I kind of had in the Silicon Valley.

Do your daughters see themselves as Americans, Mexican Americans or Mexicans?

Okay, so I'm married to a Colombian.

Okay, okay.

Mexican. Colombian thing.

That's a whole other thing.

Yeah, but it came here when he was 21 and. Yeah. With no word of English. So he has a totally different perspective on all of this. And so my kids have seen my side. Like, I talk about my Mexicans, my story. Right. And he'll talk about his story and how he came and didn't know any English, and he ended up working in Nvidia for 17 years. Don't tell Me, don't tell me that we can't do it just because we're here. A zero generation. You just have to ally yourself with good people. You need to do the hard work, put in the time and not be afraid to take challenges on.

What did he do as a former soldier from Colombia working for Nvidia?

He didn't do it just right away. Okay. He worked at Burger King, which by the way, he says that was one of the worst tortures to anybody with an accent because he worked the drive through and he had to memorize the menu in order to kind of, you know, get by this job. And he says people didn't understand half the time. And he cried every day that he said. And eventually he went to night school also and learned English and ended up working at one of these warehouse in the Silicon Valley like shipping products and kind of learned that route. And he made it into the office of one of these companies. I think he was working at SVG and then ended up at Nvidia for 17 years. He's now kind of semi retired. He manufactures Maserati parts out of the garage. Right now.

He makes Maserati parts. Body parts.

Yes.

Okay, so let me, let me repeat what I just heard.

So.

You were an illegal immigrant into America.

Yes.

Who has married a Colombian soldier.

Yes.

You live in Silicon Valley and he worked at Nvidia and you work at Adobe and he semi retired making Maserati parts.

Yes.

Is that a good summation?

That's a pretty good summation.

I ask you a non theoretical question. Where else could that happen but in America?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, friends had told me in the past before, even when I was getting a little nervous about telling my story in my company, and I'm very vocal about it now, but they're saying this is, you're living the American life. Like this is the American dream. And I'm like, no, it's not. This is what everybody does. And they're like, no, you don't understand. And I really didn't even see it as, you know, being amazing until I started talking to people and you know, I started hearing all of these things and I'm like, I guess it is pretty cool, right? It can happen. And we are.

That's why you're on the podcast. If this wasn't cool, you, you know, it's. And Jane Goodall. Martha, I mean, what more do you want from my life?

My God.

I mean, I, I listen to all your podcasts. I'm like, I don't know why he wants me on here. This is so weird, but I. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. I haven't been able to sleep all week because I've been so excited. But. But yeah, no, this is amazing. And you know, my husband drives an R8. Like it's, it's like so surreal.

Your husband drives an R8?

Yes.

An Audi R8.

Yes, he does. It's a bright orange one. I'll send you a picture later. But if that's.

Wtf, man?

I mean, what.

Okay, so now your husband, ex, Colombian army, comes here, works in the warehouse, goes to work for Nvidia, making Maserati parts in his garage semi, retires and drives an Audi R8.

Yeah.

Is that an accurate summation?

That's accurate. That's accurate. Which blows my mind because I lived in a one bedroom house with nine other people and we had no money and this is crazy. And I couldn't. We couldn't be here without good people. We couldn't be here without good people helping us.

So if, if I see an orange R8 because there aren't that many R8s, so there's certainly not that many orange R8s, I'm going to stop that car and say, I know your story.

I know your story. Oh, God, I wish you could talk to me. But yeah, no, he, he actually invents like aftermarket Maserati parts. That's kind of like now. And he started his own little company, it's called Urutu, which I think is one of his, like, I don't battle names or something like that. And he has a pretty good following. Yeah, I don't know how this happens. The other day there was one of these young social media stars mentioned his product and my kids were like, is that so and so like talking about dad, Is that like cool? Or something like that. But only in America. And this is the reason why people come here because there's hope and there's opportunities and we're very lucky. We're very lucky, truly.

You have a really great story. Someday I'm gonna come to Washington D.C. and you're gonna be a senator and you're gonna take me to the through the Senate. Okay.

We'Ll take you in the R8. How's.

Okay. Okay, that works for me.

I hope you found Martha's story inspiring. She taught me several lessons. First, I was lucky that I'm a third generation American. Second, you've got to love parents for what they are willing to do and risk to give their kids, a better life. Third, it doesn't matter where you start. What matters is where you end up. Fourth, never underestimate the kindness of strangers, even strangers who don't look like you. America is lucky to have her and the millions of immigrants like her who made America great. Their presence is as good for America as it is for them.

Duh.

I'm adding a new feature. I'm going to start reading comments about.

This podcast because I love reading comments. So if you want your comment read.

First, you have to make it so. Go to the Apple podcast app, find.

Remarkable people and comment away.

So here's one.

It's entitled Building Bridges by sjwscln and I am not clever enough to figure.

Out how to pronounce that. Anyway, here goes.

A while ago I suggested for Guy to speak to Tim Keller, got Shane.

Kraken Claiborne instead, and was very impressed and inspired with their conversation.

Could not have asked for more.

It reminded me of a very touching TED Talk Billy Graham gave in Monterey in February 1998. Addressing an audience presumably having very little interest in Christianity. Well done building a bridge between religion and the world out there.

Love the fact that he has such diverse guests.

Inspiring to listen to them even though I may not know of them or their work. Thank you for that comment. S JJ W S CLN here's another one.

Bob Singapore While social distancing, I've been listening to remarkable people and eating dinner.

Brings a big smile to my face. Hearing Guy asking questions from such great guests. I need more podcasts from him. I especially enjoyed the chat with Cini. I wish he was running for president.

And he could influence in positive ways.

Thanks Guy. I'm sure you would write me a review too. If I ever did something as well as this podcast. Bob, I probably would.

Thank you for your comment. Here's one from Dariasar as is in Daria and Dinosaur.

I think Guy brings such humanity and insight to these conversations.

His genuine warmth, curiosity are so refreshing.

In a vast ocean of bland basic.

Interview podcast, Guy gives us something fresh.

Fun and totally engaging here.

Thank you.

Thank you for saying that. Again.

Please go to the Apple podcast app, search for remarkable people and click to rate. Leave a Review I love to read comments. Thank you very much. Send those comments in.

I'm Guy Copy and this is Remarkable People. My thanks to Jeff C and Peg Fitzpatrick for their work to make this podcast great again and again and again. Be healthy, be safe, wash your hands, keep far away from people. Until next time. Mahalo and aloha. This is remarkable people.