Hello, welcome to the careers for kids podcast where kids learn careers.
This is Maxwell Valencia and this is Henry Morrison and today we have Earl Valencia, Former aerospace engineer
Hi Earl Valencia.
Hello, how are you?
Thanks so much for having me in careers for kids.
I'm super excited to be in the episode and yeah, I mean I guess as I mentioned I'm a
former aerospace engineer and now I'm an entrepreneur.
Tell me your name and what you currently do right now.
Okay good so again for everybody my name is Earl Valencia and right now I actually am a
co-founder of a AI artificial intelligence and financial technology company that's
based basically in Silicon Valley.
So that's what I'm doing and yeah as I mentioned I'm an engineer by training.
You know went to Boston U for undergrad for electrical engineering.
I went to Cornell for aerospace engineering and then I ended up going to Silicon Valley
by Stanford University.
Nice okay so tell me more about your career and like how did you get to this position?
Yeah you know I always wanted to think about business but when I was young I just thought
of like okay there's a funny thing right like you can be a business person but it's hard to be a
business person then an engineer versus being an engineer than a business person so I started my
career as I mentioned getting trained in you know the hard engineering so electrical engineering
then aerospace engineering and my first job actually was to you know look at rockets and
satellites so I was working for the space division of a company called Raytheon.
It's one of the biggest aerospace companies in the world right now and yeah and then after
I was in four years in Raytheon I worked in many classified projects and then ended up going to
a business school at Stanford in Silicon Valley where I my mind was opened up a little bit on
technology entrepreneurship investments and that's where I got my big exposure so after that I ended
up in the new product team of a company called Cisco Systems so Cisco yeah it's like the
networking company of the world so the headquarters was in Silicon Valley so I did that for a bit so
I ran innovation globally for their platform moved back actually to Asia to lead innovation
for a telecom company and also invested in a number of startups and in the past four years before the
startup I was in Wall Street in their technology side so I was in the data team of an edge fund
called Bridgewater and then I was in the CTO office of Dell. I know your laptop is a lot of
people have laptops of Dell technology so I was in the chief technology officer team of Dell and then
I got hired to lead digital for the operations of Charles Schwab and that's an investment side and
I looked at AI and all these new technologies where then eventually my co-founder Kevin who
was my classmate at Stanford quit Google and their AI team and said Earl you know let's start a company
and that's kind of what I'm doing right now so it's like a new business.
What part of your job do you enjoy the most and not enjoy the most?
Oh what I enjoy the most really is you know that the the product that you're building
is what people actually use right away so for example there's very few jobs in the world where
it comes literally from your mind an idea and then all of a sudden it becomes a product where
people use it on a daily basis so for example we have a mobile app that we started and we launched
it in Asia in the Philippines and in a span of a year and a half we have 500,000 downloads right
so it's an interesting thing where literally we were just talking about it I guess a year before
we launched you know we worked on it we built the app and then all of a sudden when we launched it
in a span of 18 months half a million people downloaded the thing so I just felt that that's
very good and then you know and then we get stories of people telling us how we help them
because of our you know credit app in the Philippines and now obviously we're launching
new products so it's just such a fulfilling thing because you know that's why most people
do engineering because they want to conceptualize from something to you know from nothing to
something right and that what gives me fulfilled on a daily basis because ideas literally become
reality and that's an awesome feeling. Yeah I mean of course I'm not like I don't make products that
people use every day but I can definitely see how that would be like fulfilling and just like
kind of mind-blowing at the same time exactly you had this idea and now it's become like a
revolutionary thing around not necessarily yeah but definitely no of course it's been a humbling
experience definitely. Okay was this actually the dream job you imagined yourself doing when you
were working? Actually not so much my dream job actually was to become an astronaut so that's
kind of why I ended up doing engineering and aerospace engineering because I wanted to become
an aerospace engineering because I wanted to become an astronaut and you know ultimately you know I
decided that maybe it's still a dream, not a dream but maybe working for NASA could be something
again in the future for me but or working again in space systems but a challenge that I saw is
you know I could think about impacting space right now but I thought now I'll impact people
on the ground first and then I look at the space again right so that was something that I was
I was looking at and yeah so I think being an entrepreneur it was always in the back of my
mind I just never you know think it would actually happen to me right but I wanted to be an astronaut
and go to space and you know plant the flag and the moon was you know one of the things that you
wanted to do but that led me to engineering which actually helped me now build this company with my
co-founder obviously her amazing team all around the world. Oh your idols for me were young. Oh idols?
So I had a couple ones but obviously the most impactful one for me is Michael Jordan.
It's a basketball player and you know I was I forgot what it was but before Michael Jordan
had the cafe and I was also probably like your age and I went to the Michael Jordan cafe
and there was a big poster there that says one of the quotes of Michael Jordan says you know
I was aware of my success but I never stopped trying to get better right and that was somewhat
of the mantra that I'm you know have now in my life and it's because of Michael Jordan right
so I thought that was a something that I was always looking forward to and you know and I
I really really saw him as someone that I wanted to to be right in the future so yeah it's a bit
of a basketball sports idol but you know at least some of the life lessons the quotes that he had
was very like important in my in my life. What inspired you to like pick this job like why
because I know you've been through many jobs but what inspired you to go through this one?
Yeah you know or just or just necessarily all of your jobs in the past. Yeah of course no I mean I
think the common thread here is impact right so you know I told myself like how can I get a job
that actually will help people and I can help them directly so sorry so that was something that I was
very conscious about and I said if I had to you know some people will say how do you measure your
life is what people say and I tell them that maybe in my in my in my life I'll be like a hundred
millionaire but not necessarily dollars but 100 billionaires with regards to people that I helped
right so imagine if I can help 100 million people or be a billionaire and help a billion people
before you know before I died and that's something that I would love right so that's kind of how I
thought about it that's why I went to all these different jobs and that was always my filter like
how can I use my talents and technology combined in order to help more and more people so that
you know I can help change their lives for the better. What was the biggest highlight of your
career? Oh yeah so so the biggest highlight of my career obviously it's you know having my you know
getting married to my wife is one of the highlights of my life of having my my kids I have three kids
as the highlights of my life. On a professional basis it's a couple of things actually and maybe
all corresponded into about a year or two ago 2021 I think I got into you know the company and I got
into the incubator of NASDAQ right which is a kind of a big technology like where stocks get listed
and so this is like the kindergarten of NASDAQ is our joke so it's like where small companies get
incubated but NASDAQ picks them and I was a representative of the company there and the prize
was you have your profile your literally your face and stuff and the NASDAQ board in Times Square.
So I you know I think I was shocked my kids were there my wife and you know it was really
fulfilling to see you know your face in a big billboard in Times Square that doesn't happen
very often and it was definitely something that I was I found a lot of pride in and humility right
seeing at the same time that you know hopefully we'll really go to NASDAQ at some point in the
future not as the kindergarten of NASDAQ but as the actually college of NASDAQ right which is like a
listing in the stock exchange. Okay so what are the biggest challenges like that you would want
solved like in more recent years by like our generation Gen Z or like I don't know. I think
you're like at the Gen Alpha now by the way. I think Z, I think Z. Oh really maybe. Gen Alpha was 2013.
Oh really oh you're like literally just at the intersection of Alpha and Z. Oh so my so there's
two big things that actually three big things that I think is the biggest challenges for your
generation right like one of this is that the global world economy is changing very rapidly
right so in the end of the day right you know you have to be really smart about global affairs
because before I think you could be very good and just seeing as like okay I can just be
aware what's happening in my town aware happening in my city my state my country right but actually
you have to understand now that the world is so interconnected and let's say things that happen
in China will affect something that happens in Connecticut right so you have to be aware of that
so that's one the global economy is so interconnected but at the same time the powers are shifting very
rapidly. The second one is this notion of the rapid rise of technology so like you know there's
artificial intelligence you know and people are like oh but our jobs will be changed but the thing
is technology will move to the pace that it is going so for example in my generation cell phones
weren't a standard smartphones were definitely not a standard but we just had to adopt to use
cell phones daily so your generation will have what is that cell phone for your next generation
maybe it's AI maybe it's some other technologies you just have to like be very good in learning
and adapting and new technologies but this thing will happen faster than my generation
and then the last one is I think this notion of climate sustainability like the world is before
I think in the previous generation maybe not my generation but previous generation is like the
world is where humans can just take advantage of all resources of the world but not caring about
how this will be the next 100 years and I think you will have the responsibility to think about
how can the world be better in the next 100 years where the damage has been done in a lot of places
already right so it's a bit of a something like that but I'm pretty optimistic because if you have
your global interconnectedness if you have the new technologies to help this and maybe you can
help this part too which is sustainability world you know and using technology to help it so that's
the challenges I see your generation will have to solve in your life. Do you think that like bad
things like I don't know but just like do you think that bad things will happen from too many
ideas because we all know how fast technology is advancing now because I think like because it's so
advanced and all of that I think like it's gonna turn against us yeah but like stuff is advancing
so fast that like um I don't really know how to explain this but there's so much like new like
there's just so many new things coming on the board like today and but you know but yeah but
basically do you think some of those things like there will be too so many things that some of
those things will be bad and affect the world and it looks like anything else right like
someone says that tv was bad right long time ago because oh wow now everybody has access to
you know content or violence right something like that like let's say the terminator right like
you know Alex Schwarzenegger starts doing this or aliens right and try to like blast out aliens
and someone says before oh that's violence right yeah I guess it is but now you have to think okay
how can we use this medium for good so now you can think about more inspirational stories in the tv
movies that enrich your lives so I think technology always has both a good and bad part about it
and it's up to you to figure out how you utilize these new technologies and no matter what to be
honest with you technology will move right human progress keeps on moving which relates to technology
so um it's more of how you use the next level of technology to actually make make better decisions
or make more impact in the world is probably how you should think about it versus like oh wow
like let's let's be scared of it or there's an there's always going to be good and bad
it's more of like what are you going to do with it right so um yeah if someone wanted to follow
in your footsteps or in your careers what would you tell him or her oh yeah especially for you
right like you know um I think both of you are probably like in you know middle school or
something and for everyone listening that's maybe in in that age group right they could maybe 10 to
13 or maybe 18 years I think just always keep the curiosity is my advice always keep learning always
be abreast on new technology developments it's like maybe the things that I would want for you
to do so because if you don't don't try new things especially with regards to learning new things then
it's you know it's hard to to keep up right so always be open be curious approach it we're like
oh actually that's so interesting how do I try things out I'd rather people try let's say uh
new technologies than to like be afraid of it right so that's like my my thought so
let's say if you want to like be curious about engineering um you know it's so good now to just
go to youtube and see if you can try to code some simple website right or let's say if you want to
make a podcast right like it's just so good to just look at some blogs or youtube and then make
a podcast right so I think that's the way it's like I think that's the that's the beauty about
you right now uh in your generation is like you can literally like learn anything you want as long
as you focus and be curious so that's my big thing and for me I was lucky that when I was
um you know 10 or 11 years old my my mom brought me to the NASA Johnson Space Center which is in
Houston and I saw the the rocket that brought people to the moon and at that point I said oh
I kind of want to be an engineer so I just literally when I go to the library I look at
space books right I my my you know one of my research papers at seventh grade was about
astronauts so it's like I took my own curiosity and I took advantage of whatever was around me
even if it's just reading about things on a regular basis so that's what I would do to you
I mean also that's part of the route because we all know like 11 to 13 like yeah but pre-teenages
and like a little like teenagers but basically like that's usually when you find your path in
life like of course it doesn't there's no rush it doesn't have to be at a specified time but
on average that's usually the time people find their path to life yeah that's why I think that's
amazing that you're doing these careers for kids right it's focused on this time where people are
thinking where do I harness my passion exactly I think that's why I'm so excited for this podcast
to be able to because I feel like a lot of just kids in general especially our age um just don't
really pay like as much attention as I think they should to like um just like just everything going
on and like I don't really know what explain this but like I feel like a lot of I feel like it's
becoming less like just less um less often that like people are starting to find like their path
in life now exactly because like I don't know it's just like because of multiple factors it's driven
by multiple factors but that's the whole reason me and Maxwell started this podcast here to help
inspire kids to um yeah to explore to look at that look at this that's why it's it's really good
yes yeah okay also what is your life advice for kids listening to the finals
yeah so maybe my final life advice for all all of the kids listening here is um
um you know find find what what sparks if you sleep at night and and you're like wow I really
I really get excited about it right then then pursue it and try to like learn more about it
right so I think that's something that that that I think you have to like look at all the time is
like wow like if I'm interested in business like how do I how do I keep on learning about business
right like if it's if it's media right how do I learn more about that because you never know
right like the foundation you have right now could do something in the future um and I think that's
the biggest thing right so for for me always keep an open mind but always ask yourself you know um
if I feel that I'm getting passionate about something try it don't be afraid to try something
that makes you wake up at night and say I wish I learned something more about this this thing and
then execute right maybe that's the last thing it's like do something about it right because if it
all still stays in your mind then it could fade away but if you actually do it then you learn a
lot more that's great advice well thank you for your time here in careers for kids great
fortunately we have to thanks for listening to the careers for kids podcast hope you enjoyed
the episode and see you in the next episode bye