I landed in the USA from Cuba a little over 20 years ago with less than $100 in my pockets. It was a whole new world for me—a new language, a new culture, and a new start. I was scared, not knowing what lay ahead. But amid all the uncertainty, my dreams kept me going.

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My first job in Florida didn’t align with my background as a Software Engineer: I started out installing landscape sprinkler systems. The work was tough, but I was grateful for the opportunity to earn some money and get started.

After a long day at work, I’d ride my bicycle to the local library and use their computers to apply for software engineering jobs (remember Monster and HotJobs?). But when all I received was silence, I wondered if I would ever find my way back into the IT field I was so passionate about.

 

Luck was on my side, however, and through a friend, I landed a job in Maryland writing software to test telecommunications equipment. When they handed me the salary offer, I thought it was a few zeroes too many. I was making a mere $25 a month in Cuba—no, that's not a typo.

 

The Dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s, and my company took a hit. Two years later, I found myself jobless just a day before Christmas Eve. My whole world shattered. I feared losing everything I had worked so hard to build. But unemployment brought a new perspective to my life and taught me a vital lesson: if you don't take control of your destiny, someone else will.

 

While I was unemployed and sending out resumes online once more—this time with some experience under my belt—a friend reached out. He needed assistance setting up a small network for a company that had recently acquired new computers and ordered a T1 line. Surprisingly, they were willing to pay for my services. A few more jobs down the road, almost without realizing it, I had ventured into entrepreneurship: Pronto Tech.