The Self Made Mindset

Published: Dec. 3, 2018, 4 p.m.

Nely Galan is the Former President of Telemundo and creator and producer of the FOX series "The Swan." She was the first Latina President of Entertainment for a U.S. television network and an Emmy Award winning producer of over 700 television shows. She founded The Adelante Movement to empower and train Latina and multicultural women. She is the bestselling author of Self Made: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way.

 

Podcast Highlights

 

  • Who is Nely Galan?

Nely Galan is an immigrant, her parents fled Communist Cuba to the United States. Many of the people that have left Latin America or countries in the Caribbean have a lot of trauma and are often grateful just ot be somewhere else. Nely had to be her family’s translator, therapist, and accountant all by the time she was 5.

 

Her superhero moment happened when she was in the seventh grade. Her parents realized that she was great in school and put a bet on Nely. When you see your parents struggle to provide for you, you become a very empathetic person. It was then she decided that she had to figure out a way to help her parents and she began selling Avon out of her locker to help pay for her schooling.

 

  • Would you consider your history as an immigrant to be your unique advantage?

Being an immigrant has given Nely values that most people in America have forgotten. She is self reliant and believes that she can do anything she sets her mind to. She also has a perspective that most people don’t about the state of the world.

Nely feels like there is an immense divide in this country, and people need to be compassionate to people who journey to the US in order to better their lives.

Nely was once accused of plagiarism while in her sophomore year of highschool and it was then she discovered that being empowered can change your life. Acting like a victim will not solve your problem. This experience actually became the springboard for Nely’s career working as one of the youngest editors at a magazine and getting into television.

  • Getting Into Real Estate

When you take a risk and do something from your pain, it can be the greatest decision you make and have the greatest impact.

Making decisions with limited information is much easier when you are empathetic to other people.

While working as employee #1 at the television station that would become Telemundo, Nely noticed that the owners were very interested in owning the building they were working out of.

Asking someone to be your mentor is very off putting, instead put yourself in the life of mentors you want so you can overhear their conversations and understand how they operate. Put yourself in the path of opportunity.

Not everyone is an entrepreneur day one, but if that’s what you want to do treat your job as if it were your business and think about what you would do. You can fast track your learning if you pay attention.

When you make money, don’t waste it on bling. Buy real estate instead, someday the real estate will be worth more than your business. Work your business, but real estate is historically one of the best investments you can make.

  • Responsibility

Just because Nely’s career worked out really well, that doesn’t mean she thinks college is a waste of time. Nely went back to school when she was much older and she realized that despite her success, one of the things holding her back was that she never really lived through all the phases of her life. Going to school allowed her emotional self to catch up with her intellectual self.

If we don’t see people like Nely who have succeeded, it’s harder to see ourselves succeeding as well. Nely discovered her mission and realized that she had to change the family