Podcast Blog #7: Daniela De Stefano Pachon — Conquering an identity crises and being liberated from fear (Fear is a Liar Ep. 4)
Ever felt like you don’t belong? Like when you enter a room, you’re the only one who has gone through what you’ve gone through? Or simply, that there’s no one there that looks like you?
This was something Daniela De Stefano Pachon faced throughout her life. From being an outcast in Georgia as a Colombian immigrant, to “too” American for her Colombian relatives, to the only woman in the room with Venture Capitalists — Daniela has had to overcome identity crises in order to get past her fears and find success as a co-founder of a tech travel startup, Trip Loop.
Here are some takeaways from my interview with Daniela:
Defending your identity to those who doubt you (2:37)
Daniela grew up with role models in persistence. Her parents immigrated to the United States without jobs locked down and with little work experience. They didn’t speak English. Her dad studied English all night and delivered pizzas during the day.
Daniela lived in a lower income community in Georgia, but was zoned to a school that included many more wealthy students. She was bullied for being poor. But this didn’t make sense to her — in relative terms, she had come from much less and her family’s status had grown significantly from where they lived in Colombia.
A few years later, with her dad doing well in a secure job, her family bought a new house and invested in better things. She moved to a new school, and experienced the opposite of what she felt in Georgia. She was “popular” as the new girl. But this didn’t feel right either.
And when she was able to travel back to visit family in Colombia, they thought she was “too American.” She didn’t fit in there either.
This taught Daniela that how people perceive you doesn’t impact who you are. She noticed how people that perceived her as not having money before treated her badly and later how others saw her as new and shiny treated her well — but she wasn’t actually that different in each circumstance. She learned to own her identity regardless of how she was perceived.
Facing adversity as a family with the risk of losing it all (6:31)
In 2008, the financial crisis struck and Daniela’s dad lost his job during the recession. The recession hit them especially hard, as they had minimal savings after using her dad’s salary to upgrade their life. Daniela described her family’s situation as almost worse than when they arrived from Colombia.
Daniela’s father never had the notion that he could get laid off. When he eventually found work, he became one of the best employees because he knew the risk and implications of losing his job.
Despite the challenges Daniela’s family faced, they persevered because they had each other. They had experience facing adversity together before, so they knew they could handle it again. In earlier years, their biggest fear had been being sent back to Colombia, and now that they were securely in the United States, they put each new challenge into perspective and weren’t afraid to face it.
Overcoming apathy to push yourself farther than you thought you could (16:10)
Daniela never thought of herself as a strong student. That was, until she had an English class where they had a philosophical discussion that brought out the best in her. After class, her teacher commented on how she had a different way of thinking from other students. It was the first time Daniela had been called different, but in a positive way.
But, her counselor still doubted that she could get into the best universities in Texas. Rather than look at UT, the counselor recommended Texas State. Daniela accepted this fate and didn’t question whether her counselor was right and she couldn’t get into those schools. But her parents didn’t accept it. They pushed her to apply to top schools like UT (The University of Texas at Austin) and Rice University. While her mom’s push caused tension and resentments, she never gave up on Daniela, even when Daniela gave up on herself. So she listened to her parents, and sent in the applications.
And in the end, she made it to UT.
Learning to walk the walk and talk the talk despite cultural barriers (19:50)
In college, Daniela met Diego, a classmate who had been working for a company that brought high school students on international trips. The challenges of managing 60 high school students across 13 countries inspired Diego to build an app, Trip Loop, that would ease communication and travel management for large groups.
Daniela would frequently accompany Diego to his business meetings as a friend. But as she attended more and more meetings, she began to speak up. She pushed Diego to include her in the business when she realized the unique value she could provide.
The project, though, brought numerous hurdles, specifically starting a business with all Latino co-founders.
“In Latin America we don’t think that big, we don’t dream that big,” Daniela said. “I had to learn to walk the walk and talk the talk.” Starting a business taught Daniela the importance of having an open mind, being more ambitious, and thinking bigger.
Breaking barriers for women in tech and conquering fear of public speaking (25:15)
In their UT accelerator program, each team had to give a pitch at the beginning of every class. Daniela avoided public speaking when she could as she used to shake and turn red every time she pitched. Usually Diego would do it, but eventually, the Trip Loop team encouraged Daniela to handle it because the industry needed to see more women on stage.
The problem? Daniela didn’t know how women pitch. She knew the tone and body language of the men, but had never seen a woman pitch. So she had to work through it herself. How did she manage this fear of public speaking as a woman in a male-dominated industry? She used those instances when others doubted her as her fire.
Outro (33:05)
When it came time for a “Friends and Family” funding round, Diego and Daniela didn’t have relatives who could fund their venture. But their drive led them to a networking event where they met a mentor who believed in their business. That mentor introduced them to 20 investors who led their first funding round. Today, Trip Loop has connected with leaders in the travel industry and has partnered with the Japan Travel Bureau.
Daniela is continuing to find her voice, while embracing her fears of public speaking to help Trip Loop succeed.
Shout-outs
A quick shout out to Simon and Franky who helped me produce the show. Thank you. To my daughter Savreen and our future Gyani’s, I hope you hear or read about this episode one day, and it provides some value on your journey. For the readers and listeners, if the show provided positive takeaways, please subscribe, leave an apple podcast review, and share with others in your network.
Thanks for checking out my podcast blog — Feel free to check out my other long-form podcast blog posts on LinkedIn or website to find noteworthy moments from interviews with timestamps to go back and listen. You can also find resources to connect with guests and see their work firsthand.
I’m out.
Ep #4: Fear is a Liar Podcast with Daniela De Stefano Pachon & Ronnie Gyani
0:00 | Intro
2:37 | Defending your identity to those who doubt you
6:31 | Facing adversity as a family with the risk of losing it all
16:10 | Overcoming apathy to push yourself farther than you thought you could
19:50 | Learning to walk the walk and talk the talk despite cultural barriers
25:15 | Breaking barriers for women in tech and conquering fear of public speaking
33:05 | Outro
36:09 | End
Links & Resources
Daniela De Stefano Pachon
Ronnie Gyani
Daniela De Stefano Pachon and Ronnie Gyani at Permanent RCRD Studios in Austin, Texas
