Life and Work with Veronica Salcido

Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Salcido.

Veronica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ll start with the now! Today, I am an athlete and entrepreneur. My heart belongs on a mountain in the wilderness and my mind, inspired by nature, builds companies. I am many things today and I truly believe I can be anything and everything in any given moment. My life purpose is to live my truth and through it inspire and encourage others to do the same. I live knowing that my day-to-day decisions and actions contribute to bigger united consciousness. I am here to contribute at a higher level of consciousness.

In September of 2014, I traded in my very “cool” Silicon Valley corporate job for an open book, no plan, less stuff and a one-way ticket to Peru (on my own). I trekked through the Inca Trail in search of learning more about myself in the solitude of nature and vulnerability of not knowing what to expect or what is next. It has been a wild ride since. It was one of several major turning points in my life. I traveled and lived out of a suitcase for 15 months and started a recruiting talent agency 3 months into it. I was finally building my life by design. On my terms. In those 15 months, I made more money than I had made in any given year in the last 10 years of my career and traveled to 35 different cities, 12 countries and found more of me than I ever knew existed. I fell in love with the outdoors and the mountains. I feel at home there.

I just celebrated four years of starting my own company, AdTalent. But I have done so much more… I found FREEDOM. Financial, Time, Identity, the author of my own story, no longer in pursuit of the one because I found I was THE ONE. I decided to continue to follow my heart and I scaled the business back in order to pursue my other passion. CLIMBING.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been far from a smooth ride. The #1 piece of advice I would give other women starting out is not to focus on the “why not’s” or how why you are not qualified. Just take ACTION. Most of my accomplishments I have been “underqualified” for but I wanted it bad enough, I did it anyhow.

Confidence is something that I’ve had to build as an adult, it was not a part of something that I was born into. As a young girl and a young professional, it was not reinforced by culture, society, and experiences. I believe it is partly why men seem to get ahead (more complex than that but I have seen it happen over and over). Especially as a woman in pre-dominantly male-dominated spaces – Tech, Advertising, and Mountaineering/Outdoors.

Here is what I could have focused on:

– English is my second language.
– My parents are illegal immigrants from Mexico with a 3rd-grade education from a ranch without running water or electricity.
– I grew up next to the government projects in a predominantly Chicano “ghetto” north of LA, Pacoima, where you are most likely to die of a gunshot, overdose, become a stripper or have children before the end of high school.
– Culturally, I was to get married, know how to clean a house, cook and raise a family.
– my Dad worked three jobs to raise five kids and some additional family members. My mom worked to stay sane with so many kids at home.
– By the age of 16, I had experienced sexual and emotional abuse that was also normalized in that environment and would continue throughout my young adulthood.
– I went to rehab at the age of 19.
– I moved in with my abusive drug-dealing boyfriend at 20.

Instead, I CHOOSE to focus on:

– I worked harder to learn the language and excelled in school because of it, I ended up getting into multiple Universities and graduated top 10% at UC Berkeley in spite of and ahead of some of my native speaking classmates.
– My parents taught me hard work and their sacrifices made me want to take advantage of the opportunities that were not open as an American. I have never been afraid of hard work because of it and don’t take FREEDOM to be in this country for granted.
– I have strong WHYs my parents are a big part of it.
– I want to be the role model I would have wanted for other young women.
– If I can survive my environment growing up and be a survivor of sexual and domestic abuse… quite frankly, I can do anything!
– I find healing in accomplishing goals that I never thought possible.
– I am a mentor to a 16-year-old girl, Guisella, she went from record absentee and failing to college-bound and straight A student!

And I 110% believe that if someone like me can make it, can have a life in which I feel I am at peace and in my life purpose, then so can you. So, can the little ESL girl from the hood. I am just a girl from the hood in Pacoima, a girl who got to play in the river in the remote mountains of Chihuahua, but this little girl believes she can climb to the top of the world. And so can anyone else, whatever your Everest is. Once I found the courage to live my own unique truth the Universe conspired to make it happen and will continue to do so. I find confidence in that!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with AdTalent and PIClimb – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I own my own company, AdTalent. We help technology companies across North America recruit and build their teams. I have helped companies grow that have sold to Intuit and Adobe for Billions of dollars. I have built a company that allows me to be a digital nomad. I can work from anywhere and so can my team! I have been doing so for 4 years now. Because of that, I am also able to have the flexibility to continue my other passion – Mountaineering…

I was in Sedona in 2018 with a dear friend of mine doing yoga and the yoga teacher asked “if you could do anything in the world if you could be anything what would that be? What did you always want to be?” A question that has always bothered me, because if I really wanted to be something why not do it! I turned to my friend and from the bottom of my heart said – an athlete. My friend’s response was “and why not be an athlete now?” She was right. I did not know what type of athlete or how or if I was too old or all of the millions of why not… but I loved the outdoors… I took action.

In the last year, I have spent time trekking and backpacking through remote areas of the Grand Canyon – the North Rim, Rim to Rim and Superstition Mountains. In the last 8 months, I wandered up the Tanzanian trail to the top of Kilimanjaro, wandered the Northern Serengeti following the Great Migration, helped a friend conquer his dream of getting to the top of Mount Kazi in Australia and beat the odds of 30% success rate to summit Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (the largest peak outside of the Himalayas). I have climbed 3 of the 7 summits of the world and I plan to climb Mount Everest in April of 2020.

Because of all of this, it introduced me into a whole new community and because I saw myself as an athlete and act as one so did the community. I am currently raising funds and campaigning for Athlete sponsorships with my climbing partner and life partner! (Yes! I met my P.I.C. while doing what I love not in search of. 🙂 I have picked up a few sponsorships but I am currently campaigning to raise $90,000 to Climb Mt Everest in April of 2020. It sounds extreme but I think it will inspire other women to live their full potential and realize that the possibilities are endless.

What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
JUST GO FOR IT! No dream is too big and nothing is impossible YOU just have not done it. Be crazy fearless and protective of your dreams. There are going to be a lot of people that will discourage you, that’s their own fears speaking BUT you will be surprised how many people will go out of their way to support you and cheer you on! We are here for you and believe in you!

Pricing:

• Donations and Corporate/ Private Sponsorships for Everest:
• All donations are welcome! If you are interested in having a picture or symbolic item carried to the top, please contact me
• Corporate Sponsorships:
• The Hike $1,000 – Your logo on the flag that will be held at the top of the mountain and your logo on gear or use of your gear
• The Trek $2,500 – The above plus sponsored post on IG @PIClimb and @RoamingV and promoting of the brand as I train
• The Mountaineer $5,000 – The above and “premier” center placement on a banner larger size and speaking engagement for your organization
• The Everest $10,000 + The above, your own banner carried to the top and picture at the Top of Everest, speaking engagement and exclusivity – no other competitor brand representation

Contact Info:

• Phone: 8188097677
• Email: veronica@adtalent.us
• Instagram: @roamingV
• Other: @PIClimb

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.