The speaker summarizes their journey immigrating from Venezuela to the United States twice, in 1980 and 1995. They discuss the contrasts in their home country of Venezuela and the reasons they sought to come to America for more opportunities and security. After restarting their life in the US in 1995 in their mid-30s, the speaker focuses on how they have built a new career through Toastmasters, becoming an entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. They have started a business providing social media mentoring to help local businesses improve through tools like Facebook and LinkedIn.

1. Toastmasters Speech #1 “The Icebreaker” By Francisco Palacio Competent Communicator Manual Member since October 2008