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Cheryl Campos has spent her career refusing to be put in a box — and building entire ecosystems so others don't have to be either. This week, she's sitting down with us to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to break into venture capital, build community from the ground up, and move capital to the people who've been locked out of it for too long.Cheryl is the Co-Founder of LaFamilia VC and VCFamilia — the largest global community of verified Latine venture investors. She's a Harvard economics grad, a former Barclays investment banker, a Stanford GSB alum, and someone who has modeled for Tom Ford and Christian Louboutin in the same breath as supporting $8 billion in structured finance transactions. She doesn't choose between her worlds. She builds new ones.In this conversation, we get into what it actually means to sit with the tension of being 40% of venture as a Harvard graduate — but 1% of venture as a Latina. We talk about what she saw missing when she joined Republic as employee number ten, why she built the Venture Partner Program that drove 600% year-over-year deal flow growth, and what the founding moment of VCFamilia really felt like. We get into the $2.7 trillion economic output of Latine-owned businesses, why only 2% of VC funding reaches Latine founders, and what LaFamilia is doing to change that — starting with the first-ever operational capital grant program for Latine emerging fund managers.We also get into the future — what it looks like to shift $1 billion in venture capital to Latines, what unity and intersectionality actually mean inside a community as beautifully diverse as ours, and what Cheryl wants every first-gen Latina standing at the door of a room she's not sure she's allowed to enter to know.This episode is for you if:⭐ You're a founder, investor, or operator trying to understand where the real gaps in venture capital are — and where the opportunity lives.⭐ You've ever felt like you were too much of one thing and not enough of another, and you're still trying to figure out how to hold all of it.⭐ You want to understand what it actually takes to build a community-driven organization with two sides: one for investors, one for founders.⭐ You're a first-generation professional navigating elite spaces and looking for someone who gets it.⭐ You're building something and need a reminder that your presence in the room isn't accidental — it's necessary.⭐ You want the kind of honest, fire-in-the-belly conversation about systemic change that goes beyond the talking points.Learn more about LaFamilia VC and VCFamilia at https://www.lafamiliafoundation.com/⭐Follow Cheryl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyc.nyc/ ⭐Follow LaFamilia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lafamilia.foundation/ Connect with Jessica:Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter: ⭐ https://mailchi.mp/184628beeed4/newsletter-sign-up?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaaZlZX1eFRLpWqd1b7Eb5oi40KrE2bgMFJX1B4YYmgUOOPSYvwekKIcyvQ_aem_U5yfOZ_E0r-Ue7mBkAsaRg Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessworldwideFollow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/behindtheworkshowFollow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwideFollow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindtheworkAbout Behind The Work:Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies and organizations shaping what's next.
Jessica Santana is a business and leadership coach for entrepreneurs and executives. She specializes in teaching founders, entrepreneurs and executives how to build strong businesses, careers and lives they love.
Behind The Work is the podcast show for ambitious executives and entrepreneurs looking to build businesses that scale and careers that leave an impact. Hosted by Jessica Santana, each episode features in-depth conversations with entrepreneurs, founders and executives who are building companies from the ground up and are succeeding in their career fields. Discover the real successes, honest failures, pivots, and the vision behind the most successful people reshaping industries.
Some episodes, we’ll sit down with some dope guests and hear about their journeys. Other times, it’ll just be us—breaking down the lessons, strategies, and real talk that I have learned as an entrepreneur and executive – It will be everything you need to keep pushing forward and you’ll always walk away with something tangible and practical.
This show will provide answers to questions like:
- What does the real journey from zero to success actually look like—beyond the highlight reel?
- How do I turn my business idea into a profitable, scalable company?
- How do successful founders navigate failure, pivots, and setbacks without giving up?
- What's the difference between entrepreneurs who scale to millions and those who stall?
- How do you secure funding, and what should you know before approaching investors?
- What does it actually take to build product-market fit?
- How do you build a high-performing team and company culture from the ground up?
- What blind spots do first-time entrepreneurs have, and how do you avoid them?
- How do you balance growth with profitability and sustainability?
- What's the real behind-the-scenes strategy that successful founders use?
- How do you stay motivated and resilient through the tough seasons of building?
- What's the path to building a company that can scale beyond you?
- How do you know when to double down on your vision versus pivot?
- What does leadership actually look like when you're building something from scratch?
- How do the most successful entrepreneurs think differently about risk, money, and opportunity?