My guest this week is Hicham Oudghiri, a Morrocan-American entrepreneur. The founder of Enigma, a startup that creates a data infrastructure that will help businesses make informed decisions mostly about other businesses. One of their focus points is specifically small business lending, which is notoriously difficult. And Enigma is aiming to change that and has made some progress there - among their clients are PayPal, American Express, and Capital One.

This is part two of my conversation with Hicham. And in this episode, we talk more about what Hisham’s company does and the larger context of the impact of data on society.

If you haven't listened to part one - you can find it wherever you’re listening right now. We talk about how his Moroccan, French, and American backgrounds have shaped his worldview.

FIND HICHAM:

https://twitter.com/merinids

https://enigma.com/

https://medium.com/enigma

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

My guest this week is Hicham Oudghiri, a Morrocan-American entrepreneur. The founder of Enigma, a startup that creates a data infrastructure that will help businesses make informed decisions mostly about other businesses. One of their focus points is specifically small business lending, which is notoriously difficult. And Enigma is aiming to change that and has made some progress there - among their clients are PayPal, American Express, and Capital One.

Hicham is my second high-tech guest in a row. I hope you guys don’t mind. I guess it is a reflection of the world we live in or at least my sense about it. Data and data collection and exploitation of data is everywhere and we all have our concerns, fears, and frustrations about it. But the reality is that this is how the world will be for the decades to come and we better learn to deal with it and hopefully even benefit from it.

This is part one of the conversation and we focus on Hicham’s family background and how the mix of Moroccan, French, and American cultures has instilled him with the values of open-mindedness, nomadic desire to explore the frontier, and at the same time appreciation of the civic values and ethics, and how that manifests in his day to day business thinking. 

FIND HICHAM:

https://twitter.com/merinids

https://enigma.com/

https://medium.com/enigma

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

My guest this week is Camila Russo, a Chilean-American financial journalist. She cut her teeth at Bloomberg News. And in 2020 she founded The Defiant, a crypto news platform. She has also written a book, the first history of Ethereum, called The Infinite Machine. 

In this Part 2 of the conversation, Camila and I talk about how she made the transition from writing about the traditional markets to covering crypto and how she has since placed her bets on decentralized finance.

Check out Part 1 of my conversation with Camila - where we talk about her journey coming to the US. And please remember that none of this is financial advice.

FIND CAMILA:

https://thedefiant.io/

https://twitter.com/camirusso 

Get her book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X8HS2WC/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

Camila Russo is a Chilean-American financial journalist. In 2020 she founded The Defiant, a media platform that has quickly become one of the most trusted and respected news sources in the world of decentralized finance, more known as crypto. 

You’ve heard of crypto. You’ve heard of Bitcoin. You’ve heard of Doge. If you’re into sports you’ve probably heard of the digital collectible sports cards. You may have even heard of the mysterious non-fungible tokens, the NFTs. It’s the cutting edge of finance and technology and to most people, it sounds like the intersection of digital witchery and Ponzi schemes and there is certainly a good share of speculation and let’s be honest unkosher activity in that field and yet, many believe it’s the future. Full disclosure, I do. But I’m not here to sell you on it, as they say, do your own homework. 

What I am excited to do - it to introduce you to Camila. Who is not some TikTok “crypto influencer,” she is a real solid financial journalist, Northwestern grad, who cut her teeth at Bloomberg and now she is focusing on crypto. It makes me extra happy that a woman, an immigrant, and a Latina is at the helm of the best platforms in the space.  

And while I’m on this fangirl kick over here... I want to tell you about Camila’s book - The Infinite Machine, which was published by HarperCollins in 2020 and is a great introductory book for anyone who is curious in this space. It’s the first book on the history of Ethereum. It’s an easy and exciting read because besides breaking down the basics of what crypto is - the book focuses on the stories of the people, who are building this future technology.

FIND CAMILA:

https://thedefiant.io/

https://twitter.com/camirusso

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

Rohit Bhargava, Indian-American Wall Street Journal bestselling author, speaker, and self-described near-futurist.

Rohit is a branding expert. He spent 15 years in leadership roles at two world-renowned ad agencies: Leo Burnett and Ogilvy. 

His ideas have been implemented by such giants as the World Bank, NASA, Intel, Disney, Colgate, Coca-Cola, NBC Universal, American Express, and many others. Rohit also teaches Marketing and Storytelling at Georgetown University.

Rohit is the founder of the Non-Obvious Company, ON A MISSION to help the world be more open-minded by teaching others how to be non-obvious thinkers.

And in this first part of the conversation, we talk about Rohit’s childhood growing up as a world citizen and the perspective that it gives him.

And in this second part of the conversation, we talk about the sense of belonging, the value of the American accent, and some future trends that are both fascinating and terrifying. 

FIND ROHIT:

http://www.rohitbhargava.com

https://twitter.com/rohitbhargava

https://www.instagram.com/rohitbb/

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

Rohit Bhargava, Indian-American Wall Street Journal bestselling author, speaker, and self-described near-futurist.

Rohit is a branding expert. He spent 15 years in leadership roles at two world-renowned ad agencies: Leo Burnett and Ogilvy. 

His ideas have been implemented by such giants as the World Bank, NASA, Intel, Disney, Colgate, Coca-Cola, NBC Universal, American Express and many others. Rohit also teaches Marketing and Storytelling at Georgetown University.

Rohit is the founder of the Non-Obvious Company, ON A MISSION to help the world be more open-minded by teaching others how to be non-obvious thinkers.

And in this first part of the conversation, we talk about Rohit’s childhood growing up as a world citizen and the perspective that it gives him.

Tune in on Thursday for part two of the conversation. Where we talk about being a double immigrant, his non-obvious perspective on people butchering his name, and some trends.

FIND ROHIT:

http://www.rohitbhargava.com

https://twitter.com/rohitbhargava

https://www.instagram.com/rohitbb/

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

My guest this week is Grace Ramirez, Chef Grace. And this is part two of our conversation. 

If you have not listened to part one - check it out wherever you’re listening right now. Grace shares her immigration journey from Venezuela to the US and from being a TV producer to being in front of the camera and then further into the kitchen. 

And this is where we pick up in today’s episode. 

Besides writing cookbooks and hosting TV shows, Grace has been an ambassador for Zacapa rum. And she shares her story of getting herself that gig. Spoiler alert, it did not land in her lap by itself. She wanted it and she got it.

Grace has been an activist and volunteer with Chef Jose Andres’s World Central Kitchen. And we talk about her work in NYC during the pandemic. 

Grace also shared exciting news about her newest venture that is focused on women and corn.

FIND GRACE:

http://www.chefgraceramirez.com

https://www.instagram.com/chefgraceramirez/

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.

This week on the podcast - Grace Ramirez, Chef Grace, the first Venezuelan-American on the show.

She has written books and hosted TV shows, all around the world. She started her career on season one of Master Chef and for the last few years, she has been actively working with Chef Jose Andres’s World Central Kitchen. First, in Puerto Rico in 2017, then the Bahamas and Venezuela, and for the last year - New York. 

During the pandemic, the organization has helped prevent over 250 restaurants in NY from closing and delivered over 9 million meals. The City of New York has recognized Chef Grace Ramirez as a Covid-19 hero. 

In this first part of the conversation we talk about Grace’s childhood in Venezuela, her having to leave right after high school because of a dictatorship taking over, her career as a TV producer, and her first steps in the food industry.

FIND GRACE:

http://www.chefgraceramirez.com

https://www.instagram.com/chefgraceramirez/

FIND WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

 www.WeTheAliensPod.com

YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and on Clubhouse

Email to wtapodconnect@gmail.com

ASK YOUR FRIENDLY RUSSIAN on TikTok

MUSIC: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick  www.benbostick.com

ABOUT WE THE ALIENS PODCAST:

We The Aliens podcast hosts conversations with IMMIGRANTS from all over the world who came to the US and found their path to the American Dream. No matter what their status is - undocumented, DACA recipient, permanent resident (green card holder), naturalized citizen - all are welcome here. We talk about the challenges of leaving the home country, finding the legal path, finding a way to belong in the new world, building a career, finding love, and sustaining the family traditions. We talk about IMMIGRATION as a process of growth and self-discovery, adaptation, overcoming cultural shocks, and fighting racial and ethnic stereotypes. We talk about the great contributions that immigrants make to the American economy, culture, science, and society. We also feature stories of the first-gens, FIRST GENERATION American-born, the third culture kids, who have their own set of struggles growing in between the cultures of their parents' home country and America. We talk about their battle to find their identity and carve their path while redefining what American is. We talk about philosophy, psychology, culture, language, and history. We also talk about the news of the day, things that we all worry about - but in the context of the immigrant perspective. If you love NPR, This American Life, The Daily, and Pod Save America, if you read Forbes, LA Times, The Atlantic, and New York Times, if you watch John Oliver, Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, and/or Trevor Noah, if you are a Twitter and Clubhouse addict because you want to be closer to people,  if you, your spouse, your parent, or your grandma is an immigrant-alien and you know that you and they came to this country to build and contribute, and you can’t stand discrimination and belittling of their lives and contributions - this podcast is for you.