The ShermCast

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Through Entrepreneurship (S9 E1)

• Sherman Center • Season 9 • Episode 1

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Welcome to Season 9 of the ShermCast! On this episode, new hosts Vaughn Williams and Liam MacMahon honor the start of Hispanic Heritage month by interviewing Ian Rocha, Sofia Urrutia, and Yosh Rozen—Northeastern students and alumni who are honoring their Hispanic heritage with their leadership and business endeavors. We discuss dealing with imposter syndrome, the challenges of being a minority in business, and navigating the transition from being a student entrepreneur to a full-time business owner.
Check out Ian, Sofia, and Yosh's organizations/ventures:
@neushpe on Instagram
@shoppalmarosa on Instagram
https://www.partrunner.com/en/
Follow us on Instagram and Linkedin: @nushermancenter
Head to our website for all episodes and transcripts: https://sherman.center.northeastern.edu/podcasts/
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Vaughn Williams:

Welcome to season nine of the Season Cast. We're your new host Vaughn Williams.

Liam Macmahon:

And Liam MacMahon.

Vaughn Williams:

I'm a third year Screen and media studies major/journalism.

Liam Macmahon:

And I'm a second year communications and marketing major. On today's episode, we're going to be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by interviewing influential Hispanic and Latino members of our Northeastern community.

Vaughn Williams:

First up, we have the president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, known as Ian Rocha. Then we'll engage with the young entrepreneur, Sofia Urrutia, founder of the business Palmarosa. And finally, we'll finish up with Yoshua Rozen, an inspirational alumni who started his business during his time at Northeastern. And now does it full time. Let's get into their stories.

Liam Macmahon:

Hello. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Ian Rocha, the president of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, also known as SHPE. Ian is a third year chemical and environmental engineering student here at Northwestern University. Welcome to the Shermcast, Ian how are you doing today?

Speaker 3:

I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Vaughn Williams:

Can you tell the audience a little about yourself before we get into SHPE.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So I guess outside of SHPE. Yeah. I'm a third year chemical engineering major, as Leon mentioned. I'm on co-op right now. I would say like, personally. So of my hobbies include music like hanging out on low board games. Some like that. I would say a lot of my life right now revolves around SHPE. So the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. So I'm happy to talk about that.

Liam Macmahon:

Can you go into detail about your co-op that you're doing right now?

Speaker 3:

Yes, I'm working at a company called Electric Hydrogen, and it's a research and development position. So right now I'm working on developing Electrolyzers, which pretty much turn water into hydrogen gas without using emissions.

Vaughn Williams:

Oh, wow.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Vaughn Williams:

Big, big time co-op. Co-op.

Liam Macmahon:

That's a lot more complex than anything I could do.

Speaker 3:

It's intense. It's intense, but it's fun. Yeah.

Vaughn Williams:

So now I want us to get into SHPE. What is SHPE and why was SHPE founded?

Speaker 3:

Okay. Yeah. So SHPE is a national organization, and we are just the Northeastern chapter of SHPE. So? So, yeah, this national organization sponsors a lot of individual university chapters. And basically it's built around promoting the success of Latinos in STEM. So in the case of Northeastern, we work a lot with students, mainly incoming freshmen, on professional development, like resume critiques. Our company talks any sort of thing that would help them excel in a professional space as well as we're just like a cultural and social community as well. So we host events with the LCC, the Latinx Student Cultural Center, or we just hold social gatherings. But yeah.

Liam Macmahon:

So can you go into some more detail about the programs, services and resources that SHPE offers?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So right now we're just starting up our ambassador program, which is the main one, and this is sort of like a mentorship thing where we can have board members interact with younger general body members and guide them and make sure they're excelling in school and as well as well as in the club. On top of that, we mainly work as a channel for members to interact with companies, so we have our sponsors and through this we can give our we can give the companies their resumes, we can give them professional advice, academic help, stuff like this.

Vaughn Williams:

Mm hmm. Last Monday, I actually got the pleasure of SHPE a panel on imposter syndrome, and so I thought it was a very informative panel. All the panels were literally, quite literally, amazing. Girlboss is, I think, exemplifies one of the panelists.

Speaker 3:

It was a fantastic panel. It was crazy, actually.

Vaughn Williams:

Why is some imposter syndrome so prevalent in the Hispanic and minority communities? And can you give me your favorite panelist?

Speaker 3:

Okay. So it was mentioned last Monday. Liam, I wish you were there. We had I was there too. Spiritual. You were there. We had a panel on imposter syndrome with students, professors. And the goal of this was Hispanic communities, also just minority communities in general experience more imposter syndrome statistically. And this is like a quick recap, basically the feeling of like not feeling like you belong or that you're like, you look an imposter in a workspace, especially in like professional space. So anyways, we had four panelists, two students, two underground students, one Ph.D. student, one professor, and all of them had incredibly strong voices, but the professor was very intense. And, you know, so accolade ID like recognized by Forbes, recognized by MIT, all these people. But, you know, just a strong voice because she's so high up and she's doing such great research that it was a little intense at times. But yeah.

Vaughn Williams:

How from the panel, how are you going to apply that to your presidency and share?

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah. I mean, my main priority as a president like above anything is to make sure everyone's feeling welcome and okay. So, you know, especially with something like professional space or doing that kind of stuff, it's like a sensitive topic, you know? I mean, and I don't want to be over like, Oh, this is where you have to be. You have to, like, follow this or perform or anything. Mainly, I just want people to have a community and have resources. So yeah.

Liam Macmahon:

So was there an adjustment period or some acclimation that was required with being the president of SHPE?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think it's a lot of work because there's our, Eboard and Aboard in total like around 15 people. So although I'm not doing the task themselves necessarily, it is like organizing, delegating 50 people. So you know, I can't miss a day. I like, I have to respond. I have to be on top of my stuff. So that was definitely something to get acclimated to.

Vaughn Williams:

Interesting. So was President always the plan or what about, um, SHPE? Drove you to becoming a president, drove you to one to achieve a higher position.

Speaker 3:

Right. You know Maya, right? Maya Delasantos. Okay, so we're context. Maya is the previous president SHPE. Fantastic. Human. Oh, my God. Just in general. But she definitely did such an amazing job with her presidency. And she made me feel really welcome. And, like, the club was amazing. And she just put in all this effort as well as everyone else on the board, Daniela and so on. But yeah, so I saw that my second year when I first got involved and I always wanted to do more. So when election season rolled around, it kind of just seemed like something I should run for. And then I got it. So here I am.

Vaughn Williams:

Got it. So how do you.

Liam Macmahon:

So how do you balance, like being the president of SHPE with your co-op and just everything else that you have at Northeastern and just being a normal college person?

Speaker 3:

Oh, my God, That's so real. I mean, I'm sure everyone can relate to this. You know, you're a ninja warrior on the side. Vaughn does everything to. Yeah. I mean, it's all just organization. I feel like with co-op especially, it's like after work hours and like, I'm not thinking about work because I don't want to think about work. I do it like 9 hours a day. Um, and then in terms of just like social SHPE balance, like it's really just boundaries and I'm still working on it, honestly. But I think communication is probably the main way to do that of that.

Vaughn Williams:

So by the time this episode airs will be right in the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, Could you please go into detail why having a month Hispanic Heritage Month is important for the Latin American community and why having a society like SHPE is important for the Hispanic community?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So for the first part, Hispanic Heritage Month, I mean, I think it's just important to dedicate a certain time to acknowledge in a culture or group of people. Obviously, Latino people have been statistically disadvantaged a lot of times just taking some advice, time to hold events, celebration, share culture, also just like have fun, you know, I mean, like I think with Latin culture specifically, there's a lot of food and traditions that are very easily shareable. So this most like it's just fun to have, you know, I mean, and also to educate people, help Latin American community succeed, that kind of thing. And in terms of SHPE, it's kind of very similar. So mainly we work with students who are maybe in struggling positions where new to college, who haven't had a Latin American community or it's hard to find one once they're in Boston or in higher education. Ideally, we can help these people and, you know, SHPE serves a lot of goals. But I think that one is most important and like making individual connections with students is so valuable. So that's why I'm in SHPE and that's why I think the club's so American mission.

Liam Macmahon:

So you were talking about the individual connections. Is there any like specific stories or individual cases of SHPE just impacting someone's life that you've personally witnessed?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean, me for sure. But let me try to think of something else. So, I mean, on a professional basis, one of our members got connected to their co-ops through SHPE. And this happens like all the time where you meet a previous member, they recommend you. And because you're through this organization, it gives you a channel to get a job. So that happens all the time. That's super impactful, at least on a personal level. I mean, a lot of people find their friends through SHPE. I remember my sister telling me like, if you want to find a Latin American community, go to SHPE. They're always nice and welcoming. And, you know, she went to a different school. But like for me, I went to SHPE and I found the same community. I mean, and it helped me build that friend social network that I wanted as well as get in touch with something that I miss from home. So, yeah.

Liam Macmahon:

I think it's just so underrated in general, just how important in clubs and organizations on Northeastern campus are just for like networking, meaning a community of like minded people and just finding people who have similar interest and value to.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean, definitely. I wish I had time for more clubs, honestly, just because it's so fun, like meeting people and like people do all this effort and have like school funding to put on these events, but like, I'm just too busy.

Liam Macmahon:

Yeah, but you also have like one the most important roles imaginable within your club and organization. So it's probably good. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

No big deal. No big deal. Um.

Vaughn Williams:

And I think one of the, like, the most important things, like you said, the connections. Yeah. Growing up as a minority myself, our families probably are, but it might not have a lot of connections to the business realm compared to other families. So I think SHPE is that connection that bridges people to become a professional.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, totally. I mean, yeah, that's the idea right is that there were a lot minorities are statistically disadvantage and then by giving them this network we can help each other succeed.

Vaughn Williams:

Of that. So I think we're reaching close to the end of the interview. And so what's next for SHPE at Northeastern?

Speaker 3:

What's the next?

Vaughn Williams:

And so great a shout out. Anyone aboard? Anyone?

Speaker 3:

Charlotte, you've on, actually. Um, yeah. So we have a couple events coming up this Saturday. I guess today is Saturday. Wow. So after this.

Vaughn Williams:

I think this episode airs the 29th.

Liam Macmahon:

29th. So whatever time that would be. Okay. Who knows how to read a calendar these days.

Speaker 3: So we will recap on the kick back social event that's happening today. And also, there's a huge professional mixer and event with our silver sponsor companies. You know, it should be a night of networking and fun activities, dinner, stuff like that. And you can expect announcements on that for like mid-October, I think. Um, I'm mean other than that, we're going to convention in November. That's a huge thing. And we're going to keep you on with our general body meetings, I guess, to get all the shout outs out of the way. Most importantly, general body meetings, Mondays, 7:

08 p.m. Curry for three five. And I feel I would feel so bad shouting out any member of the board and leaving out anyone else but Shadow. All 15 of you guys.

Vaughn Williams:

All 15, All 15. Um, and shout out your socials.

Speaker 3:

Just yeah, if you want to know me outside of Chef, it's at Loca Roadshow on Instagram. That's the main one.

Vaughn Williams:

Okay. Thank you so much for meeting with us today, Ian. Lovely person. And I'm so excited you got the chance to talk about Chef, because I think what you're doing is amazing. I think you should know that.

Speaker 3:

Oh, thank you. Yeah. Thank you both for having me. This has been really fun.

Liam Macmahon:

Pleasure having you on the podcast.

Vaughn Williams:

Big pleasure.

Liam Macmahon:

The Sherman Venture Corps provides Northeastern University students the opportunity to develop their own venture over the course of a six month period while getting paid to develop this venture. So this is the ideal co-op for Northwestern University students, undergrad or graduate, who's identified a concept or technology to address a specific and, well, Characterized market need. Make sure to get your applications in. The deadline for priorities is October 1st, so make sure to get those applications in.

Vaughn Williams:

To day, we have the pleasure of speaking with Sofia Urrutia, a fourth year student at Northeastern University, pursuing a B.S. in international affairs and international business. And she's also the founder and CEO of Palmarosa, a jewelry business that she started during her time at Northeastern. Sofia, how are you doing today?

Speaker 4:

I'm great. Thanks for having me.

Vaughn Williams:

Okay. Okay. So.

Liam Macmahon:

I know that's a lengthy intro, but is there anything else you would like to add?

Speaker 4:

Well, as I say, Palmarosa is a fine jewelry company for the boundless visionary, bold enough to write her own stories, which basically just means going after your dreams. And for me, it's kind of being a global citizen citizen.

Vaughn Williams:

So just from looking at your jewelry, it's telling a story. What is the inspiration behind the conception in designs for Pamela Rosa?

Speaker 4:

So I actually grew up in the U.S., but my whole family's from Panama and I grew up going there basically every summer for about two months. And every summer I would attend this festival that you dress up in like the national dress of Panama. And that dress is adorned with a lot of jewelry. It's a tradition that I very much like. I'm grateful for having. And in that jewelry they use a lot the national coin of Panama, which is featured in my jewelry. So I kind of just wanted to like paying homage to that traditional jewelry and revamp it for, like, daily use.

Liam Macmahon:

So it seems that Latin America was very important for you to represent within Australia. So can you go into more detail about how important it was to have these Panamanian stories that help inspire it?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, definitely. The initial concept for Panama also was basically a like Panamanian American brand. I just kind of wanted to like reference what I grew up appreciating a lot, especially, I think, having grown up in the U.S.. I just like observed a lot more than maybe even having grown up in Panama. Like, I just saw everything very much like my family showing me these traditions or showing me these like festivals. And I just appreciate it a lot coming from like the U.S., like it was just very different and it meant a lot to me because it was like something I could share with my family. So I guess I've always wanted to do something in fashion and I've always been very entrepreneurial. So it just made sense to kind of blend fashion with something that I've grown up loving my whole life.

Vaughn Williams:

Okay, Entrepreneurial businesswoman. Love that. Okay, So. What was it like running your own business? You've been doing it for about how long now.

Speaker 4:

I mean, that's a complicated question because I've been working on it for about, like, I think a little over a year. Although if you asked me, like a couple of months ago, I wouldn't be comfortable saying I have a business. Like, I'm still, like, working on that term, but working on like your own business or like building it really, because that's what I've done most of like by now is just a headache. Like, it's like a lot of work and it's a lot of motivating yourself because like in the beginning you only have yourself as your team. So if you aren't motivated to do the work, really nothing gets done. And if you're like insecure about any part of it, then you kind of just have to move past that and like keep going. So kind of self motivating yourself is the main thing that I've been doing for the past like six, seven months.

Vaughn Williams:

Okay. I actually recently went to a panel with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers SHPE and the panels on what is it? Imposter syndrome. To say you are a businesswoman and I think you should be proud to say it.

Speaker 4:

Thank you.

Vaughn Williams:

What is it? What were the biggest struggles and biggest achievements so far in your journey?

Speaker 4:

I think well, I could tell you like one big obstacle that I feel like was kind of pivotal in my first Sherman Center co-op because I'm doing a back to back all right now. It was about like mid co-op in March. And I had been designing my like initial collection for a couple of months and I'd been like contacting so many manufacturers in Latin America because I really wanted to manufacture in Latin America, seeing as like my inspiration was from Panama. But for this collection, I had such a hard time like finding artisans and manufacturers and just like reaching out. It was just a really tedious process. And then when I when March came around, I was going to Panama to actually pick up a few samples from an artisan that I thought was going to work out very well for me. And I went to Panama and I went to see the like pieces and they were not like at all what I expected or wanted. So in that week it was just very much like a I was just it was just a disappointment. Like I was really discouraged by that because I really had like a timeline for like, okay, I was going to get those samples and I was going to check off on them and I was going to make more and then I could start selling by June or whatever, which was not the case at all. But I say it was like a very pivotal experience because that led me to kind of learn the ins and outs of CAD designing software and like doing more digital rendering so I could work with bigger manufacturers, not like smaller artisans, which has turned out to be better. So that was great. And in terms of successes, I would say that that led me to my success, which was to find a manufacturer in Peru, which I really like, and getting the collection that I'm launching now soon. It really all came from that like initial obstacle. So kind of full circle.

Liam Macmahon:

Glad to hear the successes that you've had. And so as a Sherman Center podcast, we want to know or the audience. So also I know how the Sherman Center's Venture program helped your experience with creating a business.

Sofia Urrutia:

I think the Sherman Venture Corp is a very unique experience and it's kind of what you make of it, but you have a lot of support, which is really great. It's basically like six months of you working on your own concept and you might be at different stages. There's people that come in already having had like a fully launched business. There's people like me who start really with like the idea, a little bit of research and like you're kind of taking this time to develop that like idea. So for me it was very much like, again, motivating myself, kind of tapping into the resources that they give me. I think it's really cool to have a cohort because I think nobody else kind of understands what the experience is like. It's kind of hard to tell people at like Northeastern or anywhere that you're like taking a six month like sabbatical. That's what it looks like when it's actually a co-op and like you're doing things. So I think the cohort is really helpful and has been helpful for me. And Theo is obviously a very great resource. He's kind of like the director of it all and he's a really great pinpoint for when you need like help her with anything. So I think really support is what like the venture co-op and time. That's what it's giving me support in time.

Vaughn Williams:

Okay. So it sounds like what you put into it is pretty much everything. Yeah. So I want to know what what the day to day is like for Sofia.

Sofia Urrutia:

The day to day. That's it's funny because we talk a lot about like time management and how we each structure our days, because the fact is that you don't have a lot of structure and you kind of have to make it for yourself, which can be like daunting and very complicated coming from like a student schedule and having to be at a place at a certain time all the time. For me, it was I played a lot. I played around a lot with that. So like I made sure to get a workout in early in the morning because I learned that you tend to be more efficient or like productive if you work out in the morning. So I started to do that, try to get out of the house as much as I could and work at like a café or somewhere. Something that we've recently talked about in our cohort is like this sprint like schedule thing where you do like an hour work sesh and then like you get like 25 minute break, like then you do another like 45 minute work session and basically just like structuring, like blocking off time to do a certain like task is what I try to do. But again, it kind of changes from day to day depending on what I have. If I have meetings, I'll do meetings and yeah.

Liam Macmahon:

The morning workout part is absolutely relatable here. So how are you setting up the promotional aspect for your business? Like, are you leveraging social media platforms or how are you letting people know about the launch of your business?

Sofia Urrutia:

Yeah. So since my brand is an online brand, I'm doing a lot of social media marketing and right now I have like a pretty heavy focus on Instagram. I've been but I was in Panama this summer actually, and I got a lot of content. I did a lot of shoots there, so I've been kind of rolling out that content in terms of like leading up to the launch. I'm actually planning some shoots this week to like bring out new content for the actual launch, which will hopefully be happening in like three weeks. So definitely a lot of social media, a lot of like reels. I want to start moving over into tech talk now that I have like a grasp on Instagram. Yeah. And connecting my like Shopify store to the Instagram and everything is like a kind of the way I'm moving towards the way I'm going towards.

Vaughn Williams:

So as a Panamanian American, hope you know this, but today is American business. Woman's Day.

Sofia Urrutia:

I didn't know that. That's great to know.

Vaughn Williams:

Mm hmm. That's your day.

Sofia Urrutia:

It's my day, you know.

Vaughn Williams:

So I like to ask, how does the intersection of being a woman and a person of color impact your journey as an entrepreneur?

Sofia Urrutia:

I think I. I think you have, like, a different experience. So it's just for me. Okay. For my experience, I think being a woman in business, depending on who you're surrounded by and like the community you're in, it can feel like again, like imposter syndrome or like you don't fit in or like you're. For me, I felt a lot like my brand. Being a fashion brand was like, insignificant, because in Boston I feel like we do a lot of tech kind of startups and like all the entrepreneurSHPE resources are very like tech geared towards. So I think just like reminding yourself or myself that like what I'm doing is like special and like what I'm doing is important to me and that's like what matters because I'm the one doing it. So I think it's again, with the self motivating, I think it's kind of like you have to push forward for what you want. So that's what I kind of do.

Vaughn Williams:

Love that. I like to pivot a little bit backwards. You said a big inspiration for your business was your familial connections. Mm hmm. Who in your family? Was a big inspiration for you to start on this journey.

Sofia Urrutia:

I think especially with my first collection since it is inspired by Panama, my grandmother and my aunt are the two main people that I share this tradition with. It's in Spanish. It's like, Yeah, that's the national dress. And so there's festivals like twice a year and everybody wears this dress. And in my family, with the women in my family, that's sort of like our big bonding like thing that we do. So like the two main people, probably my grandma and my aunt, because they're the ones who really introduced it to me since I was like three years old. But really, with all the women in my family, we kind of all come together for this thing. And like when we all get together, we talk about like different aspects of the dress. They're like, because there's so much coordination that goes into like, these festivals. So it's like a fun time to just be like, surrounded by all those people and talking about things that we all like.

Vaughn Williams:

Can you describe the festival for us? Because it sounds very interesting. It sounds very important to the festival.

Sofia Urrutia:

Yeah. Yeah, Well, the one I grew up going to, there's like two, but the one I grew up going to is the Festival. I love it, which is the National Festival of the, which is the dress. And there is a queen and there's like different days that are blocked off for different events. So there's like a violin, like competition or like a contest. I don't know how to say that there's a not like a fashion show, but like sort of like a competition for the dresses, because these are all like handmade dresses that are very, very intricate. And all the gold jewelry is very, very intricate. And everybody has different like designs and different whatever. So it's kind of like a competition where you, like, show off your dress that you have and that you've like, procured and then there's a winner and then it's like this whole thing. So there's also like fireworks and like big a lot of dancing and it's kind of like a really, really complicated festival for me to like, describe. But just like a lot of color, a lot of dancing, a lot of music, and a lot of people showing off their dresses that they have.

Liam Macmahon:

So would you say that these festivals or these events were part of your motivation to launch your business or.

Sofia Urrutia:

For sure, yeah, because I of I like like I've said, I love those festivals and I love the dress and it's something that I have just grown up with. And the jewelry for those dresses is like really remarkable. Like it's you wear like, I don't even know, like 20 different chains of, like, things with big pendants and like, there's a specific way that you wear it and everything. So you kind of I've always looked at that jewelry with a lot of care, and I think a lot of my inspiration comes from the like, different elements that they design with. So for sure, that was a big inspiration.

Vaughn Williams:

My gosh. Honestly, everything you've said so far has been absolutely beautiful. So as we heard, you know, Latin America is very important to specifically Panama. Can you please describe why it was so important to produce your jewelry in somewhere in Latin America, specifically Peru?

Sofia Urrutia:

For me, it was kind of like. I want to say giving back. But like, I just felt like since the inspiration for my first collection and the reason why I like launched the brand was my roots in Panama. I wanted to kind of position my brand as like a Latin American American brand, like who I am. And so I just thought it would be more special if it was made someplace in Latin America so that I could, like, say that I created this brand with, like Panama and Latin American mind, and it's like manufactured in Latin America.

Liam Macmahon:

So now that we've learned more about you, so are there any future plans or ideas that you could tell the audience that you're up to, like your future launch and where they could just find more of you, such as your Instagram you mentioned earlier?

Sofia Urrutia:

Yeah. So my Instagram is at shot by Palmarosa on Instagram and on TikTok as well, and our launch is coming up in the next month. I want to say like in three weeks where I'm still working out a few details. But as far as like future launches or what's coming next for Paloma Rosa, I think a really cool thing that I want to do with the brand is that every collection is sort of inspired by a different memory or tradition or travel or experience that I've lived because I have basically all my family from Panama, but I have a lot of family like all over the world. So I travel a lot to visit family. So every every collection is kind of a different story. And I think that's a cool thing for people to look into.

Vaughn Williams:

So I think we're reaching the end of our interview, so please shout yourself out. Give a little pitch for Palmarosa.

Sofia Urrutia:

Yeah, I mean, I think Palmarosa is going to be a great brand. Sorry, you. No, I think that Palmarosa is something to worth looking into. I think I design every collection with a lot of heart and a lot of personal connections. Every collection is inspired by something that I share with my family or that I've, like, experienced myself. Whether that be like traveling abroad for co-op, which I did for six months and going to Italy to visit like family. I think Paris is just a very big representation of myself and of my philosophy, which is basically you should go after your dreams or anything. Nothing is too big of a dream to go after. So that's kind of why I started the brand, and that's why I think people will enjoy the brand.

Liam Macmahon:

It was great having you on the podcast today and we wish you all the best with your business and what you have coming up.

Vaughn Williams:

Thank you so much, Sofia, and I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope your launch within the next three weeks goes amazing.

Sofia Urrutia:

Thank you so much. And thank you for having me.

Vaughn Williams:

Thank you. Take care. The Center for Emerging Markets at Northeastern has announced their student grants for projects in emerging markets. Make sure to apply by November 17th, 2023. You can learn more at www.bit.ly/studentCEM. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Yoshua Rozen, the founder and CEO of Part Runner. Yoshua is an alum of Northeastern who graduated with a masters in engineering and industrial management. Welcome to this storm, Cash. Josh, how are you doing today?

Speaker 5:

Thanks, Vaughn. I'm doing well. I'm doing well. How about yourself?

Vaughn Williams:

I think we're doing we're doing pretty good today. You know, it's a typical Thursday.

Liam Macmahon:

So let's so let's get straight into it. So how did you think of the idea of part owner? What made you think that this could be a successful business idea?

Speaker 5:

Yeah. So it all started during my co-op day. What, my fall semester of 2017 actually at Co-op of the Sherman Center. And at the time, although I graduated from English Engineering, I started in civil engineering. All my family's in construction. And the initial problem with parrunner was how do we help? The building distributes move big, bulky product to job and to residential sites to make the process more efficient. I lived through the problem while working with many construction companies. They'd be at the job and I'd seen a lot of inefficiencies of moving bulkier and heavy items, and a lot of people wasted a lot of time picking and packing and then delivering a bigger unit. So I kind of experienced both the problem firsthand. I also fired three friends and family members that I was in the space, and the question were, well, how do we do this? And knowing and loving logistics delivery businesses like Uber and network based businesses, the idea came, well, why don't we develop a network of truckers, independent truck owners, fleet operators, small fleet things. Building distributors move bulky items. That's right. Mm hmm. Kind of all the way through the through the right. We we. I met my two co-founders while at Northeastern. We all loved the idea and all had some logistics slash construction background, and it kind of all started from there.

Vaughn Williams:

Oh, and you thought if this all during your senior year of college. Correct.

Speaker 5:

Yeah, well, this was all it was the whole idea. It was 2017, fall, 2017. I graduated spring in 2018 and decided with myself and two other co-founders, who I met through Northeastern and Northeastern related friends. To do this full time, I guess we may have to do.

Vaughn Williams:

Oh, wow. I heard so many, like, interesting things. Like to start off with that program you did. It's still going, actually, but now it's called the the Venture program or venture Co-op. And I guess the Sherman, it was like Sherman Center is like a full center. Now. I don't know what it was back when you were doing it, but it's like it's it's expanded a lot and obviously. What is it your success has really helped push us forward. So I'd like to say thank you so much because I like without people like you, I don't think we'd be here. And just to segway to our next question. So you were like a student at the time you're doing this idea, but what was that transition like from being a student to a full time business owner?

Speaker 5:

So it was definitely an inside. You can't see my face in smiling right now. So thank you very much for your kind words. It was definitely an exciting journey. And just as a kind of quick parentheses on the Venture program, I'm very happy and excited to see that it's grown beyond just two students, that it's really forced into a very big program. So very excited. Well, it's been great. Going back to your question, it was essentially a hard transition and specifically was because. It was between going into where most of my friends went into the corporate journey versus kind of pursuing your dream, right, and launching goals and starting this. And at a young age. The tablet was a difficult decision, but once done, I decided to do my full efforts 110%. And I remember at the time I talked to my family, I'd taken this personal decision of pursuing this. And at the time I gave myself two years, I gave up to 23 and I said, I've until 2020 and we'll see where we're at then. Obviously, it's been every year it's been growing and it's been it's been obviously challenges as we hit every new milestone. But it's a it's a difficult decision. I have to consider, you know, the opportunities that you're leaving on the table. You have to consider the risks, the risks that you want to take at the moment and the kind of after every consideration I decided to. Transitioning to doing just as my full time, full time job. Right, post-college.

Liam Macmahon:

Fascinating. So we were doing some research and we found out that you were part of the Latino 30 under 30 from El Mundo magazine. So what did this just mean to you to be part of the Latino 30 under 30.

Speaker 5:

Well, it was already scheduled. I remember it was a couple of years ago, if I'm not mistaken. It's 2019, you know, as a Latino founder and knowing that also a lot of very little money and very little venture money goes into like Latinos and immigrants overall, it was just just exciting to be a part of this movement. Right. I've always tried to you know, I've I've been getting a lot of pride, whether it was from the Sherman Center or whether it was from Idealab. We were part of mass challenge. I was part of the Latino 30 under 30 group. But now I try to give back to as many organizations as they can, right between students, between young entrepreneurs and whether it's Latino or not. Right. I'm just happy to be involved in this space, but definitely exciting. Definitely a very exciting community to be a part of.

Vaughn Williams:

Like, extremely exciting. That's honestly a super amazing. So while browsing your website, there's extensive amounts of what is it? You did a lot of translation into Spanish. And I think that was very interesting because you want to serve the Latino population. And so I'd like to ask what made you decide to expand part runner to now include and deliver to Mexico? It seems like I think we saw that. What was that? What was that transition like in that venture like?

Speaker 5:

Yeah. So it was definitely an exciting and a very, very challenging one. We decided to do that because we so. Just to kind of give you a little bit of the history part runner. But in 2019, 2020, we raised our first pre-seed round was about 500 K. And then in May 2021, we raised the seed one. From Centex Ventures, which is the corporate veteran of a company called it a multinational manufacturer and distributor of building products and. We saw a very big opportunity in Mexico. We had those segments of the partner and as a customer down there. So we we decided it was a very unorthodox decision to go to Mexico at such an early stage trade deal. Normally see international expansion of the series A, series B, seriously? Right. We really did it very early on, but because we had this strong, strong factor. And the owner was exciting was the definetly came in 2021 and we created a subsidiary way 2021 and started operating there in early 2022. So it's been definitely an exciting, a very challenging journey to get that off the job.

Liam Macmahon:

So to go in this further. So what were some of the biggest challenges that you found with expanding your business to include other countries such as Mexico and were also some the biggest rewards that you noticed as part of expansion?

Speaker 5:

Yes. So some of the challenges and some definitely more like priority and more obvious than others. But definitely, you know, the product, Right. You have to not only you have to build a product that appeals to a completely new country. Right. Different metric system, language ways and how we just do things right. So we have to adapt the product to contemplate that. It was, I guess one of the biggest challenges facing big challenge is also building the team, right? We we had to hire a country manager. Basically everything that's sales and operations, it's country specific with only technology and kind of marketing is is between the US and Mexico, But practically everything else is is country based. And just setting up the initial team was very challenging. On the other hand, there's something that's been very, very gratifying and very exciting is just to see, just to see the growth on there, to see how we start it like any other start up trying to get their product market fit, doing test, having a lot of assumptions to test, and just after iteration, after iteration, after iteration, that's when we started seeing some good product market fit by some bigger players and mostly like enterprise retailers and enterprise distributors that really saw our offering like a value add and their day to day operation. And that's when we started seeing really the growth and this.

Vaughn Williams:

Oh, wow. Now, honestly, you're saying everything you're saying is like it's very inspirational, especially to us, like the Sherman Center, where, like, there's a lot of entrepreneurs, they're all like starting to grow up their business. And so having an alumni who's who's been there and done it, it's very like inspirational as it's like one has to keep that going.

Liam Macmahon:

For exactly like puts into perspective. Like you can do it because you know someone who's done who's been the exact same position circumstances that you happen to be in the current moment. But they actually took the opportunity and they're able to make the most of it to what they wanted to achieve.

Speaker 5:

No. Yes, there is definitely. It's one of those journeys that I'll just play and then we can move to our next question. I'll definitely mention that it's both a physical, mental and emotional journey. And I always believe that, you know, being at the start of this iceberg, right? People normally just see the tip of the iceberg, but there's so much that goes underneath them. And that's never easy, right? It's always like a battle and takes a lot of persistence and obviously just reaching the milestones. I think you always have to be very real with yourself, with your key, like are you actually moving forward or not? But yeah.

Vaughn Williams:

So just to pivot a bit more to, I guess, the student perspective. What are some tips and tricks for young entrepreneurs that you get? What are some of the tricks into what you'd give to young entrepreneurs studying at Northeastern?

Speaker 5:

Oh, yeah. Well, so. So for sure, you've got to be very resourceful. I think resourcefulness has to be kind of a key trait. In every starting entrepreneur. And and that really means being practical and being very also cost conscious. Where and how can you do things that will move your startup forward? But at the same time, you don't need $3 million to make it happen, right? And this can be, for example, using resources like the IP CoLab at Northeastern that helps you and really mentored you on the legality of setting up a business. You know how you distribute shares and what it means to have a cap table. There may be like lenders in the web program where they teach you the basics of setting up a business, right? Because there's always this like the creative and exciting stuff of creating a product or service. But it's also at the same time, like the practicality of setting up a business which you really don't want to mess up, right? So relying on mentors, relying on free resources is always really, really helpful. Right? And between grant options offers in the future, no other program is part of that resource, Right? I remember I wrote two books at the time. Was there the one and only you started? And it was all about, you know, how I'd always be lean and mean and move forward.

Vaughn Williams:

So I'd like to pivot a little bit because we've learned now a lot about part running Head Start, but we want to know a little bit more about you, Yosh. And so what were your big inspirations? You mentioned having mentors. Who are your mentors and how did they inspire you?

Speaker 5:

Yeah. So, you know, mentors and advisors. And I've always seen the fulfillment of advisers, whether they're professional or personal. Some are for life and some are for different stages that you're based on your me. It was all throughout my, you know, the last five years of my entrepreneur journey. I've had many mentors, many advisors. Of the initial ones for sure was no tablet. Shashi. And. Mentors that I met at the at Northeastern. Later on I met other mentors like Yash Peter Paglia. I met Sandy Vollmer. I met Ramone Escalada, which were individuals from other other programs I was part of. So I think it's always very transitionary to the needs that you have at the moment, right? Whether it's for example, if you're very early on and you need to plan a how do I structure business, how do I plan for the shares with my founders about this vested work life, you might want to get an advisor that helped you for a few months, right? For six months, maybe a year or maybe a year and a half. And then as the needs grow and as a business grow, you have others like, Hey, how do I want to build up a sales team? Or How do I build up a marketing team, Right? You might want to work with specific with specific advisors and specific areas. So it's always been there for me and I think it always be there. It's always you have to be very humble in the sense that knowing that you don't have to know everything and there's definitely people that know much more about one subject than you do, and it's how do you surround yourself with the best people, You know, like the saying says here, the average of the five people you surround yourself the most with. And I always I've always been very conscientious about life and how I choose my mentors in the business.

Liam Macmahon:

Very true, because there's always the sense if you surround yourself in a room of five millionaires, you'll become the six. If you surround yourself in a room with five smart people, you'll become the six. So again, what were just some of the challenges that became in part of trying to learn all these different aspects, especially when you're trying to balance learning all this of being a student.

Speaker 5:

Oh, it was. So that's a good question. I think it's a very beginning. And other student affairs? Well, I guess 1. that's coming to mind. Right. One side is the whole like, how do you build once you have partners, Right. It's very important not only to choose the right policies and the right co-founder, but I think that's one part of it. That's a whole other discussion to talk about. But also how do you set that up legally so it doesn't fight you in the later on in terms of shares, in terms of investing? And I think it's always a little bit hard not knowing any of that and then having to do things that might that might impact you a year or two years, three years, five years down the line. And I think, you know, just having that insight of what's the best way that I can set up this right now, so I'm better prepared in the future. I think that was a big challenge, right? How do you set up the corporate structure and the shares and the best thing and things like that? Now it's second nature and start learning many, many things about the journey. But initially, once you get started, they seem like small things, but if not done properly from the get go, it can it can kind of impact you later on.

Vaughn Williams:

Interesting one.

Speaker 5:

That's just one of a few examples of the.

Vaughn Williams:

No, I think it was a wonderful example, actually. My father, one of the things he always tells me and my brother is always to put in the work now so you can succeed in the future. And I think honestly, that's one of the that's one of the reasons why I'm here now. And just so as you may already know, this month is Hispanic Heritage Month. And so I'd like to ask what this being a Latino business owner mean to you, your family and your community?

Speaker 5:

That's so. So it's it's it's exciting, right? I think I've met many founders, some Latinos, some not. Latinos like parents live in Mexico. My brother lives in Austin, Texas. My sister lives in Brooklyn. And we've always been kind of a little bit all over. And I think it's very exciting to see the Hispanic community grow into, you know, into the entrepreneurial journey they like. The community is bigger and stronger. And and that's very exciting just to be part of that wave that's that's been growing a lot in the recent years. It'll continue to grow aggressively in the coming years. It's now one of the most it's I think, the fifth the four biggest a minority community in the US. And and just being a part of it is exciting. I think it's like how can you how can I also give back And I also think about that and I also plan to give back in the future. Eight way is the mentorSHPE program, whatever it may be. And they're so excited and they're. Yeah.

Liam Macmahon:

It's great to hear that you're going to give back to the community and to other people that have helped you along the way. But can you tell the audience what's next for part runner and what other endeavors that you are planning for the future?

Speaker 5:

Yeah. World domination. I'm just getting scared again. So we actually we're raising a bridge right now, raising about $1,000,000 to get to a series A metrics. Right. We want to be raising a series A by July 2024. We have a lot of things going on in Mexico in the US, And and it's essentially just keeping that North Star and being very real all the time, having milestones, having monthly and quarterly milestones. You just kind of keep on growing, whether that's with more services, more roads, more drivers in our system and the platform. And right now the number one goal is post this bridge round, get to the metrics we need as a company and as a team to get this series right. That's kind of the next. Short. Mayday, mayday. Here we go.

Vaughn Williams:

Love that. And so, Josh, we just have one more question for you before we say that. We'd like to thank you so much for coming on. We know you're a very busy man and you're also traveling right now. So just thank you so much for taking the time.

Liam Macmahon:

Appreciate you being here on the podcast.

Vaughn Williams:

So for our final installment, where can the audience find out more about part runner and how can they help support Park Runner?

Speaker 5:

So we're doing Mobile Partrunner or there's a couple of ways, but social media is definitely a big one. So if you're a LinkedIn or big LinkedIn, Facebook also you could always send me an email and I'm always happy to talk about the journey to support, to help fellow founders or anybody wanting to come into kind of this startup ecosystem. You can share my email and that's why I was in at WonderCon. And, you know, at the happiness of all, I think the best way is the website and social media for sure.

Vaughn Williams:

Okay, We'll make sure to put those in our bio once the episode releases. Like, um, and then I think. I think that'll be it. Thank you so much for being here.

Liam Macmahon:

Have a great day.

Vaughn Williams:

That's Yoshua Rozen.

Speaker 5:

Those guys. Appreciate the time.

Vaughn Williams:

Of course.

Liam Macmahon:

I mean, you hear.

Vaughn Williams:

And that was Yoshua Rozen and everybody. We had a bunch of amazing guests from Ian to Sofia with Palmarosa, and we're just so grateful to have spoken to these community members that were doing great things for Northeastern.

Liam Macmahon:

So that was episode one of the Sherm Cast podcast. Make sure to like, follow and check out the Sherman Center as well.

Vaughn Williams:

And also, don't forget to check out all of our amazing guests. Go follow them on their socials. This was episode one of the ShermCast Season nine. See you guys next time.