WITH GRATITUDE AND A FULL heart as I write this book, I think about my parents, who have passed away. My mom Hermelinda Carbajal passed in 2019, and my dad Regino Carbajal in 2017. They were married for 54 years, and they truly were my role models. I think of them daily, and I am motivated every day, now more than ever, by the true understanding of their journey and what it took for them as immigrants from Mexico to the United States to make it. I reflect on how they did everything they could for myself and my four siblings.

My parents will always be my true heroes, in my heart and soul.

I would like to thank my wife Molly Carbajal for being the backbone of our family, an amazing wife and an even more incredible mother to our three beautiful and wonderful children, Alia, Myla, and Bria Carbajal, who inspire me every morning to be my best and at the end of each day to reflect on how blessed I am to have three incredible daughters who make me feel complete. I love them more than anything in this world.

I would like to give an amazing thank‐you to my mother‐in‐law, Estela, who has been the most incredibly caring and giving grandmother to my children. Estela is always there for my children.

Thank you to my siblings: Jisela Tafoya, Ray Carbajal, Maria Duenes, and Diana Gutierrez.

My sister Jisela is not only my oldest sister, but also when I was a kid she took me to see my first American mainstream movies, because my parents didn't speak English. My sister Jisela spoiled me; she was like a second mom when my parents had to work two jobs to make ends meet. My brother, Ray Carbajal, and his best friend, Donnie Vercher, who were both like brothers to me. Donnie always had my back in the community where I grew up. Our neighborhood placed an emphasis on respect and one had to stay focused, and Ray and Donnie made sure I stayed focused in school. While growing up my brother, Ray, was my hero!

My sister Maria from a very young age always believed that I would do great in school. From the time she tutored me in the second grade to buying me my first old‐school Brother word processor when I was at San José State in the early 1990s, she made sure I stayed on track to graduate.

My sister Diana is closest to my age. When we were growing up we were inseparable, always enjoying time with friends who lived across the street, and we spent many hours at Eastridge Mall together. I enjoyed visiting my sister Diana at her first job inside the mall, many priceless times.

Thanks to my sisters' spouses: Henry Tafoya, Albert Duenes, and Hugo Gutierrez.

I am grateful all my nieces and nephews, and so proud of all of them.

Thanks to my godparents Vicente and Licha Perez.

I would like to acknowledge all of my childhood friends from Meadow Fair to the East Side Schools, where I grew up. All the friends I played street football and baseball with are part of my most memorable childhood moments.

Thanks to Mark Villarreal and Richard Villarreal, dear friends who are like family.

To Brenda Villalobos, family friend and an incredible nurse.

To Joey Robles, who has always been like a compadre, and from the earlier years as a NSHMBA member to now, thanks to Michael J. Garcia for our great friendship.

Special thanks to my mentors and good friends: Antonio Tijerino, Manny Barbara, Paul Kilkenny, Dick Gonzales, Michael Lopez, Aida Alvarez, Victor Arias, Margarita Quihuis, and Roberto Medrano.

I would like to also thank some folks to whom I spoke early on when I first started writing books: Jesse Wiley; my friend Anna Isabel Espino; Jose Bolanos; and family friends Josef Manuel Liles, Ed Vargas, Luis Alberto Lecanda, Alejandra Chapparo, Frank Rojas, and Felipe Varon.

Also a special thank‐you to friends, dear friends who believed in my Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit early on: cousins Luis Loe, Imelda Loe, David Sandate, Marcela Sandate, Julie Matsushima, and her husband, Mel Matsushima, who passed in the Spring of 2021; Martin Mares, Sylvia Kennedy, Mario Vargas, and Raj Chahal; Leonardo Ortiz, Ricky Ortiz, Marco Ramirez, Angelina Ramos, and our family friend Jo Lopez, owner at LUNA Mexican Kitchen; and my family friend and Es Tiempo, LLC Attorney Clay Deanhardt.

Lastly, with gratitude it is an honor to be on the advisory board for Angeles Investors, OppJar, and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.

To my family, who has sustained me, taught me, nurtured me and loved me – to you I owe it all. A special gracias to my Abuela and my mother, who have been the foundation on which our generations build. We are nothing without you. To my father, thank you for your wit and wisdom. To my son, you will forever be my greatest achievement. Te amo mucho.