Why Did We Join ESTE Leverage?
The Duenas Family (starting from bottom center and clockwise: Terrisa, Carmen, Cecilia, Jose, Mom)
At the beginning of 2023, if you weren’t already acquainted with the CEO and Founder of ESTE™ Leverage, Terrisa Duenas, hopefully you now have a better understanding of the inspiration behind ESTE, fueled by her dream, commitment, and passion.
On behalf of the key advisors to Terrisa Duenas and her company, ESTE™ Leverage, I would like to introduce you to Cecilia Duenas, Jose Duenas, and myself, Carmen Duenas Lamp. The commonality in our names stems from our relationship as, you guessed it, siblings.
Our mother lost her husband, our father, to the Viet Nam war in 1965. At that point, she was left with 4 very young children. We realized, although not until we were well into our adulthood, that we were raised on a restricted budget with limited ‘resources’ to pursue extracurricular activities. Cecilia comments “things like tutors, SAT prep courses, and club sports were not within our financial means or maybe they just weren’t as prevalent back then.” However, as Terrisa mentioned in last month’s blog and Cecilia attests “priorities were always education” and the World Book Encyclopedia was a tangible example of our mother’s commitment to our father that we each receive an education, an opportunity they didn’t have. Cecilia recalls that it was never a question of whether we would go to college, it was the expectation.
In thinking about what additional factor(s) contributed to where we are today, Cecilia says “having a sense of purpose is a huge factor in what I do. I want to make a difference whether it's one day or one year or years later.” Jose says “an accident that prevented me from doing what I initially wanted to do forced me to think about what I really enjoyed doing – which was coaching and being with kids. This led me down the path of education.” For me, the constant need to learn, understand perspectives, and turn around and help the next one in line, has contributed to where I am today.
In last month’s blog, you were given some insight into what inspired Terrisa to create ESTE™ Leverage. What inspires the siblings about ESTE™? Cecilia responds “I love how ESTE™ Leverage allows me to lean into my innate abilities. I’m inspired by how ESTE™ Leverage is a company founded on our own family values. I’m inspired by my sister’s passion for the company and supporting the belief that young girls can be equally represented in traditionally male-dominated STEM fields. I’m inspired by the ‘Duenas Drive’ – jumping into things 100% and more (go big or go home).” For me, I’m inspired by the opportunity to work alongside my family, with the hope of together influencing the trajectory of the future of children. I’m inspired by my siblings’ selfless commitment to others.
For the middle-schoolers who might read this blog – what would we tell our middle-school selves?
Cecilia would say to her middle-school self:
“Be grateful that you were able to navigate middle school because you had an older brother and sister who paved the way. Thank goodness your older brother and sister were considered “cool” otherwise middle school and high school would have been a lot different. Be okay with being the “nerd” in school. Be okay with failure. Be okay with asking questions and thinking outside of the box.”
Jose would say to his middle-school self:
“Appreciate and listen with intent to your teachers.”
I would say to my middle-school self:
“Be yourself, be authentic, and don’t give anyone permission to make you feel inferior. Make good choices. If you don’t, you’ll find out, and then you just need to course correct. Be fearless. You will make mistakes, but it’s okay, as long as you learn from them.”
ESTE™ Leverage - founded in the belief that Entrepreneurship, Science, Technology, and Engineering are innate in each of us - grounded in the science of learning & assessment – dedicated to the realized potential in every individual.