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Nely Galan
Nely Galan
01:17

Nely Galan

The Adelante Movement

Los Angeles, CA USA

"Life is like a video game. You just have to get to the next level, and then the next level. Then it becomes a relay race and you have to pass the baton on to the next person."

Career Roadmap

Nely's work combines: Entrepreneurship, Writing, and Helping People

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Day In The Life

Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur & Founder

I empower and teach young women to become entrepreneurs.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Ryokan College

  • Graduate Degree

    Clinical Psychology

    Pacifica Graduate Institute

  • Doctorate

    Clinical Psychology

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    My parents and I immigrated to the United States from Cuba when I was five years old; we settled in New Jersey.

  • 2.

    I was a good student and my parents wanted me to be protected, so they sent me to an all-girls Catholic school—however, I would overhear my parents at night, worrying about paying for my schooling.

  • 3.

    I sold makeup out of my locker at school to help pay for my tuition—it was my first self-empowerment experience.

  • 4.

    After taking advantage of a publicized conflict in high school, I ended up receiving a guest editorship at Seventeen Magazine.

  • 5.

    I transitioned into television and eventually worked my way up to running Telemundo—I also used my experience in television to create my own multimedia company.

  • 6.

    When NBC bought Telemundo, they gave me a huge deal to produce 700 TV shows.

  • 7.

    I wanted to empower other women to take charge of their lives and become entrepreneurs, so I wrote a book called “SELF MADE: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way.”

  • 8.

    I then founded The Adelante Movement to empower multicultural women economically and entrepreneurially, and created the Becoming Self Made platform to teach women how to become entrepreneurs.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Parents:

    We can't afford to pay for Nely's school.

  • How I responded:

    My parents sent me to a good school, but I would overhear them at night worrying about how they were going to pay for it. It's discouraging because children of immigrants see their parents work so hard to give them a good life but still take on all of their struggles. I took it upon myself to strike a business deal with a neighbor to raise money for my schooling, which worked out well!

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • Everyone experiences hardships throughout their lives, especially immigrants. Throughout my life, I heard all of the regrets my parents had. However, as an immigrant, I learned that there is a silver lining to every hardship.