“En la vida, envejece quien pierde la curiosidad” 

 

Words of wisdom from Ella Cisneros which she has gained through all her grueling and tough experiences since her youth. In this episode of “Learn from Leaders” I sit down with Ella Fontanals-Cisneros a Cuban-born philanthropist and art collector with an abiding passion, and discerning eye for contemporary art and design. We discussed how at a young age she and her family moved from Cuba to Venezuela and just one year after her father passed away and she became in charge of providing for the family. At 15 she was getting jobs working during summer teaching swimming classes and getting more money than engineers were making at the time. At 16 she had earned enough money to afford for her mother to move into an apartment and pay for furniture, food, and any other expense. She was the provider for the family and that self-dependence and drive as an entrepreneur kept growing as she aged. She kept learning languages and educated herself, not because she was forced to or needed them to survive, but because she saw the value in education. A self-starter, she grew companies and learned more about technologies and advances than most, trying to be part of the then idea that was the internet. She shared her secrets of meditation and what spiritual moments in time she has had, decisions she has made by not just understanding what is happening now, but by knowing what will come next. There is no doubt in my mind that she has many more great things on the way, and she serves to show how high you can climb if you can move forward from where you began. 

 

“Nada es por siempre”