“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”
—Red Adair
Every time I see this quote, I’m reminded of how true it is in hiring. The cheapest option almost always turns out to be the most expensive.
Expertise saves you money, time, and headaches, always. The hard lesson is this: what looks like a good deal usually isn’t.
Quality has its price.

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Delegation Done Right: Ethical Outsourcing That Changes Lives
Kande used to work late nights folding jeans. Now she manages vendor emails for a U.S.-based client, and I’m not sure who’s happier—her or me. It’s stories like these that remind me every day that this isn’t just staffing:
It’s giving people a life they deserve.
I started outsourcing to Argentina to find more reliable help without breaking the bank. I needed support for my U.S. business, and Argentina offered:
- Bilingual talent
- Time-zone alignment
- Cultural proximity
At the time, I only saw these three benefits. What I didn’t realize was the positive impact we could have on a hire in Argentina, and that’s what turned this into something bigger for me. Because what keeps me going isn’t the cost savings—it’s watching lives shift on both sides of the hire.
The story of Kande stands out to me. Before we worked together, she was in retail, working late shifts, enduring long commutes, and earning a paycheck that barely covered her bills. There were nights she even skipped meals just to save a few pesos. Then we placed her with a U.S.-based client: a remote role, an aligned time zone, and triple the pay. Everything changed.
She’s still working hard, but now she’s home when her kids are. She’s saving money for the first time and building confidence. She’s showing up energized and being seen for what she can do. That’s the part that never gets old for me.
I believe that when delegation is done right, everyone wins. This is ethical business.
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When I Slow Down, I Speed Up
Think two days away from work is a luxury? I just spent two days with my Forum.
A couple of years ago, the idea of being away from work for two full days seemed ludicrous to me. I thought I had to be in the business always—leading with my sheer presence. Only when I joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization did I realize: if I’m always in my business, I never get to see it clearly from the outside.
Stepping away gives me the clarity I need to lead with focus and passion.
This time, I spent two days with my EO Latin Bridge Forum, a group of business owners from across Latin America.
How does a Bridge Forum work? We meet every few months in a different part of the world to ask ourselves the bigger questions—together and of each other.
And every time I do this, every time I step away from the day-to-day (still with a little hesitation), I discover the same truth:
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When I slow down, I speed up.
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When I get clear, I execute faster.
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When I ask myself “what’s next in life?” I start moving toward what actually matters.
Doing this work together with my Forum mates makes the experience even more powerful. These two days don’t cost me momentum—they give me more of it. Because when I return to my team with clarity, that clarity becomes theirs too.
Grateful for the reflections, the honesty, and the space held by:
Stephanie Camarillo, Ashish Khera, Takeshi Nobuhara, Vinoo Varghese, Jennifer Cohen, Daniel Levy, Alejandra Leon.So let me ask you: what’s next in life for you?
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When the System Forgets Entrepreneurs: Rethinking Employment in America
I didn’t start a company to be told which chair to buy, how many minutes a lunch break has to be, or whether my break room snacks meet code. I started it because I believed in building something better, and I wanted a team to build it with.
But what I’ve learned over 13 years as a California employer is this: the system doesn’t trust employers to care about their people. It assumes we’re out to exploit, and it assumes compliance creates care. So it piles on rule after rule, not realizing that the weight of all this regulation doesn’t protect good people—instead, I believe it crushes the ones who are trying to be good people.
As a female entrepreneur, I’ve always wanted to give my team the best. Yet I’ve spent more time worrying about lunch break laws than about how to help my people grow. To me, that’s not what leadership is supposed to look like.
Because I believe the best entrepreneurs do care. We remember birthdays. We pull all-nighters. We put payroll before profit. Not because a rulebook told us to, but because that’s who we entrepreneurs are. But somewhere along the way, the system forgot that.
It breaks my heart that the system stifles the very people who build businesses. And I believe that by doing this, we’re not protecting workers—we’re shrinking futures. More and more founders I know are looking abroad, not for cheaper labor, but for the freedom to lead well again.
And that should worry us all. Because when the American dream becomes unlivable for its dreamers, the dream doesn’t die—it just moves to another country.
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