Your Ticket to a Successful Career

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mentoring but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Luis Romero, Founder of Romero Mentoring, located in New York, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Romero Mentoring is a career mentoring platform offering investment banking career programs that aims to improve two issues, 1. lack of financial literacy education and 2. income inequality gap. We do this through our career mentoring programs, which offer a 200-hour structured curriculum in finance and investments. Our career mentoring programs provide one-on-one mentoring, technical training, and relevant field experience. Our clients are college students and professionals looking to develop professional technical skills and pursue careers on Wall Street and in finance. The average starting salary of our students is six figures versus the national average wage of $58,000 for recent college graduates.

Tell us about yourself

I was a poor immigrant kid from the Dominican Republic who grew up in the Bronx and now owns an EdTech platform helping others start their careers on Wall Street. After college, I started my career as an Investment Banker on Wall Street and later left to work at a hedge fund. Soon after, I began my entrepreneurship journey by creating my fund, Romero Capital. I also got the opportunity to become a finance instructor at the New York School of Finance. I realized that traditional college courses were not equipping students with the professional skills needed to excel on the job. Many students faced the same challenges I once experienced when recruiting for competitive careers on Wall Street. I got the idea of starting Romero Mentoring after receiving positive feedback from students that I was mentoring and training on a one-on-one basis at my fund. I began to spend more time working with students than making investment decisions.

Mentoring and teaching have taken my career in a new direction, which I feel is more fulfilling. I'm passing down a decade of professional experience to the next generation of finance professionals to make a positive difference.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Romero Mentoring has helped over 500 students start their careers in finance. We've helped improve their lifetime earnings and quality of life. Many of our students now work at some of the most prestigious banks and earn six-figure salaries after graduating.

We are also building a community of professionals who want to mentor and help others realize their career dreams.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Lack of human capital. Building a championship team is one of the hardest things in being a business owner. As a founder, you're wearing multiple hats initially, and finding the proper help can often be challenging. It would help if you had a talented team to help execute the plan to realize the business potential.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Entrepreneurship is not for everybody.
Learn every discipline of sales & marketing. Once you develop your product or service, develop an effective go-to-market strategy.
Take risks but be flexible to adapt as data comes in real-time. Not all of your ideas will succeed, and it is crucial to recognize failure early.

Money should be the last reason you want to start a business. Being an entrepreneur is not easy. If you're starting a business, ask yourself why. When facing challenging situations and staring at the abyss, you'll find the courage to keep moving forward from your why. For me, my why is helping other people realize their career dreams to have a chance at a better future. I've become the person I wished I'd found when I was 18. I hope this provides you, the reader, with a valuable perspective.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://romeromentoring.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romeromentoring/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/romeromentoring
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-romero-rm/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RomeroMentoring

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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