Meet Ismael Mercado

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ismael Mercado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ismael, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

When you’re born in a Latin American country, the only way to move forward is to believe in yourself and trust that things will always get better. I am Venezuelan, from a country that has faced many adversities, where if you’re born in a barrio, it seems like that’s where you’ll spend your entire life. I am the son of Colombian immigrants, Justina Campo and Abel Mercado, who arrived in Venezuela in the 1980s searching for a better future. I am sure that I inherited my optimism from them. Every migrant carries the seed of pain for having left their homeland in pursuit of something better—something they don’t have yet but can plan for in the near future.

Since I was a child, I have always loved business. I always aspired to be a better person, an excellent professional, and a global entrepreneur. Saying it sounds easy, but it carries a force that drives you every day to always seek the best options, to take action, and to be able to say, “Tomorrow will be better.”

Stories are always told by those who never gave up, by those who took optimism as their banner. And if today things didn’t go well, we learn and tackle the next day with even more energy. This is how I built my businesses and created my network of contacts, which have always supported me in my purpose.

When I arrived in the United States three years ago, I was very optimistic, eager to do the same things I did back home. But here, the reality is different. The level of competition is different, and even the consumer is used to other things. This new reality hit me in the face, knocking me down for quite some time. I experienced emotional lows and perhaps depression. Yet, the small signs of optimism and passion that remained in me began to blossom again. From my deepest desire to be useful and to build a better life, I set new goals, placing my family as the primary motivation—the fuel that propelled me to understand the market, seek new opportunities, and realize that this wonderful country is too big for small dreams. Perhaps that phrase sounds romantic, but only by seeing life as a challenge and growing from it can we achieve what we dream of.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on December 6, 1980. I had a very happy childhood, largely thanks to my incredible grandmother, Milady Olivares, who loved me deeply. She was the one who showered me with love, while my mother, a Colombian immigrant, fled to Venezuela in search of a better future, escaping the Colombia that had long been under a gray cloud of corruption and poverty. My mother, a supermom, filled my life with love and continues to do so with her daily gestures. Together, they cared for me and always sought to instill the best values and principles in me so that I could become a man of value to society.

From a young age, I was always drawn to business. I didn’t know how to pursue it, but I was passionate about imagining myself in the future, dressed in a suit and tie, speaking and generating ideas that would contribute to society. Over time, I’ve learned that when you set your mind on something with a clear goal, life shows you the way and takes you to places where you can learn. That’s how I met someone who became my girlfriend for about three and a half years, and she taught me things I didn’t know—like the habit of reading, gaining general knowledge, learning new languages, and having the desire to travel the world. She even taught me how to set the table properly. After all of that, my desire to become a businessman grew even more, and I ventured into the business world without fully knowing the rules.

I made money, but I also lost it. Eventually, I realized that my lack of discipline had cost me everything I had by the time I was 20. Discouraged but determined to keep moving forward, I set out on a new path, this time more cautiously. I started several businesses, one of which was selling clothes. A few years later, in 2004, I founded my first company, Soluciones Gerenciales, where I dedicated myself to offering courses and seminars throughout Venezuela. It was an experience that immersed me in the corporate world, as I worked for banks and both public and private companies.

After several years of doing the same thing, I decided to put into practice everything I taught in my seminars and opened several businesses that became quite profitable and are still operating today. During that time of hard work, I also came up with a magazine called “Construyendo,” which was mainly a catalog for houses for sale or rent. Back then, social media didn’t exist. I even created an audiobook that would be like a podcast today, called “Seven Steps to Achieving Your Success”—this was before Spotify or any streaming platform existed. I have been multifaceted in what I’ve created. I love art, I love to create, and I am always working on something new.

I’ve done great business, but I’ve also had ventures that didn’t go so well, and I lost money. Reflecting on this, I realize that one of my best businesses was giving seminars because, with the money I earned, I opened a hardware store, which is still open and generating income in Venezuela. With all the money I earned, I opened a supermarket and had several other businesses that gave me five different monthly incomes. But one day in Venezuela, the electricity went out for three days. People went crazy and took advantage of the opportunity to loot and destroy any businesses they found along the way. That day, I lost almost everything.

At the time, my son Andrés was 7, my daughter Samantha was 5, and my wife was pregnant. It was an emotional shock. From that March of 2019, things started to change. My country plunged into darkness, and businesses had to close. In my case, my income dropped significantly, and I had debts. This led me to make the least painful decision among my options: to come to the United States and start from scratch. I arrived here on August 21, 2021, full of energy and hope. I quickly learned the hard way that coming as a tourist is very different from coming to live in this great country.

I went through mountains of tears and sadness, crying every day, missing my family, my homeland, and the warmth of home that was far away. At one point, I even thought about ending my life to escape the overwhelming feelings that suffocated me. But I reconsidered and gathered the strength to keep going. I discovered that the life you want often requires letting go of the life you have.

Three years later, I’m still here, more focused and with more determination, having learned lessons that have helped me make better decisions for the sake of my family and my future. I’ve published my first book, “Cuentos que Inspiran Historias,” and launched a podcast with the same name. I’ve also created a consulting firm to help others build new businesses. I run a business where I assist immigrants with their paperwork and guide them on what they need to do when they arrive in this country to avoid costly mistakes—this business is called Caminos Migratorios. Soon, I will open my online course academy for all of Latin America, with the goal of educating anyone who wants to move forward and contribute to the continued growth of this great nation.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

What has influenced me the most to stay on my feet has been:
Being passionate about what I do, always, whether I win or lose, finding where the lesson is, and, most importantly, knowing that everything that happens in my life carries a message for me.
If today you are starting a business or considering it, keep the following in mind: the phrase that has killed more businesses and ideas than anything else is “What will people say?” Don’t pay attention to those who aren’t doing anything or have only experienced failure in their lives. Once you’ve made the decision to pursue what you love, identify what you’re good at—why people seek you out—and from there, create solutions for others and sell them your service or product. Learn Excel to effectively manage your finances. Dare to think differently, read new books, meet new people, try new foods, and avoid getting stuck. Focus on what you want, and make sure what you offer has a unique value proposition. If none of this works, reflect on what you’ve learned and start again. Believe in yourself, educate yourself, and strive to be the best.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

There are two books that have deeply impacted my life. The first one, which I read when I was 17, was when I made the decision to become a businessman. It’s called *How to Be a Rhinoceros: The Different Way to Be Tough* by Henry Lankast. This book taught me that even though life can seem tough at times, being resilient, committed, and persistent can lead you to success. The second book that marked me was *The Power of Now* by Eckhart Tolle. This book teaches you that the only moment that truly exists is the present, and it’s from this “now” that we can build our future. However, we often lose the present because we’re too focused on a tomorrow that we haven’t yet built and are afraid of.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ismaelmercado.wordpress.com
• Instagram: ismaelmercado
• Facebook: ismael Mercado
• Linkedin: Ismael mercado
• Twitter: @ismaelmercado
• Youtube: @ismaelmercado3411
• Yelp: none
• Soundcloud: none
• Other: spotify: Cuentos que inspiran historias

Image Credits

Milady Yount