Estrella Cash

I have three things that I follow as a motto in life: honesty, integrity, and hard work. That's how I became successful. Coming from a poor country like the Philippines, I came to America and I grabbed every opportunity that was in front of me. I'm the kind of person who loves competition and I don't give up. If you tell me I cannot do something because I have an accent and a flat nose, I will prove to you that I can do it 9 out of 10 times. I set goals every day in my diary, both short-term and long-term goals. I have a plan of action, then I execute the action, then I evaluate. If I wasn't successful with my goal, I find another strategy to make it happen. I learned that in business because I was competing with men. I also never allowed other people to define my life. Even when people said I only became tenured because I was a minority or because I was charming, I didn't let that stop me. I worked very hard for everything I accomplished. I also believe in helping others and networking with all kinds of people. I became successful in business not because of me, but because other people put me there. The Jewish community in New York City helped me a lot because when you're good with one family, it's word of mouth and you have the whole community. That's what helped me to retire.

Never give up, and don't allow other people to define your life. When I had my own business, I was running a business in a man's world - import and export business is a man's work. I was competing against men, but one thing about me is I love competition. I don't give up. If you tell me I cannot do it, I will prove to you that I can. Even when I became tenured as a professor and people were saying I only got it because I was a minority or because I was charming, instead of being discouraged, I said if that means I'm going to become tenured because I'm a minority and because I'm charming, then I'm going to do that all the time. Don't let people put you down. I believe in helping women instead of putting women down. I believe in putting women up and helping each other. Coming from a third world country, I realized the value of the opportunities in America, so when the opportunities were in front of me, I grabbed them. Hard work does play a role. As long as you have honesty, integrity, and hard work, you will not necessarily avoid failure, but one way or another, you will reach your goal.

God is my everything, number one. I believe in faith, family, and community - that's how I operate. I also believe in honesty, integrity, and hard work. Those are the key values in my success. I believe in forgiveness too. I've been divorced for a long time, but I still play tennis with my ex, I go skiing with him, and for family affairs we're together, because if you harm or hate, you cannot move on. I also believe very strongly in helping others. I have discovered that it doesn't matter what you have and what you have accomplished - what really matters is what have you done with your life. I serve the homeless every week, I mentor kids whose parents are in jail, I help sexually and physically abused women, and I volunteer with wounded warriors. To me now, I live a simple life and it's a fulfilling life. There's nothing wrong with money - money helps us pay our bills - but it's not the be-all and the end-all. I put myself in another person's shoes. I'm very empathetic. I believe in helping women instead of putting women down. I believe in helping each other.