Andrea Romero Awarepreneurs Interview

Hi. This is Paul Zellisser, and welcome to the Awarepreneurs podcast. On this show we dive deep into wisdom from some of the world's leading social entrepreneurs. Our goal is to help increase your positive impact, your profitability, and your quality of life. Before we get into today's topic, I have one request. If you could hit subscribe and do a review on your favorite podcast app, it helps more people learn how to have positive impact through a values based business. Thank you so much. And I was just telling our guests this week that this is the most anticipated episode ever in now 350 plus episodes.

I am so excited to introduce you to Andrea Romero. And our title today is the social entrepreneur tipping point in New Mexico. Representative Andrea d Romero is a daughter of New Mexico. After attending the Santa Fe Public Schools, Andrea graduated from Stanford University with a degree in political science and received her JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She has dedicated herself to the growth of Northern New Mexico's community, economic, and environmental vitality through her small business and volunteer service to various organizations throughout the region. In so doing, Andrea serves as a volunteer state legislature for house district 46. Outside of work, she enjoys lots of traipsing around outside and tinkering with eggs with one patent issued on healthy probiotics eggs. And I can just say, in addition to just being an incredible human doing all these incredible things professionally, Andrea is just a gem of a human in our ecosystem.

Andrea, welcome to the show.

So kind, Paul. Thank you so much for having me. Super excited to be here.

There are so many things we can talk about, but we're gonna really help our listeners understand that we are in a very exciting moment in New Mexico. Different buckets just that you've given so much to and move the needle so much. Help us understand, like, when somebody is looking at your career so they understand you, what are some of the things you've done that would help a social entrepreneur audience kinda understand what you're bringing to this conversation?

That's such a generous question because I think as an elected person, I never saw myself in this role officially. Right? Being a social entrepreneur, I think, first and foremost, is that social aspect. Right? It's always what problems are we solving for our community. And when you think about that and then think about it in the entrepreneurial area, what products are we building? What services can we provide that are responsive to the social good, social need? So I found myself in entrepreneurship actually looking to solve a lot of those social problems and social issues that we come in contact with saying, like, wow. You can actually not only do this as a job, but also finding a lot of unpaid work, potentially doing that. But more so than anything else, getting involved and being able to be part of the decision making as it pertains to so many really important issues. When I really started out, I think, in so many ways, getting to law school, getting to, you know, all of these different areas, I've found myself in New Mexico in this decision making role or being able to lend my voice and then have a vote in these different echelons of of how our democracy works all by being able to say we need to do better. We can have it better.

There's a better way. And perhaps, you know, if by being part of that conversation, you know, I can serve and role to to be able to be part of the solution. And one of the magic things about being a New Mexican is that we're a very small, scrappy community of very incredible doers. A lot of people love being participant to the solution, and so it's just so great to be part of this community of of folks who really believes that they not only can enact changes, but be part of the change themselves and take on that role and really feel that responsibility within our community. So really special place here that we get to live in.

It really is. And we almost titled this episode, We Can Have Nice Things in New Mexico.

That's right. Love.

But but if you didn't know what was going on, it would be an inside joke. So we decided to talk about the social entrepreneur tipping point in New Mexico. And you've been in very this has never happened in a number of episodes. You've been in the seat of your impact investor and have had a very robust series of roles there. You are a founder, in the impact space, and you're a representative for the New Mexico legislature, and we're gonna tell you why that's relevant to this topic in just a second. But that's a very unique intersection of roles, oftentimes all at the same time. Right? Is that fair to say?

Yeah. It's it's it's great too as you navigate just like one thing for the next for the next. Like, realizing I needed to be a legislator in order to make sure that entrepreneurs had a space and finding myself in these spaces because of that sort of work. So, yes, not necessarily the path of what I planned, but here we are.

There we go. Life is what happens while we're busy making other plans. So this tipping point that we're let's dive right in on. We are putting this out as there's a tipping point in New Mexico for social entrepreneurs, and I would add climate tech founders. What's happening in New Mexico right now? We're recording this in December 2024. This will go live in January 2025. What's happening right now that we're calling this a tipping point?

So I think we're talking directly about New Mexico's sovereign wealth fund. This is a historic area and space for New Mexico being that back in the 19 thirties in the first sort of Great Depression that we experienced as a as a country, we were at a at a place where we could not fund education. And New Mexico did this unique thing where they set up this sovereign wealth fund and said, we're gonna we need to be able to pay our bills. We've always been really, unfortunately, sort of hamstrung by oil and gas as the ways in which we make the majority of our money as a state, which, you know, today and and understanding what that contribution is has been quite dismal to our climate. But for so many years, we've seen New Mexico go what we call boom and bust. Right? In the boom years, it means oil and gas is producing extremely well. We get the revenue from the tax paying oil and gas fund. I guess the the corporates that are doing that work, they pay their taxes, and then we can run the government.

Well, we started putting away that fund into a sovereign wealth fund. And today, it's worth $58,000,000,000 And

did you say $58,000,000,000

$58,000,000,000 We are the 2nd largest sovereign wealth fund in the United States. We pay our bills by taking a little bit off the top. Right? For the past several years, our budgets have been anywhere between 7 10 +1000000000 dollars. And when we have big boom years, we have a surplus year. And so we can spend more money one time a year when we have more than that money coming in. And so we have been stashing this away for almost a 100 years now and $58,000,000,000 of re of investment. And a lot of that fund today through what we call the state investment council, which is independently governed of our legislature, gets to decide how parts of the sovereign wealth fund is spent as, of course, by permission of the legislature, which still has the power of the purse, giving them the opportunity to reinvest in everything from venture capital funds that are climate focused to other potential venture opportunities to everything from early childhood education. That was one of the funds that we had started out of the sovereign wealth fund to make sure that we had access to early childhood education in perpetuity, that we're the 1st state to do that, and a lot of other really creative reinvestments into our state.

Of course, not a 100% goes into that. It's just like a a wealth fund anywhere else. It gets independently invested and managed often into Wall Street investments. So we can't say we're fully above that. But nevertheless, it has grown to this ballooning $58,000,000,000. And what we've learned from our legislative finance in the last several months in this year is that within 15 years, we are no longer reliant on oil and gas to maintain that fund and to pay for our government, but we have diversified away from that enough that we no longer have to worry about the boom and bust cycles, and New Mexico can move on essentially from the industry as being sort of beholden to it for our to pay our bills year to year. So this is a super exciting time. I believe New Mexico can be a real leader in how to be able to do this for many states and sovereign nations that have unfortunately, you know, become beholden to oil and gas for their for their revenues, really seeing a future that is really new for for so many and and what we've been able to build here.

Now, listener, do you believe me? I'm not, like, just making up why people are asking about this. The other thing I'll say as a storyteller, the podcaster, I get inbound from all over the place on LinkedIn. What's going on in New Mexico? And there's, like, these little drips. If you're really creative, you can sort of find out tiny bits of information. But one of the reasons this particular episode is being so requested is it's not easy, especially if you're outside of New Mexico or you're not in the start up world and don't know people like Andrea and have coffee with them every once in a while to to understand what's happening. So that's why this is one of the the the most highly $58,000,000,000, a 100 years of leadership working towards this moment that we are in right now. Is that a fair summary, Andrea?

Yes. Absolutely. And I just had the really unique opportunity to go to COP 29, which is the global climate, you know, convening year to year about what are we gonna do about our our climate issues, and how are we gonna come together as a globe. And this story is so powerful. I think, globally, when we're looking at what can we do to empower states in this unprecedented time where we really have 10 years to get it together. We know the climate is warming, and we're all part of the solution, but New Mexico really has a this really important stake, I think, in how these decisions can be made.

Yeah. So let's start to get into that that's the top level, and thanks so much for being here and helping us, you know, get a sense and kinda equalize the playing field. You don't have to know an insider to get the information. That's part of the reason we're doing this. Right? One of the examples for me, and this is some of the inbound I'm getting, there is something called the New Mexico Climate Solutions Venture Fund. Tell us a little bit about that and how this is relevant to, a, the permanent fund in general and to the listeners of this podcast in specific.

Yeah. So the the Climate Solutions Venture Focused Fund essentially looks at hard science and deep tech that has the opportunity to do business in New Mexico to potentially look at climate solutions that not only solve problems for New Mexico, but could be purposed globally. So this is a $50,000,000 fund that allows New Mexico targeted VC funds to really look at how we might be able to be part of the solution. I'm super excited about this because I think when we look at the sort of textures of what climate change has brought in New Mexico, we face everything from drought to, you know, a lot of these disasters, fires, floods. We've been seeing all of that across our state, which is not unique, unfortunately, to not only the southwest, but across the the globe now that these interests in figuring out what can we do about it, everything from geothermal energy to other tech that will help us manage our water better. You know, these are really, really interesting sort of concepts that are coming to New Mexico and that these funds allow us to really not only solve these problems for ourselves locally, but thinking about how we can help the world really solve these issues as we're trying to mitigate climate change. So super exciting to see what the potential is there, and certainly the the different funds that have been selected for this investment have really been making waves across the state and across the country.

Absolutely. And I'll put a link. One of the interviews we did earlier this year was with Ward Hendon of Dangerous Solutions. That would be an example. You can go listen to that and take do your homework listeners about the kinds of VC funds that are getting this. The other thing that I think is important to say, Andrea, I don't remember if you mentioned it, the state's putting in 50,000,000 to these impact oriented VCs, but there's a matching component as well. Right?

Right. That's right. So that's just it. We not only put in the funds, but they they get matched with that investment. So, again, we're they're raising this money and seeing that this this platform allows for for that return on investment almost immediately with these funds as they're continuing to raise, has allowed, I think, since 2011 more than $2,800,000,000 in these early stage tech funds. And so it's just a really interesting model that we get to have in the way that we've been able to invest as a state and really look at this these venture funds as an opportunity to really see the solutions locally, which is, again, not only being sold perhaps to government agencies and entities, but really seeing these companies come to fruition in our backyard.

My understanding, the matches ask for at least 70%, and if it was a 100%, that makes it even a more attractive candidate for some of these funds. So do your math and your head listeners. $50,000,000 from the state, 70 to a 100% matching fund. We're talking about 85 to a $100,000,000 of climate tech focused venture funds in 1 year. And this is a permanent fund that is going to be you know, as long as we continue to have good leadership that doesn't touch the principal, it's like having a retirement account where you live off the proceeds or the interest of that account. So this is not a one time event. Is that fair to say, Andrea?

Yes. Exactly. And that's just really it too is that we don't wanna, you know, make the all of this investment into 1 entity, into 1, you know, fund. Having that ability to leverage this and look at so many other spaces with which we're investing is is super exciting. And, yeah, it it's it's definitely a dynamic place for for folks to be.

So in addition to helping New Mexico become a climate tech hub and anybody who's interested in more information, We now have something called NM Climate, and I'm a cofounder of it. I'll put a link to sign up for our newsletter. But the climate community is gathering in New Mexico. Let's just say that. So if you've got some questions on that side of things, happy to be a resource for that. Another pool of funding in a similar kind of thought process is going to what I've heard called underrepresented founders. Tell us a little bit about that chunk of capital and what's intended there.

Yeah. So this is another opportunity for those, and New Mexico is a minority majority state. So when you look at underrepresentation historically, you know, this is us. This is an an opportunity for us to invest in ourselves as a state, for founders, and for a space that I know when I was getting into government, there wasn't a ton of support. In fact, the number one thing you would hear as an entrepreneur back in, you know, the 20 tens, 2015 time frame, all the way, I think, till very recently was that there was no capital here, that you couldn't find it, that you'd had to go out of state to find it. And so now for these upper underrepresentative founder funds is an opportunity for folks to really have a place to find funding for their start up, where you look at the, you know, the merits of what folks are doing but have a place where folks can actually land. Or back in the day, you know, folks were saying, I have great ideas. And they were like, great.

You have to go to California for that or, you know, anywhere else to to be able to find the funding. And I think we lost a really great cohort of of amazing entrepreneurs. And now we're saying, come to New Mexico. There's a space for you. There's, you know, this underrepresented founders fund that can can do that. And give me the numbers, Paul, because I might be mixing up a few of the funds in my head. But if you

can remembering that was also a 50,000,000 dollar pool of capital that also had to be matched. That's my understanding, if that sounds right, Andrea?

That I think that sounds about right. Yeah. So there's, yeah, so much so much more that we can do, you know, when we're looking at that. And as far as just getting the support that's needed, everything from economic development at the state level to what's happening even at the local level, I know that in where I live in the city of Santa Fe, there's a number of of different support mechanisms, again, that didn't exist even a decade ago, 5 years ago that now are seeking really the the folks that need the support as well, which is super exciting.

Absolutely. And we did the interview before all this funding was announced, but I was really blessed to interview Gary McBarryhill from Raven Indigenous Capital. Nice. And Raven is one of the groups that got funding in this second pool of capital that we're talking about, the underrepresented founder pool of capital. So that I'd give you, if you want, a deep dive into an example of a VC VC fund that's impact oriented, has a wonderful, wonderful representative here in New Mexico. Big shout out to you, Nicole Johnny. Nicole is such a gem in our ecosystem. Yeah.

She's just amazing. Absolutely. Yeah. And Raven is just a awesome example. These are top notch and nationally known organizations, VC organizations that have an impact focused and really know the sectors they're working in. Raven and more specifically focusing in indigenous entrepreneurs. Go listen to that episode. The links will be in the show notes.

So let's do this. Now that we've wetted your appetite, listeners, and maybe you'll wanna hang in with us and come back and hear more, let's take a quick break, hear a word from our sponsor. And I wanna hear a little bit more when we come back about not just what has gone out but what's coming and what does this mean for the social entrepreneur ecosystem in New Mexico and beyond. But first, a quick word from our sponsor. Mexico and beyond, but first, a quick word from our sponsor. Are you passionate about making a difference but feeling stuck on how to take your mission driven business to the next level? You don't need a lengthy coaching program. You need targeted advice from someone who understands the unique challenges that social entrepreneurs face. With my strategy session package, we'll focus on your most pressing decisions, whether it's clarifying your value proposition, optimizing your marketing strategy, launching a new product or service, or adjusting your pricing to align with your mission.

These sessions are perfect when you know the direction you wanna go, but you need someone with the experience to help you get there. If you're ready to unlock your potential and amplify your impact, book your strategy session now. The link is in the show notes. So welcome back, everybody. I am blessed to be here with representative Andrea Romero, and our title today is the social entrepreneur tipping point in New Mexico. So we've given some examples of it specifically funds in the climate tech space, in the underrepresented founder space. These are not the only sectors that New Mexico has identified as areas of growth. Can you give us a sense of what are some of the other ones, Andrea?

Yeah. Sure. I mean, there are so many great areas with which we're investing, but I really feel too, like, that we really are going all in on climate. And that's not just, I think, some of the high-tech stuff that we've been seeing in, you know, just alternative energies and and the space that we're moving forward in that way. Certainly, when we look at some of the platforms for service building, you know, we've been talking about having these 1,001 person jobs, which is a 1000 jobs, in New Mexico for those that are, you know, solopreneurs that are looking to, you know, build their business in a place that is has great outdoor recreation. We've been really highly investing in our outdoor recreational space. We legalized cannabis back in 2021. That has been a boom industry.

We've already done over $1,000,000,000 since we legalized in that industry. There are just so many different verticals in in where we're seeing, you know, new folks come forward.

The movies, right, creative industries is rocket right now.

Right? Absolutely. Yeah. We have a creative department of creative industries now that's fully dedicated to supporting that industry. You know, just so many amazing, yeah, entrepreneurial sort of verticals. The early childhood space we have for those that are seeking to to start those types of businesses across the state. We have accelerators in early childhood. I mean, it's just an amazing sort of thing to see, again, these social entrepreneurs across the board coming out and and being able to find spaces and support in government for these businesses. Yeah, all over the place.

It's exciting.

Couldn't agree more. Andrea is a social entrepreneur yourself. Somebody from I I've only been in New Mexico from 19 since 1993, so, you know, only a little bit. Your your family's from here for generations. Am I exaggerating when I say I've never seen anything remotely like this in New Mexico? Not not many other places either, but this is a unprecedented time at least for several generations in New Mexico. Am I am I being, like, oh, Paul, shut up. You're exaggerating. Oh, no.

I mean, it's probable. Like, it's excite it's so exciting. I'm so proud of our state for what we've been able to do. I mean, even in this next session, there's a proposal to see baby bonds for every child born in New Mexico to have their own trust fund as they age and get ready for college through retirement. I mean, there's so many creative ways in which we're investing in New Mexico, completely unprecedented. Since I've been in office since 2019, we have been in a surplus year in our budget. We're one of the only states right now that has money to do any of these things. So, yeah, to to be optimistic about our future and to be able to be like, wow.

Like, real leadership matters. All of these things are so exciting, and we don't wanna squander this opportunity. It's so real, and it's absolutely exciting. And no reason to not be optimistic about all the things to come because it's true. Since I was a kid growing up here, I've never felt so excited to be New Mexican.

That's why we almost call this up. We can have nice things in New Mexico. Now you're in on the joke. You hung out with us for half an hour. Now we can tell you why we're saying that, and we're joking, but we're not joking. So you've been an impact oriented person and a community oriented person for a really long time, and social entrepreneurship is one of your ethos. As a matter of fact, we met doing some community work around a business for good conference organized by the UNM School of Anderson UNM Anderson Business School. That's how we first connected, Andrea.

And I know your dedication to social entrepreneurship. What that that's our listeners, social entrepreneurs and climate tech founders, particularly those that are either in growth phase or are actively working to get there. What does this mean? If I'm a social entrepreneur well, let's let's put it in 2 buckets. If I'm a social entrepreneur or a climate tech founder who's already in New Mexico, what does this mean for me? And the follow-up question is if I'm a social entrepreneur or a climate tech founder and I'm like, wow, that sounds kinda interesting, but I don't yet live in New Mexico. Notice the word yet. What does it mean for people in that bucket?

Yeah. Well, if you're not living in New Mexico yet, like, open invitation to you. It's winter here now. I think I've skied a few times already. So we're just having a great time every all four seasons here where I live up in the Rocky Mountains. So every time's a good time to be here. So if you're not here yet, let's just talk about why you should be.

When are you moving? There's no other question to ask. Right?

Right? And truly, so many friendlies here to talk about it. No. But truly, I mean, for those that are here and thinking about social entrepreneurship, you know, seriously, there there is an ecosystem now that has come to life of folks that are always trying to help you solve problems. And the cool thing about being in New Mexico is and we say this all the time, but, of course, repeating it is is great because there's always an open door for you. We will introduce you to anyone and everyone. You know, if we don't know somebody, there's somebody that knows somebody. We feel like we're less than a degree of separation from anyone who can help you solve a problem and certainly, you know, find a way with which we can make sure that not only you can stay here and run your business, but thrive here. Right? All across the board, we want to have a quality of life that is super, super great for you.

And so, yeah, for social entrepreneurs, that means, you know, if you want to do good while also making money and supporting your life and lifestyle, this is a space for you. You know, we want your problem solving to be purposed in our ecosystem of entrepreneurship. It's it's so exciting to see that this is more common in the day. And it was it felt like when I was first starting this, you know, in when I was back in New Mexico as of 2012 after college and my first job, moving back here was like it felt like a bit of a a desert, not just metaphorically. You know, the the reality of it was like, we're not there's not a lot of support here for that, and that has changed and shifted so much in finding that the the place with which you can get the support that you need, whether it be, like, hard and fast business support from writing your business plan, understanding your impact, sort of thesis statement and what that looks like, but also, you know, just how you're gonna be able to pencil this all out and get the funding that you need and make it happen right here. All of that exists now in New Mexico from the state and local levels. Depending on where you go or where you land, there will be somebody that can help support you. And I've definitely been part of this ecosystem for so long now, and I'm so grateful to be among all the incredible people who not only have supported me but continue to support each other in this process.

So it's a really it's like a friendship and an amazing cohort of folks that all support each other. And glad to be a part of that, Paul. And with you here, too, it's just amazing to see what has come to fruition.

Just getting started. Right? One thing we should have said one of the things we should have said earlier, Andre, if you're not from New Mexico, one thing you might not realize, it's a relatively small, small population. We're talking like is it 2.2 or 2a half 1000000 people? Right? Like, we're talking like a medium sized city in California distributed, or New York, or wherever, distributed across a state the size of Colorado. So when you're talking these kinds of numbers of this amount of capital and, social capital of who's here and how we work here, it doesn't take a lot to get something incredibly dynamic going because, you know, everybody uses the flywheel effect. Right? It's such a lingo thing. Right? But the amount of, like, energy to get something moving with a relatively small population of innovative thinkers who haven't had a robust economy and haven't had sort of institutionalization of our ecosystem because we haven't had much of one for a really long time, it means that as we found each other and as this capital has started to activate things, it's getting things moving incredibly quickly. That's my that's what I'm seeing in my seat. Does any of that resonate with you?

Yeah. A 100%. You know, and it's that whole capital flowing bit. You know, when we're excited about having funding to reinvest in folks, like, folks really show up and arise to the moment. You know, we're seeing these incredibly unique ideas that are gaining traction. Again, it's just, like, folks are really coming to the table, at the same time that all of this is coming together. So, yeah, such an exciting time to be here and see it all sort of play out. And again, to me among the folks that are making all of these historic changes and, you know, seeing these incredible, incredible ideas come to life.

Yeah. So you just mentioned to be among. What does this mean for you? I've known you've made a few changes. Where does Andrea Romero fit in this incredibly dynamic ecosystem?

Well, that's a $10,000 question for me.

$58,000,000,000 question for you.

We'll see. We're just coming up on our legislative session, which is amazing. You know, again, we're in a in a surplus year of budget and looking at how we're going to make these historic investments continually into New Mexico's future and in particular our people first. Right? So getting to make those decisions is is such an incredible honor and privilege, and I you know, the legislative work never ends. There's always a new a new task at hand. So that's, you know, my priority today for sure. And then, you know, thinking through all of the different ways in which my career has taken shape, you know, I decided to go to law school after becoming a legislator. That was unexpected, I think, in my life trajectory.

You know, being a social entrepreneur and working in the space, you know, led me to politics, I think, and being able to build the systems that would work in order to support the folks that needed it the most. And so I think, you know, as I move forward in this in the roles that I've had, you know, I'm looking at potentially just full force on my probiotic egg venture now that I got some really great lab results this last year. And so there's just so many great things. And, again, like, I'm smiling with the support that we get to have as a state. Of course, none of none of this comes from state if I was to pursue it. So I personally would have to go out of state in order to be able to

to to

to be above board and make sure that all of these things are are not personally interested, of course, but it's just an exciting time to be part of this ecosystem and support the folks that are doing amazing things. I would love to be able to to build a thriving business here in New Mexico. I've been very fortunate to have so much support from this community and and the work that I've been able to do, and I think it's just a space for all of that creativity to come together to to be able to do the next thing. So, you know, never felt, like, stifled in any sort of way about what could what could happen next certainly has been such a a way in which, you know, whatever happens next, there's a there's a space for me and a place to to do great things and be creative with what comes next.

And I think it's, fair to say, Andre, you didn't start in this space yesterday.

No. No. Not a novice anymore, which is a better place. Right? You get your feet on the ground and feel so much more confident in the in the conversation and roles that we get to have. So, yeah, not it's it's it's a new day and super exciting, again, to be able to advocate too for the folks that are doing it and to be part of it. So what what it's a exciting time. Super exciting time.

Thank you for that work, G2. We're so blessed to have you in our in our decision making halls. So these impacts that we're describing, like, think about what one of the groups of people that I hear from, I imagine, given what you do, you hear from also the young people. Think about those folks who they're smart, they're hungry, they wanna make a difference, they need to make a living, and they're trying to make sense. Okay. They're listening to this. They're excited about this. What would you encourage somebody who's on the early stage of their career? Maybe they're still at college.

Maybe they just recently graduated, and they're not yet in the impact economy, but they are, like, just starving to get there. What would you say to folks in that phase of their career who love New Mexico but often time, honestly, historically, would have left New Mexico for lack of career opportunities? What do you wanna say to those folks?

Yeah. I I I I hear you. I see you. I was there at

a time. You. Right?

I was you. Yeah. Going, what am I doing here? Actually, I love my family. I love this space. I feel completely connected to this to this my home, to this land, and yet, what what am I meant to contribute, you know, to this time? And that's really for me, the journey for me started in just getting involved. And then as I as I was finding out, a lot of folks had a lot of needs. Right? And so I ended up on a lot of boards. I was in the sustainable Santa Fe Commission within a few weeks, I think, of moving back to New Mexico.

There are so many spaces to get involved communally and these, especially if you're interested in the impact space, you know, being able to talk to potential customers, right, when we're talking about entrepreneurship, what problems you're solving. And to meet other entrepreneurs in the ecosystem, you know, there's just there's a bunch of different meetups. There's so many different ways to convene for, you know, socially to get to know folks who are in the same sort of struggle, same sort of, what am I, like, am I really what else do I have to do to make it make sense for me? You know, those are the spaces that I think are really gonna resonate and make a a a difference when, you know, you're trying to figure out how to stay connected and get involved. There's a space for you. And I really got to find that locally, you know, and really found a support system of people that were like, no. We really wanna hear what you have to say. And as it turns out, you know, you have something to offer even if it's just a an a different opinion or whatever else. And especially that, I think there's just so many ways in which folks can get involved and engaged in what really is important to you and what you're passionate about and what you feel like you might be able to contribute to too.

So, yeah, there's a number of ways in which that can happen. And yeah, I mean, I was just really responsive to those different needs at different times and could be flexible with, you know, how is it that I can, you know, contribute to something and figure out how to solve these problems locally in that community economic space. And then you get to know amazing people in the process. So I've worked on a number of different cool projects that I really loved, you know, throughout the years that supported entrepreneurs or the ecosystem. And then, you know, again, led me to this political space, but, you know, there's just your path is your path, and I think New Mexico is just a such a uniquely supportive space. It's not easy. You don't get to plug in, like, New York and have a 100 different options for all of the different things that you wanna do every day. But I think if you do right here, right now, if you create it, it's yours, and there's an opportunity always to do it yourself.

This is a DIY place, and there's a space for you if you want a cool nightclub or an immersive, you know, art experience, if you want to create the next, you know, cool cannabis coffee shop. But, I mean, all of the world is at your fingertips here for you to be able to build something super unique, exciting, whether it be a tech company, a climate tech interest, all the way across to it, like, a new cool restaurant. There's just there's so many great opportunities of support for you here.

Couldn't agree more. One of the things that I'm really excited about is we're starting to see more scaled ventures. I think we're gonna put this episode first, but I just did a episode this morning with Ben Schultz from AquaMembranes. They finished their series b rays. It was oversubscribed. I will put a link to the interview with Carlos Paria from Teravera, and, actually, we need to get him back on the show to talk about Apevera, incredible solution to bees struggling through colony collapse disorder, and they're, you know, just rocking and rolling. They're doing awesome things. So somebody who's in that growth stage or, like, they've they've kind of made it through the valley of startup death.

Right? And they're now really starting to get traction, and we have more and more folks in that category. Any suggestions or recommendation to somebody who's really starting to scale and lives here in New Mexico?

Yeah. I mean, it's great. First of all, kudos to you for those that are like, it's I'm in a growth spurt. Let's figure it out. I think there's been a real movement within not only the support systems that exist in government, but through the SIC and a number of the funding mechanisms and elements that exist to fill that gap for those that need that x amount of dollars to scale to grow from a 1 to 5 or 1 to 20 person business into that bigger sort of space and place. So I would yeah. I'm happy first of all, all of us are happy to, like, make introductions to the folks that are helping support this. But this is where, you know, I think even traditional banks come in.

There's a a lot of opportunity out there where banks have really sort of tried to meet the meet the moment as well for, you know, what we've heard from small businesses that are like, look, we want to grow here. How do we do it? How can we get the support we need and have created the mechanisms to be able to do that more readily. Of course, you know, we know that you still have to derisk and there's gonna be lots of conversations, lots of interviews for that process. Having worked in Impact Investing, that is definitely, you know, a part of the process. But nevertheless, there's just so many more places for folks to go to do that type of scaling here in New Mexico that, again, didn't exist before. And I think there's just this real opportunity for folks that are in that space to ask for that help and and really find it now across the board where that's been a place where we've been working really, really hard to find that support for folks through being able to build different policy platforms and and really talking to the business community about how they can be part of that solution.

Andre, you're sitting in this, like, seat that is very unique. You referenced your impact investing part of your career. You're a state representative. You're a social entrepreneur, you have a law degree. Right? If you put these various, like, lenses together and also the information you have being in the decision making rooms, Think with us or, like, dream with us a little bit. Like, the New Mexico economy is changing, and there's all these things going on. 5 years from now, what do you think it looks like?

Wow. I mean, the dream big proposition for me is that truly to see us completely divested from the oil and gas community, knowing how critical this time is and spaces in being part of the climate solution as a state and what we contribute, I think, to global climate change as a state having now had the opportunity financially to go forth and really commit to the climate future that makes sense for all of us. So that's just my soapbox, but I think it's possible. And I think the reinvestment into all of these incredible new opportunities that we've seen, everything again from outdoor recreation, film, creative industries, to the new what's next. These climate technologies are taking us into a whole new world. We were the 1st to have a spaceport in the country, you know, outside of government. There's just so many cool things that I think are still on the horizon for New Mexico. We have some of the best and brightest when it comes to our natural sciences and hard sciences and, of course, that are looking to tech technology transfer within different institutions of government to to pull out, and I and, you know, we're seeing those multipliers happen every single day.

You know, I really want folks to feel like there's a space for ideas that, you know, what is the next thing? We saw Silicon Valley do this. We hear about all the greats all the time and creating that space and really what it brought, which was the people, the human capital that felt like they could do something different, that felt like they had a space for, you know, pulling folks out of amazing colleges. Right? We have tuition free college now. Everyone should have a space to get a great education and find an amazing job. So I'm hoping all of those things really coalesce, come together, and see the fact that what we've tried to really set a platform for in the future of New Mexico is really coming to fruition with all of those, you know, tough decisions made, hard investments that we've really, you know, taken the time to be thoughtful about how to do that in people first and seeing all of that really shine and move us forward in a way that I think is is not only unprecedented for the state, but for the country as we, you know, see this leadership really coming to fruition in in these decisions being made. So I have such high hopes and I'm so proud of our state for where we where where where we're headed and certainly the trajectory that we've been on, you know, with with these really critical, you know, thought process processes and and why we're doing these and having these intentions, but, you know, for what process? And this is this all takes time, unfortunately. Believe me, I wish it was tomorrow. I'm like, actually, Paul, tomorrow, we're having all the nice things.

But, you know, it does it does take time, and bringing everyone to the table is part of it. So thank you so much for have the creating this platform to talk about all these great things that are happening for us here. And if I could tell the future at all, that's the future that I would tell to everybody.

Looks very similar to the future I'm seeing, Andrea. Andrea, I could hang out with you all day, and I know you're really, really busy, and our listeners are as well. As we start to wind down, if there's something we didn't talk about that you think it's important to mention or there's something you wanna leave our listeners with as we start to say goodbye, what would that be?

Yeah. I mean, I I just wanna go back to the how accessible we are as, I think, leaders and, you know, it's I still get a little uncomfortable with that title. But the idea that, you know, folks in government, folks at the highest echelons of power in our state are accessible is so true, And I just wanna key in on that. Like, if you're interested in participating in the future as a social entrepreneur and want to meet the power brokers in this state, like, they're our friends, they're our relatives, they're our neighbors, they're our, you know, the folks that we commune and convene with. We're very accessible, you know, as people here, and I just wanna underscore that for folks that are going, like, how do I even come to the table with this? So you have listeners that are email you, feel free to forward them to me. You know, all of my information's online. Easy to find me, Andrea romero dot com. So just get in touch, send a note.

Happy to talk to you.

For Andrea romero dot com, I will put a link in the show notes, and that's a way that people can follow-up on anything they're hearing in this conversation.

For sure.

For sure. And, listeners, I reached out to Andrea and said, Andrea, will you help us tell this story? Because people want it for me, and here you are. So if you think that she's lying, she's not. Andre, thank you so much for all the work you do. We are so blessed to have you here and for coming to share and help make sense of an exciting time. But as you were saying, not people are a number of people are wanting to find their relationship with what's happening and didn't even understand what's going. So thank you so much for just helping us kinda get a lay of the land. Really appreciate it.

My absolute pleasure. It's so amazing to see this all happening. And, again, thanks for creating the the space for us to tell this story. Super exciting and can't wait for what comes next. I appreciate you.

So listeners, go check out Andrea's psych. Lots of links in this episode. And, please, especially especially this episode, please share this with your friends and colleagues both in and out of New Mexico. We want this story to get spread so people understand and those who wanna come play in a really, like, not even generational, like, multi generational moment that we're experiencing right now, let's not keep it to ourselves. Go share it. Tell your friends. I wanna say we love listeners suggested topics. So if you have an idea for an episode, go to the AwarePreneur's website.

And on our contact page, there's our three simple criteria. We try to be really transparent about how we select topics we do episodes on. And lastly, I just wanna say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times, and thank you for everything you're working