Today we’d like to introduce you to Julio Toledo.
Julio, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As a child of Cuban immigrants, I was raised in three different countries and two separate continents. I speak three languages (Spanish, English, Italian), a little bit of Sanskrit, and am currently teaching myself conversational Japanese.
I was born and raised in Cuba until the age of 9 before emigrating to Spain, where I lived and studied in Madrid until the age of 12 before finally finding my way to Miami, but not before a brief stint in beautiful West New York, NJ that included an especially brutal winter.
That snow-filled Jersey winter quickly convinced my parents that only South Florida could offer the kind of climate suitable for Caribbean natives like ourselves. I’ve lived in Miami ever since, and wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else in the US.
My education and career paths are as diverse as my travels. From advanced placement English and Literature in high school I went on to Architecture in college before switching majors to Nutrition/Dietetics. After completing an Associate’s degree, I dropped out of school to go get an education.
Right after college I started my own business, which quickly failed. It was a bilingual (Spanish/English) newsprint magazine promoting vegetarian and natural health lifestyles back in predominantly Latin, early 90’s Miami. From there, a circuitous path eventually led to me to technology, which is what I’ve loved doing for the past 20+ years.
It’s that long journey to finding my place in the world which informs my perspective on life and work. I love technology because it is a constantly evolving field which demands continuous learning and self-improvement (kaizen). The same could be said about Miami.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Running your own business is anything but a smooth road. Life was easier while I was running someone else’s IT operation (which I did for 12+ years), but I wouldn’t want to go back to doing that.
It’s been a 10 year journey since the 2007 recession that’s finally paying dividends, and the future looks even brighter for our business. We’re in the right industry, at the right time, and any place is the right place when your work lives in the Cloud.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Automation USA – what should we know?
We’re an IT Consultancy specializing in B2B mobile app development, unified communications (VoIP), cloud hosting, and Internet of Things (iOT). Our in-depth knowledge of both software and hardware and our multi-lingual skills allow us to occupy a unique space within our industry.
Our primary markets are Small to Midsize Businesses and workgroups within large Enterprise of up to 500 users. We tackle the projects smaller businesses need but can’t do for themselves and those which overloaded IT departments within larger organizations can’t accomplish quickly or economically enough.
We’re known for rapid application development, for delivering big technology improvements at small business budgets, and for our ability to translate complex techno-babble into the language every-day business.
We are most proud of our knack for bringing order, coherence and productivity to an organization by integrating and automating disparate systems, departments, and workflows. RC2FM, for example — which is our RingCentral integration for B2B apps, has helped put us on the map as Web API integrators.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Miami is the gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, and among the largest Internet exchange points in the world. It has an enviable climate and occupies a very convenient time zone for dealing with national and international customers. Tech is the future of every business no matter the industry, so the future looks bright.
Having said that, South Florida could benefit from more tech startup incubators and technology boot camps. There are a few, but we are nowhere near where we could and should be. It’s gonna take a joint effort on the part of educational institutions, state/local government, and businesses to fund the kinds of programs we need to foster major growth in the South Florida tech sector.
Contact Info:
- Address: 9100 S Dadeland Blvd Ste 1500
Miami FL
- Website: www.automationusa.net
- Phone: 33156-7813
- Email: info@automationusa.net
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
Kenneth Durrum
September 30, 2017 at 1:51 pm
I had the pleasure of working with Julio several years ago in the Direct Marketing industry. His vision and skill toward information technology are truly superb. Julio is innovative, creative and pleasurable to work with. Congrats Julio on a great write-up.
Julio Toledo
November 5, 2017 at 5:32 am
Thanks Kenny, I just noticed your comment.
For others who may read this and don’t know Kenneth Durrum, he is a tech innovator in his own right.
Back in the late 90’s Kenneth Durrum gave me a great leg up in my professional career and introduced me to database development and digital document management.