Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline de Posada.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Caroline. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Have you ever taken the time to look back at your life and analyze how every decision, situation, influence, and relationship connected the dots to get you exactly where you right now? Even if you are not satisfied with your life at the moment, this exercise can shed light on the tools you’ve been given to get where you are and to propel you to where you want to be. You are always in training for something bigger, and only you can choose what you do with the guidance and training the universe has offered you.
Our stories began before we got here. My parents were Cuban immigrants who came to the United States in their pre-teen years. They lost everything when they left Cuba … except for their values and drive to succeed. My maternal grandfather was an attorney in Cuba in his mid-forties when he left seeking political asylum. He struggled to learn English and put himself through law school all over again while maintaining his family.
He was 50 years old when he became an attorney for the second time, speaking a second language. My paternal grandfather restarted his journalism career in Miami, finding a niche creating an international directory of Cuban families which has become a historical relic in libraries all over the United States.
I learned the value of education, hard-work, and perseverance from my family. When I was seven years old, my father, Joachim de Posada, who was a doctor in Psychology and adjunct professor, took me to one of his classes at the University of Miami. I sat in the front row at my own desk, and he allowed me to participate as a student and as his helper. When students participated in an exercise, I insisted on participating, too. They were all surprised when I was the only one who got the right answers.
Thus, I began my apprenticeship with my father. I learned about psychology, self-help, leadership, success, and time-management. After graduating from college at Florida State University, I spent a year and a half managing my father’s global speaking career and traveling the world with him. Afterward, I enrolled at the University of Miami Law School to fulfill my childhood dream (and promise to my mother and paternal grandfather) to become a lawyer.
When my first child was born, like many women, I struggled between being a wife and mother and pursuing the career I had worked so hard and long to achieve. I ventured out into unknown territory—self-employment—and established a successful law practice that afforded me the flexibility to work from home between my kids’ nap schedules, and on nights and weekends. Then my father became ill; my priorities shifted again. I devoted the majority of my time caring for him until he died. During that time, I realized that law was my career, but it was not my calling. After my dad’s passing, I made the difficult decision to stop practicing law and carry on my father’s legacy.
Last New Year’s Eve, it all came full circle. My husband, three small children, and I were driving up a mountain in North Carolina when black ice on the roads caused us to lose control of our minivan and almost go over the edge of a cliff. Saved from the fall, but unable to drive on the ice-covered road, we decided to abandon our vehicle and climb 2½ miles up the mountain in search of our cabin. With no cell phone or GPS service, with a four-year-old, a seven-year-old, and a nine-year-old who had a broken ankle in a boot, we climbed up in pitch darkness with snow falling. That family trip and terrifying experience enlightened me. Everything I’d gone through and every decision I’d made had led me to that moment. A book was born and my life made sense.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Training requires struggle. You can’t build muscle unless you stress it. You can’t build endurance unless you put in the miles. It’s hard and painful, but when you push through it, you grow stronger. The same goes for life. My parents divorced when I was two, and my super-successful dad traveled 80% of the time for work, so I didn’t get to see him often. Between my parents, there were nine marriages and divorces; I had to learn to navigate my way through many different and often difficult people.
And yet, that paled in comparison to the challenge of losing my father to cancer. Being my father’s primary caretaker while I raised three little boys under the age of five and running my law practice was a tremendous challenge for me and my family. I understand now that it was all part of my training. I came to this world to help people triumph through their challenges, and there are things only experience can teach.
Be There Even When You’re Not – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
One evening, I was sitting on the couch with my husband when he said: “I don’t understand how you can be so close to your dad when he was away most of the time. You are closer to him than most of our friends who had dads who slept down the hall their whole lives.” “Hold that thought,” I replied and ran to my office to grab a cardboard box that had traveled with me to every home I’d ever had. I brought the box downstairs and handed it to him. “What is this?” he asked. “Open it,” I said. Hundreds of postcards poured out of that box. We began reading them aloud, laughing at my dad’s jokes, and getting teary-eyed over his meaningful messages. My husband looked at me tenderly.
“Now I get it. Your dad may not have been physically with you, but he was with you every step of the way.”
In that moment, Be There Even When You’re Not was born. What started as an idea for a book for divorced dads has turned into a movement that extends to my audiences’ personal and professional lives. Through keynotes, workshops, webinars, and writing, I share the key promises that anyone can make and keep to ignite special and meaningful relationships with children, loved ones, colleagues, and/or clients. One of these is the postcard promise. I’ve created postcards busy professionals can use to constantly communicate their love and commitment to those who matter most.
What I am most proud of about my brand is that it offers solutions to a struggle we all face, giving hope to professionals who are torn between commitment to their careers and their families. I’m also proud that my brand allows me to carry on my father’s legacy. Ironically, through my work, he continues to be with me even when he’s not
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is a fluid journey very much like happiness. We can enjoy success in certain areas of our lives and yet feel unsuccessful in others. We can enjoy small, daily successes or big, milestone successes. And like happiness, success can be elusive, for every time we achieve one thing, we set higher stakes.
For me personally, overall success is having powerful relationships, using my skills to contribute to society, pursuing my passions, and maintaining a healthy mind and body.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8603 South Dixie Highway, Ste 218, Miami, FL 33143
- Website: www.carolinedeposada.com
- Phone: 786-703-5959
- Email: caroline@carolinedeposada.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/carolinedeposada
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/carolinedeposada
- Other: www.linkedin.com/in/carolinedeposada
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