Exploring Life & Business with Nalleli Valverde of ProActive Safety

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nalleli Valverde.

Hi Nalleli, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am NOT the best writer, so please bear with me. Yet, I am Naleli Valverde, a first-generation Mexican immigrant. I came to Colorado at the age of 2 and have lived here since. I am as proud to be an entrepreneur and community advocate as a single mom of a teen boy. 

Telling my story is sometimes hard for me because in my 34 years of life, I feel like so much has happened that has shaped me – many moments of challenges, celebrations, peaceful bliss, and other swirls of change. I am not sure of the aim of this interview and what achievement of this phase of my life this interview is aimed to encapsulate. 

So, I will choose to talk about the striving to be multidimensional. I am not only a mom, a Latina, an entrepreneur, a community advocate, a speaker, an instructor, a therapy patient, and an aspiring athlete. My life is that and so much more. I grew up in a low-income family in Fort Lupton, CO, in a nuclear family of 7 children, with me being the oldest. I grew up translating documents for my parents, negotiating payment plans for disconnection notices, and playing parental roles for siblings who needed an extra set of shoulders. 

I helped my parents a lot. Yet, I was also a cause of lots of pain and tears for my parents during my teen years. I went from a parentified kid to a teen who wanted to have all the fun in the world, and that meant breaking rules. I skipped school frequently, was involved in school fights, organized ditch parties, and was on house arrest, and then probation. I did all the wrong things to be labeled a troubled teen, and that led to another statistic: I became one more Hispanic teen mom. I felt a strong sense of shame, to have been one more statistic, yet this lit an intense fire within me to not only focus on earning my high school diploma but to do it on time so that I could have the honor of walking across the stage. 

In 2007, amid my pregnancy, a high school junior with an entire semester of credits behind, I decided to take on the challenge. I cannot tell you how (my mom cannot remember) my mom found a credit recovery program at CU Denver led by Manuel Espinoza, Ph.D. I applied, interviewed, and was accepted with the sole intention of getting what I needed and nothing more. Little did I know that it would change the trajectory of my life. 

As a reminder, up to this point, I was a very egocentric, fun-chasing problematic student. In this college course, I was joined by fellow migrant students who, only after finding out, did not have the legal status to continue higher education. Meanwhile, I showed up to the first day of class to a Latino (almost Cholo looking) professor who spoke with such power, authority, and knowledge, BUT he looked like ME, he looked like someone in my neighborhood. Can people like us be smart? People like me get PhDs?! 

The way Dr. Espinoza taught us and guided us through that course is something I will never forget. I learned to do research, critical thinking, and how to write an amicus brief; I learned that I love to learn. But the biggest gift I received in this course was the duty, the responsibility I had to do something great with my life; with the opportunities I was granted by my immigrant ancestors, and the responsibility I held because people who were smarter, more determined, and acted with exemplary behavior than I could ever, did not have the legal status to easily walk in the rooms and places I took for granted. 

In that class of about 30, I was one of two who had legal status. I realized the number of non-resident students that existed in Colorado who were doing all the right things to go to college, and because of their immigration status, they simply could not afford to go to college. 

How did this change my life? I went from ditching consistently in high school to giving birth to my son on a Sunday, and I was back in class on Tuesday, eager to partake. I went back to high school and took two remedial classes in the morning from 6 -8 am, took AP classes (for the credit, and because now I knew someone like me could be smart), joined DECA Club for the extra half-credit, and left winning a National Competition for the club. AND I walked across the stage on graduation day. 

I went to college, and although I did not finish my BA, I continue to learn. Today, I am an entrepreneur of an Occupational Safety Training Company where I teach people and companies in the construction and oil and gas industries about their legal rights to stay safe and healthy (I teach people how not to die or kill anyone). I started in the office as a coordinator, but after seeing the need for Spanish-speaking instructors, I knew I could go out and learn and come back and share with my people. I have achieved several accredited certifications, i.e. ASP and CSP. 

I knew that this short Latina could learn about trenching and excavation, that she would be humble enough to sit in a room full of white men with years of experience and not be afraid to ask all the questions and stay up late understanding the concepts and work procedures. I knew I could learn not only for myself but to help my community. 

I stand out from the competition because I am a woman, a Latina who teaches from a daughter’s perspective. I would want my dad to know his rights, how to stay safe and healthy, and what he needs to know to come home every night with all his limbs. I teach leadership and supervisor courses because people who look like me are incredibly smart and hardworking, and they deserve a seat at the table. 

Three years ago, I decided to take the plunge and not only make my employer my client but also offer my services to more people. To glorify this and say that it has been a phenomenal, easy-flow experience would be a lie. It has been hard. It’s hard to be a mother and grow a business. It is hard to invest time and money into an idea and dream. It is hard to go from learning through books and courses to learning business through trial and error with the constant fear of economic failure. But 

That is this chapter’s challenge, I will figure this business stuff out, and I believe I will. I have the responsibility, the duty to my son, my family, my community, and my raza to do something great with the gifts I was granted. I will honor my love for learning. I will do the hard things. My only request is to follow my journey of doing, of success and failures, of living out my responsibilities. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
-Child of Domestic Violence -Social unaccepted Rebellion Adolescent. 

-Single/Teen motherhood – Collage became a financial burn because I couldn’t afford to feed cloth my child while. Not working & paying for books. (Limited financial resources for education). 

-Mental Health. Balancing motherhood and education Although I LOVED to learn that time in my life was dark. I felt. Enormous pressure to decide what I wanted to do and go ALL take a full schedule and hurry up and graduate and start working (the same energy as I did in high school) YET I did NOT know what I wanted to do. 

Because I was young and didn’t know myself. Yet I felt like every time that I took a class and then realized I did not like that subject I felt a sense of shame and anger because I felt like I was wasting that time where I could have been working and providing for my son. Eventually, I was so worried about money and feeding myself and my son that I couldn’t retain anything from the classes I did enjoy and saw potential. 

Pursuit of multiple academic achievements – I loved doing a lot of things, I loved human behavior/psychology but also loved Marketing and some criminal justice classes. I felt like I couldn’t decide and didn’t have time to mess around. 

Entrepreneurial challenges – I am my investor. Financial stress from uncertainty and risk. 

Balancing business and motherhood- Today I have a teen, so my business needs to take place while he is in school, which makes it a little bit hard but having a business is the ONLY way I have been able to attend to all of his activities and needs. No one to ask, no one is affected but me. Good or bad. 

Navigating a male-dominated industry- Some men are not as welcoming. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
ProActive Safety, where our core values are self–awareness, Accountability, Forward Thinking, and Ethical behavior. We pride ourselves in offering top-tier certifications, ensuring you’re not only equipped with industry-relevant skills but also with a mindset geared towards genuine success. 

We offer certifications via online platforms that are created by industry-experienced personnel. We also offer Supervisor and Leadership courses for those who know their value, and the potential they offer if only equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to take a leadership role. 

Do you have any advice for those just starting?
Life is about facing our darkness. Training for those dark days, looking for their coming, and walking into them, by facing them, is the only way to conquer them. 

Evolving means going into the dirt and darkness for a while. So don’t be afraid or let that stop you, because those days or moments WILL end, and then comes the blooming of life, the shine, and warmth. That is life. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://proactive-safety.com/
• Instagram: @proactivesafety_
• Facebook: ProActive Safety
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nalleli-valverde-2872a618b/

Image Credits
Dr. Espinoza, https://www.educational-dignity.org/the-team/ https://www.colorado.edu/crowninstitute/manuel-espinoza-phd