Hector Quiroga is the epitome of the American dream. In 2000, he left Columbia at age 17 and came to the US without knowing any English. Today he’s an immigration lawyer and author of Prove Them Wrong: One Immigrant’s 10-Year Journey from Bankrupt to Millionaire, a phenomenal book that I highly recommend.

Hector faced enormous obstacles in pursuing his dream of becoming a lawyer. He was denied entrance into law school seven times, was repeatedly told no, and got frustrated when people would “form an opinion quickly” about him without knowing him (a common challenge for immigrants). This made Hector mad, but it also fueled him to prove that he could do it.

He graduated law school in 2008, just as the real estate market collapsed in the US. Between the two of them, Hector and his wife made $38,000 a year and couldn’t make the $8000 payment on their $500K student loans. Hector realized, “They don’t teach you how to have a business when you’re in law school.”

But with the right mindset, he was able to turn everything around. Seven years after filing for bankruptcy, Hector broke his first million in 2017. From there, it took 36 months to reach $10 million.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Hector’s love for the immigration process—which is about giving people an opportunity, taking a chance on them, and helping them make a better life for themselves by getting a green card and citizenship

• How Hector immersed himself in the English language in order to learn it as quickly as possible

• How he started off by offering Chapter 7 bankruptcies for $400-$600 (when the going rate was $1200), while marketing himself on Craigslist

• How sexual abuse is rampant among the Latino community and nobody talks about it

• How Hector was on the verge of quitting—until a seminar with RJon Robins (owner/founder of How to Manage a Small Law Firm) changed everything

• How there’s a message in your mess—“your mess is part of your message”

• How trust issues prevent you from being good at delegation

• All the fear barriers Hector went through to get to where he is today

Plus, he discusses an intense exercise on sales that he did during a seminar with RJon Robins—that opened Hector’s eyes about his own self-worth issue that caused him to charge low rates.