Episode 160: Dream Even Bigger with Google’s Ana Corrales

Albert Einstein once said, “Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.” He went on to say, “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Now, we all know the tremendous impact Einstein made by pursuing big dreams. So, it stands to reason that boundless curiosity fuels discovery which ultimately leads to big dreams.

Meet Ana Corrales, Chief Operating Officer for Google’s Consumer Hardware business, who shares her career journey and how curiosity helped her to gain clarity and led her to the perfect role. As COO, Ana leads the development process for Made by Google hardware and Nest products --phones, laptops, Google Home, Chromecast, Nest Thermostat --and manages getting those products into the hands of customers. She also drives the end-to-end IT efforts and customer experience work across the Google Hardware business. Ana previously led Google Hardware’s first-party retail efforts, including driving the growth of e-commerce channel, Google Store.

Ana has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business, and as one of the most powerful Latinas by the Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA). HITEC (Hispanic Information Technology Executive Council) has recognized her as a top technology executive. She is known in the industry as a seasoned leader who can successfully grow startup businesses into multi-billion dollar companies.

In this episode, Ana shares how mentors helped her unleash her curiosity and to dream bigger and pursue audacious goals. She also shares insights on making opportunities happen, overcoming fear and limiting beliefs, the importance of creating your own narrative, and challenges listeners to ask themselves, “Are dreams are really big enough?”.

Visit https://www.iambeyondbarriers.com where you will find show notes and links to all the resources in this episode, including the best way to get in touch with Ana.

 

Highlights:

[03:33] Ana’s journey

[05:54] Gaining clarity through a love of learning

[09:54] Making opportunities happen

[12:41] Overcoming fear and limiting beliefs

[17:57] Creating your own narrative

[24:08] Ana’s success habits

[30:03] Asking for help from your community

[32:32] Dreaming big

 

Quotes:

“Continuous learning is important and you will go further faster if you are deliberate in your learning.” – Ana Corrales

“Don’t let your calendar manage your time .” - Ana Corrales

“Success is not a linear journey.” - Ana Corrales

“If every day goes perfectly well for you, you are likely not challenging yourself.” – Ana Corrales 

“Be genuine and intentional in sharing your story lest others tell it for you.” – Ana Corrales

 

About Ana Corrales:

Ana Corrales is the Chief Operating Officer for Google’s Consumer Hardware business. As COO, Ana leads the development process for Made by Google hardware and Nest products --phones, laptops, Google Home, Chromecast, Nest Thermostat --and manages getting those products into the hands of customers. Ana also drives the end-to-end IT efforts and customer experience work across the Google Hardware business. Ana previously led Google Hardware’s first-party retail efforts, including driving the growth of e-commerce channel, Google Store.

Previously, Ana served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Nest. She also served as Senior Vice President of Product Operations at Cisco Systems. In 2006, Ana co-founded a startup solar company. As the acting CEO, Ana sold the company in 2010.

Ana serves as a member of the Women@Google board and is an executive sponsor for HOLA, Google’s Latino Employee Resource Group. Ana serves on the board of directors for Watermark, the Bay Area’s largest women leadership organization, as an advisor to Roli, a company reinventing instruments that extend the joy of music-making to everyone.

Ana has been recognized by Forbes as one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business, and as one of the most powerful Latinas by the Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA). HITEC (Hispanic Information Technology Executive Council) has recognized her as a top technology executive. She is known in the industry as a seasoned leader who can successfully grow startup businesses into multi-billion dollar companies.

Ana is a native of Costa Rica and earned a Masters of Engineering from Stanford University. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anacorrales/