Welcome to Real Deal LLC!

If you’re wondering about the name, I guess I can say that I run my life like a corporation that produces crazy stories and weirdly interesting information. It’s a good thing that Real Deal is a limited liability corporation (LLC), that way I can always blame my posts on the company and not the author who wrote it :)

I’m a 26 year old banking analyst living in Manhattan and working for one of the world’s largest and most recognized financial institutions. My hometown is Miami, FL and let’s just say that my road here was literally and figuratively a long one, given that I drove alone from Florida to New York in a minivan packed with the contents of my first bachelor pad.

Manhattan

Miami

I like to think my family background is a good preface for the kind of person I am. I am the youngest of four children and my parents are refugees who fled Nicaragua during the Sandinista Revolution of the 1980s. My sister Maria is a nurse working in some of the toughest hospitals in Miami. My older sister Carolina is an international electronic flute player that is currently dating a world renowned Mexican shaman (more on that later). The oldest, my brother Antonio, is a classical conductor with a growing reputation in the United States. Carolina and Antonio we’re basically the good kids growing up while Maria and I raised all kinds of hell. From Mom and Dad to Sister and Baby (me), I’m proud to say that we are all college educated.

Real Deal LLC is a hispanic firm but written for people of all walks of life. The way I see, we are all minorities in one way or another. If not by race and ethnicity, then by choice or music, clothes, opinions, etc. . Being hispanic in New York finance has about as many interesting stories as being one of the few of my Miami friends to graduate high school (they all think I work as a bank teller). My experiences will demonstrate moments when being different can be comically awkward but uniquely rewarding.

Sandinista rebels take the the Nicaraguan capital of Managua (1979)

Basic map of Nicaragua

My hobbies and interests and numerous but I will speak at length about many things including:

Travel

It’s not so much where I’ve travelled but how I’ve travelled. To name a few, I’ll tell you about: attending Ibiza closing parties, getting stranded in Belgrade, sleeping in a notorious Hong Kong drug den, spending New Year’s Eve in an exotic Thai island, and spending a night in jail in Sweden. As good or bad as these experiences were, they make for some interesting stories.

Full Moon Party, Thailand

Outside Hong Kong's notorious Chungking Mansions

Addiction, Violence, Recovery, Redemption

Without getting too deep too early, this subject has been a close reality to my friends and family for as long as I can remember. And although I live a great life with a wonderful family and supportive friends, drug addiction and violence continue to exist close to the communities I consider home. That said, I know what it’s like to experience it, I know how hard it is to recover, and I know how it is to be redeemed. Hopefully my experiences can teach you or someone you know how to lead a better life, one realistic baby step at a time.

Underground House and Techno

No, I’m not talking about EDM - the sound so sugary that hours of listening can lead to diabetes. I’m talking about the innovative sounds of underground house and techno music. House music is a big part of my life and I even attribute it as a factor to my recent accomplishments.

DJ & producer Maceo Plex performing live at the Boiler Room Berlin (2014)

Literature

My literary interests are diverse but I somehow tie them together. They include: self-help, business non-fiction, meditation and spirituality, and western literature. It’s ok, I’m curious what an aggressive NYC banker has to say about meditation as well.

I can go on forever but I should really make this brief. Looking forward getting to know you all!