NAME
Diego Torres – Palma
OCCUPATION
Entrepreneur
Diego Torres-Palma is an entrepreneur who leads his real estate firm, Ventana Ventures, with a forward-thinking, no-fear mentality. He also hosts Startup to Storefront, a podcast designed to educate and inspire entrepreneurs. Torres-Palma has several exciting projects in the works, all designed to enhance Los Angeles and our sense of community.
Sunday mornings are everyone’s favorite moment of the week. What do you spend your time doing?
Sunday is my sleep-in day 🙂 — I try to sleep in until 9am or so, wake up, head over to my espresso machine and make a delicious almond milk latte. I throw on some music — usually a little soul and then sit in the living room and just hang. Taking those extra moments on a Sunday to hit the reset button and give yourself some breathing room has its benefits – from restoring focus and self-compassion to sparking creativity and motivation. It’s a must for me.
What are you most grateful for?
Family – my entire family recently moved here from Massachusetts and it’s touching having everyone so close after so long on separate coasts.
Everyone has a Eureka moment. When do you feel the most inspired?
Usually, directly after getting out of my cold plunge. I try to do 6 minutes everyday at 40 degrees. If you haven’t tried it yet, I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now. This practice has become very popular with athletes, entrepreneurs, creatives and more for its ability to support both mental health and physical performance and I swear by it.
What was your most profound learning experience?
Likely when I decided to launch my real estate development firm despite knowing very little about the industry as a whole. This doubt-filled act changed my perspective on life forever, aiding me in discovering my true potential and establishing a newfound sense of self confidence. Entrepreneurship is the constant game of leaning back in — I’ve learned the most in my life when living ‘in over your ski’s’ as they say. You learn what you’re made out of and more importantly just how capable you are. It creates a level, a new boundary for yourself.
What is your biggest pet peeve? It can be anything, and it’s no-holds-barred.
I get to sit down with entrepreneurs every week and discover valuable insights as to how they made it, or what worked for their company and in that I’ve been able to recognize a pattern between business and those that run them. When budding entrepreneurs ask me what to do and they don’t take my advice it drives me bananas. Some things in business are very linear, like eating less or working out if you’re trying to get fit.
Grip it and rip it!
What are the three things you can’t live without?
I don’t think most of us really give full attention to those things we can’t live without. From my experiences through trial and error, I’ve think I’ve identified three key elements that are essential for a meaningful and fulfilling life: (1) giving back to our community, (2) pursuing passions regardless of external judgement and (3) being kind to others – love in = love out.
What are your most guilty pleasures?
We all have guilty pleasures. Those little indulgences that make us feel good in the moment but leave us a bit embarrassed afterwards.. here are my 3.
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Chocolate after dinner – no matter how much I try to stop I just keeping going back in
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Teen Mom – if this show is on TV even at a hotel when I’m traveling, I can’t stop watching!
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Red Wine – I tell my wife I’ll quit drinking one day, and when I do, I’ll only drink red wine.
What’s your hidden and weird talent that no one knows about, not even your partner?
I can suck in my bottom lip, push it out, and repeat this, so my bottom lip is moving at 120mph back and forth… insanity!
What is a trend that you wish to obliterate forever?
Probably the desire to be on-trend. Just think back to the Crypto/NFT craze. We all love keeping up with the latest trends, but sometimes trends can be a bit too much and hinder us from making meaningful progress. They may even affect you negatively and take away valuable focus and energy needed for more important things in life.
What did you want to do with your life at the age of 15?
I probably just wanted my crush to like me 🙂 I remember at 13 I wanted to become a professional soccer player, after a short stint in Belgium I realized that was never going to happen so at 15 I needed to refocus. I became obsessed with finance and started reading every Warren Buffet or finance book I could get my hands on. Reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad probably gave me a new look at capitalism and it made it clear that I needed to start a company or companies to be successful.
Social links: Insta: @diego_ventures and @startuptostorefront
