WPI Journal - The Magazine for WPI Alumni

FALL 2014

The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)

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32 Fall 2014 RANCESCA ESCOTO '97 didn't really want to attend WPI. Her frst choice was Harvard, where she would have studied social sciences. She didn't like her frst engineering job, quitting after a couple years to go into education, where she worked in career services, public affairs, and teaching. But that didn't do it for her, either, so she decided to venture off on her own, becoming what she calls a serial entrepreneur who has been an author, radio host, motivational speaker, and life coach, among other things. Her current efforts lie in helping Latinas build businesses, especially those that reduce poverty and fght disease. And a funny thing happened to Escoto while she was busy doing all these things. She came to appreciate, even treasure, her educa- tion at WPI. "I didn't know back then my life would be a living IQP," she quips from her home in Tampa, Fla. CONNECTIONS A native of the Dominican Republic, Escoto came to Lawrence, Mass., as a teenager, the oldest of fve children in her family. She excelled in science and math, and despite her desire to go to Har- vard, she decided on WPI, which offered her a full scholarship. "It was an opportunity too hard to pass up, so I went for it," she says. Escoto felt culture shock in the United States, in general, and at WPI, in particular. However, the university had just started EMSEP (Excellence in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Program)— now called the Connections Program—aimed at bringing in more students of color while providing them with support services. When she earned her degree in management engineering in 1997, she was in the frst class of EMSEP graduates, and she credits the program and one its founders, Blanche Pringle, with helping her through school. According to Escoto, it wasn't unusual for EMSEP students to spend time at Pringle's home. As their mentor, Pringle guided them through money problems and other issues faced by minor- ity students. "Blanche was instrumental throughout my time at WPI. I know that she made all of us feel special, but I really, really think that I was the special one," Escoto says. Escoto was on the founding board of the WPI chapter of the So- ciety of Hispanic Professional Engineers and went on to hold na- tional positions with the group, which she says also inspired her to excel in classes and stick it out in engineering, since it was impor- tant to her to be part of the STEM initiative. "Doing well was part of my contribution," she says. "Graduating with distinction was important—getting good grades and being part of a movement to increase Latinas in STEM." While at WPI, Escoto served as a tutor in EMSEP. She also was a member of Skull, the senior honor society, and she received a WPI Community Service Award for exemplary service to the university and the City of Worcester. MOUSE TRAP Escoto showed early signs of the entrepreneur she would become when she developed software with two partners to track the en- gine performance of cargo planes. Still, she felt she should con- centrate on her day job at General Electric, where she began in the company's technical sales leadership program in Dover, N.H., and fnished in the commercial and industrial side of the busi- ness in Miami. Escoto worked at GE for two years. And hated it. "I was miserable," she says. "I still had this chip on my shoulder about 'I don't want to be an engineer. Why am I here?'" While Escoto felt privileged to work for GE and valued the ex- perience, she also realized that the corporate world restricted her creativity and potential for leadership. So she left and became the assistant director of career services at the University of Miami. She liked that job, but she returned to Massachusetts when she got mar- ried. She then became public affairs liaison for the superintendent of schools in Lawrence, where she established a summer program for students gifted in STEM. From there, hoping she could make even more of a difference in the classroom, she taught for a year. Seven years ago, with their third child on the way, Escoto and her husband moved to Tampa, and she began to think about the life she wanted for herself and her family. "As much as I wanted to be part of something big, I thought I might have to create my own little movement and be the leader of that. My mom always said you can be the tail of a lion or the head of a mouse, and so I was thinking head of a mouse doesn't sound so bad." Thus, the serial entrepreneur was born. DIALOGUES As a speaker, Escoto travels the country, addressing mainly college- age women, nonproft leaders, and entrepreneurs. In a talk called "Divorce Your Own Drama," which is also the title of her frst book, she suggests ways to break destructive patterns, forgive, and take charge of happiness. Other popular talks urge La- tinas to use entrepreneurship to both create wealth and contrib- ute to the social good; teach nonproft leaders how to build mem- bership and promote social change; and show new entrepreneurs how to apply the methods of technology start-ups to traditional business. Her former radio show, Living Latina, carried on the Woohoo Radio Network, delved into Hispanic culture, politics, family life, and relationships. Escoto is a prolifc writer, feeding a blog with her views on marriage and social change; her articles have been published in the Huffngton Post and Fox News Magazine, and on YourTango.com,

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