A Trailblazing Leader: Juanje’s Foster Care Success Story

In a world defined by challenges and the choices we make to overcome them, resilience often drives the most compelling success stories. Juanje’s foster care success story from foster care to aspiring CEO is an inspiring example of how perseverance can turn obstacles into opportunities and hardships into triumphs. 

From navigating the challenges of entering foster care at a young age to graduating college with a dual major and big ambitions for the future, Juanje’s story is a testament to the power of discipline and unwavering ambition. 

Overcoming Early Challenges in Foster Care

At 5 years old, Juanje and his siblings were placed in foster care due to their parents’ struggle with addiction. They were separated, with one of Juanje’s siblings placed in a different home while the other joined Juanje’s placement with a cousin. This marked the beginning of Juanje’s challenges. 

“Not everybody that steps up to the plate has the right intentions. At an early age, you start to struggle with that whole idea of trusting that people are there with good intentions, accepting help. You kind of try to become your own hero, if you will, to avoid having to experience that constant loss.”

His caregivers saw the arrangement as an opportunity to claim the financial benefits of fostering, and by the age of 15, Juanje was facing homelessness. His caregivers presented Juanje as a runaway rather than acknowledging that they had kicked him out to continue receiving financial support from the system. For the rest of his teenage years, Juanje relied on the support of friends, staying with them while working at a full-time job without a permanent home. This experience made him wary of others’ intentions but also highlighted the strength and impact of community.

Juanje says he quickly learned from his difficult adolescence that he should expect little to avoid disappointment. He recalls often being the only child at open houses and events without family present, and how friends’ parents would step in to support him as their own to ease his feelings of isolation. 

He asks, “Can you imagine being a child, graduating with honors and no parents there to watch you walk the stage?”

However, it was precisely from these challenging circumstances that a persistent and resilient leader began to emerge

Forging Opportunities Through Dedication and Focus

Juanje quickly excelled in his part-time job while in high school, advancing from store manager to regional manager by 17. He reflects on his time attending school while working a 40-hour work week: 

“I learned how to be disciplined, how to have competing priorities and manage my time. Those are some of the bedrock things that I learned at that age that I try to carry on with me.” He says he doesn’t like to say he “balanced” his time, but rather that he learned to integrate all aspects of his life by “making the time when he had the time, and sacrificing to achieve whatever milestone he hoped to achieve.” 

This ambition and work ethic carried seamlessly into his academic studies, where he earned college credit at a local school all while still earning his high school diploma. By the time he graduated high school, he had enough credits to enroll in a dual Bachelor’s and Master’s program at a four-year university, earning a degree in Business Management and minoring in Operation and Supply Chain Management. 

Juanje also joined the Naval Reserves, beginning a full-time career there, crediting his childhood and service as part of what taught him the skills needed to reach future goals. The Navy, he says, provides a diverse community, a variety of experiences, and an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than himself. “Being present and being engaged, giving what I need to give to my Sailors and to my Shipmates and to my Ship in our warfighting objective as an organization; I give that.” 

Joining a Community Through the Family Fellowship Scholarship 

Despite struggling with asking for help growing up, Juanje now recognizes that asking for help can be a sign of strength, and hopes other foster youth recognize this as well. He cites the Family Fellowship Scholarship as a vital source of community that foster youth could benefit from.

“Foster youth do not have that fallback option that a typical child would have, where their parents will guide them, or they will always have a home to go back to. And so, the Family Fellowship created that environment where you had staff that were there to support you, who truly cared and showed that they cared and would show up for life milestones.”

Typically, foster youth struggle with holiday seasons because it reminds them of the dysfunction in life, he says. But the Foster Love Family Fellowship invites students to a home for the holidays which Juanje says helped him change that way of thinking and embrace having a second chance at family. He asks, “Can you imagine how safe we feel always having a home to return to?”

Juanje says the Fellowship has allowed him to extend his help to other foster youth with similar experiences he had at an early age. He hopes other foster youth will see the Fellowship as an opportunity to find community, and not be afraid to ask for help so they can find the same level of support, “to make sure that those barriers are eliminated so foster youth can get their education.” 

He says that a large part of the struggle with being in foster care is that a lot of the challenges you face are the result of someone else’s actions or lack of actions. But by “showing up for each other, and ourselves, we are giving back to ourselves and pushing ourselves beyond what limitations we saw at an earlier age.”

Community, in other words, is a strength we need to learn to find in each other to grow.

Shaping the Future with Strong Leadership

Juanje’s foster care success story is not only a story of overcoming challenges, but turning a difficult upbringing into a source of strength. He credits “discipline, ownership, and initiative” to getting him where he is today. “Those three things tied together, give you the momentum that you need to achieve whatever you’re seeking out.” 

Juanje also credits his success to the families that stepped in and gave him unconditional love during the most traumatic years of his life. He attributes his leadership skills and ambition to his dedication to creating opportunities for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. He aims to create widespread growth, with the ultimate goal of expanding opportunity for all. 

The largest part, he says, of creating opportunity is to extend support and reflect that support within the community, which is why he is so vocal about his experiences, and often gives speeches on them. This extends to all aspects of his life, especially in the Navy, where he says, “From a leadership perspective, you learn how to empower and enable your team to achieve success. In my current role right now, being a leader of Supply Chain and Logistics or a Naval Officer, my job is being there to support and eliminate barriers to success. It involves being that conduit, just as I hope to be in my community.”

Next, Mapping Out a Future in Politics

Just as he has dedicated himself to serving his country through the Navy – providing leadership and support to his Sailors –Juanje aims to channel that same spirit into public service. 

Reflecting on his previous role in the healthcare sector, where he had the opportunity to contribute to addressing social determinants of health and reducing health disparities, Juanje reaffirms that access to resources is key to helping marginalized communities.

 “That’s a big focus of mine, even to this day,” he says. “How do we extend those branches? How do we inspire and display representation across various fields? This is an opportunity because what people see is often what they emulate, so you become what you see. If I can be that conduit, I’m happy to do that.”

Juanje’s approach to navigating life’s challenges has equipped him with valuable insights. He plans to use them to create those opportunities and to use his personal story and expertise to shape policies that expand access and support to disadvantaged communities. He explains, “You have to create the world that you want. And for me, that’s being involved, that’s being engaged, as being a representation. And hopefully later on, from a policy perspective, beyond my military career, I’ll be able to provide some of that from a political and government standpoint. “

His vision is to extend his impact by advocating for marginalized communities and shaping policies that enhance access to opportunities. His approach to overcoming obstacles and his dedication to helping others reflects a deep-seated belief in creating positive change through both personal example and systemic reform. 

He emphasizes the importance of representation and visibility, noting, “I think the challenge is people who have come from disadvantaged states don’t know the opportunity still sits there. A big part of that is representation and being vocal, which is why I take pride and do my best to be an open book of my experiences, so that way, the next person who is experiencing what I’m experiencing—who may be 14 years old and homeless—can say ‘I don’t have to wait on someone else to come and take me on. I can rattle enough doors to create an opportunity.’ “

This vision echoes Juanje’s aspiration to leverage his personal story and expertise to shape policies that expand access to opportunities and support for disadvantaged communities.

Juanje’s Advice for Current and Former Foster Youth

“Do not take no for an answer, you’re capable! It gets better, you have the pen. Write what you want, commit to what you want, and be loud about what you want. Once you push back, past the statistics, and the stereotypes that we are sometimes often given, you realize that you hold the key to your destiny, to your life story. You have the opportunity to turn the narrative and create opportunity.

I would encourage any other foster kid or aged-out foster youth to find those who have similar experiences, and find those who have different experiences, and learn from them. Grab on, hand-in-hand, to make us better. Really focus on giving back to those who are experiencing that alienated, isolated place. I would also say to have enough courage to allow people in again.”

Final Thoughts and Thanks

Juanje quotes the phrase “Love makes a family.” He advises other foster youth to be willing to trust that they’re capable of being loved. He also gives special thanks to the families who took him in – Talley, Axson, Durham, Contreras, and Dickson.

He shared, “Words don’t fail me often, but I cannot articulate the love and support I received from them. From the nights they provided meals when I wasn’t allowed to eat in my home, to the pillows they provided when I had nowhere else to sleep, or the simple hugs that they gave to remind me I was loved and seen, thank you.” 

This foster care success story serves as a powerful reminder that the barriers we face can be overcome with determination and the strength of community. Juanje’s journey exemplifies a commitment to selfless services, mirrored in both his military career, and his plans for the future. His advice to current and former foster youth is clear: seize the opportunity to create your path and inspire others through your journey. 

As Juanje continues to break new ground and extend his hand to others, he shows us how one person’s resilience can indeed make a world of difference.