When You Follow Your Dreams, You Don't Lose | Carolina Suárez

<p>What does it actually cost to walk away from a career everyone tells you not to leave?</p><p><br></p><p>What does it take to build trust across an entire continent — when the thing you&#39;re building doesn&#39;t exist yet?</p><p><br></p><p>And how do you hold onto hope when the geopolitical context keeps shifting beneath you?</p><p><br></p><p>Carolina Suárez Visbal is the CEO of Latimpacto — the leading impact investing network in Latin America, connecting foundations, impact investors, academia, and families working toward the same goal across the region. Twenty years ago, she was a corporate lawyer with a successful career ahead of her. She chose a differentpath.</p><p><br></p><p>In this conversation from Lima, she shares what it took to make that decision, what she learned building a regional network from scratch, why the best leaders get closer toreality, and why she believes the most important thing we&#39;ve learned in impact investing is that we cannot work alone.</p><p><br></p><p>🎙️ In this episode: </p><p><br></p><ul><li>Why she left corporate law — and what she saw that changed everything </li><li>What it actually takes to build trust across an ecosystem </li><li>Why the best leaders get closer to reality </li><li>What gives her hope in uncertain times</li><li>What she would say to anyone wanting to leave a conventional career to build something that matters</li></ul><p><br></p><p>⏱️ Chapters</p><p> </p><p>00:00 Trailer</p><p>01:09 Introduction — Carolina Suárez and Latimpacto</p><p>02:00 Why she left corporate law — and chose a different path</p><p>06:16 &quot;When you follow your dreams, you don&#39;t lose&quot;</p><p>11:53 Building Latimpacto — creating a movement from the start</p><p>17:56 Why building a network is harder than building a project</p><p>23:15 Trust — the foundation of every ecosystem</p><p>24:51 What gives her hope for Latin America?</p><p>26:48 &quot;We cannot work alone&quot;</p><p>28:07 How she stays grounded — and lives in the present</p><p>29:08 Why she brought her network to the Amazon</p><p>36:41 How success has changed over time</p><p>45:05 Advice for the next generation of leaders</p><p>46:53 Staying patient when change takes time</p><p>49:32 The legacy she hopes to leave behind</p><p>50:07 Thinking about leaving your career? Start here.</p><p><br></p><p>🔗 Follow Carolina on LinkedIn:</p><p>https://www.linkedin.com/in/mar%C3%ADa-carolina-suarez-visbal/</p><p> </p><p>🌎 Learn more about Latimpacto:</p><p>https://latimpacto.org/</p><p> </p><p>📅 Join Impact Minds 2026:</p><p>https://impactmindsconference.com/</p><p>📺 Watch more episodes: </p><p><br></p><p>Catch The Upswing is a podcast for people building meaningful things in a rapidly changing world.Honest conversations with leaders, founders, investors, and changemakers about what it actually takes to keep going, lead well, and stay hopeful about the future.</p><p><br></p><p>New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don&#39;t miss one.</p><p><br></p><p>🔗 Follow &amp; connect: <br>YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswing <br>Instagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswing <br>TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@catchtheupswing</p><p> </p>