The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Enrique Fiallo

As a child, Enrique Fiallo fled Cuba with his mother and literally only the clothes he was wearing. After high school, he worked for AT&T climbing telephone poles to connect service. He was the first in his family to graduate from college.

Enrique Fiallo’s life is the stuff of movies. Born in Cuba, he lost his father at an early age. As time went on, his family grew concerned about a future under Fidel Castro. And, so as a six year old, Enrique fled Cuba with his mother and literally only the clothes he was wearing. They settled in Miami. After junior college, he worked for AT&T climbing telephone poles to connect service. He went back to school and was the first in his family to graduate from college. He then launched an IT career working for companies like Ryder and eventually landing as CIO of Entergy. American dream complete, Enrique rose to become CEO of a company he took public on the New York Exchange and even rang the bell on its first day of trading. And then he went to prison for fraud.  

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw, Enrique talks about his journey from immigrant to public company CEO to prison inmate. And how he now uses his own life experience to teach leaders how to make decisions based on core values.    

Connect with Enrique: LinkedIn // Enrique Fiallo on Medium

Video Highlights: Speaker, Writer, and Public Company CEO Enrique Fiallo

From the top of the telephone pole to public company CEO

“That day in front of the judge brought me to my knees.”

“Opportunities can be disguised as something else.”