>> Speaker 1: By 2025, America will face a shortage of over 12 million qualified workers.

But hope lies in an untapped population, the 5 million young adults across the country who want to improve their circumstances but feel disconnected from meaningful work.

This is a story of three people from underserved communities who set out on a road trip to find new opportunities, and learn that where you come from doesn't have to determine where you end up.

This is Roadtrip Nation, To Be Determined.

>> [MUSIC] [SOUND] >> Denise: Wow, I can't wait.

>> Yasmine: Where are we going, you all?

New York!

>> Denise: New York City.

>> Yasmine: New York City!

I really want to see the Eiffel Tower.

>> Denise: Eiffel Tower?

>> [SOUND] [MUSIC] >> Denise: The Eiffel Tower is in France, girl!

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: We've traveled so many miles in this big green RV.

Now we're finally in New York City, so it's super exciting.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: We're home.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: I can't believe we're more than halfway through the trip, it's been amazing.

I want everyone else to see where I was from although Taiheem is from the Bronx.

>> Taiheem: Man, I haven't been on this trip so long, it's nice to see some New York stuff.

>> Yasmine: I'm so stoked to actually see y'all's place, you know what I'm saying, where you all came from, where you all grew up at.

>> Taiheem: As soon as I started to see the wires running by, I was like, all right, we're about to go past the airport.

And then to see the skyline, it's just home.

This is crazy, it looks amazing, we're getting closer.

After being on the road for so long, it just felt like I was coming to New York for the first time cuz I wasn't the same person that I was when I left.

The trip isn't even over and I already have a different outlook on life and ways I wanna approach different situations.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: When I saw that skyline, it just symbolized a new chapter in my life.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: But being in New York and not being at home is tough.

I miss you all, I miss you, baby.

I just really miss my family.

Being away from them this long has been incredibly hard.

There's some days where we're filming, and by the time we get back to the RV, again, I can't call Des.

I can't speak to the girls cuz they're knocked out.

Or how she's showing me the homework and I'm looking at the bottom and it's like, who helped me with my homework?

Mommy, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

It hit me harder yesterday when she old me the teacher was asking, is everything okay?

Is their dad around?

And I'm like, well, I'm here, I'm doing everything I can.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: And it tugs at the heartstrings, but this kind of new wind beneath my sails is different.

>> Speaker 5: Gosh, how [INAUDIBLE].

>> Taiheem: Yeah, on the straight and narrow going through this, this is like a legacy.

This is something I can show them one day and have them know that I'm doing this to become a better me to help you become a better you.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: Seeing the skyline out the window was a huge sigh of relief.

It's kind of like that reassurance that I have a home to go to.

But being back at home reminds me of working 80 hours a week, putting all that stress on myself.

Being here now, I know that I don't wanna keep doing that.

I wanna get a really good jumpstart on my career, I wanna be in finance.

Most importantly, I just wanna take my family out of that shoe box we've been living in for so long and be there for my parents.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: My parents really valued education, which was something they couldn't afford back in their home country.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: I actually graduated in the top 5% of my class, and my parents were very proud, and I got accepted into a safe school.

After a while, I started feeling the financial constraints.

Also, there were a couple of family issues going on.

So I felt a little guilty for being upstate while everything else was happening here.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: After a while, I couldn't concentrate and because of a family emergency, I had to come back.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: When I came back from college without a degree, I was so ashamed.

I felt like I really disappointed my parents.

They just wanted to make sure I had a secure future and they thought the only way to do that was to get that degree and I didn't have it.

I feel I'm at the age where I should have it all together, but I'm kind of stuck.

My dream is to be a successful professional in the corporate industry and help out my family as much as I can and be able to support them.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: My biggest worry right now is, without that degree, I won't make it into the corporate industry.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: So we're about to interview Regina Andino, one of the executive assistants at JPMorgan Chase.

She came from the same workforce development program as me.

And now she's working in the same industry that I want to be a part of.

>> Regina Andino: All right, here comes the blooper reel.

>> [MUSIC] [SOUND] >> Denise: It's wonderful to see an alumni.

>> Regina Andino: I know, you too, it's so great to see you doing this trip, it's so exciting.

>> Denise: Thank you, this is someone who's already done it.

And been through the program, and on top of that is already working, so that's amazing.

And I'm just curious to know, having gone through this workforce development program, what your view is of a traditional four-year college is?

And for me, I do eventually wanna go back and get my bachelor's degree.

>> Regina Andino: Yeah, what I would say is, everyone's journey is different.

Whether you choose to go traditional, untraditional, you need to figure out who you are, what you wanna give to this world, and then you figure out what you need to get there.

So sometimes you do need a degree for whatever reason in whatever that profession is.

For example, I wouldn't want my doctor to not be a doctor.

>> Yasmine: I feel you.

[LAUGH] >> Regina Andino: But then I don't expect my artists to have a PhD.

So once you figure out what you're good at and what you wanna do going forward, then you start figuring out what you need to get there.

>> Denise: Yeah, that's really good advice.

>> Yasmine: Thank you for answering it that way.

Cuz a lot of people feel like, like how I felt that one time, just cuz I didn't go to college, I felt like a failure.

And some people think that if you don't go the traditional route, you are a failure.

Or you may not have those same opportunities that the next person have if you got a four-year degree or something.

>> Regina Andino: Yeah, I think that has a lot to do with your own mindset.

Allowing other people to call you a failure because you didn't go to school, >> Regina Andino: I think you're just allowing other people to say something that doesn't really matter.

You're giving other folks a lot of power over your mindset.

And once you take that back and start owning yourself, to know that this is what I wanna do, and this is how I'm gonna do it for myself, then you wouldn't really be worried about cultural expectations.

>> Denise: I'm curious to know how your first experience was taking your first step into the corporate industry.

>> Regina Andino: Being at JPMorgan Chase has been an incredible experience.

It's like a dream job.

But when I found myself in a position here in the firm, there was a lot of people even at home that kinda looked at me and were like, >> Regina Andino: Are you sure that this is real?

It's unheard of almost, right?

Going home back in the Bronx in a suit, it's kind of- >> Taiheem: Personally, I know.

>> Regina Andino: It's different.

>> Taiheem: Two different worlds.

>> Yasmine: Yeah.

>> Regina Andino: It's two different worlds.

>> Yasmine: [LAUGH] >> Regina Andino: But you know what, have you ever heard of people with dual citizenships?

That's what I feel like I have.

I feel like I have a dual citizenship in corporate America and being part of my community.

>> Taiheem: Do you try to take any of that back home to your family and try to show them different ways of organizing their lives?

>> Regina Andino: It's my job.

>> Taiheem: Do you find yourself working at home too in the same sense.

>> Regina Andino: I feel like it's an obligation of mine to come back to my neighborhood, and to come back to my people, people I grew up with and my peers, and deliver to them the content or information that they might never have ever come across.

If it wasn't for me delivering that, right?

Like helping with your resume, changing the language, understanding where your transferable skill sets are, that can really intel a position like mine, if that's what you want.

I take what I learned here, and I translate it, to make it digestible for folks at home.

And I know how to do that, because I've survived in both places.

>> Denise: Exactly.

>> Regina Andino: So for example, no, you don't need a college degree for some things, you don't.

So, making sure that I have people who understand that.

You're not limited by a degree, but if you do need a degree for something that you are aspiring to do, these are avenues where you can go pursue a degree.

That's why I feel like my role is in my community, where I can just be someone that they can approach, for information if they need it.

And have information from where I've been, I make sure that I'm constantly learning.

I'm constantly picking up new tips and tricks of the trade, because I need to make sure that I'm on top of my game.

I always wanna see myself as this champion as an alumna.

Being of service.

>> Denise: Trailblazer.

>> Regina Andino: Giving back to my community I mean, and I know that they can do it.

But whether they do it or not is really up to them.

>> Denise: That's amazing.

>> Yasmine: Your face just lit up as you talked about your job.

>> Denise: Not only does she come from the same Workforce Development Programme as me, she actually looks like me too.

It makes me think like if she can do it, then I definitely can do it too.

And if I don't do it for myself, no one else will.

I think it's so cool she's from New York City as well, just like me.

So we both have a lot in common.

>> Regina Andino: How about this?

Can you guys sign my hat?

>> Denise: Yeah, okay.

>> Yasmine: I had nobody ask that before.

>> Regina Andino: I don't know you guys might be famous after this, so >> Denise: Made me realize like, I don't need to just get a college degree because you know, it's like some fancy stamp of approval.

There are other ways to make yourself and your family proud.

I shouldn't have to be in a place where I'm supporting myself because there's still so much more life to live.

You know, I'm still a work in progress.

So instead of looking at the things that I haven't accomplished, I'm looking at the things that I have accomplished, which is great because I haven't done that in so long.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: Dude, this is crazy.

The lights in Times Square.

They got me.

Its like every time you look up its something new.

Being in that area.

Seeing all of these lights that you see on TV during New Year's Eve.

I was right there.

I never seen this fight over.

So it's really exciting.

>> Denise: Yaz and its actually her first time in Time Square.

It really made me happy to see how someone can be so excited about my city.

>> Yasmine: This is so cool.

>> Taiheem: First I was like [SOUND] Times Square a bunch of people walking around bunch of tourists, but actually know Yasmine and seeing her in owe taking these pictures like I'm here and showing people back home like wow there's people that really don't get the opportunities to see this.

>> Yasmine: It's like you all see this every day.

This is like literally so cool to me.

I'd already heard all this things on TV about New York about how it looks and how it smells, how it feels, the food to actually be there in a moment.

It was something I couldn't get at home.

Wow, like there are so many lights.

>> Denise: Going to work, taking the subway.

For me it's just like an everyday task.

There's nothing special to it.

But seeing it from Yasmin's point of view, it kind of gave me the time to sit back and appreciate what my surroundings are like, and that I really live in this amazing city.

>> Taiheem: It is one of the biggest and busiest cities it never sleeps, and there's just so many different iconic spots within the city, and so much history, and it made me say crap.

I live here and I've never seen the Statue of Liberty.

I'm gonna go take my girls to go see that, or like the Freedom Tower has recently been put up, but I didn't go see it.

I realized how hard I have become by doing the same things every day.

I put achieving a career that would allow me to sustain my family before a lifestyle that would allow me to sustain my own happiness.

I really got a chance to just think about those things and weigh them out.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: My loving girlfriend Destiny tells me that she's pregnant mid 2014.

I was doing security and going to college at the same time.

Like there's no way I'm gonna be able to support a child with this income.

I'm like crap, I have nine months.

So I googled free IT training and I found this program preschoolers that Is willing to take you on, and train you for IT support in four months.

And I applied it.

In four months 16 weeks, my life changed.

Destiny gave birth to our child.

I had graduated and I had a job.

I felt like something.

I felt proud of myself.

I felt like I was able to support my family and that was the start of my career.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: So we're about to interview Plinio Ayala, CEO for PER SCHOLAS I would not be here without the help of this program.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: Plinio, first, I'm a product of what you created man, like yo.

Thank you.

I just wanna say I wouldn't be able to have this opportunity if it wasn't for attending the.

>> Plinio Ayala: Thank you.

Thank you for saying that.

Thank you for taking a chance on us, right.

Because you didn't have to go to our program, but you did.

You believed in what we could possibly do right together.

And you Done incredible things.

So this is the best part of the week for me.

>> Denise: [LAUGH] >> Plinio Ayala: So let's hang, let's talk.

>> Denise: All right.

>> Plinio Ayala: I'd be happy to share whatever you want me to share, but it's a thrill to be here.

Thank you so much.

>> Taiheem: So, I'm just gonna go ahead.

can you tell me just a little bit about how you grew up and- >> Plinio Ayala: Yeah.

>> Taiheem: Maybe some of the things that you were thinking as like A young adult, you know.

>> Plinio Ayala: Yeah, there's this, I don't know if it's famous anymore.

But there's this picture of President Carter on Charlotte Street in the Bronx with the mayor at that time.

And he was standing on this bed of rubble and behind them, you could see a bunch of abandoned buildings.

Things.

That's what the South Bronx was when I was growing up.

My playground was empty lot bunch of bricks, glass needles, and we had to figure out, you know how to be a kid.

In that sorta scenario.

>> Yasmine: My community really had a very big impact on me and I didn't notice that until I got older.

So I wanna ask you all like, what kinda impact does your community have on you?

>> Plinio Ayala: Yeah.

So I will share something with you guys, that I have never shared with anybody.

I remember, Growing up, maybe I was 8, 10 and we didn't have any food in the house.

And my mom didn't know what to do.

So, me and her and my sister we went door to door, asking for money.

>> Yasmine: How did that make you feel?

>> Plinio Ayala: Tremendously different emotions, right, anger, discouragement and, >> Plinio Ayala: At that moment I realized that that could never happen again, it was never going to happen in my family again.

I needed to get to a point where if there was somebody that needed help, whatever I could do, that I was going to do it.

For me that was sort of that inflection point that darn it this shouldn't happen, eight year old boy with his sister shouldn't be knocking door to door asking for 10 cents, 15 cents, 20 cents.

To be able to buy bread or buy milk.

There were a couple of things that could have happened, right?

I could have said, you know what, this is what it is and so I'm going to try and live life under these circumstances or like all of you, you could say no.

This is not the way it should be and I'm going to figure out a way of making a better future for myself and so I got lucky I had this English teacher that saw the potential in me.

The result of that was I was able to get a scholarship to go to a school in Manhattan.

After I graduated there, I went to college and I saved a little bit of money and had a credit card with $1,000 credit on it.

And I said to myself, I'm gonna go to Puerto Rico and start a business.

I knew nothing about refrigeration and air conditioning.

>> Yasmine: [LAUGH] >> Plinio Ayala: But started a business did that for a couple of years.

I sold it.

And I came back to the Bronx.

And I was gonna figure out a way of using the little money that I had now produced to try and find a career that can help other people.

And I landed in this organization that was helping people find jobs.

And my first job was writing resumes and one day a friend of mine came in and we started talking and produced a resume for him.

He got a job.

>> Yasmine: Wow.

>> Plinio Ayala: He called me six months later and said, I can pay my rent now.

And that sorta was the inspiration for me to figure out ways to stay in that field.

And for me, I was trying to figure out ways to do that at a much larger scale than one person at a time.

>> Denise: How did you take it to the next step and come up with a corporate partners?

>> Plinio Ayala: The best way I thought of doing that was talking to companies and figuring out well, let's make a deal here, right?

If I can train someone in the skill that you're asking for, then color of skin, sex, economic social background shouldn't matter.

>> Yasmine: Exactly.

>> Plinio Ayala: If they can do the job, then you should hire them.

There are millions of Americans just like you.

All they need is a chance, an opportunity.

>> Yasmine: Yeah.

>> Denise: Yeah.

>> Plinio Ayala: They're smart.

They got grit, they got determination.

They just don't know what way to go.

We've got to figure out ways to open up those doors and you guys have an awesome responsibility too right?

>> Taiheem: Yeah.

>> Plinio Ayala: You gotta make sure that you do really well so that you can pull somebody with you later on in life, right?

Y'all can't fail.

You know that, right?

>> Yasmine: Yeah.

>> Plinio Ayala: Okay.

It's important that- >> Yasmine: I love that pressure you just applied to us.

>> Denise: It's giving us the drive to even do better.

>> Yasmine: Yeah.

>> Denise: It's like, pressure's on, but it's true.

>> Plinio Ayala: Wow.

>> Denise: If you really think about it.

We really have to not forget where we came from, and continue helping the next class.

>> Plinio Ayala: Exactly.

>> Denise: And anyone else who needs our help, whatever we can do to help because we knew what it was like to be in their shoes.

>> Plinio Ayala: I know where y'all were once at right?

It's because I was there, what you have accomplished in your lives and you're all relatively young and you said, you know what, I'm not gonna let the circumstances of my past dictate where I'm going to go.

As you guys progress in your careers, wherever you end up don't forget where you came from.

And if you have a chance to pull somebody along, it's your responsibility to do that.

>> Taiheem: This guy's a CEO but he came from such humble beginnings.

For me to thank him and be like, man, I'm a product of what you wanted to do when you originally joined for scholars.

For him to smile and say nah dude, thank you is crazy.

>> Plinio Ayala: Don't forget where you came from but more importantly don't let your yesterdays drag it tomorrows.

>> Yasmine: I love it.

>> Taiheem: It's empowering and it made me have a pride in myself and my story and my struggle.

I wasn't expecting that, you know, like, man I feel small compared to you but you're building me up, treating me as if I was a peer, it was just like this really humbling experience.

>> Plinio Ayala: You need to remember where you came from and not abandon that.

And I think if we as a community accept that as part of our responsibility, we can move mountains because we've been talking about millions of people bringing other people along.

And that's where you create change.

>> Denise: It's really nice to know that there are a lot of people who want to continue to help the next class.

And maybe I can do that moving forward.

>> Yasmine: There's information needed in my community, for real.

I don't wanna feel like I have to move out of my community because I can't succeed in my community, and if I gotta be the person to start it off and break that curse, so be it.

>> Taiheem: It made me wanna open up like a community based art center because there's none of those in the Bronx.

I'm gonna reach out to my newly established network of people and just ask more questions about how they got it started and different steps that I can take.

I was too ashamed before to open up about my struggles, but these people that were sitting down and interviewing everyone and I'm like thank you for being open with me.

You're making me wanna open up to you, this has given me that time to feel those feelings and get past it so I can continue doing great.

And I want my daughters to know that I struggled a lot, but I was able to persevere.

I think that they're gonna look at this and be like, that's my dad.

I didn't have a dad to say that's my dad and be proud of.

I was proud of my mom, but they have their mom and their dad in their life.

I want them to know that their dad loves them and I think I'm doing a pretty good job.

You know?.

>> Speaker 8: Daddy.

>> Taiheem: Hey, baby?

What.

[LAUGH] Come here, I missed you.

>> Speaker 5: [LAUGH] Why can't we just- >> Speaker 8: Where's the surprise?

>> Speaker 5: Daddy is the surprise.

[LAUGH] >> Taiheem: I'm the surprise baby.

We had a break day in New York and I got a chance to sneak away.

Just from that first five minutes of seeing them, it was great.

Just the way they lit up, it was like man,these are my little babies, these are my angels.

Sometimes you get caught in the day to day of going to work, dropping them off at school, coming home, doing homework, dinner, bed, bath.

It made me center in on those small little moments, I missed you baby.

>> Speaker 8: I missed you too daddy, >> Taiheem: I missed you so much.

You know that?

>> Speaker 8: Yeah.

>> Taiheem: I missed you so much my baby girls.

>> Speaker 8: It's so sweet.

>> Taiheem: I definitely have a different kind of love for my daughters now.

I felt like I was a dad because I was doing everything I was supposed to do.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: But taking money out of your wallet or clocking into this job pales in comparison to sitting them on your lap and talking to them and actually giving them lessons.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: It gave me the strength to push through those harder times.

All of these things was a direct result of sneaking away and seeing my girl because it was like, I feel so much better.

I gotta finish this out.

Now I'm just like, let's do it.

I feel super excited about everything that's coming the next week.

And I want to see where else this road leads me.

How else can I transform.

We're going to Chicago.

>> Yasmine: I've lived in this city for over 24 years, and I've never seen my city like this.

>> Denise: These three weeks zoomed by, and this is the last interview.

I wouldn't be sitting in this chair had she not made this program accessible for me.

>> Speaker 9: Our communities are filled with untapped potential.

>> Taiheem: Hearing other people's journeys made me appreciate my own story.

>> Denise: This trip has given me more than enough fuel to keep going.

>> Yasmine: I found my voice on this trip Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com