But it wasn’t always that way. Vela grew up on a massive ranch in South Texas, which has roots and history that truly run deep. His great-great aunt planted the first citrus tree in the Lower Rio Grande Valley at their Laguna Seca Ranch in 1882. His uncle was one of the first three federal judges of Hispanic ethnicity to sit on the bench. He came from a family who was expected to make a difference, Vela says. And yet at just seven years old, Vela realized he was gay. Not something to be when you are the son of a prominent family of ranchers in Texas in 1968. He kept his “little secret” and it became too much. By 11-years-old, he was dealing with anxiety attacks every day and was diagnosed with separation anxiety. The solution was to send him to a mental institution, which included adult patients, six hours away.

Six months later, Vela was released and had learned to play the part of a straight man. He excelled in sports, hunted, fished and did all the things that were expected of him—until he was 17 and realized he couldn’t take it anymore. After quitting the football team, he was unmercifully bullied and suicidal. What stopped him from pulling the trigger of the gun he had put to his head was the thought that he was put on this earth for a purpose. From that moment on, Vela never looked back.  

Purpose, indeed. Vela made American history by being the first Latino American and LGBTQ American to serve twice in a senior executive role in the White House–as Director of Administration and Senior Advisor to both Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden. He is the current CEO and President of the D.C.-based global consulting firm, The Vela Group.

Through all of his work, Vela has become uniquely positioned at the epicenter of where law, politics, business and finance intersect. And “Unicorn Hunters?” The show, which gives business founders a global platform to pitch to millions of investors and viewers around the world, is a bonafide hit with an audience of more than 14.5 million.

Vela is often heard as a keynote speaker and is a frequent contributor or quoted in articles in the Associated Press, Fortune, Forbes, The Guardian, The Hill, INC magazine, Yahoo Finance, Entrepreneur and The Daily Mail, to name a few. Vela is often seen on Fox, Fox Business, Yahoo Finance TV and BBC, among other national and global news outlets. He is also the host of his own podcast “In the Know With Moe.”

He has been named one of the “Top 100 Hispanics in America” by Hispanic Business magazine and was twice named as one of the “101 Most Influential Latinos” by Latino Leaders magazine. He was also named one of Washington’s Top 300 Insiders by the National Journal, as well as, named to the Powermeter 100 –the Washington area’s most influential individuals for Hispanic communities by El Tiempo Latino, a Washington Post publication.

Vela earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin and his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law. Vela is the author of the best-selling book, Little Secret, Big Dreams.