As I later reflected on this, it occurred to me that women – especially Latinas – should be involved in every situation from academics to board rooms to the Oval office and yet there still exists a great divide. But the great divide is two-fold. One being the obvious lack of Latina representation in corporations, the government, academia, and the media to name a few.  The second the lack of change in this regard. Sure, media outlets – traditional and social – are often flooded with discussions about how women are discriminated against, abused, battered, and overall left behind. But in reality, to really influence the general mindset of mainstream America especially corporations is to shift the conversation from one of imploring public sentiment for the plight of women to one that instead cultivates a discussion around how women are a source of strength and creativity that can instead save the business community from extinction.  To think that a child’s simple statement was the catalyst for my position, is a true testament of how women – especially Latinas – naturally have such circular vision, passion, entrepreneurial spirit, generous purpose, and cultural promise. Interestingly enough, it was when I was a child growing up that I learned a lot about the value of these characteristics and how -- unbeknownst to me -- my father influenced me.

Here are the six reasons Latinas are natural born leaders and interestingly enough the lessons I learned from a man -- my father -- about being a leader:

1. Immigrant perspective: I cannot tell you how many times I heard stories from mis padres and mis abuelos who literally left their careers and businesses behind in their homelands to start new lives in the US. Even as a college graduate, my father washed dishes at the Howard Johnson’s and worked the nightshift as an inventory clerk at a local supermarket. My mother taught Spanish to middle-school students and learned how to make a turkey for their first Thanksgiving dinner in the US, in which they could only invite another couple because they only had four place settings. It is these insights that make Latinas naturally inclined to maximize the most of their available resources in order to still pull off a stellar event and/or project.
2. Circular vision: Growing up in Miami in the early ‘80s, my parents saw opportunity in real estate as a way to grow wealth and specifically with duplexes and the business of renting to individuals. When I was in my 20s I also found a property that I felt had a great investment value because I had vision and could see beyond the wood-paneled walls, lack of an air-conditioning unit, and the green shag carpet. Five years later, I sold the property for almost double what I had paid. Latinas know a good deal when they see it. They also have the vision to innovate and improve upon things to come out ahead.
3. Passion: Latinas have a knack for turning our passions into businesses. Take for instance HHL contributing writer, Marissa Martinez-Herring. A former college cheerleader and gymnast, Marissa competed professionally and won many fitness competitions before turning her passion for fitness into a booming business. What started in her Miami garage, has now taken her and her hubby, a former Super Bowl Champion, to Orlando where they run Garage Mama Fitness. Latinas know how to turn passion into a paycheck!
4. Entrepreneurial spirit: When my father was a young boy, he used to buy canned goods from the local grocery store and sell them for $.50 more a can to his aunt who ran a boarding home. When I was 10 and Madonna and her gummy bracelets and racy outfits were all the fanfare, I decided to make my own fashioned out of screen piping and using fluorescent beads as the fasteners, I would then sell them to my friends at school doubling my profits. Let’s face it, it’s in our blood and Latinas know exactly how to capitalize on a trend and add our creative twist to create new products and increase revenues.
5. Generous purpose: I remember being in elementary school and taking can goods to migrant workers in Homestead, Florida. It was only 30 miles south of where I lived but it was a completely other world. We went door to door bearing bundles of food for the holiday season. It was then that I knewthere were people less fortunate than me and that I should always try to help those in need. At home, I learned from my mother how to take care of things and people – from cooking family meals during the holidays to washing our poodle in the bathtub to making bank deposits before 3pm to always visiting grandparents. She always took care of everything and everyone.  Community and family were priority.  Greed and selfishness were foreign to us.
6. Cultural promise: My mom once joked with her best friend, who has three daughters, that out of all of us (including me), it was quite unexpected that I would turn out to have such focus on our Hispanic heritage, culture, and language.I was the one who didn’t drink café con leche or dance salsa perfectly, but I was the one who always valued where we came from and what we had accomplished and all the lessons, wisdom, and love in between it all. It’s my inherent sense of legacy that has led me to launch (along with a great Board of Directors) an international charter school in Atlanta which will focus on dual-language immersion and culture. This one is for my children, Isabella and Lucien – so that they will always preserve their language and culture while also embracing a global society.