I like to think of my leadership style and work ethic as a product of my Latina upbringing and parents. While I love my dad dearly, my mom is my best friend and confidant. She has been a huge influence and has always been there to support me and guide me throughout life. Throughout my life, she has always taught me to treat others the way I wanted to be treated with respect and how to be there for others. Like my parents did for me, I impart and share my knowledge and experience with my employees so that they have the right tools to set them up to succeed. I challenge them to continue to build on their knowledge through research and curiosity. Like being home, I make sure to make my team feel safe and welcome especially when they are struggling or need guidance.

In my experience in job hunting after college, I found that companies want to see what the candidate has accomplished in addition to completing a college education. Having prior internship experience in your field is a major bonus. Additionally, it is no surprise that successful interns are directly hired and recruited for opportunities upon graduation. More importantly, I recommend doing as many internships as possible so that you build a network and have contacts to reach out to immediately after college.

I graduated from Santa Clara University and received my B.S. in Commerce- Marketing with a minor in Retail Studies. As part of the requirement to obtain a minor in Retail Studies I was required to complete an internship the summer before my senior year. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Retail Studies program that set up interviews for the students to meet with a number of Bay Area retailers for various internship positions. While I did interview with World Market at the time, I ultimately ended up taking an internship opportunity with another retailer. However, I sure did hang onto the World Market recruiter’s business card!

When looking for my first job after graduation, I reached out to the World Market recruiter and found an entry level position that was a good fit for me. Here I am thirteen years later, a Product Safety and Regulatory Compliance Manager with World Market. Within the first year of joining the company, I was promoted from a Vendor Compliance Coordinator, to a Quality Assurance analyst, later to a Senior Analyst and ultimately became Manager.

It is never too early to start encouraging your student to start adding to their resume and give it all they’ve got! As latinos we were raised to work hard so show the world what we are made of!