Month: January 2016

As a Cuban-American I continue to be shocked through out my young corporate career at how some companies look at “Diversity”.

I once saw a new employee chart where there was two check columns for gender and diversity. Then I saw a hispanic marketing initiative campaign using primarily sombreros as their creative.

I don’t want to be considered diverse just to be checked off on a box to meet quota. I want to be considered diverse because I bring diversity of thought to my company. Being Cuban-American, I can tell you that not all Latinos wear sombreros. That marketing campaign will only partially work for the Hispanic demographic.

Its time to stop thinking of us in numbers or reaching quota but more as a potential to drive business growth in a new way. The world is becoming more and more globalized, if corporations do not realize the potential of diversity they will lag behind.

I used to look at all my peers and would be in awe at how passionate they were about certain topics. It was always something specific such as sports, environmental topics, nutrition, video games, movies, etc.

Therefore, I would ask myself the question….What is my passion?! Coming up with blanks every single time.

Thats until I went to my cousins Cuban wedding in Miami. My entire family was there, we ate Cuban food, danced salsa, sang Cuban songs, and prayed. I have been living away from home for 6 months now and this day hit me extremely hard. I had missed that feeling of connectedness with my culture and family.

That is when I realized what my passions are:

• Being the best version of myself
• Family and Friends
• Culture
• Financial Freedom
• Helping Others

I passionatly want to be the best version of myself so that I can inspire family/friends and help others. I passionatly want to pass along my culture to the next generation of Cuban-Americans. I passionately want to be the first person in my family to achieve financial freedom to improve my family heritage.

These passions were built on one thing: Diversity.