I am the son of two Latino American immigrants, my mother being Cuban and my father being half Cuban/Venezuelan. I was born in Miami, Florida, a city where 70% of the population is Latino. My high school in Miami was 90% Latino and the college I attended (Florida International University) was also 80% Latino. I am First Generation College educated, first person in my family to work in corporate America, and the first person to ever move out of Miami for a career.
When I think back to my childhood in Miami I realize that I had no idea what diversity and inclusion was. I never once had to think, “I feel like I don’t belong here and people won’t understand my perspective.” When I moved to Philadelphia to work as an intern for a major corporation as a junior in college it hit me hard. Diversity and inclusion became really apparent to me then.
The minute I got to Philadelphia I felt almost instantly different than everyone else. I was the only person of color in my intern class and the only person of color on my floor. I was no longer the majority but now the minority. I felt so different at times at work that I wouldn’t talk or speak up during a meeting. The feedback followed right afterwards. I was told by my boss that I am “too calm” or “really reserved”. On the contrary, we Cubans are known for how loud we talk! If you know me well you know that I enjoy a conversation. The town the company housed the interns in didn’t help either. When my roommates and fellow interns would have a conversation I felt like I couldn’t relate whatsoever. I then would say something like “in Miami this this and this”… they heard me say that so often that they started joking around about it.
The depression hit month 1 out of 6. Although it was a fantastic learning experience I was dying to get home. I feel like a lot of my friends go through the same situation I described above. There are usually two things that happen, you either slowly let go of your culture or you embrace it full swing. I embraced my culture and appreciated it so much more after my intern experience. I told myself that that my culture is in my heart and I will never let anything take it from me.
After my internship I was accepted into their leadership development program. When I was asked where I was willing to relocate I told every manager that I was choosing a city with diversity. I narrowed down the list to 3 cities. A lot of people gave me feedback saying this was a “career limiting move” or it could do better if I went to Minneapolis or Arkansas. I didn’t pay attention. I made a promise to myself to never have an experience like the one in Philly.
When the company moved me to the bay area I knew 0 people out here and there were 3 people in the Safeway office. I was back to square one. I would fly out to New Jersey frequently through the training programs they were providing me. In the group I was in I still felt out of place but I was loud and proud. Sometimes the only way I could justify my way of being was to remind everyone I was Cuban from Miami. I excused my behavior so many times that people didn’t take me seriously anymore. I would get comments like “why do you attribute so much of your personality to your culture, don’t you just want to be considered Robert only?” or “Robert, why do you put a label on yourself?” I appreciated them though because they took my feedback of needing more diverse talent and sent me out to FIU to recruit. Unfortunately throughout my time there they slowly started cutting programs that would increase diverse talent.
When I started at my new company I was more confident in myself and who I was. But I saw similar trends like in my former comapny, a low diverse population and slim representation at the leadership level. I remember sitting with my manager in our second one on one and explaining my experiences that have happened to me and that I just wanted her to understand. I quickly got involved in the latino ERGs and was really excited to be around other Latinos but I felt that the ERGs were not given proper attention from both its members and senior leadership. Therefore it is my mission to work on the ERGs as much as possible.
One experience stands out in relation to D&I so far at my company. I was in a car with other Clorox employees and everyone was talking about cities they would move to. Someone brought up Boise and the whole car agreed they would move to Boise, Idaho. I’ve never been to Boise but I can do a quick google search “Boise Demographics” and I can tell you right away that I wouldn’t move there. I said I wouldn’t move there and people were asking me why. I told them I needed Latinos around me and someone made a comment of “it’s a beautiful city with really cheap rent, there’s always upsides to things that can’t be the only reason why you don’t move there”. It kind of turned me off a bit to hear these comments. I understand you won’t understand my perspective but I would appreciate you acknowledging that maybe I’m coming from a different perspective and experiences. That’s what diversity and inclusion is about.
After speaking to a lot of minority’s over the years I’ve come to learn that I am not alone. My story is very common.
There is something to be said about the mentors that helped me along the way. Throughout every moment since college to now I have had mentors with diverse backgrounds guide me in the right direction. I would share my frustration and they were encouraging and understanding. If it weren’t because of them I would be stuck in Miami with limited personal growth.
The last story ill share is the most important. In May of this year I went to Cuba and it was a life changing experience. I am the first person in my family to go to Cuba in 37 years. What really amazed me was how Cuban I felt and how Cuban people thought I was. It made me so proud to keep my culture and represent it. I felt 100% included, I felt like I belonged. While I was having these experiences I told myself that I would try as hard as I can both at work and in the community to work towards an environment where people can feel inclusive. Thank you for adding me to the steering community.
Strength of Diversity 