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Ariana Stolarz

In this episode of "A LA LATINA: The Playbook to Succeed Being Your Authentic Self," we dive deep into Ariana Stolarz’s journey from Argentina to the United States, where she confronted challenges related to her accent. Her story highlights the importance of embracing one's uniqueness and leading with authenticity.

In this episode, you'll discover three main takeaways:

1.- Embrace Your Accent: Ariana's personal journey teaches us that our accents should be celebrated and not hidden. Your accent is a part of your identity and can even be seen as a bilingual advantage. Learn how to turn your accent into a strength in both your personal and professional life.

2.- Lead Like a Mother: Ariana's experience as a mother and her ability to manage various aspects of her life has shaped her leadership style. Discover how motherhood can enhance your leadership skills and provide valuable insights for managing complex situations.

3.- Build Case Studies For Your Achievements: Ariana emphasizes the importance of documenting and showcasing your achievements. Discover how to build case studies that highlight your accomplishments, which can lead to promotions, respect, and recognition in your career.

Join us in this enlightening episode of "A LA LATINA" as we explore Ariana's inspiring journey and gain valuable insights into succeeding being your authentic self, no matter where you come from or what accent you carry. It's time to flip the script and lead with confidence. Tune in and be inspired!
Show transcript
00:00
Ola. So great to have you with us in this episode
00:03
with Ariana Solars. You will learn three main things.
00:05
Number one, how to flip the script and use your accent
00:09
as a pro and never as a con.
00:11
Number two, how leading like a mother can be your leadership
00:15
superpower? And number three,
00:17
how to build case studies about your achievements so that you can
00:20
be promoted, respected and noticed all of that in the podcast
00:25
A La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
00:29
Let's go Paula.
00:38
Welcome to the podcast A La Latina,
00:41
the playbook to succeed being your authentic self today.
00:44
One of my favorite guest,
00:46
Ariana Stallard. Ariana was born in Argentina.
00:49
She is the chief strategy officer of accenture song,
00:52
which is the world's largest tech power creative agency.
00:56
Besides her professional life,
00:58
she's also interested in helping the world.
01:00
Let me tell you all the things that she does outside of
01:03
her responsibilities at accenture.
01:05
She's involved in un activities.
01:08
She is an advocate of sustainable development goals and she's a board
01:12
director of the public foundation which is a non profit media organization
01:16
that harnesses the power of media to drive social change.
01:20
Welcome to a La Latina.
01:21
Thanks for having me.
01:22
We're so happy to have you.
01:23
When we started conceiving this podcast,
01:26
Ariana, you were one of the first persons we wanted to
01:29
bring to the table,
01:30
what we're trying to do today.
01:32
And here overall is to allow us to precisely give women the
01:36
playbook that they need Latinas to understand who we are.
01:40
How do we transform that into a superpower and get the real
01:44
playbook on how to do it and how to get it there
01:47
So, looking at your trajectory,
01:49
absolute pleasure to have you with us.
01:52
Let's get going, let's get going.
01:53
So let's start with your career and the the journey that you
01:57
went through when anyone looks at your career,
02:00
your resume, your linkedin,
02:02
it just looks like you had so much clarity on where the
02:05
world was going and the what you were great at you started
02:09
working on the first digital bank in Argentina.
02:12
Now you are in the largest tech power creative agency.
02:16
It looks like a linear path.
02:18
Can you tell us if that's how it felt or how did
02:21
it actually feel to climb the ladder and to have this professional
02:25
journey? You know,
02:25
it looks like clarity,
02:27
but it was actually curiosity,
02:29
right? So I,
02:29
I remember growing up getting my first job having everyone saying,
02:35
are you sure you're gonna work on that thing?
02:37
The internet, what is that?
02:39
Right? When everyone was working on CPG or banking,
02:42
financial services, my sister,
02:44
my boyfriend at the time,
02:45
all my friends and I remember thinking,
02:47
I don't know, there is something about this thing called the
02:49
internet, right? And,
02:50
and it was kind of the same conversation we are having today
02:53
with a IA I is here and coming like to replace all
02:57
of us. it was the same thing,
02:59
but I remember thinking,
03:00
I don't know. There's something about this.
03:02
Imagine like the possibilities,
03:04
right? Imagine being able.
03:05
I, yeah, I launched the first internet banking platform
03:09
that was transactional. So imagine the possibilities of moving money from
03:13
the comfort of your sofa.
03:15
Imagine the possibilities of watching your favorite soccer game from wherever you
03:20
are in the world,
03:21
even if you don't have access to a television or you're not
03:24
on a stadium. Imagine so we started to imagine all these
03:27
different things, technology was there.
03:29
But we needed that like imagination to add into the possibilities,
03:33
right? So what I would say is that,
03:35
you know, I I had that dose of curiosity that
03:38
if anything allow me to understand that whatever we enjoying the
03:44
future is something that we create today,
03:46
right? So I was always at the forefront of innovation
03:50
in a way like understanding that it's on us to define what's
03:53
next, it's on us to create what we're going to experience
03:56
tomorrow, right? So,
03:57
so that's how I started working.
03:58
And then today you know,
03:59
I continue working in different places but always following that same
04:03
premise of Let's create Tomorrow.
04:05
But today, and so I think that you're in the right
04:07
podcast because it's exactly what we're trying to do.
04:10
Who said that Latinas cannot be at the top of the ladder
04:14
And what if we start actually learning how to get there
04:17
And that is what we're trying to explain.
04:19
But before going there,
04:21
I wanna know about your career.
04:22
So you basically came to the stage just like give us in
04:26
a short, you know,
04:26
like path like how do you get from one place to the
04:29
other to the other?
04:30
And how have you done your literally,
04:33
that is the architecture of your life,
04:35
which seems quite linear and seems quite calculated and orchestrated.
04:39
And how do you actually got from one place to the other
04:42
to be able to be today,
04:44
the managing director of one of the largest you know,
04:48
like agencies in the world,
04:49
tech tech consulting agencies in the world creative agencies in the
04:53
world. So it looks like linear be because there are connective
04:57
threads like digital, for example,
04:59
at the core or innovation.
05:00
But you know what seats at the core people,
05:02
right? So, so when,
05:04
when I got my first job working at the time,
05:07
it was Anderson Consulting,
05:08
which is the old days of accenture that that was the
05:11
company I work with,
05:12
I know There you go.
05:14
So that was the company that I was working with
05:16
and the Lloyds Bank,
05:17
which is a British Bank.
05:19
And as we were launching this internet platform,
05:22
which was still home banking,
05:24
you had to install a CD for for,
05:26
for your computer to,
05:27
to be able to operate.
05:30
And I remember thinking,
05:32
you know what, this is not finance,
05:34
this is not technology,
05:36
this is a new way in which people are going to start
05:39
interacting with the world,
05:40
like coming from a country where you would welcome.
05:43
And in like probably invite,
05:45
you know, the tailor in that bank to to your
05:48
birthday parties, to your wedding,
05:49
you know, and then suddenly like transacting through a digital device
05:53
that sounded very cold,
05:55
but then it was convenient.
05:56
And then when we start to add other like layers of convenience
05:59
into other lives, right?
06:00
We realized that oh,
06:01
you know what, you can actually change consumer behavior and people's
06:04
behaviors if you give them something,
06:07
if there is a value exchange,
06:08
right? So the the the connective thread then was and was
06:13
not digital. It was a human element.
06:15
It was like trying to understand how people navigate the world,
06:18
how people relate to each other through technology,
06:20
how people use technology to live their lives and improve their lives
06:23
And therefore, then when I came to the States and
06:25
after like years of working in different places,
06:28
always through digital and creativity.
06:32
Those were two like key elements that have been present throughout my
06:35
career. But the human element was the most interesting thing to
06:38
me. And therefore I went to grad school and in grad
06:40
school, I spent like years studying internet culture,
06:44
networking theories, sociology of media,
06:47
right? So I was always like fascinated to go deeper
06:50
into understanding humans as we navigate this world.
06:53
Because at the end of the day,
06:54
it's like, yeah,
06:54
technologies may change, but we are here and technology should be
06:58
put at the service of us improving the way we do things
07:01
or living better, healthier or happier,
07:03
right? I can see your passion and obviously your smarts.
07:07
But besides your passion and your smarts,
07:09
what made you succeed?
07:11
I mean, I'm sure there were a lot of very smart
07:12
people, very curious people that are not the managing director of
07:16
Accenture song today. Is there any anything that you can share
07:19
in terms of your path?
07:21
What were maybe decisions that you made or or moments,
07:24
different things, right?
07:25
Like, but, but I would say like I have
07:28
this obsession with excellence and with work,
07:30
right? So, so many times like people ask me,
07:32
it's like, oh,
07:33
you as a, you're,
07:34
you're a Latino with,
07:35
you're a woman, you're like an immigrant,
07:37
you're like, you have all these like things that look like
07:39
barriers for, for,
07:41
for most of us.
07:42
It's like, how did you make it work,
07:44
right? I made it work through work.
07:46
When your work is good,
07:47
we you give it all when the proof is there,
07:50
it's just not smart not to have you in the room,
07:53
not to have you like on the table,
07:55
right? So I basically base my personal case and case study
08:00
through the work that I produced that I created through inviting
08:04
others to join me in that journey,
08:06
right? It's like how you engage like others who might not
08:09
have had that same type of path to join you in
08:13
your journey, how you're not afraid of like asking questions and
08:16
maybe like, you know,
08:17
seek for like some mentorship,
08:19
even if it's not formal,
08:20
you know, mentorship sometimes like,
08:22
feel like it's a commitment and that you have to meet twice
08:25
a week at nine pm at 9 a.m. or nine pm.
08:27
It's not, it's like,
08:28
it's, it's, it's the ongoing drive to never stop learning
08:32
right? So,
08:32
so all those like things together,
08:34
I would say have been like present throughout my,
08:37
my career. I admire your career.
08:39
I know your, I I know your career pretty well.
08:41
I think that I have until now very little,
08:44
you know, like maybe,
08:45
maybe you keep on surprising me,
08:46
let's see up today.
08:48
But at the end of the day I really admire and you
08:51
have been on the,
08:52
you know, on the cutting edge of many things that were
08:55
the first. so innovation is one of them.
08:58
I want you to talk about like the streaming of marathon and
09:01
the type of things that have made you proud through your career
09:04
But you said something that I think can resonate really strongly
09:07
with a number of Latinas that probably are hearing our podcast
09:11
today, which is I strive to excellence.
09:13
I work really hard.
09:15
But how do you get noticed?
09:16
How is it that all of us strive,
09:18
you know, like strive to to work,
09:21
like at least a lot of us work really,
09:23
really hard, but sometimes it's hard to get that mentor.
09:26
Sometimes it's hard to get noticed.
09:27
Sometimes it is actually being a Latina is a con and not
09:31
a pro. So I'd love for us to part that conversation
09:33
about like, how being Latina has been a pro or a
09:36
con for you. How would you talk to younger Latinas about
09:40
like, how to self advocate,
09:43
self promote your work so that you can get notice and get
09:45
to the places where you are?
09:46
But now let's go into your your like proudest moments,
09:50
talk to us about like streaming marathon and other things that you
09:53
have done that make you,
09:55
you know, like,
09:55
make you proud. Yeah.
09:56
So I, that's a,
09:58
that's an interesting one.
10:00
I was moving here to the United States from home
10:04
Buenos Aires and Diego Maradona was playing his farewell
10:09
game and No, la mano de dios.
10:12
No, no man.
10:12
That, that's that's the most iconic game.
10:14
But no, it's,
10:15
it's the day he decided to retire and he was playing his
10:18
game and I was already here and I wanted to watch it
10:22
Like many people around the world.
10:23
They all wanted to watch Maradona playing his last game.
10:26
How do you do that?
10:27
When there are TV rights?
10:30
It was not possible.
10:31
Let's just like that stream live right now.
10:35
Maybe our audience would be like,
10:37
what? No, but we did it right.
10:42
So we did it.
10:42
We, we challenged that idea and we said,
10:44
hey, there is this thing called the internet and there is
10:46
this thing called streaming.
10:48
Streaming was not a word back then,
10:50
right? There is this thing that will allow us to maybe
10:54
have a pay per view offering to people around the world who
10:59
want to watch the game.
11:00
Now, this is what,
11:01
what I'm gonna say,
11:03
Learning by doing has been also a key element throughout my
11:05
career. The reason I'm saying that is that the idea
11:08
was great, right?
11:09
Like we created so much demand.
11:11
Imagine like people from all over the world saying like I can
11:13
watch Diego play his last game.
11:15
That was great. The problem is that people were connecting to
11:18
the internet through the LA.
11:20
So imagine like a fast paced like soccer game.
11:23
And then, you know,
11:25
it's like the game was like cutting like every two minutes,
11:28
the experience was like,
11:29
awful, it was horrible,
11:31
you know, and then I would say that's when I realized
11:34
that, like, it's,
11:35
it's one of the key things that I do at work.
11:37
And I have done like through,
11:38
through the past couple of years,
11:40
you know, deliver on customer experience,
11:41
which is like understanding that sometimes your ideas might be there,
11:44
but the technology is not ready or the conditions are not ready
11:47
or whatever is like,
11:48
not ready to actually deliver a powerful experience.
11:50
And therefore, even though the idea was great,
11:54
people were not really able to watch a full Diego Maradona playing
11:58
90 minutes of soccer right now.
12:01
I learned a lot from,
12:02
from that. Like,
12:03
we all learned a lot from that experience.
12:04
Those were still the early days.
12:06
I believe it was,
12:07
2001. So it was like,
12:08
still, like very early in the days of the internet.
12:12
I still have somewhere in my office.
12:15
you know,
12:15
the cover of,,
12:16
2001. What were you doing in 2000?
12:19
Yeah, I know.
12:19
I know. I have a,
12:20
I have a cover of,
12:22
a Times magazine from 1994.
12:25
You can go,,
12:25
search for it.,
12:27
and the car was,
12:28
a strange world of the internet.
12:31
You know, it's like no one knew it,
12:32
like, coming for us or not.
12:33
And then I have a car from the Wire magazine from 2010
12:36
saying the internet is dead or the web is dead,
12:39
right? So, I mean,
12:40
it, it, it's funny how like people go into these
12:42
like, dramatic, like places instead of focusing on how we
12:45
can use this technology to advance.
12:47
But wait, I mean,
12:48
just to put it into perspective,
12:49
I did my first concert streaming in 2000 and 10 and it
12:56
was already, it was patchy,
12:58
It was like hard to put it.
12:59
And you know, like it was Paul mccartney,
13:01
almost like pseudos because his songs were not perfectly well like doing
13:05
something in 2001 is like way I barely had an email address
13:09
in 2001. My name,
13:12
it's funky. A few people that you were not.
13:17
So, you know,
13:18
I'll tell you something like now that I we're
13:21
going back in time with all these things.
13:23
I launched the most success now,
13:26
now it's interesting, right?
13:27
Do you remember Second Life?
13:29
Yes, I have,
13:31
I have 2007. I spend so much money renting land the
13:37
world for I I Amana live streaming concert in 2007 maybe or
13:49
five. Or you're a Trailblazer,
13:51
Hispanic star. I love that you're giving us,
13:54
you know, like already bits and pieces about learning by doing
13:58
There is a contradiction I find in Latinas particularly about
14:01
like how insecure we feel about raising our hands unless we're 100%
14:06
prepared to do something we don't apply to jobs unless we feel
14:09
oh, you know,
14:09
totally qualified. And at the same time we're entrepreneurs so we
14:13
do go for it.
14:14
So there is a contradiction.
14:16
I think that, you know,
14:17
that we have to,
14:17
there's a tension in who we are as entrepreneurs on one hand
14:21
and then insecure on the other hand to raise our hands and
14:24
actually be able to,
14:25
to. So I would love to hear more about like those
14:28
threats and those qualities that you feel we have since you
14:31
are almost like a sociologist.
14:33
No, but I'll tell you something like I,
14:36
I find this a lot,
14:37
right? within the,
14:39
the Latino community in particular which is you achieve something
14:46
right? And that's it.
14:48
You're so proud. You tell your tia you AUA your friends
14:51
you put the trophy,
14:52
you know, in your,
14:53
yourself and that's it.
14:54
You stop like pushing for more.
14:56
Mm Yeah. You already have your leg press.
14:59
That's it. You had your moment.
15:00
No, no, I look,
15:03
I, I'll tell you something.
15:04
I you aim higher.
15:06
I, at some point in my life I decided thanks
15:10
to my brother,
15:12
I decided to start practicing Taekwondo.
15:16
I did not know that.
15:17
Is this a threat?
15:18
It's a, no,
15:19
it's not actually like Taekwondo.
15:21
It's a beautiful Korean martial art that's based on balance and
15:25
respect for the other.
15:26
And then you never go for a fight.
15:28
You're actually always like in that Zen mode for,
15:31
of control, right?
15:32
Like you, you need to,
15:33
to, to understand your surroundings,
15:36
you, you need to control your body.
15:37
You need to think first.
15:38
It's a fascinating space to,
15:40
to explore and it was a very humbling experience.
15:44
You go there and I went there as a young adult,
15:46
I would say, and you go there and then your
15:50
recognition, right? Which is like translated into color belts has
15:55
something to do. It's absolutely actually associated too.
16:00
your hard work and perseverance,
16:02
right? So you start with a white belt that,
16:05
that signals and tells everyone I just started doing this and then
16:08
maybe you have someone sitting next to you who's,
16:11
I don't know, a 10 year old that has a belt
16:13
of a better like a,
16:14
like a higher call,
16:17
right? And then that means that they've been practicing more than
16:21
you and then you respect them,
16:23
you know, you,
16:24
you have so much like respect for their dedication.
16:26
Colors mean dedication, right?
16:29
So then you learn something that I have applied since then,
16:33
you know, for life,
16:34
which is you keep advancing on colors,
16:38
right? based on progress like dedication tests all these different
16:42
things. And then by the time you get to black belt
16:46
if you get to black belt,
16:47
but by the time you get to black belt,
16:49
you didn't reach your destination,
16:52
you reach your starting point.
16:55
So you don't get your trophy and put it on the shelf
16:58
when you get to black belt.
17:00
That's a starting point because once you're a black belt,
17:04
you start adding stripes.
17:05
You're kidding? No,
17:06
of course. I'm a,
17:07
I'm a, what color?
17:08
I'm a, I'm a first down black belt.
17:10
You are a black belt?
17:11
I can, I can.
17:12
Yes, I'm telling you.
17:13
I can, I can,
17:15
I can, I can break this table with my,
17:18
I never knew. Yes.
17:20
And the thing is that I,
17:22
I miss it so much right now.
17:23
I'm so busy. I can't even like find my time to
17:25
practice. But, but the thing about that is like,
17:27
which is so important is that it's the opposite to what we
17:30
were talking. It's not that oh I got my belt.
17:32
I'm gonna like put the traffic.
17:33
I'm gonna let my friends know my family know we're going to
17:35
be proud. Now.
17:36
Next. No, that's the beginning of OK.
17:38
Now, then you're ready.
17:40
Use this as power,
17:42
you're ready. You have all the tools you have.
17:44
No excuse, keep going go deep.
17:47
Is that like is that the analogy for Latino women can
17:52
maybe like leaving their career at the mid management level when they
17:56
there are different reasons why people may live their careers,
17:58
right? So, so living in a career may have something
18:01
to do with not having a family and not having the right
18:04
support, not having the right pay to have someone who can
18:07
help you, like maybe care for your family while you're working
18:09
I mean, there are many reasons that in particular
18:11
certain communities like the Latino community are suffering more than others
18:14
in terms of like advancing at work.
18:17
But I would say that's the link to Latinas putting that
18:21
like trophies as I made it.
18:24
Yeah, I got my thing.
18:25
I got my five minutes of fame.
18:27
I don't need like to keep pushing.
18:28
And that's your first moment to actually start into the next level
18:32
That's when you get your promotion.
18:33
That's when you push for the next level.
18:36
That's when you basically make sure that you lead the presentation
18:40
You're not just a contributor.
18:42
That's when you are the one who's owning it.
18:44
I am totally biased,
18:45
but I actually think that it is not that Latinos keep,
18:49
keep their trophy and go.
18:51
Is that like once you get from white belt to yellow belt
18:55
the teacher leaves you and now you're on your own.
18:57
And now you have to figure out how to get to the
18:59
next belt. We don't have the support mechanisms to actually keep
19:02
growing. We don't have those teachers that keep on encouraging us
19:06
We don't have the environment to keep on doing.
19:09
So I actually want to take the blame of Latinos only and
19:12
put it as an opportunity for people to understand that we Latinas
19:17
particularly. We have that those elements,
19:20
passion and perseverance. And that combined,
19:22
there's a book that I'm reading right now called Grit.
19:25
And my son says that I'm saying it wrongly is re like
19:28
grit, not greed,
19:31
but it's very similar which,
19:35
which says that in academic,
19:37
sorry, in military services,
19:39
in the,
19:40
you know, in,
19:40
in key,,
19:42
Keystone, West Point,
19:44
West Point in West Point,
19:46
half of the people that enroll drop and those that
19:50
stay are the ones that have the hard work and the perseverance
19:53
that keep going that keep trying and no one keeps trying more
19:56
than Latinos. No one has the pedal more and the passion
20:00
more than Latinos. So it is not about us only.
20:03
It is about the environment that probably wouldn't allow us to,
20:06
to get, I wonder,
20:08
I mean, I don't have the data and I haven't read
20:10
the book, but I wonder how many of those that stay
20:13
have mentors and had people that told them it's gonna be really
20:16
hard. Like if you want to give up,
20:18
let's talk, you know,
20:19
like that mentorship, that sponsorship,
20:21
it's, it's probably very important and that's why you have like
20:23
military families because no,
20:26
absolutely background and, and,
20:27
and environment and so on many things matter.
20:29
But talking about like greed or read or,
20:32
you know, how do you pronounce it?
20:34
I was this year at the Cannes Advertisement Festival in France and
20:39
all of a sudden I started looking at the largest session,
20:41
you know, like on attracting the largest group of people and
20:45
who was talking Ariana Stolarz and what was she talking about?
20:49
She was talking about accent.
20:50
So what was your talk about?
20:52
So I moved from Argentina to the States and going back for
20:57
a second to something.
20:58
You just said, I moved to the States two weeks after
21:01
September 11th and I remember people saying,
21:04
are you crazy? You're going there now.
21:07
It's like following that same like curiosity,
21:11
curiosity like yes, I mean,
21:13
I'm not gonna stop now if anything,
21:15
this is a moment of opportunity for all of us as
21:17
humanity to find new solutions together.
21:20
So in any case,
21:21
I, I landed here coming from there and there was like
21:24
so driven, I was frankly unstoppable.
21:28
I was working in the digital space.
21:29
It was like a space that like few were exploring.
21:32
So it was signaling already that I was adventurous and,
21:35
and, and I was like driving my,
21:38
my, my own path and all these different things,
21:40
right? So I move with that drive.
21:43
I moved here to the US and I started to work in
21:45
different projects and in advertising and a couple of months in,
21:49
I'm having a conversation with my boss.
21:52
I was here already in New York and he said to
21:55
me, he announced to me with that accent.
22:00
You're not gonna get any far.
22:02
What with that accent?
22:04
You're not gonna get any far look.
22:07
I mean, I,
22:09
I wanna say like the comment,
22:11
of course, stop me.
22:13
I'm not going to go with you.
22:15
Oh I knew be,
22:17
no, no, no,
22:17
it stopped me completely.
22:18
For years. I started to become like so self conscious I
22:23
would create work and have others presenting my work.
22:26
I would always go back to the mirror and try to
22:29
you know, practice my English language pronunciation,
22:32
like a broken record trying to make sure that I did not
22:34
or I would not assimilate,
22:36
you know, to to,
22:37
to, to the places that I was coming from.
22:39
But I would like try to belong by sounding like a local
22:43
right? I did that,
22:44
like, for many,
22:45
many years, it was painful,
22:47
it was painful. It took I took a toll in
22:49
like, so many things including growth,
22:52
but including like self-confidence,
22:54
which at the end of the day has something to do
22:56
in your daily lives.
22:57
It's not just work,
22:59
you know, and one day I,
23:01
I decided I, I have to stop this.
23:04
I have to fight this.
23:05
This is not OK.
23:06
You know, I started to feel like really bad about it
23:09
Every time that I open my mouth,
23:11
I was like, I don't know,
23:11
maybe did I say greed,
23:12
right? You know,
23:13
I was like, and I was,
23:16
I was feeling it and I decided to,
23:18
to, to change the narrative to flip the script and to
23:23
move into the so called general market advertising world,
23:29
which is, you know,
23:30
working in, in a big agency at the time,
23:33
it was a very hot shop.
23:35
Everyone wanted to work there and I was invited to,
23:37
to build the strategy department.
23:39
And when I had my first meeting,
23:42
everyone was expecting me to present,
23:44
of course, I didn't share any of my imposter syndromes and
23:48
you know, like all my insecurities.
23:51
So I had to leave and the additional complexity was
23:55
that the presentation was done over the phone,
23:57
you know, so you have to speak slowly and then you
24:00
have to elaborate your thoughts.
24:02
And so I was shaking on the inside.
24:04
You can, I was I was so afraid of,
24:07
of them, like even asking my,
24:09
you know, when people actually say,
24:10
what's your name? Ariana?
24:12
No, what's your name?
24:12
Ariana? Like if you don't go in and,
24:15
and sound like a local,
24:16
like people like,
24:18
ask you the question,
24:19
can you repeat that?
24:21
So, so that little question,
24:22
can you repeat that?
24:23
Make you already like,
24:24
feel so self conscious,
24:26
right? So I go all in,
24:28
I say hello, the client on the other line stops me
24:31
right there. And she's like,
24:32
oh, who, who's that?
24:33
Who's that new person?
24:33
Imagine? Like I started to shake like a lift and then
24:36
she goes and says,
24:37
I love your accent,
24:40
you know, is that I,
24:41
I can still remember her voice.
24:45
I can still remember her voice.
24:46
I can still remember the inflection of her voice.
24:49
I can still remember my face.
24:51
I can still remember how relaxed and liberated I felt in that
24:55
very single moment of having someone validating your accent and in front
24:59
of others, you know what that is.
25:01
So that day like that was an inflection point.
25:03
Of course, it took me some time,
25:04
but that was an inflection point.
25:06
That day there was a before and after there was a before
25:09
and after, because I realized that accent has nothing to do
25:12
with the way you speak,
25:13
but everything to do with the way you are with,
25:16
the way you do with the things that you make with the
25:18
passion you put into things that you have to actually lead with
25:21
your accent. John Hide it.
25:23
I was telling Claudia that I,
25:26
when we started talking about the podcast,
25:28
I thought I have to get rid of my accent because we're
25:30
gonna do a podcast in English.
25:32
The audience may not speak Spanish.
25:34
I wanna make sure that everybody understands what I'm saying.
25:37
So I literally hired a coach and it was the worst hour
25:42
of my life. She criticized every word.
25:44
I said, I couldn't understand the difference between like what she
25:47
was saying it sounded like and what I was supposed to sound
25:49
like it was impossible.
25:51
But I was gonna go through it.
25:53
And I mentioned the two people and they were looking at me
25:57
like I had two heads,
25:58
like we understand what you're saying and we actually like your accent
26:02
So I'm kind of there is a difference,
26:05
right? And, and I think it's important for all of
26:06
us who come from like any place,
26:08
not just like Latin America,
26:09
who who, who speak English as a second language,
26:12
right? Which is one thing is clarity like in in communications
26:17
like clarity is super important like you like language exists so
26:20
we can actually understand each other,
26:21
right? So you need to make yourself understandable,
26:24
like and that's for sure,
26:26
right? But accent like the like if you search online right
26:29
now, there are hundreds of offerings of accent reduction classes
26:35
do that. Don't you ever do that?
26:37
You're gonna kill a part of who you are.
26:39
I mean, I win by leading with my accent.
26:42
I decided one day I woke up and I said,
26:43
you know what? Actually,
26:45
this is my biggest differentiator because accent means like different and different
26:49
is beautiful. And the way I earned that seat at the
26:52
table is by being different because if you are the same,
26:56
it's like who cares?
26:57
I don't want to say something else,
26:58
which is like I became so obsessed with language after that.
27:01
And accents and accent is that that I started to
27:05
to get into some research that basically is telling us that this
27:09
which is some people call it like broken accent or bad English
27:13
I love to call it bad English.
27:14
Bad English is good but English is like really good.
27:19
You know that English is the most spoken language around the
27:22
world. 1.4 billion people speak English around the world.
27:26
You know what the breakup is between native English speakers and non
27:30
natives. 400,000 people speak English as native speakers.
27:36
A billion point something people speak English like us.
27:39
Think about that for a second.
27:40
You know how many people speak Spanish over 500 million,
27:45
meaning more people than non,
27:47
than native English speakers.
27:50
And basically the research is telling us that when you get in
27:54
a room that's full of people speaking bad English,
27:58
right? You have more empathy,
27:59
no conversation flows. Everyone understands each other regardless of where you
28:04
are around the world.
28:04
You don't need to be speaking to another person from Mexico.
28:06
You can be speaking to someone from India,
28:08
you can be speaking from someone from China conversation flows.
28:11
There is understanding which is the purpose of language.
28:14
The second and native speakers gets into the room,
28:17
the conversation stops, understanding goes down,
28:22
everyone becomes like very self conscious.
28:25
The the the person that's speaking native English comes with lots of
28:29
you know, acronyms or,
28:31
or references that are not even like relevant to you.
28:34
It's like let's kick the ball out of the park.
28:36
Is that a good thing?
28:37
Who knows? You know.
28:38
So, so that's the point.
28:40
It's like the point is that,
28:41
which is like super simple and we need to forget about like
28:44
language. I don't know why we are so obsessed about it
28:46
right? Language is just a way we have to understand
28:49
each other. So as long as there is understanding,
28:51
voila, let's keep going,
28:53
my husband would say.
28:54
and actually he says that very publicly that the formula of
29:00
our happy marriage is that he understands two thirds of what I
29:03
say. She got like,
29:05
you know, there's,
29:06
there's a good third.
29:07
I have no idea what she's saying.
29:08
So I'm like, yes,
29:09
honey, he's acting like that.
29:12
But I, I mean,
29:13
I guess if we achieve our goal with this podcast and with
29:17
this episode, but with this podcast in general,
29:19
everybody that is listening and has an accent will forget about trying
29:23
to get rid of the accent and feel confident.
29:25
But the other thing that we want is we want for,
29:28
for people, for native speakers and non native speakers to think
29:32
of people with accents as people that are bilingual.
29:35
And there are things that happen in the brain when you are
29:38
bilingual, right? You are more flexible,
29:40
you are more comfortable with ambiguity.
29:42
And I mean, you can tell us how important those characteristics
29:47
are in the workplace today.
29:48
100% like I'll tell you since the the Cannes Festival and
29:52
since the talk, I still receive messages,
29:55
it's like crazy. It's like how many people have like resonated
29:57
with the message like that we're there or just like heard from
30:00
someone or got access to the talk or?
30:03
So it became like a thing,
30:04
right? The sad part of that is that the the takeaway
30:09
is that they, they can relate,
30:12
which is sad, you know that so people can relate to
30:14
to that message.
30:15
Now they can relate for many things.
30:17
Many are actual native English speakers,
30:20
but still may come from a place because don't forget when you
30:23
go back to the dictionary,
30:24
accent is defined as having a particular way of pronunciation that signals
30:31
maybe a socio economical reality,
30:34
you know what I'm saying?
30:35
So, so basically,
30:36
so many people, even native speakers are embarrassed or too self
30:40
aware of their accent and feel their accent is something that's getting
30:44
in the way, right?
30:45
So lots of people relating to that.
30:47
Now the the positive side,
30:49
if we flip the coin,
30:50
the positive side of all those messages that I'm getting from so
30:53
many people and in some cases,
30:55
not about the accent,
30:55
but about their names.
30:56
People cannot pronounce their names.
30:58
You know how hard it is.
30:59
You start a meeting.
31:00
The first thing that you are asking to do is to introduce
31:02
yourself. Oh, my name is and then people are,
31:04
what's your name again?
31:05
Like it's horrible, Juan Juan Juan,
31:08
it's like Juan it's Juan,
31:10
you know, it's like,
31:11
but, but, but you know how you feel after that
31:13
that's it. You're mute.
31:15
So you cannot be that person.
31:17
You like, oh there you can't because you feel like you're
31:19
being judged and evaluated by everyone around the table,
31:22
right? But the other part that I'm getting out of those
31:25
messages is, you know what?
31:26
It's sad I can relate but I feel free.
31:29
Now. There you go.
31:30
It's like I'm gonna move to the US.
31:32
I'm gonna move here,
31:33
I'm gonna move there.
31:33
I'm gonna like, stop caring about this.
31:35
I'm gonna lead with my accent.
31:36
And because there is a trend to Latinidad according to the Hispanics
31:40
Hispanic sentiment study that we launched at Cannes is very clear
31:44
that the pride, the,
31:46
the sense of pride that we have has moved from low to
31:50
high. More people are coming out as Latinos,
31:54
more people are feeling you know,
31:56
proud of their values,
31:58
Language is going up,
32:00
family and culture is going up.
32:02
So no wonder your message is resonating by now more.
32:05
And I think that what we need to do is take this
32:08
trend to Latini that take this trend to identity,
32:11
to empowerment, to real absorption and lead young Latinas particularly to
32:17
having that, that moment inflection moment that you had,
32:20
which I want to call the Aztec moment.
32:23
So when you realize that actually being a Latina having an accent
32:27
is a pro not a con that you have to come from
32:30
the shadows to the light that you have to lead with authentic
32:33
with your own self to what you're doing because it's going
32:36
to help you to get to where you are.
32:39
So it seems to me that that moment happened for you in
32:42
that, that inflection moment,
32:43
that Aztec moment of like whoop,
32:45
flipping it up and coming out and finding,
32:48
you know, having that eureka moment is when you find something
32:51
when you found that yourself,
32:53
you being your authentic self was going to helped you to lead
32:56
And it also helped that moment that eureka moment like help
33:00
me make sense of the past like decade that I spent
33:03
here like in this country without like understanding my place in it
33:07
right? Like you say things like sometimes when you
33:10
give talks and, and you know,
33:11
I'm always there first row.
33:13
and you say things like,
33:14
oh I learned that I was Hispanic,
33:15
I learned that I was Latina when I moved here because you
33:17
never like put a label into like,
33:19
yeah, like that's not a thing,
33:20
right? So you move here and then suddenly you,
33:22
you're part of a group,
33:23
you didn't know you were even invited to the group and you've
33:25
been like assigned to it,
33:27
right? So, so I remember when I moved here and
33:29
I started to work in the creative Space,
33:32
right? That still we were emerging from years of having people
33:36
trying to belong by assimilating into the local culture,
33:39
right? And then we start to see like some like elements
33:41
of acculturation which was like,
33:43
I'm not going to assimilate.
33:44
I'm gonna take some elements from my culture,
33:45
from this culture. I'm going to make something like that's OK
33:48
Now I remember some like moments,
33:51
I'm gonna say all this like all the dates are gonna be
33:54
wrong. OK? But it's,
33:55
it's, it's a timeline I had in my head right now
33:58
I remember maybe 9490 something,
34:01
maybe a little bit later.
34:02
But I remember Shakira for the first time becoming the face of
34:07
a soda brand like Pepsi with hips.
34:10
Don't lie. I remember like,
34:12
oh my God, there is a moment here,
34:13
there's a moment here that's mainstream.
34:15
It was not created for this group,
34:18
this club like, right?
34:19
And then I remember Ricky Martin going to,
34:21
I, I believe it was 98.
34:23
He sang the, the,
34:25
the, the, the World Cup song,
34:26
The Cup of Life.
34:27
And then I was like,
34:28
the world is singing his song.
34:31
I, I think I share with you the story.
34:33
But you know, when I first moved here and before I
34:35
start to work in advertising,
34:36
like a dear friend,
34:38
Alberto, he's from Colombia but he lives in Miami.
34:41
He came to me.
34:42
and and he said like,
34:44
hey, I have this idea.
34:45
I'm joining my other friend also.
34:47
Alberto, also from Colombia and my mother's trainer,
34:50
Alberto from Colombia and the three Albertos wanna create this thing.
34:54
Here's the pitch. And he said to me,
34:57
we're gonna merge salsa with aerobics and we're gonna hire Carmen Electra
35:03
who's going to jump out of a helicopter.
35:05
She's gonna land on this beautiful Mexican beach where they're gonna dance
35:09
together, Betto Alberta,
35:10
the trainer is going to be waiting for her.
35:12
We're gonna shoot that,
35:13
put it on a CD rom,
35:14
sell it on univision.com as an infomercial.
35:17
And then my friend created Zumba.
35:18
The reason I'm bringing this is that you had Shakira and then
35:20
you had Rick and then you had Zumba 2001 here is a
35:24
revolution in the world of fitness that has permeated almost every single
35:28
country. The number of countries that we have at the UN
35:31
is like what? 193 OK?
35:32
They are in 180 something countries,
35:34
right? Where Latin rhythms are dominating a way of having fun
35:39
Yeah. And if we circle back with how I started
35:42
which is, it's not about the technology,
35:44
it's not about the,
35:44
it's about the human element.
35:46
Humans were telling us working out,
35:49
takes work. Who wants that?
35:51
So I was like,
35:51
I have, I have to do it,
35:53
you know, but then Alberto,
35:55
the three of them realized,
35:57
you know what? Dancing with others Latin rhythms.
36:00
That's fun. Who doesn't wanna have fun?
36:02
Who doesn't wanna dance like the rhythm of like Latin music.
36:06
Sign me up and he creates zumba and that's why following,
36:10
you know, that human truth,
36:12
the human element is that he created such a powerful thing that's
36:14
permeating now mainstream. So they flip the script of workout.
36:19
Yeah. Yeah. And,
36:20
and talking about flipping the script,
36:22
let's talk about it.
36:23
Let's go. Yeah.
36:24
We, one of the things that we want to do with
36:26
this podcast is to flip this crypt because we think that it's
36:29
in the benefit of Latinas but also in the benefit of companies
36:32
for Latinas to be comfortable in the workplace.
36:36
Like if you think about the amount of mental bandwidth that a
36:40
Latina employee and any diverse employee spends trying to fit in,
36:46
if we could quantify it,
36:47
I bet you it's like billions of dollars of wasted energy of
36:52
people that instead of being focused on their task,
36:55
they're focused on fitting in.
36:56
So we want Latinas to feel like they don't have to work
36:59
on that, that they can dedicate all their bandwidth to doing
37:02
the work. And part of that means taking some of
37:06
the characteristics that are inherently Latinas or associated with Latina women and
37:11
have had kind of a bad name and flipping the script and
37:14
saying yeah, we are X but instead of seeing it with
37:18
this lens, what if we see it with this other lens
37:21
And we, I mean,
37:22
is there, is there any characteristic of Latinas that you think
37:25
it's misunderstood or that we could flip the besides the accent since
37:30
we already about the a and let's look at the issues of
37:33
corporations today. We are already everything that everybody would want.
37:37
We are bicultural, we are bilingual,
37:39
therefore, we are able to adapt.
37:41
We have the greed,
37:41
we have the perseverance and the passion and yet those elements are
37:46
not seen today and they are seen as stereotypes,
37:50
passion loud. Pobre Sita you know,
37:55
family is not too close to me.
37:57
How do we flip the script?
37:58
What are things that you have seen in companies?
38:00
What are things that you have,
38:02
you know, like you use yourself?
38:04
That could be, I love the,
38:05
you're, you're too close to me because I,
38:07
I get into every single meeting and I go and I say
38:10
you know, I'm gonna hug you.
38:11
I hear you like,
38:13
they don't know what to do,
38:14
you know this like hug.
38:15
That's like almost like crazy.
38:16
I, I go early and I'm gonna hug you.
38:18
And not just that there is a study that that
38:20
was done by my previous agency.
38:23
It's a fascinating study on personal space and the country with
38:27
the smallest personal space in the world is Argentina.
38:30
OK. So yes,
38:32
that we, we really allow closeness.
38:34
So II I feel actually very comfortable when I have someone
38:39
sitting close to me.
38:40
So yeah, in any case I in in terms of
38:42
like those values, I would say there are two in particular
38:45
that I used to live with that,
38:50
of course, typical examples of being Latina,
38:54
something that we all,
38:56
all of us who at least were born outside of the
38:59
US bring with us.
39:02
One is I lead like a mother.
39:05
Oh I love that.
39:06
OK. And I lead like a mother means like many different
39:09
things. Like I was leading as a mother before I became
39:12
a mother, right?
39:13
So leading as a mother is,
39:15
is something critical in terms of team building,
39:20
caring for the people that are working with you.
39:22
Yeah, the famil is like,
39:25
because you're not alone those days.
39:27
So you're on your own and you have to fight for your
39:29
own career. Like,
39:30
no, you can't get anywhere like creativity in particular is a
39:33
team sport, right?
39:34
So you either bring everybody in and you know how to keep
39:38
the family flowing and working and you know,
39:41
we know how to deal with like drama,
39:44
right? So that's actually very important,
39:46
right? So I live like a mother.
39:48
That's one thing. And the second thing I would say,
39:50
how do you make sure that people understand that's a pro and
39:54
not a con. How did you train your coworkers?
39:56
How did you train your managers?
39:58
How did you create cultural environments in your organization to appreciate that
40:04
Leading as a mother means leading not famil Right.
40:09
Yes. And not,
40:10
like, over protection and not like I,
40:12
she's too weak. She's too social.
40:14
She's too, this,
40:14
I like that. Which is what happens right now.
40:16
The, the attributes that we're bringing are not seen as corporate
40:21
attributes. How did you do that?
40:22
Or maybe they think we should be in hr,
40:25
but they don't think we should be like the CEO.
40:27
Exactly. But, but I'll go back,
40:29
I, I go back to like my obsession with the excellence
40:33
in, in work and the actual thing that I produce,
40:35
right? When you have the results,
40:37
you know, that that's the thing.
40:38
It's like we, we're like,
40:39
what's the typical thing that you are asked to when you
40:42
present something, oh,
40:43
show me a case study,
40:44
you know. So when,
40:45
when you turn into your own case study,
40:48
little by little, you flip that,
40:49
that script, right?
40:51
So if I'm telling you this is how I lead and I'm
40:54
leading as a mother because I live with care care.
40:57
I think some, sometimes we forget about like words and there's
41:00
like all these like lingo associated with the workplace.
41:03
Sometimes we forget to talk about that thing.
41:05
Little thing care, you know,
41:08
because I care about the work,
41:09
I care about the people I work with.
41:12
I care about the people I don't work with.
41:14
I care about my clients.
41:15
I care when you care,
41:17
which is a key characteristic of like living as a mother I
41:21
mean, that's going to have a direct impact in the work
41:24
that you create. And when that's the case,
41:26
someone will want to replicate that and the only way to replicate
41:29
that is to follow your recipe.
41:31
So goalie doesn't matter and care is such an important word in
41:35
a automation like world where artificial intelligence,
41:39
you know, like where so much robotic is going to take
41:41
care, there's no care,
41:43
there's no human touch.
41:44
So those, those services and those areas will be important.
41:47
That's one. But the other one if I may is
41:51
you know, like I if you you go back home
41:54
right? And you have a cold,
41:57
you don't go maybe to,
41:59
to the doctor to get a diagnostic and take a test.
42:03
Like you just like call your abuela if,
42:05
if she's still around or someone with the like abuela as a
42:08
as, as a mindset.
42:10
OK? And then you just ask them,
42:12
what do I do?
42:13
And she would probably say,
42:14
hey, you know what?
42:15
Take some honey with sugar and put some,
42:21
put some sool or lemon something.
42:23
It's like you, you'll be fine and if not your plan
42:25
B is go to go to the doctor or I go to
42:27
the pharmacy all to say that you have to be resourceful,
42:31
right? Like it's,
42:32
it's, it's like critical like in today's world where you have
42:36
to navigate like I work in a big corporation.
42:38
OK? My, my,
42:39
the, the the size of my company is the size of
42:41
a country. We have 730,000 people.
42:44
Right. You need to be resourceful in order to know and
42:48
learn how to navigate this world,
42:51
how to activate people,
42:52
how to get the resources.
42:54
And of course, you face so many barriers but you have
42:57
to keep that resourcefulness.
42:58
You have to know that it's OK sometimes to,
43:03
you know, go with the honey,
43:05
the tequila and the lemon instead of like waiting for certain things
43:09
to happen because otherwise you become too robotic.
43:12
Mhm Right. Yeah.
43:15
And I when I hear the two that you just said
43:17
I think the first one can't live without the second one
43:20
because if, if our audience takes us the learning that being
43:25
motherly or being caring and delivering results is enough,
43:30
I mean, a lot of people deliver results but they don't
43:32
build the case study,
43:33
they don't show up,
43:35
they don't, they don't know how decisions are made in the
43:37
company and who has to know that they actually deliver the results
43:41
So it's deliver the results and then make sure that you
43:43
understand how the company works and who has to know that you
43:46
deliver those results. And I think that look,
43:49
if I would have known when I was 30 years old,
43:52
a number of the things that I know today that I hear
43:54
today from you information is power and we need Latinas to be
44:00
empowered to be embracing their power by knowing their power.
44:04
So if you are leading as a Latina,
44:05
if you're leading as a mother,
44:07
if you know that you're resourceful,
44:08
because you had to navigate your parents coming,
44:12
you know, like maybe,
44:15
you know, like maybe as immigrants,
44:16
maybe no English, maybe you're the first person in your family
44:19
that graduates, maybe you had to navigate and translate for your
44:22
parents, the bank statements and the doctors,
44:24
you had to be resourced to be able to,
44:27
you know, like advocate for yourself because no one was there
44:30
to advocate for you.
44:31
You are resourceful by definition.
44:33
So just empower like take it and know that that's an incredible
44:37
resource and an incredible talent and a skill that you have to
44:41
bring to corporations. Once you know,
44:43
and once you embrace that knowing that power to give you power
44:47
then you can claim your space,
44:48
then you can come and put your back your flag and say
44:52
this is a space where I can be,
44:54
this is my space,
44:55
this is me and then together we can go and conquer those
44:58
places where we have to be.
45:00
But I think that it all starts by knowing and if I
45:03
would have known when I was 30 probably,
45:06
you know, like we all could have been in a very
45:09
different position. What I did something like that,
45:12
you know, you,
45:13
you reminded me. There's another thing that as long as
45:18
we can. Right.
45:18
We, we should try to bring to,
45:21
to the meeting room,
45:23
which is a sense of humor.
45:25
Right. In many,
45:26
I know, but in many cases that is the sense of
45:29
humor that helps unlock so many things because sometimes we need to
45:33
understand that people on the other side,
45:36
maybe they don't. But that's the point is like,
45:39
maybe they don't have an agenda.
45:41
Maybe they just don't know how to engage with you.
45:43
Look, you come.
45:44
Hello, C is coming.
45:46
It's like some people don't even know what to do with that
45:48
So as a self defense mechanism,
45:49
they just put the,
45:50
I remember my first job back home,
45:54
I got into AAA meeting room and then my boss at the
45:59
time said to me coffee and then I said no,
46:03
thank you for that.
46:07
But see, but that's the point.
46:09
The point is that he was a bit like confused and shocked
46:12
but then he started to laugh and then we were like
46:14
and then he understood,
46:15
hey, sorry, like I'm,
46:16
if that's right, it's not gonna happen.
46:18
I'm not gonna make you cough,
46:19
you know, and,
46:20
and thank you, I don't want one.
46:22
So, but that's the point.
46:23
The point is that sometimes it's like,
46:24
let's not take ourselves too seriously and let's understand that the people
46:28
are not necessarily wearing their gloves like all the time.
46:30
And when we get into the meeting,
46:32
we don't need to go on a fight and then maybe there
46:35
is a little bit of education that needs to happen to,
46:39
you know, to liberate not just us,
46:41
but them and then you have a better meeting.
46:43
Ok. So I feel like we have a lot of things
46:45
to tell our 30 year old self.
46:47
But is there anything that we haven't covered that you would like
46:51
to give your 30 year old?
46:53
So let's do this again.
46:57
Is there any in your curious mind and technology vision?
47:02
When is the time machine coming up that we can go back
47:05
to give? But in all seriousness.
47:08
So, I mean,
47:10
self doubt is, it's,
47:11
it's our biggest enemy.
47:13
Fine. And I,
47:15
I don't know how we can stop that.
47:16
But if we have too many people saying to us with that
47:20
accent, you're not gonna get far,
47:22
right? We're gonna keep self doubting.
47:24
But if you have lots of people reminding us how beautiful our
47:27
accent is and I'm using this just as a metaphor right now
47:31
We're gonna keep like going forward.
47:32
So, what I would say is that if anything paid forward
47:35
what I'm trying to do right now is like now that
47:37
I understood, you know,
47:38
what happened to me.
47:39
So 34 months ago and it's been 15 years of that like
47:43
moment when that client said to me,
47:45
you know, I love your accent and in one
47:48
of your events at the Hispanic,
47:51
leadership Summit last year,
47:53
just last year, this past December.
47:55
I'm on stage there with Gavin Natale on stage.
47:58
And then she comes to me and says,
47:59
like, Ariana II,
48:00
I always have this question for you because she gave a TED
48:02
talk, I believe on accent is and she said to me
48:05
it's like Ariana,
48:06
have you ever thanked that client that said to you,
48:08
I love your accent.
48:10
I was like, oh,
48:12
like, you know,
48:12
I never like, even got the question before.
48:14
I was like, no,
48:16
but look, I mean,
48:17
it's been 15 years.
48:18
I don't remember her name.
48:20
I never saw her because it was a phone call.
48:23
She was a client and,
48:24
you know, there is always that like distance between the client
48:27
on top of that.
48:29
I worked, I changed my job and don't,
48:31
don't forget like right now it's ok to talk about those things
48:35
that like you've been struggling with and your weaknesses or perceived weaknesses
48:39
because you made it already 15 years ago.
48:42
It was not ok to go there and say like I wanna
48:44
thank you, you know,
48:45
your comment just and like,
48:47
no. Right. OK.
48:48
It's been 15 years.
48:49
I never thought about it.
48:49
So I said no.
48:50
And then she said,
48:51
well, you, you're gonna make someone happy and I was
48:54
like, how do I even do that?
48:55
So I started to ask people like,
48:56
but it was impossible.
48:57
I was leading to like,
48:58
no, nowhere I had no cues into how to,
49:01
find her.
49:02
And then cut three months ago,
49:06
I'm invited by our leadership team to a,
49:08
to a dinner,,
49:10
very high,,
49:11
senior level c sweet dinner.
49:14
Right. And it's with Marriott and I haven't touched that business
49:19
in 15 years. I,
49:20
I was just invited to dinner to have like a good conversation
49:23
discuss about, like some possibilities.
49:25
And as I'm engaging in conversation with the person sitting next to
49:28
me who I've never met,
49:30
you know, we were at some point like running out
49:32
of talk and I'm like,
49:34
hold on one second.
49:34
This person that said this to me.
49:38
I was working at Marriott at the time.
49:40
I'm gonna ask him,
49:40
maybe he can give me a cue.
49:41
I know it's been 15 years.
49:42
The chances are zero,
49:43
but still I'll try.
49:44
So I share my story with him and then his face,
49:48
he turned pale and he's like Ariana,
49:50
the person you're looking for is our global co and she's sitting
49:53
behind you. II,
49:55
I can, I,
49:56
I can still feel it.
49:58
I turn, I share my story with her.
50:00
We hug each other like I,
50:01
I posted that there was there was actually the post
50:04
on linkedin and that got the invitation to speak.
50:07
And a about the story.
50:10
The point is I think her,
50:11
like I, I said to her things like I remember saying
50:14
to her, it's like I don't know how to even thank
50:15
you. Like I,
50:17
I and, and she was like,
50:19
you don't have to think.
50:21
I'm like, I have to thank you,
50:22
you know, and I,
50:23
I am hoping that we in like in life,
50:27
say more, thank you for those like little acts that actually
50:32
travel so much and can create so much space for all of
50:35
us. So let's pay forward.
50:36
So what I would say to someone is like,
50:37
be always in both sides,
50:39
the receiving side of,
50:41
you know, receiving that advice and mentorship.
50:43
But that day when you make it or when some like just
50:47
pay forward and pay it forward,
50:49
being your unapologetic self lead a La Latina.
50:53
A Well, thank you so much Ariana Stolas for being with
50:57
us today. Thank you,
50:58
Ariana. This was great.
51:00
We learned a lot.
51:00
I have, I I took a lot of notes.
51:02
I'm sure our audience is going to really benefit from all your
51:05
insights and your generosity.
51:06
Thank you for playing it forward.
51:08
Thank you very.