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
00:38
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
01:30
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
it looks like clarity,
02:27
but it was actually curiosity,
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
03:21
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
like path like how do you get from one place to the
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,
05:04
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
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,
07:34
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
07:42
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
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,
08:48
But at the end of the day I really admire and you
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.
09:15
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
make you proud. Yeah.
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
That, that's that's the most iconic game.
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.
10:27
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
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.
11:03
Learning by doing has been also a key element throughout my
11:05
career. The reason I'm saying that is that the idea
11:09
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.
11:25
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
11:35
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,
12:03
we all learned a lot from that experience.
12:04
Those were still the early days.
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.
12:16
2001. What were you doing in 2000?
12:22
a Times magazine from 1994.
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,
12:40
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.
12:48
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
13:12
it's funky. A few people that you were not.
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?
13:31
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
totally qualified. And at the same time we're entrepreneurs so we
14:14
So there is a contradiction.
14:16
I think that, you know,
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,
14:39
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
14:53
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.
15:03
I, I'll tell you something.
15:06
I, at some point in my life I decided thanks
15:12
I decided to start practicing Taekwondo.
15:16
I did not know that.
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,
15:32
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
16:17
right? And then that means that they've been practicing more than
16:21
you and then you respect them,
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,
16:34
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.
17:08
I'm a, I'm a first down black belt.
17:10
You are a black belt?
17:12
Yes, I'm telling you.
17:15
I can, I can break this table with my,
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
17:36
Next. No, that's the beginning of OK.
17:38
Now, then you're ready.
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
19:31
but it's very similar which,
19:35
which says that in academic,
19:37
sorry, in military services,
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,
20:08
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.
21:21
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.
22:09
I wanna say like the comment,
22:13
I'm not going to go with you.
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,
22:37
to, to the places that I was coming from.
22:39
But I would like try to belong by sounding like a local
22:45
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.
22:59
you know, and one day I,
23:01
I decided I, I have to stop this.
23:04
I have to fight this.
23:06
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,
23:13
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,
23:30
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,
24:18
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
24:40
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
29:06
there's a good third.
29:07
I have no idea what she's saying.
29:09
honey, he's acting like that.
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
30:15
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?
30:36
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
30:45
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.
31:30
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.
34:25
the, the, the World Cup song,
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,
34:38
Alberto, he's from Colombia but he lives in Miami.
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,
35:14
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 about the human element.
35:46
Humans were telling us working out,
35:49
takes work. Who wants that?
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.
36:20
and talking about flipping the script,
36:22
let's talk about it.
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
37:22
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 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.
38:13
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.
38:32
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
39:02
One is I lead like a mother.
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
39:13
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
39:30
no, you can't get anywhere like creativity in particular is a
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.
40:10
like, over protection and not like I,
40:12
she's too weak. She's too social.
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,
40:45
when you turn into your own case study,
40:48
little by little, you flip that,
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
42:10
OK? And then you just ask them,
42:13
And she would probably say,
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,
42:32
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.
42:39
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.
43:15
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,
43:35
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,
44:55
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,
45:13
you reminded me. There's another thing that as long as
45:18
We, we should try to bring to,
45:21
to the meeting room,
45:23
which is a sense of humor.
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.
45:46
It's like some people don't even know what to do with that
45:48
So as a self defense mechanism,
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,
46:07
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,
46:20
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.
47:10
self doubt is, it's,
47:11
it's our biggest enemy.
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,
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
48:06
have you ever thanked that client that said to you,
48:12
I never like, even got the question before.
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
48:29
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,
48:49
I never thought about it.
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,
49:02
And then cut three months ago,
49:06
I'm invited by our leadership team to a,
49:11
senior level c sweet dinner.
49:14
Right. And it's with Marriott and I haven't touched that business
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
This person that said this to me.
49:38
I was working at Marriott at the time.
49:40
maybe he can give me a cue.
49:41
I know it's been 15 years.
49:42
The chances are zero,
49:44
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
49:56
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
50:17
I and, and she was like,
50:19
you don't have to think.
50:21
I'm like, I have to thank you,
50:23
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
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.
Series