00:00
Hola. I'm Claudia Romo Edelman and I'm Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner and
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a La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
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we interviewed Bea Perez,
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the Chief Communications Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer of Coca Cola.
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Here are her three main takeaways.
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Number one, learn to take educated risks by rejecting your first
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thought, not getting caught up in the details and asking for
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help before making a decision.
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Number two, invest in learning how your business works even if
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it means taking a step back or even a pay cut.
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And number three, the importance of protecting your reputation and building
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trust by staying authentic to yourself all of that and more here
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Welcome to the podcast A La Latina,
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the playbook to succeed being your authentic self today.
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I'm excited. We have an incredible guest,
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Bea Perez. Get ready.
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I'm gonna make the introduction and this is a long introduction from
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someone very accomplished. Ok,
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get ready. She is the Chief Communications Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships
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Officer for the Coca Cola Company.
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She leads commitments to global leadership in areas of environmental,
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social and governance as well.
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As global, external and internal communications.
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Global brand, public relations,
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financial communications and leadership communications.
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She also leads the strategic direction and business performance for the company's
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retail licensing and attractions portfolio of assets.
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She is the chair of the Coca Cola Foundation.
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Yes, the company's global philanthropic arm.
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She's a member of the Board of Trustees of Children's Health Care
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of Atlanta, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Coca Cola Scholars
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Foundation, a public Director of Prime America and WW Granger Inc
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Welcome Bea. It's such a pleasure having you here.
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You are a true Trailblazer,
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a role model and an inspiration for everyone including me.
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Thank you for being,
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Thank you Cynthia. So I love being here with both of
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you. So thank you so much.
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Absolutely. So we wanna start at the beginning.
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Can you tell us about how you grew up the circumstances in
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which you were raised?
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And if you can trace any of your current working values to
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that or bringing that would be great for our audience.
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So I feel fortunate I was raised by a very powerful Latina
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Her name is Sylvia Rodriguez.
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My mother was someone who was 15 years old,
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had to leave her country and leave everything behind.
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She's from Cuba and when she left her family was split and
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so she found herself in Spain and really had to back then
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no mobile phones, right?
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So she had to hitchhike and find her way to her family
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she was resourceful before she left Cuba,
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she took her jacket,
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ripped the lining, put jewelry in so she could sell pieces
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of jewelry around the way in order to be able to feed
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herself, get a place to sleep.
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And ultimately, she found her family and when she found them
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she spent a couple of years there in Spain.
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And that's where she met my father.
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They got married, they wanted to come to the United States
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because she was split from her mother,
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from her brothers and they were in the United States.
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And so she really wanted to reconnect with the entire family.
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And so that's what she did.
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She said I'm raising my daughters right here in the United States
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of America and they're going to live the American.
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And so what I learned from her because fast forward,
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she got a fellowship at the White House.
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She started a business.
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And so I learned a couple of things I learned.
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First of all, never complain.
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My life will never be as hard as leaving your country at
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the age of 15 and having to find a family and rebuild
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and start over. But also the values of really respecting where
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people are coming from and getting to know people and not just
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on the surface but really building good relationships where you understand the
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whole person and what they're about and always being honest she would
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say when I left my country,
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there were only two things I had,
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I had my education and I had my reputation.
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If I told someone I was gonna do something,
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then I had to deliver it because that was actually really important
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because otherwise, how would they trust me?
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And so I learned that from my mother and I feel like
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at work that is really important as well.
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That's great. Shout out to her mom.
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That's great. And to all of us and,
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and who doesn't have a Latina mother that doesn't tell you and
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probably we'll start doing that to our kids.
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Do not complain. You don't know how hard I had it
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and bla bla bla like all of us and the ability to
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have to compliment and complain at the same time just like criticize
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not complain, like compliment.
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And that's right. That's right.
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But I do want to address this.
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how did you manage to stand out?
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Yeah. So through a lot of help and asking a lot
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of questions, but also going back to what my mother taught
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you also can't be afraid to fail.
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What do you have to lose?
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Right. It can never be that bad.
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It's not like I have to leave my country.
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If I fail, I have to,
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I might leave a job,
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right? Or the job might leave me,
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but I would learn something and So for me,
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it was trying to understand who was I working with,
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was I able to contribute and was I learning?
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it was very interesting.
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I started at a very entry level role and it was Hispanic
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marketing. And so I started in Hispanic marketing.
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Then I got asked to go up through brand management.
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Wait, wait, you're saying you started in Hispanic marketing.
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Yes, I worked for Lionel Sosa.
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And so he had the Coca Cola account and then I don't
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know if you recall his business was then bought and it became
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DMB and B and Ernest Bromley Al Aguilar.
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And so I was really working for them on the Coca Cola
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business when I first started and then Coca Cola recognized some of
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the work that I've been doing and asked me to move into
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brand management. And so then I got into Coca Cola and
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I was working with them as a partnership in Coke now as
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a Coke employee. And I hit a certain level where my
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career was going up.
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I was about to be promoted to brand director and I was
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going, going and someone stopped me.
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He stopped me in a hallway.
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He was a top operator and he said he'd been watching,
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he'd seen me in meetings.
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He said, I asked questions.
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He said every now and then I wasn't afraid to say what
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I thought about someone's plan,
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but everyone would look and be like,
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he said he noticed that.
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it was really my hallway cubicle.
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That's where I sat at the time.
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And he said, I want to take you to lunch.
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And he told me a story over lunch.
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companies can be like a merry go round,
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you can go up and down on the carousel,
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have a fantastic career.
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Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down.
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He said, or you could choose to operate the merry go
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but that requires is you have to get off the horse,
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you have to have a point of view and you have to
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do things that you're gonna learn from.
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He said, and you won't always be popular.
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He said, and so there's some risk with that.
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Then he offered me a job and I was really interested.
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It was in operations.
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I'd never done operations.
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It was like operations coming from brand marketing to operations.
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Why would I want to do that?
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But it was because he said you will never actually sit in
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the c suite unless you learn the arithmetic of the business.
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And so I actually went to talk to him somewhere.
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I found out that the job was actually two pay grades down
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because I couldn't start an operation even laterally because I didn't know
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it. So I actually had to look at the entry point
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in operations. And I remember the other thing he said to
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you will learn, you will never look back.
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And he said, when you come out of operations,
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you're gonna leapfrog most of your peers.
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So I spent several years with him.
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I rotated through two different bottling companies.
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I looked and worked in different geographies.
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I learned how the business works.
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When I came back in to run sports and entertainment marketing back
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in the, in that Eric,
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there was an opening.
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It was really interesting,
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that was actually three job rates up from where I had been
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And he said you need to go and interview for this
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You're gonna get it.
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The difference in the interview that I was told why I did
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get that job was because I could actually speak to the business
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benefits and taking our sports sponsorships or entertainment partners and actually driving
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growth in the business.
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I would have never done that if I didn't take that step
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back and actually do the learning that I had to do in
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operations. And now today I'm very grateful because I can sit
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down and have conversations with our operators,
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with our CFO and I can speak the language of the business
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I know how to make the money in the business or
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how it works. I have to know how to,
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you know, focus on risk mitigation because I also understand what
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the operators are facing every day in the local context.
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So I'm very grateful because for me,
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it was actually taking that step back to then leapfrog and go
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so much more forward,
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which I believe is why I'm sitting in the executive team today
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And I have to tell you this is something that is
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not the first time we hear and it is the first time
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in my life after so many years that I'm like,
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even noticing or being conscious about like how important it is to
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be able to the merry go round to be the operator of
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the merry go round and see like,
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where do I want to be and take the risk of for
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lateral moves. This is the first time I hear even going
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backwards as a, as a way to go.
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And he did cut my salary just so,
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the one thing that you're the first person that says,
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that makes this comment and,
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and I'm noticing it because I've,
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I've worked in different industries.
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It's identifying where the business decisions are made and how the company
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makes money. For example,
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in retail, if you see who makes it to the CEO
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it's the merchandisers.
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So do you really understand how Walmart is run or any retailer
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if you go and become a buyer?
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And when I was doing research,
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research on you, I realized,
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you know how the butlers think and I don't think you can
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ever like race to the top at Coca Cola if you don't
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have that insight. So besides the step back is where does
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And if you wanna really accelerate your career,
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make sure that you get some experience in that function.
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I could go deeper here,
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but let's go have so much ground to cover.
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You have been tasked with staying in,
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in the like, it's like in the right place at the
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right time throughout your career in Coca Cola where you have been
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in the like crucial strategic moments from the digital transformation or
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the marketing functions, sustainability.
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was that intentional? Was someone telling you what it just
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happened to be lock or were you looking at your 10 years
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from now? What's gonna happen?
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What's gonna be definitely was not intentional.
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And so, so I tend to think of my career in
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So most people talk ladder straight up,
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climb up, but you can also fall quickly back down,
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right? My career has been,
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well, I'm over here and then I go this way down
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the lattice to actually learn something which then actually pulls me sometimes
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way up here and then sometimes I kinda come back on the
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other side and go down a little bit and go lateral and
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go back up. And so yes,
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my career makes no sense.
10:53
Right. I've been in Hispanic,
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marketing, brand management,
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field operations, sports,
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entertainment, digital marketing,
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sustainability, now, communications foundation.
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Right. It doesn't all seem to fit together.
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However, what I was very fortunate is I had that Gary
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my mentor who actually,
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you know, and he hated that word.
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He's like, I'm not your mentor.
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I just told you to take a demotion and I cut your
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pay and gave you this opportunity.
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But he was the one who would really push me and be
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truthful about what it takes to get to the CEO you have
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to know operations. You have to know how the bottling system
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works. You have to know how our customers work.
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You have to understand the local context.
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And then it was interesting,
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he did something that is also unusual.
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He introduced me to the CFO at the time.
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So there another Gary and he said,
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I've asked Gary to mentor you to get you on the radar
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so you can meet more people.
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And I thought I had a pretty good network of people.
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But what I didn't realize is my network was more around me
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And sort of where I spent my time,
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my network was not gonna be in the financial community or even
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in the C suite at that point.
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And so what Gary did is he spent time taking me to
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lunches. And I thought in the beginning,
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what am I getting out of this?
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The guy's not telling me anything about the business?
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I'm going to all these lunches and I don't have time for
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lunches. I have work to do.
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And then it was interesting.
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It was one of those lunches that actually led to other people
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having a plan for me that I didn't even realize our company
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was moving into sustainability.
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We'd already been doing the work for many years but not formulated
12:14
into the business. And so the current chairman NCO at the
12:18
time, Mutar Kent wanted to integrate sustainability to the business and
12:21
put discipline. When he realized that I understood how to build
12:24
strategic plans, that I actually understood how to talk to the
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Boers where most of the work would be delivered.
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He called me for a meeting and it was interesting.
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It was only because I had met him at one of these
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events and dinners or lunches.
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And I thought he was calling me about Coke Zero because
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I had also launched Coke Zero.
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So I come in with all my storyboards,
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the new ad campaign,
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I'm ready to have a different conversation.
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He looks at me like this.
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He said, what is all of that?
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I said, did you call me for Coke Zero?
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it's like leave all that outside,
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come sit down. And he said,
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well, what I'd like to do is ask you to be
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the first Chief Sustainability Officer of the Coca Cola Company.
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And I, I started to laugh and I said,
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what, what even is that I didn't,
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I didn't really know what he meant.
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I said, we don't have one of those.
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we're going to create it.
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And he said, I've been watching your marketing,
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everything you do is diet coke,
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heart health, National Parks programs.
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He said, everything you do in marketing is about giving back
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what I've realized is that the company needs to get smarter about
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our water use packaging,
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how we think of women's empowerment.
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He said, you're the person who can build the plan.
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And he said, and you're gonna hire really smart people who
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will know all the different areas and then you're gonna integrate this
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to the business. And he said,
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because you have credibility with the system and that was sort of
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you know, my eyes got really big and I said
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this is pretty exciting now,
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very interesting too. This another lesson within a lesson.
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He said, so are you in and do you want anything
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And of course, I fell into the trap that a lot
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I'd be happy to have a great team.
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You know, I want to make sure that we have budgets
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I wanna make sure that you can maybe make some introductions
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I want to learn a little bit and he kept looking
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at me, he said anything else?
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he goes do me a favor.
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He was walk outside,
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spend 10 minutes in the hallway,
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think about it, then come back in and tell me what
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you really, really want to do this job.
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I walked outside. I was like,
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I don't know what he wants.
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What is he telling me without telling me?
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his assistant Michelle at the time said he's basically telling you to
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put your number down.
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Every guy who gets offered a job will ask for a bigger
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title and for more money,
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she was, that's what Mutar is trying to tell you without
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telling you. So I walked back in and I said actually
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I want to make sure it is a Chief sustainability officer,
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And I want to make sure I report to you and I
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would like an increase in my salary.
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And then I was sweating,
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you know, because I'd never really asked for that before.
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done and he looked at me and he said,
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do you want to give me your number or do you want
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me to give you your number?
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And I had negotiated sports sponsorships and I said,
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no, no, you give me your number and we'll see
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And then he laughed,
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he goes, it'll be worth it.
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Very fair. Matra had the chief title.
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Matra had the seat at the table in the leadership meetings.
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And it was the first time I realized that actually part of
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his secret mission was he actually was the one who created five
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by 25 million women by 2020.
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And that was what he wanted to do because he had a
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daughter, he wanted,
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you know, she was a jewelry designer,
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actually has a little store here in New York and she wanted
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to make sure that women like that could be successful in corporate
15:27
America. So Muar had that as a mission,
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but it was interesting,
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he wasn't very public about that for a long time.
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But the moment I got into the role,
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it was really quite incredible.
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I saw so much support from him.
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And so what I found is that right place,
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right time. But you have to say yes.
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Right. You so I could have said no.
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And I could have gone back to my marketing role and it
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would have been very nice and easy,
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would have had another whatever 10 year career at Coca Cola at
15:53
you know, this was new.
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I, I could have failed.
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it could have all fallen apart or maybe the system might not
15:59
have taken me seriously.
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I could have disappointed him when he transitioned out and the new
16:04
CEO came in, they could have abandoned the whole area.
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That's a choice. So what I realized is,
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is that while we're put in positions to have these opportunities.
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It's also up to us to say yes or no and then
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to do something with those opportunities and to bring others with us
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I love this story so much and I hope you gave
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a finder's feed to the executive assistant who gave you that insight
16:26
and also like Gary on your life.
16:29
Yeah, I hope that your husband is not called Harry or
16:33
Yeah, exactly. Get a,
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just a salary. I just like I wanna,
16:37
before we move on because I think that we also have consistently
16:41
heard in the podcast how complicated or how unequipped we are to
16:46
understand how the negotiation of salary is.
16:49
It's almost like a dance that you don't know if you're dancing
16:52
bachata salsa or, or what is it?
16:55
Who starts, how do you do it?
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What is the right way to do it?
16:58
And how do you do it for yourself in the first senior
17:01
position that you've been offered?
17:03
And how do you actually like as a boss,
17:05
seeing your team and your team of Latinas again?
17:08
Understanding how deep this pain point is,
17:10
particularly for Latinas that are making it to level seven,
17:14
that's right. So I think first of all,
17:16
you know, as people who've gone through this ourselves,
17:19
we have to help others and coach and guide them because a
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lot of times when you're younger in your career,
17:24
you get the sheet of paper.
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Here's the job title,
17:26
here's the salary. And you think it's not negotiable because it's
17:28
on a written sheet of paper or an email.
17:31
So you think that's it?
17:32
Or also because our mother tell us,
17:39
And that is very much part of the Latina culture.
17:41
And so what I learned through my Gary was actually those are
17:46
just guidelines and you have the right to push and Latinas also
17:49
push. We're very passionate people.
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When we think something should be done or fixed,
17:54
we push. And so I learned to take that in.
17:56
It doesn't mean I'm any less nervous.
17:57
I still nervous to this day when I have to have that
17:59
conversation about myself. But what I have found is the pride
18:03
in actually helping the women on my team,
18:05
the Latinas on my team or even around the company go in
18:08
and know how to ask for more.
18:11
And it's also saying why,
18:13
what I've learned is that they also have to come in and
18:15
say this is why I want more.
18:17
This is why I think I deserve it.
18:20
And then I being relentless about it,
18:22
but also being willing to walk away from the job if they
18:24
don't get it. And by the way,
18:26
usually if you walk away the first time,
18:27
it's kind of like being at an open market,
18:29
negotiating out and you're there for,
18:30
but usually they call you back and they're like No,
18:35
you come back, come back and then you end up getting
18:37
at least meant halfway.
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And so you have to know where is your halfway?
18:42
If there's a halfway,
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you have to know what you really want and you also have
18:44
to be willing to walk if you don't get it.
18:47
And that's really important.
18:49
Very good advice. I think at some point we're gonna have
18:51
to do a workshop on salary negotiation.
18:53
It keeps coming back.
18:55
Yeah. Now we're gonna talk about,
18:58
taking educated risks. You,
19:01
you've talked already about some of the risks you took.
19:04
What I want to ask you is more about any method,
19:09
any playbook that you have to decide,
19:11
this is a risk I'm willing to take and maybe talk about
19:14
risks you weren't willing to take.
19:17
I've also learned there's little sayings and I'm sure somebody else has
19:21
not me, but I say them one is reject your first
19:24
thought. So when I'm looking at my own playbook,
19:28
It's human nature. And so I don't let my physical body
19:32
reaction, my bio reaction make my decision.
19:35
Because when I've been offered,
19:38
you know, when I was in marketing,
19:39
I was actually offered to run NASCAR and I didn't know anything
19:41
about it. I was so nervous.
19:42
I was like, why would I do this or even sustainability
19:45
I was always nervous and that would make me sometimes want
19:48
to say no because it's always easier to say no and just
19:51
walk away than it is to say yes and do the hard
19:53
journey. So reject my first thought,
19:56
I reject it. I don't give the answer in the room
19:58
Just think about it.
20:00
The other one is I have another saying,
20:02
don't major in the minors,
20:03
right? Somebody else has said it before me.
20:05
But for me that's about don't get caught up in the little
20:08
details. Like if someone's describing a job to you and you
20:10
don't like everything about it,
20:12
think about what you want to create,
20:13
what's the bigger vision,
20:14
what's the bigger picture and how this connects and then go and
20:16
create it. Don't get so caught up in how someone else
20:18
has done it or the little details.
20:21
And then the other piece is knowing that you don't know everything
20:25
So when you're making these decisions,
20:28
I don't know what salary ranges should be.
20:30
I might not even know some of this,
20:31
you know, these areas.
20:32
So go and find the people who do and have the conversation
20:37
I try to be very thoughtful about the process in advance and
20:40
not let my emotional or physical body reaction,
20:43
make the decision. And then I try to get the data
20:46
and then go have the conversation and I also role play.
20:49
So I role play with my kids my kids probably think I'm
20:51
crazy by now. Everything from before I present to the company
20:54
board of directors to stakeholders.
20:57
As when my kids were very young,
20:58
I'd sit down and I'd say they're young,
21:00
they're gonna let me know if it doesn't make sense to them
21:03
and then I'll work on it.
21:05
I remember when he was five years old,
21:08
I would sit there and I was talking to him about a
21:12
he kept asking me all these questions.
21:13
He's like mom, why would you do that?
21:15
That sounds terrible. Or that's not going to help anyone.
21:17
Why would you do that?
21:18
And very simple questions,
21:20
you know, my daughter would say,
21:22
was it going to be fun?
21:23
You know, because she was younger,
21:24
she was three years younger.
21:25
Is that gonna be fun?
21:26
Mom? You're gonna have fun.
21:28
they had more thoughtful questions.
21:30
They would even ask me and they're still in my sounding board
21:33
So I go to my kids because since they don't know
21:35
some of these areas,
21:36
they're gonna ask me whatever they think from their lenses.
21:39
And that's a really important part of my process to look at
21:43
Well, how big is this risk or not?
21:45
Should I do this work?
21:47
Will I actually have fun doing it?
21:48
Will I like the people I'm working with.
21:49
Will I make a difference?
21:51
I, I'm at the age where I don't want to waste
21:53
my time not making a difference.
21:54
Which is why I love the job that I have today because
21:57
I know that I actually have a company who wants to make
21:59
a difference and it's aligned with my values.
22:02
But those are some of the ways that I look at.
22:03
What's the real risk,
22:06
You know, and it's half the time you find it's not
22:09
that big. And by the way,
22:10
even if they offer you one title,
22:12
you can create it and make it so much bigger than what
22:15
You're taking to the extreme something I tell my team all the
22:18
time when they bring something that's very complex.
22:20
I'm like, just think of every executive in the company as
22:23
1/5 grader. Explain it in a,
22:26
in a way that 1/5 grader can understand it.
22:28
So you're taking it to the extreme.
22:31
yes. And it's really interesting even recently I had to present
22:34
something to our board of directors and there were some areas in
22:38
there that I was not familiar with.
22:39
And so I worked hard.
22:40
I did research, had my team help me write a few
22:42
things up and I called my son.
22:43
He's in California now.
22:44
And I said, can you help me talk this through?
22:47
And I started to present to him and he said,
22:50
he said he had done his research.
22:52
So it's interesting. He said you have lots of financial people
22:55
on your board. He said,
22:56
you actually haven't told me the return on the investment of what
23:00
And I said, I don't think I have it.
23:02
he goes, but do you have assumptions?
23:04
He said, have you thought about directionally?
23:06
He said, or do you know if it's going to be
23:08
too expensive? And I said,
23:11
you know, so that's my son.
23:13
He's not, he's not anymore.
23:15
He's 22 now and he's studying economics and business.
23:18
So that's, that's where that comes from.
23:20
But it was good because as many,
23:23
you know, smart intellectuals that we have in our business sometimes
23:26
it's just really good to go outside and get someone who's not
23:30
involved in the day to day.
23:32
And I'm lucky that my Children are willing to do it.
23:34
I also have some good friends who are willing to do it
23:36
I think everybody needs to find that person.
23:39
But I also want to go back to the Gary for just
23:41
one minute. So the first Gary who I still talk to
23:46
He's very, very tough.
23:48
And I remember taking him through a few things,
23:51
why I thought I was qualified for one job.
23:53
And I said, I'm good at relationships and he said,
23:56
so what, what the heck does that mean?
23:57
He goes, how does that help the business?
23:59
And it was just a very interesting way of getting feedback that
24:03
was unexpected. But you have to have people around you who
24:05
aren't going to tell you what you want to hear.
24:07
You have to have people around you who are gonna help you
24:09
be a better thinker.
24:10
But also hear some of the things that make you go ok
24:13
they're right. Yeah.
24:15
Yeah, I wanna pay tribute to the work that you have
24:18
done on sustainability. I think that you have done that for
24:21
decades And I've seen and we work together in so on various
24:24
organizations but truly pioneer are courageous.
24:29
And I think that I am delighted to see how not only
24:32
you and I, but like the world is moving into diversity
24:35
and inclusion. But why are there not more bias in companies
24:40
Why do we have Fortune 500 S and P 500?
24:43
And there's none of us.
24:45
What are the things that we need to understand that we haven't
24:47
seen before? What are the impediments that are not allowing us
24:52
more be? So maybe there's be a but they don't want
24:54
to say they are Latinas that might be an option.
24:56
Well, that's part of it too.
24:57
But I think what you all are doing with this podcast and
25:00
actually shining the light that this is possible and highlighting the stories
25:04
and helping people have the tools and the playbooks to get there
25:07
that's one of the most important things because I don't know about
25:10
you all. But you know,
25:11
you have to know that it's possible by seeing the role model
25:13
who's sitting in the seat and hearing how they got there.
25:16
And I don't think anyone expects it to always be easy.
25:19
But I think there's lots of,
25:21
Claudia said they're there.
25:22
They're just moving sort of slowly through the organizations and maybe they
25:26
just need someone to help pull them out,
25:29
take them to those lunches and dinners and get them introduced,
25:31
show them the playbook,
25:33
tell them how to negotiate the salary.
25:35
I mean, there's one lady at Coca Cola who's fabulous.
25:37
Her name is Alba Baylin.
25:38
Incredible, extraordinary. And she's now helping us run our North
25:42
America part of the foundation or community work.
25:45
Well, years ago when I first met her and she has
25:48
an interesting story. She came from Colombia and when she first
25:51
came to the United States,
25:52
she didn't speak English.
25:53
And so she went to go work at a hotel and she
25:55
was a housekeeper yet she had degrees and she was very skilled
25:59
and some Coca Cola people met her and said,
26:01
why don't you come in and run some of our events?
26:03
She came to Coke and I met her and I started,
26:05
you know, talking to her learning about her.
26:08
this woman can do anything.
26:10
I said, you have to learn the business.
26:12
I told her the best advice I got was actually going on
26:15
that lattice going down learning operations and she did it and she
26:18
did it and it got recognized and got quickly promoted.
26:22
And what she's done is she's brought other Latinas in,
26:24
through her organization. So I think that it's up to all
26:27
of us to tell the stories but bring them along and when
26:31
you see them sort of hiding in the corners,
26:33
bring them out and show them what's possible and help them get
26:37
I love the work you're doing with.
26:38
We are human. I mean,
26:38
it's incredible. You tell the stories and you show youth that
26:43
there is nothing that they're not capable of doing.
26:47
it's about that, it's about getting them out there.
26:49
It's helping them come forward,
26:50
they're there. Is there anything that you have that you
26:53
suggest companies should do to create inclusive moments,
26:55
but also more on the Latinas themselves?
26:58
Is there any equality on the output or is it like excellence
27:01
in the work that you have noticed being the boss of so
27:04
many people that you,
27:06
we have to sharpen our pencil scene.
27:09
So what I'd say is a couple of things.
27:11
I mean, it's Hispanic Heritage Month would if companies are not
27:13
celebrating that and actually learning about the different cultures.
27:17
And I think we have to educate others that we're not all
27:20
my husband's, you know,
27:21
he's from New Mexico.
27:22
He's Mexican descent. I'm Cuban Spanish.
27:26
You know, he eats brown beans.
27:28
Right. There's even a difference in our food.
27:31
And so there's little things like that and to make sure that
27:34
you know, companies will benefit by having a Latina looking
27:37
at their advertising. Because imagine if you're running an ad in
27:41
Texas versus in Florida and it shows food on the table.
27:45
If you show the wrong food,
27:46
guess what? We're gonna know it's the wrong food and you
27:49
won't have that core insight and then the business won't be successful
27:52
And so I think it's helping companies understand that if you
27:55
want to drive growth and if you want to talk to your
27:57
consumer, then you actually need to make sure that you have
28:00
people in your company who represent that consumer base.
28:04
we have a, we have a goal to actually reflect the
28:06
marketplace we serve anywhere around the world.
28:09
And so in the United States,
28:10
we look at the numbers and we have goals that are actually
28:13
in our compensation that say we want to mirror what the US
28:16
census data is. And then we have to also,
28:18
I think going back to what you said,
28:20
flip the script a little bit.
28:21
So while we will coach and tell everyone raise your hand,
28:24
ask for those opportunities,
28:25
negotiate your salaries. It's also up to us to make sure
28:28
we call on people because we know in our culture.
28:31
You don't wanna show up at someone's party without being invited,
28:34
right? Latinas don't typically do that.
28:36
We wait to be invited.
28:37
That's the same thing sitting in a business discussion,
28:39
we wait to be invited to the conversation.
28:42
So if you know that about other Latinas,
28:45
then go ahead and invite them to the conversation and don't wait
28:48
for somebody else to do it.
28:48
You do it and make sure you're drawing their point of view
28:52
into the table, the business will be better for it.
28:55
So that's why I think we have to flip the script and
28:57
not put everything on them.
28:58
We have to put a few things on ourselves and our other
29:00
leaders. And at Coke,
29:01
we also talk a lot about Coke and its brands are for
29:04
everyone. So then we need to make sure that we are
29:07
really getting everyone's point of views at that table and that's gonna
29:09
help the business. Absolutely.
29:11
And I truly believe that we've been playing the script of
29:16
someone else, right?
29:17
Like someone that is very stereotyped where being a Latinas could have
29:22
been a con for your career,
29:23
not a pro for your career.
29:25
So we're trying to un stereotype and to see how these values
29:30
and the assets that we have can be understood better in a
29:34
professional setting, as virtuous,
29:36
as assets, as positive.
29:38
So I think that as part of the interview would love to
29:41
know a little bit of those things that you have seen either
29:43
in your career personally or with others that can be flipped
29:48
as a positive in a corporate environment,
29:51
particularly since you have been having so many different functions and manage
29:55
so many different people all across.
29:56
So, yeah, so I think as Latinas,
29:58
we're very social, right?
30:00
And so I think that especially in a business where you're required
30:03
to actually get to know customers and people,
30:05
I think that's the piece that we need to really treasure and
30:08
value because while that's a stereotype,
30:10
it's also true that we are more social than some of our
30:14
other colleagues that are not Latinas.
30:16
And so how do we make sure that maybe we're in the
30:19
operational roles that our customer facing?
30:22
We're the ones now representing the company and being the brand ambassadors
30:25
How do we leverage that power of the fact that Latinas
30:29
are very good presenters,
30:31
we're out there, we're passionate,
30:34
you know, we like people and that's something that's really true
30:38
to our culture. And so how do we actually make that
30:40
be a part of the brand?
30:41
But the other thing too is I'd say sometimes we actually just
30:44
need to recognize that not everyone's going to get to where we
30:47
are. So one example of that is I hug and kiss
30:51
everybody except I realize that that doesn't always work,
30:54
right? And, and it doesn't work in certain cultures.
30:56
And so I my first inclination is I go in and then
31:01
I watch every now and then in my business,
31:03
a few folks go way back.
31:05
They're like, what are you doing?
31:06
I was going to say hello.
31:07
That's my way of saying hello.
31:09
And they're like, well,
31:09
you don't know me and then they reach out their hand to
31:14
Ok. And so I have to sort of catch myself right
31:17
because dialing down,
31:18
yeah, dialing down and also making sure that,
31:21
you know, to be respectful of what they need and how
31:23
they operate and what their culture is about and being respectful because
31:26
if I want them to respect my culture,
31:28
I have to respect theirs,
31:29
I have to respect their space.
31:31
And so I think that it's all too important for us to
31:34
learn how other people operate and what they need because I think
31:38
it's fair to sort of play both sides.
31:40
You know, if we really want to be embraced,
31:42
we have to embrace others.
31:43
It's the idea of bringing your full self,
31:46
like full self until you offend somebody.
31:49
Then it's OK. A little bit about your involvement in Davos
31:53
How did you get invited?
31:55
Can you tell us also about like your first experience?
31:59
Yes. OK. And I'm sure Claudia you have your own
32:01
stories. I'm sure Claudia has done a great job of bringing
32:04
others into Davos. So my first invitation was when I became
32:07
the Chief Sustainability Officer.
32:08
But my first experience,
32:09
what I will say is that it was not easy because first
32:13
you know, you want to wear your heels with your dress
32:15
but now you're wearing these really ugly boots and walking around
32:17
in the ice and the snow.
32:19
But while there were only a few women there,
32:21
that first year, what I found is that all the women
32:24
sort of came together,
32:25
there was a women's dinner and it was fantastic because there were
32:29
we got to really know each other.
32:31
And a lot of these women are the still same women who
32:33
go and now there's more and it's grown and now you can't
32:36
even fit the women's dinner where it was the first year.
32:39
It's quite spectacular. And now women are on the panels.
32:42
You see 50 50% of the presenters are women.
32:45
You have people like Claudia bringing other women in who maybe are
32:49
but are emerging in the C suite.
32:52
what I've seen is a huge change over this last 1012 years
32:55
of Davos that I've been to.
32:57
But the first year was really different from the one I went
32:59
to last year. Right?
33:00
It just, it continued to improve and change.
33:02
And I think that took the organization to change it.
33:05
But also it's because women have progressed into C suites and we're
33:09
more visible and there's,
33:10
you know, there were more female CEO S at one point
33:12
and so they were getting into the invitations as well.
33:14
And that's the path I wanna follow for Latinas.
33:17
Yes. No, women to more women.
33:19
No, Latinas to more Latinas.
33:22
We're 9% of the population,
33:23
but only 2% percent in senior positions.
33:26
And you're probably one of one or two Latinas in the sea
33:31
that comes to Davos.
33:32
And so I think that I would love to hear one.
33:34
What do you think we need to do to get more Latinas
33:38
to be able to get to the spaces where we're not like
33:42
the World Economic Forum,
33:43
not only, and what would be the dream for you in
33:47
terms of numbers for,
33:49
you know, like not only your company,
33:50
Barolo Lacrosse and how,
33:52
how long do you think it's going to take to us to
33:54
get that number of 2% higher?
33:56
Yeah, it's, it's so progress can be made fast or
33:59
slow depending on who participates,
34:01
right? And so for us,
34:02
it's, it's going to be creating the environments that you two
34:05
are creating. It's actually,
34:06
it's profiling women who are not just in the sea sweep at
34:09
the up and commerce.
34:10
It's knowing that after all of us eventually retire,
34:13
who's going to take our slots.
34:15
What we don't want to do is get to the number and
34:16
then we fall behind because we never built the future.
34:19
And so I think it's really important for us to create the
34:21
forums for the future to also start to emerge,
34:24
to show people that they are here,
34:27
they are capable, they have the skills,
34:28
they have the talent,
34:30
put them on the interview slates,
34:31
make sure they get to these jobs.
34:33
And so I think really creating that,
34:36
you know, closing the gap of that void right now within
34:38
the pipeline because we need to push these women forward.
34:43
And so even what you're doing at Davos or in other events
34:46
at, can you hold forums that are very interesting?
34:50
You don't just invite the Latino community,
34:52
you invite everyone. But what you do is you profile the
34:54
Latinos and you also,
34:55
I've noticed you profile the up and comers and so you're very
34:59
very good at making sure that you are shining the spotlight
35:02
on the people that you know,
35:03
are coming next in these industries.
35:06
And I think that that's what this is also about and the
35:08
work that you all are doing that we need more of this
35:10
We need you all to have more support.
35:13
So whoever is out there is a brand listening,
35:15
support them. I think it's gonna be really important to scale
35:18
this work that you're doing.
35:19
It's gonna help us get there and get to those numbers and
35:21
over deliver. Do you know any beverage company interested in supporting
35:24
us? We'll talk later about that.
35:29
Let's get a deeper dive into identity.
35:32
I think that this is a good,
35:34
like on to being Latina and we've noticed a couple
35:38
of people like taking off their masks in a,
35:41
in a faster pace than before.
35:44
Have you had to dial down on your Latini?
35:47
That was there any a time in which you wanted to not
35:51
be Latina so that you can be,
35:53
you know, like getting into the corporate ladder faster.
35:56
I think there's always moments,
35:58
right? And it wasn't like getting on the corporate ladder.
36:00
But I remember a few moments when I was working in sports
36:02
marketing and I was negotiating all the sponsorships for the company and
36:06
I looked in the room and in the room,
36:09
you know, it was all men over the age of a
36:12
certain age, you know,
36:13
all Caucasian and I thought,
36:15
are they gonna take me seriously?
36:17
It wasn't just because I was Latino.
36:18
It was also because I was,
36:19
oh, so it was a Latin woman and I thought,
36:22
are they gonna take me seriously?
36:23
I also was probably about 15 years younger than most of them
36:26
And that really concerned me as well because I thought they're
36:29
also gonna think I'm too young to know what I'm doing.
36:31
So what I did very quickly there,
36:33
I had already been in the operational role.
36:34
I went very quickly into,
36:36
you know, speaking like a man,
36:37
right? Using a lot of male terms.
36:40
trying to talk about only the numbers.
36:43
And it was interesting,
36:44
the more I was doing that,
36:44
the more I was losing them.
36:45
And I was just like,
36:46
this meeting is not going well.
36:48
And here I was the only coke person in the room.
36:50
I needed to walk out with a deal and I was thinking
36:53
this is just going downhill.
36:54
So one of the guys took a break.
36:57
I need to go and get a snack.
36:58
So we're gonna take a break 15 minutes.
37:00
And then one of the other guys in the room actually came
37:03
over to me and he said,
37:04
what is wrong with you?
37:06
Yes. Yes. And I said,
37:09
he goes, I'm on the other side.
37:10
I don't care if we have a deal or not and if
37:13
it's going to be on our terms.
37:15
you are just tanking and he said he goes,
37:18
it's like you're putting on a show.
37:19
He was, I don't know what show you're putting on.
37:21
He said, but I've seen you in other forms.
37:23
I've never seen you behave this way.
37:25
And he said, why don't you actually tell us the real
37:28
story here? Why don't you talk to us the way you
37:30
normally talk? I was like,
37:36
came back and then I just became me again and I talk
37:39
with my hands, you know,
37:40
I sometimes stand up.
37:42
So I, I make jokes every now and then.
37:45
And,, I went quickly back into that because this
37:49
guy almost gave me permission to be myself.
37:51
And once I did that,
37:54
I won't say I got everything,
37:55
they didn't get everything,
37:56
but we were laughing talk and I still keep in touch with
37:59
some of these people.
37:59
I just had lunch with one of them this week here in
38:01
New York. And and we still laugh about that moment
38:04
because we're like, you were just like,
38:06
you were talking to us like,
38:07
you know, and they said,
38:09
and we knew it was not you.
38:10
And we're like, who is she?
38:12
You know. So I have found that actually we,
38:15
we can't, we have to be ourselves.
38:16
We have to be the Latinas that we are,
38:18
we have to. And even if you're not Latina be yourself
38:21
is the whole point of this story,
38:22
which is you can't be someone,
38:23
you're not in a room because people will figure it out even
38:26
if they don't know you,
38:27
they knew something was wrong,
38:28
they knew that I was acting out of character even if I
38:30
barely knew these people.
38:32
And so I think it's really important for when people are in
38:34
a room with you to be yourself.
38:36
Even if you're not perfect,
38:37
it doesn't matter. But 76% of Latinos pretend they're not in
38:41
the corporate and we need to help them change that we need
38:44
to actually put the visibility around.
38:45
Why? That's not a good thing because authenticity is actually more
38:48
important than acting unless you're an actor.
38:50
Right. If you're an actor,
38:53
Right. And in corporations,
38:54
if you're not your authentic self,
38:56
if you're not actually being who you are,
38:58
people sniff that out and then they don't build trust,
39:00
they think that, well,
39:01
if she's lying to me in the room by pretending to be
39:04
what else is she lying to me about?
39:07
And so I think to have credibility to have trust,
39:09
we have to be ourselves.
39:11
And if the other people don't accept ourselves,
39:14
well, then that's their loss.
39:15
I mean, cut the cord move on,
39:16
then why would you do business with them anyway,
39:18
that's what the podcast is about.
39:20
I was, I sent you a text I got from a
39:22
friend from business school who said I love your podcast.
39:25
I listened to the first episode.
39:26
I'm so glad you are being your authentic self.
39:29
can you imagine trying to do this and not be our authentic
39:32
self? Like it would be the worst two hours of my
39:34
week trying to pretend to be someone else.
39:38
So that's right. Like as a follow up,
39:40
inversely, so you were talking about like dialing down and being
39:43
your authentic self. But what about taking the Latina characteristics that
39:48
maybe helped you to get to a place you were like before
39:51
talking about like the noun.
39:52
What about the other way around?
39:53
So, and I realized for me,
39:55
so I'm, I'm also on the Hispanic scholarship and board.
39:58
When I talk to the students there,
39:59
it's helping them know and see that it is ok to be
40:03
yourself dialing it out and actually showing that those relationship skills we
40:07
talked about earlier really do matter,
40:08
especially in customer facing or stakeholder facing roles.
40:12
It's actually the celebration of food and meals,
40:14
which is something Latinas love.
40:16
It actually brings people together and you can actually build common bonds
40:20
And so showing the next generation of students who are just
40:24
coming up in their own,
40:26
right? But also in the workplace.
40:27
So we talked earlier all about diversity.
40:30
Well, lots of people have actually,
40:32
you know, maybe never had Cuban a Cuban meal.
40:35
And so invite them to your home and actually dial it up
40:38
and show them. I might be this,
40:40
you know, business person here,
40:42
but also as a Latina,
40:43
I like to cook and I like food and I like to
40:45
have conversation over food.
40:47
And to me that's how I conduct some of my business,
40:50
bringing people into your home and people who are from different backgrounds
40:54
I found that it really opened up.
40:56
We had people over to make paella together and people from
41:01
all over different backgrounds,
41:03
nationalities. And it was really,
41:05
really interesting because how many people actually invite others to their home
41:09
to actually watch them cook in their kitchen and,
41:13
you know, half of the pa came out,
41:15
ok. The other half was just so,
41:16
so we all joked about it,
41:18
you know. And and now like these are people who
41:21
are some important stakeholders that I can pick up the phone and
41:24
call because we had that special moment.
41:26
We bonded. They understand me and I understand that.
41:30
Yes, I have from Malaysia.
41:33
That's here. This week.
41:35
They came to my house and they played with my kids and
41:38
it's like I know that we're feeling much more comfortable because now
41:42
they know my family.
41:43
Yes. OK. We're gonna take a,
41:45
a trip down memory lane to Bea when she was 30 years
41:52
But which advice would you like to give?
41:55
Bea that Gary didn't give you?
41:58
The advice I would say is that learn as much as
42:02
you can and don't be afraid to live in different parts of
42:05
the world. And so while I thought I was a learner
42:08
and taking some of these,
42:09
you know, lattice moves was a part of a learning journey
42:13
I was learning only the Coca Cola business but not really
42:16
brushing up on some future skills.
42:18
And so digital literacy,
42:20
the whole digital space was just emerging back then.
42:23
And while I was doing some things inside of my business.
42:26
I had a very superficial understanding of the space and today look
42:29
at it today. And so you're never too old to learn
42:32
never too young to learn and you should always learn outside
42:36
It makes you more interesting and also it can help you in
42:39
the future at the same time and just really making sure that
42:43
you're starting to experience the world.
42:45
So I wish I had lived in more countries when I was
42:47
younger. I wish I was fortunate through Coke to live in
42:50
China, I lived in Mexico,
42:51
lived in Brazil. Very fortunate.
42:54
I wish I lived in 20 more countries.
42:57
I would say do as much as you can if you're in
42:59
a company that gives you that opportunity,
43:01
it's really eye opening.
43:03
And I would like to learn a bit more about your
43:06
leadership style and just tell us what is your leadership style?
43:11
And is there anything that you're learning or adding to your,
43:16
to your leadership style?
43:18
So, OK, so when I first became a leader,
43:20
I didn't understand the difference between management and leadership.
43:23
So I thought leadership was still telling people what to do,
43:26
right? That's sometimes management.
43:28
You say I need you to go execute this plan and then
43:31
you give someone a performance review if they did or didn't do
43:34
what you needed them to do in the plan.
43:36
And that's not leadership.
43:37
Leadership is having, you know,
43:38
the inspirational leadership where people follow you because they want to,
43:41
where they learn from you,
43:42
where you're helping them grow and helping them become a leader and
43:45
not a manager themselves.
43:47
But it took me a long time to figure that out because
43:50
I was so focused on delivering.
43:52
And I didn't really have anyone who was teaching me that difference
43:57
sometimes I'd go home,
43:58
I'd be like, I don't think I'm good at this.
44:00
Like I have a much larger team and I'm not good at
44:02
this. And then I get my feelings hurt.
44:04
So because I used to have lunch with some of these people
44:07
some of these people were my peers at one point.
44:09
Now I was their leader and they,
44:13
I'd see them still go out to lunch.
44:14
I used to get invited to these lunches and now I wasn't
44:16
invited. And I remember asking this lady Emily one day I
44:21
why don't I get invited to lunch?
44:23
And she said you became the boss.
44:27
It's not that we don't like you.
44:28
She was, we just talk about you over lunch and she
44:30
started laughing. I said,
44:31
is that good or bad?
44:33
she said b she goes,
44:35
it's great. But she said there's now a layer whether you
44:38
She was, I think you now feel it.
44:42
you rate us. And I said,
44:45
I have a lot to learn.
44:46
That was a moment that gave me pause.
44:48
It said, if my own team who I knew and worked
44:51
side by side with doesn't feel comfortable inviting me to lunch now
44:54
just because I'm their leader.
44:55
What have I done wrong?
44:57
And so I spent a lot of time talking to folks trying
45:01
to understand and starting to,
45:03
you know, really change myself.
45:06
And so I changed the way I asked questions in the room
45:09
I changed the way that I ran my meetings.
45:10
I changed my routines.
45:13
And it was really interesting about eight months after I started to
45:18
I got invited to one of the lunches and it was almost
45:20
as if I'd been invited the whole time.
45:22
It was, it just happened so naturally.
45:25
And, Emily knew what had sort of been going on
45:27
behind the scenes since I had asked her and I trusted her
45:29
and she kept my confidence and she said she was,
45:32
you made yourself to us feel more relatable versus having that sort
45:38
of feeling that air around you that we couldn't talk to you
45:41
because you were now the boss.
45:42
She said you changed and she said everyone talks now at lunch
45:45
about how you've changed.
45:47
And so that for me was really powerful because I realized that
45:51
what got me to a certain level was not enough to actually
45:54
really make me the leader that I aspired to be and that
45:57
I had to change myself and my own behaviors to make sure
46:01
that I wasn't shutting down conversations that I made people feel comfortable
46:05
And that I was learning from my own teams versus thinking that
46:07
I had to tell them all what to do.
46:09
They knew what to do.
46:10
They just needed someone to inspire them to keep going to help
46:13
them feel that the work they were doing was making a difference
46:16
and show them that it was making a difference.
46:18
So I've learned a lot through this journey.
46:20
So hopefully I'm a better leader than I was back then.
46:22
But it's, I'm still learning.
46:23
I wanna summarize two things that you just said for our audience
46:28
because they resonated a lot with me.
46:30
The first one is what gets you,
46:32
the promotion doesn't prepare you for the job.
46:34
Like being a great individual contributor doesn't mean that you're a great
46:37
manager, being a great manager doesn't mean that you're a great
46:40
leader and you have to invest in becoming that.
46:44
So that's one. And then the second one,
46:47
it's about being a visionary.
46:48
Women are not considered visionaries.
46:52
Like there's a lot of research about how the way that we
46:55
present. It's like we're shy about it.
46:57
Like men are very comfortable like saying what their vision is and
47:02
we are more comfortable saying what the path to making that visionary
47:05
reality is and we have to,
47:08
I mean, you obviously speak like a visionary Claudia,
47:10
but most women are not like you.
47:12
And we need every woman to know that until we are considered
47:16
visionaries, we are not gonna get a fair representation.
47:20
So we have to believe in our vision and lay it out
47:23
and prepare to present it.
47:25
So people see us as visionaries,
47:27
it's like a known issue.
47:28
And let's go to the last question.
47:29
The last question is,
47:31
who else should we have in our podcast?
47:33
You actually mentioned someone,
47:34
we should take note of her.
47:36
Is there anyone else that you would like?
47:38
So besides Alba Baylan,
47:39
who's spectacular at Coca Cola and an up and comer,
47:42
I'd say someone who is already in a fabulous job over at
47:45
Disney is Rita Ferro f er Ro and she is spectacular.
47:50
She and I sit on the board of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund
47:53
She runs all of the media,
47:55
sports entertainment for Disney.
47:58
She gives back. She is an incredible Latina.
48:01
She has a daughter as well who's an up and comer in
48:04
university. But I mean,
48:05
really someone who I think it is,
48:08
I think would contribute a lot and maybe,
48:10
you know, teach a lot of the younger folks a lot
48:12
as well and it's tougher.
48:14
That's exactly what we need trailblazers like you that can inspire us
48:18
but also gives us exactly the nuggets of wisdom that we
48:21
need so that we can have a playbook that allows younger Latinas
48:25
to make it in half the time.
48:27
Thank you, but this was great.
48:29
Thank you so much for being here.
48:31
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.
48:33
It's important to inspire the future generations to be able to live
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