Series
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Marta Ronquillo Newhart

In this episode of "A LA LATINA", hosts Claudia Romo Edelman and Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner welcome Marta Ronquillo Newhart, a trailblazing Latina who rose to become the Chief Communication and Brand Officer for Westinghouse. The episode delves into the unique challenges and triumphs of Latinas in the corporate world, with Marta sharing invaluable insights from her journey.

Key takeaways from the episode include:

Importance of a Personal Board of Advisors: Marta emphasizes the significance of having a trusted group of advisors to navigate career challenges, drawing on her own experiences and the support she received from mentors, including those in the African-American community.

Leveraging Diverse Playbooks: The discussion highlights the value of learning from other minority communities, particularly how African-American professionals have created strong support networks and playbooks for success, which Latinas can adapt and use in their own career paths.

The Power of Effective Communication: Marta underscores the critical role of communication skills in opening doors to opportunities and building stronger relationships. She shares her personal experiences and strategies for becoming a persuasive communicator and storyteller.

The episode also explores themes like embracing Latina identity in professional settings, breaking stereotypes, and the importance of representation and mentorship. Marta's personal anecdotes, such as her decision to reclaim her family name, offer powerful examples of authenticity and resilience.

Listeners are encouraged to be true to themselves, to seek and offer mentorship, and to harness their unique strengths as Latinas in their professional journeys. This episode is a rich resource for anyone looking to navigate the corporate world with authenticity, confidence, and a deep understanding of their cultural heritage.
Show transcript
00:00
Hola. I'm Claudia Romo Edelman and I'm Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner and
00:04
this is a podcast,
00:05
a La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
00:09
today, Marta, newer Ronquillo,
00:11
former Chief Communication and Brand Officer for Westinghouse.
00:15
Stay tuned because there are three key takeaways.
00:18
The first is the importance of having your own board of advisors
00:23
People that will help you navigate the trickiest moments in your
00:27
career. Number two,
00:28
how can we Latinas leverage the playbook and resources of other diverse
00:33
communities who have broken the glass ceiling like the African American community
00:38
And number three,
00:40
teach yourself the basics of how to become a great communicator because
00:44
great communication opens the door to better opportunities and even better relationships
00:49
All of that and more here.
00:51
A La Latina today,
01:01
an incredible guest, Marta Neer Ronquillo.
01:05
Marta was the most senior Latina in three NASDAQ companies.
01:09
Most recently, she was the Chief Communications and Brand Officer for
01:13
Westinghouse. She has served in several boards including some government ones
01:18
and the Special Olympics.
01:19
And today she serves on the board of the Page Society which
01:23
is a network of CS and Chief Communications Officers.
01:26
Welcome Martin. Thank you it's wonderful to be here.
01:29
We're so excited to have you here.
01:31
Amazing. OK, let's get going.
01:34
Let's start with our favorite subject.
01:36
You and your past?
01:37
How did you come to be who you are and what you
01:40
do? So, the family I grew up in was run
01:43
by these really strong women and I thought all families were that
01:47
way, but they're not,
01:49
it's mostly the Mexican American families that really have a matriarch that
01:54
runs them that everything my grandmother said we did,
01:58
we didn't question it,
01:59
we just did it and it made us better.
02:02
It made us better at,
02:03
we did and it made us stronger.
02:06
And so she would get us to think about things that we
02:09
wouldn't have thought about.
02:10
Otherwise she got us to think about things that we should be
02:13
doing not only better but differently.
02:16
And she got us to embrace our Latina dad.
02:19
She was a very important thing.
02:21
Now, like I said,
02:22
when I was growing up,
02:23
I thought everybody's household was run by really strong women.
02:28
It wasn't. And so I grew up thinking women could do
02:32
anything. Women were important.
02:34
Women were central to everything that helped me in the corporate world
02:41
It also kind of hurt me too.
02:43
And the reason I say it hurt me was because the corporate
02:46
world wasn't designed for that.
02:48
The corporate world had another way of thinking.
02:51
But the family I grew up in was all about the women
02:55
and the strength of the women.
02:58
So when I came into corporate America,
03:00
I thought, wow,
03:01
you know, this is great.
03:02
I can do anything.
03:03
Well, in an all male dominated aerospace company that I first
03:08
worked in. Yes,
03:11
that wasn't the way they thought about things back then.
03:14
Now it was different,
03:16
but back then they didn't think about things that way.
03:19
So I would say to you,
03:20
it really helped me get to where I am.
03:22
And then once I thought I got there,
03:25
it kind of hurt me a little bit.
03:26
So I had to navigate through that.
03:28
It thought it reminds me of Barbie,
03:30
the movie, you know,
03:31
like for those that haven't seen it,
03:33
I know you saw it.
03:33
Did you see Barbie?
03:34
It was great. They grew up,
03:36
you grew up in Barbie world where women were strong and independent
03:39
and then it's like you grow up and you realize that not
03:42
everybody wasn't like that.
03:44
So how did you deal with that when you arrived to Boeing
03:46
I learned how to really think about when it was appropriate
03:50
to show my Latina dad and when it was appropriate to think
03:54
about things and have a perspective,
03:56
I learned the hard way.
03:58
I really learned the hard way because I worked with all men
04:00
And most in the early part of my career was with
04:04
Asian men. So that was a whole another level of having
04:08
to navigate. So thinking through that,
04:11
I had to think about,
04:12
ok, I've got to have a perspective to maintain that seat
04:16
at the table. But to do that,
04:18
what really fits there,
04:20
what really works there.
04:22
So I had to think about that,
04:24
you know, now is a different story,
04:26
but back then I had to really temper that and that meant
04:30
tempering. My Latina dad.
04:32
Did you have somebody to ask advice from?
04:34
Like, how did you know what to do?
04:36
I mostly sought out mentors who were African American people because they
04:43
were successful people in the organization that I worked in and they
04:49
could cut a clear path through anything.
04:52
You know, I would look around.
04:54
I did not see Latinos,
04:55
Latinas. I did not see people like us even a few
04:59
layers down. I didn't see people like us,
05:02
but I did see an underserved minority group in the African American
05:07
people who could work through this and they were so loyal to
05:12
each other. I really admired that because that was the community
05:15
I came from where women were so loyal to each other.
05:19
They would do anything for each other.
05:21
You know, this phrase,
05:22
my sister's keeper. They lived that you've heard this one,
05:26
my sister's keeper where you will do anything for another Latina.
05:32
A Latina calls you up and you say yes,
05:34
Martha, I'll help you with that or you call me and
05:37
say yes, Claudia,
05:38
I will do that.
05:40
And that's what I grew up in.
05:42
And so I noticed with African American people,
05:45
they were doing something similar,
05:47
but in the corporate world,
05:49
they were trying so hard to get ahead.
05:52
They were helping each other with a playbook that was much stronger
05:55
than any other ones I saw.
05:57
So I sought them out as mentors and asked them for help
06:01
and advice. Let's go into that African American community sense
06:06
of community. How do you feel it is different to Latinos
06:09
Is that changing?
06:09
What was the playbook?
06:11
I think any underserved community understands another underserved community.
06:15
Maybe not the culture.
06:16
But you understand the challenges.
06:18
You understand the barriers,
06:19
you understand the things you share.
06:22
That's right. You share that.
06:24
And so that's what you have in common.
06:27
And because of that,
06:29
they were so strong at putting together this playbook about how they
06:33
could help each other succeed,
06:36
not talk about discrimination,
06:37
not talk about things that held them back,
06:40
not talk about things that they couldn't do,
06:43
but focus on what they could do where they added value and
06:46
all of those things that would get them ahead in corporate America
06:50
So wait, wait,
06:50
pause, not talk about discrimination,
06:53
meaning do not waste your time complaining about how discriminated we are
06:58
Let's focus on how do we take over that job?
07:00
That's right. That's right.
07:02
Because if you, if you focus on something negative,
07:06
it becomes a part of you.
07:07
You don't want that as a part of you because you want
07:10
you want to get ahead,
07:11
you want to push forward.
07:13
They were so strong,
07:15
they could overlook that and turn it into a positive.
07:18
You've only got so much mind.
07:19
Share. Think about it.
07:21
How much do you want floating around up there?
07:23
Do you want these issues about negativity and challenges and all that
07:27
floating around up there or to use your words?
07:31
Do you want to flip the switch and think about what you
07:33
can do, how you can overcome how you can get through
07:38
because you know what's out there now,
07:40
you're aware of it.
07:41
It's not surprising. And so I think that playbook for them
07:46
was not only about helping each other,
07:49
they took that notion of mentors and sponsors on steroids and they
07:55
really helped push each other forward.
07:58
So you know what a mentor is,
08:00
right? Someone who can advise you the sponsor is the person
08:03
that's not in the room that advocates for you when you're not
08:06
there, that's what they would do.
08:09
And I saw that and I wanted to be a part of
08:11
that. Just compare that to me with being a Latina and
08:15
seeing how we as a community interact.
08:17
How do we do it?
08:18
Have we done a little bit more of that community?
08:22
And that sister, I am my sister's keeper,
08:25
sister, keeper. Yes.
08:27
Yes. No one does this better than Latinas.
08:30
No one make no mistake about it.
08:32
I really believe that Latinas are so good at doing this,
08:38
that it feels like home,
08:41
it feels so comfortable and you can meet a Latina for the
08:45
first time. She's instantly your friend because you feel that connection
08:49
to home. You feel that connection to something deeper inside of
08:53
yourself that's loyal, that's an advocate that really pushes hard for
08:58
someone else because, you know,
09:00
they deserve it and you know,
09:02
that they've probably been in an environment where it hasn't really represented
09:07
all of their best skills and values and everything they can bring
09:10
out. And so you want to help them do that.
09:13
I think Latinas, I think our day is about to come
09:17
if it hasn't already because we do that so well.
09:21
So if you're listening to this podcast,
09:23
you're obliged to be a sister keeper and support Latinas only because
09:27
they are Latinas and only because we need to share the access
09:30
code when you get it,
09:31
share it so that we can take someone with us if you
09:33
open the door, leave it open,
09:35
leave it open. I think at the table of success,
09:37
there are many chairs,
09:38
there's room for everyone,
09:40
there is room. So Martin,
09:42
you've worked in several companies from early stages,
09:46
start ups to public traded ones.
09:48
So tell us about the journey in your perspective of how you
09:51
have made the decision and the transition from one role to another
09:56
giving the very different nature of bunny.
10:00
You know, it's funny because when I started my career I
10:03
would love to sit here and tell you Claudia that I'm very
10:05
strategic. Some things just sort of happen.
10:08
Right. Life just sort of happens.
10:10
So when I graduated from the University of Washington with my undergrad
10:14
degree, I interviewed or had three interviews set up,
10:19
I had one set up at Boeing.
10:21
I had one set up at Bank of America and one set
10:23
up at Microsoft. So three big names.
10:27
Right. And so I was,
10:29
I was ready to go,
10:30
I had a degree,
10:31
I I was ready to go and launch my career.
10:35
So I went to the Boeing interview and I realized there was
10:40
something that I could do.
10:41
Well, I, I noticed it in interviews that people would
10:45
really respond to me and I would get the job and I
10:49
got the job, my first interview out of college,
10:52
I got the job.
10:54
Here's the downside the next year Microsoft went public.
10:58
So if I had gone on that interview,
11:01
but you can't look back because of the experiences I had at
11:05
Boeing. And so I started out in Asia Pacific Sales where
11:10
you actually sell airplanes to Asian carriers.
11:14
And so here I am a Latina in Asia Pacific selling airplanes
11:20
and working with a very small group of men to make that
11:23
happen. And I learned through that process very early.
11:28
You have to know what you're saying,
11:30
you have to hold your own and you have to be confident
11:34
does this sound familiar things that Latinas can do.
11:36
Well, yeah. See,
11:38
and so through that I,
11:40
I realized there's something universal here,
11:45
there's something that whether you're underserved or female or whatever you are
11:51
there is a great equalizer and that equalizer is communication.
11:56
If you can communicate well,
11:58
it will change your socio-economic status.
12:01
It will change where you are in the corporate ladder.
12:05
It may even change who you partner with.
12:08
I think it did.
12:10
So these things I started,
12:13
they just started coming to me.
12:14
Oh, that's going to change.
12:16
That's going to get better,
12:17
that's going to get better.
12:19
So how can I communicate even better and keep climbing the corporate
12:24
ladder? So that's where I found myself now in Asia at
12:29
the time, I would say particularly China,
12:33
they weren't really big on Mexican people.
12:36
Let's just say it that way.
12:37
They didn't really know too many.
12:39
So they called me Saga,
12:42
which means Spanish because when I would say to them,
12:46
I'm Latino. They would say no,
12:47
no, you're Spanish.
12:49
Right. Right. OK.
12:51
I, I guess I am,
12:52
I am Spanish, you know,
12:54
and so when you talk about is there,
12:58
is there a time where you should kind of pull back on
13:01
your Latina dad or you should push it out.
13:04
That was one of those times that didn't feel comfortable to me
13:07
But I did it anyway.
13:09
I did it anyway because I was thinking more about what we
13:13
needed to do. To be successful in Asia.
13:16
And I didn't want to be the one person on the team
13:19
who was not only female but was going to pull the team
13:23
back. You spoke about being high potential at Boeing,
13:26
but you left Boeing.
13:28
You've worked in small companies,
13:30
big companies in four industries.
13:32
When you look back,
13:33
can you tell us why did you make the decisions that you
13:37
made? And also what do you think were maybe key moments
13:41
key decisions, key people that help you navigate the the
13:46
journey I realized after so many years at Boeing,
13:50
that I needed to take other risks,
13:52
I had taken risks within Boeing to be an expat twice and
13:57
to actually go from the sales organization into communications and that was
14:04
a big risk. Actually,
14:07
I just mentioned four really big risks that I took.
14:10
And then I realized when I started to hear people talking about
14:14
if you really want to grow at a faster or different
14:19
level, sometimes you got to work at a different company in
14:21
a different industry. It's really hard because the stereotype is if
14:27
you don't know our industry,
14:28
how can you do well in our industry?
14:30
So I left the Boeing company and I was recruited to a
14:33
company called COVID, which became Medtronic Metronic,
14:37
actually purchased COVID Surgical.
14:41
We were into all kinds of things,
14:43
but surgical devices was our main product.
14:46
So yes, and I went from being an E series director
14:52
which meant executive director to actually vice president on a global scale
14:57
So it was a big step up for me and it
14:59
was a really good step up for me.
15:01
What they wanted to do was change the brand.
15:05
They realize that there's equity in a brand that you can hold
15:09
on the balance sheets.
15:11
And so when companies go through M and A,
15:13
that's something they look at.
15:15
What is the value of your brand.
15:17
A good example is Apple.
15:19
So Apple year over year increases by several billion dollars,
15:23
the value of their brand.
15:25
In my case, I worked with them to actually change the
15:30
brand of COVID to think about it,
15:33
more surgical devices and less of some of these other surgical products
15:38
and things like that,
15:39
that weren't really having an impact on the value of the stock
15:43
And so from there,
15:45
I actually went to a start up company,
15:49
there were some former Boeing executives including the CFO that started a
15:54
solar photo vic company and this company took non rare earth elements
16:01
and turned them into a semiconductor.
16:03
The vision was not only solar panels made out of these non
16:07
rare earth elements but also a semiconductor that you could paint on
16:12
a car. So now your car is actually a solar powered
16:16
all of these things.
16:17
Yeah. So the technology was really strong,
16:21
it was really interesting and it came about the time of Sora
16:25
Do you remember Solander?
16:26
Where the Obama administration invested in solar companies.
16:31
And so a lot of investors got really resistant to solar companies
16:36
because of this. Well,
16:38
we had a printer we had in the Kodak factory,
16:42
we were using their printers to actually print the semiconductor.
16:48
So it was a brilliant idea,
16:49
right? We were ready to commercialize and then the solar market
16:54
was seen as not really a good thing at the time.
16:56
And we had brought in a lot of money.
16:58
So we ended up actually selling the technology,
17:02
selling the patents and going through that whole process of closing it
17:06
up small companies like that,
17:09
especially when you have an idea that is going to disrupt an
17:13
entire industry or where you can learn so much.
17:17
I learned more through that experience,
17:18
I think, than any other corporate experience I've had.
17:21
And here's the learnings,
17:23
everything you bring to the table,
17:25
you're going to work hard anyway,
17:27
everything you bring to that table,
17:29
it's up to you.
17:30
So you're going to work 18 hours a day anyway,
17:33
why not do it for something that you really feel that you
17:35
believe in the other thing is you don't wear a lot of
17:38
hats, you wear every hat,
17:41
you are everything, you're investor relations.
17:43
You're the CEO you are the person who fixes the printer and
17:48
sometimes you're even the person who takes out the trash,
17:50
you're all of these things and you've got to be prepared whenever
17:54
a new investor comes in to actually present to them,
17:58
get them to invest in what you're doing,
18:00
show them the market,
18:01
show them the potential all these things because that is in the
18:05
sustainability world, the energy world Johnson Controls called me and said
18:10
you know, we really like this whole energy piece of
18:13
it. Johnson Controls is actually a very high tech company that
18:19
works on everything in your building.
18:21
They have controls for everything,
18:23
heat, solar, HV ac all these different things,
18:27
cleaning the air in your building.
18:30
And they wanted that experience and they wanted that brand work so
18:35
that they could change their brand from being an automotive and a
18:39
buildings brand to more of a true multi industrial.
18:44
Why? Because multi industrial multipliers on the market are 25% higher
18:50
That's a big deal.
18:52
And then I went to a company called Carpenter Technologies that does
18:55
specialty metals and then back into energy again with Westinghouse and each
19:02
one of these experiences built on the last and each one I
19:06
was able to take something from what I learned from the last
19:09
one and bring to the table to the next one.
19:13
The one skill I would say every company needs every company values
19:18
and every company should have at the table.
19:21
Are people who know their business,
19:24
know how to make money for their company and can articulate it
19:27
in a way that anyone can understand.
19:30
I want to follow up on something you said you said that
19:32
if you can communicate well,
19:34
basically the world of opportunities open up.
19:36
They didn't say how you became a good communicator.
19:40
Ah, yes, that's really important because there wasn't really a
19:45
playbook on how to do that.
19:47
And,, for me,
19:49
I really listened to people who I thought communicated well,
19:53
in the corporate world we value people who can give a really
19:56
good presentation and convince you that their idea,
20:00
their business model, their business,
20:03
whatever they're trying to accomplish is the right one.
20:06
Now, there's ways to do that.
20:08
You have to show the business case,
20:10
you have to show the abi that you have to show the
20:12
margin expansion. You have to show all these things and the
20:15
market and the headroom in the market.
20:18
So I learned very early on that the way to really learn
20:23
good communication is to listen to those that were perceived as good
20:27
communicators. So how did they do that?
20:30
And there were several people that I saw a lot of CEO
20:35
S, a lot of ceos are really good communicators.
20:39
You listen to them talk and you think,
20:40
oh, that guy,
20:41
that lady, she's so smart,
20:43
they're really good communicators.
20:45
They can take their thoughts and communicate them to you and you
20:50
know exactly what they're doing.
20:52
So, one of the things I learned was from my,
20:56
my family storytelling, storytelling.
21:02
We didn't know this was a thing in business.
21:04
And here I am sitting in Asia working with everyone not using
21:11
this tool that I was given that is very effective.
21:17
The best storytellers are the ones that bring you into the story
21:23
story living. We call it story,
21:25
living, story living is where you see yourself inside the story
21:29
and where you can really identify that in a way if you're
21:34
a consumer and I'm a brand and I pull you into the
21:37
story. I hope corporate America is listening right now because this
21:41
will make you money.
21:43
When you see yourself in that story,
21:45
you're not only loyal to that brand,
21:47
but you're going to buy from that brand and it's going to
21:49
create an emotion in you.
21:51
Oh, they get me,
21:52
they get me. There's ways of going about that.
21:57
But I learned that storytelling was one of the most impactful
22:02
tools in business. It's one of the most impactful tools for
22:06
getting your customer to not only interact with you and buy from
22:10
you, but to be loyal to you and to keep that
22:14
relationship going. And I think that naturally we Latinas are great
22:20
communicators. We love talking.
22:23
The question is whether we know how to do storytelling and how
22:26
to craft the art of communication.
22:28
You're a great storyteller.
22:29
Can you teach our audiences the basics of great storytelling?
22:33
How and Latinas particularly become great storytelling and craft the art?
22:37
Yes, of course.
22:38
And I think there's this whole body of science out there.
22:42
There's data in science that shows that this is the way it
22:46
works. There's data and science that shows when you see yourself
22:50
in the story that you're going to feel differently and you're going
22:53
to act differently. And the person who's telling you the story
22:57
is going to have a greater impact on you.
23:00
The number one thing is to really understand what are you trying
23:03
to communicate? What is the core of what you're trying to
23:07
get across? Ok.
23:08
That sounds really simple,
23:09
doesn't it? I want to get this across,
23:11
but it's really hard for people to do to focus on what
23:14
is it, you're really trying to get across.
23:16
The other thing is when you're building the narrative,
23:20
what is the narrative that actually supports that point?
23:25
So let's say the point is Claudia wants to get rid of
23:30
the injustice in our community.
23:33
So what is that point?
23:34
You want to make things more opportunistic.
23:37
So you have to think about how are you showcasing that in
23:41
a way that your audience is going to resonate with?
23:44
So those are three very simple steps.
23:47
The other thing is,
23:48
is you can't forget human emotion and psychology.
23:53
We talked a little bit earlier about the reaction to a story
23:57
We talked about how you can see yourself in the story
24:00
But what is next?
24:02
What comes next? And if you think about what you're trying
24:06
to get people to do and you think about that psychology,
24:10
you will make it even simpler simple is hard.
24:14
It's very hard. So you have to think about the core
24:17
of what you're trying to communicate.
24:19
What is it you're trying to impact,
24:20
what are you trying to make different?
24:22
And then what is that platform?
24:24
And your audience will resonate with?
24:27
I want to tell a story that I use when I want
24:30
to illustrate a point.
24:32
So one day my son,
24:35
I have a four year old son and he was like two
24:38
and he woke up in the middle of the night and screamed
24:44
So I go in and he says,
24:45
there's a gorilla in my closet.
24:48
And I'm like, there's no gorilla in your closet.
24:50
Of course, there's no gorilla in your closet.
24:52
Look, I opened the closet,
24:53
show him there's no gorilla.
24:54
No way he would go to sleep,
24:55
right? So we took the crib,
24:57
they like travel crib to our room.
24:59
The second night. He didn't want to go to sleep in
25:00
his bedroom because there was a gorilla in the closet.
25:03
After a week of not sleeping in his room.
25:06
We were pretty desperate and I come home and his,
25:11
his nanny had put him to sleep in his crib.
25:14
So I asked the nanny,
25:15
how did you convince him?
25:17
There's no gorilla in the closet.
25:19
And he said, oh,
25:19
he told me there's a gorilla in the closet.
25:21
I opened the closet.
25:22
I grabbed the gorilla.
25:23
I left the room with a gorilla and I took the gorilla
25:26
out of the apartment and I just saw a more gorilla and
25:30
I thought there is another way,
25:33
like sometimes your way is not the way that's going to work
25:37
and you have to be open to asking others for their perspective
25:40
And even if sometimes their ideas are insane,
25:43
sometimes they work. So this is a story I tell when
25:46
I want to illustrate like being open to somebody else's crazy idea
25:51
So I want to,
25:52
I want to give you mine.
25:53
So I am a data driven person probably because I've been a
25:57
marketer always in organizations that don't have budgets and I always have
26:02
to know as opposed to try,
26:04
I have to know where things are.
26:06
So every story that I give is data driven evidence based sticky
26:11
memorable and personal but never intimate.
26:14
That's where I think we cross a boundary.
26:18
When you think that you're telling something that you have to be
26:21
personal, you have to create empathy in everything you're saying and
26:24
doing but never cross a line in which you're like,
26:27
oh, that's too much information like that.
26:29
I never want to know more than I want to know.
26:32
Can never go back.
26:34
And I think that we do that mistake.
26:36
So much confusing what's personal,
26:37
what's intimate and and being personal is being able to share something
26:42
of your person. But being intimate is something that you wouldn't
26:45
share with anyone that is not your closest friend.
26:48
But again, yeah,
26:48
great So OK, let's continue doing this communication,
26:52
storytelling a little bit more.
26:53
So many Latinas might want to be like you and getting to
26:57
brand communication and getting to storytelling.
27:01
What advice would you give them?
27:02
What tools, resources,
27:04
podcast, books, choruses where to start.
27:08
There's a lot of things you can do.
27:09
There's amazing books out there.
27:11
The Storyteller Secret. That's a really good book on how to
27:16
think about the construction of a story.
27:19
Another really good book is smart brevity.
27:22
So smart brevity is really about saying less.
27:27
Just think of it this way,
27:29
less is more. So when you say less,
27:32
you have a bigger impact,
27:34
you know, these stories that we're telling,
27:36
they were very short and they had three thoughts and they had
27:41
a superhero. Your nanny,
27:48
the gorilla was the villain.
27:50
And so see how there's,
27:52
there's formulas to these stories I hire.
27:55
So I'm the superhero.
27:56
There you are. You're the superhero.
27:58
And let me give you one more point because Claudia was asking
28:03
watching people, somebody I've watched who has been dead for 100
28:07
and 50 years, you think?
28:08
OK, now, where is this going?
28:10
Is Frederick Douglas? So Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in
28:15
the United States. Frederick Douglass had some things going for him
28:19
Frederick Douglas was very handsome African American male and he figured
28:25
out that great communication is just not the vocal word.
28:29
It's the visual. So in the 18 hundreds,
28:33
photography was just coming into its realm and he wanted to be
28:39
photographed the same way white men were sitting up straight,
28:44
looking, dignified, you know,
28:46
wearing nice clothes, having their hair coiffed all of these things
28:51
He became one of the most photographed people of the 18
28:55
hundreds because not only did he give great speeches,
29:00
but he made sure because he knew this is going to change
29:03
the way the African American people are viewed.
29:06
Because if they see me sitting this way being photographed this way
29:12
think about that kind of communication,
29:14
no cell phones, no microphones,
29:16
no TV. Nothing that you could communicate better than the visual
29:22
I use that.
29:25
I do that. I have to say I absolutely overdo that
29:28
because I know that images travel faster than words.
29:32
And every time that I'm invited to a Hispanic event or an
29:36
award or whatever it is,
29:37
I try to overdo the royalty.
29:40
So looking like a princess,
29:42
like a queen, like dresses,
29:43
not quinceanera. But I like,
29:45
you know, like,
29:45
like going royal. So I think that we need role models
29:49
where you can just like start imagining yourself the way that I
29:52
would have liked imagining myself.
29:54
But also when I don't go to Latino events for like more
29:57
non Latino events, I try to overdo the Lan so that
30:00
you know, like it's a flip,
30:02
it's a flipping image all together,
30:04
everything communicates exactly. That's why now I'm wearing earrings because Claudia
30:08
has told me that I that I used to wear earrings,
30:11
they look really nice.
30:12
And so one thing that I would love for you to give
30:15
me as advice or learn how to do it.
30:17
And she always takes this personally,
30:20
you know, like this is my mentorship session on camera with
30:26
all of you. And that's why we're here.
30:29
That's why you're all here.
30:30
This is your personal for me.
30:33
But I hear you speaking and the pace with which you
30:38
speak, it's like so perfect.
30:41
You don't speak too fast that it's hard to follow or that
30:44
I think sometimes people think that people that speak very fast are
30:47
not as smart or nervous or they,
30:50
they're nervous. You speak so slow that you're like,
30:52
is she acting like she wants to see this going on?
30:56
How did you, how did you get to the speed at
31:00
which you, you you speak because that's trained you,
31:04
you, you guys know for Latinos everything started at the kitchen
31:07
table. So everything started there.
31:11
It was all about food,
31:13
it was all about participating at the kitchen table and my kitchen
31:16
table. There's all these kids,
31:19
there's my parents, my grandparents and maybe some stragglers that came
31:23
along. You know,
31:24
we're all sitting there and everyone called me Martita and when my
31:30
mother or my father would ask me something,
31:33
they expected a really good answer,
31:36
they expected it. And so I would answer,
31:39
you know, Martita,
31:40
what did you do today?
31:41
Oh, well, I,
31:42
I caught the bus.
31:42
I went to school.
31:43
I did this. I did.
31:44
No, no. Perfect English,
31:47
Martita. Perfect English.
31:49
And then you get the look,
31:50
you get the look.
31:52
So there was pressure to speak in perfect English.
31:55
They didn't talk about pace,
31:56
they didn't talk about any of that other stuff.
31:59
They just said perfect English because they wanted us to have communication
32:04
skills because they knew that would help us get ahead in life
32:07
They knew that would be important in,
32:10
in the lives that we were about to lead.
32:12
And so that's what really pushed me to speak that way.
32:15
I've also studied a lot of speeches from people who I think
32:20
speak very well who John F.
32:23
Kennedy is a really good example.
32:25
I think Obama is exceptional and some people would say,
32:29
well, he's just a good orator.
32:30
No, he's a really good storyteller too and he was able
32:33
to impact people. So following them and seeing how they did
32:39
it. And there's also I I was just watching a documentary
32:43
on Frida Kahlo and they have Yes,
32:47
yes. Now there's very little audio of her because of the
32:51
time, right? Because she was born in the 19 1900
32:55
So there's very little audio.
32:56
So they brought in someone else that they said spoke the way
33:00
she did. She was as clear in her speaking as she
33:05
was in her art,
33:07
everything was very clear,
33:09
the pain, the joy,
33:11
the agony. Everything was crystal clear and you couldn't help but
33:16
love her. You couldn't help but like it.
33:17
And so I think it's important that we learn the art and
33:20
craft of communication, storytelling,
33:22
but also be able to be yourself being authentic.
33:25
And I think that one of the most important pieces of feedback
33:28
I get is that people trust me because I,
33:31
they can see through me.
33:32
I'm authentic, I'm genuine.
33:33
The way that I speak,
33:35
the way I present,
33:36
the way I speak really comes as a genuine.
33:39
And I do think that we have heard from all of our
33:42
guests that pretending to be someone you're not,
33:45
is not gonna get you to success.
33:47
So I would like to know a little bit more in the
33:50
context of communicating and public speaking.
33:53
And you know,
33:54
storytelling, I think that there's very few Latinas and Hispanics that
33:59
are you know,
34:00
like really great public speakers that are really great at that craft
34:04
even if we're so naturally prone and good to that.
34:07
And I think it is related to self confidence.
34:10
Can we talk about that piece of communications,
34:13
public speaking storytelling when,
34:16
with respect to the being comfortable being yourself?
34:21
Well, what do they say be yourself because everyone else is
34:25
taken. It's the easiest way to get across an idea.
34:30
A thought, a business notion,
34:32
something like that if you embrace who you are.
34:35
And this is why I think it's so important that Latinas embrace
34:38
who they are. You know,
34:39
we were talking earlier that 70% of Latinas don't really express that
34:45
in their current work environments because they're not comfortable with that.
34:50
Here's why it's not a good thing because if you embrace who
34:54
you are and you appreciate the roots in the place that you
34:58
came from. And you think about all the people that were
35:02
part of how you got here,
35:04
all the Latinas that were part of how you got here,
35:07
that gives you that inner strength.
35:10
It gives you that notion of I can hold my own because
35:15
they did before me,
35:16
we call them trailblazers,
35:17
right? I call them Chingonas.
35:20
It's the same thing they had to do it in a stronger
35:25
way than we did.
35:26
It's a little bit easier for us.
35:28
Our stage is bigger though.
35:30
Your stage is much bigger and you have to think about that
35:34
So Latinas, if you embrace who you are,
35:37
you embrace your Latina dad.
35:39
And you think about how that brings value.
35:43
That's what every corporation wants.
35:46
That's what every board wants.
35:47
They want. Value.
35:49
The minute you see that you are going to appreciate and have
35:54
confidence in everything you bring to the table and you're going to
35:57
look at people from other ethnic backgrounds and think I'm here because
36:02
I need to be here.
36:04
I have the strength to be here.
36:06
There is no reason why I shouldn't be here and that confidence
36:09
is going to come through and it's real,
36:12
it's real. They just aren't opening the door to let it
36:15
out yet. But how can we get Latinas to believe what
36:19
you're saying? When just like it happened to you?
36:23
Sometimes they, people say to us things that totally crush us
36:27
like you were told when you were younger.
36:30
Thank God, you don't look Latina,
36:31
right? Like what,
36:32
what did you do when you heard that?
36:34
What impact did it have?
36:36
And for anyone in our audience that has ever been told that
36:40
what would you say they should do with that message?
36:43
And you feel erased,
36:44
you feel as though somebody has erased who you are.
36:48
But think about the other side of that and the other side
36:51
of that is bringing that out.
36:54
The story that you're talking about was when I was early in
36:57
my career at Boeing,
36:59
I was considered a high potential and there was about 15 of
37:02
us that were pulled into this organization,
37:06
every corporation has them,
37:07
they call them high post that we were pulled in and we
37:10
got to meet with all the senior leaders of the company.
37:13
And so this one meeting that we were having was with the
37:16
C hr O, the highest ranking hr executive in the company
37:20
And he came in and we were all sitting around the
37:22
table and he went to different people around the table and were
37:26
asking them questions about themselves.
37:29
And when he got to me.
37:30
He said, Marta,
37:33
Marta, you, you're somebody right?
37:37
And I thought to myself naively,
37:40
well, of course I am.
37:41
I'm a hypo, this is what was going through my head
37:44
That's why I'm here.
37:46
And he said, where are you from?
37:50
What's your ethnicity? And I said,
37:52
I'm Mexican American just like that.
37:55
I'm Mexican American. And he said,
37:58
thank God you don't look like it.
38:01
Now, I think this is what you mean when you say
38:05
why would you not,
38:07
why would you come out as,
38:09
as a Latina when something like that can happen?
38:12
Here's the thing, we are the fastest demographic growing in the
38:19
United States today. There is a market,
38:21
there is a value to that market.
38:24
There is all kinds of things associated with that,
38:27
that is not slowing down,
38:29
that is a freight train that is taking off and gaining steam
38:33
And so if you are a Latina and you embrace your
38:37
Latina dad and you bring that to the table without saying you're
38:42
sorry and telling who you are in authentic way,
38:46
you're going to succeed.
38:47
You can't help but succeed.
38:48
Companies need you, corporations need more and more Latinos to help
38:54
them get ahead. And this is something that there is a
38:58
way for Latinas to not only embrace but to think about how
39:03
they're going to be part of the future.
39:05
Yeah, but why do you think that person told you that
39:08
Like why did an accomplished and professional and successful C hr
39:13
O thought it's better not to look like Latina.
39:17
Now, remember this,
39:18
we're in 2023 and this was many years ago.
39:22
And so at that time,
39:24
it wasn't accepted. What I'm saying is today it's accepted.
39:27
So, so let's talk about it.
39:30
Let's talk about who you are and what value you bring to
39:34
the table because I think it's more accepted than ever.
39:38
And I think that's important,
39:40
especially for younger Latinas to know several months ago.
39:44
I was in Washington DC talking to five female senators and I
39:48
said to them, you know,
39:49
we've got an immigration problem in this country and you need to
39:53
figure out the policy.
39:54
I'm just here to tell you that within one generation,
39:58
this is what you get.
40:00
And I think for a lot of them that was an eye
40:03
opener. It was like,
40:04
whoa, wait a minute,
40:05
what are you talking about?
40:06
I said I, this is what you get after one generation
40:10
And so if you think about that,
40:12
you're going to think differently about the people coming over the border
40:17
The reason I bring this up is because if we look
40:20
at where we are today versus where we were,
40:24
then we realize what we can do what God is here won't
40:28
get us there. But we do realize Kalia,
40:30
what we can do to get ahead.
40:33
And I think for a lot of very young Latinas,
40:36
if you think about what your mother and grandmother went through to
40:40
get ahead and you realize those shoulders you stand on,
40:43
you know, but you know that you can progress if someone
40:47
tells you. Thank God you don't look Latina.
40:51
What's an appropriate response to flip the script in a normal
40:54
elegant and positive progress looking way?
40:58
That doesn't get you fired.
40:59
That doesn't get you fired.
41:01
Well, what I said was if you go to Mexico
41:04
City, you will see a lot of people that look like
41:07
me. Yeah, that's one answer.
41:09
Yes. That is one answer.
41:10
And that is the opportunity to share the diversity of Latinos,
41:14
right? You have to,
41:16
you have to broaden their thinking.
41:18
So you're not going to solve world peace in one meeting,
41:22
but you can chip away at it.
41:24
You can make those baby steps.
41:26
If you go to a certain area of Mexico,
41:30
you will see people like us.
41:32
So talk to us about the inverse.
41:34
Where has been your Latinidad appro for you in your career?
41:37
How, how has it helped you take you further and go
41:41
more? It's really helped me in negotiations.
41:44
I watched my mother and my grandmother negotiate anything and I watched
41:49
them barter and I watched them do things and say things that
41:53
would help them get what they needed,
41:55
whether it was groceries or clothes or whatever it was,
41:58
they negotiated everything I think that way.
42:02
So from the very first job I had to even today,
42:06
I negotiate salary I negotiate.
42:09
And I heard you guys talk about having a whole section on
42:12
negotiations. This is really important because you have to be able
42:16
to negotiate not only for a better salary but for what are
42:20
you being asked to do and what is appropriate for you to
42:23
be asked to do?
42:24
And also you were talking earlier about the naysayers if you can
42:30
negotiate with a naysayer and convert them into being a proponent,
42:35
that's really good negotiation skills.
42:37
And so you have to sort of pull yourself out of that
42:41
environment that you're talking about and be able to communicate it very
42:45
objectively. What am I trying to achieve?
42:48
I'm trying to achieve a higher salary.
42:51
How am I going to get that?
42:53
So for me, the,
42:54
the, the basics of how I got that was what is
42:58
it they're asking me to do?
42:59
Exactly. And then what is that worth?
43:02
And then what is my experience worth?
43:05
And then how do I have something they can't get somewhere else
43:10
And so those things contribute to your negotiation,
43:15
this comes back to that confidence.
43:17
You've got to know your worth,
43:18
you've got to know your value because if you don't know what
43:21
those things are, you can't negotiate for yourself.
43:24
And so I really applaud you if you have another session
43:29
just on negotiation because I think that's one of the most important
43:33
things, one of the gifts that you can give to the
43:36
Latina community. We should do some workshops.
43:38
Yeah. Yeah. You also mentioned that it was later
43:43
in your career that you embraced your last name.
43:47
Yeah. Sorry. Yeah.
43:48
So I got married when I was 18 and I'm still married
43:53
to the same guy.
43:55
He's a great guy.
43:56
He's also very handsome.
43:57
So that helps. Right.
43:59
And his last name is Newhart.
44:02
When I was younger I wanted to be a news broadcaster.
44:06
I wanted to be that lady you saw on television that was
44:09
giving you the news every night.
44:12
I can see, you can see that.
44:14
And so his name was perfect.
44:16
I didn't choose him for the name I chose him because I
44:19
was in love the look of the.
44:23
And so I, I took his name and so for many
44:28
years, a few decades in my career,
44:31
I was known as Martha Newhart.
44:33
And then I have a very famous cousin who is an activist
44:39
and she's also considered the best Mexican American chef in America.
44:44
Her name is Silvana Sido Esperanza.
44:46
So the Salcido are our cousins and she is in Phoenix.
44:52
And if you go in downtown Phoenix,
44:54
there is a big three story bank building and they have a
44:57
mural of her. So Sylvana said to me many years ago
45:02
when you look around corporate America,
45:05
do you see people like us?
45:09
No, the next level down.
45:12
Do you see people like us?
45:14
No. How about the next level below that?
45:18
No. What are you gonna do about it?
45:22
What are you gonna do about it?
45:25
And I thought about it and I was thinking about it.
45:30
I have this platform,
45:31
I'm in corporate America.
45:33
I'm here. I don't care what they think at this point
45:39
I'm gonna use my family name.
45:41
When was this? This was about five years ago.
45:45
It's very recent. Yeah.
45:48
Now what did that lead to it leaded to people saying to
45:52
me, wait, what,
45:53
what is going on here?
45:54
Are you getting a divorce?
45:56
What is, what is happening?
45:58
You know what happened to that 18 year old guy?
46:01
You anymore, right?
46:04
What's going on here?
46:06
So there's something really good that comes with age.
46:09
Well, there's many things,
46:10
there's many good things that come with age and one of them
46:13
is wisdom and the wisdom to know what is important and what
46:17
doesn't matter and the way other people see you sometimes it just
46:21
doesn't matter. So I use my name.
46:24
It's very important to me and I get asked to speak out
46:28
on the Latino community.
46:30
I get asked to speak about our demographics.
46:33
I get asked to speak about what do we do?
46:35
What is the future for us?
46:37
Why is it important that we look at Latinos as employees,
46:41
as people in the C suite,
46:43
people on boards, all of those things.
46:46
And I always do.
46:47
It's really important that we use the platforms that we've ascended to
46:52
in a very productive way.
46:54
So Silvana uses food and I use my voice.
46:59
Now, you've been in corporate America long enough to probably understand
47:03
what are the stereotypes of Latinos that just we need to,
47:10
to flip. Can you talk to us about one in particular
47:15
that you feel like it's misunderstood,
47:16
like one Latino characteristic that is seen in a,
47:19
in a negative light that we should say.
47:21
Yes. Yes, yes,
47:22
we are. That but that's a good thing for corporate America
47:25
Not a bad thing.
47:26
I think the one about being loud,
47:28
I think what's really good about it is we have a perspective
47:32
and we're confident in what that is and that's able to move
47:36
companies forward. If you think about the most competitive companies in
47:41
the world, they are going after markets that their competitors cannot
47:45
get them in, they're going after different things that their competitors
47:51
just can't compete in.
47:53
So when we talk about being loud,
47:55
you know, Jennifer Lopez has a song,
47:57
let's get loud. That's where we are loud in music in
48:01
a very good way.
48:03
And we're really conquering the the music world in corporate America that
48:09
doesn't really work. We are not loud.
48:12
We are confident and we are going to take risks that are
48:16
good for the company.
48:18
These are risks that we've thought about.
48:20
These are risks that are good for our markets and these are
48:23
risks that are good for our portfolios.
48:25
That is one that I would flip the switch on from loud
48:29
to from loud to confident and knowing what you're bringing to the
48:34
table. It's going to be good for companies.
48:37
Yeah. Amazing. And I hope that by flipping the script
48:40
we can get Latinas that maybe are choosing to change
48:44
their name, their names and their last names and so on
48:48
to use it in half the time that we have been are
48:50
coming to this realization.
48:52
That's right. One of the questions that we ask for our
48:55
guests is to tell us if you were talking to your 30
48:58
year old self, you have been married for 12 years by
49:01
then. With what advice would you give yourself now that you
49:07
have the perspective, I would say your day will come.
49:11
It will happen. You think that because of who you are
49:15
or where you came from is a detriment.
49:18
It's actually an attribute and that's what I would say to my
49:21
my 30 year old self.
49:23
But why do you think that's something you need to tell your
49:25
30 year old self?
49:26
Were you insecure? I didn't know,
49:29
I didn't know I was,
49:31
I was in a world that didn't embrace that.
49:34
They didn't embrace who we are.
49:35
They didn't embrace Latina Dad.
49:37
They didn't embrace those kinds of things.
49:39
And that made you doubt yourself.
49:41
It did. Yes.
49:42
Yeah. Well, I'm glad they will come as in belief
49:47
belief in yourself and belief in what you can do.
49:51
And belief in what your capability is.
49:57
Thank you. Thank you.
49:58
I didn't tell you the story of the ruby slipper.
50:01
I see. It's a little pump.
50:05
I love it. Does it have a story?
50:07
Yes, it does.
50:08
There's a piece of advice I would give any young Latina and
50:12
I would say it's really important to find your home.
50:17
Find the people who will be honest with you,
50:20
find the people who will tell you like it is and will
50:24
never judge you and will never hold things against you.
50:27
I have three really close friends and we really sort of just
50:31
met each other a couple of years ago and we're all in
50:35
the executive VP level of corporations.
50:38
And one of them called me up one day and said,
50:42
when something goes wrong,
50:43
what do you do?
50:44
Who do you talk to?
50:46
Who do you, who gives you advice?
50:48
I mean, you're sitting there in the boardroom who's telling you
50:52
what to do and that sort of thing.
50:54
And I said, well,
50:55
it, it's really hard,
50:56
it really is because everybody's coming to you for advice.
51:00
She said I want to start this little group of people for
51:03
women that we meet regularly and we do this for each other
51:08
And I want to pick this woman.
51:10
I won't tell you the names,
51:12
but I want to pick this woman because she's really strategic and
51:16
she knows how to do things in a very strategic way.
51:20
And I want to pick you because you're very courageous and you're
51:24
somebody who can really stand up for yourself and your community.
51:28
And then I want to pick this other woman.
51:30
I said, whoa,
51:30
whoa, wait a minute.
51:31
This sounds like the wizard of Oz.
51:36
Yeah, it sounds like the wizard of Oz.
51:39
We are the rubies.
51:43
We are the ruby slippers.
51:45
Remember? Dorothy clicked the ruby slippers three times to get home
51:51
So one of the rubies gave each one of us a
51:54
necklace with a ruby slipper on it.
51:57
We talk about all things life,
51:59
we talk about all things career.
52:01
We talk about all issues.
52:03
Now, remember we just met each other a couple of years
52:05
ago. There is nothing off the table.
52:08
We are our own boardroom and we help each other that way
52:12
That's the ruby.
52:12
I love it. I,
52:13
I've talked to my husband a lot about how we all
52:17
need a board of advisors and like sometimes it's your partner,
52:21
but you need a board of advice too that that's more in
52:25
your space. So I know like Claudia put together a little
52:29
group of Latinas here in,
52:30
in New York. I think it's gonna become our board of
52:33
advisors, but everybody needs it.
52:34
So look for you've got your own.
52:37
Sounds like we're building it,
52:39
but we need it.
52:40
Yeah. Amazing. Thank you.
52:42
I learned so much.
52:43
This is really my mentorship session in front of everyone,
52:46
communication, storytelling, negotiation skills.
52:50
That we need to leave Latina.
52:53
Don't forget to rate and review the podcast.
52:56
Also, follow us on social media.
52:59
And more importantly, if you know,
53:01
a Latina Trailblazer who is killing it in corporate America or in
53:05
any other industry and is opening the door and leaving it open
53:09
for the next generation.
53:11
Nominate her in our website Ala latina.com.