Series
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Nanette Cocero

In a stirring episode of "A LA LATINA: The Playbook to Succeed Being Your Authentic Self," hosts Claudia Romo Edelman and Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner sit down with Nanette Cocero, the dynamic former Global President of the Vaccines Division at Pfizer. Nanette brings to the table a wealth of experience and insight, crucial for any Latina aiming to make her mark in the professional world.

This episode dives deep into Nanette's unique career journey, revealing key takeaways for Latinas in the corporate sector.

Key highlights include:

1. Leveraging Latina Heritage in Career Advancement: Nanette discusses how embracing her Latina identity and background provided a competitive edge in leading significant projects like the COVID-19 vaccine development.

2. The Art of Speaking Up: She emphasizes the importance of vocalizing ambitions and the power of communication in the corporate realm, underscoring the need for preparation and anticipation in discussions.

3. Authenticity as a Superpower: Nanette shares how staying true to herself and being unapologetically Latina has been instrumental in her success.

Throughout the conversation, Nanette offers insights into her educational choices, her involvement in groundbreaking healthcare initiatives, and her approach to balancing family and career aspirations. She also touches on the stereotypes and challenges she faced and overcame in her journey.

Listeners will find inspiration in Nanette’s story, from her contributions to global health to her advocacy for Latina representation in STEM fields. This episode is a treasure trove of strategic advice, empowering stories, and actionable takeaways, making it a must-listen for anyone navigating the complexities of professional growth while staying true to their cultural roots.

Tune into this episode of "A LA LATINA" for an enriching dialogue filled with wisdom, inspiration, and empowerment for today's Latina professionals.
Show transcript
00:00
Hola. I'm Claudia Romo Edelman and I'm Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner.
00:03
And this is a podcast,
00:05
a La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
00:08
today, Nanette Coro,
00:09
former global president of the vaccines divisions advisor.
00:13
In this episode, you're gonna learn three main takeaways.
00:17
Number one, why being a Latina gave her the upper edge
00:21
in leading the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in record time.
00:25
Number two, the importance of speaking up to be noticed but
00:29
make sure that you're well prepared that you have the facts and
00:32
that you anticipate the questions that will be asked.
00:34
And number three, how being her unapologetic self became her superpower
00:39
and gave her an edge.
00:41
This and more in a podcast.
00:43
A La Latina Hola,
00:52
welcome to the podcast,
00:54
a La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
00:58
today, an incredible literal Trailblazer,
01:01
incredible path breaker. Nanette Coro Nanette spent 21 years at Pfizer
01:07
Her last role was global president of the Vaccines Division.
01:10
She led the development and launch of the COVID vaccine.
01:14
She's a board director at Pharma Jet,
01:16
a company that focuses on needle free injection solutions which my kids
01:20
are going to love.
01:21
She's also on the board of Hex,
01:23
a publicly traded by a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and
01:27
commercialization of novel vaccines.
01:29
And finally, she's a board director for idea public schools,
01:33
one of the fastest growing network of tuition free K to 12
01:37
public charter schools. Nanette.
01:40
What a pleasure having you here today.
01:43
I'm very excited to be here with both of you.
01:46
And again, with our objective of sharing our experiences that
01:50
will help our younger women Latinas to continue growing and grow even
01:56
faster in their careers.
01:58
I mean, you're a true Trailblazer.
02:01
You have made history and you have saved so many millions of
02:05
lives. I would like to start with our favorite subject of
02:08
the day. You,
02:10
what made you be who you are and what you do today
02:13
tell us about your background.
02:15
I have lived in several countries.
02:18
I have lived in Puerto Rico,
02:19
which is where my mother is from.
02:21
I have lived in Spain,
02:22
which is where my father is from.
02:24
I have lived in the United States,
02:26
which is where I did my education.
02:28
And again, growing in in an immigrant family,
02:33
my parents were always encouraging my siblings and myself to aim high
02:39
at all time. So as immigrants,
02:43
my my parents raised us with the responsibility to have a
02:50
positive impact, to contribute to the community that we lived in
02:57
and to the world around us and also having lived in different
03:01
countries that taught me to be sensitive about the different cultures.
03:07
And it also taught me to be respectful of different ideas.
03:13
These became important success factors for me as my career
03:20
grew at pfizer, especially when I was getting the opportunities to
03:24
have global roles. So yes,
03:27
so my heritage definitely played an important role in who I am
03:31
but also in how I grew professionally.
03:35
Can you talk to us about your education?
03:37
And like why did you decide to study in the U SI
03:40
also know that you have a phd,
03:42
you have an MB A,
03:43
you've gone to school most more than most people.
03:47
Why, why did you make those decisions?
03:49
Well, the phd is,
03:51
goes along the lines of aiming high,
03:53
right? So I,
03:55
I started with a phd in Pharmacology and then I was doing
03:59
my phd in Pharmacology.
04:01
I grew an interest in business and I was curious to
04:07
know what kind of positive impact I could have beyond the laboratory
04:15
research wall because most people that do a phd in Pharmacology,
04:18
you stay, you stay in academia.
04:21
Yes. So then I went ahead and combined my phd
04:26
in Pharmacology with an MB A and I was fortunate that I
04:31
could get both at Wharton Business School.
04:34
I mean, I could get both at the University of Pennsylvania
04:37
Of course, the Business School is the Wharton Business
04:39
School. And and this combination then allow me to grow
04:45
my career in the health care industry.
04:48
And then this combination also allow me to have positions like new
04:53
product planning, positions in marketing,
04:56
general management. And then the ultimate role that I had at
04:59
pfizer, which was being the global president for,
05:03
for the vaccine portfolio at pfizer.
05:05
I feel like you just like jumped ahead.
05:08
I'm gonna take you back.
05:09
OK. Why did you study pharmacology?
05:11
We know like Claudia has the stats but like it's not a
05:15
career that Latinas were not pursue.
05:18
I don't know the numbers,
05:19
you know, so just to put that into perspective is so
05:22
important for our audience to hear that aim high is an encouragement
05:28
to get you further,
05:29
particularly in STEM. We have been making waves.
05:32
We are 19% of the population and we used to be 1%
05:36
in STEM. Now that percentage is really growing and we're getting
05:39
to 3 to 5% in STEM.
05:42
But in phds, we're only 1% of our relation that manages
05:46
that. It seems to be like a daunting or very expensive
05:50
choice to make. But particularly in natural life sciences is an
05:54
area where we still have to push for more and more Latino
05:58
insertion. And it seems to me one of the reasons why
06:01
we're not there is because we don't have the encouragement.
06:04
No one told us we don't have the role models.
06:06
If you can't see it,
06:07
you can be it.
06:09
Yeah. No Absolutely.
06:10
And in my case,
06:12
again, I have always was interested in sciences and
06:17
as an undergrad, my my major was chemistry.
06:21
And then, again,
06:22
in my interest of applying,
06:25
getting closer to applying the science into human body is that then
06:30
comes pharmacology. But then again,
06:33
my interest and then going beyond the walls of,
06:37
of, of a laboratory,
06:38
lab comes the business degree.
06:41
So is that full combination of science and business that I developed
06:47
as a passion? Why?
06:48
Because that allows me to do my ultimate goal,
06:52
which was to have a global impact in public health for your
06:56
parents in stem or in global health.
06:59
Because I would have never thought about making an impact in global
07:01
health. So how did it come to you?
07:04
Yes. Well, I mean,
07:05
my dad came to Puerto Rico to marry my mother.
07:12
And again, I don't know that we want to go into
07:14
the details on how they met,
07:15
but they met when my mother went to Madrid for a vacation
07:19
they dated for two years via letters.
07:25
And and then my father left Madrid,
07:28
left his mom, his sister to marry my mother in Puerto
07:31
Rico. But it was during the time of Franco and during
07:36
that time, as you know,
07:38
opportunities for to low class people were very limited and he saw
07:45
coming to Puerto Rico as an opportunity to grow.
07:47
Then in Puerto Rico,
07:49
he studied physics and he got a master's in physics,
07:52
then he was a professor in physics.
07:54
So so that's how the stem came about.
07:59
My mother, on the other hand,
08:01
was on the side of entertainment.
08:04
I don't know if my uncle is Paquito Cordero in Puerto
08:08
Rico. Do you know that name?
08:10
And and my mother and and my uncle partner
08:15
to bring entertainment to to Puerto Rico,
08:18
Nia Caro to chat.
08:20
I don't know if those names ring a bell to you.
08:22
So it was totally two different areas.
08:25
But then my interest leaned towards,
08:27
towards the towards the stem.
08:28
Maybe because in my mind,
08:30
I thought that that was the harder part to do.
08:35
And that's how came into me.
08:39
That's a beautiful love story and just like seeing it through your
08:42
career strategically for the Latino community,
08:45
we have to get into those professions because tech and health care
08:48
are two areas in which we're under represented.
08:51
But they are the future.
08:52
I think that it is encouraging to have you so that younger
08:56
Latinas can and younger mothers can tell their kids that it is
09:00
a great area to go.
09:02
So we can encourage more and more people to not only aim
09:04
high but aim high in areas where the future lies.
09:09
Do you want to talk a little bit more about like where
09:11
do you see stem particularly the Pharma and the health health care
09:16
industry going absolutely, it is,
09:18
it is an area that while,
09:19
as you mentioned, we have been increasing our Latin representation in
09:26
different industries, science and technology continues to be lagging even significantly
09:32
more than any other of the industries.
09:35
I mean, I think that in the Pharma space,
09:38
the percent of Latina women are in the low teens,
09:43
I'm not even sure if they are even double digit to
09:46
be honest with you.
09:47
So it is an area that we need to continue raising the
09:52
awareness and and continue providing younger women the confidence that
10:00
it can be done and that you can be anything that you
10:04
want to be and that nothing and nobody should hold you back
10:08
And that if you get accepted into,
10:11
as you know, into any of the universities in the United
10:14
States is because you can do it.
10:17
So there's no need to doubt yourself.
10:18
There's no need to have insecurities that even if you get accepted
10:22
to Cornell or Harvard or any of the top schools in the
10:25
United States. Oh my God,
10:27
am I gonna be able to compete?
10:28
Yes, of course.
10:29
You will be able to compete and you need to go for
10:32
it and you need to make it happen and really have the
10:35
courage to make it happen,
10:37
which that comes then with the resilience that we have as,
10:39
as Latin women and let's face it.
10:42
You and Annette are a celebrity of science.
10:45
Your Nobel prize winner material.
10:49
I've heard your name particularly in the time of COVID.
10:53
where I learned that the first vaccine,
10:57
I don't know for people that,
10:58
do you remember how desperate we were in a COVID time to
11:02
when is the vaccine gonna come?
11:03
And how are we gonna get out of this one?
11:05
And then it was you a Latina that invented the COVID vaccine
11:10
And I cannot tell you how proud I am of you
11:14
of having a Latina having done that.
11:16
And how much I wish my mother would have gotten COVID after
11:20
so that I would have have allowed,
11:22
you know, like her to enjoy the benefit of your
11:27
incredible work so that she could have gotten the vaccine
11:30
before passing. Yes.
11:32
Well, first of all,
11:34
I am truly and generally sorry for,
11:37
for your loss. And and thank you for your
11:40
kind words. Of course,
11:43
it was not me,
11:45
it was a team that involved a combination of Pfizer scientists and
11:51
bio antic scientists and people in the regulatory space,
11:56
people in the manufacturing space,
11:59
people in the medical space and people in the commercial space.
12:02
So bringing all those best brains together and to collaborate very efficiently
12:10
and effectively was one of the key success factors in the development
12:15
of this vaccine in record times,
12:17
right? Like people say,
12:18
well, how could you develop a vaccine in nine months?
12:22
When usually it takes years,
12:25
the answer is that collaboration played a very important role.
12:31
But also we took many steps that traditionally we will do them
12:37
sequentially, we did them in parallel.
12:40
Got it. So let's talk a little bit more about
12:42
that story because I think it's like I wanna almost,
12:46
I close my eyes and feel your stress and feel like what
12:48
were the decisions you had to make and more importantly,
12:51
what do you think is the superpower that you have that made
12:57
you successful in that role?
12:59
Because yes, there were a lot of people and it wasn't
13:02
only your success, but you kind of coordinate,
13:05
right? And get everybody to work towards the same goal.
13:08
So what's your superpower?
13:10
Well, in terms of superpower,
13:13
I have to say that leadership is is one
13:18
of the areas that I take in men's pride while we
13:23
were developing the vaccine at the beginning.
13:27
Of course, we didn't know if we're gonna be able
13:30
to find a solution.
13:32
However, we felt privilege,
13:35
we felt privilege having given the opportunity to look for that solution
13:41
to find a vaccine that will end with as we all
13:46
know, a devastating pandemic and all this was achieved because
13:55
the people that were involved were totally committed and inspired by that
14:01
opportunity. We thought that if not us,
14:05
then who and that gave us the energy that gave us the
14:09
drive to work seven days a week 14 to 18 hours day
14:16
long for months nonstop.
14:19
Well, I mean,
14:20
but you say if not us who I don't have the data
14:24
but I imagine there were a lot of people trying,
14:27
if you, if you read the story of Shackleton,
14:29
that was trying to get to the,
14:31
to the South Pole,
14:32
he was trying. But there were like all these other
14:35
sailors trying to get to the South Pole.
14:37
I imagine there were a lot of teams that were trying to
14:40
create a vaccine and you guys did it.
14:42
And you're saying they were inspired by the mission but 14 hour
14:49
days, 1418 hour days,
14:51
seven days a week.
14:52
How much inspiration do you need?
14:54
Like, what did you know?
14:55
It's like you're leaving your family.
14:57
So, so what,
14:58
what do you think where you take credit?
15:01
I feel like you're not taking the credit of your leadership.
15:04
You're saying the situation,
15:06
everybody. What, what do you feel like you did?
15:08
How did you inspire them and tell your story?
15:11
Yes. Well, you're absolutely right that leadership,
15:15
I do consider leadership to be one,
15:16
my, one of my superpowers.
15:18
I I read a book titled Five Graces of Leadership
15:22
by the author of Gary Burning Song.
15:25
And and that book resonated very strongly with,
15:31
with me because I mean,
15:33
I was aligned with,
15:35
with the five grades of leadership which which include G for
15:40
gratitude, R for resilience,
15:44
A for aspiration C for courage,
15:48
I was going to say commitment,
15:50
courage and e for excellence.
15:53
The author uses e for empathy.
15:56
But in my case,
15:57
excellence was extremely important because excellence became a signature of of
16:05
my team and and of myself and then to me,
16:09
gratitude meant recognizing the efforts of the people in my team,
16:15
the people involved, especially when they were going above and beyond
16:21
At the same time,
16:22
resilience, I mean,
16:23
I think that us Latins immigrants resilience is almost in our DNA
16:29
and resilience being resourceful and making things happen and never giving up
16:35
was it was also an important leadership trait that I conveyed to
16:40
my team at the same time,
16:43
aspiration, like I said,
16:44
at the beginning, always aiming high and always going beyond what
16:51
is expected because if you aim high,
16:55
your achievements are always gonna be better than what is already
16:59
available. Let's put it that way and then comes courage
17:04
right? Courage.
17:06
We need to have the courage to,
17:10
first of all take thoughtful risks both at a personal and at
17:15
a professional life and also have the courage to be our unapologetic
17:22
self to speak up to put forward our thoughts and our ideas
17:27
And and then after courage,
17:29
of course, excellence,
17:30
like I said, and,
17:31
and for me, excellence was extremely important because the environment that
17:36
I was in was extremely,
17:40
extremely competitive. Did you ever doubt that you were gonna achieve
17:44
like that. You were gonna end up with a vaccine that
17:47
work. How did you get like 2020?
17:52
We were sure we weren't sure at all.
17:55
And it was not until the fall of 2020 that we got
18:00
the results of the clinical trials that told us,
18:06
yes, we have a vaccine that is effective.
18:09
Yes, we have a vaccine that is safe and yes,
18:12
we have figured out how to manufacture a vaccine in a platform
18:16
that has not been manufactured ever before,
18:18
which was the Messenger RN A.
18:20
And and of course,
18:22
with characteristics that we needed to figure out like a temperature of
18:26
minus 70. We need to figure out how are we going
18:28
to those vaccines into the hands of as many people as possible
18:31
around the world with a temperature that needed to be minus 70
18:35
degrees such that the vaccine remains stable.
18:39
And at the same time,
18:41
the launch the commercial launch and all of this needed to be
18:45
done in the short period of time because people,
18:50
millions of people were unfortunately around us.
18:53
So the pressure to get it done and to get it done
18:57
out there was incredible.
18:59
However, something that I want to take the opportunity to emphasize
19:02
is that safety was never ever,
19:06
ever compromised, putting forward a vaccine that is absolutely safe for
19:13
everybody. It was an extreme important aspect of how we went
19:17
about developing this vaccine.
19:19
I wanna talk a little bit about that time.
19:21
It's almost like COVID in my mind is like a black.
19:24
So I blocked it.
19:25
I don't wanna go ever back to that in my memory because
19:28
it was so painful.
19:29
I remember distinctively that time and when it came out that there
19:34
was a vaccine and that it was gonna be possible and that
19:37
it was you, I can only imagine how was the process
19:41
and the pressure and what you just said all of a sudden
19:45
clicked in me,
19:47
maybe it is because you were a Latina that you were able
19:51
to put your collaborative mind,
19:53
your leadership as a family style that inspired everybody to go
19:59
that you were able to multitask doing sequential things.
20:02
I never thought about it.
20:04
But why don't we celebrate more of that?
20:07
Why don't we just put you,
20:09
you know, like as a poster child so that we can
20:11
start having more presidents of companies of countries and organizations because we
20:16
are able to do that.
20:16
Do you think it is you Latini that intervened not only in
20:20
your excellence but also in the miracle that you performed?
20:24
You know, now that you put it that way,
20:26
maybe subconsciously consciously,
20:29
I have to, you know,
20:30
be honest, I did not think about that,
20:32
but subconsciously probably because famil iso is something that has been core
20:40
to the way that I work with my team,
20:43
right? At Pfizer,
20:44
the vaccine team was a vaccine family.
20:48
And and, and,
20:50
and for me, how do I achieve that commitment and that
20:54
engagement from my, my team comes along the lines of
20:59
really being authentic, transparent,
21:02
genuine and getting to know the people in my team to
21:07
deeper levels understanding their needs,
21:11
their aspirations and helping them in their career journey to get to
21:15
that, to their aspiration that turn into very quick trust and
21:21
a combination of trust with a clear purpose,
21:25
which for us was to have a profound impact on global public
21:30
health and a clear vision,
21:32
which for us was to bring breakthroughs that will change people's life
21:38
When you put those three elements together,
21:40
you have teams that move mountains that really nothing can get in
21:47
the way of making things happen.
21:49
I feel like I don't know if you have tried to use
21:51
my journey, which is like the for images and it's so
21:57
biased. Like if you,
21:58
if you write, please draw a senator,
22:03
it's always going to draw a white man,
22:06
right? And I assure you that if you say please draw
22:10
the leader of the team that is developing a medicine that it's
22:13
like you have to do it in a short period of time
22:16
under stress, under resource,
22:18
whatever it's going probably to draw a white man that is with
22:22
a whip, like do it,
22:23
do it fast. We have to get it done and like
22:25
we fear. And I imagine that if it had been a
22:29
person that was living with fear.
22:30
It wouldn't have been successful,
22:32
it wouldn't have been safe.
22:34
As you said, many other teams were trying.
22:36
But what I am getting fascinated about is that their universities,
22:41
an incredible institutions that are getting and preparing Latinos on biology or
22:47
on business and so on.
22:48
We are not prepared enough.
22:50
We don't have the schools to understand and be aware of our
22:54
cultural nuances and how that bring the leadership that we have if
22:57
we would have known that because we are collective because we are
23:01
fam because we are building trust,
23:04
we therefore can lead those type of things.
23:06
If we would be aware,
23:07
not only in the excellence on the,
23:09
on the issue, but also in what our culture brings us
23:11
as a superpower, then you can start trusting and raising your
23:15
hand more and applying for different,
23:17
isn't it? Absolutely.
23:19
And, and I think that you mentioned this at the beginning
23:21
right? It's hard to relate to something that you cannot
23:26
see and having more role models that give you the confidence,
23:30
say, oh, this person was able to achieve it.
23:33
So can I and it was not easy,
23:35
I mean, again,
23:36
it's not easy to,
23:37
to achieve what we leaders Latin leaders have achieved yet
23:45
with perseverance, with resilience.
23:47
it can definitely be done but I want more than
23:51
that because that we have,
23:52
we have the perseverance,
23:53
we have the resilience.
23:54
We have the resourceful and we have the families,
23:56
we have all of that.
23:57
What we don't have is the awareness of it.
23:58
We don't have the Aztec moment to say like holy cow.
24:01
And I want Latinas to realize it earlier.
24:03
Short cut to your success is to realize your power because you're
24:07
a Latina, as you said,
24:08
being not only authentically yourself but being aware of the superpowers that
24:12
you bring absolutely could not have said it better.
24:15
OK. So we spoke about the fact that probably a lot
24:17
of companies were trying to come up with a vaccine and having
24:21
myself worked in big and small companies,
24:23
I usually associate speed with small companies.
24:27
So I was very surprised to hear that the company that was
24:30
able to do it fast was so big.
24:33
Why do you think that despite its size,
24:35
Pfizer was able to do it in record time?
24:38
Basically, resources, expertise,
24:43
experience. I do believe that Pfizer does bring some of the
24:49
best brains together, the best brains in research and development,
24:53
the best brains in regulatory,
24:56
the best brains in manufacturing,
24:57
medical commercial and for smaller companies that is harder.
25:02
So I think that those are some of the reasons or some
25:05
of the factors that contributed for Pfizer to be.
25:07
But resources is a huge one and they must have been willing
25:11
to break their own rules for how just like you said,
25:15
instead of doing like a like one step after the other doing
25:18
things in parallel. Absolutely.
25:21
When COVID happened, I remember I started looking at how my
25:27
foundation can react. And we were about to launch our brand
25:30
Hispanic star and we said like no launching any brand like Hispanic
25:33
star in action. So we mobilized 20 companies to donate products
25:37
for the Latino community.
25:38
We established emergency relief groups all across the country.
25:43
And because I was doing all that donation and mobilization of emergency
25:47
giving to the Latino community because you need to know we're
25:52
prepared as a country to to address Latinos.
25:55
We're the warehouses of the traditional givers are in New Orleans or
26:00
in Alabama and it's not where we are.
26:02
We're in Chicago in Miami in Texas.
26:05
And we just had to build our last mine ourselves.
26:08
And because of that,
26:10
I was an emergency worker,
26:11
I was one of the first people that got your vaccine and
26:13
I had to fly to Odessa,
26:15
Texas to get it.
26:17
I think that in the first week in which they were released
26:21
I want to know what was the story of developing the
26:24
vaccine? How was it?
26:26
Well, I alluded to the fact that we did take all
26:30
the steps that before were seq sequential,
26:33
we did it in parallel,
26:34
but there are many,
26:36
many, many steps that needed to take place from the discovery
26:41
to the commercialization. For example,
26:44
the big steps that I mentioned before that goes along the lines
26:48
of signing a clinical trial,
26:50
identifying the sites where the trials are going to be done.
26:53
All this in parallel investing at risk on raw material for the
26:59
manufacturing, on the different manufacturing pieces that we were designing,
27:06
thinking that that's what's going to be needed to manufacture this vaccine
27:10
Again, we have not manufactured any vaccine on the messenger
27:15
and a platform. So that was completely new because the virus
27:18
was acting very differently and attacking in a very aggressive way and
27:22
it was developing mutations.
27:23
Correct? Yes. But it was a different messenger N A
27:26
is a completely different platform than any other platform that has been
27:30
used with any other vaccine before.
27:33
So nobody in the world had ever manufactured a messenger RN A
27:38
vaccine. So we were starting from zero with a blank sheet
27:42
of paper. But that's in the manufacturing side.
27:45
Then comes the distribution to your point.
27:49
How are we going to get millions and millions of doses all
27:53
over the world equitably?
27:54
And that became a huge challenge,
27:57
right? Every country wanted to have the vaccine first.
28:02
And and how do you manage that?
28:04
We were extremely excited that by November of 2020 we had unification
28:11
and vaccine. But then comes the question of how many doses
28:14
and where did they go?
28:15
And we only had 20 million doses.
28:18
How do we distribute those 20 million who decides who are worth
28:23
I remember that the debate I was in the middle of
28:25
it very, very difficult because of course,
28:30
you want everybody to have the same opportunity,
28:34
but not everybody was able to have the same opportunity.
28:37
And as time went by,
28:39
I'm sure that you've already seen that unfortunately,
28:44
developing countries were the ones that were not able to
28:48
receive the vaccine as fast as the developed countries.
28:53
And the reality was the reason was that unfortunately,
28:57
those countries did not have the infrastructure to distribute the vaccine to
29:04
their populations. And what did we do?
29:07
Well, then we partner with those governments to help them develop
29:11
the, the infrastructure to teach them how to do mass vaccination
29:17
that in the United States was done very well.
29:21
But in many other countries,
29:23
that was, that was not the case.
29:25
Yeah. Incredible gigantic Hercules herculean job or whatever you call it
29:31
It's credible. Let's talk about you as as and
29:34
and the identity how your Latini dad throughout your incredible
29:40
career has helped or being an obstacle had to had
29:45
did you have to dial down or,
29:48
you know, where was a superpower?
29:50
Yes. Well, I have to say that of
29:54
course, at the beginning of my career,
29:58
I, I felt pressured to conform to a corporate mold and
30:05
I found myself downplaying parts,
30:08
important parts of, of myself.
30:10
Fortunately, I got rid of my insecurities,
30:14
matured and grew personally and professionally,
30:19
which then allow me to learn that being my authentic self.
30:27
really gave me an edge because nobody else could come to
30:33
the table with my knowledge,
30:36
with my diversity. And again,
30:41
nobody else could come to the table with my experiences.
30:46
Basically, nobody else could be me.
30:49
So you said fortunately you grew out of it.
30:52
Does it mean it was like years like it was just you
30:56
were a more mature person or did anything happen that because in
31:00
my case, I feel like it's just being older that I
31:03
feel more secure in myself.
31:05
Is that what happened?
31:06
Well, you see Cynthia,
31:07
what happens is that 20 years ago,
31:11
we did not have this type of,
31:13
of, of podcasts.
31:14
We did not have this type of opportunities that that raise
31:19
awareness, that gives the reassurance to younger women in corporate
31:24
America to believe that they can be anything that they want and
31:28
they can go as far as they want with time.
31:32
We have been able to do more of that.
31:35
Nevertheless, there's still a big space to be filled with,
31:39
with more of these opportunities to,
31:41
to your point to raise awareness on the stem area,
31:44
to raise awareness on for each and every one of us Latina
31:48
women to be unapologetically ourselves.
31:52
And my accent is one of the things that I am very
31:56
proud of. Why?
31:58
Because it makes me different,
32:00
it makes me special.
32:02
Yeah, it makes me worldly.
32:05
And again, I do believe that us being self assured
32:12
about who we are and what we can achieve really takes us
32:16
very far and we just cannot let anything or anybody hold us
32:21
back. But did you experience any funny reaction?
32:25
Any down looking because of your accent or your background?
32:29
Was there any time in which you felt stereotyped?
32:33
Well, yes.,
32:35
you know, we all receive feedback and I think that a
32:37
feedback that Latin women receive a lot is communication skills or presence
32:46
What, what is that,
32:47
that feedback of like you need to have more corporate,
32:53
to be more polished,
32:54
more like. Yes.
32:56
Exactly. Exactly. And at the beginning,
32:59
I would, yeah,
33:00
welcome the feedback and and agree and learn from it.
33:05
But then later in my career when I was told,
33:08
oh, we're gonna give you a communication code.
33:12
I said, why Joe Blow does not have a communication
33:18
coach or David does not have a communication coach.
33:24
I mean, there were many times that I was the
33:25
only woman and Latina.
33:29
And and so what,
33:31
so I do use my hands to communicate and that's OK.
33:36
As long as it's not too excessive,
33:38
that is destructive. That's the feedback that I've received.
33:41
And again, I do speak slowly because I do have
33:44
an accent and I will make sure that people do understand me
33:48
but the content of what of my communication is there.
33:53
And I think that that's extremely important that we do again as
33:59
a Latino women prepare when it comes to presentations,
34:04
when it comes to going to meetings,
34:08
whether it is with a cross functional team or with upper management
34:13
that we think ahead,
34:14
what are the questions that we might be and,
34:17
and prepare those questions,
34:19
anticipate those questions and prepare for those questions because we want to
34:24
be concise and we want to come across that we command on
34:30
our expertise and on our knowledge.
34:33
Did you take the training?
34:36
At the beginning? I did.
34:37
Then later I told the child,
34:39
no, you give the,
34:41
the coach to Joe Blow and to David.
34:45
because I feel that I'm already where I need to be
34:48
when it comes to communication,
34:50
we have to learn how to take hurtful feedback.
34:54
But at some point,
34:55
we need to learn how to stop it and say like I'm
34:57
good and that's and that's an incredibly great point just
35:02
on the, on the being Latino and in the Pharma industry
35:07
maybe there's a fear for Latinos to get into it
35:12
and they don't apply as much.
35:13
We don't get, get into clinical trials as much because we
35:17
feel that we're not gonna be understood.
35:19
Being a woman is already like lesser of a representation than men
35:22
How could we encourage more Latinos to get into the industry
35:26
I think we have already talked about it a little bit
35:29
right? And in providing the role models of
35:33
of people that are in the industry that are Latina and
35:37
that are women. And at the same time providing training that
35:41
help people develop self confidence.
35:44
Because sometimes it's,
35:46
it's a lot along self confidence,
35:49
but also many times is along the lines of,
35:51
am I gonna be able to have Children?
35:53
Am I gonna be able to have a career and be
35:57
a mother? As you know,
35:58
for Latinas, it is important for us,
36:00
for many of us to have family.
36:02
And I've talked to two young women,
36:05
asking me that question.
36:06
Well, my mother asked me,
36:08
tells me that,,
36:09
if I take this high intense job in,
36:14
in science or even in Wall Street,
36:16
another area that, that is pretty intense.
36:19
How am I gonna be able to cook for my family or
36:22
how am I gonna be able to,
36:23
to take care of my husband?
36:25
Well, you, you find time to do both and if
36:28
you have a good job,
36:29
you can also pay for,
36:31
for people to help you do that.
36:32
I mean, I'm definitely not doing everything that I've done alone
36:37
I have a supportive husband.
36:39
I have help with the Children when they were small
36:44
What I meant,
36:45
I'm sorry, just to interrupt what I meant is there's,
36:48
we're almost 20% of the population,
36:50
but only 2% lawyers,
36:52
1% economist and 1% in Pharma.
36:55
And I wonder whether is because we just don't feel that we're
36:58
gonna be included and being able to be ourselves.
37:00
Maybe it is a combination of that.
37:03
But I think it's also,
37:04
what I hear a lot when I talk to,
37:06
to people that I'm trying to,
37:08
encouraged to convince them is that,
37:11
fear if they're gonna be able to be successful in
37:15
that space.,
37:16
and again, I think that,
37:18
that fear comes from lack of knowledge or lack of examples or
37:23
or lack of,
37:24
of really, again.
37:26
Exactly. We have a,
37:27
I think at some point we should put on our social media
37:30
like the, the there's a graph that says what careers
37:35
are gonna be more prone for,
37:38
no prone for people to succeed.
37:39
You know, like right now if you study stem,
37:42
you're probably gonna have a more,
37:44
more solid career, you're always gonna be able to have a
37:46
job, like, let's tell the next generation what to study
37:49
what type of careers.
37:51
Exactly. Exactly. And I think like Latinos are great entrepreneurs
37:56
and maybe we choose careers that historically have been easier for us
38:00
to get into because those are the role models that we have
38:03
But the future is like,
38:05
there's a lot of careers that we don't see Latinos and I
38:08
feel like that's where the growth is.
38:11
So I wanna see engineers,
38:12
data scientists, like product managers,
38:15
artificial intelligence experts, like that's what we need Latinos to study
38:19
now. Latinas. Absolutely.
38:20
And really having women in leadership.
38:23
Roles. I mean,
38:24
in the tech space still there is a very small percentage of
38:29
women and an even more smaller percentage of Latino women.
38:34
We need more women Latinas in leadership roles.
38:39
And how do we achieve that?
38:40
I want to make sure that all pharma companies hear your story
38:44
and how because you were a Latina,
38:46
you injected so much leadership into the success of a breakthrough,
38:50
global breakthrough, like creating the vaccine so that they can start
38:54
trying to hire more Latinas,
38:56
invest in Ma Latinas and so on.
38:58
Because I think that is both ways is not only us,
39:00
is is the industry has to lean in big time.
39:03
Exactly. We need to continue doing a lot more of what
39:06
we're doing now. And and of course,
39:08
we also need to vote,
39:11
Lati Latin people need to vote because the leaders in the government
39:17
also have a huge impact.
39:18
I mean, all these changes in in laws that now
39:22
before universities, exactly,
39:24
universities were pro or or having larger opportunities for minorities.
39:30
And now that is being stepped back if we don't have students
39:34
in colleges that that are Latins,
39:38
how we don't have a pool for corporate America to,
39:42
to bring them into into leadership roles.
39:45
And I have good news according to the Hispanic Sentiment study
39:49
and this is the first time I,
39:50
I share this that we received yesterday.
39:54
The unity of the Latino community has increased from 15% that
40:00
felt united in 2018 to 50% by 2023.
40:05
So we're acting more as a block where Mexicans Colombia and Venezuela
40:08
we're opening the door for each other,
40:10
we're supporting each other.
40:12
So our vote when you feel that you're with a bigger group
40:15
that you're more united,
40:16
that you want to be like,
40:17
the likelihood is we're gonna start raising our hand more.
40:21
We're gonna start like pushing each other more.
40:24
So the great news is that not only we're a superpower economically
40:28
but to get we're getting stronger together.
40:30
So more unity and more pride means most more votes,
40:33
more pushing each other,
40:36
so less elbowing each other and more supporting each other.
40:39
Which is fascinating. So we love the term flip the script
40:44
flip the script understood as flipping the script from stereotypes to
40:49
values from fears to truth.
40:52
And we are very much stereotyped.
40:55
There's a number of stereotypes and,
40:57
and and unconscious biases that are associated to Latinos either from the
41:01
corporate side or from ourselves.
41:02
What do you think are some of the things that we could
41:06
flip the script? I'm very proud to be a woman.
41:09
I'm very proud to be Latin and my heritage plays an important
41:14
part on my daily activities on my energy.
41:19
Not only because I want to demonstrate the positive impact and the
41:25
great contributions that Latins are already having in our society,
41:30
but also to help overcome the inequalities that unfortunately are still there
41:37
Yeah. Incredible.
41:39
OK. So we wanna talk about the playbook.
41:42
When we started this podcast,
41:43
we actually started with a list of things that based on conventional
41:46
wisdom, the things that somebody has to do to climb the
41:49
ladder. I shared with you the list and now I'm asking
41:53
you to either debunk or confirm any of them.
41:56
What do you want to talk about?
41:57
I want to confirm the importance of speaking up,
42:02
the importance of being a strong communicator even if we have
42:07
an accent, don't be shy,
42:10
however do it well,
42:12
to do it. Well,
42:12
you need to prepare,
42:13
prepare, prepare and stay updated in your expertise area.
42:21
Make sure that you know,
42:25
more than everybody in the room in your area.
42:28
You don't have to know everything.
42:30
Of course, nobody knows everything but make sure that you do
42:34
know everything that you need to know,
42:36
to know about your expertise,
42:39
about your area of responsibility.
42:41
command the room.
42:43
And basically because again,
42:46
knowledge is power, there's a I,
42:50
I learned once that there's this tendency when you become a leader
42:54
to not wanna say,
42:56
I don't know. So some people just get to a leadership
42:59
position and think that they have to answer with authority.
43:04
It doesn't matter if like it's like you're asking me how to
43:07
raise Children, but I'm actually like your boss,
43:10
like I shouldn't be commenting on that and people talk about how
43:13
much trust you lose and how much credibility you lose as a
43:16
leader when you try to answer on areas that you don't know
43:20
So I love that you're saying,
43:21
speak up but also know what you don't know.
43:23
I feel comfortable saying,
43:25
you know what, I'm gonna let the experts talk about
43:27
this. Absolutely. And,
43:29
and again, you don't need to know the answers to everything
43:32
when you are, you know,
43:34
in a presentation or in a,
43:36
in a meeting, whether it is with upper management or whether
43:38
it is in a cross functional team.
43:40
It's ok to say,
43:42
you know, I don't have the details to that question right
43:46
now, but I'm going to get them back to you
43:49
before the end of the day and do get back to that
43:54
response before the end of the day because then that reflects that
43:58
you are in command with your knowledge,
44:00
but also trust and confidence.
44:03
It helps you create trust and confidence on yourself.
44:07
Great love it. So now we would love for you to
44:11
go back in memory lane and talk to your 30 year old
44:16
self and give her a piece of advice that you wish somebody
44:19
had given you to be unapologetically yourself,
44:26
to not be afraid to speak up,
44:30
aim high and fix whatever you can fix.
44:38
Yet there are gonna be things that are beyond your control and
44:43
that you cannot fix.
44:44
Don't let those pull you down and last,
44:49
but definitely not least,
44:51
don't let anything or anybody hold you back.
44:55
I love that. You know,
44:57
this podcast was going to be called a La Latina.
45:02
the playbook to be your unapologetic self.
45:05
But it's a little bit hard to pronounce.
45:07
So we changed it to your authentic self,
45:10
but we really mean unapologetic.
45:13
So those four points are the nt playbook,
45:17
isn't it? Absolutely.
45:19
Especially again, even though it's hard to pronounce,
45:23
I like to say it many,
45:24
many times because it's so true.
45:26
Unapologetic. Be unapologetic because being your authentic self,
45:31
yes. But being unapologetic about who you are exactly goes even
45:38
further and I cannot be more grateful for your time,
45:42
your wisdom for your incredible work in saving so many lives in
45:47
the work that you did in,
45:49
in the vaccine and throughout your life.
45:51
You're an inspiration. Well,
45:53
thank you, Claudia.
45:54
Thank you Cynthia. It is my honor to be here with
45:57
you guys. And again,
45:58
my objective is to pay forward to the Latin younger generation that
46:04
is coming right in front of us and with your wisdom
46:08
and your support, we're gonna get Latinas to succeed and lead
46:12
a Latina.