00:00
Hola. I'm Claudia Romo Edelman and I'm Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner and
00:04
a La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
00:08
today. The incredible Sophia Hernandez,
00:10
global head of business marketing at tiktok and the three key takeaways
00:14
of this conversation are number one.
00:17
What do we really mean when we say that you should bring
00:20
your authentic self to work?
00:22
Number two, marketing is a great career choice for Latinos because
00:26
the best marketers understand culture and guess what Latinos are creating culture
00:32
the power of connection,
00:34
every role Sophia has played.
00:36
She got it because someone in her network made the connection this
00:41
and more here at a La Latina.
00:43
Stay tuned. Cynthia,
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Thank you. I'm in today.
01:42
We have an incredible guest.
01:44
Sophia Hernandez. Sophia is a global head of business marketing at
01:48
tiktok. She has over 20 years of experience leading marketing campaigns
01:51
for global brands like Pngjnj Netflix and Spotify.
01:55
She serves on the board of Suzy A Suer Insights Platform where
01:59
she was previously chief client officer.
02:01
She is also a board member of the one Club for Creativity
02:05
where I had the pleasure to serve as a jury member.
02:08
Sophia co founded a mission driven apparel line called Black on Black
02:12
BK with her husband Rodney.
02:14
She has been recognized by some of the most respected publications in
02:18
the industry like the new era of leadership of 25 executives,
02:22
Bloomberg, 100 most influential Latinos and a number of times in
02:26
a eight Sophia. What a pleasure having you here.
02:29
I am so excited to be here.
02:31
The energy at this table is incredible.
02:33
Thank you. For having me here.
02:35
We're so excited and let's divert in with our favorite topic.
02:39
You all right. So tell us more about who made you
02:44
be who you are and what you do today.
02:46
So I grew up in the south side of Chicago in the
02:49
Latino neighborhood. I don't know if you've been to Chicago,
02:52
but we have two big Latino neighborhoods.
02:55
my grandmother who is from Mexico.
02:58
I spent a lot of time with her and she was kind
03:01
of one of the original feminists at her age.
03:05
She did not know English.
03:07
She had at a time where people were not surviving it.
03:11
And she was sent to a Sanitarium for three years,
03:14
not knowing anyone, no family,
03:15
not knowing if she was going to live or die.
03:17
She survived. They basically said,
03:20
OK, Adios, how old was she?
03:22
She was in her late twenties and she walked out into the
03:26
streets of Buffalo, New York,
03:27
not knowing the language,
03:29
not having anything. And she reached out to one of her
03:31
brothers who was in Chicago and he said,
03:34
because we take care of our people and family and she went
03:38
and she had three girls.
03:39
She never got married,
03:41
she bought her own home,
03:42
she bought her own car,
03:43
she taught herself English.
03:44
I remember she'd read novels this thick in English and she is
03:47
just my inspiration. So that's kind of where I come from
03:51
my parents are both activists and my mother was a Brown
03:54
Beret, which is the equivalent of a Latino Black Panther.
03:57
If you wanna some over simplify it.
04:00
My father started a organization and Latino community to help underserved families
04:06
So I have a lot of background in people who are
04:10
strong, strong, willed,
04:12
strong, minded, and really care about giving back to others
04:16
And so you grew up with a super strong and Survivor
04:22
grandmother, which is in Chicago.
04:25
And then what did you do?
04:26
I spent my high school college years in Chicago.
04:31
I wish I would have left.
04:33
So like for anyone watching who has kids,
04:35
please encourage your kids to go away to college.
04:38
I don't think it's something Latinos are very used to doing.
04:41
We like to stay close to our families and help them.
04:43
We feel this responsibility.
04:45
I studied abroad my last year in college in Spain and that's
04:49
when my eyes opened up to the world that is out there
04:53
And I told myself I would come back to Europe one
04:56
day as a professional to work.
04:58
And so I spent a few more years in Chicago and then
05:01
I decided one day to just move to New York.
05:03
I had a friend who told me she was moving from Brooklyn
05:06
to Manhattan. And I said,
05:07
if you get a two bedroom,
05:08
I'll come and live with you.
05:09
And I had a great career starting at the biggest ad agency
05:14
in Chicago, which is Leo Burnett.
05:16
And I just felt in my core that I had to leave
05:19
Chicago. I had to leave the community to help elevate myself
05:24
and my family and my future family.
05:26
So that's what I did.
05:27
I moved to New York and I've been here 18 years when
05:30
you were going to college.
05:32
I think you were like this deciding between being a,
05:35
a psychologist and being a marketer,
05:38
right? So I actually feel the same way.
05:40
And early in my career,
05:42
I don't know if I wanna be a psychologist or a marketer
05:45
because in both careers,
05:46
you have to understand how people,
05:48
I think what makes people make decisions.
05:51
Why did you go into marketing instead of like therapy or psychology
05:56
Yeah, I went into marketing because I feel like I
06:00
have a very strong business sense but also very strong creative sense
06:04
And I felt like in marketing,
06:05
I would be able to use both and marketing is such a
06:08
diverse career. You could be in research,
06:12
you could be data analyst,
06:13
you could be a creative,
06:15
my husband is a creative,
06:16
you could be a business person.
06:18
And so there's such a broad spectrum to marketing that I felt
06:21
like that was gonna really let me exercise all the different parts
06:24
of me because you don't really know.
06:26
I mean, for those of you that know when you're in
06:28
college, what you wanna be like kudos to you.
06:31
But most of the time at that age you don't know.
06:33
And this allowed me the opportunity to explore.
06:35
Did you do one of those rotational programs in the creative agency
06:40
Actually, I jumped right in.
06:42
And one of the things that very quickly made me believe this
06:47
was the right decision is I remember seeing an ad for a
06:51
tampon where a boy or a,
06:54
a teenager and his girlfriend are sitting in a canoe and the
06:58
canoe springs a leak.
07:00
So like water is coming in through the canoe and she pulls
07:02
out her tampon as a solution and plugs it into the hole
07:06
And I remember being in a conversation where the agency execs
07:10
were asking if we thought this was going to be appealing to
07:12
Latinos or African American women.
07:16
Thank you. Thank you.
07:19
And so as an activist,
07:21
my immediate, I'm like,
07:22
there's so much change to be done here and I wanna do
07:25
it. I wanna stay for a second on marketing and Latinos
07:29
OK? Because I do think that strategically,
07:32
if I could just like take a plane and start looking at
07:35
where do we intersect with growth areas and with our own
07:41
skill set and where we have a number of Latinos already in
07:47
positions of power is marketing.
07:49
We are by definition,
07:51
resourceful, we are resilient and there we're creative.
07:55
So when there's a problem,
07:56
we try to find solutions.
07:58
And I think that marketing is something that we should encourage strategically
08:02
for the community because that's where our natural skill set is.
08:06
That's where we can influence as a pathway to the C suite
08:10
And then you can get the to CMO and then to
08:13
you know, like further around the line.
08:14
What are your thoughts?
08:15
I love the point you're making about marketing being an entry way
08:18
to other things. I do think it's easy to do that
08:21
through marketing and really start to discover what you love and then
08:25
move in. My next job will not be a CMO,
08:32
So why don't we have more Latinos in marketing?
08:36
I think, you know the old saying,
08:38
like if you can see it,
08:39
We just don't see it very much.
08:41
In fact, I was at Latitude years ago,
08:44
the conference latitude and I met my now very good friend Andrea
08:49
Perez, who by the way was the GM of Nike and
08:52
built the Jordan and women's brand.
08:54
You guys should definitely have her on the podcast and she immediately
08:57
introduced me to Fabiola Torres,
08:59
who's now the global CMO of Gap and Blanca Gonzalez who is
09:03
a GM at Foot Locker.
09:06
where have you guys been my whole career?
09:08
I didn't know you existed.
09:10
And so we're not seeing each other,
09:12
we're not celebrating each other.
09:13
We're not coming together whether we're identifying as Latino or not,
09:18
right? Like we're not coming together to really unify and help
09:23
There's this one gift I absolutely love.
09:26
It's an animation of women facing each other and one is helping
09:29
the other one step and push up and step and push up
09:32
And like that's fundamentally what I believe we need to be
09:34
doing more of, in terms of getting more people into the
09:38
industry. I think we all need to be doing a lot
09:41
more giving those kids access to our career like this podcast,
09:45
I think is excellent and I know your community is broad but
09:48
mostly business, I think even though the people that are coming
09:52
in at a junior level are not staying,
09:55
they don't see that they can make it to the top.
09:59
They leave to other industries,
10:01
other professions, I've seen a lot of exits from marketing to
10:04
hr because it seems like to be a more accessible,
10:08
more diverse inclusive industry.
10:11
If we could identify all the Latinos chief marketing officers or,
10:16
you know, like at the leadership level and we put them
10:18
on a luncheon together.
10:20
I would love for the power of the the group to say
10:24
how do we join forces to collectively change the perception of
10:27
Latinos from invisible to visible and from negative to positive because you
10:30
can activate your brand,
10:32
you can activate your company.
10:34
you know, badge Latinos into your briefs and so on.
10:37
There's something that we could do that.
10:38
But why would you tell a group of CMO s about how
10:42
to bring more Latinos into being marketers.
10:45
And if you're a young Latino that care about the creative industry
10:49
what would you tell them?
10:50
Well, I would say the best marketers really understand culture
10:55
and not as students but participants,
10:57
right? So they're really getting in there and understanding what's happening
11:00
in culture. And the reality is that Latinos are creating culture
11:06
right? You see how Peso Pluma came in and made
11:09
very traditional music mainstream that bunny was the top performing artist on
11:15
Spotify for a very long time.
11:18
And this is not Spotify,
11:20
you know, in Latino America,
11:21
this was in globally.
11:23
And so we need to really start to reflect,
11:29
Marketers are in control of how the world sees their brands,
11:32
the brands that they represent.
11:34
And so we are in control of who we cast in commercials
11:38
who we cast as spokespeople,
11:41
the people that are representing our brand have to start looking more
11:45
diverse and less the same.
11:47
And I'm seeing more of it but not enough Latinos come into
11:50
the mainstream. I mean,
11:52
are you seeing it also in,
11:54
in your business? I mean,
11:55
I see a social media in social media,
11:57
this creator that started this trend of the Mur,
12:01
right? And I think this creator is Latina,
12:04
but I don't think she says she's Latina,
12:07
it's just obvious that she's Latina.
12:09
But you see it and you know,
12:11
she's not something else.
12:12
You don't even have to know who she is,
12:14
but you're seeing something different than what you normally see.
12:17
I think what tiktok has done,
12:19
which is incredible for any underestimated cultures Latinos included is that they
12:24
gave a tool to the community and the community took and made
12:28
it theirs. And so now we see Latinos coming and speaking
12:32
about mental health very openly,
12:34
right? And these are Latinos who were dying to young Latinos
12:37
who were dying to have a voice,
12:39
but their parents didn't want to talk about it.
12:41
And so they came to tiktok to make,
12:43
you know, make claims and they built these communities of other
12:45
Latinos who are like,
12:47
I'm listening. We have Latinos who come out and social media
12:51
because they feel confident and we watch their journey.
12:54
We have Latinos who talk about dealing with curly hair and,
12:59
you know, kind of the obsession of,
13:01
you know, should your hair be curly or should it be
13:05
let's not get started there.
13:07
We both blow dry for three hours this morning.
13:13
I love it, but neither is right or wrong.
13:15
The point is we're having the conversation now and that's what's beautiful
13:19
So let me take that,
13:20
that comment that you made and the comment about the hair to
13:23
pose a question for the two of you.
13:25
We posted something on tiktok this weekend.
13:28
We've been posting on tiktok since we launched.
13:30
And the video that we posted on Friday went viral.
13:35
It just over 30,000 people saw it in three days.
13:39
Incredible, a pretty high engagement rate,
13:41
over 10% engagement rate,
13:43
people liking it and commenting many of the people that made comments
13:48
I mean, some were very positive and were like,
13:51
The video was one of our previous guests saying Latinas have to
13:56
own Latinidad and be themselves if they want to succeed.
14:00
And we saw many comments being like,
14:04
absolutely not, this is recipe to get fired.
14:07
Do not follow this advice.
14:09
And then we got some women asking,
14:12
what do you mean being authentic?
14:13
Like how much can I go with my authenticity?
14:17
So can you give us a framework for when am I being
14:22
authentic and when am I being unprofessional and actually hurting my own
14:28
now I feel a lot of pressure to have one of these
14:30
clips go viral on tiktok.
14:33
So there are two beliefs,
14:35
there is the belief that the more you act different meaning lean
14:39
into your culture, the more ostracized you will be in corporate
14:42
America. And then there's the belief that the more you're yourself
14:46
the more successful you'll be.
14:48
That is what I subscribe to and I am proof of that
14:51
And I'm very open about my career journey through that.
14:54
I would say the 1st 10 years of my career,
14:56
I was not comfortable being myself.
14:59
It was all very new to me.
15:00
I grew up in Latino neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago
15:03
and I entered corporate America and nobody looked like me.
15:08
People dressed different. They,
15:09
the, their conversations were about different things.
15:11
People were talking about going skiing on the weekends and that's not
15:14
how I grew up and I just felt like I didn't belong
15:17
So I tried to find ways that I could fit in
15:19
That's natural, that's human.
15:21
And it wasn't until later.
15:23
And actually, I started to like date my husband.
15:28
And he said, you know,
15:30
if you just acted more like you do outside of work at
15:33
work, I think you would be so much more successful.
15:36
He was basically saying just be yourself more and I think you'll
15:39
be accepted, people will like really lean in you.
15:42
And I did and I started just little by little and by
15:45
the way, it isn't a switch.
15:47
You don't just say now I'm going to be my Latina self
15:50
You start with little things.
15:51
I started saying Hernandez instead of Hernandez in the room,
15:55
right? I started talking very openly about my culture and well
16:00
how I spend my weekends and how I grew up,
16:03
I started speaking very publicly.
16:05
And the more I embraced myself that way,
16:08
the more successful I was at work,
16:10
the more successful I was as a people leader.
16:12
And it's because you're comfortable in your skin.
16:15
Now, you're not trying to be someone else and you own
16:18
and you're claiming who you are.
16:20
And when you come to the table that way,
16:23
then everything else is gonna open up for you because you can't
16:26
be anyone else. I have a,
16:28
I have an anecdote that I'd like to share.
16:30
You almost, you know,
16:32
like made me go back to that moment.
16:34
But this weekend Labor Day in the Hamptons,
16:39
it was a full circle of a story that you just said
16:42
thanks to your brother,
16:43
we were able to do the first ever Latino event in the
16:48
Hamptons Museum in the parish museum.
16:50
But I remember when I started going to the Hamptons with my
16:54
now husband that when I said to his friends that I was
17:00
Latina, they immediately guided me to,
17:03
I'll introduce you to my cook and my gardener.
17:06
And then I stopped saying it and because I don't look necessarily
17:09
Latina. And if I shut up,
17:11
you can't hear my accent.
17:13
I started letting comments pass like,
17:16
oh all these foreigners,
17:18
oh, all these migrants.
17:19
And I didn't say anything because I so badly wanted not to
17:23
be sent back to the kitchen.
17:24
And this weekend and at some point,
17:27
I was like, wait a second,
17:28
I'm an activist. If I don't activate my voice,
17:31
who will and how is this going to have an impact in
17:35
my daughter? Having to like lay down and pretend that she
17:40
is not who she is is almost like hiding under the table
17:43
And so what I realized this weekend when we had the
17:47
parish museum with more than 300 people climbing to go to the
17:51
first ever Hispanic Heritage Month event,
17:53
Latinos and non Latinos to celebrate Latino art.
17:57
Is that the trajectory for me to get there was being authentic
18:01
which doesn't mean being in the face of others.
18:05
But it was about being able to say when they were talking
18:08
about like foreigners and migrations just saying very kindly,
18:12
like for me, America has been an incredible opportunity because I'm
18:16
able to develop the American dream and I am giving jobs to
18:20
50 people and I my community is giving this and data.
18:24
And so trying just to flip the script with love understanding that
18:29
there are people that do feel a little,
18:31
you know, intimidated because they see their jobs or they see
18:35
more tortillas than bread in the supermarket.
18:38
But it was about being me as opposed to under the table
18:42
me that I just felt the full circle of having the
18:46
Hamptons being Latinize. And I hope that for anyone that is
18:51
hearing, there is a way to being your authentic self that
18:54
is not confrontational, that is collected an understanding of others too
18:59
Yeah. Congrats on that.
19:01
Yeah. No, but that was honestly that I just felt
19:04
the Hampton story. I was like,
19:05
wow, I remember that I remember in the Hamptons and we
19:08
had a full house in the Hamptons this weekend.
19:10
And I think we had Ia Musa and also Adela Zepeda
19:13
mentioned this analogy of the suitcase where they said being your authentic
19:18
self. It also means that you bring the authentic self that
19:23
fits the place or the forum that you're going to.
19:27
So if you're going to a board meeting,
19:28
you're gonna pack a different outfit than if you're going to a
19:32
team event with your direct reports,
19:34
you're gonna speak a different language.
19:36
So it doesn't mean that you are the same person everywhere you
19:40
go and take me or leave me as I am.
19:42
But it also doesn't mean that you're happy.
19:43
I I think there's a difference between emotional intelligence and kind of
19:47
adapting, not changing but adapting to the environment you're in,
19:51
right? When I'm with like my grandparents,
19:53
I'm gonna act different than when I'm with my cousins,
19:55
right? It's as simple as that.
19:58
when it gets into danger or a lot of fun,
20:05
where it gets into dangerous territory is when you start to
20:09
And that is when you're not embracing your real self.
20:11
And I think that is the big question mark.
20:13
Like how do I bring my cousins self to corporate America?
20:17
Do, may I bring my grandparents self to corporate America?
20:19
And I think to your point,
20:20
it depends what situation you're in.
20:21
If you're in a social environment,
20:23
you act a little more fun.
20:24
If you're in a board room,
20:26
you're gonna act more serious.
20:28
But how did you do it in corporate America?
20:30
Like you've been in agencies and incorporate and now in,
20:36
how has been your experience to make it to where you are
20:40
Thank you. But how has been your experience?
20:45
right? Not easier than I think it is for others
20:48
I've had so many situations where I've like run to the
20:51
bathroom and cry or have gone home early,
20:55
And I remember telling my dad,
20:58
you know, I asked this going back to my story
21:00
about wanting, going to Madrid and wanting to live abroad one
21:03
day. I remember asking one of my managers,
21:06
like, do you think there's ever a possibility that I could
21:08
move to our Madrid office?
21:10
And she just very bluntly just looked at me and said no
21:13
And I, I just felt so little because it wasn't
21:17
like, no, but I'd like to know what you're into
21:20
right? Like at least act like you're interested in what I
21:22
care about. I've had other situations where at an agency,
21:27
I immediately was put in a role to manage the Latino and
21:31
multicultural agencies at a very,
21:33
very young age. So for me that told me how they
21:36
felt about these agencies.
21:39
that, that was your path.
21:41
That that was my path and for to put someone so junior
21:44
in a big role like that,
21:45
like managing the extension agencies.
21:48
And there was this one instance and I talked about this in
21:51
a keynote where my job was to represent the Black Latino
21:56
and Asian voices and the work that we were doing at the
21:58
agency. And I remember pushing back on one of the creative
22:03
directors and saying this isn't gonna resonate with this audience.
22:06
And he was really frustrated.
22:09
He asked me to stay on the line after the meeting was
22:14
Sophia don't forget who pays your bills.
22:17
I do. He said I do even though the company does
22:21
don't ever challenge me like that again.
22:24
And I ran to the bathroom crying.
22:27
First of all, I was firm with him on the phone
22:29
hung up, ran to the bathroom crying and happened to
22:32
have some of those partner agencies in the room and they came
22:35
looking for me. They were like,
22:36
are you OK, et cetera,
22:37
like that's the community feel that we have with each other.
22:41
But also there have been several moments where I just feel tiny
22:45
and small and insignificant and it's easy to start to get in
22:49
your head and think I don't belong here.
22:51
All the things you're fighting from the beginning.
22:53
I don't belong here.
22:54
I shouldn't have tried this hard.
22:56
There's no one like me.
22:57
It's not possible. But I'm a fighter like at my core
23:02
I am a fighter and so resilience is key to anyone
23:06
that wants to make it from the bottom to the top.
23:08
You have to be resilient.
23:10
And I think you have to know how whatever you're doing impacts
23:13
the bottom line of the company.
23:15
You have to be a pro at your subject matter and you
23:19
have to also know how to navigate different situations and above all
23:23
And I think both of you know,
23:24
this, you have to know how to build strong relationships with
23:27
everybody. So talk to us about that because your family didn't
23:31
come from the corporate world,
23:32
not at all. So who taught you these things?
23:35
Like were you born out?
23:37
Like somehow you were born and you're like,
23:39
I know how to navigate this or you have mentor sponsors,
23:43
I think at your core we are who we are,
23:46
right? And so I'm just very strong willed and very much
23:49
like a fighter. I do you think that's a Latina characteristic
23:53
in general? I'm the oldest and the female.
23:56
So you know, the stereotype of being the oldest female Latina
24:01
people say happy mother's day to me,
24:02
right? Because you practically raise your younger siblings.
24:07
I'm an oldest Latina,
24:09
you my young, but I'm an oldest,
24:12
sorry to my brother who's older.
24:14
But there is something genetic about that came from your grandmother,
24:18
who's a survivor through your parents.
24:21
I do think that it's in our blood and in our blood
24:24
as Latinos, we fight so hard to give back to our
24:29
families to be better for our families.
24:31
A lot of times we're doing it for other people.
24:34
And that's something that I've had to really know,
24:36
navigate is like, who am I doing this for?
24:40
you also have to be doing it for yourself because we're very
24:43
selfless. So you said resourceful fighter,
24:47
relationship builder, really well performer because you know,
24:51
your stuff. Do you think that that is sort of
24:55
like your playbook for how you made it so far?
24:57
Is there anything else from a relationship standpoint?
25:00
Almost every role I've had in my career is through knowing someone
25:04
and it's not that you get the job because you know,
25:07
this person you still have to perform,
25:09
you still have to show up,
25:10
you still have to prove yourself.
25:11
But it has been through,
25:12
hey, I'm looking to move to New York.
25:15
I'm quitting my job here.
25:16
Does anyone have any,
25:19
you know, connections in the ad industry?
25:21
And are those values normally understood as positive when you're like,
25:25
I'm a fighter? Is it understood as a positive corporate asset
25:30
Or do you think that there's a couple of things that
25:32
we Latinos need to flip the script so that they are understood
25:35
as positive from a personal standpoint being a fighter can put off
25:42
It's never fighting to the point of disrespect ever.
25:45
But I think if you are a strong minded person,
25:48
which a lot of Latinas are,
25:49
a lot of black women are a lot of women in general
25:53
I think the industry wants strength only to the point
25:58
that it's comfortable. Right.
26:01
And for us to continue to be successful,
26:04
we have to make people uncomfortable,
26:06
which means you're gonna be uncomfortable and you have to be comfortable
26:09
with the discomfort. I feel like you have the job that
26:13
every B two B marketer would want to have,
26:15
right? Like 20 years ago,
26:17
you would want to be doing being the CMO or the
26:21
head of marketing for businesses for Facebook or for Google.
26:24
And now you would want to be doing it for Tik Tok
26:26
because that's where the budget is going.
26:28
I don't, I don't remember the exact percentage but I was
26:31
reading how much brands are moving to towards Tik Tok and big
26:35
brands are moving like 70 percent of their budget is going to
26:38
Tik Tok in the fintech space,
26:39
Venmo, I think is spending over 70% of their budget in
26:44
Mo Lion, we're doing the same.
26:45
So you are where a lot of women and a lot of
26:49
CMO S would want to be.
26:50
What were the decisions that you made in your career that made
26:54
you be the perfect candidate for this role?
26:57
Like if you were drawing a line,
26:58
can you like pick three or four decisions that you're like.
27:01
This is where I learned this.
27:03
Yeah. So starting in the creative industry,
27:05
in the advertising industry,
27:07
which is doesn't always have the best reputation,
27:09
but my God, is it some of the best training you
27:12
can have for someone who wants to evolve into being a CEO
27:17
CMO CCO? Because on the business side of advertising,
27:22
you are learning everything,
27:23
you learn how to make things,
27:24
you learn how to do things,
27:25
you learn how to manage your PNL.
27:28
And so that gave me the best training I could while still
27:31
being a really fun thing to do,
27:32
because it's a very creative space in space,
27:39
And then obviously moved up the ladder there to run the client
27:43
accounts teams. And then I decided that I wanted to go
27:46
global, right? I didn't want to be just North America
27:51
and this is going to be controversial,
27:52
but I'm going to say it,
27:53
I also never chose to go to a Latino or multicultural agency
27:57
And I did that very intentionally because I saw that the
28:01
budgets were not at those agencies and the opportunity to go global
28:05
were not at those agencies.
28:06
And for me to be able to give back as much as
28:09
possible, I feel I had to get as high as I
28:11
could, right? And so I moved to Paris and I
28:15
ran Proctor and Gamble business out of Paris for almost three years
28:20
And so I had done advertising,
28:23
Now, I needed to get out of advertising.
28:25
And so I started with going to a digital social agency called
28:28
Mry. And then after that,
28:32
which was a consumer insights platform,
28:34
a SASS business. So hardcore B to B hardcore bottom line
28:38
as you know, it's all about a monthly recurring revenue.
28:43
And so that's where I started to learn the business.
28:45
Like, truly how to run a business,
28:47
the business aspect from there.
28:49
What I did was really help raise that company to CC.
28:53
I've since left and I came to tech because that was another
28:56
entryway for me and all the experience I have from the B
28:59
to B to the advertising creative helped me move into the space
29:03
I bet you a lot of people ask you this,
29:05
at least they ask me because I've gone from big company to
29:08
small company to big company to small company.
29:11
And I think there's this misconception that if you go from
29:14
a big company to a small company,
29:15
you cannot go back to a big company or the other way
29:17
around. What has been your experience going from one to the
29:20
other. So I think the industry is very traditional,
29:24
right? They think in a very traditional way.
29:26
And so whenever I've spoken to recruiters throughout my career,
29:30
they want me to know that I've followed a very specific path
29:33
that I got my master's degree that I went to be a
29:35
CMO at this company.
29:37
And then I did it at a bigger company.
29:40
and I fundamentally believe this in how I build my team.
29:43
The people with the most diverse backgrounds are the best people for
29:47
your business because it means they can morph,
29:50
it means they have different perspectives.
29:52
They're not coming with a linear view.
29:54
And so when I work with recruiters,
29:56
they don't know how to pitch me because they're like,
29:58
you were at a big agency,
29:59
then you were at a small business and now you're at a
30:00
big tech company. And I'm like,
30:02
that's OK because here's the thing,
30:05
most of at this level,
30:07
you next roles are from people,
30:09
they know you, they've heard about you,
30:11
they know the impact you've had on businesses.
30:13
And that's when you're gonna get a phone call or asked to
30:17
interview for something. But you said before,
30:19
I'm not going to be CMO,
30:21
I wanna be a CEO in the back of the head of
30:24
many of the people that we have had in this podcast CEO
30:28
is what they want to see and do.
30:31
And so the question is how to get there and how do
30:34
you think having a better perception,
30:37
a better narrative and a better understanding of Latinos would help more
30:42
people see you see your material if I could over simplify
30:46
I think Latinos are some of the hardest working people out
30:50
there like we just will not fail.
30:52
We don't take no for an answer.
30:54
And so I can speak for myself that I have worked so
30:58
hard days and nights to get to where I am learning material
31:02
really practicing in the mirror before I go into a meeting
31:05
Like it takes practice and effort.
31:08
But I do think that there's a little bit more to that
31:11
that we should add all of us to the question,
31:14
which is how do we portray ourselves as CEO material?
31:20
How do we actually just like elevate our narrative,
31:24
joint narrative as Latinos are able to be at the top and
31:28
will be a great win,
31:30
win, win for everybody when we do so because all the
31:33
intermediate jobs were there,
31:35
we're filling them up.
31:37
We just need to make that transition not only through readiness and
31:41
training, but also through perception and relationship building.
31:44
I think that that's where I would like everybody to start saying
31:48
Sophie Hernandez as the next CEO of your company.
31:50
When Claudia and I started the podcast,
31:53
we were thinking we want to get 8% of C Suite to
31:56
be Latinas because we are 8% of the population.
31:59
And since then, we have evolved to,
32:01
we want 8% of CEO S to be Latinas.
32:05
You know, because we have the CMO job,
32:08
the chief people officer,
32:10
but we rarely have the,
32:12
we have the co and very rarely have the CEO which are
32:16
the roles that really run most of the companies.
32:20
wait a second if perception matters this much.
32:23
And Tik Tok owns the hearts and minds of trillions of people
32:27
everywhere. How are we using Tik Tok?
32:30
How can we use tiktok to change the narrative of Latinos so
32:33
that people know that,
32:34
you know that we're positive contributors to the country that you know
32:39
And so that Latinos have a better self regard and a better
32:42
social recognition. Honestly,
32:43
I think it's already happening.
32:45
So Tik Tok does not consider itself a social media platform because
32:49
you're not going to tiktok to see what your friends are doing
32:52
right? Like that's not what it is.
32:53
We consider ourselves an entertainment and a discovery platform.
32:57
And so you are passively consuming content.
33:00
So that's why your tiktok went so well because someone watched this
33:05
very powerful Latina say something that inspired them and then because they
33:10
liked it so much enough to give it a heart,
33:12
it went to more people that might like it and that,
33:15
that's the beauty of it and that's what's happening.
33:17
Latinos are coming to the platform and they're telling their stories and
33:20
they're coming to life in so many ways that you don't traditionally
33:24
see Latinos. So that's the entertainment platform.
33:27
That's the social side.
33:29
What can we do and I'd love your advice too.
33:31
What can we do as a senior level generation of women,
33:36
how can we start to help other people rise and bring back
33:41
I do it through hiring.
33:43
I do it through mentorship,
33:45
which meant I've had so many mentors throughout my life.
33:47
Not always Latinos and not always women.
33:49
I've had white men mentors like people who really care about helping
33:53
people thrive. And I do it through just like helping educate
33:58
you know, organizations like build New York City who works with
34:01
high school students. I'm part of American tech.
34:04
However, I can because those are all the programs,
34:07
Lulac Junior achievement that I was a part of that really helped
34:10
me. But I do you think there is a void at
34:14
like the mid level and up right now for us?
34:17
Because if you make it to the mid level,
34:19
you've already dealt with a lot.
34:20
But then to get to that next kind of phase that is
34:24
difficult, you know,
34:25
I was I was telling Sophia before we started shooting that
34:29
it was very interesting to see what happened with that piece of
34:31
content on Tik Tok because the the first comments were pretty negative
34:35
But after the fourth comment,
34:38
all the comments were positive,
34:40
one of those comments said something like,
34:43
yeah, very senior Latinas are helping out but where we struggle
34:48
is with the middle managers who are not helping the next level
34:53
like the, the entry level.
34:54
So it's almost like once we make it to the top,
34:58
I'm here. I can help the next generation,
35:00
but we need those who are still climbing to lift as they
35:06
that's, that's kind of what the conversation that was happening there
35:09
And I think what's happening on Tik Tok and we should
35:12
use more of tiktok and,
35:13
and any type of media where it grows in a guerilla way
35:16
or like from a ground up way.
35:18
It's the, the way that we're gonna change how Latinos perceive
35:22
each other. And this is the work that your foundation does
35:24
right? Like tracking how we per see each other.
35:27
It only changes if you start seeing others that look like you
35:31
perceiving themselves as powerful.
35:34
Exactly. And then you're like,
35:35
oh I'm powerful too and then you say it to the world
35:39
I'm powerful and people hear you and they're like,
35:41
oh I'm powerful too.
35:43
So what about your superpower?
35:45
Tell us about your superpower.
35:46
This is your viral moment.
35:49
It's funny that you just talked about that.
35:51
So I have done a lot of work and I think as
35:53
humans, we do a lot of work with self esteem and
35:56
confidence and it is a daily exercise,
36:01
this concept of imposter syndrome,
36:03
I don't believe in that.
36:05
I think you shouldn't go into a situation,
36:07
feel like an impostor.
36:08
I think you need to coach yourself and go into a situation
36:10
and feel like you belong because you do,
36:13
right? Who's to say you don't?
36:14
And so my superpower is that I I'm constantly doing the work
36:21
to help elevate myself.
36:23
And when I elevate myself,
36:24
I'm elevating everyone else to your point.
36:27
Like if people see powerful,
36:29
they see strong, I think it gives them an inspiration to
36:34
what I don't think we do enough is talk about the hardships
36:37
right? Like we hide the fact that like I'll stand
36:40
in front of a mirror,
36:40
do affirmations. Oh I don't want anyone to know that about
36:43
me. They're gonna think I'm weak or they'll laugh or whatever
36:46
It's that work that people really need to know,
36:49
It's easy to stand up.
36:50
Everyone can stand in front and act like they're confident but be
36:54
suffering inside. And so how do we really coach Latinas to
36:59
to be in corporate America to do whatever and genuinely feel like
37:03
you belong there, right?
37:05
That's the work we need to do.
37:07
It's not by chance that this podcast is in,
37:11
you know, we do the podcast virtually,
37:14
but we want women like you to open up and to say
37:19
the good, the bad and the ugly.
37:21
And it only happens when you trust the people that you're talking
37:25
to and we have heard from many of our guests that it
37:28
looks great when you're giving a keynote and you have your hair
37:32
done and it looks like you had it very easy.
37:34
But then when you tell your story,
37:36
nobody got to the top by like somebody pointed them and you
37:41
It was a lot of hard work.
37:42
And so I'll just say this is the first time I've met
37:45
Claudia and Cynthia and immediately there was this warmth and welcoming and
37:51
comfort. So I felt that and I feel very open talking
37:54
to you. So I hope your audience feels that as well
37:57
Let's see what your coms team says after like delete this
38:00
delete this, delete this.
38:01
So I wanna talk about the entrepreneur in you.
38:05
One in every five entrepreneurs in America is a Latina,
38:09
Latinas generate small businesses six times faster than any other group in
38:13
America. They do like you,
38:15
you're the poster child.
38:17
You have an incredible job.
38:18
But at the same time,
38:20
you started a new company with your husband.
38:23
And how did you bring from one to the other?
38:25
And how do you manage both in addition to your own personal
38:28
life? Yeah. So I think the best way to be
38:31
successful is to have multiple outlets,
38:33
right? Like it's if you have a very traditional kind of
38:36
linear path, you'll go far,
38:39
but you have much more opportunity when you open up your revenue
38:42
streams, right? And so we have bought properties here in
38:46
New York City. That's one revenue stream.
38:48
Obviously, I have my career.
38:51
I do a lot of public speaking and we started this
38:55
apparel line, my husband Rodney and I called Black on Black
38:57
BK. And it actually started to target the black community at
39:02
a time back in 2020 where they felt very powerless,
39:07
very hurt by what we,
39:09
what we were seeing in the media on a regular basis.
39:12
So we work together because I'm the business side and he's the
39:15
creative side to build this.
39:17
And quickly after we realized that so many of the problems that
39:21
the black community faces,
39:22
the Latino community also faces,
39:24
right? And so we started to expand the line to be
39:27
more of a voice for underrepresented people.
39:31
And it's meant to make people feel proud of who they are
39:36
and really just like celebrate it because what you wear is in
39:39
everybody's face, right?
39:41
Like if you want to put a message on your shirt,
39:43
people have to read it whether they like it or not.
39:45
And so it was our way to empower people and really kind
39:47
of put it out there.
39:49
OK. So I would love to know you just said,
39:53
what's your playbook? But what advice would you give to your
39:57
Yeah, I would do more work earlier in my life to
40:02
understand that people's perceptions of you have nothing to do with you
40:06
I would really and dive into the finances of the business
40:11
a lot earlier in my career,
40:12
it's something I started doing later and I feel like you have
40:15
a lot of power when you understand you how well your impact
40:20
especially in marketing,
40:23
especially in marketing, because we're always seen as a cost center
40:26
And if you can prove that you actually impact revenue,
40:28
you're golden, right?
40:30
You have the flexibility.
40:35
Like I feel like I've,
40:36
I've very intentionally had a very diverse career.
40:40
I have very intentionally done a lot of the work.
40:43
I've really worked with mentors to help me evolve as a
40:48
as a human and as a corporate citizen,
40:51
I think I would probably save more money earlier,
40:55
just like a very practical thing.
40:59
I have a question that actually somebody posted on social media and
41:02
I'm gonna see if you can answer it.
41:04
She said, what can I do if my CEO who is
41:08
a Latino man keeps putting me down in front of my peers
41:14
Do you have any advice for her?
41:17
That's tricky because it's very nuanced,
41:21
you have to build a relationship with your bosses where you can
41:24
be open. So if that's not already established,
41:27
then I think it would be difficult.
41:29
But I think she needs to be brave enough to probably
41:33
one talk to hr first and say I'm going to approach my
41:37
CEO with this conversation do you have any advice on how I
41:40
can do that? She should probably talk to maybe some other
41:43
c level mentors and ask for like,
41:46
what could be the right way to approach this?
41:48
You always wanna like be fed information so that you have some
41:51
options, right? Because it's very easy to like,
41:54
react on emotion and go into a situation and have a conversation
41:57
that's not productive. And then I would make it about the
42:00
business before I made it about emotions.
42:03
And so that's always my advice is like,
42:05
whatever he's doing to put her down,
42:07
she can ask whether it's about performance,
42:10
whether there's something more constructive,
42:13
he can tell her about what she's contributing to the business because
42:17
right now it's coming off as more personal.
42:19
And so like, let's bring it to the business boss and
42:22
you tell me, what do I need to do differently to
42:25
perform? I was once in a similar situation and I was
42:29
like, giving ideas on my boss was kind of disregarding the
42:33
ideas that I was giving.
42:34
And it was early in my tenure in this company and I
42:37
went to my boss and I told him,
42:39
can you give me some breathing room to give my ideas?
42:42
If you disagree with my ideas?
42:43
It's ok. But if every time I give an idea,
42:47
the only thing that's going to happen is I'm not going to
42:49
feel comfortable giving ideas in public and everybody is going to lose
42:53
because maybe one out of 10 ideas that I give,
42:57
But if you don't let me give the nine bad ideas,
42:59
we are all going to lose.
43:01
And this manager was so receptive that it totally changed our relationship
43:06
but that was about the business.
43:08
That wasn't how he was making you feel.
43:10
And so he was more receptive,
43:12
receptive to it. By the way,
43:14
the other point is then everyone else in the room is not
43:16
going to want to share the ideas either because they don't want
43:18
to get shut down that way totally.
43:20
And then there's a point in which you say I should move
43:24
right? 1000%. And I think everyone has to know their
43:28
worth and know when it's time to leave 100%.
43:33
I do think that we need to equip our Latinas young Latinas
43:37
not only with advice but with resources and tools.
43:40
So we're all human through the Hispanic Star and you can go
43:43
to Hispanic. Star.org has powerpoint presentations already made on how to
43:48
talk to hr on how to talk to marketing about the business
43:51
piece. Say, you know,
43:53
did you know that Latinos are 20% of,
43:56
like of the population.
43:58
Therefore, you need it in the in the workforce because this
44:00
one did, you know that Latinas do not succeed because most
44:04
of the time we have this.
44:05
And so you have already presentations ready to go so that people
44:08
if they didn't know that you need Latinas to grow,
44:12
then you can put it out there with data.
44:14
So go to Hispanics star.org,
44:17
a lot of, a lot of resources ready for you to
44:19
go and present to your hr department about like how much Latinos
44:22
feel also that they cannot be themselves at the workplace.
44:26
Last question, who should we bring to the broadcast?
44:30
So, Cindy Lo who just left Goldman to become a
44:36
career coach for Latinos.
44:38
She is incredible. She has a social platform called Latinas at
44:41
work and she's actually here in New York.
44:44
Andrea Perez, who was a GM at Nike and built
44:48
the Jordan Women and Kids business from the ground up.
44:51
Incredible amazing queer Latina FBI who is CMO of global CMO of
44:58
the gap, newly appointed and doing incredible creative work.
45:02
And then Blanca Gonzalez who's L A based and former Nike now
45:09
at Foot Locker, she's a GM really smart,
45:13
really strong, incredible.
45:15
Those are incredible Latina marketers.
45:17
I'm literally like today,
45:19
I'm going to email you to make an introduction to all of
45:22
I will happily do it.
45:23
Well, Sophie Hernandez,
45:26
it's been an incredible pleasure having you here at A La Latina
45:30
Thank you. This was so fun.
45:32
I love the conversation and I can me to help with whatever
45:36
Thank you. I learned so much and I Really,
45:39
a big fan of Tik Tok and a big fan of yours
45:41
Thank you. Thank you.
45:42
And with your advice and wisdom,
45:45
we're gonna be able to lead and succeeded Latina.
Series