Growing up in Corporate America as a Latina, a woman of color, hasn’t always been easy and writing this article was very difficult…
For context, I was born and raised in Brazil and since I was a little girl, I dreamed of becoming a President/CEO of a multi-national company.
I am not sure why… I think other kids have much more exciting dreams like being an astronaut, a firefighter or a rock-star but for some reason this was my dream… I would wear my mom’s high-heels and carry my dad’s briefcase around the house pretending I was a business woman.
The amazing thing is that my parents always told me that I could do and be anything I wanted to… that I should dream big and reach for the stars… so I did!
Even though Brazil has a more patriarchal culture, my dad believed the world would be led by women one day so he helped me to step up and get ready… he taught me about leadership, business and mindset and encouraged me to keep going.
All the decisions and choices I have made in my life have been helping me get one step closer to my dream of becoming a senior executive, including moving to the U.S. to go to college and starting my career in Corporate America.
My first job after undergrad was in a manufacturing plant in the middle of rural Indiana. Every day at work, I would look around and very often notice that I was the only woman and the only person of color in the room.
I didn’t see anyone that looked like me in higher executive positions and that started to really shake my confidence.
I remember my grandma was so incredibly proud that I had started my professional career that she took me shopping when I was back in Brazil for vacation. She gave me some beautiful business suits, which, in true Brazilian fashion, were very colorful and expressive.
Unfortunately, I told myself I could never wear my Brazilian business suits to work. Everyone wore black pants and a simple button down shirt — and I desperately wanted to fit it.
I remember looking in the mirror and being conflicted… on one hand I was definitely fitting in and looking like everyone else at work… on the other hand I didn’t look like my bright Brazilian self anymore.
My desire to fit in impacted more than my wardrobe… it was much deeper. I also realized I sounded differently with my accent, I looked differently with my darker skin and hair and I behaved differently as well with my loud, bold and passionate personality.
Also during this first job, only 3 months after graduating and starting my corporate career, I faced heart-wrenching racism for the first-time and it completely crushed my soul…
I was going through the process of getting a work visa which the company was sponsoring and I was so nervous about the whole thing. During a staff team meeting, our director turned to me, in front of all my team members, and said “don’t worry, Tatiana, if you don’t get the work visa, you can come work at my house”.
WHAT?! I wanted to disappear… I never felt so small, so insignificant and even writing this right now brings all the emotions back because it shook me to my core… it made me deeply question my worthiness.
I started to doubt if I could really “make it in Corporate America” as a Latina.
I learned, perhaps via unspoken words, that to grow in Corporate America I couldn’t really be “me”.
I felt like if I wanted to succeed in Corporate America, I needed to look, sound and behave a certain way… a different way than I am. So I slowly started to adapt, I looked around and tried to emulate and assimilate.
In many ways this “fitting in” approach seemed to be quite effective… I was performing well, moving up the ladder and I was very proud of that.
But after a few years, I completely lost my spark, positivity and passion… my light was gone and it took a big physical and emotional toll on me.
I actually had no idea how bad it was but deep inside I was feeling exhausted, stressed, overwhelmed and stuck.
However, I was in complete denial because I thought that’s how things needed to be so I kept sucking it up and pushing through things until I had a HUGE wakeup call! I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and that shook me to my core.
I am happy to say that I am healthy now but I actually think cancer was in many ways a gift because I realize now that I couldn’t keep going as things were… I needed to deeply change.
I realized that I couldn’t be truly happy and fulfilled unless I could be my true self. I needed to re-define what success should look like for me… I needed to find my own path.
So over the past few years, I have been going through a deep inner journey to heal my wounds, rebuild my confidence, let go of limiting beliefs and (re)find my authentic Latina power.
I have read many books, attended workshops, worked with coaches and invested in myself so that I could turn my light back on, love myself for who I really am, find peace within and ultimately unleash my full authentic magic within.
I am now proud of who I really am … all of me… and I am no longer holding myself back!
Going through this inner journey has been transformational both personally and professionally. And I can now proudly say that I am no longer trying or willing to “fit in”… and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders…
I am bringing my full authentic self now to work and my career has taken off because I have unleashed my magic within, which feels SO freeing, rewarding and empowering.
As I recently started to share my story and my journey more openly, I received such amazing feedback from so many people that I realized I can become a stronger force for change in Corporate America…
Not only I want to break that glass-ceiling for the little Brazilian girl inside of me who always thought I could do it …
But I also want to pave the way and lift other brilliant Latinas along the way so they too can reach for their dreams no matter how crazy they may seem.
Ultimately though, what gets me really fired up is my new mission of changing the face of Corporate America because I don’t want my daughter to still see these graphs and statistics showing how underrepresented we are…
I want my daughter to grow up in a world where DEI efforts are no longer needed because we all have our well-deserved seats at the table and we are all valued, rewarded and recognized for who we truly are.
That’s why I have created a LinkedIn Group called “Rising Latinas in Corporate America” so that I can inspire, empower and help all the rising corporate Latinas out there unleash their full magic as well.
I truly believe that the world could use more of our brilliant, authentic Latina magic right now, so let’s shine brightly and unleash our Latinidad as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
Please click here, if you or someone you know would like to join this new LinkedIn Group for rising Latinas in Corporate America.
