Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain and Develop Hispanic Professionals

CHAPTER 8

FROM ONE LATINO TO ANOTHER

I decided to write this final chapter in the first person as a way to share my voice. As I began writing this book, it occurred to me that there would be many Latinos who would read this book. I quickly realized that this provided a wonderful opportunity for me to connect with my fellow Latinos. It provided me a chance to develop my own sense of personalismo with my audience. With this opportunity, I decided to share some personal advice with my Latino readers. These “words of wisdom” have been shaped by my own experience and have helped me reach a certain level of success. It is my sincere hope that by sharing my story and passing along some insightful tips, some of you will be better prepared to follow your dreams.

Before I begin, it might be good if you knew more about me. I was born in Lubbock, Texas, to parents who were migrant workers. My father was born in Matamoros, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States at a young age. He followed all the necessary immigration procedures and officially became a naturalized U.S. citizen when he was in his 20s. My mother was born in Brownsville, Texas, the daughter of a Mexican father and Spanish mother.

I recall my parents making trips to work the cherry fields in Michigan and the sugar beet fields in North Dakota as migrant workers. My father quickly realized that the life of a migrant family made it difficult to focus on the educational needs for me and my two younger brothers. We eventually settled ...