From Guatemala to U.S. Success | Immigrant Story, Latino Leadership & Entrepreneurship

Isabel Cable: From Guatemala City to Fort Worth | Immigrant Story, Latino Leadership & Entrepreneurship

Isabel Cable—Vice President of Member Services & Strategic Growth at the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (FWHCC)—joins The Global Latin Factor to share an honest, powerful journey from Guatemala City to Texas. In this episode, Isabel opens up about what it really takes to start over as an immigrant: learning English under pressure, navigating rejection, rebuilding confidence, and growing into leadership rooted in service and community.

We also talk about her Chinese-Guatemalan identity, the “rice and beans” mindset that helped her embrace what makes her different, and how she’s helping create belonging, opportunity, mentorship, and business growth through the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber.

In this episode, we cover:

• Guatemala City childhood + Chinese roots
• The Disney International Program and the decision that changed everything
• The emotional and financial realities of the residency process
• Learning English on the job + building leadership confidence
• Rejection, mentorship, and becoming an adaptive leader
• Entrepreneurship, community-building, and why belonging matters

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere you stream podcasts.
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube.

Guest: Isabel Cable
Role: VP of Member Services & Strategic Growth, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Transcript

Welcome, welcome you all to another episode of the Global Latin Factor podcast where we talk about Latino everything. I'm your host Christine Valentine. Make sure you subscribe to the channel right now. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain like this truly truly remarkable amazing story by Isabel Cable. She is the vice president of member relationships here in the forward Hispanic Chamber, the space where we are today. Not to mention she is an immigrant, came all the way from Guatemala, learned the language, joined and became a leader and continues to be a leader and a leader in the community that is meaningful and empowering aid which is the Latino community. And now to the episode. Hola. Hola. I haven't seen you in forever. I know. Let's get it. Uh, man, I met you uh I think it's almost uh almost two years ago. Yes. And uh ever since I known you, you know, you're just truly a remarkable individual. Just getting to know you more of in the chamber. So, I I love it. I had to have you one of these days and here we are. So, gracias. You know, I can actually tell you when was the la the first day that we met. Um, it was Accelerate Fort Worth and it was the first coffee with the chamber that I ever attended and you were with your boss or former boss Paul. That's how clearly I remember when I met you. Wow. You introduced yourself. You introduced me to your boss and you said, "Hey, I want to get connected with the chamber. what can I do in order to be more involved? And that's the day that our relationship started. Amazing. Uh very detailed because I can remember I remember the day at Accelerate for Word and how smaller it was compared to these days, which we're going to talk about that a whole lot more. But before we get started, we're going to start with a segment that I like to call Al Chile. If you have not subscribed to the channel, I don't know what you're waiting for. Do not hesitate. We're doing amazing work here. We're spotlighting some amazing, powerful, powerful individuals in the community. And the only way to find them is to subscribe and join the community. Tacos or tortas? Tacos. Corn tortilla or flour tortilla? Corn tortilla. Or pusas. Poosetos. What flavor? Um, I'm sorry, but I have to say baritos. Apple. Okay. Um, chino. Okay. Orish. Rico who says okay. Okay. Okay. Excellente. Okay. Okay. Correct. Excellent. No. the corn. We're supposed to do this in English. Yeah. Y some of y'all know. Okay. So, the corn the leaf is banana banana leaf instead of corn leaf. Yes. And to my understanding, atamales Guatemala is a whole lot bigger. Yes, it is like this size basically. Okay. So, she's holding almost like half of a football size pretty. It's basically half of the tablet. My tablet, which is like a mini one for the iPad. And then to my understanding, you can make it with regular masa corn or you can make it with uh rice. Rice. Rice. And um culturally making it out of rice is much more difficult than just doing the regular corn. Really? Is it a longer process? It is a longer process. It is a more complex process. Not everybody can do it properly. Oh wow. Neat. It's like uh Mexicans the uh tamales or the mole. Correct. Like not everybody can make it. Correct. This is a lot of work. Okay. We continue with chuchitos or paches. That's a tough one. And I will go with chuchitos. Now chuchitos is our version of the Mexican tamales really. So it is with a corn husk. They are smaller. They are more like more concentrated. And the salsa is not spicy, but it's very similar to the Mexican tamales. Nice. Awesome. If you didn't know. Okay. Now we're gonna go into into your Asian uh roots. Fried rice or chowine? Definitely fried rice. Okay. Dumplings or wantan soup? Neither. Neither one. No. Okay. Tell me, I know you grew up in both. Uh third generation Chinese, watermelon. Is there a particular fusion that your grandma or your mom kind of sort of made that brought all those both all those uh cultures together and a dish? Great question. Not necessarily on a dish, but it was very common to go and visit my grandma and my grandpa and find the weird dishes. When you are a child, duck is a weird dish. Uh anything with mushrooms is weird, you know. So, so those type of things were different and that's what I grew up, you know, like seeing in in the table um at my grandma's house. Okay. Without exploiting too much cuz people were weird about things in general. That was some of the things that you saw in your kitchen based on culturally cuz they were here, right? Did it make you feel any uh I know we'll talk about the bullying here. Was that part of it? cuz kind of sort of you were just a little different culturally uh based on you bringing in your roots or not necessarily. No, you know the truth of the matter is that in Guatemala it it is very common to have a fusion of Asian in the culture. Uh Asian coming from China or Asian coming from Korea. So both of them are heavily present in in our culture. So it wasn't from the kid perspective from the school perspective odd. It was just that as a child you don't understand. It just looks weird and you don't want to eat it. So, you know, and um in Guatemala because because of the strong presence of the Asian uh culture, uh it's easy for for you to be called Alachinita, you know. Wow. Mhm. Very often it's a nickname, Linita. Yep. Yep. And so I was used to be being called at school Lachinita. Okay. So, what is a very traditional dish uh for you that people would definitely need to try that is a water watermelon dish? Anything stands out for you? Los tamales. Los tamales. The watermelon tamales. Oh, yes. The watermelon tamales. And then as far as Asian food that you grew up with that people need to try it, any dish specifically parati? No, just the fried rice, but I mean you can find it in, you know, pfch pretty close. Valentina Tabasco or Cholula hot sauce? Manguna? None. Oh, no. You have any watermelons, y'all? Watermelons are crying babies. Like, salt is spicy to me. That's Yeah, we don't do much with I mean, there's people that do like spicy stuff in Guatemala, but really traditionally none of the dishes uh are cooked with a heavy presence of spiciness. As Mexicans, we have something else. We're built differently when it comes to that. No. Oh, no. We're crime babies. So, that's funny. No, it's I mean, to each their own, definitely. Um, again, Mexican was at least for me, it's always been the spicy till this day. I thinking about it just makes my mouth watery just cuz it's so awesome for me. No, weirdly enough, I learned how to eat spicy here and especially after my uh last baby. It was a craving. Weird. It was a craving and now I can't have tacos without the salita. Yeah, it's true. Okay. When you want to celebrate something, let's say an accomplishment, let's say coffee with the chamber broke an amount of uh number presence, records, do you like to dance bachata kumbia or meen or anything else in addition to those? All of the aboveas. the same place. Awesome. Okay. So, when you hear the word Latino or Latina, I know we are in the Hispanic chamber, but in general, when you hear the word Latino, Latina, what is the very first thing that comes to mind for you? The music. The music. Okay. And do you consider yourself Latina? Do you care if anybody calls you Latina? Do you prefer from being watermelon or if they're Guatemala? Anything like that for you? No, it really the term Hispanic or Latino, it really doesn't make a difference for me. me doesn't have an impact. Um, however, what does matter to me is that people have the curiosity of asking me where I am from instead of assuming that just because I have brown skin that I am from Mexico. And don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with being Mexican. In fact, most of my best friends family like that I consider close family members are from Mexico. I adore them. But it's just from from a respectful side, you know, of things that don't assume that just because, you know, all of us are brownskinned, right? That, you know, there are no Colombians, there are no people from Venezuela, there are no people from, you know, any of the Central American countries, you know. True. That uh Yeah, that's that's that's very neat because it does happen often out and about in forward or anywhere in the world, at least in the US, for sure. Okay, before we get started with uh getting to know a little bit of your story, tell us a little bit about where we at the space and if anybody's a member, how can they be able to access this space right here? Great question. So, y'all, this is one of the best resources that we have at the chamber to offer and it's one of the ones that is heavily underutilized. So, when you think about having a business, marketing is expensive. It's one of the things that will eat your budget first. Um, and it's simply because if you don't promote yourself, if you don't promote the business, then the business is not going to grow, right? Uh, so this space is created specifically for that. If you want to do a recording of yourself, if you want to do a podcast, you know, to talk about the different things and your point of view of things and the story behind your business, if you want to do a quick shot for Instagram, social media, this is the space to do that. That uh that includes the use of the cameras, the console, the microphones, the space itself, as long as you want to use it. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having us today. Usually we're in our studio, but you know, we happen to be a coffee with the chamber and I'm like, let's just set something up here. We haven't done what we talked about, so I think I recorded a little video almost a year ago. I'm like, it's been that long since we actually did like actually use utilized the space. So, thank you. Okay, so let's get to get to know you as far as a little bit of your story. Of course, we only have a limited time, so I can't get to know everything about you because I know your story is magnificent, but let's take it back all the way to growing up in Guatemala. K. specific what area? Uh the city. The city. Guatemala city. Right. Correct. So when you're there, it's not a smaller town. It's a bigger city and you have barios or or neighbors. Exactly. What do you call them over there when you're growing up? And no, exactly. Barios. And it feels very similar to Fort Worth. Mhm. Uh with like the main avenues that everybody knows that the popular areas to go shop and or have a good time. uh the areas that are under reppresented or underserved or you know in poverty, the areas that you say, man, there's money here. It maybe that's why I relate so much and so closely to Fort Worth because it really reminds me home. It reminds you of the actual city where you grew up at. So you grew up uh take me back to your Awalita's gathering on a Sunday. Uh that was a very stable moment in in you growing up, right? What what does that take whenever you think about that? What does it make you feel whenever you're there living those moments at that time? Family. Family. Definitely family. um the warmth, the the sense of belonging. And I think that that's one of the the most important values that I have making everybody feel a part of something because I remember walking into my grandma's house uh and finding my primos, my theas there and feeling that I was a part of something, that I was belonging. And now living here in the US and really not having a single family member excepting my in-laws and of course my husband and my kids. Um I I I miss that and that's why I try to create the spaces and I try to form the relationships and the the community that that makes me feel that I belong. When do you started to having those kinds of thoughts that that was happening as far as you being belonging to something? um compared to not and being away from it. Did you ever remember like, oh my goodness, this is family. This is a community. You remember any of that coming to light at one point or another for you? Uh yes, it it happened when I when I moved to the US, I struggled the first three years uh of uh living here. Mhm. Because here's the truth. When you are in it, when you are having it, you don't miss it because you do not know. Exactly. you do not know what is not to have it. But once all of the sudden you are removed from that environment and you are brought you're brought into something where you don't have those close connections uh you you begin to miss it and you begin to value it and you begin to see it in a different light. What was it you know that that made it so special? What was it you know that made me feel that I was feeling at home? And again it was that sense of belonging. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So, as far as a person in Guatemala, Guatemala City going to school as a kid, how does that look to you? Do you go to school in the morning, afternoon, and then after that, what happens? Do you like play? Do y'all get to go to a particular spot? Do you like to hang out? How did that go for you? Uh, that's so interesting. Uh, yes. Going to school, uh, it was in the morning. uh the regular routine of leaving home. My mom used to take us to school, me and my brother, and then we would just come back home, do homework. Um I was never the popular girl, if that makes sense. I was always feeling that I was different. Uh and so I never had a lot of friends, um a lot of like close friends. Not until I was probably like 14 or 15 years that I started having like a like a best friend. Uh so I would not necessarily go out and hang out with friends or anything like that. I would just stay home most of most of the the time. I felt like I was always different. Yeah. There's a a particular thing that happened to you. I don't know from what year to what year that uh kids, you know, kids being kids, they don't know any better, but a lot of the times um they could be mean or they can say things that are kind of hurtful cuz, you know, they don't know any better. Uh it happened to me when I was uh got to the US at 11 and trying to learn English and the same Mexicans or any other ones were like the ones that were making fun of you cuz you didn't know the language compared to everybody else that was trying to be helpful. It's sad, but it happens. with you. It was a a little bit of a bullying and and I don't know if they were even saying words to you because you were fairly slim. Mhm. And how long did that go for for you? And how and where did you find the strength to be like, you know what, this is this is going to pass cuz now you're the most popular girl ever here in the chamber or one of them. But how did that go for you? Was that part uh as far as the bullying part, dealing with it and just keeping moving forward and the most important lesson you learned from it? Gosh. Um, so growing up was really tough for me because even though my family had meanings like my family meaning my my mom and my dad, my dad uh had baggage of uh not having a stable home and being uh homeless often. So when he marries my mom, the first thing that he does is he buys the first his first home. But you got to understand context for him. Having a roof on his shoulders was the most important thing. So he was making 500 gales and spending on the house 450. Wow. So that was really tough. And then immediately after they got married, they uh my mom gets pregnant uh with my brother. They have my brother and in an immediate succession they have me. My dad was working in the military. So of course with every rank that he, you know, moves up in the ladder, he gets more money. And instead of saying, well, now we're feeling more comfortable financially, he starts investing in properties. And so first it was one house, then it was another house, then it was uh land and then another piece of land and then another house. And we would stay with the same slim budget. So as a kid, you do not understand that what my dad was doing was building generational wealth with the houses. You don't go to school and you say, "Oh, I have three houses and four pieces of land." No kid understands. The new shoes, the new clothes. Exactly. So, think about it. What that did to me is that it limited the resources that my parents could have for the basic needs such as food, clothes, and you know, looking looking presentable. Mhm. So, kids pick up on that like this. So, I'd say from when I was probably nine all the way until I was perhaps 16 or 17, I was heavily bullied on multiple things. One, because I was very slim. I have always been skinny. Two, because my hair uh would always be very brittle and damaged because Your hair looks beautiful, by the way. Thank you. it, you know, comes with baggage. Bri just acknowledge that you looked amazing. Um, and because of the clothes that I would be wearing and so food, you know, the way that I look and the way that I dress to this day is really important because of the the the pain, you know, the the heartache that that I went that I went through. Um, and to this day, my husband knows this that there is not enough amount of clothes that I can own because you are still like trying to heal those wounds that were deep when you were growing up, you know. So, so it was really hard. Now, of course, I understand that I will always be skinny and everybody's like, "Oh my gosh, you're so skinny." Well, that was not always a good thing. So, it it's, you know, it's wounds that you learn to live with. But now looking back, two things happen. Number one, I will never judge somebody on the way that that person looks. I will only judge somebody on the way that that person values or does not value another human being. That's extremely important to me. Number two, instilling in my kids the ability to be kind and to extend kindness is extremely important. I'm going to tell you to what what extent. Mhm. Um, my son, I have a son, he's 17 years old. And one random day, I discovered that he opened an Instagram account against, you know, our wishes. And so when we start looking at the Instagram account, we go into the messages sent and we see that he has probably about 25 to 50 memes that are not kind. M oof that hurt that value of you shall be kind to every single human being that you come across. Right. So took a deep breath and thought through the situation and instead of going and yelling at him, I wanted to teach him a lesson. And the lesson was it takes three times longer to spread kindness than to go ahead and send a quick awful meme. And so I sat him down and I told him that he needed to write 300 kind letters and delivered them to strangers. And I don't know if the story sounds familiar because he sat down for about three weeks because of course he didn't want to do it. Of course he's a 17-year-old and he does not want to do it. So he does it and he does it awfully. So then I make him repeat it because he shall not spread kindness halfway through. So he repeated all the letters and then I made him put like, you know, like make them nicer, make them look better. And then I took him to coffee with the chamber and and I made him handdel every single one of those letters that he wrote. You wouldn't believe the lesson that he learned from that exercise. Yeah. Because all of the sudden I start receiving messages from all kinds of people, friends, chamber members and non-members as well saying that that was one of the thoughtful the most thoughtful things that they had experienced at an event. And then all of a sudden I start like sharing with him look at this message. Look at this message. Look at this me message. So imagine the lesson that I taught him. One of those messages was from one of our members telling me that that day in particular, he was having a really tough day. Yeah. And he decided to push through and come to Coffee with the Chamber, not knowing what he was going to encounter. And it was an encouragement letter, a letter of kindness written by my son who was being taught a lesson to be kind. Yeah. Amazing. Now you know the backstory behind it, but it's it's a sometimes you don't know what people are going through at all whatsoever during their day and you don't know if uh what it took to get to wherever the coffee with the chamber and things like that. So whenever they receive with something like that kindness, I mean I can only imagine how impactful it is to be able just to like nobody's telling them nothing. They might be want to private and I say nothing and all of a sudden they get something that hits them like and then right on the heart and all of a sudden they know they're not alone. They know they got other people there being kind and you know they can push forward. It goes back into that you know you belong here. This chamber is for you. Um because we see you, because we listen to you, because we truly want to connect on a personal level and because we want to help you wherever you are. If you are just waking up today with uh you know the epiphany that you want to open a business, we want to help you. But if you have been in business for 5 10 years and you are feeling that you are ready for the next step, we want to help you. We want to make sure that you are fitting right in as you know you belong here. Absolutely. Okay, let's continue. So, school, you go through school. I don't know if there's college at uh Guatemales where you actually attended to, right? Correct. And your studies were in hospitality. Hospitality. Okay. Is that because that's what the line of businesses represented in Guatemala or what was your idea of? Where did you want to go when you were No, it was it I remember the conversation with one, you know, the cousin of a cousin of a cousin of a cousin and she was talking about um being a receptionist at a hotel and what she had to do and and I just started envisioning and I was like, man, that sounds so cool. like being in a receptionist, you know, in the reception and at this like fancy hotel. That sounds like really cool. And so from that moment, I got the seed planted that I wanted to be in the hospitality world. Um the second largest revenue or uh economic, you know, um I want to say like revenue for Guatemala is in uh tourism. Mhm. And so there is a lot of opportunity. There is a lot of potential there. And there was a private school that offered the the the career. So that's what I pursued. Now I know hindsight 2020. It's not necessarily the hotel or the restaurant that I like. It's the customer service aspect of it. That's that's what I enjoy the most. Okay. So your English, was that where you kind of learned English or where was it? Cuz it's really good. Thank you. Being born in Guatemala, what year did you get to the US? Um, I made it here in 2012. 2012. So, how old were you at that time? Uh, gosh, great question. I think I was 24. 24. So, yes, I remember saying that 24. So, you already had your degree and everything whenever you get to here. Okay. But the hospitality is where like you kind of sort of the light bulb went off like that's what I like. That's what I enjoy doing. Okay. So for somebody from Guatemala to makes it to the US, how does that happen? Like for example, me, I was born in Mexico, across illegally across the river. I'm good now. FYI, ICE veteran, too. So, you know, that's what happened until my my parents by way of a paid for us to get legal and be able to have our residency onto our citizenship eventually. Right. That's my story. How does somebody from Guatemala get to make it to the US? How how is that process go for getting access to the American dream? So, you know, interestingly enough, um moving into the US or migrating per se in my family was never a part of the conversation ever. It was never the American dream. It was never like uh let's go and pursue the better life. Uh my family in Guatemala is actually well off and so it was never part of any of the talks that we we would have. So if you were if you had if you were to ask me 20 years ago that I was going to be living here, I would have like laughed in your face because it was never part of you know something that we would talk and it just happened that you know it was I guess written in my destiny. Um, as part of my major, I had to do 600 hours of an internship. And, uh, one random day I just got the epiphany in my head, what if I were to do the 600 hours of an internship at Disney World? Like, man, that would be so cool. Right. Right. Um, what I didn't know is that exactly in that moment, my school was closing a deal with uh Disney World to be a part of the Disney International College program. Wow. Exactly in that moment. And so we applied. You have to go through the application process. You have to go through the an interview. So the recruiters from Disney go and meet you there. And if you get accepted, then you know you get your letter, you apply for a J1A visa and uh that allows you to to come here to the US and take some classes. So go to school here and work at Disney. So that's how I made it here initially. Now here you know I think uh most of the audience might know my story where you know at Disney I was like on my second or third week maybe in the program when I took a bus I sat next to my husband. I started talking about you know uh my life in Guatemala and then all of the sudden we started dating and before I went back to Guatemala he proposed on the beach. Ring and the whole thing. Ring and the whole thing. So you had to go back. So I had to go back because I came with a J1A visa. And so with a J1A visa, the restriction that they put is that you have to go and go back to your country for two full years. You cannot request any other visa for two years because the the uh the situation is that you have to go and replicate and bring back what you learned here in the US back to your country to help boost the economy. Okay. So for two years I could not get married. I mean, I could, but I would not be eligible to apply for anything. So, the first year, my husband was uh finishing his school at Texas Tech. So, we were traveling back and forth. The second year, he moved to Guatemala. And then I was like, "Akim Agaro. I'm keeping him here." Yes. So um you know uh that moment I was like okay let me see uh if he would stay here because I don't want to live in the US. That's what I thought and maybe he can be a part of my family. So he got a job there. He moved there. We were having an apartment. All the things. And after a year one day he literally woke up and he said Texas or nothing. That day he bought a plane ticket. Two days later he was back in the US. And so I had to make the tough decision of like okay what are we doing? But even then I was like okay like I have a couple like I have some time to like think and process all of this. Maybe he will come back. And so the story is that um I came to visit in November for Thanksgiving and spend Christmas with him. Mhm. Then during that that short period of time, we decide to get married. And then before I went back to Guatemala, I had my apartment, my car, my job, everything, right? And two days before I had to go back to Guatemala, we decided to go and uh like see a lawyer and just to find out information about what is going to cost us, how long is is the process going to take. Yeah. He sits us down and he says, "You just got married, which means that you can no longer come back with a tourist visa, which is what you enter the US with." Because you would be lying. You would be lying on the grounds that you do not have a direct relative here in the US. Now, you do. You have your spouse. So, what you need to do is you go back to Guatemala and you apply for the residency. But because you are living separate, the process is going to take you three times longer and it's going to be more expensive. Or you can just stay here right now. But think about it. I have my job. I have my apartment. I have my life. And I never said goodbye to my family. And so we made the tough call and decided to stay. when you going through the processing that as far as not going back properly saying goodbye like we love to do because tat it takes us two hours to say goodbye. How does that feel for you? Oh my gosh, it's so tough. Um because I never saw my grandpa again. Um so we started the process of applying for the residency and while you are in that process until you get your documents back you cannot leave the country right and he passed away. I'm very sorry for your loss. Mhm. He passed away exactly during that time and I I never saw him again. Right. He's my Chinese grandpa, you know, and he's that like the core of the family. And all of the sudden he gets, you know, really sick and 3 days later he he passes away. And it was really, really hard. Um but those are the things that that as an immigrant you know you don't get the choice you don't get the chance you don't get the opportunity to to be there with your family when those tough moments happen you know you get disconnected from the family and uh little by little I tell I talk to to my to my mom about this often and with my sister and I have to be really careful sometimes something is happening with my family and I just simply feel disengaged. I I don't engage in the same way or I'm like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, that's happening." But really, you don't become emotionally attached because it's so hard. Why? For the same reason that it's difficult. It is so hard. You can't be here and have a full emotions into what is going on there. Yeah. You you can't you you have to feel disengaged. Otherwise, you you would have a miserable life because you can't be there. Yes, I am 3 hours away on a on a plane. Yes, I can take a $1,000 airfare ticket to get to Guatemala in three hours, but really my life is here now. And so, you can be in two places at the same time. Yeah. Yeah. It's tough. It's really hard. And there's a lot of uh immigrant stories the same thing that you know their loved ones even though things are going on over there what much can you do maybe financially support but that's like really much there's really not much more you can do especially you can't even come back either and here is here's the truth it's not that you want to be heartless it's not that you don't have feelings and emotions for your loved ones where they are is that emotionally you cannot live you know with that It's so hard to live. I mean, literally, I was getting into tears just thinking about that. You can't. It's extremely difficult. Yeah. You have to uh find a way to cope without realizing that not heartless, but distance yourself, but still being there some way somehow for your family, even though you can't be there wherever they're at. So, yeah, I can see I mean, yeah, a lot of immigrants and a lot of us go through the same thing. And imagine, I have the luxury of saying, "Oh, I buy a flight ticket and I go." What happens to those Hispanics um wherever they are from that cannot go and visit? Yeah, that must be extremely hard. Extremely difficult. And a lot of those things don't get brought up whenever there's an issue about resolving immigration of the the human element of those things that people get to go through losing loved ones and they can't they can't go back to see them again. They're not going to see them again. They can't bury them at all cuz they're not able to leave. So, um, thank you for for sharing that. I appreciate it so much. Okay. So, now you're here in the US 24, you decide to stay. Are you are you able to work? you're not able to work. So, uh, we applied for the for the visa or the sorry, the residency. It is extremely expensive, y'all. Whoever says that the process is like a breeze. You do not know what you're talking about. It is very expensive considering that you are not working and producing money, but all of the sudden you have to pay all of these fees. If you hire a lawyer, it is very expensive. If you pay the government fees, it is even more expensive. So, all of the sudden, my husband and I had to front, I think, like $9,000 in between lawyer fees, uh, my residency fee and my son's fee because by this point in time, David is here. He's four and a half and, you know, it's two people applying. Also, what people don't talk about is that you need a sponsor. It's not just like, oh, let's go ahead and apply. No, no, no, no, no. You need a sponsor. A sponsor that if in the process um that you are a temporary or permanent resident, you go to the government to request assistance. The government is going to tell you, "Yes, I'm going to give you the assistance and turn around and go to your sponsor and charge your sponsor for that assistance." So, whoever thinks that we just come here and take, that's not the case. My father-in-law had to turn in papers this thick showing over and over and over that he had the uh financial capacity to support us shall we have to you know need financial assistance. But what do you mean is they got to do it the right way. It's not that hard. Nobody talks about that that sponsor and it's you know it's frustrating because we have to jump all these hoops and loops financially you know emotionally it is hard and all we want is to contribute to the society. All we want is to be useful. All we want is to have that sense of belonging here and to be embraced by this country. We just want an opportunity. Absolutely. So finally the resident does come through, you get it. Yes. And then you start working at the call center or it's a different place. I started working at El Rio Grande which is uh you know Mexican grocery store. Grocery store. I worked for about eight months at the corporate uh office in Dallas and you know kind family very very kind family but I didn't have any benefits. Mhm. And uh that was with kids you need to have benefits. I did not have vacations. I did not have insurance. I did not have anything other than you know my dayto-day. And again don't get me wrong very kind family. To this day I am so grateful because they gave me my first shot. Y'all, if you are coming in here with experience from your countries in whatever country in Latin America, uh, with your degree, you come in here thinking, man, you know, I'm so valuable to the society and you are so wrong because you don't have a network, a referral, studies that can be, you know, verified here in the US or a job that can be verified here in the US. So, you could be a doctor, but you're starting from zero. You are starting from zero to the point that I literally started from zero taking the first job that could give me an opportunity to start generating income. Mhm. Um so I took the job. I was making $12 an hour. Wow. Mhm. No benefits of any kind. And driving, you know, all the way from Grapevine to Dallas. It was like a really far drive every single day. Yeah. Um but they gave me my my first opportunity and then after that I continued looking because I wanted at least benefits and that's where I found Uline. So Uline you spent a good amount of time there at that time are you already kind of sort of thinking about leadership at that moment or you are what does that spawn from? Where does that come from as far as going into a new job and then you know that you want to get into the leadership roles? So, so I was already in a leadership role in in Guatemala. I was already managing uh the customer service department for an institution. Interestingly enough, it's a nonprofit organization that does exactly the same thing that we do at the chamber just backwards. It is bringing the American culture into Guatemala. And now I bring the Hispanic culture into the US. Full circle moment. Full cir legit. Full full circle moment. And I'm basically doing the same thing because over there I was just managing the customer service department. I had already 15 people um under my department. Um and so I knew that I wanted to be in leadership. But as I was trying to apply for different opportunities, none no doors were being open to me. So I told my husband, I remember having this conversation and I said, I'm going to apply and I know I will have to start from zero, but I want to go to an organization where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and legit. I remember my interview and that is exactly what I said. If you give me the chance, I promise you I will be patient and I promise you I will work really hard, but I need to know with certainty that I have a pathway forward in order to make it to leadership. And so I remember like going to that interview and two things I went back home and I told my husband two things I said. Number one, I don't want this job. Number two, I know that I got this job. Why did you didn't want did not want the job? If that's put yourself in a better position at that time because it was a call center job and because in Guatemala, think about it. Where are the call centers, you know, that serve the United States? Where are those call centers known? Guatemala and the Philippines. India. India. And so I knew how tough it was to work at a call center. And I did not want to be, you know, yelled at over the phone, scolded over the phone, uh, you know, be receiving those calls where people were upset. And so that's why I was like, but then then they called me. Of course I got the job. They called me and they start enlisting all of the benefits that the company offered in addition to a significant raise. So I went from making $12 an hour to making $1850 an hour. That was a huge massive jump. What was I going to say, you know? Yeah, that was a massive opportunity. So and you know it was cynical center. So I went ahead and took took took my first shot and and went and uh I had miserable probably first year. It was very miserable. My English was not good or of or whatsoever. I remember seeing dumb stuff and I knew that that was not an English word and just like peeking over my cubicle and seeing if my boss was there listening to the nonsense that I was saying on the phone. Want to give you an example. That's hilarious. Okay. Okay. I said I used to say so there was a pickup location and we were doing a change in the pickup location and I was trying to say over and over that we were closing or restricting the pickup because the areas were congestionated. Congestion. I said that at least 200 times until somebody had mercy of me and said, "Honey, you say congested. It's not congestionated. Were you grateful for that person? They kind of sort of like helped you. Yeah, of course. I felt like absolutely embarrassed. On top of that, I learned that English is spoken in different paces and in different styles depending on who you're speaking with. Yeah. Your talk with a southern person is not the same with your talk with somebody from California or with somebody from New York. Yeah. So, it is very, very different. But man, that year I grew. It stretched me. It challenged me. But what I learned the most and what I fell in love with on that first year is that we were empowered. I was empowered to solve problems right then and there. I did not need to escalate any calls. I could go ahead and find a solution for whatever situation right then and there. you know, it's your Latino background being Latino in general that we have that mindset that why that's different from everybody else. Yeah. Yeah. And so that it's on its own helped me to deescalate phone calls, helped me to find solutions instead of trying to push the call from one department to another department to another department. But it also gave me that bedside manner into how to deescalate and how to have sound conversations. But it also gave me the experience of really understanding what are the challenges of a corporate member. Yeah. Or of a small business owner that is just getting started. not knowing that that experience was going to help me as I now navigate conversations with all kinds of members from corporate level all the way to somebody that is just starting a business today. When did they see that you were somebody that wanted to strive more and put you in a leadership position? Do you remember? Did you see a posting apply for it or um I think they saw it fairly quick because I was very stubborn. No. Yeah. um they saw it fairly quickly um because I would be the person that would be taking notes constantly all the time that I was that I was coming in early. I was the first one there. I was the last one there. And that was from day one in training. I was the one who would be asking can I take my manual home to study? And they would say no. And I was like oh I can take it. Okay. It's not a problem. I can go ahead and write the same thing all the way in my notebook and I will take my notebook home. So I did and so I would be taking, you know, like basically copying and and copying manually like on my notebook and taking my notes and going home and studying the website and like reading product descriptions and like really trying to understand calling literally the call center from my own house just to see how other per somebody else would be picking up my phone calls and asking them questions about the products. Okay. Somebody will call you crazy. Another person would say that you were very thorough as far as understanding the product itself to have the confidence to be able to talk to somebody else about it and know that they can hear that you know what you're talking about. When I joined the call center, we had 52 representatives. From the 52 representatives, I was the only one that was an immigrant. That was tough. That was really hard because I was not able to find somebody that could understand me where I was coming from. That for lunch I was bringing free holes. Uh that you know I was bringing lunch I was not going out to eat. Uh from everybody that was talking about graduating from college from TCU and the sororities. I did not understand that because that's not my background. I came from Guatemala. I did schooling in Guatemala even though you have a degree over there. Okay. Mhm. And so I felt always different. And here's here's here's what I usually tell about my story. During the time I remember seeing everybody being different and feeling like they were steak and I was just rice and beans and feeling like I wanted so badly to be steak because steak was, you know, fitting in. But then as I progressed my career, I realized that the rice and beans have the flavor that everybody was needing. They just did not know that they needed it. If you're vegan, you know, and you understand your tension, you can't wait to get some rice and beans instead of the other things. So to certain people, you are like exactly what they needed, not the other. you you're the most delicate thing ever compared to other stuff. It's like and so it taught me that in order I did not need to be like everybody else. I just needed to embrace who I was because there was something special within me that was important for somebody else. Who was pushing you to get to that level? Cuz there's one thing about just thinking about it and then one thing of personal development to start listening to things to kind of sort of start turning your gears to be able to see like I'm more than this. I got to embrace myself, but there's more here. Where did that come from? Um, first it come from like feeling that there was something there that I like feeling the need, feeling the gap. In order for you to be ready to receive, you have to understand that there is a gap. If you feel like your cup is full, you will ne never be able to like really take in lessons. So understanding and feeling the need and then raising the hand and being humble and vulnerable enough to ask for help and the help can be in the form of mentors. The help can be in the form of uh asking questions and being curious. And so I remember um my favorite leader to this day is uh you know somebody that groomed me, somebody who saw me and believed in me so early on in my career when I was just a representative and saw the potential in me. He um he's currently one of the senior managers uh in Mexico and he saw me. He's what is their name? Uh his name is Pablo Vasquez. Pablo Flores Vasquez. Pablo Vasquez saw you even as a rep and told you something specifically. What did he tell you? He sat with me and uh we were doing a sidebyside where he was listening to my phone calls and then he told me you need to have confidence in yourself. You need to believe in yourself. You're very insecure and you need to grow confidence. And I was like, what do you mean if I am a if I am good as I am unconfident? But but truly that's um that was a massive lesson because as immigrants we put all of these roadblocks in front of us. This is not my country. This is not my language. I look different. I don't sound the same. I have a heavy accent. You are the one who is putting all of those things in front of you and those become roadblocks. And he was seeing that and what he was telling me was get over yourself. Get over all of that because until you are not able to do that, you are not going to be able to put your giftedness at the disposition and at the service of people that need you. When did the break breakthrough come for you? Because at one time you kind of sort of see that you're there. you you kind of sort of like not the confidence and all of a sudden now you clicking you going you shooting in all gears you're go rolling um okay so here goes the story are you ready so 2014 I start the Uline 2015 I say I got this I'm ready for leadership I know the product I know the job and I apply and 10 other people apply I ended up being one of the two finalists and selected and I said, "I got this. It's mine." And I did not get it. And it was so hurtful that I did not get it because I could not understand why having all of this passion for leadership, they did not pick me. So, several things. Did you ask why they didn't picked you? Yes. And they said it's because I wasn't adaptive enough, which I was like, what do you mean? I want to help people. I sense a little bit of uh ego during that time for you that you feel like you got it, but you had to be humble to be able to grow. Exactly. So, two things. Number one, first thing that was hurtful was the fact that I was in a panel uh with all the other team leads. I was going to become a um you know I was going to become their peer and they were the ones who said no. It was a panel of 10 team leads and they said no and it was really hurtful because I did not know who had said no. Now keep that in mind because it is extremely important for the story. Okay. The second thing is how is that I was ready and I was not picked. And so I started applying for so many jobs and I said screw this. I'm leaving. They do not deserve me and I'm going to move on. And I applied and applied and applied and guys nobody called me. Nobody called me. I'm taking my talent somewhere else. Oh wait, nobody wants my talents. What's going on? And so I remember like four months passed and I'm still like mourning and crying and sobbing over like this missed opportunity and one of my best friend to this day, Virginia. I go to Muya in Copel and I'm crying and I'm sobbing and she looks me in the eye like my friend and she says, "Why are you crying?" And I'm like, "What do you mean why I'm crying?" And she's like, "If you did not get it, it's because that position was not for you." Period. End of the story. stop crying. That moment meant everything to me because she was not cuddling me anymore. She was giving me a wakeup call that it did not belong to me. And it did not belong to me for a reason. And so instead of crying, what I did is that I started looking for the reason to solve that reason. So I enrolled myself in a lot of courses. One of them being um the TCU adaptive leaders certificate where I was here at TCU driving every Tuesday coming from 6:00 to 900 p.m. and being surrounded by highlevel executives. Now think about it. I was a representative. I was not in leadership surrounded by a lot of executive level people and just trying to take everything in from the room. how they think, what they talk about, how they process, what are their questions, how they behave. That's what I was doing. And so, um, I discovered disk and I started understanding who I was and why. And I started becoming a ninja on how to read people effectively and groom myself to fit. John Maxwell comes along at this time as well. Mhm. Okay. That's where John Maxwell comes in. I joined the John Maxwell program. I start reading more about servant leadership. So, it's not anymore about the power, it's about the service and it's about the influence whether if you have or you do not have the title. And so, it was a tremendous year for me. It was a year of transformation really because it shifted my mind and in the process of shifting my mind. everyone around started noticing the change and you wouldn't believe that in 2016 the the position became open again open you know and uh nobody applied but me because everybody knew that that position was going to be for me and I got it and so that two 2017 I started as a customer service leadership trainee me. Then fast forward 2021 comes in and I had been in leadership as a team lead. I was the most uh the the the team lead with the least experience. Everybody else ahead of me had been in leadership at Uline for five years, six years, seven years, 10 years. Everybody had a ton of experience. I only had as a team lead three years of experience. and the customer service department manager position becomes available. I apply and I get the position and I become the first immigrant, the first immigrant that gets one of those 24 positions companywide. Wow. What you wouldn't believe is that I became the boss of those people that one day in that room said no to me. H but you know what the coolest part is? That during those three years I humbled myself to learn from them. So by the time that I became the their leader they respected me and I had influence and they followed me not because I was telling them to follow me but because they believed in me. Yeah. There would be more challenging if there was friction in there to be able to move the team forward. You wouldn't be able to do that at that time. Okay. Appreciate the story. Thank you so much. the uh chamber opportunity. You're doing great for yourself. Seemed like you're in a good trajectory to probably just continue to move forward. Uh where does the uh Hispanic chamber come in your radar as far as even a position or coming you're talking about what 50 years plus of the institution being here? Um who tells you about the chamber and why would you want to see an opportunity about coming in on board? So that's a great question. So um I started getting the itch of something different, something new after being uh for 10 years in the same organization. Mh. And so um one night I remember like surfing on LinkedIn which by the way had like 10 followers. So it was I had no network or whatsoever and I had been for 10 years stuck in the same company. So, no network, no notion of Fort Worth, but all of the sudden I see the opportunity of director of member relations at the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I go in and read the job description and I immediately sent it to my best friend and texted him and said, "If I were to get this position, it would be so good for the soul." I apply and then a couple of days later, I hear about an interview. I get Annette on the phone and then she interviews me and I feel like we have a good connection. Then a couple of weeks later, she calls me for an in-person interview. I come into the office. Um, I interview with her. I have a great conversation and then I ask her, "Knowing what you know about me and about, you know, my conversation and my experience, what is the one thing that you think that I am going to struggle with?" and she says, "You are not from forth and you don't have a network and this is a highly visible position." And to this day, I am incredibly grateful to Annette Landeros for believing that somebody that did not have a network, think about it, 10 followers on LinkedIn, those 10 followers on LinkedIn were from my company. They're all from the same place. Yeah. And I did not know nothing about Fort Worth because I have lived in the mid cities my entire time in the US. Mhm. And somehow she saw potential in me and she thought that I could do a good job for the chamber. Did she ever tell you what she saw in you to be able to bring you on board? Um, yes, sort of. She saw the customer service aspect. She saw sales experience, but she saw hunger because let me tell you, my interview came in and then I knew that I wanted the job. This one I did want. And so I called and I called and I called and I called and I called and I called. Every single day I called Just a little bit. Just a little bit. I pursued it and she persistent. Not there. Persistent. Persist. Determined. Determined. And so she said, "If this chick is going to pursue and do sales like she's pursuing me right now, I am hiring the right person." And so, you know, I got an offer and I accepted. How does it feel for you? Even this is something you wanted. This is something that you kind of like the management that broke your heart a little bit came through. You grew into it. All this entire time you're going through, you're going into preparation mode for the role you're about to take that you want. How does it feel when you get it? It just it just felt like uh like the perfect fit from the get-go. It just felt like purposeful. It would just felt like missionoriented. Um, but I'm going to tell you that my first six months, I feel like I spent, yes, we were getting traction, but I feel like I spent my first 6 months leaning on on a net. Even when she couldn't see that I was listening and observing and watching and leaning in and asking questions, I was learning from her. Um, I hope that she knows one how much I appreciate her, of course, for for believing in me and giving me the opportunity of my of my life, but also how much I learned from her in her time at the chamber. She really poured so much on on the development of who I became as as uh as I represent the chamber and the brand and the reputation and as I talk with members and as I have the empathy to have conversations in the community and sometimes those conversations are hard you know and sometimes it's great you know because they're sharing good news for you but how you maneuver challenging conversations whenever they come to you and is really difficult and how do how do you maneuver those um by listening and seeking to understand before I am able to to express understanding like making sure that I hear that I really listening um and that I find ways again going back to the theme where they belong here is extremely important to me. One of the other challenges maybe that Annette might have not seen but I don't know if you already were in an entrepreneur mindset because a lot of this is supporting a lot of entrepreneurs. Were you already an entrepreneur? Were you already you're working on something already? Yes. Uh so back in 2018 my husband and I opened our first business and so I remember the challenges of navigating like the documentation, the paperwork, uh how do we open the the business? Uh how do we do taxes? What do we need to do? I didn't we did not have the support system. I wish now I wish that I would have found a chamber or that somebody would have told me, hey, there's a Hispanic chamber. They will help you out. They will get you connected. They there is, you know, the support system that you need as you are navigating the first stage of your first year of your second year of your third year in business. because each year is feeling different for you means something different. And that was the restaurant in the Airbnb. Your Airbnb. So you open up your Airbnb and then you le yourself what's called a serial entrepreneur cuz you have uh a few of your friends uh Marit talk about how can all kinds of business in Yak. Oh my gosh. Every single day that that we see each other is like I thought about something. It's the the the the the Hispanic the entrepreneurial mindset where you see potential where you see possibilities where you are trying to solve the problem for somebody else. Was your family at all entrepreneur or were you the first one ever to do something like an Airbnb and and then doing the more things that you're doing currently now? You know what? I have always been hungry. Uh, and I think I have always had that entrepreneurial uh mindset. I feel like I was the first one who like truly adventure herself to like invest a ton of money into making and bringing something to life. Uh, but I still remember when I was 11, 12, 13 um that I started selling chocolates at school. Then I moved into selling uh cards novios at school. Then I moved into selling homework as well. I would be like doing homework for somebody else and then selling the homework. So there is always that you know that entrepreneurial aspect. You ever thought about that you would had the entrepreneur at heart even as a kid selling chocolate you already knew it. Yeah, I always knew it because again it comes back from that humble beginning from my parents that my my my parents didn't have the money to to give me all the flashy things that that a kid wants, you know. So I knew that if I wanted something, I was going to have to work really hard to get it. Okay. So now your official title here at the forward Hispanic changes VP, vice president of member services and strategic. Awesome. And uh now there was a pivot a moment of time six month pass to now present time. The growth has been amazing. What what clicked? What light bulb went off all of a sudden? Like you got it and now we're just going full speed ahead with everything that we're doing. We know exactly what we need to do and continue to grow. Not just like it's growing, but we really wanted to grow faster and quicker and make sure that it's meaningful. I think it's the understanding the deep understanding of the mission of our organization and understanding the needs in the community and how I am a catalyst. I am like you know the person that is like putting bringing those two things together. Um seeing opportunities where perhaps nobody's seeing opportunities and how I can highlight and create space for somebody. Okay. So now as far as like the the ambassador program when we when I first joined it's only like 30 people uh compared to 60s something plus ambassadors now and growing and growing and growing like every day there's you know people that are interested and wanted to be part of it. Uh I know there was real close to the thousand or if we broke the thousand membership but we're getting super close to the thousand. This month alone we already have 31 new members. Wow. just this month alone. So we are really really gaining a lot of traction, a lot of attention. Um and um it puts a lot of responsibility on you because now you have to deliver um it's u I don't want to say that it's easy but anybody has a a good month you know anybody has a good event but consistently delivering month over month over month quality of events events that bring value to every person that is walking into the doors and trusting that they are going to find value and a return on investment on their membership. That's that's the challenge. Yeah. It require requires accountability for me, but also accountability on the team and accountability on the organization as a whole to ensure that we are standing behind the mission and the promise that we made to those members that are trusting us. Yeah. And I can see it. I mean, you have to live it to be able to tell about it and be able to really get the sense of what happens at a coffee with the chamber or any event that the Hispanic chamber puts together, the forward Hispanic chamber puts together, you really have to be able to be there to be able to see it because even the warmness, the sense of belonging, the community aspect, the friendliness of people, you know, all that is just not like we're not here rehearsing it. It just naturally happens, right? Have you noticed that? Um even today like uh you know I got feedback from one of our ambassadors Luis Diaz and I know that it was Luis. Um I have uh somebody that approaches me as they are saying goodbye. They have never been a coffee with the chamber. They are one new person that is just testing the waters and they are like over the moon. They say we're going to join. This is our business. We want to connect with you. We see a ton of potential and possibilities. But let me tell you, the people that you have greeting, the moment that I was getting closer, uh, he comes and says, "Man, thank you for being here. Your sweater is awesome. You look great." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, like like please keep going like like keep uh, you know, keep the energy and keep the the the the genuity of the interaction that makes the difference for people. Yeah, you know, but it it all starts with with how we're crafting the culture of our chamber. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, we are running short on time. So, plus you have to be going here because you have to do some stuff. So, I don't want to keep you another event. Before I let you go, uh is there any particular questions that you were getting ready to sit with me and talk like I wish he asked me about this? I wish I wish we touch up on this particular thing. Is there anything in your mind? I think the million-dollar question that I get often asked is how do I do it all? Because her and I talk about it. She got kids uh got kids married and she's million 1 million cups Hispanic chamber and a few other things and I like I don't know how she does it like attending all events like uh you know just yesterday I was preparing for coffee with the chamber I knew that it was going to be a great event but a lot of responsibility on the preparation but then immediately after switch gears go and support one of our corporate partners uh the Dallas Mavericks uh you know game ended up really at 8, made it home at midnight. This morning I woke up at 4:00 to get ready for coffee with the chamber, you know, send a couple of things, uh, review registration, get there by 7, set up, be with you, followed by, you know, going to an important gayla this evening, then uh, you know, tomorrow meeting with my mentor, uh, going and supporting another nonprofit, Sunday being here for Cton Marathon, like all the things. Yeah. How do you do it? So tell us. Um so a couple of things. Uh having a support system is extremely important and I am incredibly grateful to my husband um for understanding what is important to me and for supporting that. Um I am very grateful because when I am not present at home, he makes sure that he's double present for the kids. Uh sobbing and making sure that he's taking them to doctor's appointments. uh tending to their needs, uh you know, reviewing homework with our our senior kid. Um all the things, but also like being really grounded on why I do what I do. It's not just to do one more event. It's not just to, you know, put one more photo. It's because it matters. It brings value to the community. Um you never know when you're going to cross the path of somebody and you can change that person's life. And I don't say that from an ego perspective. I just say that humbly because one introduction, one interaction, one word of kindness can change somebody's day. And so that is extremely important to me. Um, I try to the best of my ability to be present with everybody and try to give them at least one moment of my attention by responding a text message, a WhatsApp, by following up on a phone call, uh, by responding to emails. Although, guys, I'm sorry. I'm very behind on my emails. I will admit that. Give or take time. Yes. But, but it is extremely important. What I do for the community matters to me on a personal level. It's not a job. Is that where at times when you're not haven't got the sleep that you would like to get and you would uh you know the importance of it and that's the kind of like the fuel of to like even if you're running on four hours of sleep is nothing because this is just what's driving you. This is just what kind of gives you the energy the the pump that you need to be able to continue. Think about just last night you know waking up this morning like oh the Lord knows that I am not an early person. I can promise you that. But thinking about how many opportunities, how many businesses could get connected today, how many partnerships could happen today just by creating the ecosystem and the experience for people to come in together. You definitely uh I know you had the capacito, but you definitely fooled me as far as not being a morning person cuz as soon as we see you, hola immediately and I'm like, "Wow, you're already up and running." Uh before I let you go, all your social media, LinkedIn or wherever people you want to collect connect with you and any other projects that you have going on, whether with for the chamber or you personally. Um so I uh I think everybody knows one how much I love Fort Worth, but two how much I absolutely love nonprofits. It is in my heart to support nonprofits because they are the ones who are in return supporting the entire community of underrepresented families. Whatever it is, uh health, uh housing, business like the chamber, uh family education, whatever it is, they are the backbone of our city. So supporting nonprofits is truly a passion of mine. Uh more to come on that. More things to come on that. I I have projects you know on the door that I cannot speak about yet but lots of great great projects uh in the near future. Um but you know also um just being available to everybody here in the chamber and outside of the chamber. Uh I'm heavy heavy on LinkedIn. So if you want to connect with me uh contact me uh on LinkedIn and I promise you the first thing that I will do is give you my cell phone. You have access. that access is one thing that I can never you know deny to anybody and if you want to have a conversation with me chat with me go for coffee I mean coffee I mean it's the language isabel cable is where they can find you on social media and LinkedIn cabab don't don't send me Facebook messages y'all I suck at Facebook messages but LinkedIn I am always there okay saludos saludos to anybody in your life in the community in general. Um, to every single one FWHC ambassador, you guys truly make this job the most rewarding job. I'm humbled and I'm grateful for serving alongside you. You mean the whole world to me. Well, here my hand. I'm one of them. Thank you. Yeah. uh at a state a state of the chamber. It was a neat thing that you did when you brought us all and it got really emotional for a moment at a time uh because it just shows how much you appreciate other people's because most of we all of us are volunteer except for that we just want to I think all of us are infected of the work that y'all do and it helps us want to help and help you out as best possible. So, it's it's like an a nice infection. Yeah. No, I I I love our ambassadors. They truly are the greatest and most amazing people in the community. Well, it's an important lesson that you learn doing what you currently do that you would tell your younger self that will help somebody else out. What would that be? Don't be afraid of being rice and beans. Yeah. People will love you for being rice rice and beans and especially veans best you know just focus on your flavor and then enhance the flavor especially vegans especially vegans uh usually throughout my day sometime during my week month I say something along those lines that I heard a long time ago but I like that I'm not immortal I am mortal and I will die one day not to scare me terrorize me anything like that or bring anything upon me but it's just a reality quality of life. We're not here forever. With that, I wish you a very long pro prosperous life. After everything's said and done, what do you want people to think and feel about your life? That it meant something to somebody that because one interaction, they were able to change the course of something that was happening in their life that I left uh something in their hearts that inspired them to do something different in a good way. you think what currently you're doing uh is is somewhat of your calling? Yeah, it's definitely very purposeful and and again I'm grateful to the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for giving me this opportunity for for being able to perform this role. Um it is an honor to serve as the vice president of the uh of member services and strategic growth at the chamber at this time during this period in our society. It is a tremendous honor. Yeah. I mean I can't see anybody else doing that. Of course eventually you know think things got move on but you're an amazing representation as far as the first. It's it's neat to be able to know that you remember the specific moment that we connected and you know I was willing to just try to do my part and I kind of sort of figure out the reason why I do the things that I do just learn about myself more as to why I'm so heavily involved and why I want to be able to do this with no expectation of anything whatsoever except for making sure that the community is taking care of their people are moving forward and doing whatever is that they doing because it's very essential that um some people don't realize as high century is to be able to have that support for business entrepreneurs that they have a dream. You know, at one time, you had a this little girl that had a oh wow, it could be neat to be a receptionist and that was your limitation of your dreams to now the things that you do. It's just remarkable as far as what you do now. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's just that and that the thing that you continuously just keep growing and um I know we didn't we didn't touch up on it and and I'm truly sorry for your loss of your father. I know he was fairly young. I know he he worked a lot. Uh, and I'm not trying to speak for him, but if any if I had a daughter that did the things that you do with the passion that you do, uh, I would highly be super super super proud of you of the things that you do and no doubt that he's looking and and seeing the work that you are doing consistently with the pure purest of intentions of your heart and uh, continue to move our community forward. So, I highly appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you, Christine. It means the whole world to me. Um, I think about him often. Um, I really think about him often and the legacy that he left and the the work ethic that he instilled in me, you know, so early on. Um, so yeah, it's very meaningful. By the way, I took the same thing. I own homes. I I have three houses, you know. I I inherited that from him. And you know, I I from my siblings, I think I'm the one that that that resembles the most of him. And to all the kids back in the days, but she's the most popular person pretty much in forward just about. I know every single one everybody in the for Hispanic chamber, don't get hurt, but all of them are super very popular in regards to people wanting to talk to you, having to be near you, want to be close to you because they just feel the sense of something special and then it's contagious and they want to just do great things for other people. So, it's it's a feeling. I can't really describe it. I don't have the I don't know how to articulate the wording, but I can sense the feeling and the emotion anytime it happens. So all of y'all and uh she's very popular by the way here in the forward area uh in a very short amount of time as well. So gracias you are so welcome. 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