Like for so many of us, it ‘s complicated. My mother, a Panamanian, spent her life overcoming everything and helping everyone. My father, from El Paso, came from parents who never found the need to learn English, also became successful. They divorced about the time of the birth of my sister, but remained constant yet competing influences in my life. While both Latin American, their cultures and outlooks were very different . They raised me in Austin, TX. When my mother remarried, and my family grew to include a Half Asian sister, and a step-father with family in Europe. My step father had lived and traveled all around the world. My new family further widened my perspective , helping to define the person I am today.
My parents, especially my mother, helped me to become fluent in Spanish and introduced myself and my siblings to experiences and opportunities that were not available to her. In return, I studied constantly to earn a scholarship. Her help, a great education, and some hustle enabled me to begin my technical career in international sales during a financial crisis. I was afforded the opportunity to help build out their Latin American sales division.
In 10 years of working in marketing and sales for domestic and international clients in regions across the globe, I learned to always invest in understanding and relating to people. Whether it was other team members, contacts, or those in client target markets, it is always important. It is an inescapable truth that online, people are more likely to interact with your website than directly with you. Your UX is your understanding and relationship to your world.
As I encountered situations where UX solutions failed to deliver what was needed for users, I often proposed changes to help. As I became more invested and took greater joy in insuring the clarity, ease and effectiveness of the experience, I realized this was a new direction I could take.
While neither work or life experience in dealing with diverse situations can automatically make anyone automatically understand how to reach people, I have continually worked to get better at it.
I know how to build experiences that meet the needs of the users while working with the revenue teams to ensure success.