Alicia Deleom

I attribute all of my success to my mom. She taught me hard work, she taught me to never give up, and she taught me how to be a strong person. To find the warrior within is what she always said. Everything I do is for her. I still remember the day I graduated that I took off my cap and I gave it to her, because she wasn't able to graduate, and so I said, here, this is for you. And everything that I do to this day, even though she's not with me, is for her. If I do this, would she be proud of this? Two weeks before she passed, she looked at me and said, Niha? I said, yes. She said, I am super proud of you, because I could honestly say you're a great mom, you're a great daughter, and no matter what you do, whatever you put your mind to, you're gonna be great at it. And I've taken those words, and I've just implemented it. She was my biggest superhero. And I tell everybody it's funny because she could have been a doctor, she could have been a lawyer, she could have been a police officer, but she was a stay-at-home mom. She put everything on the back burner to take care of her disabled sister, to take care of kids, and children that weren't even hers. But she did it because that was asked of her, and she never regretted it. And that, to me, was inspirational. And ever since then, I'd do what she would do.

The best career advice I ever received came from my mom. And I always say that her legacy is part of my district, because I take what she told me and I insert it into my district. She pulled me aside and told me to see people for who they are. See them for who they are, and see everybody, from the janitor to the hardworking and non-hardworking, because sometimes, if you go and ask them, okay, why are we doing this, they will tell you. Because that could be a game changer on how they react to you, and work for you. And this came from a woman who was a stay-at-home mom. She could have been a CEO.

Don't be afraid. It is scary in any industry, but especially in the cell phone service. I get it all the time, it's a man's world. Even when I came from the sales floor, I would try to help a gentleman out and they'd say, oh, you don't know anything, you're a girl. I literally had a customer talk to a male associate, as I was giving the direction to the male associate, but he would not look at me. He would take the information from the male, even though it came from me, and I always thought, how am I gonna make it here if nobody takes me seriously as a woman? You're gonna show them they should take you seriously, because you know you're good. And it dawned on me, like, I shouldn't be afraid. I shouldn't be afraid just because somebody doesn't want to listen. They're gonna hear me, even if it's not me saying it. But don't be afraid to climb that ladder, even if you are a female. You will, if you're supposed to be on top, you will make it there.

The biggest challenge is the AI. We don't know where it's gonna take us, we don't know where it's gonna go. But again, don't be afraid of it. That's also what I teach my daughter, who is just 10 years old. Just because you can't do it doesn't mean it can't be done. You just have to find a way. There's always a workaround to something. There's always a backdrop or somewhere. There's always, you know, if you're driving down the freeway and that street is closed, they give you an alternate route. There's a way to get there. Find it. One thing that I teach my daughter is we don't stop just because there's a roadblock. We find the workarounds and continue going. And so, you know, if you don't know AI, get to know it, because there's always gonna be a workaround or something around it to understand it. Just like cell phones. They've been around for years, but most people are afraid of them. If you're not afraid of them, then you're gonna show up and make everything work.

Integrity and honesty are most important to me. I will always be honest with you, just be a straight shooter with me. I will tell you the good, the bad, the ugly, but I expect the same. I make sure we're telling the truth at all times. That's something my team prides themselves on, because they've had managers who go outside the lines, and I don't. But I tell them, we're still gonna win. We're gonna win the right way, though.