Her Story
About Angelica
My professional life is non-stop from beginning to end, from the moment I'm driving to work to the moment I leave. I'm either getting calls, emails, texts, and when I sit down, I have people coming through my door one after another, each with a different set of either problems, concerns, or questions. It's a pretty jam-packed day, but I love it. It makes it go by so quick, and it's interesting, and I just learn from all different areas. I oversee the board, so all seven board members and their activity with the airport, and that's half of my job. The other half is executive administration, so I serve as Chief of Staff for CEO Lance Little. I support indirectly all the other chiefs that we have, whether it be our development officer, commercial, strategy, external affairs, basically all of those, so I'm pretty well versed in supporting the executive team, the C-suite as a whole. I deal with all the board management, so anything that goes to the board. I'm the Assistant Secretary for the authority, so all the agenda items that have to be presented for the board have to go through the process of dry runs and preliminaries, so I'm the one that schedules all of that, coordinates, and reviews everything that comes through. What I love most is that not every day is the same day. Every day I come into work and there's something new, there's something different, so I get educated every day and just keep gaining knowledge on all different things involving aviation and airports. I know when I come into work, there's something new that I'm going to learn.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Angelica
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say motherhood. You know, I'm a single mom, so I want to show my son that you push yourself, do more, you know, have a goal, have a plan, and so I was very determined and encouraged to set a good example for him. He is even in my valedictorian speech, I had a key part for him, because it was during COVID, and after that, it was like we were keeping each other accountable for homework. I wouldn't have been able to get through everything without him knowing that I was doing everything for him.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I was told one a while ago by someone I would consider my mentor. He said to never stay in a position too long. He said give it about four to five years, because if you stay in one spot too long, you get content and you get comfortable. He said, constantly learn and do, try different things. So, you know, yes, go do your job, do as best as you can, soak in as much information as you can, but always push yourself to do more, do something different, so that you're always evolving and always learning. That stayed with me.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be open to all types of opportunities when it comes to the workplace. Don't narrow yourself down to just one role, because if you take an opportunity to learn a new skill, whether it be something small, you don't know if that one skill can be a door opening for you for another opportunity or another career down the line that you might love. This is what's happened to me.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The aviation industry is ever-changing. There's always something new, there's something different, whether it be technology, whether it be policy, so more so just keeping up to date with everything. We have a new CEO, so he has a totally different direction to where he wants all of us to go when it comes to our vision, which we've been on top of, you know, keeping up with everything when it comes to making sure the community and the public's aware, and things like that. We want to show everyone that we are a top airport, so keeping up with the trends has been not challenging, but it's been a learning experience. In long story short, keeping up with the trends and the ever-changing environment with technology and policy.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Trust, consideration, empathy, and hard work.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Florida
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.