Jennifer Fonseca

I believe my success comes from being strong and resilient, being coachable, and being able to get up and dust off when I fail. I believe failure is part of life - it's not something that we just can't be afraid of. Taking responsibility in moments when you know you failed and you just need to fix them is crucial. Those instances of being strong and resilient, being coachable, and being able to recover from setbacks have been the foundation of my success. I've learned that we can't always be at 100% or always know everything or be ready for everything, so adaptability and the willingness to learn from mistakes have been key to my achievements.

The best career advice I ever received was to be human. My former CEO, who was the number one salesperson for BMW South Florida for about 7 years in a row, told me this when I quickly became second-hand to him and we eventually became friends. He had left his position at a dealership to open his own business because he felt that although he was so recognized in that position and was so good at what he did, he stopped being human and became a machine. So with us growing and with me helping the business grow, the number one thing he said was: never stop being human. We can grow, and we can make money, and we can meet people, and we can network, and obviously with dealerships the main goal is to sell, but being human is something that when you're a professional, you tend to overcome that very quickly. It's important to have someone, especially your boss, telling you that. It's embedded in us to do as best that we can and show the boss that we're doing the work, but when they are coming to you and teaching you how to be the machine we need to be at work but also not forget to be a human, that's important. As a tutor, as a salesperson, as a manager, with my students, with my teammates, with my colleagues, with my customers, being human was very important. That's the number one thing I never want to stop being. In corporate, especially, you tend to become very practical and forget that you're dealing with humans. So being a human is my number one main goal in every area of my life, and I will never forget my boss telling me that.

My advice to women is to never stop believing that they could become whoever they want and get wherever they want. That's always possible, as long as you reshape yourself along the way. As women ourselves, and especially with me being in a male-centered industry for the past 5 years, I believe believing in ourselves is very important. I learned how to become a great leader because I understood what it meant to be a good employee. You always want to do your best, but not always doing your best will be fitting for where you want to go. You need to learn, and you need to reshape yourself along the way. I don't ever believe that we will always be at 100%, or always know everything, or be ready for everything. Taking step backs and having peace with misstepping is so important. Don't be afraid of mistakes - they're part of the journey.

The challenges I'm facing right now are that I am in a new place and looking to work remotely, which I have not done yet. Coming from an industry where I worked over 50 hours a week to being able to have a more relaxed schedule or time freedom with working online and managing my time is both a challenge and a blessing. As for opportunities, I believe that when you're reshaping your life, your opportunities are also broad. Because I'm involving myself in areas of international businesses and international affairs, I am stepping ahead on what I used to be scared of, basically. Being in a position for 5 years makes you comfortable, but the opportunities ahead are plenty, and I'm just so excited. I'm at a position where networking and meeting new people is so important, and being able to understand where businesses are at and how people are getting in contact with each other from not only a local point of view but internationally as well.

Communication is key to me. Understanding others' perspectives and where they're coming from is essential. I've had plenty of instances where I had to be the bigger person, understanding customers who were altered or unsatisfied, or teammates who were not inspired to do their job. Resilience is another core value - it's not always going to be easy, sometimes we're going to be let down, sometimes we think we can be strong and we can't, and sometimes we set goals and we will not meet them. Adaptability and coachability are really strong assets that I believe anyone in the professional realm or personal realm should have - they are so important. I'm Christian, so obviously I believe that having faith in people, having faith in oneself, and faith in God is very important to me as well.