Jenny Lizarraga, MBA

I attribute my success to persistence and never giving up. This is advice my grandmother used to repeat to me so many times when I was in high school - work hard, study, get your diploma, and find what really moves you from inside. Find your passion, and if you are good at something, you can make a living out of that. It's about finding your goal, finding your passion, and never giving up. Every job that we have in life will teach us something. It doesn't matter that you're not going to stay forever there, but you're going to learn something there, and it's going to be a step forward. I take every job, every opportunity, like one step to move forward. I also believe that customer service has been extremely important to my success. I consider myself a great advocate for good customer service, and we have earned a reputation in the industry for being very personalized, for customizing our orders, and being very close to our customers. I'm lucky enough to work in something that I really love, that I enjoy, and knowing that the work I do and my team does makes a difference in communities.

The best career advice I ever received came from my grandmother, who used to repeat to me so many times when I was in high school: work hard, study, get your diploma, and find what really moves you from inside. Find your passion, and if you are good at something, you can make a living out of that. She taught me to never give up and to understand that every job in life will teach you something. It doesn't matter that you're not going to stay there forever, but you're going to learn something, and it's going to be a step forward. I've lived by this advice throughout my career, taking every job and every opportunity as one step to move forward.

I would say to persist and never quit. Find what really moves you from inside, find your passion, and if you are good at something, you can make a living out of that. It's important to find your goal, find your passion, and never give up. Every job that you have in life will teach you something. It doesn't matter that you're not going to stay forever there, but you're going to learn something there, and it's going to be a step. Take every job, every opportunity, like one step to move forward. I also want to be a mentor for young professionals who are looking to become successful. In my own company, I have young professionals growing who want to make their own careers. We have a book club, and my assistant is in charge of that book club - I want her to find her voice in that. She's studying literature, so I like to support young professionals as they develop their careers.

In my view, one of the most significant challenges in publishing is ensuring equity for diverse communities; it is still a challenge to have access to literature that authentically represents their experiences and perspectives. At the same time, I see strong opportunities to broaden awareness and engagement with multicultural literature, helping to foster greater understanding and appreciation of different cultures among future generations through reading.

The values most important to me are service, representation, dignity, empathy, and cultural understanding. I believe all children and all people in the United States should have the opportunity to be bilingual because, in today's world, we encounter other languages and cultures everywhere we go. It's extremely important that we understand other people to live in a community. I'm always inclined towards service - I actually have thought about running for office at some point in my life. I love my job, and I think I am one of the luckiest persons that gets to work in the field they love. My team is all bilingual and multicultural, and we believe that being bilingual is an advantage. I also value making sure that families and children feel reflected and represented in the literature we provide, that communities feel represented and treated with dignity. I want people to see that Hispanics in the United States are also contributors. Beyond my work, I'm passionate about animal welfare and rescue, which is why I founded the Cinco Books Foundation to help stray cats in South Florida.