Her Story
About Karla
I'm married to someone in the military, so when I started my career, I knew I needed a company that would help me transition to different states as he continued his military career. That's why I joined AT&T about 15 years ago. I started as a part-timer while going to school for multimedia at Brooks College. After I graduated, I found that I really enjoyed what I was doing with AT&T - I was selling, and I was good at it. I transitioned into leadership because I was inspired by the amazing leaders I had during my first 7 years with the company. They weren't just coaching me to be a better seller, but a better person overall. I've moved through multiple states - from California to Missouri, where I learned a different leadership style and had to take a step back in my career to help mold new assistant store managers. Then I moved to Oklahoma as a store manager for one of their bigger stores, where I really started finding my purpose as a leader. When I moved to Philadelphia, being far from my family, I felt a need to connect with people within my culture. That's when I opened a chapter of Asemos, a nonprofit ERG within AT&T. Through Asemos, I connected with the community - not just the Hispanic community, but different communities in the Philadelphia area. We bring high school kids into our buildings, help them with technology and career guidance, and show them how the company can pay for their college degrees while they work. I've led people who don't even report to me, helping them prepare for their next career steps whether inside or outside the company. Now I'm the Northeast Regional President for Asemos, influencing the DC, Jersey, and PA areas. I was just recently promoted to a new role and I'm moving to Georgia, where I oversee 28 locations. I work side-by-side with teams that don't report to me - I'm the voice between AT&T and the company I'm helping grow. I influence them to see things from a different perspective so they can maximize their day. What I love about this field is that it constantly pushes you to different limits and helps you grow. You're always meeting new people with different personalities, learning different approaches to conversations. Even after 15 years in retail across different departments, I'm always learning something new. That's the beauty of it - you never get bored, and every day is different.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Karla
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to influencing with purpose. I feel like a lot of people try to influence, but it's more with title. I think you have to have a purpose and get to know people. You can't just go in and pretend or think that you're going to influence just because you're in a good position or you're a good talker. You have to have a purpose for everything and have a way to connect with the audience that you have in front of you. That's what I think I'm really good at - you have to influence with a purpose.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is not to give up. I think that oftentimes a lot of people feel like they're ready to take on the next step, but not until you get into that position do you understand why you weren't ready at the time that you were not selected. You just need to continue to educate yourself, reach out to people that work within that organization or that department to continue to scale yourself and be better for the next interview. A lot of people just kind of get discouraged, but you have to look at it from different perspectives. I think that we don't see it until we get to that level of leadership.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell young women to stay focused on what the ultimate goal is. The goal is going to change, and you might see a lot of obstacles in order to get to that goal, and it might change your perspective. But if that's exactly what you want, that's when you have to continue to go and chase it - continue to drive and educate and provide yourself the tools that you need to get to that goal. We all started with a vision, and our paths kind of shifted a little bit. Some people got to the ultimate goal right away, some people kind of struggled, but eventually got to where they needed to be. Don't let life kind of pull you back. You have to carry on and continue to move forward and get to your ultimate goal.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenge right now in my field is to teach the new generation how to be more hands-on and more personable. I feel like us working in retail, we're losing conversation with the other person when you have them in front of you. It's more robotic, the conversations that the new generation has right now. We're trying to make them a little bit more personable. It's nothing wrong with them - I think it's just through COVID, they had their studies at home and weren't able to socialize the way we all socialized before. That kind of stopped the personal conversations. You might think that they're being rude, but they're just very forward, very straightforward. That's something that I think we're all kind of navigating through - how to educate and train the new generation.
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