Liz Iglesias

I attribute my success to my family. I would not be here without their support. I'm a big family person, and most decisions that I take consider them. They helped me with my children when they were little because I needed to either take a class late or work late. Without their support, I would not be standing here, for sure. I owe them a lot. I've also been fortunate to have mentors in my path. Both Tika Esler and Maria Vallejo taught me that success is not so much about positions, but about who do you help and what are you doing as you go through it. They were very much into service of others, and I love that. They always asked, what is that knowledge helping you to help someone else? That focus on service has really shaped how I approach my work and what I value most in my career.

The best career advice I've received came from my mentors Tika Esler and Maria Vallejo. They taught me that success is not so much about the positions you hold, but about who you help along the way. They always asked me, 'What are you doing as you go through it? What is that knowledge helping you to help someone else?' They were very much into service of others, and that philosophy has stayed with me throughout my career. That focus on serving others and making sure that whatever I'm learning or achieving is used to help someone else has been the most valuable guidance I've received.

My advice to young women entering my industry is to remain committed to serving and supporting others, stay dedicated to continuous learning, and be open to opportunities that support both personal and professional growth. I believe success is built through hard work, persistence, and maintaining a service-oriented mindset in everything I do.

The biggest challenge I see is information. As much as we have out there, and as much as we think our young people believe they know and can get access to, many students still don't have the information about how to start a career in college or what college is going to do for them. We still find a lot of that gap. On the opportunity side, I would say that education is changing in really positive ways. Many schools are offering not just the traditional education classes, but they're also offering more work training programs. So now students can have both - they have skills that can get them to work right away and can also begin their education career. That's growing tremendously and giving students the ability to do both.

The values most important to me are service to others and family. I'm a big family person, and most of my decisions consider my family and their support. In my work, I'm very focused on service - helping students and being there for them as they navigate their educational journey. My mentors taught me that success is about who you help and what you're doing to serve others as you go through your career, and that philosophy really resonates with me. I also value staying active and taking care of myself through walking and Zumba, especially on stressful days. I believe in lifelong learning too, which is why I'm preparing myself and taking courses to do more AI training in my field.