Her Story
About Maria
I started my career in higher education, working at colleges where I served as a counselor, director, dean, and eventually ran a campus. From there, I transitioned into compliance training, which became my gateway into HR. While doing compliance training, I worked extensively with HR managers on their compliance needs, especially here in California. This experience led me to become a Director of Talent, then an HR Director, and then a VP. I didn't grow up in HR - even though I taught in a master's program in Human Resources at the last college where I worked, my day-to-day focus on HR really began when I became a Director of Talent. I've been with my current company, Workforce Consultants, for almost 2 years, starting as a VP and becoming President in January. In my role, I handle both the administration of running our company and still work as a field consultant with clients. My days involve interacting with current and potential clients, supporting and coaching our team of consultants, and ensuring all our clients are served because customer service is really big for me. When our clients need HR, they need it right then and there, so I do a lot of navigating to make sure I have people to assist them. In the short time I've been with this company, we've grown significantly and are on track to nearly double our revenue by the end of summer.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Maria
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's just the work ethic that I received from my immigrant parents. I was born in Mexico and came here as an immigrant myself, and that foundation of hard work and determination from my parents has been the driving force behind my success.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is to not sweat the small stuff and don't worry about things you can't control. This has helped me maintain perspective and focus my energy on what really matters in both my professional and personal life.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say take notes, document situational challenges, and if you don't know something, document it and learn it so that it's something you can put in your kind of Rolodex, your mental Rolodex. There are so many situations and a lot of interpretation of law in HR, so having that documentation and knowledge base would be super helpful as you build your career.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In terms of opportunity, people are going to be people, and our work is with people and a lot of employee-related situations and issues, so there's always the opportunity to be able to navigate the world of employees and interpersonal communication. The biggest challenge I see, especially working in the area I do with small to medium-sized businesses, is they don't think they need HR until they need HR, and usually it's 'I need HR yesterday.' Instead of preparing to not need HR, it's more reactive. So the biggest challenge is that small to medium-sized businesses do not see HR as a proactive piece - they see it more as a reactive piece, after they're in trouble or they need advice yesterday.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I think the number one value is trustworthiness, followed by integrity and direct communication. These values guide how I interact with clients, my team, and in my personal relationships. They're fundamental to everything I do.
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