Her Story
About Rita
I'm originally from Guatemala and became an American citizen in 2024. I started my career doing outsourcing for call centers in Guatemala, where I did supervision, training, and collections in the corporate world. I then transitioned to marketing and public relations with some media work, because I studied communications for my bachelor's degree. I've always wanted to be in a creative field. A producer and artistic director I worked with, who had worked for NASA and Hollywood, encouraged me and taught me about American culture. He told me it wasn't impossible to pursue my dreams. I found the New York Film Academy and got a 30% scholarship. An uncle in California helped me get to school for 3 months, and everything worked out - I met my husband, we got married, and I lived in California for 5 years building my acting career. I had my last booking right before COVID for a Toyota commercial. After COVID, we moved to Arizona and bought a house. I needed time to rest from acting after auditioning so much and investing all my money in expensive acting classes. When I came to Arizona, I discovered social work, which doesn't really exist much in my country. I liked it and considered myself an advocate, but over time I realized it was just a temporary thing. I need to do more creative things to be happy. Working indirectly for the government involves a lot of policies, and I'm more of a dynamic, free, and independent person. I got student loan forgiveness, which freed me from needing to work 10 years in social work. Now I can invest in something I really like. I'm going through a conscious shift, similar to when I first came to Arizona and thought certain things were impossible. I'm ready for the universe to surprise me with a high-paying job doing something I love that relates to my acting career.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rita
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received came from a producer and artistic director I worked with who passed away. He had worked for NASA and then got into Hollywood. He told me about his journey - he left Nicaragua and went to work for NASA doing the creative side, then moved to Hollywood, all without speaking any English until he was older. He told me, 'No, it's not that impossible, I went without speaking any word of English until I was [a certain age]. So, I see it even easier on you.' He basically taught me a lot about American culture - that everything's for today, or actually for yesterday - and he told me, 'You can do this.' That encouragement and his example of what was possible really changed my perspective on what I could achieve.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are creativity, independence, and helping others. I'm more of a dynamic, very free, and independent person, which is why working with too many policies doesn't work for me. I need to do creative things because that's what makes me happy. I also deeply value advocacy and helping immigrants because I'm an immigrant myself. I believe it's important to embrace American culture without leaving your own culture behind, because diversity is important for American people, but we also can't ignore that American culture exists because this is a country. I'm very much an advocate, especially for ending human trafficking and helping unaccompanied immigrant children. I also value being ready to act on what I believe - we always think and act how we are at that point in our lives, and I'm ready now for this conscious shift into work that truly fulfills me.
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