Her Story
About Sandra
My journey into marketing came from seeing patterns everywhere as I worked with people who had disabilities and the businesses they were working with. I realized there are so many good businesses in our community that deserve more recognition - places where employees want to stick with and customers want to spend their money at, because I always feel like your dollar is your vote. For me, promoting good companies and helping them get more attention and market notability helps our entire community, because then more individuals can have stable jobs, and stable jobs lead to healthier environments for us to grow up in, or our kids to grow up in. It's not so much the micro impact that I'm making, but the little droplets of water in that pond that paint a bigger community we live in. I've worked in various roles helping people - from MNsure navigating for the state of Minnesota, helping people get medical coverage and assistance to pay for medical bills, to my current role at KIMT3 doing business-to-business marketing. I've always tried to find jobs where I can help people speak up for themselves and shed light on things that are needed for our community. My goal is to continue to grow in this field and become a trusted voice here in the Rochester community.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sandra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my mom, who passed away this January at almost 80 years old. She had a college degree back in Mexico, and she immigrated to the United States after she had some kids because she wanted to give them a better opportunity. She felt that she wasn't going to give them an opportunity to go to college and to have a successful career in Mexico. So she came here to America and just worked her butt off. She became a laborer at a food packaging plant, and she couldn't do her fingernails or dress up nice or even wear makeup because her face would get dry and cracked inside of that facility because it was so cold. She told me, this isn't the life that I wanted for you guys. I work this because I have to. She said that everything she was doing, all the sacrifices she was making, was so that we could get ahead in life, so that we could show other people in our family how to go about having a good life, how we can settle into our communities and support our communities. She was always trying to help people - if there was somebody being physically abused, especially moms with kids, she would invite them into her home and help them get on their feet. My mom was able to show me that sometimes you make sacrifices so that other generations can do better. I didn't want to be in a factory where I couldn't help people. I knew that wasn't my place. So I've always tried to find jobs where I can help people speak up for themselves, where I can shed light on things that are needed for our community.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Find out your why. When you're going around and you're finding out why businesses should be advertised, why people should buy from them, find out why are you out there, why are you selling. Because nobody really buys from you until they like you. What are you going to get from this? What's in it for you? It's hard enough in this business with so many other ideas and other mentors that you have and peers that you want to be like, but it really comes down to who you are. Who do you want to be? Are you happy? Would you be comfortable doing this day in and day out? Just find yourself.
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