Valeria R. Orellana
Valeria Orellana is a seasoned Chief Administrative Officer with over 15 years of leadership experience across hospitality, beauty, education, and IT services. Currently serving as CAO for Frimex Hospitality, she oversees operations for Cantina Frida, Frida Cuisine Cerritos & Del Amo, 236 S. Beverly Frida, Casa Azul, and Frida Tacos, managing more than 300 employees. Valeria’s expertise spans multi-unit operations, HR compliance, financial oversight, vendor management, and organizational development, and she is known for building high-performance cultures and driving operational excellence across multiple business entities.
Valeria began her career working with Wolfgang Puck and renowned interior designer Barbara Lazarov while still in high school, gaining early exposure to hospitality and high-level client service. She later expanded into IT support, helping a small company grow to serve over 3,000 clients, and gained experience in the hair care industry with Chamberry Hills and Voshe, where she managed marketing, warehouse operations, and vendor relations. These diverse experiences shaped her strategic and hands-on approach to operations, emphasizing efficiency, compliance, and people-first leadership.
After joining Frimex Hospitality as an administrative assistant, Valeria was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer within six months, a testament to her operational acumen and leadership skills. Today, she ensures employees feel supported as individuals, oversees payroll, licensing, health department compliance, and renovation permitting, and leverages her IT knowledge to modernize operations. Valeria holds an MBA from California State University, Northridge, an associate degree in Child Development from Los Angeles Valley College, and continues to champion people-focused leadership in the hospitality industry.
• Allied Health Instructor (AHI) - Medical Assistant
• Preschool Teacher
• Employee Assistance Professional
• Los Angeles Valley College- Associate's
• California State University, Northridge- M.B.A.
What do you attribute your success to?
I honestly never thought that I would make it to this level or move up the ladder this way, because within 6 months I was promoted to chief. It was such an honor, and I was like, wow, this is actually something that I wanted to do, but didn't expect to be at this level at my age. Sure, I have the education background, I have everything that goes with it, but just the fact that it's a chief position, working directly with the founder and CEO, having to do everything from finance to dealing with employee issues with HR - I have a little bit of experience everywhere. I believe this has been my greatest achievement, and it's what's giving me more meaning to my self-worth and my person. It felt really good. I also had two mentors at this place before I moved into Chief who have been the two people that mentored me in a way no one had, as far as walking me through a lot of things and giving me that confidence of finding my voice. They helped me not be too shy about speaking up, which I would do, but not as confident as I do now. Those two men were very significant in the progress I had, and in the person that I am today, and how I speak, and how I carry myself. It has shifted and made me grow a lot.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best guidance I received came from two mentors at my workplace who walked me through a lot of things and gave me the confidence to find my voice. They would ask me 'what do you think of this?' and helped me become less shy about speaking up. I would speak up before, but not as confidently as I do now. Their mentorship was very significant in my progress and in shaping the person I am today, how I speak, and how I carry myself. It has shifted me and made me grow a lot.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say be yourself, be confident, don't second guess. Take those leaps that sometimes you think you need to ask or pitch your ideas. I find in a lot of places where I've seen people talk to me about what ideas they have, and I'm like, they're great, pitch it. Just go up and say, like, hey, you know, I want to talk to you if you have 5 minutes, and just pitch it out. It will bring more value to you, because they'll know that you're more involved in the place of work, and they actually care as a person. You're trying to make them grow. And if they grow, you grow. Keep your studies up. They're very big now on having credentials and stuff like that to keep up to date with what's going on as well. That's what I would give as advice.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
With technology coming out, I'm mixing in the IT department experience that I have, like 10 years of experience in that. Now that AI is coming out, and there's all these new features in apps and everything, we're trying to modernize the company in that aspect of things for marketing and automation. I'm kind of falling into IT and hospitality again, bringing those two worlds together.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I'm big on people and making sure they feel supported, not just as employees. For example, when we had a customer pull out a gun on one of our servers, I made sure I was in contact with him, making sure he felt supported and felt like we went as far as having somebody go get his car from the parking lot, taking it to the back, having him take the next day off to feel better, and paying him for that. I've been in contact with people so they feel supported, not just as an employee, but they have our support, our backup, in any way, shape, or form they need. There's not a lot of people that call the employees and say, are you doing okay? Is there anything I can do for you? It's usually HR that just deals with that. But I'm a little different. I'm a little more new school. I want to be sure they know who I am, and there is somebody that's going to take care of them. I also see myself finding something that would bring joy to people and have them be distracted from their day-to-day life, whether it be dining, hotel-wise, or recreational-wise. I like people enjoying their experiences.