Victoria RiveraCruz

I attribute my success to my parents. They're the ones that believed in me, and here I am today. From a young age, even as the baby of four siblings, people would come to me for advice and questions. My parents instilled in me the values and confidence that allowed me to pursue my dreams of becoming an attorney while also being a people person who could connect with and help others. Their belief in me gave me the foundation to build a 25-year career where I could combine my legal expertise with my natural ability to work with people.

The best career advice I've received is to have passion and enjoy what you're doing. Reach for the stars and don't let anything stop you. Sometimes you doubt yourself - I've doubted myself once in a while in terms of whether I should take a position or not. But I think as a woman, and I think women can relate to this, you have to really consider things that men don't think of or consider. Men would just automatically go for it, right? But particularly as a woman, and then when I became a mother, you had to manage those priorities. There were times I had to deal with whatever was going on with our kids. I'm not saying my husband wasn't supportive - he was very supportive - but I think women have to balance so many different responsibilities. The advice to follow your passion while being true to your priorities has guided me throughout my career.

My advice would be to work on being the best that you can be, and that's not a static situation - it's always striving to do better and be the best that you can be. That could include everything, whether it's increasing your training, your education, or your people skills. In HR, it's always changing, so in that role, you always have to be flexible and ready to address and respond to any type of matter that comes before you in your workplace. Never stop learning and developing yourself, because the field demands that you continuously grow and adapt to new challenges.

One of the biggest challenges in my field is when you're at the table with unions during negotiations. It can get tense, and being able to keep your composure is critical. You never show any sign of weakness. You never get too emotional - I've been at tables where people get emotional, and you have to take a break. But being able to be steady in terms of your presence gives you power. Being in control of your presence makes an impact on how people respond to you, because they know that they're not going to break you or challenge you successfully. You don't let that bother you, you don't back down. The union representatives could be raising their voice and all that, but I have never, ever raised my voice, and I don't advise anyone I've supervised to ever show emotion or raise their voice, because that's what they want - they want you to get emotional, they want to rattle you. Maintaining that composure and control is an important aspect that I've followed throughout my career.

Honesty is the most important value to me, both in work and personal life. In any relationship, not only with work but also in employee relations and human resources, your credibility can fall quickly if you're not honest and open. That's key for your credibility. People need to know that your word is your word - that what I say and how I convey that is tied to my credibility. Whether it's in professional relationships or personal ones, honesty builds the trust and reliability that allows you to be effective and maintain strong connections with others.