Virginia Grimaldo

I attribute my success to the way my mother raised me. I was a single kid, and my mom was the most strict person in this world. It was actually her birthday recently, and we were talking about it. She told me she was so proud of me, and I said I wanted to thank her because everything is thanks to the way she raised me to be independent and to work, and to always look forward for what was best for me. She taught me not to just sit there waiting to see the opportunity, but instead to go look for it and seek it out. My parents have their own business, and my mom told me that what I do every day has nothing to do with what they do. She said she's really proud that I did everything on my own, that they didn't help me get where I'm at. That independence and work ethic she instilled in me is what has led to where I am in my career today.

I think the first and most important value is caring. Caring for every single person that is in front of you, whether it's your family, yourself, your clients, or your coworkers. When you are there for them, they're there for you. Then there's respect and integrity. You always have to be an open page. In this field, sometimes you have to have complicated conversations with the clients and let them know when things are not working the way they expected, or that everything may be worse than what they thought. Sometimes I have to tell them, I know you need this today, but unfortunately, it will not be realistic to give you a resolution today. I always tell my mom there are two things that are hard to work with: the kids of someone else and the money of someone else. I've been dealing with the money of someone else, and it is my responsibility to get it to whatever they are trying to accomplish. It's a hard topic to have conversations about, but you have to approach it with honesty and care. I also believe in balance. If you're not fully happy on your personal side, you're not going to accomplish what you want at work. If you do not love what you do at work, you carry all your problems to home. You need a balance of both.