0:00

That's how I was raised . You know my parents

0:02

. We always had , you

0:04

know , random people from Ecuador living in our house

0:06

. You know , I'm like who is this ? I

0:08

would always be like this is the clown house . I'm like there's

0:10

so many people here but my grandpa , my mom and

0:13

my grandma , like , if

0:15

we can help , we got to help . You know

0:17

, and to me , like that's

0:19

kind of ingrained in me and

0:25

I genuinely it genuinely makes me feel good to know that , like I'm working for an organization that is

0:27

helping people and I love being able

0:29

to say , like you know the

0:31

girl that does my nails , you know , I was just like

0:33

, do you have insurance ? And she's like , no , I need help . Because

0:35

I was like , okay , you gotta call this person , you gotta call this

0:37

person , and I'm like that's a good thing

0:39

, like people need need to know that this is

0:41

available . You know , and just like , because

0:43

somebody helped me , somebody helped my grandma

0:45

, somebody is available . You know , and just like , because somebody helped me , somebody helped

0:47

my grandma . Somebody helped my grandpa . You know , you don't

0:49

, you can't get , you can't go through life without

0:52

somebody .

0:54

Welcome to Career Cheat Code . In this podcast

0:56

, you'll hear how everyday people impact the world through

0:58

their careers . Learn about their journey , career

1:01

hacks and obstacles along the way . Whether

1:03

you're already having the impact you want or

1:05

are searching for it , this is the podcast for you

1:07

. All right , veronica , welcome

1:09

to the show .

1:10

Hi , happy Friday .

1:12

Happy Friday . I appreciate you taking the time to join us

1:14

. Let's dive right in . Let's tell the world

1:16

what it is you do for a living .

1:18

Oh boy , I am

1:20

the Senior Director of Health Policy

1:22

and Community Affairs for Public Health Solutions

1:25

. It is the largest public health

1:27

nonprofit in New York City and

1:29

they do a little bit of everything , quite

1:36

frankly , anything from direct services that focus on food and nutrition , maternal and child's

1:39

health , sexual and reproductive health , health insurance

1:41

access . We also run a program called New York City

1:43

Smoke Free , which is a tobacco control program

1:45

, and that's our direct services kind of prong

1:48

. The second prong is our administrative

1:51

management partnerships where we

1:53

partner with the city . We're a bona fide fiscal

1:55

agent and we manage a number

1:57

of their Department of Mental Health and Hygiene

2:00

contracts on their behalf . And then we also

2:02

are a pass-through entity

2:04

for the discretionary funding

2:07

that goes to CBOs from the city council

2:09

. So we help CBOs cross

2:11

the T's , dot the I's and

2:13

make sure that they can focus on the direct services

2:15

work . And then , the third thing is that

2:17

we also we work

2:20

to build pathways between

2:22

health systems and

2:24

the resources that are available in our community

2:26

, so that's like a three-prong approach

2:28

. Our mission is to advance health equity

2:31

for all New Yorkers , and my

2:33

job is to amplify the work that this

2:35

organization has been doing for

2:37

the last 60 years and making sure that everybody

2:39

knows that they are a thought leader in it .

2:41

Awesome . So what does that mean as a senior director

2:43

of health policy and community affairs ? What

2:45

does that mean for you on a Monday when you walk in ? What

2:47

are you tasked with thinking about , with leading

2:50

, with executing ?

2:51

It varies from day to day . I don't think there's like a

2:53

you know , a set schedule . My

2:56

job is to advise the executive team regarding

2:58

policy regarding government and community

3:00

relations . I lead the government community

3:02

relations strategy for the organization , so

3:05

we have a state lobbyist , a city

3:07

lobbyist , so I am the point person

3:09

to just kind of talk with them and

3:11

get their guidance and develop the

3:13

best strategy so that we can position ourselves

3:16

in the best way in front of key decision

3:18

makers at the state and city

3:20

and federal level . So it's dynamic

3:22

, it changes . Right now we're in the thick of the

3:24

budget New York State budget and city

3:27

budget as well so we've been advocating for

3:29

two big priorities

3:31

for our sector . One is

3:34

more so for the sector just

3:36

improving the wages of the community based

3:38

public health workforce , because these are folks

3:40

that are the frontline workers

3:42

but they are paid poverty wages

3:45

. You have a nutritionist that goes to college , wants

3:47

to work in his or her community , works

3:49

with us for six months and they

3:51

qualify for the same benefits that we are advising

3:54

our clients to apply for , and

3:56

that's unacceptable . So there's

3:58

a lot of education that has to be done , because

4:00

I think people assume that they're part of a

4:03

bucket that was given bonuses

4:05

and cost of living adjustments

4:07

, but they're not . So that's been our charge

4:09

since I joined to really advocate

4:12

for that and making sure that you know these people that

4:14

look like your mom , look like my mom

4:16

, who've been , you know , serving the community

4:18

and making sure Abuela gets

4:21

her health insurance , be able

4:23

to pay their bills , you know . So that's

4:25

one . And then for another

4:27

priority that we've been that my

4:29

focus has been on for the

4:31

last year and a half , but definitely during

4:33

this budget season , is to make

4:36

sure that we get funding for

4:38

our two sectional reproductive health clinics

4:40

that we have in Brooklyn . You know we have a little bit of an operational

4:42

deficit , but we've been really

4:45

, really , really good about getting grants and

4:47

we have an incredible , you

4:49

know , almost $4 million grant that

4:51

the state gave us last year . But

4:54

that just handles the capital . So

4:56

you know it's me kind of

4:58

shaking my little we

5:01

need money . We need money because this

5:03

is a , this is a clinic that has

5:05

been around . These , these two clinics , have been

5:07

around for a long time and they're

5:09

they're a key part of the fabric of the neighborhoods

5:12

Brownsville and Fort Greene . So we

5:14

want to make sure that we can , you know , keep the doors open

5:16

and make sure that we can kind of

5:18

kind of fulfill the , like the long-term

5:20

dream of making it a big , you know

5:23

know , campus that's holistic and

5:25

provides you know so many more

5:27

services that we think people should

5:30

have access to seeing that you do so

5:32

much um , is this what you always wanted to do for a living

5:34

, though ?

5:35

yes really tell

5:37

me more . When you were 16

5:39

, what did you think you wanted to do and how

5:41

was that ?

5:41

actually yes and no . Uh

5:43

, I wanted to sing when I was 16 and I wanted

5:46

to sing on broadway when I was 16 , but

5:48

uh , you know , when you're a daughter

5:50

of immigrants , it's not really feasible

5:53

to do that . My father , my grandfather , was

5:55

a professional singer and pretty well known

5:57

back home in ecuador , and so we always

5:59

grew up with our own musicians and with

6:01

music and a very important

6:04

part of my upbringing . But

6:06

doesn't pay the bills .

6:07

So , when you say yes to that

6:09

answer or to that question , what did

6:11

you mean by that ? How are you doing ?

6:13

that . Well , I always liked government . I

6:15

always wanted to . I always thought politics

6:17

was really interesting . Again , my family

6:19

after Sunday

6:21

, after church . It was always talking

6:23

about religion , politics , ethics

6:26

, money . It was that kind of conversation

6:28

with all my tios and tias and

6:31

I would be the 10-year-old in the mess and be like , well I think

6:33

I don't know . They

6:35

never shooed me away because I just liked

6:37

listening to them argue hard , but

6:40

it was always really interesting just to hear

6:42

their perspective and they were very , very knowledgeable

6:45

about politics and about things

6:48

that were important and so I kind of grew up

6:50

with that kind of mindset

6:52

.

6:52

Right .

6:53

So I always wanted to work

6:55

in politics , not not necessarily

6:57

like running for office I would

6:59

go back and forth about it but I wanted to be

7:01

the person in the room .

7:03

Tell me more . You said you mentioned your family's from

7:05

Ecuador . Where were your parents born ? Where

7:08

were you born and where were you raised ?

7:09

Yeah , my mom is from Guayaquil , ecuador

7:12

. My father is from Santo

7:14

Domingo , dr . And I was born

7:17

in Brooklyn and my mom lives in Sunset Park

7:19

.

7:20

Got it Awesome . Yeah , I know much about

7:22

Sunset Park . I spent a lot of my time at

7:25

EDC working in Sunset Park

7:27

and doing a bunch of things there .

7:29

Yeah , yeah , my parents actually met at

7:31

the World Trade Centers . They both worked there . Wow

7:33

, obviously . My dad was apparently

7:36

trying to rap to my mom for a

7:38

while and she was like whatever .

7:40

What were they doing there ? What kind of work ?

7:41

So my dad , if I remember correctly

7:43

, he worked for like an import export company , like

7:51

an insurance company like logistics , and then my mom was an executive assistant for some

7:53

company .

7:53

Your parents meet at the World Trade Center . Eventually they get together . You

7:55

start growing up in Sunset Park . Tell

7:57

me what happens . You're a senior , you're in high school . What

8:00

did you think you were going to do and what did you actually end up doing

8:02

?

8:02

I thought I was going to go to NYU and I

8:04

did .

8:06

I love that for you . What

8:08

did you go to NYU for ?

8:09

Initially I didn't want to apply because I didn't think I would get

8:12

in . But my AP English

8:14

teacher was like you'd be a fool not to apply and

8:17

my aunt , katie was like you have to apply

8:19

. But

8:25

ever since I was little I always saw NYU and I always thought it was like the dream school . So I didn't

8:27

think I could get in , but I got in .

8:28

Great . What'd you get in for ? Did you go deciding

8:30

what your major was going to be , or did you

8:32

figure that out along the way ?

8:34

Yeah , it was going to be politics and journalism

8:36

, but it ended up being politics and history .

8:39

Got it Okay , well

8:41

, one , why that switch ? Okay

8:53

, well one , why that switch .

8:54

And two , what kind of student were you ? Were you like

8:56

a super involved , all the clubs , all the extracurricular

8:58

stuff , or you just , you know , head down into books ? I

9:00

had a car accident the weekend

9:02

before the second semester

9:05

of my freshman year , so that kind

9:07

of changed things . Got my teeth

9:09

knocked out , lip was hanging off my face

9:11

, kind of disfigured for a whole year

9:13

pretty much . I was out of school for about three months so

9:16

that kind of interrupted a lot of things

9:18

, but I was able to finish

9:21

and do what I need to do .

9:23

So tell me about that time . So you get into this

9:25

car accident , Did you so ? Did

9:27

you basically take a semester off at that point

9:29

?

9:30

No . So I was out of school for

9:32

three months , no

9:34

, two months , well , not from January . I

9:36

didn't go back to school until like end of March

9:38

, beginning of April , and they wanted to kick me out

9:40

because I remember the dean was like

9:43

there's no way you can catch up . Of course

9:45

they have no problem kicking out a Latina who's

9:47

on a scholarship Right . So I was

9:49

like the hell , you are going to kick me out

9:51

? There's no way . And thank God , my

9:53

, my teachers and my professors

9:55

, they were all really cool and they were like no , we

9:58

got here , we'll , we'll , we'll make it work . And

10:01

I went to school . I went

10:03

back to school with a thing on my mouth . I was

10:05

like a weirdo , but

10:08

I made the Dean's List that year .

10:10

That's awesome . That's how you got them back .

10:12

That's how you showed them , I

10:15

don't like somebody telling me I can't do something , Especially when it comes

10:17

from an old white man . Don't tell me I can't do

10:19

this . I went to his office .

10:20

I was like here Were

10:29

you involved in in a bunch of clubs and uh internships or anything

10:31

like that , where you were there or um .

10:32

So I worked for anthony wiener during college as

10:34

an internship , yeah yeah . And then

10:36

, as far as clubs , not so much , I joined

10:39

a sorority . End of sophomore year

10:41

, yeah , spring of sophomore year

10:43

, I joined a sorority , a mostly white

10:45

sorority . Shout them out yeah

10:47

, yeah , alpha Phi Zeta , and they were

10:50

local and they'd been around for like 30 years and

10:52

they were just really fun and I loved them

10:54

. Best decision I made in college

10:56

Because I found my folks . But like

10:58

even before then , like when you first

11:00

started NYU , because

11:03

we got into like the scholarship program

11:05

, like they kind of thought that you weren't smart enough to

11:07

hack it , so they

11:09

made you go to summer school before . So that's where I met

11:11

my five Latina girlfriends

11:14

that I'm still

11:16

really , really close with most of them at

11:18

this point . So

11:22

, yeah , I had that crew right and then I was able to to

11:24

dorm on campus . I

11:27

think I got my way to getting getting

11:29

housing and I lived for the sorority and it was

11:31

. I loved it . It felt like real

11:33

college at that point you know

11:35

that makes sense .

11:36

It's a whole different experience when you're there immersed

11:38

and you have your group of friends

11:41

at that point .

11:42

Yeah , yeah , yeah . And like it was great because I still went home

11:44

on sunday . You know what I mean I

11:46

was . You know I was so beat that and

11:48

you know get my laundry done and whatever . But

11:51

it was , I think , living on campus

11:53

, you know , having your folks like

11:55

nyu had like a cute little like um , you

11:57

know like the little trolleys and stuff that would take you

11:59

from dorm to dorm . So it

12:01

was great , I loved it forward

12:03

.

12:04

you're now in a sorority , you have your major

12:06

in politics and history . You

12:08

have internships with elected

12:10

officials at that time , senior year

12:12

. Similarly , did you have a good sense

12:14

of what was going to happen after college , and then how did

12:16

that actually play out ?

12:18

Like a week before I

12:20

was supposed to register for like to graduate

12:23

, the study abroad

12:25

, buenos Aires campus opened and

12:28

my scholarship was for five years . So

12:30

I called my mom . I'm like I'm not graduating in Maine

12:32

. She's like , yeah , I was like I'm gonna go to Buenos

12:34

Aires for free and

12:36

I did my last semester . So I graduated in

12:38

four and a half semesters or

12:41

four and a half years . So

12:43

my last semester I was in Buenos Aires , kind

12:51

of not really doing work . I had like one real class that I had to take . Everything

12:53

else was like an elective . But it was just how could I not ? You know , I had studied abroad in

12:55

the summer in when I was a junior in Italy

12:57

, in Southern Italy . But this

12:59

to me Buenos Aires , south America I was just

13:02

like hell , yeah , I'm going to do it . And the South America

13:04

I was just like hell , yeah , I'm gonna do it . And the pain for it . I was just like I'd

13:06

be crazy not to do it . So when I

13:08

came back in June I'm

13:10

sorry , in December of 2008

13:12

, I was like , right when the recession hit . so

13:14

I was kind of I

13:16

was nervous but I was just like I'll be fine , I'll

13:19

figure it out . I was working with

13:21

a friend who managed a

13:23

like a radiology facility on

13:26

the Upper East Side . So

13:28

she's like , well , you know , you can work here until you

13:30

find something and I was like , all right , I

13:32

had a job when I got home . I didn't really have to

13:34

struggle , which is a blessing

13:36

.

13:37

What were you doing there ?

13:38

So I was a patient coordinator for the offices

13:40

, for the offices , so basically

13:42

like front desk receptionist-ish , but

13:47

then like managing slots and managing , you know , all

13:49

of the radiologists and

13:51

the techs and stuff and the

13:53

patients , because we saw a

13:56

very , very wide variety of

13:58

patients . Like we had patients that you

14:00

know had very limited means , and then

14:02

we had Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon coming in

14:04

so

14:07

you have to treat them with the same level

14:09

of respect . So it wasn't

14:11

a job that I would ever be at long term

14:13

, but it definitely taught me how

14:15

to deal with people with a smile

14:17

on my face , even when I didn't want to have a smile

14:19

on my face , even if they were really

14:22

, really out of pocket and rude

14:24

and all that stuff .

14:25

Yeah , yeah , I mean , and it plays into what you

14:27

do now , right , so it's just an yeah , you

14:30

got a starting point you

14:32

have to do one of these .

14:33

You know , I've , I've . I

14:35

remember there was , it was the upper east side , so

14:37

it was one of those where they're like do

14:39

you speak english ? And

14:42

I'm like , I speak three languages , which one would you prefer

14:44

? I remember

14:47

charlie rose came in one time . He was the meanest

14:49

guy in the whole world so when

14:52

he went down after for the me too thing , I was like

14:54

I was like good for you , buddy

14:56

, I was just like you suck , um

14:58

, but oh , he was nasty

15:00

, nasty , nasty . And then

15:02

, uh , most of the people were lovely , like you know

15:04

, most of the celebrities were like athletes

15:07

, were really sweet , really kind , and

15:09

I can't really complain . But like I was there

15:11

for four years and

15:14

I still remember charlie rose and how

15:16

rude he was , he

15:18

was just like such a grumpy , mean

15:20

old man that

15:23

had never been told .

15:23

No , Absolutely

15:26

so .

15:27

I really enjoyed it when he went down .

15:29

That's funny . Why did you stop working

15:31

there ? What came after that ?

15:33

Well , I never intended to be there

15:36

forever . I was going to be there until I figured

15:38

out am I going to go to law school , Am

15:41

I going to get a master's ? So I was studying to take my LSATs after

15:44

two years there , and

15:47

then I had taken the classes and stuff

15:49

and the morning of the exam

15:51

I walked out of my house and

15:54

I walked right back in .

15:55

I was like I don't want to do this .

15:55

I was like I don't want to do this and

15:58

I upset everyone in my family and my friends

16:00

and everybody that thought that of course Veronica is going to be the lawyer . She

16:02

never likes to shut up family and my friends and everybody that thought that of course Veronica

16:04

is going to be the lawyer she never likes to shut up , you know , um , but I was like I really

16:07

don't want to do this . So then I

16:09

took another two years to figure

16:11

out my next steps I think a year longer

16:14

than I should have , honestly because you start

16:16

making money , you start hanging out , you start

16:18

kind of thing . You're just like I don't know what

16:20

to do . But I I think my

16:23

family and my friends definitely were like Veronica

16:25

, like you are destined

16:27

for a lot more than what you're doing right now . And

16:30

so get it together , you know , and

16:32

I felt a little stuck . So I definitely needed that

16:34

, that push from people and a little

16:37

bit of that shaming like

16:39

gentle , right , they're like we love you , we're

16:41

like we don't know what's going on with you , but you

16:43

need to figure it out . You

16:48

know , right , they're like we love you .

16:49

We're like we don't know what's going on with you but you need to figure it out . And I was like you're

16:51

right , I do All right . So tell me , where did you apply to grad school and

16:53

why ?

16:54

So I applied to the new school , the Milano

16:56

School for Public Engagement , in

16:59

2012 . And

17:01

I applied honestly

17:05

, because it was one of the few programs that didn't require GRE . I was like I studied

17:07

for the LSAT , I didn't take the LSAT , I

17:09

am not doing this again . I'm like that's

17:18

it . So I just what . What filtered out my options was do . I have to provide it you know , take

17:20

the GRE or not . So and it was in , it was in the city , it

17:22

was by 14th Street , and

17:24

then I had gone to an information session and

17:26

I had no idea that the school had been

17:29

around as long . It had been

17:31

started by Jewish intellectuals

17:33

after World War I or II and

17:36

MLK gave

17:38

courses or taught there or lectured

17:40

there . It was really interesting . I was like

17:42

, oh , I had no idea . I got in and they

17:45

gave me a little bit of a scholarship , which is awesome . I

17:47

was living on my own at that point and

17:49

I had to move back in with my grandparents

17:51

and my mom and give them my independence

17:55

, my apartment

17:57

, because I couldn't afford to do

18:00

both . But it was an investment , it was worth it

18:02

.

18:03

What did you get your master's in and why did

18:05

you feel like that was an investment that you needed at that

18:07

time ?

18:07

I got my master's in international affairs

18:10

, management and urban policy and

18:12

I think that gave me I didn't

18:14

want to be limited to just one thing

18:16

with my master's degree , you know

18:18

, and I I also wanted to work for

18:20

the UN at one point and so like I

18:22

wanted that international kind of lens too

18:24

. And then the urban policy

18:26

piece is just you know how cities run

18:29

and I've always been interested in that , and the

18:31

management piece is , I think , also really

18:33

important and kind of overlooked . Um , so

18:35

that was the the major that I really

18:37

kind of focused on . I really liked

18:40

it .

18:40

Did you know what you wanted to do with that ? Like , offer it Like

18:42

. Was it ? Like I want to do ? I want to go to the UN

18:44

at some point . Like , what did you ?

18:46

Yeah , I did . I

18:48

interpreted for a world conference my

18:51

last year of college . Yeah , the women's

18:53

like the 50s . It was like the 52nd

18:56

or 53rd annual like

18:58

women's conference and I interpreted

19:00

as a Spanish speaking interpreter for

19:02

for one of their sessions . And

19:04

it was awesome . It was so cool . I'd never been there

19:06

. But then I realized that it was really really hard

19:09

to get into the UN . It's kind of impossible . It's

19:11

like Google , like you got to know somebody to get in , that

19:14

kind of thing . But I remember being like you

19:16

know , maybe I want to be a foreign service

19:19

diplomat , Maybe I want to you

19:21

know work for the CIA or that

19:24

kind of thing . So I wanted to make

19:26

sure to keep my options open .

19:28

Now , in retrospect , do you feel like that was an investment

19:30

that was worth it ?

19:31

Yes , I loved it . If

19:33

I could go back , it was a better experience

19:35

in NYU , 100% NYU

19:38

. My teachers were great , the

19:40

friends and the networks that I made were great , but

19:43

it was not the kumbaya liberal

19:46

experience that you thought it was , and

19:49

a lot of the people students

19:51

that went there made it very made you

19:53

realize very quickly that you're not one

19:55

of them , because there's a lot of wealth , you

19:58

know . So , as a Brooklyn person , who , person

20:00

, who was , you know , more or less like lower

20:02

middle class , but I always went to a good

20:05

school . I lived in a house

20:07

, you know , we had cars . I was

20:09

like , oh , I'm poor . When

20:11

and because they made they were very clear about that

20:14

. The people , like some of the students , and

20:16

they were awful and I hated them , but

20:18

I found my people so it was fine . I still remember

20:20

the college republicans had a sale

20:23

based off of , you know , they

20:25

. They had baked goods and cookies and stuff and

20:27

each , each cookie was 25

20:29

cents If you were Native American female , uh

20:32

, 50 cents if you were a white man , cause

20:34

they were protesting affirmative action . And

20:36

I would have to always , you know

20:38

, say like I didn't get here through affirmative

20:40

action , I got here through the HEOP program . But even if I

20:43

did , I'm like you can't even spell

20:45

. So you know

20:47

me . Taking the one seat in a 200

20:49

person lecture class because your buddy

20:51

Chad couldn't get in is not my problem . It

20:54

was those kinds of people and that sucked

20:56

. But the teachers are awesome and

20:58

the people that I , you know , my

21:00

sorority , my , my , my , my

21:03

HEOP friends , like they were all awesome . But

21:05

the new school , the

21:07

teachers , the professors

21:09

, they were real world practitioners

21:11

, they weren't just academics , which is why

21:13

I loved it . These are folks that

21:16

had started NGOs , had worked

21:18

at the World Bank , you know , or like

21:20

on MSNBC , giving

21:22

like the finance tips , that kind of stuff , so

21:25

everything that we learned . They

21:28

were very clear if it was

21:30

something that was practical or not

21:32

. So they would say you know X theory

21:34

, you have to learn this , but this shit

21:36

doesn't really work in practice , you know . But

21:38

you should know it . But this is not real . And

21:42

then everybody that I went to school with all the students

21:44

. I had never felt so small

21:47

initially , my first month

21:49

, because they they were like 22

21:52

, 23 . And I was already 26 or 27

21:54

. Cause I went to grad school after four years after

21:56

college and they were like oh , when I

21:58

was was 10 , I started my own ngo and

22:00

I was like you know , they're like and you know

22:02

I sued this person and I was able

22:04

to change this law and I was just like , god damn

22:07

, I was like jesus , I'm like . I

22:09

thought I was smart but I was like clearly I

22:11

am , I have no ambition . So

22:13

it was intimidating to be around those people , but

22:15

they were for the most part . Everybody was always really

22:18

sweet and cool and I usually

22:20

got along with the older students

22:22

that were like adults because

22:25

they were serious about doing their

22:27

work and going home . But I made some really good friends

22:29

there too . So I just loved it . I

22:31

loved it so much . Okay , I

22:34

tell everyone I'm like go to the new school , get your

22:36

master's there , it's great . And the

22:38

teachers , the professors . I

22:40

still talk to some of them . There was one , robert

22:42

buckley , older guy , and he was

22:44

just just the cutest , like grandpa

22:46

, but the smart , really smart

22:48

, you know . And this other guy , michael cohen

22:51

, he was incredible , but

22:53

I just loved them .

22:54

They were just good people yeah , the new

22:56

school has a great reputation for attracting

22:58

really good faculty and

23:00

talent and students

23:03

. Yeah , so

23:05

that makes sense . You get this master's

23:07

in international affairs and

23:10

you graduate . What

23:12

do you do next ?

23:13

I had gotten an internship with the Port Authority in New York , new

23:15

Jersey , while I was in graduate

23:18

school , because the first year of grad school I didn't

23:20

, I went there full time , right

23:22

, but then the second year I was like I don't have money . I

23:24

was like , so I was looking for internships

23:26

and all of these internships were unpaid

23:29

and I was just like , clearly , these are for folks that have money

23:31

, these are for like and I'm like this

23:33

is not . I'm like , this doesn't

23:35

work for me . So I had gone to an

23:38

information session for

23:40

the leadership fellowship program

23:42

for the Port Authority

23:44

and that was

23:46

for graduating grad

23:49

students and it basically was

23:51

like a sped up track to

23:53

middle management , because the Port

23:55

Authority had a lot

23:57

of folks that were retiring so there

23:59

was a big gap between

24:02

folks that had just started and , like

24:04

senior people and a lot of the middle management

24:07

was leaving . So this program

24:09

had been created , you know , years , years in

24:11

advance , to kind of create like a pipeline . You

24:13

know , and you did like a two year program was rotational

24:16

, you did six months at each department and

24:18

then basically , like departments will fight for for you and

24:20

then you end up at the department you wanted

24:22

. However , I was

24:24

in my first year of grad school . So

24:27

they're like well , it's for the second

24:29

year . I'm like , okay , well , do you have anything else ? And like , yeah

24:31

, we have the college , you know , in the grad school

24:33

internship program . They're like and it's paid . I

24:35

was like , say

24:37

no more and that's it

24:39

. So I applied and I got in and

24:42

I was an intern for the government community relations

24:44

department for New York in 2014,

24:48

. May 2014 is when I started and

24:50

then I was made a full-time employee in

24:53

December of 2014 , in seven

24:55

months .

24:56

Tell me about what you were tasked with doing

24:58

when you were hired full-time Um

25:00

, and how long did you stay there ?

25:02

When I was hired full time

25:04

. I was hired as a senior legislative

25:07

representative , so my task

25:09

was to monitor , track

25:12

and or respond to legislation

25:15

that impacted the Port Authority , whether it

25:17

was positively or negatively

25:19

. So I had to track bills

25:21

, you know , at the state level and

25:24

to a certain extent city level , even though

25:26

the Port Authority is a bi-state entity

25:28

. So it's not really bound by single state legislation

25:31

, right , or city council , but the

25:33

agencies that we work with are right

25:35

. So you still have to be aware of

25:37

what was happening , right . And you know

25:39

EDC , port Authority . We have a lot of

25:41

crossover so it was my

25:43

job to track that . And

25:45

then I also had some of

25:47

the assets from the tunnel , bridges

25:50

and terminals department under my portfolio

25:52

, where I was like the dedicated government relations liaison

25:54

for that , and I had the George Washington

25:56

Bridge bus station and

25:58

the George Washington Bridge redevelopment

26:01

project where we modernized

26:03

the hub , the transportation

26:05

hub up there .

26:07

Wow , do you have a standout

26:09

project that kind of stuck with you that you were a part of

26:12

?

26:12

Yeah , so the Restoring

26:14

the George is a $2

26:17

billion 10-year capital program

26:20

made up of 11 projects . So

26:22

that was under my purview and

26:25

it was . The bridge

26:27

is like an old lady , right she's , you know

26:29

, in her , I think she was 89

26:31

at that point . Um , so , like all

26:33

the approaches , all of like it

26:35

was a massive , massive project . So it was really important

26:37

to make sure that we , um that we were keeping

26:39

the community in mind and looped

26:42

in and , um , it was

26:44

important to me because I'm half dominican so I

26:46

always felt that the same amount of

26:48

attention that the midtown

26:50

bus terminal got , I

26:52

also believe that the uptown terminal

26:55

should get right . In addition to the restoringoring

26:57

the George . The there

27:00

, headed up by State

27:23

Senator Espaillat and

27:25

Councilman Rodriguez at the time , had

27:27

kind of a contentious relationship with the Port Authority

27:29

because they wanted a community space there for

27:31

free . But we were able to negotiate a community

27:34

space for 10 years , rent free . I

27:36

was the key lead in that process

27:38

. It took five years , but

27:40

now there is a dedicated community

27:42

space that's run by the

27:44

fabulous Laura Acosta from the

27:46

Juan Pablo Duarte Foundation and

27:48

it's a cultural hub for

27:50

folks you know , and it's a place where

27:52

you can have workshops and educational

27:55

seminars and

27:58

it's a gathering place , but it's

28:00

a place that's for the community , not just

28:02

electives , absolutely . You

28:04

know , and I loved her . I

28:07

still love her . She's fantastic . I'm

28:09

going to plug that . She's having her 25th

28:11

anniversary festival annual

28:13

festival this year , I think

28:15

in June , and it's an organization that does

28:17

really , really good work . It's been around for a long time

28:19

and I think she's the best

28:22

steward for managing

28:24

that space and me and

28:26

her got along very well and I think it was

28:28

critical to make sure that there was somebody

28:30

to be the liaison between her , the

28:33

engineers , the operations folks to make sure

28:35

that we got this project over the finish line . To make sure that

28:37

we got this project over the finish

28:39

line and we did . We got

28:41

it designed , planned

28:43

, constructed and opened in

28:46

a year . $2 million

28:48

investment for a community

28:50

space . It's about 1,600 square feet

28:52

, it's beautiful and

28:54

it's rent-free for 10 years .

28:56

That's awesome , so

29:04

that's something that if I pass by there I'm like that's cool

29:06

. As someone that grew up in Washington Heights , I definitely

29:08

remember that redevelopment and you

29:10

know , even years later , like my mom

29:12

still shops at that supermarket

29:15

right . So like that's in

29:17

a way that she never really used the terminal before

29:19

, right , Like we would walk past it when

29:21

I was really young to go a block further

29:23

for blockbuster .

29:25

but that was , you know , I remember I

29:27

was told because I didn't I never went up there

29:29

when I was younger , because I'm from brooklyn , right , um

29:31

, and they're like oh , this is where the pigeons all gather , and

29:33

it was like a sports betting place , like it was really really

29:35

kind of not shady and not

29:38

good . Now Now it's a commerce , an area of

29:40

commerce , right , and like there's dedicated

29:43

seating for people to wait for the jitney

29:45

buses and it's you know , it's you

29:48

don't have to wait outside and in the elements , like

29:50

it's an important thing , you know

29:52

, and I'm really proud of that .

29:54

Fast forward . You stayed at the Port Authority like five

29:56

years or so , right , six , six

30:01

years . So tell me , what title did you leave with at the end of it and what

30:03

kind of made you determine

30:06

that it was time to make a move after that , after six

30:08

years ?

30:09

so the title that I left with I was a band

30:11

four , which is nice band

30:13

for external relations executive

30:16

yeah , okay , sounds fancy

30:18

, it sounds fancy

30:20

, yeah , yeah , I know it was .

30:22

I know I well .

30:24

I started as an intern , junior analyst

30:26

, senior legislative representative and

30:28

then ended up as an external affairs , external

30:31

relations executive yeah

30:33

, uh , what ?

30:34

what does that mean for someone that wants to get into , like , external

30:37

relations ? Right , or government , government affairs

30:40

, which is how our paths cross together

30:42

between edc and port authority ? Right

30:44

, like , is this a lucrative type

30:46

of career ? Like doing external affairs ? Like can people

30:48

make money enough to , like feed

30:51

their families while doing some work that is representative

30:53

of what they feel like it's really good

30:55

impact ? Right , like working with communities , as you

30:58

said . Right , like you may not be from the heights

31:00

, but you know the people of the heights

31:02

. Right , so for you is like I

31:04

am speaking on behalf of this

31:06

community or working for this community

31:08

and trying to bridge projects

31:10

with this community because they are people

31:13

they benefit from .

31:14

You know absolutely because this is , this is their

31:16

neighborhood . You know , we are influencing

31:18

them . You know , granted , they're also benefiting

31:21

from living across one of the most beautiful bridges

31:23

in the world . And they're like well , why are we doing this construction ? I'm

31:25

like do you want it to fall on you ? I was

31:27

like how do you think we're going to keep it up ? They're

31:29

like , well , we don't Start charging us toll . I was like listen

31:31

, the Port Authority does not get

31:33

any tax revenue from you . If , if

31:36

you go into a store and take something , you got to pay for

31:38

it , don't you ? And they're like , well , yeah , and I'm like same

31:40

concept . They're like , hi

31:42

, but are you on the MTA ? I was just like no , no , no , no , no

31:44

, no . I was like go complain to the state for

31:46

the MTA . I'm like that's not us . The

31:48

Port Authority ran like a business , you

31:50

know , and

31:55

I think they do a really that get a bad rap

31:58

. And I'm like you don't get to do that to these folks

32:00

because they could be making double or

32:02

triple their salary and they chose to work in public

32:04

service because they believe in

32:06

it . So , to answer your question , yes

32:08

, I think you can make money , but you can make a lot

32:10

more money in the private sector , but it's a

32:12

trade-off , Like I , you know

32:14

, I have a pension and

32:17

having a pension , I think , and

32:21

a level of stability is really important to me . I'm not one of these folks that like to

32:23

hop and skip around , Like I really

32:25

really one of the things that attracted me to the

32:27

agency was that there are people that have been there for 30

32:29

years , 40 years , and they had had so

32:32

many different careers because they started

32:34

out in this department and then they moved to this department

32:37

. And I'm just like I , I like

32:39

that , I , I believe in that kind

32:41

of longevity and loyalty , and to

32:43

me that's that's important . You know , Cause I , I think

32:45

, even if you're at a place for a year

32:48

, it takes a full year to finally kind of get

32:51

your bearings and then , like you , live in two and just

32:53

like you . Just you didn't even , you didn't

32:55

even like give it enough time , you know

32:57

. But

33:01

I understand why people do that , because that's the only way to , to , to , to , like

33:03

you know , increase your salary Right . But to me , like

33:05

I , I genuinely think that I

33:07

cut my public policy teeth at the government

33:09

, that the government community relations

33:12

department of the Port Authority . I had wonderful

33:14

mentors , I had wonderful colleagues

33:16

, you know , and I'm still very , very

33:19

close with a lot of them .

33:20

So you leave the Port Authority , you go

33:22

to this other organization called

33:25

E-Corps , i-corps , i-corps

33:27

.

33:28

I-Corps Strategies yeah .

33:29

Why did you go there and what were you doing there ?

33:32

So , funnily enough , I used to manage

33:34

the internship program for

33:36

the Port Authority , for

33:40

the Government Relations Department . So we would get two interns every summer . So for four years I managed

33:42

the process . I would screen them , I would interview them

33:44

, I would manage them , I would review them

33:46

, I would give you know they were my responsibility

33:48

. So one of the interns

33:50

, a girl named Phoebe , a four-lens-a

33:53

, ended up working at

33:55

I-Corps Strategies a couple of years after

33:57

she had left , you know , finished her internship

33:59

and she had reached out to me and

34:01

said hey , veronica , how are you like ? I hope you're doing well

34:04

. I'm like , oh man , phoebe , and she's like

34:06

well , I'm working here and it's in Brooklyn

34:08

and it's . You know , I'm a black

34:10

owned um , a community engagement

34:12

firm , and I think you know we're looking

34:14

for for a director for like

34:17

to manage the east uh region for

34:19

clients and I think you'd be a good fit

34:21

. So I was like all

34:24

right , let me check it out . I met

34:26

with the um , the ceo , eric eve

34:28

, who is kind of new york royal

34:31

political royalty . His father is

34:33

eric eve is arthur eve

34:35

, who was the deputy speaker of the

34:37

new york state assembly for a long time . His

34:40

sister sister is Lisa Eve , who ran for

34:42

attorney general and is

34:44

one of the poor authority board of commissioners

34:46

. So I knew he was a serious guy

34:48

and he had worked in government

34:51

and then worked in the private sector and then decided to start

34:53

his own thing . So , you know

34:55

, we talked for a few months . The first

34:57

job that he offered , I declined

34:59

Cause

35:03

I didn't think it was worth leaving a pension for , you know

35:05

, um . So then he came back and he

35:08

gave me something that I think that I couldn't

35:10

say no to

35:12

, you know . But I thought about it for a

35:14

long time and then , like I , I

35:16

, I got guidance from my mentor

35:18

, brian Simon . Um was

35:20

my first Port Authority

35:22

boss director and was an

35:24

incredible person and you should

35:27

absolutely talk to him . He kind of guided me through

35:29

the process . He's like ask for this , ask for this , ask for this

35:31

. And I was just like , okay , they gave it to me . He's like

35:33

, well , now you got to do it . He's like , if you don't like it

35:35

, you leave . And I'm like , okay . He's like

35:37

okay . He's like you're going to be fine . So

35:39

I did , so I left March of 2020

35:42

.

35:42

Okay , what were you tasked with doing there ?

35:49

So it gave me the opportunity to manage a team , which is what I really

35:51

wanted , right , because at the Port Authority I was an individual contributor and I had a portfolio

35:54

and I had like projects right

35:56

, but like I had never managed people aside

35:58

from interns , right , so

36:00

I wanted that management experience . So

36:02

I had a team of two direct

36:04

reports and then by the time

36:06

I left , it was five direct

36:08

reports four direct reports and

36:11

consultants that I managed . So like to me

36:13

. What attracted me to that job was that I

36:15

was I started off as a vice

36:17

president of client and community engagement

36:19

for the East region , so

36:22

the East Coast . I really learned how to

36:24

manage a team during

36:27

that time , yeah , and . I'm very grateful

36:29

for that , because that's something

36:31

that I had lacked and I wanted .

36:33

In external affairs right , had

36:43

conversations with people where they view they can sometimes view our roles right as basically the

36:45

mouthpiece of an organization Like your job is to go and tell me what

36:47

the organization is going to do and nothing's going to change regardless

36:50

of what I say . So why should I even engage

36:52

with you ? Why should I even like work with you ? Can

36:54

you tell me about your experience

36:56

working with people and kind

36:58

of shifting some of that mindset right ? Because

37:00

for me I had to deal with that going into

37:02

, actually , sunset Park where you

37:05

know , at the time , edc

37:08

did not have the best relationship this

37:11

is , you know , talking about like a decade

37:13

ago right With that

37:15

neighborhood , considering that you

37:18

know the organization managed so much

37:20

square footage of the waterfront . However

37:22

, you know , I think we in

37:25

these external relations roles are tasked

37:27

with going in there and like talking to people and like

37:29

listening and then coming back and delivering

37:31

some results .

37:32

They do make a strategic thing to , like you know , put

37:35

the black and brown people in front of folks and

37:38

that's strategic and I get it . But for me

37:40

, I would say there were tangible things

37:43

Like my job wasn't just to kind of be a

37:45

mouthpiece for the agency , my job was also to be

37:47

a mouthpiece for the community and be like hey , are

37:49

you guys thinking about X , y and Z ? Because

37:51

the community is not going to be down with X , y

37:53

and Z if you do X , so at least

37:55

for the Port Authority . When I first started it , at least for the Port Authority when

37:57

I first started , it was very , very reactive

38:00

. They didn't talk to anybody . It

38:03

was only when things were afire and

38:05

by the time I left it was just night and day

38:08

in terms of being proactive and building relationships

38:10

. And there were

38:12

times where I was told explicitly not to talk

38:14

to people and I'd still call Carmen

38:16

de la Rosa . I'd be like , hey , I

38:18

can't talk to you , but because

38:20

I I'm like we can't just go to these people when

38:22

we need something . I'm like that it doesn't work . Like

38:24

that it's a relationship . You have to talk to people

38:27

. You got to show up and you got to be there , even if they don't want

38:29

you there , you still got to go because

38:31

someone will respect the fact that you went in there

38:33

knowing that you were going to get heat . And

38:35

to me , I'm just like , I'm not scared of anybody

38:38

because I wasn't raised

38:40

that way and I'm coming in

38:43

good faith . So even if you're

38:45

already coming to me with a guard

38:47

up , it's my job to convince you otherwise . And

38:49

if I don't do a good job at that , then

38:51

that's okay . But I'm going to come back next time . And

38:54

eventually you're going to be like you know what ? She's still

38:56

here and I'm like okay

38:58

, now can we talk ?

38:58

Absolutely , she's still here and I'm like okay , now can we talk Absolutely .

39:00

You know , and I think it's really important to do that and

39:02

the agency , the port authority . I will say , for

39:05

the capital plan , the

39:10

two biggest changes to the capital plan were direct feedback from the community

39:13

. So we did listen to the community , you know so , and it was , and

39:15

I would say that I , when people would be like

39:17

, why are you even here ? I'm like , we expanded the bike lanes

39:19

on the gwb because of y'all , you

39:21

guys kept talking and talking and talking , and so

39:23

we , finally , we reviewed and we're like you know what

39:25

, we couldn't make this , but we couldn't , I'm like , and

39:28

it changed the project . It actually was a little

39:30

bit more costly , but we knew that it was important

39:32

to you . So the two changes

39:34

of the capital plan when I was there was

39:36

to expand , you know , the

39:38

, the , the , the , the middle part of the

39:40

bridge I can't God , I should remember this

39:42

but to make it wider so

39:45

that it so that pedestrians and

39:47

cyclists didn't kind of kind of bump into each

39:49

other , and that was a

39:51

direct piece of feedback

39:53

that was incorporated after

39:56

the public comment period , you know

39:58

. So I'm just like guys , like

40:00

you know , be honest here . If

40:03

you wanna use us as a boogeyman , that's cool , but

40:05

we are listening

40:07

to you , you know . So

40:09

, when I would say those examples , they're

40:11

like , well , that's true , like you are always here , you

40:15

do do job fairs and you do call us and you do talk

40:17

. I was like , yeah , cause , you know

40:20

, I'm like I don't know who you talked to before

40:22

, but that's not me . You're talking to me now .

40:23

Absolutely .

40:24

So if you have a problem , you call me what's

40:26

going on . You know , I think I

40:28

, you know you you earn people's trust . You kind of

40:30

have to . You just kind of you got to keep doing

40:32

it .

40:33

I love that and I think you know part of some of the cheat codes that you kind

40:36

of dropped there , right ? Or like that inside outside

40:38

game , there's a lot of value , like , yes

40:40

, I work for this organization and

40:42

yes , I am tasked with delivering this project and

40:45

I am also tasked with building

40:47

trust and building community

40:50

and having people not just for the

40:52

sake of one specific project but for the long

40:54

term of our presence in these

40:56

communities . So that inside outside

40:58

a game of hey , I know you told me not

41:00

to talk to these people and I'm not going to tell you , I'm going to talk to

41:02

them , but I'm absolutely going to talk to them

41:04

and I think you know part of that is also

41:06

just being a person of service , right , Like you work

41:08

for the community .

41:10

And there were times where I fundamentally

41:12

disagreed with decisions

41:14

that you know my bosses

41:16

made and I was like you're wrong , I'm

41:19

like this is going to blow in your face if

41:21

you do this , you know , and

41:23

sometimes they listened to me and sometimes they didn't , but

41:25

I was very much like you know what

41:27

, like I know that I'm representing the agency

41:29

, I'm

41:34

like , but what you guys are planning is not right and

41:36

this is not right and it's going to , it's not strategic

41:38

either . So please do X , y and Z . Or there were there

41:40

was one time the construction folks , the consultants

41:43

. Sometimes they ran the program managers

41:45

which drove me nuts and the program managers

41:47

were incredible . But you

41:50

know , like some of these people were a , but you know

41:52

like some of these people were a little like , you know

41:54

, sneaky .

41:56

Well , they're tasked and evaluated by different metrics

41:58

.

41:59

Right , sure , and

42:01

there was a habit for a long time

42:03

Look , the government relations folks , like some

42:05

of the line departments , the departments that made money

42:07

, that brought in revenue , like didn't

42:09

want to include us because they're like , oh , you're going

42:11

to tell us , no , we can't do this . But

42:13

my , I worked really hard to

42:15

become friends with the engineers and the architects

42:18

and the program managers , cause I'm like , my job is

42:20

to protect you . So the

42:22

only reason I the only way I can do that is , if you

42:24

loop me in , do not bring me in at the end

42:26

, cause if you brought me in when we were planning

42:28

it , I would have told you this is going to be a problem . This

42:30

is going to be a problem . This is going to be a problem . Do

42:33

not call me when there's an issue . So

42:35

there was one time where these construction guys

42:38

up at the GWB were going to take parking

42:41

for two weeks during

42:43

Christmas and I said , no

42:46

, you're not . I don't know

42:48

who you are and why you're

42:51

delaying our project . I'm like I'm sorry , this

42:53

project is a year and a half delayed . I'm like , do

42:55

not pin that on me . If you want to take

42:57

parking spaces , have you guys flyered

42:59

? Have you guys informed the community board ? Have

43:01

you guys talked to the elected officials ? Because if you want the

43:03

number of the congressman , I will

43:06

literally forward the voicemail

43:08

that he calls me to

43:10

you because you will talk to him . I

43:13

was like we're not doing it , do it in January

43:15

. You can wait after the holidays . And

43:17

they're like they were pissed . But

43:19

my boss at the time , Justin Bernbach , I

43:21

went to him . I'm like you're going to get a phone call and he's just like

43:23

you're right . He's like that's

43:26

fine . He's like I trust you , he's like I trust you . I was like they can't do this

43:28

right now . And now they're saying they're complaining

43:30

that I'm , that the go-kart is deleting the project

43:32

. I was just like no , no

43:38

, no , no , no , no , no . That's your poor planning , that is not

43:40

my problem , but you are not going to do this to folks

43:42

and if we are going to do it , we're

43:44

going to do it the right way . So I

43:46

made sure to flyer . I created brochures

43:49

, we put the flyers on all

43:51

of the cars in advance

43:54

to get people heads up and

43:56

we did not take parking spaces

43:58

for two weeks during Christmas . We

44:00

did it in January , in mid to

44:03

late January , because I was like why would you

44:05

do this during Christmas ? People are away , so

44:07

people might have their cars towed . People

44:09

are visiting and it's the damn holidays

44:11

. And I remember telling these guys I'm

44:13

like gentlemen , this isn't Legos . If

44:15

you would you like this happening in your , in your , in

44:18

your neighborhood ? They're like well , no , I'm like , so why would

44:20

you do it in my neighborhood ? I was like no

44:22

, I'm like . And if there's a problem with this

44:24

, then I'm like

44:26

, that's fine . I'm like but call whoever you need to

44:28

call . I'm like , but we're not doing it . So

44:31

I said no and then I went immediately

44:33

to my boss . I was just like you're going to get a phone call

44:35

. But I explained to him why . And he's just like but you're

44:37

right . And I was like and then it was it .

44:40

I love that that was it .

44:41

I think , but it's just like don't do that , Like just

44:44

have some common sense . Parking

44:46

in Washington Heights by the bridge is

44:49

a nightmare anyway and you're going to take it away

44:51

for during the holidays , yeah

44:54

.

44:54

And yeah , and I think part of it is

44:56

like people you know they're

44:59

tasked with delivering a project on time and on budget .

45:02

We're tasked with you got to remember , like this is you're

45:04

not , you're not . You're not working in a

45:06

vacuum . These are people's homes , these are neighborhoods . These working in a vacuum , these are

45:08

people's homes , these are neighborhoods . These are people that you're impacting

45:10

, and my job is to make sure that we mitigate

45:13

the impacts as much as possible . And

45:16

it's my job to tell you that

45:18

this is an issue you should know

45:20

already . I hear you , but

45:27

it's really really insensitive and kind of careless to think that people wouldn't have a problem

45:29

with having this done during the holidays . So to me , it was my . I'm like

45:31

would you do this in the Midtown Tunnel ? I

45:35

don't think so . There's

45:38

another thing there .

45:39

Let's be clear . I love that . What's your favorite

45:41

part of your role , like

45:44

whether it's right now or

45:46

generally through your role

45:48

as an external affairs

45:50

professional ?

45:52

It's funny , it's like I

45:54

don't like people , but I do like people

45:56

. I think people

45:58

are just so kind of divided

46:00

and in their corners and I'm like everyone

46:02

just needs someone and

46:05

I fundamentally believe

46:07

in government and public service as

46:10

like the only entities

46:12

that are large enough to tackle big problems

46:14

. And you

46:17

might be in a good position today , but you won

46:19

your sake and you might be in a really

46:21

bad position tomorrow , and I just feel

46:23

like I think it's really

46:25

, really important to help

46:28

people . If you can . You know I

46:30

think that you can . You know it's not entirely altruistic

46:33

, like , yeah , you , you want to make money , you want

46:35

to . You know , you want to live nice , but

46:38

I , I want to be proud of the work

46:40

that I do , you know , and , and

46:42

that's important to me and I realized it's

46:44

taking me , it took me a long time , but I'm like I

46:47

have to believe in the work that I'm doing to do it . If

46:49

I don't believe in it , I can't do it . You

46:52

know , and to me , that's how

46:54

I was raised . You know my parents . We

46:57

always had , you know , random people from

46:59

Ecuador living in our house . You know I'm like

47:01

who is this ? I would always be like this is the clown

47:03

house . I'm like there's there's so many people here but my grandpa

47:05

, my mom and my and my grandma like

47:08

that , like if we can help , we we got to help . You

47:10

know , and to me , like that's

47:13

kind of ingrained in me and I

47:15

genuinely , it genuinely makes

47:17

me feel good to know that , like I'm working

47:19

for an organization that is helping people and

47:22

I love being able to say like you know

47:24

, the girl that does my nails , you

47:26

know . I was just like , do you have insurance ? And she's like no

47:28

, I need help . And I was like , okay , you got to call this person

47:30

, you got to call this person . And I'm like that's a good

47:32

thing . People need to know that

47:34

this is available Because

47:37

somebody helped me , somebody helped my grandma

47:39

, somebody helped my grandpa . You

47:44

can't go through life without somebody

47:46

. And I just feel like there's

47:49

so many people that are struggling and it's

47:51

a policy choice . I want to make

47:53

sure that I'm not contributing to that

47:55

?

47:55

Are there any forms of media that

47:57

could be books , podcasts , shows

48:01

that you have watched or read

48:03

or listened to that have shaped you

48:05

personally or professionally ?

48:07

That have shaped me . Well

48:11

, my favorite show when I was in high school was buffy the vampire

48:13

slayer , and my grandma hated it

48:15

. She's like oh , this is a demonial , that's

48:17

all like you know , demonic stuff . And I'm like

48:19

this show was actually very smart because it

48:22

wasn't about monsters . The monsters were a metaphor

48:24

for growing up and like the teenage

48:26

years and and she was , you

48:29

know , a female like

48:31

superhero , and I just and

48:33

she was funny to

48:36

me , I just thought she was so cool , I love that show so

48:38

much , so like that was like my formative show growing up

48:40

when I was in , you

48:42

know , in high school . But

48:44

in terms of like shows or like things , I'm

48:48

trying to think Like I don't know , I love film , I

48:50

love TV , like I'm definitely

48:53

one of those folks that you know in another life . I

48:55

would have loved to be on stage . You

48:57

know , so like the arts is

48:59

something that's very near and dear

49:01

to me . You know , like sometimes

49:03

I would be at Broadway shows and I would cry

49:06

because I'm like I could have done that and like it kind

49:08

of hurts , like it's a little painful to watch it now because you're

49:10

just like I could have done that and like it kind of hurts , like it's a little painful to watch him

49:12

now because you're just like to be on stage . It's the best feeling in

49:14

the world .

49:15

Yeah , absolutely .

49:17

But podcasts , I listen to the

49:19

Daily a lot , New York Times

49:21

and then Errol Lewis , that's my man

49:24

. I love that guy because he's fair

49:26

and he goes after everybody you

49:28

know . So Spectrum , New York One

49:30

, that's kind of my Bible a little

49:32

bit .

49:33

You know , I think it's easy for folks to see you on

49:36

LinkedIn or on whatever

49:38

platform and realize you're Highlight

49:41

Rio and think you know everything has always been great

49:43

and peachy and amazing . Are there any

49:45

hurdles that you've had to overcome or

49:47

low moments in your life career that

49:49

you're like you know what . We went through

49:51

that and we're fine right now . What would

49:53

you like to share with people ?

49:55

It's not linear , that's for sure I

49:57

would say . You know , I thought

49:59

my life was going to be very , very

50:04

specific , like I'm going to do this and I want to do this and we'll do this , and my life went like

50:06

that , you know . But thankfully I always had people

50:08

in my life that loved me and cared about

50:10

me and protected me . You know what I mean

50:12

. And hurdles , yeah , definitely , my

50:14

car accident messed me up really bad

50:16

. As a 19-year-old , getting your

50:19

face messed up is not great . I

50:22

did very well that semester , but a

50:24

year later I had the worst

50:26

grades I've ever had in my entire life and I had to

50:28

crawl back to graduate

50:31

with like a 3-3

50:33

. But it was hard because

50:35

I just I went

50:37

through depression , like it was really

50:39

hard . It was really hard . I think the sorority

50:42

definitely saved my life because I had something to

50:44

do and I definitely like kept going

50:46

because I was like , well , I can't let these girls

50:48

down , like I gotta keep . But I

50:51

was a mess during that time , a whole , complete

50:53

mess . And then , like after , I

50:56

was kind of lost because I didn't really know

50:58

, like I had convinced myself that I was gonna

51:00

be a lawyer and then , when I decided I didn't want to do

51:02

it . I was like , well , what do I do now ? You

51:04

know , and there's also that

51:06

like expectation of , like you know , my family

51:08

has worked so hard to to get me to where I am

51:10

, you know , and my mom

51:12

had a car accident after I was born and she

51:15

became disabled after that and subsequently

51:17

every part-time job that she worked at

51:19

was at my school and never cashed

51:21

her own check because it went to my tuition

51:23

. You know my grandparents if I didn't

51:25

have them , my life would have been very different

51:27

, you know . So , like , so , like . There's a lot of

51:29

I couldn't be selfish because

51:33

I have a lot of people that depend on me , even

51:37

though they'd be like , well , no , like you

51:39

know , you put that on yourself . I'm like , yeah , but like my mom's , my

51:41

mom , and you know it's my job to

51:43

take care of her , it's my job to take care of my , my

51:46

family , and they've

51:48

been through way way too much for

51:50

me to give up over something , over

51:53

like the , you know , first world problems . So

51:59

whenever I would get in my feelings , I'm like my

52:02

grandparents did not raise me to be a punk , you

52:05

know , but I think in the last few years COVID hit me really hard . I

52:08

got sick twice and that messed me up a

52:10

lot . And my dad died my grandfather

52:13

six years ago . So

52:15

to me my life is very much before

52:19

him and after him

52:21

, and it's been very hard

52:23

to live without him .

52:25

Is there anything else the world should know about Veronica

52:27

that we have not discussed ?

52:29

today . I don't know what you

52:31

see is what you get . I'm a little

52:33

bit too open sometimes . And then

52:36

my boss , brian simon , one of the best pieces

52:38

of advice he gave me , especially in in

52:40

business , is like you need to master , tell he's

52:43

like you are incredible because you are so genuine

52:45

and authentic . He goes . But that can be

52:47

used against you if you're not careful . So

52:50

mask your tail , you know , um

52:52

. So I worked very , very hard to , you

52:55

know , not be very clear about how

52:57

I feel about things , you

52:59

know , because my face says everything . Sometimes I'm like , and

53:03

I'm always like , fix your face , fix your face , fix your face

53:05

, especially if you're managing a team like you

53:07

, gotta you , you

53:09

do have to move differently , you know . And me at public health solutions , I'm

53:11

on the executive team . Like you , gotta there , you , you do have to move differently , you know . And me at at

53:13

public health solutions , I'm on the executive team . Like you , you

53:15

do have to move differently . And you

53:17

know veronica , you know , at home

53:19

was very different from veronica from phs , you

53:22

know . And there's a reason for that , you know , because I'm not representing

53:25

just me , I'm representing an

53:27

organization and they deserve to have a level

53:29

of um professional . That

53:31

is expected , right ? If

53:33

you know me , I'm

53:37

very , very honest . You know that , roddy

53:39

.

53:41

Absolutely . To a full , got

53:43

it . I love it . Well , thank you for joining

53:45

us today . This has been great to learn about you

53:47

and your path , so appreciate it , thank you

53:49

. I hope you enjoyed this episode . If you did

53:51

and believe on the mission we're on , please like

53:53

, rate and subscribe to this podcast on whatever

53:55

platform you're using , and share this podcast

53:58

with your friends and your networks . Make sure you follow

54:00

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54:02

career cheat code and tell us people

54:04

or careers you would like to see highlighted . See

54:07

you next week with some more cheat codes . Peace

54:09

.