00:00:00Tavares: Today I am here with Veronica Maldonado. She is the president and
CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and also the founder of Driven
to Thrive. I thank you so much for being here today--I really appreciate you
taking time out of your day to do this. I have read up on these two
organizations that you are a part of so if you could just tell me more about
what you do, your day to day, what your favorite part about your job is?
Maldonado: Okay! Let us get started. Well first, thanks for having me. Thanks
for the opportunity to share a little more about myself. So yes, I am the
president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Our mission is to
serve as the domestic and international economic development arm to kind of grow
and sustain small businesses or businesses what the state of Georgia. And also
to be a conduit to non-Hispanic entities that want to grow with our Hispanic
businesses. So we focus on business development opportunities so that businesses
have an opportunity to create these strategic networks and relationships that
really help them grow and thrive and meet potential customers. We also focus on
leadership development. We are trying to get more representation of Hispanic
leaders throughout cooperate America, small business settings, opportunities,
and civic opportunities. We have our own Hispanic cultivating Hispanic Leader
institute. And we have two specific divisions of our chamber EME which is for
women--and it is a combination of professional women and entrepreneurial women
where we do education, mentoring, and empowering for them. And we have our
Hispanic young professionals and entrepreneurs called HYPE. They are 20-35 year
old next gen leaders who, again, are entrepreneurs and professionals wanting to
make sure that they are developing, and networking and having their leadership
capabilities. We also do political and legislative advocacy to make sure that we
are fostering a business environment that is business friendly for our small
businesses and businesses in general. We want to make sure that there is
legislation that allows them to thrive and prosper in the state of Georgia. And
then last but not least just a really big focus on the growth and development of
our businesses. We have a Hispanic business center where we focus on scaling and
giving them the education and capacity building that businesses need to go to
the next level. Whether they are a micro business or startup, whether they are a
merging company or established or ready to scale and work with corporations or
the federal sector or international markets. The Hispanic business center is a
resource to help them continue to grow and thrive--know you access to capital,
classes on financial literacy, financing, marketing, sales, operations,
technology, the customer experience, HR--all the things that small businesses
need to grow and thrive. So that is kind of what I do on a daily business for
the Georgia Hispanic Chamber. We also make sure that we bring to the forefront
issues that matter to businesses. Right now there is a huge issue with our work
force. Businesses are struggling to find folks to stay on board join their team.
We are living in this time period where the employee has a lot of power and
thinks are shifting in the market regarding working from home and working from
the office. And so we are trying to help our businesses navigate that as well.
We are making are that they are taking advantage of some of these opportunities
that exist out there--there is an infrastructure deal that is coming down--and
man, many others. It is a very unique space to be in--running a chamber and
leading a chamber--and all of the different kind of points that we touch from
small business to community to corporate to federal to legislative. We really
touch on many different places that really help an ecosystem thrive. So that is
our focus.
Maldonado: So driven to thrive is kind of like my passion project. It is
something that I discovered as a professional where I wanted to not only excel
at work but really find meaning and purpose in what I did every day and find a
way for my personal and professional life to both be in a really good place--not
just do well professionally and maybe not so well personally. Or maybe do really
well personally and not so well professionally. So I kind of found this
system--this roadmap--to help me achieve my goals. It is really a mind set, a
model, a methodology, that one can use to achieve their goal one year at a time.
I tell people that we have to be driven to thrive--not driven to acquire or
attain--our goal should be to thrive. We want to thrive personally,
professionally, mentally, physically, spiritually--all of these different ways
that now more than ever due to the pandemic--we really should be asking
ourselves what does success really mean for us? So driven to thrive has been
that think that has allowed me to find what matters to me as a woman, as a
mother, as a daughter, as a wife, as a community leader. It gibes me a great
sense of peace knowing that I am walking each day with intentionality and with a
sense of purpose and passion because I want to make my dash count.
Tavares: Yeah, that is amazing. You touched on a lot of things just now but as a
young Latin--just having, that voice for the Hispanic community and not only
that--for women--honestly, it feels very empowering to know there are so many
people like you that just want us to thrive. And especially what you said about
the holistic view of thriving. I feel like there was definitely a shift of going
from just wanting to be a professional making money--that is how people lived
their life's. But there is so much more involved in being healthy. It is a
mental-- everything. It encompasses everything.
Maldonado: It is everything--literally it is everything. You can not have what
you want without being in a place of health. Health is wealth. It is. It
absolutely is.
Tavares: Yes. Awesome. So to start with these questions--we might not get
through all of them which is totally fine. So I wanted to know as part of your
personal journey, biography, background. What led you to this position? Eres
Colombiana no?
Maldonado: Yes, my family is from Cartagena, Colombia.
Tavares: Okay yeah so what lead you to this position and what are those
experiences--those cultural experiences that most important to you and how you
include them in what you do.
Maldonado: Well I think what lead me to this role-- what it really starts with
the story of my family coming here forty something years ago from Cartagena,
Colombia. My grandfather came here with a hope and a dream. He had gone to kind
of boarding school here my and mother had had an internship here as well in her
high school age but they always dreamed of kind of coming back to America and
having that kind of American dream they started a business my grandfather
started a business and a colorblind man started a printing business which is
very funny to me. By the grace of god that business still exists today like
years later it is in its third generation.
Tavares: Oh that is so funny.
Maldonado: It is a communications digital, communications marketing, and PR
branding firm now. They do work with corporations doing just some amazing work.
The reason I mentioned that is because I grew up in small business. I grew up
working the cold calls my mom would set me up with calling clients and of course
I did not know at the time, but she called the clients before and would be like
'hey my daughter's going to call you!'
Tavares: Oh no way!
Maldonado: Yeah, she would give me a script to call them. And it is like, "Hi,
my name is Veronica. I am calling on behalf of IBCOM. I just wanted to let about
the special of the month. Do you need business cards or graphic design?" So I
grew up from a customer service side--talking to the employees, brainstorming
about different promotions, seeing my grandfather and my mom work on the sales
pipeline projection. I saw that for all of my life. They would bring me to the
office after school. It was very much like a fabric of our family. It was like
it had its own identity as a family member, of the family business, and we were
all somehow a part of it. My passion really rose from that, by mistake, to be
very honest with you, because I wanted to be, honestly, I wanted to be a singer.
Tavares: Okay!
Maldonado: I had a record deal at a young age.
Tavares: Oh wow! That is so cool.
Maldonado: I was poised recording artists and just kind of life took a different
turn. And then I got into the business world and the entertainment industry. I
worked for Sony BMG and EMI Music Marketing
Tavares: Okay.
Maldonado: I did a lot of branding, cross promotion, distribution, how do you
sell certain titles in different markets?
Tavares: Yeah.
Maldonado: And then I kind of find myself back into this familiar place where I
was invited to my very first board of directors because obviously somebody saw
something pretty awesome in me which I am grateful for now. When you are growing
up, you do not kind of realize the kind of superpower that you kind of have or
exude. Much like you, Paloma that has a confidence and this go get go getter
mentality about yourself. People see that.
Tavares: Yeah.
Maldonado: Then they want to bring you into opportunities and experiences. So I
joined my first board for the national Latina Business Women's Association. I
was all of like, 25 years old. And that really shaped my view on helping--being
a part of something greater from a leadership experience, working with women at
all different levels of their career, all different ages. And then seeing that I
was pretty good at putting programs and events together and passionate about
seeing women come up with a concept of their business and actually incorporating
it to making a reality. And so my career kind of took me in this amazing space.
My life has not been a straight line. It is definitely been a zigzag. And I am
super grateful for that because it is given me all these different experiences
from the entertainment industry, to working in nonprofit to working in small
business, to starting two businesses for myself, to then working for an
organization that helps certify ethnic minority owned businesses. I ran a
program for 10 years called the Georgia Metro Protégé Program which is a
program that matches businesses between a million dollars to $30 million with
major corporations for a year of mentorship. And I led that program for over
eight years. So I literally help scale businesses that one of the biggest
businesses has been almost a half a billion dollars in annual revenue now. Now
he is a technology. And I mentioned this all to say that I think at the very
core, I just saw every one of the 400 businesses that have had a chance to
support every single one of the CEOs I have had a chance to spend time with, not
only on growing their business, but helping them find meaning and purpose and
understanding the greater significance of not only starting a business and
growing a business, but understanding that they were stewarding and really
developing a whole group with their employees and really making an impact. And
each one of those CEOs for me, kind of represented my family business-- my
family, my grandfather, my mother, my uncle, and my grandmother. And so I poured
a lot of heart and passion into these businesses and into the leaders because I
knew how hard it was to start a business and grow a business. I just always
wanted to be a resource for that. And fast forward to where I am today--I am
about four and a half months into my new role as president and CEO of the
Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. And I was very happy consulting because I
left the Georgia Mentor Protégé post right before the pandemic hit in 2019.
Literally, I had a whole full year of consulting on my own--with Fortune 500's,
to helping them a supplier diversity programs, diversity, equity and inclusion
programs, minority business development, and how do you support minority
businesses, and help them help educate them, etc.
Maldonado: When the pandemic hit I was pretty busy during the pandemic and then
I had an opportunity of many leaders reaching out to me saying, hey, there is an
open position, would you go for it? I really was not looking for this job. Like,
I am a mother of two. I have a 12 year old boy and a five year old girl. I was
kind of enjoying my pace of life and my own schedule. And but I really took a
look at the position and I said, I can really make a positive impact here. The
Hispanic business community is growing, it is thriving--it is one of the fastest
groups growing across the nation. It is a major part of our labor force, really,
the future of the US economy is really riding on the Hispanic community. And so
I felt both a call, a challenge, and a responsibility to step into this role and
to support the community. With the experience that I have had in lifting
minority business communities, now, I felt like it was time to double click in
the Hispanic community specifically. So that is what is led me to being here
right now, again, being very intentional, because I was very focused in where I
was headed. But again, I took a step back to see this is really something that I
can do to take us to the next level, as a community, as a as a business
ecosystem, and to ensure the sustainability of our Hispanic Business Enterprises.
Tavares: Yeah, it is crazy the way that life just leads you and all of these
directions, and then you have ended up here. And, who knows, what the future has
in store for you. But that is really awesome, how everything has come together
for you. And speaking of leadership. I wanted to know what leadership means to
you? What does it mean to be a good leader? Has that definition changed at all?
Maldonado: And a lot of questions there. Let me start with the first one. Okay.
So the first one is what does leadership mean to me? I think leadership means to
me is the opportunity to have a vision and to galvanize folks towards that
vision and to make them feel that together, we can achieve that. And as a
leader, the goal is to make sure that everyone understands their place in making
that goal a reality and how they are an intricate piece of the puzzle. So it is
both to really chart that vision--to have the courage to maybe think a little
differently, to think innovatively, and to inspire folks to believe in the
possibility that that vision is achievable. And so I think that a leader is a is
a visionary, is a chief encourager, is a person that believes in the
possibilities, but most importantly, has a strategy to ensure that that vision
can be achieved and is an executor. Because one thing is to have a vision,
another thing is to execute on the strategy to making it happen.
Tavares: Exactly.
Maldonado: And so we can be aspirational all day long, but it is really making
sure that we have got the strategy in place in order to meet the objectives and
the goals. And again, being a leader, I think, is as much about being courageous
enough to believe that you can lead others with humility, towards the finish
line, and then have the new finish line, because it is a continuous process. So
that that is what leadership means to me. I think, I think in this day and age,
leadership is changed so much. I think gone are the days where it was like--tell
it like it is and that is about it. I think as a leader, you have to earn the
trust of those that are leading, that you are that you are stewarding, with
empathy, vulnerability, and understanding where those folks fall into line. Your
responsibility is to mirror a model that you want folks to emulate.
Tavares: Yeah. So how would you say is the best way to push people to actually
achieve these goals and to lead them? How, how do you accomplish this in your
day to day or in your position?
Maldonado: Well, I think for me, it is important for them to feel like a part of
the solution, right? I think oftentimes I will come out with a NorthStar because
as a leader, you can see things. You are having conversations with all types of
folks that give you the ability to understand what that next might look like.
But it is the 'how you get there.' And that is definitely not on your own. So, a
major part of leadership is making sure that you are those that are working with
you--that they feel very much a part of that solution and they have the buy in
to be able to also share or ask 'how do we get to that NorthStar?' Buy in is a
really important piece--nobody gets to where they want to go alone. And so it is
really, I think, sharing what that vision is, and then so how are we going to
get there? What do you think is going to make us get there? What are we missing?
And then, making sure that they have buy in and that they feel inspired by that,
and that we are constantly reaffirming this is the direction, this is the
direction. And I think it is also about having the confidence to believe in that
direction. Nobody wants to follow a leader who is not confident about where they
are going. Now, mind you in leadership, especially during these times that the
way forward is again, not always certain, because things are constantly
changing. I think that what people follow is a leader who is decisive enough
when it is time to make decisions, and vulnerable enough to say we need to chart
a new direction if needed. And I think it takes kind of that both that courage
and vulnerability to lead in today's timeframe.
Tavares: Right. So, how you just said that things are not certain and sometimes
even the goals that we think we have are not what is the best thing for us,
really--so how would you say that you measure success and how do you learn from
like those failures because sometimes those failures really feel like--a punch
in the face.
Maldonado: I totally understand what you are saying. I mean, I am a person that
my team will probably say 'what is the win of the day" like 'what is the win of
the week?' I am all about like the win. Now I am not about the win at whatever
cost, especially not when it comes to a human cost. But I am about 'what is the
goal?' And then 'did we meet that goal' and that is the win. So the question is,
when the goalposts constantly moves, you really have to ask yourself, 'what is
winning today mean?' 'What was my win today?' It might change. And I have had to
ask myself during these times to give myself grace as a leader as well, because
I have ambitious goals. And I just want to make sure I am answering your
question, maybe I am getting lost in it. But the way that I measure success,
number one, is that it is about results, right? For us, it is about results.
When I think about the organization I am leading, we have some financial results
that we have to get to. Winning is also adapting. Winning is also finding
another way to achieve the goal. Winning is not allowing ourselves to be
deterred by the obstacles that come along the way.
Tavares: Right
Maldonado: And there are many obstacles, especially when things are ever
changing. So, the way that I am defining winning these days is--how is my team
doing? Are we meeting our goals and objectives? Did we come up with some
innovative solutions to trying to achieving them if the culture or the climate
or the environment did not allow for it, and then redefining what winning means
for us each day, and we have had to go back and redefine winning. Like right
now, we are in a workforce place where we may be down three team members. And
winning when I have three team members extra will look very different, because
that means we had more bodies to execute. But maybe we have to redefine winning
because we do not have those bodies. Well, then how do we automate? To make sure
that we make up for it? Or how did we have to kind of move things along the way.
So, those are just some thoughts on how we measure winning these days and
success. I think that that is a very fluid question. Because, again, when you
are in a leadership role, I think it is about trying to achieve the vision, set
that strategy, and sometimes you have to move that strategy, but you have got to
execute because it is about the results. And again, not results over people, but
leveraging people so that you can get the results and win and work together.
Tavares: Right. Yeah, no, and I think it is very specific too, I guess, wherever
you work--defining success. And in this business setting it does have to do with
what you were hitting on with financial numbers and stuff like that. So just to
shift over a little bit, I was wondering what your strengths and weaknesses are
as a professional and how you deal with your weaknesses, you know, by
delegating, and how important it is to delegate--
Maldonado: All good questions. So I would definitely say that my strength is
strategy. I am a very strategic thinker, I am very innovative. I would say that
one of my strengths is also a relentless pursuit of better and I have pretty
decent communication skills. I am a pretty personable person. I am also very
empathetic, so I can kind of meet anybody we are they are at from a strategic
side of the brain. I am very people oriented. And I leverage those things in
order to obviously get the results because my brain is, again, back to the
results-oriented piece. But it is through the influence and collaboration of
others about how can we work together, how can we win together? How can we
achieve our collective vision together? Definitely and especially in this role,
it is literally about the power of delegation. I constantly wake up thinking
about what are the systems in place in order to ensure that we can be
successful. What is missing from the system? Whether it is people resources,
technology--what are those things that are that are necessary in order for me to
execute. Especially in this role, I can not be in the weeds doing everything the
way that I would like to. I am like that person that if someone did not do it
then I got to get it done. And then I realized that is not my job. And I can not
do that, because then I would not be doing my job. And so then my job is to
empower people to do their job to the best of their capability so that I can do
my job, and that is how it works. But my weaknesses, definitely--and I think we
all have them, we all have them. There was a really good book, by the way, that
helped me kind of come to peace with my weaknesses, and then lean into my
strength, and it is called Strength Finders, 2.0. I do not know if you have ever
read that book before
Tavares: Okay. No, I have not. I will have to write that down.
Maldonado: It is most definitely--it was an aha moment. I was like, oh my gosh,
if I just focus on my strengths, my strengths will always be my strengths, and
my weakness will always be my weakness. For me, it is that organizational piece.
I really have become a bit manic with it. It is not necessarily the most natural
thing to me, because I am a creative, I am an innovator, I am great with people,
and I have to work really diligently from that organizational standpoint. But
that is also why I have somebody to fill the gaps and help me stay organized--so
that I can continue to do what I do, which is create, which is to negotiate,
which is to think about the new collaborative efforts. And then all the other
pieces that come into that, to tie it up with a pretty bow, I have got someone
to kind of tie those things up. And so it really is the power of understanding
what is your strength and what are your areas of improvement and development.
And so I am sure I have a lot more because I am very human!
Tavares: I do not know why I feel like I have never heard somebody actually tell
me--.I have never met somebody that--I am sure I have-- that talks about being
creative and innovative and that struggles with that part of organization
skills. I just very I connected with that.
Maldonado: Well, that is the artistic side of me! I am great the branding and
the marketing and putting all these amazing things together. And it is funny,
because I can go from like very--what is the word? Abstract. To very concrete, I
have that kind of weird capacity.
Tavares: Yeah, I get that.
Maldonado: But I think that there are certain minds that can do that. But
definitely I think that if you if you ask folks about me, they would probably
say 'she does more than is probably humanly possible.' And it is because I have
this brain and this ability to kind of accomplish a lot. And so with that comes
that whole organizational piece, but I definitely need someone to keep me together!
Tavares: No, I get that. So, just to tie this up, because I do not want to take
too much of your time, my last question is, what do you want your legacy to be?
Maldonado: You know Paloma, just very simply, I want my legacy to be that people
felt that I saw them and that I spent time with them that I was present and that
interaction mattered. I really believe strongly in the power of one. There was a
time where I was as a leader, very concerned about the numbers and the masses of
people that I could impact. Because I always felt that I would be in a position
where I could influence. And I just remember asking myself 'what is my true
meaning and purpose' and I kind of just said, all I really wanted to do is be
someone that impacts others for the better. And that is not necessarily always
in the masses--you can do that with the power of one. That is why I am sitting
here with Paloma today having a conversation because power of one matters--and
then you have a voice and then you share this and this engagement matters. And I
think I want my legacy to really be that I was a person that cared enough, where
the power of one was enough, because I understood the multiplier effect of one
person's life, one business, one person. My legacy is my children that I did
not-- because I was a woman, or because I was a mom that did not have my own
career ambitions, or that I was not courageous enough to say yes to things when
it got hard and trying to figure out the work life balance. I want my legacy to
also be with my children to know that you can go after your dreams. And it is
not always easy, but it is possible when you decide that you want to put your
whole heart and your mind into it and find a way.
Tavares: That was great. And at the end of the day, like you said, it is not
about influencing the masses, it is about-- even if it is one person, I mean
that to one person that it can mean the world. Well that was a great answer. And
that was a great interview.
Maldonado: Oh, it is my pleasure.
Tavares: No, I really appreciate, honestly, you taking your time to do this. I
am sure you are super busy. And honestly really I hope I could meet you one day
in person.
Maldonado: Oh you can count on that!
Tavares: I will be down in Georgia sometime soon.
Maldonado: Super Paloma! Thank you for the honor and the opportunity to be with
you and to be interviewed.
Tavares: Okay, I will talk to you later. Have a great night and have a great
rest of your week
Maldonado: Thank you. Do not forget to stay driven to thrive.
Tavares: Will do!
