Diversity & Inclusion Speaker Series with Yai Vargas, Vice President, Strategic Engagement & Initiatives, Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility

John Buchanan:

Good evening and welcome to our final event in celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month. Congratulations UNIDOS in presenting an interesting and engaging month of programming. I think we are certainly going to end the month on a high note with today's guest, Yai Vargas. Yai is a diversity, equity and inclusion specialist. She has years of experience and a fresh perspective on ways to further an inclusive and sustainable corporate culture. She also works as a professional development coach, helping individuals with career advancement strategies. Yai sits on the benefit board for the Latino Commission on AIDS and is the founder of The Latinista, a national network for professional Latinas and women of color invested in skills development and career mobility.

John Buchanan:

Yai is also Vice President of Strategic Engagement and Initiatives for the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. Their mission is to advance the inclusion of Hispanics in corporate America. It is my pleasure to welcome Yai. And now I turn it over to our this evening, Mariano Gaut, managing director in our equity capital markets area, who yesterday was named to Crain's New York's list of notable Hispanic leaders and executives. So congratulations, Mariano, and I look forward to a great discussion.

Mariano Gaut:

What an honor to be sitting together with you today to go over so many different topics that we've identified spanning from your career, our community, our firm, and so many things that I'm sure you are going to be able to share with us based on a phenomenal trajectory that you've had during your life. So welcome. And thank you for being here today.

Mariano Gaut:

So if you don't mind, let's jump right into it. I just mentioned and referenced your career. I think it's more by having seen and read your work over these years, it literally is a journey in my mind. And you've come so long, both personally and professionally. So maybe we can start by asking you what you... How that journey has been and what you've learned from success as failures and what you can tell us all about it.

Yai Vargas:

Thank you. Well, I guess I would start with saying, I am Latina. I also identify as Latinx. I was born in Dominican Republic, so I immigrated here to New York City when I was very young. But if you've ever seen the film, In The Heights, that's basically what you'll learn about my people, my community, my culture, my language, my food. And so it's been a really rich opportunity to be able to grow up here in New York City. I since then have moved to New Jersey and now live in the Poconos, Pennsylvania, but I'm really everywhere. I studied in New York City as well at FIT and NYU. I studied advertising and marketing communications. And I think when it comes to experience and advice that people have given me, I always reflect on the question that my career counselor asked me once. And he said, "Yai, when you're interviewing for these new jobs and then starting your career, I think it's important for you to focus on the brands or the companies that you love, and also what inspires you."

Yai Vargas:

And at the time, right? I was thinking to myself, I'm all of 18 years old. I was actually really passionate about cars. My dad grew up taking me to the New York Auto Show and I loved the automotive industry and cars. And the other question that my career counselor asked me was what makes you so unique and so different from everybody else that literally has the same degree or certifications or experience or skill sets as you. And at that age, literally, the only thing that I could think of was the fact that I spoke Spanish. That was the only thing that really differentiated me from a lot of other people in my classroom. And yes, this is New York City. It's a very diverse city, but back then 20 years ago, I didn't really have many peers and school mates that spoke Spanish here in New York City.

Yai Vargas:

And so I really took that, what I was passionate about, which was the automotive industry and the fact that I could speak Spanish and nobody else in this classroom could. And so I decided to really focus and lean in on those as I was evolving in my career. And so I started working in the automotive industry at Mercedes-Benz, the headquarters. And then eventually I started to nurture the part of me that said, since I do speak Spanish, I want to keep that because that was something that was actually very difficult in growing up here in the United States is the fear of losing my Spanish language. I was speaking Spanish at home, but at Mercedes-Benz, nobody was speaking Spanish to me. And so I wanted to make sure to capture that. And so from that point on, I said, you know what? There must be some work that I can do that'll focus my Spanish language skills. And ever since then, I've been working in the multicultural industry with a focus on Spanish and Portuguese language.

Yai Vargas:

And so when I work on translating products and services, I've learned to actually transcreate them. And so not just taking an English word and translating it to Spanish, but using geography and culture and language and vocabulary and data from those Spanish or Portuguese speaking communities to then say, how would a Cuban from Miami versus a Mexican from LA and a Puerto Rican in New York purchase this product? What words and language do they use that's different from someone who speaks Mandarin or Vietnamese or another dialect or language? And so I learned quite a bit focusing on my Spanish language. And honestly, that's how my career has evolved. Always with that deep focus on me being the Hispanic market subject matter expert, using my very limited, I think, Spanish language with skills, because I'm not a professional Spanish speaker, I would say. I never went to school in Spanish, but I've always been able to say, I can research it and I'm living this experience and I know this community for over the last 20 years. And so that's sort of how my career trajectory has always focused on that aspect.

Mariano Gaut:

And that's interesting because you mentioned now community, and you me mentioned your background. And as I'm hearing it myself, I, myself, I'm Latino and I have a very different background and a very different upbringing to the one that you mentioned. And it is, I think, the very special characteristic of our community that we have such a strong diversity with respect to backgrounds and with respect to life experiences within this large community that we call Hispanic. So maybe building on that, maybe I can ask you what does it mean to you to be a Latina and how do you think about the different elements and the different backgrounds that make up this community?

Yai Vargas:

Mariano, just like you said, the Latino and the Hispanic community is so dynamic and so diverse. My experience is shared with so many Latino Americans or Dominican Americans or Caribbeans or immigrants growing up here. I grew up literally in corporate America, I spent 15 years. It's all I ever knew. And it was interesting because given the fact that I was very Latina, when I entered corporate America, I started being approached by a lot of very corporate individuals who had never really interacted with someone like me. And so I heard a lot growing up, people saying, "Wow, Yai, you're Dominican, you're Latina, you're an immigrant. You speak so well. You're so articulate. This is fantastic." And to me in my mind, I'm thinking, I've been here since I was three years old. I'm super American, but, I guess I'm still very much Latina. I go to Dominican Republic literally every summer. But in those instances, I always think to myself, it's fascinating how some individuals choose to interact with us.

Yai Vargas:

I do a lot of work in the diversity space and that saying is actually a microaggression because I'm tied to a very specific group, right? That they have stereotyped as being not so articulate. But I feel that there are two different types of individuals, right? The individuals that will hear that and get very upset and try to say that that individual is very ignorant or even racist for saying something like that. But it was always my experience and my interaction with people that would say this, where I would say, "Yes, I'm Dominican. I grew up in Washington Heights. You should come hang out with me, my friends and my family. We're all so different. My uncles are black. I also have Asian cousins and I'm considered white in my community. You'll probably learn something and I'm sure you're going to love our food," right? I never really took an offense to people that would say, "Oh my goodness, you're so smart. You're so articulate. You speak English so well."

Yai Vargas:

I always sort of embraced that and I wanted to teach them that there were so many more of me they just haven't been approached or have worked with them in the past. And so I feel like it's always been my responsibility to embrace those individuals who may have never come across someone like me. And to say, I'm Dominican, I'm an immigrant. I have accomplished quite a bit. I love my country and my community, but I'm also 100% American. I'm 100% Dominican and also 100% American. And I've been able to combine so much of my culture with the American experience. And I've learned to play the corporate politics that has helped me internally mobilizing my career. And so I think I've figured out some sort of way of managing conversations like that without being really offended.

Mariano Gaut:

As I was listening to you, I felt bad because people maybe reacting to people like me who still have an accent as they put you in that category. But it is interesting to reflect upon that. Because for those of us who actually do have an accent, there always is that self-awareness that we are standing out and that we actually sound different. So making sure that at least in my mind, the organization that one works for is inclusive and doesn't make these differences an issue, but rather learns how to build teams and particularly build diverse teams is, at the end of a day, key to the career development of individuals like myself, who the bare minimum is that we feel welcome and that we feel not only welcome, but also well regarded and are given the tools to advance. So with that regard, I was thinking maybe you can tell us two, three things that in your mind, having worked with so many organizations and so many companies you just mentioned before, you thought were successes that they implemented in assisting with the recruitment, the promotion and the career advancement of Hispanic or Latinx professionals.

Yai Vargas:

Absolutely. So you actually are a very integral part in the Mizuho ERG for Latino professionals. I've been working with employee resource groups, ERGs, which have a special focus and an emphasis on the Latino professional experience internally at an organization. I've been working with ERGs for about 13 years. Very, very small ones and large ones that have been around for 50 years. They've made probably all of the mistakes that you could possibly make at this point. And that's the beauty of it that it's always evolving. I think the things that I've learned about best practices and working with so many, probably 75 different ERGs, is the fact that the most important aspect of building out the programs of the ERG is to constantly survey the members. And when I say members, right? And so you all have a number of different members that are part of the UNIDOS Mizuho ERG, but members should consist of the entire organization.

Yai Vargas:

And when you ask those members, what are you having a challenge in specifically here at Mizuho when it comes to your professional development, right? Constantly serving them and asking the right questions is probably the most important thing. I think the misstep that many ERGs make is saying, how old are you? How did you get to Mizuho? Where were you born? What language do you speak? Where are you from? The most important questions are actually what is going to get you from point A to point B right here at Mizuho? What are you being challenged with? Perhaps it's confident public speak, maybe delegating when you've just been promoted to being a manager of someone. Maybe it's articulating your ideas in a very diverse and dynamic and global workforce and space here at Mizuho. But the more that you survey your members, they are going to tell you what is that they need to be able to develop their skills and internally mobilize.

Yai Vargas:

I think what's also very important to ERGs is to make sure that all of the programs and the work that you put energy into is focused on the company's bottom line, right? And so making sure that the programs the ERG is putting into place has to do with recruiting, education, retention, products, services, programs, volunteering, community engagement, right? So when the ERG says, we'd love to help in recruiting more diverse talent, they literally partner up with human capital department or HR and say, how can we help and support. Case and point, you can have all of your ERG members source their network for some of the open roles that you have. Because I would be willing to bet that you, Mariano, you probably have an incredibly diverse pool of talent within your LinkedIn profile that could fit the bill for so many of these opportunities we're trying to fit here at Mizuho.

Yai Vargas:

And so it's making sure that, yes, we don't just focus on the food, the flags, the culture, the fun that Latinos embrace and love, but first and foremost, we're here for business, right? Professional development, how we are internally mobilizing at Mizuho. And then it has an added layer of culture and belonging and music and food and community, and all of that. I think third, it's also important to practice equity in all of your ERGs. And so making sure if there is a mentorship program or a development program that's about to launch company wide at Mizuho, for those allies that are watching, making sure that you go above and beyond and say, whenever we launch a mentorship or development program, it's always people in accounting or finance or in the legal department that apply to this program.

Yai Vargas:

I want to go above and beyond as an ally to reach out to the UNISOD Mizuho ERG and be able to offer that program to them and say, "Hey, everyone here at UNIDOS Mizuho ERG, did you know that a development program is just being launched? You all should apply." It shouldn't just be focused on the high performing individuals in the organization, but making sure that you are practicing equity. That everyone in the organization has a fair access to the opportunity of applying to that program, right? Equity and equality are very, very different terms. And so a lot of times in the workplace, what we're practicing is equity, not equality because it's very, very different. And so those are some of the things that I've learned that have been really influential in moving ERGs forward. And kudos to you all for starting an ERG, because that's a huge first step.

Mariano Gaut:

Well, thank you. I think those are very, very good points. And we've been fortunate with Mizuho, which is a very, very inclusive workplace and company fostering the introduction of ERGs. So there are a number of ERGs already. We at UNIDOS are the newcomers and the last ones to form, but it's generated a lot of enthusiasm, both amongst the community and amongst allies as well. And so we've grown very quickly. We have a phenomenal leadership team that actually does all the work and has made sure that we were ready for Hispanic Heritage Month with the different events that we've hosted. So we've been fortunate again with a very strong corporate support, as well as with great enthusiasm from the population. So we love it.

Mariano Gaut:

And for the record, we will do serious events, but we'll also do some fun events as well with fun and food and the things that you mentioned. That's a core part of our community. You used the word before. I want to go back to one point that I think it may not be as well understood, or at least there may not be as much familiarity with amongst our population and that is the terminology that you're using. You used the word... You said that you identified as Latina, you also identify as Latinx. Would you mind giving your perspective as to how we use the terminology within the community and how that's evolved over the last few years, if you don't mind?

Yai Vargas:

Absolutely. So this is a really interesting conversation when it comes to the evolution of terminology. In the past, we've used of Spain, Spanish, brown, and then Hispanic, Latino, Latina, and now we use Latinx and Latina. It's important to know that in the US census there are two very distinct questions when we talk about this. And it's the question about ethnicity and the separate question about race. When we talk about Hispanic, Latino, Latina, Latinx, and Latina, we were talking only about ethnicity. And so growing up for me, it was actually quite confusing when I would fill out job applications. Because the first question would always be about ethnicity. Are you Hispanic, Spanish, or Latino? And I'm like, "Yeah that's me. That's me. I got it." And then the second question would be about race. And that's where I would get very confused because now they were asking me to select black, white, Asian, Pacific Islander, native American, or other.

Yai Vargas:

And I was always think to myself, wait a minute. I already answered this question. I'm Latina. And why isn't Latina or Latino or Hispanic under race? I'm so confused. And so growing up in New Jersey in a very white dominated community, I never saw myself as white because my friends were all Irish and Italian. I didn't really resonate with their stories or the countries they came from. And then I certainly knew that I wasn't Asian. I have cousins that are Asian, but I wasn't. I didn't look Asian. And then when it came to the question, am I black? And so I looked at myself and I said, "I'm not black, but my uncles are black. Absolutely black. They're Dominican, but certainly black." And so I've had so many conversations over the years with cultural anthropologists that say, because I was born in Dominican Republic and because I have black ancestors and because I carry a Taino native American, Indian indigenous name, I am black.

Yai Vargas:

And if I choose to say, I'm white, that's actually practicing erasure, right? I'm not white, I'm black in their eyes. But it was very difficult for me to walk around New York City saying, Hey, I'm black or, Hey, I'm white because those individuals are probably thinking, no, you're not. You don't look black or white. And so it was very complicated. Most Latinos when they come to this race question actually select other. So as you can imagine, millions of people aren't being counted in the US census because they are confused. And in the last 50 years that the US census has been doing survey, they still haven't figured out a way to really digest all of the intricacies of all of these nuances and selections. And so when we speak about ethnicity, the most recent terms we've used are Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx. And when we talk about the term Hispanic, that really ties to Spain as a country, Spanish as a language, as well as culture.

Yai Vargas:

And so it's important to emphasize that a lot of people don't use the term Hispanic anymore because of the way that it reminds us of how Spain colonized a lot of these countries, right? So someone from Cuba or Mexico, or Puerto Rico, South or Central America, right? Is of Spanish culture or origin or language. And so they use Hispanic. And when it comes to the term Latino or Latina, that's anyone from the Spanish and Portuguese speaking country of Latin America, right? So it doesn't include someone from Spain or from Portugal. And so with this understanding, someone from Brazil is Latino or Latina. Someone from Spain, who's a Spaniard, is Hispanic. But someone who's Columbian can actually use both. And this term Latino is also not perfect in the sense, because it doesn't include those that live in Spanish dominant countries like Peru.

Yai Vargas:

They don't have an affinity to the Spanish culture and they speak Quechua, an indigenous language in Peru. And this term also doesn't include people from the Caribbean like Haiti and Belize. I have friends from Haiti and Belize that say they are black, but I also have friends from Haiti and Belize say that they're absolutely Latinas. And so it's very, very complicated and nuanced. It's also important to note and remember that Hispanics and Latinos could be any race. Remember those two questions. And when we speak about race, we speak about characteristics, bone structure, eye color, hair type. Very, very different. So I could be Latina and Asian. I could be Latina and black. I could be Latina and white, Pacific Islander, native American, but we don't see ourselves as that. And it's so interesting because the US census recently mentioned that last time we did the US census, which was 10 years ago, 26 million Latinos know said that they are white.

Yai Vargas:

And now in this recent census study, only 12 million said that they are white. And it's because of all of the education on this very question that we've received, where people are saying, I'm not white. I'm in Puerto Rico. I'm actually black because I'm Afro-Latino or Afro a Caribbean. Now, I identify as black or multiracial or biracial. And if that's not complicated enough, now we have the most recent terms, Latinx and Latine. And so there are two reasons why people use the term Latinx to identify. The first reason is because they're trying to get away from the gendered Spanish language terms. And so, for example, if I use Latino with an O, that's a masculine terminology in the Spanish language. And if I use the term Latina, that has a feminine sense of the Spanish language term. And so if I'm non-binary, and I don't see myself as a woman or a man, I don't want to have to choose which word I'm using that emphasizes male or female.

Yai Vargas:

And so what I choose to use is Latinx, which doesn't have a gender. It's non-binary. I use it specifically because I've worked in the trans and LGBTQ community for 15 years now. And because I work with that community, I want to make sure that they understand I'm not gendering them when I use language. And so it's so important for me to communicate with them just by using the fact that I'm Latinx, they know that I see them, I understand their stories, and I work within their communities and I'm not using language that's male dominated or female focused. I'm giving them the opportunity to say I'm neither of those, right? I'm just human. I'm just a person, right? And so a lot of people have decided to use a gender inclusive non-binary term like Latinx. Some people don't use any of these terms and they just say, I'm just Dominican. I'm just Argentinian. I'm just Spanish. I'm just Cuban. I'm just a Tejana. I'm just Boricua. I'm just Puerto Rican.

Yai Vargas:

And when it comes to Latine, it actually all boils down to pronunciation. And so there's people in Latin America who can't easily pronounce Latinx as easily as I do because I'm super American. And so there are individuals in Latin America who say, "I can't pronounce the X because we don't have that many words in the Spanish language with X, but I can use E." So Latine is used as an non-gender conforming term in Latin America. So for example, they don't use Latina or Latino they use Latine when speaking about students [foreign language 00:30:08] right? [foreign language 00:30:08] is student, but it doesn't have a gender. And so Latine really just boils down to pronunciation and the fact that some people in Latin America can't pronounce Latinx like me because I'm raised here in America. So it's very, very, very confusing. I've been Latina my whole life and I'm still learning about the ways in which our vocabulary and our terms are evolving.

Yai Vargas:

And what I would say to this, at the end of the day, it's our responsibility to respect how someone chooses to identify. And so if you, Mariano, you're like, I'm Hispanic or I'm Latino, I just respect that, right? And whenever I share with people, the fact that I'm Latinx, it doesn't impact their life at all. But it is an opportunity for them to say, "That's so cool, Yai. Why do you use Latinx? That's different. That's interesting," right? But it's not our place to say, "Oh my goodness, Yai, I can't believe you're not using Hispanic or Latina. Why are you using this government created millennial focused trend word that people are pushing upon us?" Hispanic is actually a term that was created by the government, right? By President Nixon and his community, not Latinx, right? It was created by the LGBTQ community to be gender nonconforming. And so it gives us an opportunity to have these kinds of conversations, which is okay. You don't have to use them, but I will, right? And I think it's beautiful.

Mariano Gaut:

Well, at the end of the day, I think that it sounded to some people who are not as familiar, probably as being very complicated and very difficult to follow or understand. But I think if I can summarize it, at the end of the day, we started this conversation by making the point that this is a very diverse community, very different backgrounds, very different types of people. And as such, we struggle to find one or two or three words that represent the cross section element of, like you said, background, culture, upbringing, combined with race, right? And I think that we shouldn't... I very much agree with what you just said and I like what you said, we shouldn't strive to find one word or two words to put everybody in the same bag. I think that we should continue to strive to understand individuals for who they are each of whom has a different background, different rates, different crosssectionality across different groups. You could be, like we said, Latino and LGBQ. You could be Latino and black.

Mariano Gaut:

You could be Latino and Asian, as you said. And there's so many of our colleagues as well. And that is why I thought it was interesting that you, I think, picked up on this and focused on this cross section of groups very early. I've watched a lot of what you've done with respect to The Latinista which is the group that you founded, which is a network to promote professional Latinas. But also I thought it was interesting, women of color in their professional development. So maybe with making or building up on the point of this crosssectionality of groups, maybe you could tell us a little bit about what drove you to fund The Latinista and what you're doing with respect to that organization right now. For those who haven't seen it, I do urge everybody to go on YouTube. There's many, many videos of Yai and the organization or its website, and get more familiar with the organization. But maybe you can just summarize it for us in a few minutes, Yai.

Yai Vargas:

Absolutely. And thank you for that. The Latinista is a national network of Latina professionals and women of color, as well as allies that get together to share ways in which they can help each other progress in their career. And the reason why I started this group was because when I started working on Wall Street, I realized that all of the women that I was surrounded by, they weren't necessarily understanding how significant it is to be able to attend conferences where they can find mentors, sponsors, champions, and individuals who are going to land them their next job. And it was really interesting because I would hang out and network with all of these women locally here in New York City. But when I would travel to these very important conferences like the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, I would look around and say, where are all of my friends and my female professionals that I normally see on Wall Street?

Yai Vargas:

How come they're not here in this room, learning from all of these incredible leaders? And so when I would come home, I would ask them and I'd say, "Hey, how come you didn't go to the [inaudible 00:35:31] conference in DC? It was incredible. Look at all of the leaders that I met and they're going to be so influential in my career." The women would always tell me two things. Number one, I had no idea these events were even occurring. I'm not in the know. Or number two, "I know it's an incredible conference, but my organization probably wouldn't send me there. It costs a lot of money." And so that made me realize that there's an opportunity for me to create a network to help these women figure out how they can articulate to their managers the importance of them being at those conferences, right? Because when you attend those really important conferences, you're not going just your professional or personal advancement.

Yai Vargas:

You're going to learn new things that is going to help the overall Mizuho organization to be a better, more professional, diverse, inclusive, and belonging place to work. You're bringing back that knowledge and information to help the overall organization, of course, as well as yourself, but the women that I was surrounded by, they didn't have the vocabulary, the tools, or the know how and how to articulate that to their manager and say, "If you invest in me going to this conference, I guarantee that I will bring it back twofold." And so I started workshops and bringing in those subject matter experts that would teach these women on how to be more confident public speakers, how to invest in the stock market, how to negotiate your salary or build boundaries around your role and responsibilities.

Yai Vargas:

And so I'm not necessarily the subject matter are expert, but I have an incredible network that I have been tapping into in the last nine years that I've been running The Latinista. And these women have benefited from finding new jobs, negotiating their salaries, being more confident in saying, "No, you hired me for this. This is what I'm going to bring to the table. And this is how this organization is going to benefit from everything that I've learned," right? And so the Latinista has been an incredible way for me to be able to give back to the community and the women that I surround myself with. And it's not just women. We actually get a lot of men that attend and they learn so much from us, but also all of the tools that we're learning.

Yai Vargas:

So I'll have a workshop on Trello, Asana, Slack, slides, WhatsApp outlook, OneNote, Salesforce, LinkedIn, on all of the technology that you need to learn and understand to stay relevant and competitive in this industry. And so men and allies come all of the time because they're like, "Oh my God, I want to learn all about LinkedIn and Trello and Slack and Asana and Salesforce." I'm like, "Come on in." It's really just about learning something new that's going to get you ahead in your career. And the fact that I started it with an emphasis on Latino professionals, that's kind of like, that's how we started. But now it's really just to develop professionals. So I capture more people by saying it's Latin focused and women of color focused, but really it's for everyone who wants to learn something new. So Mariano, you have to come to our events once we kick off again in person.

Mariano Gaut:

I will definitely be there. I've got a lot to learn about some of the platforms that you just mentioned. I think that we all focus on LinkedIn being that LinkedIn is the most representative, probably, platform for us in business. We focus on LinkedIn here at Mizuho as a firm, we focus on LinkedIn as individuals as well. And now that you mentioned LinkedIn, I was watching a video on you where somebody referred to you as a LinkedIn ninja, which I thought was interesting because I did go through your profile and you've done a lot of things that look very good and you've done it very, very right. So maybe before wrapping this conversation up, maybe that's a good segue to ask you, what do you think are the best dos and the best don'ts as one considers to up tier one's LinkedIn profile?

Yai Vargas:

Well, I think the most important thing when building your personal and professional brand on LinkedIn, it's so important to be able to share the fact that you have personal passions, as well as professional passions that should be placed on this platform. And no you're not going to talk about your children and what school they go to. But for example, if I was a small business owner and I love cupcakes, and I also am a Zumba instructor on the weekend, or the fact that I help St. Jude fundraise, those are all personal passions that should absolutely be added onto your professional platform profile like LinkedIn, because those are the things that make you human. When I look up people on LinkedIn, if they're just like, I work here and I've worked there and here was my title and that's it. I'm like, well, that's kind of boring.

Yai Vargas:

But the fact that you tell me, you work in the financial industry, but you also teach Zumba and you give back to St. Jude's Children's Hospital and you also have a small business, I'm going to be like, oh my God, that's a human person. This is an actual person that I'm going to connect with because they are so dynamic and colorful and real and normal, just like everyone else. Gone are the days of professionals that literally just go to work and that's all they do. We are so multifaceted and multihyphenate these days, because there are parts of our personalities that need to be supplemented, right? You do other things that make you come alive. And so I feel like it's super important for you to figure out how you can put, on your LinkedIn profile, what makes you come alive. The passions, both personally and professionally, that you want to share with people. And when you're sharing with those people, your network on LinkedIn, you have to be consistent with it.

Yai Vargas:

And when I say consistent, I don't mean every day because I certainly don't post every day. I think that's super annoying. I don't mean every week because I don't post every week unless it's relevant content. And I don't mean every month. But when you do post it's consistently about what you are a subject matter expert in. And so if I'm looking for someone who's a subject matter expert in user experience design in the financial industry, you are always going to be top of mind for me because that's what you're always posting about. I see you as a thought leader in that space. And so you have to be consistent with what it is that you know very well. I think the challenge and the mistake that people make on LinkedIn is that they think it's a platform where you go to impress people and to brag about yourself when it's actually not that. What you should be doing on LinkedIn is teaching others about what's happening in your community or your industry.

Yai Vargas:

And there's a very significant line between bragging and boasting and teaching and sharing. So for example, I've been hosting the Latino Commission on AIDS annual gala for 15 years. I'm going to be there next month at their gala down on Cipriani Wall Street. But when I post about that gala, I'm posting about the significance and the start of that organization and how you as a person on LinkedIn, who's following me and watching where you can donate and what you'll learn from what I've been doing with the Latino Commission on AIDS. Where you can donate, the website, the founder what's happening, how you can buy some of the silent auction items. What I'm not doing is, oh my goodness. Look at how cool I am. I'm at Cipriani Wall Street at a fancy gala. That's not what it is. I'm giving access to those individuals who say, "Wow, I didn't know about the Latino Commission on AIDS. I would like to donate, where can I do that? This is the website and the person that founded it. That's great. I'm going to follow Yai because she's constantly sharing things that I support," right?

Yai Vargas:

And so those are some nuances that I think are important to take into consideration when you're building your brand, what do you want to be known for and how can you consistently share that in a very focused way so that people can see you as a subject matter expert, right? It's not... And sometimes it's not about the financial industry or finances, but maybe it is about the new program or technology or platform that you learn to use. And you're like, Hey everyone, Mariano, I just learned how to use Riverside streaming content platform so that I can be more in tuned with the technology and how it's growing the financial services industry.

Yai Vargas:

And people are like, "Oh my God, Mariano, that's really cool. Maybe I should learn about Riverside too. Let me look at the link," right? It's always about teaching someone something and educating them, not about bragging that you know how to do these things. And so there's a very, very thin line. But I've been on LinkedIn for 16 years and it doesn't happen overnight. It's my platform of choice. And it takes a while to build your personal and professional brand. And I don't mean to make it sound easy. I've been doing this for a long time, but those are just some things you can do to get started.

Mariano Gaut:

Very, very good points. So look, I think I was looking at the time, and I think we're running out of time here. But I wanted to thank you on behalf of Mizuho. I wanted to thank you on behalf of UNIDOS, again, our new ERG. I wanted to thank you on behalf myself personally through your journey, through your both personal and professional that you described, and also your observation about so many different aspects of our community helping us make the point and continue further understanding the fact that the Hispanic community is a very diverse community. And as such, we, in our new ERG, will always strive to, with some of the tips that you provided, make sure that we are inclusive and that we're as broad as we can, as you alluded to.

Mariano Gaut:

And also I thought your comments managing your professional profile, managing your personal and professional public persona through platforms like LinkedIn is exactly what we are aligned with. We are very focused on it. And I think both, again, as an organization, as individuals as well. So some of the tips that you give us there, I think are very aligned to what you are trying to do and will be very well received by our colleagues. So once again, thank you [foreign language 00:47:45] for coming and spending time with us. And I promise that I will attend one of the sessions of The Latinista when you do them in person. And I encourage others here within our firm to do the same. So thank you so much for coming, Yai.

Yai Vargas:

Thank you, Mariano. And I appreciate the partnership that we're starting with the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility. Remember as building the UNIDOS ERG, we are your partners. And so whenever I can sit down and share some of what I've learned, I'm absolutely so thrilled to be able to do that with you all. Congratulations to Mizuho. And I know that we're going to do some great work together.

Mariano Gaut:

Absolutely. Because Mizuho is very focused at on this. We have all the support of the firm, which we love, and we intend to take advantage of it. So again, thank you so much for your time and thank you everybody who took the time to be with us today. We look forward to more events. Even as we wind down our Hispanic heritage month, we will be having a kind of ongoing events, which we count on everybody attending and supporting us as we continue to grow. So thank you so much.