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Make the decisions.

Yes, we're going to fail sometimes, but it's okay because we'll learn from that and keep on going.

Just focus on what you need to do, what you want to do, and don't give up on it.

If you have a passion and a drive and you love what you're doing, you can accomplish it.

Hola.

Welcome to Salud.

I'm Melanie Mendez Gonzalez.

Many leading Latinas in San Antonio got their career start in civic roles.

Whether serving constituents in an elected capacity or leading through service to the community.

On today's show, we'll meet three women who did just that.

A city councilwoman making changes in her community, a state representative making an impact at the Capitol, and a leader in the nonprofit world showing how the heart of a servant can have a huge impact.

Let's meet them.

Vamos, Jamie.

Thank you so much for having us today.

Let's start with you, telling us about Lift Fund in your role.

Sure.

So Live Fund is a not for profit organization that lent money to small businesses that can't get loans from banks.

So what we do at Lift Fund is we provide people access to credit and access to education on how to use money.

So that you then qualify to go to the banks.

You know, we started Lift Fund back in 1994.

I'm actually the first employee.

I was hired in January of 1994, and my job for the first three months was to get the thing rolling, get the 523 going, find office space, hire the staff, put the policies together.

And so in 1994, we had had, what, three employees probably, and we started with a $50,000 grant for operations to pay salaries and to turn on the lights and so on.

And then $150,000 in a loan pool from four banks.

My call them are our godfathers, right?

So Frost Broadway, Chase and Wells Fargo.

That year we probably made about ten loans.

Fast forward now to 2023.

We have over 100 employees.

We are in 15 states.

We disbursed.

We have disbursed almost $1,000,000,000 in to small businesses and on and we continue to grow.

Yeah.

So that's what we do it on, is that we help people not only get that access to capital and education, but hopefully we can break that cycle of poverty, right, Because that's how we can build assets and and families have something that they.

All right.

Make a difference, Right.

Right here in our own home.

Right.

Have there been mentors in your life that helped guide you?

Sure.

Many.

So right after high school, I entered the convent and so I was in Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament sister for 15 years.

Wow.

And my novice director sister Bridget, told me once, Janey, if you ever see yourself and you think that you're in a corner, turn around.

Because now you see the wide open space.

So don't ever think that you're stuck in that corner.

Make sure that you have whatever you need to make that turn and see the wide open space.

And so to me, what that means is that you don't take no for an answer.

If you believe in something, you've got to keep on going and asking, okay, If you're telling me no, why is that?

Let me try to figure out a way.

How about.

Yes.

And that's what I love about LA.

Fun to write.

When you come to apply, we may have to say no, but let's figure out a way that we can.

We can say yes.

So Sister Bridget was one.

Many of the sisters that I was with for 15 years taught me leadership skills, how to listen, how to be good stewards of whatever we have.

And, you know, here I am now.

I mean, then I had a vow of poverty.

Right now, I don't have a vow of poverty, but I believe that we don't need everything.

You know, a lot.

I mean, we we need what we need and any of that excess we should be sharing.

You've seen a lot of business owners come to the program, so you see different styles of leadership.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I am one that wants to collaborate.

I'll ask questions.

I'm the kind of person that wants to get to the bottom line fast.

Yeah.

What's the plan?

And.

And there are at the end of the day, I also take on accountability so that the buck stops here type of thing, and that my team knows that.

And the team knows that.

That at the end of the day, you know, once we make a decision, we've got to move in that direction.

I also take advice from people, which I not everybody does.

I think I do, especially in the in what?

I don't know, because the the the idea that may come from somebody who has had an experience, I'll then try to see, okay, how does that relating and to what I'm experiencing now so that I can incorporate that.

I've also learned though too, that when, you know, being around negative people, for example, I over the years I've learned I don't want to do that.

Life is too short.

You know, I will spend my time with other folks that really have a positive outlet and and be able then to take on that energy.

Right.

And be of assistance to others.

Tell me about the challenges, though, in in your role over the last three years of creating this very successful organization?

I think the biggest challenge in when you work in the financial world, for example, I sat on the on the Federal Reserve Board for the San Antonio branch, and that was a six year commitment.

And one of the challenges there is other people on the on the Federal Reserve Board represent major industries, major companies.

And what I was bringing to the table is information about our community.

You know, the the people of color community, the women community, the the mentoring communities, you know.

And so I always, always have to tell these guys amongst the guys, you know, erase three of those zeros in your report.

And that's the world that we live in.

That's the economy in which in which we work.

So what advice do you have, Jamie, for Latino leaders, if they're the people who want to come and follow in your footsteps?

I think Latinas have so many opportunities because there's a certain thing in our DNA that I think we have, which is tenacity.

You know, in our families.

We've been taught I was taught any way, and I think I've seen that experience in other Latinas, is that, you know, we we we have a special spirit within us that we want to be able to be collaborative.

And at the same time, we need to be moving forward, meaning making decisions.

And so my advice to our our community is that make the decisions, yes, we're going to fail sometimes, but it's okay because we'll lear And not to take no for an answer.

Yeah, maybe it's not right now, but not to take no for an answer totally is not probably a good idea.

Jamie.

Felicia, that is on your work and your community and being a great steward of all of these assets.

And thank you for being here at this.

Gracias Representative Compass, thank you for having us in your district office today.

Can you describe to me in your own words, what is your job as a representative?

So as a representative, we go to Austin every two years to file legislation, all types of, you know, legislation.

So this is my second term.

And so I've been pretty successful in my life.

This this is my second session.

So I filed 73 bills and I got 18 passed in the House.

I mean, that's what it's about, right?

It's about, you know, being a legislator, going to Austin and putting in some good legislation for the betterment of our community.

How do you decide which legislation or which topics you want to address?

So I've been in my district my entire life, so 54 years, and I really know my district.

How do you choose which legislation to put in or to fight for?

So normally what I'll do is in the interim, you know, when we're not in session, I make it a point to meet with my constituents and just trying to figure out what's needed, you know, And so different organizations will come in and talk to us.

So and then also just living in the district, as long as I live there, I know what we need, what's needed.

But you are the first woman, the first Latina, to be elected to this seat.

What does that mean to you?

It means a lot.

It's really, really rewarding to be able to live in this district for so long and then to be able to represent, you know, the constituents in this area.

It's great.

But also to be able to work with everyone, you know, to collaborate with other elected officials and and just come together and serve.

You've done a great job of collaborating and getting your bills through.

But tell me about the challenges.

What challenges do you face?

Oh, it's hard.

I mean, especially with, you know, the the Republicans being the majority.

So it's very, very challenging to get bills passed.

But what I've learned is, first of all, we all have to respect one another and we have to respect each other's beliefs and not make people believe what you believe, because that's just not the way it is.

So we have to respect other people's beliefs.

And even though I don't like their beliefs or I don't believe in their beliefs, but I respect them.

And so I try to respect everybody on that house floor and not just and everybody serves a purpose at the Capitol.

Whether you're an elected official, a state rep, a senator, the governor, everybody serves a purpose.

And so I think that's what's helped me, is that I try to stay focused and I strive to stay positive.

And I try to I always say this.

I kind of stay in my lane and I do what I need to do.

How do you deal with that when in those moments that it's wearing on you, how do you stay positive?

I've just you know, I have a lot of faith and I just every day I just, you know, ask God to allow me to do the best I can.

Who were your mentors?

Were there mentors to guide you to your next step?

Can you tell us about them?

Well, I do have a mentor.

My sister, Anna.

She went to SAC is she got her paralegal associates, and then she went on to Incarnate Word and got her bachelor's.

And the reason I started working at a law firm at the age of 16 is because they actually hired her.

But she wanted to be a paralegal.

And so it was a clerk position.

And so she passed it on to me.

And so that's how.

So she's been my mentor.

And then, of course, my family.

And we have a very close knit family and we really support one another.

What's advice you would give to Latina women that see you and think, I want to do what she does?

Well, first and foremost, education is priority.

Like, you know, kids need to stay in school and do, you know, go as high as they possibly can.

So but you just got to stay focused and not give up.

Right.

And not not let people tell you you can't do it right.

Just focus on what you need to do, what you want to do, and don't give up on it.

So I just think that we just have to encourage the kids and they need to know that you can do it.

You just got to stay focused, right?

And even if, you know, again, you know, school education is priority, but if you can just stay focused in your job and don't give up on yourself and and know that, you know, there's a light at every end of the tunnel and there's more past it.

And that's what I tell kids is don't let nobody knock you.

Don't let nobody tell you you can't do it.

And so for Latinos, we, you know, we've had challenges.

But it's pretty awesome to see that.

We've got 17 Latinos at the Capitol.

Yeah, that is.

It's a lot.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So we're coming up.

I wanted to ask you kind of hit on this, but has anyone told you you can't do that here?

It's hard to be here.

And how did you handle it?

I'm like, okay, well, that's, again, respecting each other's beliefs.

That's your thought.

Right.

And you may think I might not be able to do it, but we'll see.

I'll do it.

I, I think so.

That's just, you know, I've always been like that.

You know, my dad had a saying and he said, you know, we all put our pants on the same way.

You know, in the morning we put our pants on the same way.

Female Male You know, it doesn't matter who you are.

Like, just stay humble and, you know, don't judge anyone.

Don't let nobody judge you and just believe in yourself and don't give up and respect people and make sure that you know that they respect you as well.

Don't let anybody run over you.

I can't help but wonder, how do you take care of yourself because your work is so intertwined with your personal life.

So how do you self-care?

Oh, well, I do yoga.

I do yoga and Pilates.

And I really make it a point, honestly, like on my weekends, I. I just stay home and watch TV unless I've got something going on.

I mean, I really, really enjoy what I'm doing.

And so the yoga helps do yoga really helps.

And wanting to you.

Yes.

And my faith in God and my faith in God, that's what really gets me through every day, because I do have a lot of faith and just, you know, knowing that you're not going to make everyone happy.

Yeah.

You know, everyone has something to say, good or bad.

No matter how hard you work, there's always somebody out there that's just not going to be happy with you for whatever reason.

So I don't have a lot of expected and I just do what I need to do and then I just, you know, move on to the next thing.

Describe your leadership style.

So again, every morning, you know, I do my prayers and ask God to give me the strength to get through the day.

But it really is an honor to be able to walk, walk on that House floor and to be a Latina and then to be able to be the first woman in the seat.

But I think it's important for the Latinas to know that, you know, I mean, we're you know, we're advancing.

I mean, we've got, like I said, 17 legislators and Latinos on the floor.

And so that's a lot to be proud of and just to be able to, you know, share that with the younger Latinas.

And and they need to understand, like not to give up.

Right.

You know, go with your dream.

And and, you know, I'll tell you, when I decided to run for office, whether it was city council or this this one, the state state rep, you know, I was told that I shouldn't do it right.

You know, whatever whatever the case may be.

They brought up my you know, that I didn't have a college degree.

And those kind of things just made me, you know, fight harder.

Right.

Right.

And I needed to prove to myself that I am worthy.

And it's just about knowing your worth and loving yourself and just, you know, staying focused.

So that's what I want to share with the Latinos is with everyone because we're all worthy.

And so it's just a matter of figuring out how you're going to love yourself every day and just know your worth.

Yeah, because we're all worth lot.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and so much of your family and your parents story with us.

Thank you so much for having me.

I really appreciate it.

I enjoyed it.

More fiesta.

And you realize how much fiesta.

Melissa, let's start with you telling us what do you do?

I have the honor and privilege of serving as our city councilwoman for district six for my hometown, San Antonio.

That's awesome.

That's a lot of service.

What made you want to go into serving?

So I was actually starts, of course, like all our stories when you're a little kid, I remember my grandfather, who was not an educated man, a formerly educated man, and we were on a on a walk and in his neighborhood.

And he was walking on the street.

You know how they'll do.

And then you're you're in the inside.

I was walking to the grass and I remember and kicking at the grass and and looking up at my grandfather.

And they said, Why don't you have sidewalks in your neighborhood?

And my grandfather looked down to me and said, listen, what?

They don't care about us.

And I remember as a little girl, this is like a pillar in my life and thinking, why don't they care about you Like you're this incredible person.

But he was not formally educated, immigrant, didn't speak a lot of English.

He didn't think that government was for him.

And that day sparked something in me.

I didn't know exactly what it was, but when I had that later on in life, had the opportunity to work for a former mayor at Garza, I jumped at it.

I was an intern when he was in District seven and we when he was elected, I got to work for him and that just lit the fire even more.

You've mentioned your grandfather.

You mentioned working for Eric Garcia.

Who else along your journey where your mentors.

I had a wonderful mentor and an attorney that was a partner at my firm.

His name is John Hurd.

He was really good about helping me to to focus on my goals professionally and personally.

And, you know, I love things.

I want to do all the things all the time.

And so I did have to learn how to focus when you want to do something right.

And I'll say now that I have a very good mentor in Secretary Hope Andretti, she is, of course, the first and only right now Latina secretary of state, former secretary of state.

And she has just a calmness in her.

And she's been through it all in a time when really not a lot of other women were doing it.

So to hear her stories and where she's come, how far she's come from being, you know, a little girl in a rural area just has really inspires me.

And she's very powerful.

She's a small bird.

She walks in the room and everybody knows she's there.

So I have a lot to learn from her as well.

You mentioned Hope was one of the only Latinas, but when you were elected to city council, it was the first time it was a Latina majority.

It was the first time it was elected woman majority.

And so we had women of color.

We had Jada, who is who's African-American.

And but what I really loved about that, I loved being a part of the first elected woman majority.

I do think it's a little sad that it happened, you know, so and that, you know, the 2020, there must have been many times when you were the only Latina in the room.

Yes, absolutely.

How did you manage to navigate those situations?

Yeah.

So I'll say, you know, when I was very young, I you know, we're we're we're taught to be humble and work hard.

And you don't necessarily go for the accolade.

And so I did that.

I was a hard worker and kept my head down and work, work, work.

And then I kept seeing people getting promoted over me, men promoted over me.

And so it was hard to kind of keep your head down and keep working.

So I just got mad when I just started, like, hey, I'm doing more, I'm more educated.

I have this, all of this stuff.

And I started fighting for myself.

And that's where my whole trajectory changed when I really started to stand up for myself.

So what advice do you offer to young Latinos who would like to follow in your footsteps?

Well, number one, please do.

Please follow it.

I have says we need that that lifeline, you know, of Latinas running our city.

But I think my main advice is to be true to yourself and I.

So I know that sounds kind of cliché kind of trope, but I wasn't always true to myself.

When I first ran, I would wear a suit, I would go to neighborhood meetings.

I was grown up lawyer, Lady Melissa, you know, sound very smart and adult.

And now that's exhausting because that's I man, I have all of the things, but not all the time.

And so I started out black walking and I have my hair in a jungle in shorts.

And I would show up to neighborhood meetings like kind of almost apologetic.

But people loved it because that's who you really are.

And have you ever received advice that you didn't take?

I'm sure I have.

I'm very stubborn.

I'm trying to think, well, I'll tell you, I got advice to drop my married name from from a ballot.

You know, Melissa Carillo is a little bit easier.

It also identifies me as a Latina, right?

But I have always used all my names professionally, all three of my names.

And I know it's a mouthful, but I remember when I first got started, people would say, like Melissa said, even to me, it was not that easy for some people.

And I would.

I kept pushing, pushing, pushing.

And now I'm really, really proud.

And I go in a gal or in a room or anything, and they say the whole mouthful.

That's right.

That is my name.

Use all my name.

So today, when you hear the term Latina leader, what do you think about this?

I think power, I think powerful and I'm proud of that because I don't think it's always been that way in in just my political lifetime, being a Latina in the beginning of of my terms and being Latina now are two different things.

Not that we always didn't have our own power, we always do, but but exerting it, showing it, it being effective is is what I see now.

When you have a bunch of Latinas in a room, we're going to run it.

We're going to run that whatever it is that we're doing, not just because we're Latinas, because we have all of the attributes that we were raised with, with the humility, the power, the intelligence.

You're such a leader in that community, Melissa.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I think I listen a lot.

I'm I'm I've been called kind of hesitant and I'm not hesitant, but I do want to do everything with as much community as possible.

It takes me a little bit longer sometimes to get policies enacted and and to get people to to really be on board.

But you have to do that work upfront.

It can't be about I just walk in the room and this is what I want.

I come with a whole community behind me because I engaged, because I sought their their counsel and their advice and their more importantly, their their desires, what they want to see in their neighborhoods and businesses.

And so bringing that to the table.

And then, you know, I've heard kind of bringing those voices to the table, but I like the analogy of moving over and letting them sit at the table.

That's my leadership is bringing other people to that table and not speaking for them necessarily, but giving them the space to speak because there's so many marginalized communities in San Antonio.

I also very much follow my faith, you know, and when I say that it's a calling, I feel like there's a path that's kind of always led me here.

You don't see it when you're on it, but, you know, when you look back sometimes.

And so with my faith and my passion, I think there's nothing that we can't do.

I agree.

Thank you so much for saying you.

Appreciate it.

I'm so glad you could join us for this episode of Salud.

Weren't this fabulous Latinas inspiring?

Thank you for spending time with us and we'll see you next time on Salud Nos Vemos Salud is supported by Texas Mutual Workers Compensation Insurance Company.