Coming out and living one's truth as an LGBTQ+ person can often be challenging. Add a cultural and ethnic difference to that, and the struggle can be even greater, especially if one is forced whether overtly or subtly to conceal an aspect of self. As we all know, honesty helps build strong relationship-because it's a part of building trust. And when it comes to our careers, being able to bring all parts of ourselves to the workplace makes us stronger, better, and more authentic in what we do, as well as building our own confidence and trust.
Cynthia Segovia-who prefers to be called Cindy-is a previous Cafe Market Manager and current Agile Delivery Lead for Capital One's Credit Card Department. Here, she discusses how working for Capital One has allowed her to bring all of herself, including her LGBTQ+ and Hispanic identities, to the workplace, and how that has translated to building even better customer relationships, especially during uncertain times.
Salir del closet y vivir abiertamente como persona LGBTQ+ puede resultar desafiante. Si a eso se le suman las diferencias culturales y etnicas, la lucha puede ser aun mayor, sobre todo si sentimos la obligacion, de forma directa o indirecta, de ocultar algun aspecto de nuestra identidad. Sabemos que la honestidad ayuda a establecer relaciones solidas, ya que contribuye a desarrollar la confianza. Cuando se trata de nuestra carrera, el hecho de poder aportar con todas nuestras cualidades al trabajo nos fortalece, nos hace mejores y mas autenticos en lo que hacemos, ademas de fomentar nuestra propia seguridad y confianza.
Cynthia Segovia, o Cindy, se desempeno anteriormente como "Cafe Market Manager" y ahora lidera "Agile Delivery" en el Departamento de Tarjetas de Credito de Capital One. En este articulo nos cuenta que trabajar para Capital One le ha permitido ser ella misma en lo relativo a su identidad LGBTQ+ asi como su origen Hispano. Anade que este nivel de transparencia le ha permitido desarrollar relaciones aun mejores con los clientes, sobre todo en tiempos tan inciertos.
Photo Courtesy Cindy Segovia
How has Capital One supported and elevated you as an LGBTQ+ Hispanic year-round?
Capital One has gone beyond my wildest expectations of how inclusive they are when it comes to my family. Capital One does an amazing job of saying "bring your true self," your true authentic self, to work-every day-and I cannot express to you how good that feels, like to the point where I could potentially get choked up because I have worked for other companies that have said that and have not actually done it.
I've been the only Hispanic, I've been the only lesbian, and I've been the only woman in countless amounts of rooms. No matter where you go...you can always kind of self-identify, right? And you're like, I'm the only one that looks like me. I remember being a kid and my favorite food was tacos and I couldn't bring that to lunch. You know, I'd get made fun of. Or I had to make sure that my English had to be better than everybody else's. I grew up in a time when you suppressed who you were because you were so busy trying to be American and trying to live that American Dream that everybody came here for.
Here we not only talk about it, we pride ourselves on sharing our story.
?De que manera te ha apoyado y elevado Capital One como persona Hispana y LGBTQ+?
Capital One ha superado muchisimo mis expectativas en cuanto al nivel de inclusion ofrecido a mi familia. El banco se esmera en permitirnos ser "nuestro verdadero yo" en el trabajo. En verdad es dificil expresar lo bien que me siento; incluso se me escapan lagrimas de emocion al decirlo, ya que he trabajado para otras empresas que dicen ser abiertas pero no lo son realmente.
Muchas veces he sido la unica Hispana, la unica lesbiana y la unica mujer presente en una reunion. Sin importar donde estes, siempre haces un auto-evaluacion, ?verdad? Y te encuentras con que nadie se te asemeja. Recuerdo que de nina mi comida favorita eran los tacos y que no podia traerlos para mi almuerzo porque sabia que los demas se burlarian de mi. O tenia que cerciorarme de que mi nivel de ingles fuera mejor que el de todos mis companeros. Me crie en una epoca en la que tenias que suprimir tu identidad para buscar asimilarte a la cultura estadounidense y alcanzar el tan anorado "Sueno Americano".
En Capital One no solo hablamos sobre nuestra identidad; tambien nos enorgullece compartir nuestras historias.
Seeing that many LGBTQ Hispanics feel they need to repress their personas in the workplace, how has Capital One nurtured your self-confidence and self-expression as an LGBTQ+ Hispanic?
One of the things that Capital One offers is Business Resource Groups. You come as you are, and you are who you are. If we want to start a meeting off in Spanish we can! These Business Resource Groups allowed me to find like-minded individuals that had certain stories that were very similar.
And then you add into the mix, we just got through celebrating Pride [at Capital One] and I've been very fortunate and have gotten a chance to do a lot of things for us for Pride. I've had quite a few ambassadors come out to me. I have always advocated for children in the LGBTQ community and have gotten to do some really incredible things.
[A] most recent conversation I had with our Out Front group was...a parent came up to me and said, 'Hey, my kid just came out and I don't even know...am I reacting correctly? Is there something I need to do? Like I want to be supportive. I love my kid.' And the only thing I kept thinking was, how lucky are we to have the space to speak this and have this conversation? Why wasn't this around when I was young? I'm sitting here going like not only am I having this amazing conversation with this mom who's genuinely trying to do the right thing, but like wow, Capital One gave me the platform to be able to have it.
En un contexto en el que muchos Hispanos LGBTQ sienten que deben suprimir su identidad en el trabajo, ?como ha fomentado Capital One tu confianza en ti misma y la posibilidad de expresarte como persona Hispana y LGBTQ+?
Una de las ventajas que ofrece Capital One es la posibilidad de formar parte de "Business Resource Groups" donde tienes la libertad de mostrarte tal como eres. Si queremos iniciar una reunion hablando en espanol, !podemos hacerlo! Estos grupos me han permitido conocer a personas con ideas afines y experiencias muy parecidas.
A eso le agregamos que acabamos de festejar el Mes del Orgullo LGBTQ [en Capital One]. Fui muy afortunada y he tenido la oportunidad de participar en muchos aspectos de esta celebracion. Muchas personas se me han acercado para comentarme sobre su identidad sexual. Siempre he abogado por los ninos de la comunidad LGBTQ y he alcanzado logros realmente increibles.
Hace poco tuve una conversacion en nuestro grupo Out Front con una madre que me comento: "Pues mi hijo acaba de revelarme su identidad de genero y ni siquiera se si estoy reaccionando correctamente. ?Hay algo que deba hacer? Quiero brindarle mi apoyo. Yo amo a mi hijo." Pense para mi misma lo afortunados que somos de tener espacios en donde poder conversar sobre estos temas, y lamente que no existieran cuando yo era joven. Y estoy alli pensando no solo en que estoy teniendo esta conversacion increible con esta madre que realmente busca hacer lo correcto, sino tambien en que Capital One me brindo la plataforma en donde fue posible tener la conversacion.
What do you value most in a workplace?
I think the one thing that I value the most is trust. Even during this pandemic that all of us have gone through, that none of us knew how to deal with, the trust that you have in your employer and the trust that I have with Capital One, is one that is like right up there with the trust I have with my wife and my family. I trust that we're going to continue to evolve and make sure that we leave a company that is full of diversity and inclusion. It's different when you're hiring the right people, but if you are disrespectful in any way, or rude or insensitive, you will not have a place here because that's not the culture that we support.
?Que es lo que mas valoras en un lugar de trabajo?
Creo que lo que mas valoro es la confianza. Incluso durante esta pandemia, que todos vivimos sin saber bien como afrontarla, la confianza que tenemos en nuestro empleador, la que yo tengo en Capital One, esta al mismo nivel que la confianza que tengo con mi esposa y mi familia. Confio en que seguiremos evolucionando y construyendo una empresa diversa e inclusiva. Aqui contratamos a las personas correctas, y si alguien se comporta de manera irrespetuosa, grosera o insensible, no encontrara lugar en esta empresa porque esa no es la cultura corporativa que fomentamos.
As a previous Cafe Market Manager during the pandemic, one of your goals was to remind customers that even though the world was uncertain, the relationships they had built with Capital One were still there. How has Capital One made you feel belonging during such uncertain times?
I feel very comfortable in my Capital One bubble and I know the rest of the world doesn't necessarily function in that manner but I'm so grateful that I have my bubble occasionally to hide under a pillow and just be like, "Okay, is it over? Can I come out now?" But, I am genuinely just so incredibly grateful for everything that they've done for us. I can't even express it enough. I'm just extremely happy. And I think other companies out there could mimic or even just try to put forth some of the effort that we've done or some of the things that we do - that makes us the number one bank for people.
En tu rol anterior como "Cafe Market Manager" durante la pandemia, uno de tus objetivos era recordarle al cliente que, en medio de tanta incertidumbre, los lazos que habian construido con Capital One seguian intactos. ?Que medidas ha tomado Capital One para que te sientas incluida en tiempos tan inciertos?
Me siento muy comoda en mi burbuja de Capital One. Entiendo que en otros contextos no existe el mismo nivel de seguridad, por lo que estoy muy agradecida de tener un espacio en el que puedo replegarme y esperar a que pase la tormenta y se calmen las aguas. De verdad, estoy extremadamente agradecida por todo lo que la empresa ha hecho por nosotros. Las palabras se quedan cortas. Siento un bienestar increible. Creo que otras empresas podrian imitar o al menos tratar de replicar algunos de nuestros esfuerzos o algunas de las cosas que hacemos, y que nos han convertido en el banco preferido de tantas personas.
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