Show Notes

Jazmin Diaz’s career story dismantles the myth that you need perfect credentials to succeed in technology. Her path from middle school administrative assistant to Chief of Staff at a cybersecurity company demonstrates how curiosity, authenticity, and strategic relationship-building can accelerate professional growth.

Episode Highlights:

Jazmin shares her unique background growing up between two cultures – born in California, raised in Mexico until age nine, then returning to relearn English and navigate American educational systems. This experience shaped her ability to connect with others facing similar challenges, particularly at-risk students during her time working in education.

The conversation reveals practical strategies for career transitions, including how she researched transferable skills, leveraged informational interviews, and ultimately secured her first tech role through networking rather than traditional applications. Her willingness to start as a receptionist – despite years of experience – proved essential for getting her foot in the door.

Key Takeaways:

• Networking authentically means building relationships without immediate agenda
• Being uncomfortable signals growth opportunities worth pursuing
• Self-advocacy requires data and strategic timing, not just confidence
• Starting at entry level in a new industry can fast-track learning and advancement
• Salary negotiation extends beyond base pay to stock options, bonuses, and benefits
• Vulnerability and authenticity create stronger professional connections than perfection

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: “Ignite Your Growth” by Jazmin Diaz (English)
• Book: “Enciende Tu Crecimiento” by Jazmin Diaz (Spanish)
• Flourish Learning and Development

Connect with Our Guest: Jazmin Diaz is available for speaking engagements, workshops, and coaching through Flourish Learning and Development. Her book is available in both English and Spanish editions.

About Career Downloads: Each episode features professionals sharing real experiences, setbacks, and breakthroughs to help you manage your own career with greater success. Host Manuel Martinez brings conversations that go beyond surface-level advice to uncover actionable insights you can apply immediately.

TranscriptionManuel Martinez: Welcome everyone, my name is Manuel Martinez and this is another episode of Career Downloads where each episode I basically hit the refresh button, bring on a different guest to learn more about their background and their experiences, to really uncover how they’ve managed their career over time with the ultimate goal to help you uncover any actionable advice that you can use as you’re managing your own career. So I’m really excited for today’s episode. This has really been eight, almost nine months in the making. So for those of you who are aware, back in December, I had Cynthia Hara on and a mutual contact of my current guest and Cynthia’s kind of got in contact with me, put me in contact with Jazmin Diaz is who I have on. We’ve had a number of conversations since that time trying to work out, so she’s not local to Las Vegas, just trying to find out logistically how this would work out. And I’m really excited because apart from the alignment of what she’s currently doing, what she’s done, kind of what the podcast is, in between that time, she has also become an author and she’s written a book, both in English and in Spanish, again, around career and professional development and personal development. So I’m really excited and this is gonna be a great one. So with that, I will go ahead and introduce Jazmin Diaz.

Jazmin Diaz: Thank you so much for having me, Manny. Really glad to be here with you finally.

Manuel Martinez: Finally, right. I mean, it’s interesting that when Sal kind of put us in contact, it took us a little while. We’d look back and it’s almost nine months that this has gone on and I think it happened at this moment for a reason, right? Because it gave you the chance, we didn’t know at a time when we first met, but that you were gonna be writing a book.

Jazmin Diaz: Right, right. Yeah, no, I think things happen when they’re supposed to and I very much agree for this instance specifically. So since you and I spoke, yeah, was able to get the English version out of my book, “Ignite Your Growth”, in March of 2025 and the Spanish version “Enciende Tu Crecimento” literally just launched earlier this week on August 20th.

Manuel Martinez: Right. So for those that may not be aware of who you are, if you don’t mind just telling us kind of what your current role is and some of the responsibilities associated with that.

Jazmin Diaz: Sure, sure. So I’m currently working in the tech space in a cybersecurity company in the capacity of a chief of staff role for the global customer services team. Our headquarters are located in San Francisco. And in addition to that, I run my own company. So I am CEO and founder of Flourish Learning and Development. And it’s really a company that’s dedicated towards helping individuals unlock their potential, whether it’s through coaching, through speaking engagements or workshops, and now leveraging the book as well as a tool. So I do that as well on the side. And a mother of four children and never a dull moment in my life. So grateful and blessed and a lot to juggle all the time.

Manuel Martinez: Oh, I bet. I know that we’ve had similar conversations, having family and career as much as we say at times, like, oh, we’re able to separate them. I mean, they intertwine.

Jazmin Diaz: They do, absolutely.

Manuel Martinez: So now if you don’t mind kind of going back a little bit and telling me about where you grew up and then eventually kind of– we’ll get into it because you didn’t get into technology right away into the tech industry, but just kind of what kind of started your career. We’ll go that route.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, so I’ll take it back to somewhat the beginning. So I was born in California, a city called Mountain View. And I was a product of a teenage mom, a teenage mother. And so I was raised by her and my grandparents. So early on in my life, we moved to Mexico, to a town called Degollado, Jalisco. And I grew up there for the first nine years of my life. So I was attending school regularly, living, breathing the culture every day, which I love, and just traditions and family values, community, learn how to read, write, speak, fluent Spanish during those years. And then my grandparents made the decision to come back to California. So moved back to California around the age of nine, got into the school system here, which was really challenging for me, because I had pretty much lost my English. I remember while I was being raised in Mexico, one of my aunts would send me videos of Care Bears, Rainbow Bright, Brady Bunch, different shows to try to kind of keep that English in my speaking abilities. And while it helped, it wasn’t enough. When we came back, I was in ESL classes. So English as a second language, how to relearn everything, the systems, the norms, cultural nuances that were different. And for a nine-year-old, I remember struggling to navigate a lot of that stuff. And so thankfully, it turned out pretty well. I was able to manage and finish high school. And then my husband and I, we were 18 when we got married. And by no means was there any roadmap or plan of, these are our goals. This is what we’re going to do by this date or anything like that. We just knew we wanted to be together and raise a family. And so, yeah, fast forward. We got married. We had children. And I was working at a local middle school in our neighborhood. And it was really a wonderful job for a lot of reasons. So I worked in the office as a admin assistant, school operations. And it was quite fulfilling because I didn’t just order supplies or help with attendance and budget management and all those things. I was able to intentionally create space to have conversations with the students. These were middle school kids. And they were kids who were labeled at risk. And what I mean by that is kids that are typically growing up in neighborhoods where it’s rough. It’s the hood or gang activity, single moms, parents working multiple jobs, perhaps not attended to as much as other children. So for me, these were really opportunities in my day to day to have conversations with these kids to try to change their stories, outlooks, perspectives, based on what I had experienced as also being labeled at risk at one point in my life. So that job, in addition to allowing me to connect with these young people and make a positive impact, it also gave me the flexibility that I needed as a mom to spend time with the kids. And what I mean by that is that the schedule was summers off, holiday, recess, winter break, spring break. As much as I would have loved to be a stay-at-home mom to be with my kids full time, this was the next best thing. It allowed us to be financially stable, to give them all the things that we wish we would have experienced or had– after school activities, sports, travel, whatever that was. That was definitely something that was top of mind and a priority for my husband and I both. So that job was amazing. It was great. It was fulfilling, impact, purpose, all the things when you think about the ideal job. However, me being me, there was a point where I knew I wanted more and I knew that I was capable of more. And I referenced not having a roadmap or a five-year plan. I didn’t even know what I wanted to do. It was just finish high school and we’ll go from there. So when our kids were older–

Manuel Martinez: And I don’t mean to interrupt you, but one of the questions I have is, so then coming out of high school, you went straight into the workforce?

Jazmin Diaz: Yes.

Manuel Martinez: Is that? OK

Jazmin Diaz: Yes.

Manuel Martinez: So then being younger and working at a middle school, I’m sure there was challenges there, but at the same time, it probably made it easier for you to relate to these at-risk students. You have a similar experience, but also you’re a younger person in their eyes. Sure, you’re older, but you’re not 45 telling them these things where they’re just like, what do you know? They see a younger person that’s able to connect and make it fulfilling for you. Is that accurate?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, actually, yeah. That’s a really great point because I think it absolutely made me more relatable. And I wasn’t seen as the school authority or figure of authority, per se. They could come and talk to me and be honest about, I’m late because I had to drop off my little sister at school first. And me being able to make that judgment call on whether or not, depending on the student, support them and help them versus disciplining them or punishing them when you understand their circumstances. So absolutely, I think the time that I was there, being as young as I was, it absolutely made me more relatable and allowed me in and have conversations that the other school faculty could not have.

Manuel Martinez: And the only reason I bring it up is because I know, based on reading your book and conversations we’ve had, I think it’s an important piece to know and understand so that people who aren’t aware of your story just to be aware of the theme that’s going to interweave.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, no, no, for sure. For sure. And I loved it, too, because it was local, a local school, which is where I lived. And it also brought so many relationships into my life that I still have and maintain today, whether it’s the students’ parents, students themselves. I still run into them or I still coach some of them and get to spend time and get to know them even more and help them on their journeys as they continue to pursue their dreams and their goals, too.

Manuel Martinez: And what was it that really made you want to help and give back? And the reason I say that is because you talked about it already. You want to help and you want to coach. Did you have that as you were growing up or did you not have that? And that’s what made you wanted to– at least at that age, at that point in your career and your life– to kind of say, hey, I want to help others.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, that’s a really good question. I don’t know where that came from, per se. But knowing myself, I’m naturally someone who likes to help people, whatever that looks like. If you call me and ask me, can you give me a ride? I’m available. I’m going to do it for you. If you need me to help you translate a paper, I’m going to help you, whatever it is you need. Nothing’s too big or small. If I can do it, my willingness is there. And I think working in the school, that proved very true. I was a mom already. And it was this constant thing that would happen that I would get opportunities to help young kids. And I enjoyed it. And I loved it. And this was a practice I was already engaged in before knowing– or I think now– all the mentorship that we talk about– coaches and champions and advocates and all these things. I was doing all of that before I knew that that was a thing. And so I think when I then transitioned into tech, got to do it more formally. And then now, obviously, with my business, too. But I think I just– I truly, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, love to help people. However that looks like.

Manuel Martinez: So then now you go through and you’ve been doing this for a while. And obviously, you felt you wanted more. So what was that calling? Because it sounds like you almost have the perfect job to help. And then to your point, it’s fulfilling. Was it now your kids are getting older? Because at some point, they’re doing their own thing. Maybe they’re driving themselves now at this point where you don’t have to be there. That schedule is not as– not that it’s not as important, but it’s not as important. Because you don’t have to be there to be with them on the holidays. I don’t have to make sure that I’m home or by a certain time to pick them up from school, things of that nature. So is that where that need to really find more fulfillment for yourself? Because you’re always helping other, you’re giving. And as a parent, I know that feeling is you want to do for them. You want to have them be able to have experiences or be able to do things that maybe you didn’t get to. And not that you’re living through them, but it’s more giving them opportunities that weren’t available. So what transpired?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, so I think in my last two or three years with the school district, I started feeling that I want more. I know I’m smart. I’m a fast learner. I know I’m capable. I’m hungry for something, right? Just to stretch, to grow. And I remember seeing the parents that would come in sometimes to pick up kids. And I would see the women dressed up in their executive attire. And it would get me curious. Like, I wonder what they do. And over the course of some time, I would ask them. I feel comfortable enough. I mentioned having relationships with a lot of these people. And I would just start asking, like, what do you do? And then they would start telling me. And I mean, the school, literally in the backyard, it’s the Silicon Valley, right, of these big tech companies where I started finding out these women and other parents working at. And it got me thinking, like, I wonder if I could make it in tech. I wonder if I could do something in that space. And so over time, it just got me really more curious as I was having more and more conversations. And then there was the idea that this could come with financial gains and even put us in a better position as a young family to provide those opportunities that we wanted for our kids. And so the kids were older. And I do recall thinking, like, is the time right now? Which is why I say it was like the last two or three years. And it wasn’t quite right. So it was like, this gave me the time to kind of do my research, have conversations, start thinking about what I might want to do, what I could do, looking at my skills, what’s transferable, what kind of job profiles might match what I’m going to pursue. And then the day came where I just said, OK, like, this is it. Like, this is the year I’m going to do it. The kids are bigger. I’m not so much hands-on anymore with them. They can do more things independently, get around with friends, or, you know, between my husband, I will figure it out. But I think this is the right time now. And so then the work began to start searching for those opportunities. And by the way, that was– I’m not going to say what year, because I don’t want to age myself. But before LinkedIn was a thing, I think Craigslist was a thing at the time. And the newspaper, right? So going to the newspaper, highlighting jobs, and looking on Craigslist oftentimes. But that was really where the work began for me when I decided, like, this is it. If I stay here, I’m going to be stagnant. And I really felt something inside just telling me, whether it’s God’s voice pushing me towards something, I knew that I had to take action.

Manuel Martinez: And you mentioned your kids are a little bit older. You’ve been with your husband for a while. That support system, was it there as well? And the reason I ask is, early on in my career, I was single. Sure, I might have been dating, but to me, I was single. So being able to decide to switch jobs– hey, I don’t like this one. Hey, I want this other opportunity. There really wasn’t anybody I had to– I don’t want to say check in with, but bounce that idea. Like, hey, what do you think? Would this be good for our family? Or it was, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to go through. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll figure it out. I can always– never thought about it at the time, but worst case, I can go fall back with my parents, because we come from Mexican households, where that’s– as much as we don’t want it to be an option, it is an option. We have that support system. Now in my career, I’m fortunate enough that my spouse, she is both supportive, but at the same time, she’s hands off. Where if I’m thinking about going– she’s like, we’ll do it. Well, it might involve more travel. We’ll figure it out. Or, hey, this one’s less travel. I’m always trying to think about more of the family. And she’s just like, listen, is this better for you, for your career, and to your point, a little bit financially for us? Yes? Well, then do it. You don’t have to check with me on everything. Yes, make me aware. Don’t just spring something on me. Because there’s periods where she was– every two years, she’s like, great, new insurance. New insurance. So that was kind of her thing. So I’m just curious. How important of a role do you think that your family support system helped in making me– I was just switching jobs, but I’m in the same career field. You’re doing something completely different. So how did that impact you?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, wow. Hearing you ask the question, transport me back to a specific day, that specific day would be the day that I got my offer from a tech company. But my husband was– and still is– my rock through all of that. Obviously, my mom and his mom and our immediate family have all been an amazing support system for us, especially as a young family, as we went through those years in our life. But he’s been a sounding board, discuss everything together, and ensuring that the decision that we come to is always– we look at it from all those angles, availability for the kids, to ensure that they’re taken care of, financial reward, gain, benefit, whatever that looks like. What does that mean in terms of providing the lifestyle that we want for ourselves, but for our family as a whole? And when that opportunity came, there were moments of fear, big moments of fear. I remember talking to myself– negative self-talk, by the way– the whole, what if I fail? Am I really cut out for this? Who am I kidding? I don’t even have a college degree. I don’t fit in with these people. What am I doing? Maybe I’m just fantasizing. And my husband was the constant voice of encouraging me of the, we’re in a good place. We’re in a good place. If it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, whether it’s because of my doing or not doing, we’re going to figure it out. We always have. We always will. Our mindset’s never been to be defeated and lay there. We’re going to get up and do something to sort it out. So it was a process. And again, for me, I think the biggest thing was overcoming that self-doubt and questioning whether or not I would be successful. And I think I tie that to just being intentional of the risks that we were going to take, but absolutely consulting with my husband and coming to that decision together as a family.

Manuel Martinez: When you were deciding to make that transition– and I ask this because either people who are early on in their career or even people who have been in a specific field for a while and want to make that transition– may not be familiar with the types of roles or, hey, what I can do. You mentioned your, hey, you did your research. You’re looking at what are transferable skills that you have. How did you come up to the realization or the understanding of what types of roles to apply for? The reason I ask that is if we think about it now, there’s tons of information, almost too much information. And if we look at kind of the buzzwords, it’s AI, it’s developing, it’s networking, programming. These are the things where one of the things I try to do with this is make people aware of there’s so many different roles in tech. How did you know what to start applying for? Were you asking other people in those career fields, apart from your research? So how did you come about? Because I think that that’s something that can be beneficial to somebody to say, OK, I want to get into tech. Where do I start?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, I love that question because for me, it was really those informational conversations or call them informational interviews in the workplace today. You can go and have those. It’s absolutely common and OK to do that because you don’t know what you don’t know. And the only way you’re going to find out is by asking questions. So I mentioned two, three years as I was starting to think about, OK, what’s next for me? And the kids are getting bigger, so maybe I need to start thinking about that. It was looking at what I was good at, what skill sets did I have, what experience. And as I was speaking to some of these women, when the ones that looked just– I’d look at them and was like, wow, amazed. They were impressionable. And what do you do? And they start telling me. And then it was like, why are you asking? I was like, well, this is what I’m thinking about. It was putting it out there, being a little vulnerable, also sharing a little of my insecurities about, I don’t have connections in tech. And I don’t know that environment at all. And I didn’t even get a college degree. I don’t even know if I’d be accepted. And then it was them giving me ideas. OK, well, based on some of the skills that I was sharing of having, oh, you can potentially explore an operations type role, maybe a coordinator of some sort, whether it’s in marketing, whether it’s in recruiting, or maybe it’s an admin assistant, or just giving me ideas. So then with those conversations, when I mentioned researching Craigslist or even the good old newspaper in those days, it was looking at jobs. And then I start seeing what the responsibility or the scope that was listed. And I start thinking, OK, that aligns with what I do here. Probably have to learn a few things to adjust into the tech environment. But I think I could start pursuing these types of roles. And so that’s what I started applying for, for recruiting coordinator type roles, operational roles, marketing, just different things that I felt that were aligned to my skills. Now, I was rejected a lot, a lot. I remember there became a moment of just, I’m discouraged, and I just don’t think I’m cut out for this. And I was really glad that I had this friend, my mom’s friend actually, that I happened to see her. And I expressed and shared what I was trying to do, the why I was trying to do, what I was pursuing. And then she gave me the most simple but brilliant idea. She said, you know, Jaz, she says, you’re smart. Oh my gosh, you’re a go-getter. You have an amazing work ethic. You’re great with people. I know what you can do. Maybe it’s not a matter of finding jobs that feel they’re apples to apples just in a different environment, but it’s more of find a job where you can get your foot in the door. And before you know it, I’m confident that someone’s going to notice they’re going to see your potential. And you’re going to work in the amazing fashion that you do and show up well that you’re going to have an opportunity three, six months probably. So then it was like, hmm, that’s interesting. So what are you suggesting? And it was like start thinking about maybe like a receptionist type role or just something that’s very generic entry level. I struggled with that initially because I felt like I’ve been working for 10 plus years already. I deserve more than entry level because I’m experienced. But I wasn’t experienced in that space. So then it was like, OK, I did it. I applied for a few receptionist jobs, still getting rejected on the basis that I didn’t have corporate or tech experience. And by some awesome timing, my mom’s friend reached out and said, hey, there’s a receptionist job at my company. Do you want to apply? Yeah, absolutely.

Manuel Martinez: Yes.

Jazmin Diaz: Yes. And I know someone, so that’s got to mean something. And so her only promise to me was I will get your resume to the recruiter and make an intro. The rest is up to you. That was amazing. Grateful for that, right? Showed up, made my good impressions, had great interviews. And within weeks, I had a job offer. And that’s what I referenced earlier when I was excited. And then my world felt like it got this big of the possibilities. And then I started to shrink because then I was terrified.

Manuel Martinez: And did that terror come from some of the rejections that you had before as well? Because I know you mentioned it. You’re like, you’re trying to do apples to apples. I have these skills. And I’ve been there before, right? It’s hard to see that taking a step– I want to say down, right? But it is a step down in maybe what you think. Because everybody’s like, know, you’re worth. Know, you’re worth. OK, yes. But then there’s sometimes where this is how I have to kind of get is how I have to kind of get my foot in the door.

Jazmin Diaz: Be strategic.

Manuel Martinez: Be strategic about it. So I’m sure all that kind of played into you saying, well, I’ve been rejected, been rejected for so long. And now is this one glimmer of light really the way I should be going?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it was so many things. It was a lot of what I said already, right? Oh my gosh, am I really going to succeed here? Am I– do I know what I’m doing? Or they’re going to find out. I’m a fake. I’m a phony. I don’t know if I’m going to be successful. And then it was like, oh, you know, then I’m not going to have summers off. Literally, I think I was just making excuses for myself to find the easy way to stay comfortable. And I’ll go back to– I started saying these things out loud. My husband was hearing me. And it was like, what are you doing? Isn’t this what you wanted? And it was like, yes. But I’m scared for all the things. I’m like, what if I fail? And what if I set us back financially and I end up without a job and benefits and all these things? What if none of that happens where I ruin it because I’m not cut out for this? And again, it was his reinforcement of just like, you’re not going to know until you try it. What’s the worst that can happen? You don’t like it. They don’t like you. You decide that this was not the best decision for us, for you. You come back to the district or you find another job somewhere. We’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out. It was like, all right. So I said yes.

Manuel Martinez: And that’s interesting because it’s happened– I’m sure it happens to more people because I know I’ve had those moments as well where you work hard for something. And then when you get it, it’s almost like, oh my gosh. I, for the longest time, after I applied the first time and found out about the culture at VMware, I want to work there. That’s what I’m going to do. And I applied and I applied for different positions, different roles. And I would get rejected. And when it finally happened, I didn’t think about it until now. But as you mentioned, I remember when it happened, I was like, it’s almost like a flood of emotion. You’re like, oh no, it actually happened. Is this the right thing? So I think eventually it felt like you look back on it and you’re like, it was the right thing. It was at the right time and the right position. Those other ones, for whatever reason, may or may not have worked out. But at that moment, it’s almost like I’ve attained my goal. Now what?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it was a big new scary world and environment that I was going to have to relearn and figure out and push myself. But that’s something else I have learned about myself. I love to continue to learn, to develop. When that stops happening, that’s where I find myself starting to get bored. I’m not OK with feeling stagnant.

Manuel Martinez: Right.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah.

Manuel Martinez: So now you get in, obviously you decide to say yes and take the role. So what do you think you learned getting into this new industry and starting, again, from an entry level position?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah. That was a real special time for me. I was so lucky and blessed that the company that gave me my shot to enter the tech space filled with so many kind people and generous. And what I mean by that is that when I started there as a receptionist, I feel that I’ve also been very good with people. So networking, relationship building, it’s very natural for me. I love people. Like I said, I love helping people. And that comes with that relationship building, too. So in a very short amount of time, I was able to introduce myself. I was very intentional about saying hello to everybody, anyone from the people stocking the food, the kitchen, the cleaning staff, the shipping folks, security, like everybody and anybody. I was very intentional about letting me meet as many people as I can and start learning about this business because it’s foreign. It’s unfamiliar to me. And I knew that to be successful, I had to deepen that knowledge to do well and excel. So after meeting people in that short amount of time, it was, let me start. Can we have coffee? Can we have grab lunch? Can I pick your brain about something? I remember one of the first assignments I was given, it was for a QBR. I didn’t even know what a QBR was. I was like, what’s a QBR? Quarterly Business Review. And it helped start putting some materials and content for that deck. And part of that was an org chart. And I remember struggling thinking, how do I put this together? Is there a norm? Is there a template? What do I do? And it took a lot of vulnerability on my part because you’re exposing yourself. You don’t know. Then it’s going back to, this is what I was afraid of. People are going to find out I’m a fraud. I’m a phony. What am I doing here? And I asked one of these people that were kind and showed me just generosity with their time and their teachings. And we got in a conference room. And before you knew it, like whiteboarding. And then it was like, okay, talk to me about this acronym. And I’m hearing this and earnings and KPIs and ROIs. And before you knew it, I was having conversations like that on a week to week basis. And I was getting schooled, basically. Right? And these people were so instrumental and just amazing for my success. Because they were so willing to teach. And I found that out, actually, that more times than not, people love to be a teacher. And I had so many teachers at this company up until the very last day that I worked there. So yeah, it was really extraordinary chapter for me. It was amazing. Of learning.

Manuel Martinez: Of learning. And I think a lot of that comes exactly what you said, right? People like being a teacher. But they like being a teacher when you come with curiosity. And you are genuinely interested in learning and not just give me the answer, but give me the answer and help me understand why that’s the answer. How does this work? Because I’ve had people, and again, I’m very generous with my time. But as I’ve gotten more experience, I’ve also had to be more intentional with protecting my time. Because I have noticed the people that come and ask you for help, because they just want the answer and not do it, versus the people who are asking because they really want to know and they want to learn.

Jazmin Diaz: Right.

Manuel Martinez: And I’m guessing that everybody that helped you also saw that eagerness, that vulnerability, and they’re like, “Oh, she’s interested.” “Yes, I’ll help you. I’ll give you my time and be generous with it.” Because you’re not just asking because you want me to build this deck for you, but it’s you want to learn so that you can do it yourself.

Jazmin Diaz: Exactly. You’re exactly right. I think a lot of these people, as I’ve talked to them, post that chapter of my career. That’s one thing that has been given to me as feedback, was my willingness to learn and being very intentional about it, coming prepared, coming with questions. It was never to just do it for me or give me the easy way out. It was very much to equip myself with what I needed to be successful. In the current role at the time, reception, but I was helping the facilities team and finance. And then when I transitioned roles, that set me up beautifully because then it was into an exec admin role with an executive who also saw my potential, gave me opportunities to learn, to stretch, to be uncomfortable. At the time, I remember feeling like I don’t like feeling so uncomfortable. And I would often wonder, “Is he putting me in these positions on purpose?” And it was amazing. I’m glad he did because, again, it allowed me to tap into new environments, new people, new topics. It exposed me to so many things. And I was like a sponge just taking it all in. And that really allowed me to make more impact as a contributing team member with the folks that I was working with, but also as a supporting member of the team with my executive and the overall business. And it was fascinating and fun for me.

Manuel Martinez: So that advice that they gave you of starting at the bottom and then knowing that they knew you specifically that you’re going to go through, and it sounds like exactly what she said, you’re going to start making an impact. People are going to see it. They’re going to gravitate to you. And that’s what happened. Apart from yourself and just kind of in your career, would you say that that’s something that not only set you apart, but I’m sure that you would see other people doing the same thing. Are those the ones that you would see rise relatively quickly? Because I’m assuming that you weren’t there in that role for, I don’t want to say you were there for years, but it probably wasn’t like, oh, one month and you’re out. So I mean, you’re starting to see that. Would you say that that’s pretty accurate?

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, I was in the reception role for six months. And one thing I will say that stood out in terms of how I was engaging and showing up day to day was looking for the opportunities. So I would befriended as many as the exec admins. And at that time, the company, I think, only had like five because it was smaller then. And it was like, what can I help you with? Or, oh, you’re doing an EBC. What’s an EBC? It’s an executive briefing center. Oh, talk to me about it. And then it was like, oh, I’ll help you run it. Great. Helping them, but helping myself at the same time from a learning perspective and adopting new practices. And then before you knew it, it was like, hey, I’m going to be out for a week. Do you think you could cover for my exec? Sure. So now I was learning how do you cover for an exec? Oh, the calendaring, the scheduling, all the things that go into it. And then six months later, an opportunity comes up and one of the admins who I still speak with today and I appreciate her so much was like, hey, I’m going to refer you for this role. And it was like, wow. Wow. And she did it, yes, because she was kind of nice, but also because she knew my work ethic. She knew that I was determined to, you know, elevate myself in my career. She knew I had aspirations. She knew I had a family. That’s been my driver always. So I think that has made me stand out. I have seen people in different spaces, not necessarily admin, exec support roles also rise and climb rather quickly. And I will say that’s been a combination from my observation. It’s been one or the other. People that have, you know, clear vision of this is what I want. I’m going to go after it, put in the work, do what it takes. And then there’s the ones who do that, but have the advantage of knowing a lot of people who’ve been able to open doors maybe quicker, right? Because of those relationships that they had, which goes back to, you know, when I was thinking of pivoting into tech, that was something I told myself. I don’t have a college degree. I don’t even have connections, right? So for me, it felt like a big disadvantage. So when I think about people who have climbed rather quickly and not to discredit anything that they’ve done or their work or anything like that, that has been an advantage in a lot of cases too, where they know the right people and people of influence, of authority, of decision making that have helped them elevate maybe a little quicker than I could have.

Manuel Martinez: But also at the same time, kind of now knowing that and looking back, that’s one thing that I tell other people is like, “Listen, okay, maybe you don’t have those connections now. Start making them. Start making them, start going to these networking events.” And just to, you and I had this conversation offline, it’s, we grew up in a different time of like social media and how do you present yourself to your point? Like it’s a smaller group, so you’re putting in all this hard work. It’s hard work. It’s easy to get noticed. Your work is speaking for itself.

Jazmin Diaz: Right?

Manuel Martinez: As you start to get into bigger organizations or there’s more and more people or just as a corporate environment is growing itself, it’s hard for your work to stand out. So how do you go through and do that in a way that doesn’t seem almost like, I don’t know the proper way to say it, but just really just make it not all about you. Like, “Hey, look at me. Look at how awesome I am.”

Jazmin Diaz: Self-promoting.

Manuel Martinez: Like self-promoting.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah.

Manuel Martinez: But you do have to self-promote yourself, but do it in a way that says, “Hey, here’s what I’m working on.” Like the fact that you were asking, it’s like, “Hey, what are you working on? Can I help you? Can you start to make people aware of what you’re doing by asking questions?” You may not have those doors now, if you’re early on in your career or you’re just transitioning, but those doors, five, six, seven, eight years down the road, could be the door that says, “Hey, oh yeah, I remember you from eight years ago where you did this. I see what you’ve been doing now. I think this would align. Plus, I know you as a person when you weren’t asking me for a job. You just had that natural curiosity.” So I would think, in my opinion, even if we don’t have those connections now, that doesn’t mean that we can’t build them. Maybe not even for ourselves, but for others as well. Don’t always think about it as self-fulfilling, because I’ve done that a lot of times. I’m guessing that you’ve had a similar experience. and it’s almost. It’s jarring to me that when I have helped other people and say, “Hey, have you applied for this?” Hey, I know somebody you recommend them without. But no reason. Again, I just want to help you. The response from that person is almost like they’re taken a back that, “What do you want out of it?” Nothing. I think this would be for you. This would be helpful. It’s sad that we feel like it’s not always transactional. People feel like it’s a transaction. “Oh, you’re helping me. You’re sending me the referral. You’re doing this. What is it you are looking for?”

Jazmin Diaz: What’s the motive behind that help?

Manuel Martinez: That help. It doesn’t have to be the case.

Jazmin Diaz: Right. But that says a lot when people are shocked that you just want to help because you just want to help. No expectation of getting anything back. That in itself is a little shocking when people feel that that’s what’s happening.

Manuel Martinez: Well, that’s what’s happening. It’s just because I feel similar to you. I’ve had those people that have helped me and get not asking for it, but I’ve had people that helped me along my career. So I’m like, “You know what? People did this for me. I can’t do that for that person, but if someone else comes across,” and again, I think that’s why I was so excited for this conversation to finally happen is there’s a lot of that alignment where we’ve talked about. You’ve had a number of people that have helped you. You’re still in contact with them. I’ve had similar situations and I want to now be that person for somebody else so that when they go back and they look and say, “Hey, 10 years, 15 years from now,” I still talk to Manny. I remember when he didn’t have to, but he helped me guide me. I didn’t even give them a role, but guiding… It’s why I do a lot of mentorship and I’m assuming that’s why you do your coaching as well.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I will say if we can unpack the networking topic a little bit.

Manuel Martinez: Yes. So that also, like when I said, before things were a thing, we did it socially in our family circles, our friends, our neighborhood friends, whatever, right? Your relationship building, your nourishing those relationships, because at some point or another, you know that you want to tap into them in some way and you probably don’t want it to be out of left field or a shock, meaning Jazmin hasn’t hit me up in 10 years and all of a sudden she needs something, right? So one thing I do offer in the conversations that I have with a lot of my clients or I’ve facilitated workshops for the intern programs at some of the companies I’ve worked at around networking and the one thing with networking, it has to be reciprocal, right? And it’s not to say like, “I’m only going to help you if you help me.” What I mean is just nourish that relationship and there’s so easy… So many easy ways that you can do that and don’t take a lot of effort, you know? So for me, and I will share this, it’s like, you know, my secret sauce because I often get asked, they’re like, “You’re so good at networking. Like, how do you manage all these relationships?” Simple things, you know, holiday seasons upon us, pick your 10, 12 people in your network that you really feel are, you know, people that you identify with, relate, whatever it is and send them a happy Thanksgiving note or holiday season’s coming up, sending you season greetings, whatever that is. That’s enough to just let someone… You’re thinking about them, you know, you’re reaching out for just warm greeting regards and then when the time comes that you might need something, it doesn’t feel like this oddball out of nowhere. And by no means am I saying like, “This is a fake attempt to manage a relationship.” It’s just the way I do it. It helps me stay on top of these relationships. Simple like a cheat sheet, if you will. There’s people in my network that are veterans, you know, on Veterans Day, send them a note. Mother’s Day, send them a note. Father’s Day, send them a note. Like I have so many different relationships that I pick certain days to manage that network. And then the other thing I’ll say is set yourself up for success when you’re reaching out for help. And I find this a lot in all levels of career. I can’t even say it’s just early in career. “Hey, Jazmin, I’m looking for a job in sales. Will you let me know if there’s something at your company?” So I’m immediately thinking, “Okay, so you want me to stop? What I’m doing,” which I have a lot on my plate every day. “You want me to go look at my company’s job board? You said sales, just any sales job. And I don’t know where you’ve been the last maybe six months plus. What are your quality skills? What makes you stand out? What makes you special when I do this intro? You’ve given me nothing. So you want me to do back to what you said. You want me to do all this work for you, right? You’re not meeting me halfway to help you. So then it’s, you know, think about when you do outreach like that and position yourself for success. So what that looks like would be, “Hey, Jaz, I’m currently looking for my next opportunity. I’m experienced XYZ. My standout qualities are XYZ. My core competencies are ABC. And there’s this business development representative job at your company that I love to apply. Would you consider referring me? Here’s my resume attached. Here’s my LinkedIn profile. Let me know. You’ve done all the work for me. All I got to do is find out who this recruiter is, hiring manager, and send you off. Right? And I’m happy to do that. If I know you, your work ethic, I will help you, but help me help you, right? When it comes to those things.

Manuel Martinez: And I did. I had a guest on here recently, and that’s what they take. Make it easy for them to say yes.

Jazmin Diaz: Right.

Manuel Martinez: Even internally, even if you’re not asking for a job, the reference she gave is when she was at Microsoft, she had to make meetings with all these different people. And it was like, “Hey, here’s who I am. Here’s what I’m doing. Here’s the intention of this meeting. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I looked at your calendar. This time looks like it fits. Can we meet?”

Jazmin Diaz: Right. Right.

Manuel Martinez: You gave me all the context. Yes. Whereas you were like, “Hey, can we set up a meeting on Tuesday at 10 o’clock?” To your point. Maybe. I mean, you want me to stop. Now I’ve got to… What’s this meeting for? Who are you? What… Now I’ve got to go and look you up.

Jazmin Diaz: Search the context.

Manuel Martinez: Search the context. Whereas the more you can provide… And again, it doesn’t have to be a ton of information. Just short. Here’s who I am. To your point. Here’s who I am. Here’s my core competencies. Blah, blah. Here’s my resume. Here’s the specific job. Here’s the two or three. Even if you’re not sure and say, “Hey, I looked at these two or three roles based on blah, blah, blah, on my background. I’m not sure which one of these I would be a better fit for. Can you help me?”

Jazmin Diaz: Right.

Manuel Martinez: Now even if you have to stop and put in some work, you’re like, “Well, wait a minute.” They narrowed it down from the hundred jobs to these three. They just now need guidance. I don’t know. Let me hit up the recruiter. Let me ask, “Hey, I have a friend. Here’s their competency.” Yeah, no, that’s not what this role is. Like, “Oh, no, no. This one is. Oh, okay. Hey, now I’ll refer you.”

Jazmin Diaz: Right. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. So networking can be an amazing power that you can use in your career. I definitely have learned that. From when I made that pivot, I absolutely have a vast network of professionals. I’m happy to say that you were one of those people as well, which came from networking. Right? So, yeah. I mean, there’s so much value in it. And again, just being really intentional, you know, authentic and nurturing that… Those relationships, I believe, and it’s served me well so many times over. And you said this earlier, I think, where maybe it wasn’t within a year or two years that something transpired from that connection, but five, six years later, it’s like, “Oh, my gosh. We met five, six years ago and talked about this, and it took five, six years for something to happen.” But it happened. Right? Everything in its due time. So…

Manuel Martinez: And to your point, fostering those relationships. And I used to think early on that that meant I always have to have coffee with this person. I’ve got… Like, they’re busy as well.

Jazmin Diaz: Right?

Manuel Martinez: And that’s the thing that you also have to remember or that I’ve had to remember is I don’t have to go to lunch with this person all the time. I don’t have to meet with them regularly. So, you share a tip, I guess I’ll share mine, is one of the things I learned from… And I don’t remember who I picked this up, or where. Even if it’s not on holidays, if I remember, if I think of somebody, let’s say, you know, we’re at this podcast and let’s say it’s six months from now, and there’s something you said, something we talked about that reminds me of you, I used to be like, “Oh, I should… I’ll reach out to Jazmin.” That’s something… It’s been a while. Instead, now what I do is right at that moment, I’ll take out my phone. “Hey, guess what? I saw a book in Spanish and we were talking about blah, blah, blah, this other author thought about you. Done, sent, and good.”

Jazmin Diaz: Yes.

Manuel Martinez: Now, it might come back and there might be two or three texts back and forth, or it could just be like, “Oh, man, that’s awesome. Hope you’re doing well. Yeah, it’s great. Thanks.” You know, just, again, I didn’t want anything. I just want to let you know at that moment, I thought of you, I sent you the text, and we’re gone. And it has. It’s happened. The part-time teaching job I got was we had a conversation, we had kind of kept in contact, Karen who I’ve had on here at one point. I was surprised that she even remembered I had that conversation that I said, “You know what? I think it’d be cool to teach one day. I never thought I would actually do it. Hey, I have a part-time VMware instructor. Would you be interested?” I never really thought about it. And she’s like, “Well, you mentioned one time.” I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” But again, it’s keeping that relationship open.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah. Yeah. And the last thing I’ll say on networking too, I think it’s important to call it out. Not taking it personal if someone doesn’t respond. We are all in our own world living our day-to-day with a lot of different responsibilities, demands, and time is short. That’s the one resource that’s the most precious to us, and no one’s making more. We all have 24 hours and in a day. And one thing I remember feeling, there was times where I would feel discouraged like, “You know, I talked to this person. We had such great connection, conversation, or I might have done a favor or something for this person.” And they blew me off and didn’t even respond. But then it’s like, “You know what? Don’t take it personal. Don’t assume the worst.” And more times than not, you know, I’ll get a message even if it’s two, three, four months later. “Oh my gosh, Jaz. I saw your message. I’m so sorry.” I meant to reply. I was at the airport walking and got sidetracked and I never responded. I’m so sorry. Right? So don’t assume the worst. Don’t take it personal. Stay focused and encourage on whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish.

Manuel Martinez: So now you’re moving up. You’ve gone through, we talked about networking, a lot of different areas there. So now what kind of transpires next within your career and what are the lessons that you learned as part of that?

Jazmin Diaz: I’ve learned so much in my career and I’m still learning.

Manuel Martinez: And I know we’re not going to cover anything and everything. And the good thing is, is you do have a book and there is a lot. You do cover quite a bit in there. So I want to ask questions about all kinds of things, but I’m trying to kind of not direct you but let you speak about what you think would be important.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah. So, you know, I mentioned I have a full-time job at a tech company and really my goal for myself is in the next couple years, right? It takes time. I don’t believe it’s going to happen overnight with my business. So with Flourish Learning and Development, you know, ultimately I want to have a consistent client base when it comes to coaching. I have clients today and it’s manageable between my day job, coaching in the evenings or the weekends. But I’d love to get to a point where I don’t need to work for anyone, right? Whether it’s a tech company, a nonprofit, a school district, whatever. I would love to work for myself. And you know, part of Flourish, it’s not just coaching, but it’s also speaking engagements. It’s facilitating workshops for that target audience being a lot of the early career professionals, maybe first gen as well. I think a lot of the stuff I talk about and my points of view resonate. And then there’s using the book as a part of the toolkit, right? Because there’s a lot of things in that book, as you know, there’s 21 chapters in there. And there’s things that even, you know, again, myself, I didn’t really learn or start applying until later in my life, right? And it’s just because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I wasn’t exposed to some of these things. I wasn’t taught a lot of these things. One, for example, would be the chapter about like advocating for yourself. And I think we mentioned earlier too, self-promotion, right? Those things culturally were frowned upon. You don’t do that. So I was taught like, don’t be bragging about this award you got at school or don’t be saying you’re doing this or that. It makes that person feel better, like you’re trying to be better. And it was like, okay, so don’t share accolades. Got it. Okay, won’t do it. In the workplace, I think you kind of asked this question as we were talking about that, was how do you do that? So it was learning a new muscle really for me because I didn’t do that for the first few years in tech. I didn’t know how to. And I don’t know, I just failed to do it, especially when it came into performance reviews. I remember having to write it and struggling because I felt like I was showing off or trying to shine light on things that I did when then I would be like, wait, isn’t this part of my job? Right?

Manuel Martinez: Yes.

Jazmin Diaz: But then it’s like, no, no, these are above and beyond things. I should call them out. So then it was me seeking guidance and advice from people that I trusted. How do you do that? And then they would tell me like, yeah, find opportunities. Maybe it’s throwing on a meeting with someone to talk about some of the stuff you’re working on and get their input. It’s a way to showcase it without being like, oh, look, I’m making it all about me. Right? Align it to the business, align it to the impact that it can have, whether it’s on the employees, deliverables, goals, whatever that is. So that was one thing that was important for me to cover in the book about advocating for yourself because in time I was able to learn it and it was important to me to pass that on to the readers who struggle from these things. And again, that’s just one example. And so ultimately I would love for the book to be something that people adopt and can really get meaningful takeaways. And hopefully one day I’ll hear about, oh my gosh, you know, the Hidden Alliances chapter or the power of networking or defining success was so important or so impactful for me because it allowed me to XYZ or shift or pivot or just a different perspective altogether. And doing it in both languages, like I want to bring this to Mexico. I want to tap into, you know, the companies that are there and very much focused on leadership liderazgo in Mexico, especially with Mexico City, Guadalajara, there’s a booming booming…tech event happening. So if I can bring that into those environments and share my insights, my learning, draw from those experiences from the book through Flourish, that’s my ultimate goal and aspiration.

Manuel Martinez: And you’re right because it’s not just a Mexico thing. It’s a culture and it is a first gen because doing that, again, you don’t speak about those accolades, hey, you’re showing off. Or the other thing is now people are going to get envious, you know, and dealing with that and understanding that that was another thing is I can’t control what somebody else is going to think. Now you do have to be careful with who you share. You know, and that’s a learning process, right? I can’t tell you like this person and that person. That’s something you’re going to have to learn on your own, but being able to understand that it’s okay to advocate for yourself and here’s how you do it or here’s how you find the right people and here’s what you should be on the lookout for to understand, okay, this person is going to help me versus I can tell this person and they might try and sabotage.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Manuel Martinez: It happens, right? But it’s a learning experience and you start to pick that up. Now you can provide all the tips in the world.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah, like that’s the chapter of colleagues are not your friends.

Manuel Martinez: Right. But you’re still going to go through it.

Jazmin Diaz: Yeah.

Manuel Martinez: Like as much as I can try and help and prepare you, but at least when it happens, you’re like, wait a minute. This sounds familiar. I kind of remember this and I’ve been reading a lot more of these types of books. So there’s another one that The DevelopHer book.

Jazmin Diaz: I bought it.

Manuel Martinez: Did you?

Jazmin Diaz: I haven’t started reading it, but on your recommendation, I bought it.

Manuel Martinez: But that was another thing where like, again, she had written it for females and I wrote it and it was like, oh, okay, this is for women in the tech industry. And a lot of what you’re talking about, like how do you advocate for yourself? How do you go through and talk about volunteering? And it’s a lot of things to where I was like, oh, well, this applies to me as a first gen person because I didn’t have those people, even though they did help me in my career, they helped me at that point or in that role, or maybe move on to the next one, but not holistically. And I think that’s what things like your book or Lauren’s book and all these other ones is they help you get a perspective that’s a little bit bigger than just your role, just you as a person. And I’m like, oh, yeah, as much as we think we’re snowflakes and we’re all very individual, we are individuals, but there’s a lot of shared experiences. Anything that you can share is going to be helpful for somebody I might share. And the other thing we talked about is you and I can have the exact same experience. We can talk about it. It’s going to resonate differently with the same person and with different people. You’re going to reach an audience that I’m never going to be able to.

Jazmin Diaz: Right

Manuel Martinez: And vice versa, like I can share yours and I’m going to reach people that you’re never going to be able to get in contact with. So it’s exciting to see, you know, like just the more I do the podcast, the more I get to talk to people like yourself and say, for nine months, right? We’ve been trying to make this happen. Why? Because we have a similar mindset of, I struggled.

Jazmin Diaz: Right.

Manuel Martinez: I want you to not have to struggle as much. Now, I don’t know if that comes from an upbringing, if that comes from being a parent. There could be any number of reasons, but again, that’s something that is exciting to me. We’re doing the same thing in different formats.

Jazmin Diaz: Right. You know, want to help people out and help them get to where they are headed faster and maybe more efficiently or with more financial opportunity. You know, like I mentioned the chapter of advocating for yourself and negotiating. That’s the other thing. My first tech offer, I had no idea that I could negotiate. I didn’t even think negotiating at all. It was just like, oh my gosh, I’m so excited. Yes. Right. And then fast forward as I matured in the tech environment, the tech space, observing, listening, asking questions, partnering more with HR and having a seat at the table and a lot of conversations that gave me insight from the other side. And it was like, oh, there are so many levers you could pull. Did you know that you could ask for more stock if they can’t meet your salary requirements? Oh, well, budgets are usually planned out so and so in advance. So sure, you should definitely tap into the stock, RSU’s, stock options, whatever they have, lever. Or, oh, okay, you can’t do that. Well, maybe we can talk about my bonus. Could you increase the percentage of that? Right. These are all things I didn’t know until way later. So I mentioned that in my book as well because again, my goal is solely to pass on information that might help you be successful faster.

Manuel Martinez: You touched on a subject that we… It doesn’t get covered much here. So probably in the first couple of episodes, I did have somebody else that talked about that in her experience. So Janetta mentioned where she didn’t know about negotiating or even understanding to be able to ask for bands and talk to recruiters. And there’s ways to find out, okay, based on my skill set, what is… When they understand, when they… Think when they talk about know your worth, it’s not that a job is beneath you, but understanding that when you find a role that is for you, it’s what is that pay band and where do you fit in there based on your skill set? And she says, “I didn’t have family in tech. I didn’t have anybody that I knew that could be… I’m going to try and quote this as best I can.” But she was like, “Oh girl, you’re in tech. Me too. Oh, you do this, I do this. You’re making that much. Oh, I’m making this much. Like, hey, you should be asking for a certain amount.” It wasn’t until a recruiter reached out to her and they were going through this and she goes, “What are you doing? I do t