We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sophia Zarate a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sophia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The Corporate Pero Latinos mission can be broken out into three areas: social, professional, and philanthropic.

Our mission is to facilitate social and professional connections through shared experiences while encouraging our members to give back to the community.

As a former corporate employee, I often felt alienated from my Latin culture and always felt like fitting in required me to leave certain aspects of my identify behind. Our community was created as I was seeking out a group of friends that I could have outside of the workplace that could relate to both my cultural and professional background. I was in desperate need for genuine connections and our mission still puts community at the forefront of everything that we do in order to maintain the genuine and authentic essence of CPL.

We raise funds to give back to DACA recipients, undocumented students, and immigrants as we have identified these individuals as underserved members of the Latinx community. Our current initiatives include our Sin Paredes Scholarship for DACA and undocumented students and weekly ESL classes to restaurant workers in NYC.

This part of our mission is very dear to my heart because when I moved back to the U.S. in 4th grade, I only spoke Spanish. It took me a while to speak to anyone because I was so afraid they would laugh at me. My homeroom teacher would teach a whole lesson and then come sit with me to basically teach it to me all over again in Spanish so I wouldn’t fall behind. During college, I worked at a coffee shop and met a guy that really touched my heart. He was a kind and very hardworking guy who happened to be undocumented. He was so talented but always felt limited by his language barrier and didn’t really have the time or energy to learn a whole new language.

While I was still in college, I made a friend who shared their undocumented experience with me and the many hurdles they jumped to get to a “level” playing field with many of our peers. There was nothing level about it. DACA recipients, to this day, face an immense amount of adversity.

I often think about the people in my life that propelled me forward in my pursuits, as well as the advantages that I had growing up. This is my way of paying it forward.

Sophia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a first-generation Mexican American who was born and raised in the border town of Laredo, TX. I started my career in New York City at a Big 4 Accounting Firm and made a bold move to leave corporate America in 2022 to pursue my passion for Content Creation and to incorporate the charitable non-profit organization – Corporate Pero Latinos.

My vision for Corporate Pero Latinos started through social media, where I shared humorous and engaging content that resonated with a growing audience.

What I thought would be a small group of friends, became a community through which members have found friendship, as well as professional opportunities. Since then, I’ve continued to leverage my platform to promote the values of our organization and inspire others to give back to the community. My mission is to demonstrate that working in Corporate America does not have to be synonymous with cultural alienation.

One of my biggest accomplishments has been receiving a $25,000 grant from Cheetos and Bad Bunny in recognition of the work that I had been doing within my Latinx community. It was very validating to know that such big names in the Media & Entertainment industry could see the potential I had to have a greater impact.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Like most people did during the pandemic, I created a TikTok account and started noticing gaps in the content I was interested in. No single influencer or content creator really reflected the experience that I was having as a first-gen Latina that was living in NYC and working in corporate America so I decided to center all the content I created around that.

Of course, going viral helps grow a following but it doesn’t always translate to a loyal community. I’ve always been very pro-active about engaging with people who comment on my content or DM me rather than just seeing them as followers. The better part of my online community has seen me go through my whole journey and, as surprising as it may sound, sometimes strangers end up being your biggest supporters!

So, I think developing that trust and back-and-forth communication has allowed me to have a very engaged audience. Going viral is never the end goal. You have to be honest with yourself and ask yourself what you want an audience for in the first place.

Any advice for managing a team?

A lot! I had never had to manage people other than interns before becoming CEO of a non-profit organization.

My best advice would be to lead with kindness and empathy. This goes a long way when trying to maintain high morale within your team. I think it’s also very important to give recognition where it’s due so your team is aware that their efforts aren’t going unnoticed. You’d be surprised at how impactful kindness and recognition can be.

On a more technical note, having a good range of technical skills is always great and can help you understand the work your teams are doing, make informed decisions, and provide meaningful guidance.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.corporateperolatinos.org
• Instagram: @sophiealamexicana ; @corporateperolatinos
• Linkedin: Sophia Zarate ; Corporate Pero Latinos
• Other: TikTok: @sophiealamexicana @corporateperolatinos

Image Credits
Alan Joseph Mikhail Lipyanskiy Diego Berrocal Megan Rainwater