An Honest Dialogue on First-Generation diversity and Success
We had the absolute pleasure of hosting two inspiring first-generation creatives, Jesse Meza and Gabriela Sosa, on our Instagram Live. The topic of discussion covered everything related to being a first-gen creative and shared experiences through the lens of BIPOC.
Both Jesse and Gabriela are members of the Latinx community and advocates for diversity and inclusion in the creative industry at large. Jesse has always had an affinity toward Mexico and currently resides in Houston, TX, after attending UT Austin. He formerly worked in advertising and is currently back in school, while Gabriela works for a Latinx creative shop.
As part of his trailblazing career in creative, Jesse participated in the Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (MAIP) in Chicago for two to three months and graduated in 2015. Though Gabriela found out about MAIP late in her experience, she still had the opportunity to work with a Latinx agency.
Do Labels Solve Issues in Communities?
To kickstart this insightful chat, Jesse and Gabriela discussed the importance of labels in the BIPOC community, specifically, terms such as Latinx versus Hispanic, Spanish, etc. Gabriela raised an intriguing point—does debate over such terms actually solve issues in these marginalized communities?
Though it is respectful to address a community as they wish to be addressed, at the end of the day, arguments over labels alone won’t solve issues in BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other disadvantaged communities. Within reason, there’s always room to educate others on preferable labels, but Gabriela brought up an insightful position on why debates over labels is only the surface-level work needed.
Gabriela stated her stance in an extremely simple yet eloquent way: “I never want to step into a space that I’m not in.” Unless it’s a space you feel included, it’s best to leave it up to that community to determine what their preferences are. (For example, when addressing Indigenous people, let them speak on what labels they prefer.)
Navigating the Corporate World
First-gens are the first in their family to ever navigate the corporate environment. And for Gabriela, that’s exactly what happened. While her sister navigated the college experience, stirring Gabriela’s persistence to attend school, Gabriela faced the corporate workplace as a new space.
It was full of happy hours, drinks, casual conversation, and broken professional etiquette, all a shock to Gabriela. Her experience in the corporate world was clashing with all of the decorum she was raised with. Drinking at work, or right after work?
For Jesse, an MBA candidate at UCLA, water-cooler conversations in the workplace caught his attention. He noticed a prevalence of Latinx people coming from a “legacy of education.” He didn’t have the family legacy to rely on; he had to set the groundwork for his career, with little family connections and history to rely on, as do many other first-gen professionals.
Jesse had similar experiences to Gabriela in the workplace, which forced him to be more intentional about his purpose there: “I’m not at work to make best friends, but here to show what I can do and get a salary. It’s not my objective to be social, to go out.”
With an almost unnatural importance placed on workplace “culture” and building comradery, Jesse noticed boundaries crossed in the workplace, as did Gabriela.
“I have my community and network. While I’m willing to add to it, I want to keep work and home separate. I was raised in a home [that taught], like, school is there, work is here. Don’t blur those lines,” Gabriela said.
Culture Atrophy Post-Pandemic
Jesse and Gabriela both discussed how easy it is to get sucked into your work when moving to a new city, because what else are you going to do? It’s easy to find yourself assimilating and losing your identity in the process.
Both creatives agreed culture is going to be “atrophied” going back into the office after the pandemic simmers. Working from home has created wonderful new workplace dynamics and allowed for the shifting of a lot of norms and values. Code-switching is extremely common in the workplace, and it will likely continue when normal office politics resume.
It hasn’t always been this way. It’s an unspoken part of being a first-generation working creative to encounter ignorance that only adds to the traumas so many BIPOC working professionals experience. Pre-pandemic, both Jesse and Gabriela encountered workplace ignorance.
Jesse shared an instance working at an agency in NYC. During the first week, three to four people kept asking him where the mailroom was, how to find the bell boxes, and other questions typically directed to those in a lower position than he was in. Their implicit bias assumed that because he was a BIPOC, he must’ve known where the supplies were.
At a different agency, they played Latinx music and assumed Jesse knew how to dance to it. It’s these little touches of ignorance in the workplace that show a general lack of understanding and consideration for other cultures.
Even Latinx Environments Have Privilege
Working at a Latinx shop, Gabriela still encounters non-white people with privilege. Her co-workers told her that her accent when speaking about spreadsheets sounded “ghetto.”
Comments made about one’s accent or dialect is still a form of microaggressions, even if coming from another POC. Gabriela tried to ignore these instances in order to protect her feelings.
Unfortunately, offensive remarks are found everywhere. People in the ad industry especially tend to ask probing questions—and at times, make ignorant comments. Jesse was once told that “if you don’t have a British accent, you sound ignorant.” While most Americans swoon over a British accent, seriously asserting that without one, you sound ignorant discredits every other dialect and accent outside of those in the United Kingdom.
His responses to microaggressions changed throughout his career. Initially, they really got under his skin, and one could see the response to these actions in Jesse’s body language. But he soon came to realize that “people do things out of a place of ignorance, not a place of spite.”
Employee Resource Groups
Many employers host employee resource groups, sometimes called affinity groups. Jesse asked Gabriela if affinity groups were prevalent in her workspace, especially because she works as a Social Media Strategist for a Latinx shop.
She responded in the affirmative, disclosing that her holding company does indeed provide resource groups, such as a group for Women of Color, LGBTQ+ groups, and others. These groups work to bring people together in the workplace, unifying them around some common characteristic.
Employee resource groups have the potential to eliminate cultural biases in the workplace, but the work is never done. There needs to be communication between groups on best practices, acceptance, and inclusion before we can truly see a workplace exemplifying equity.
Wrap-Up and Takeaways
Thanks to Gabriela and Jesse, we got an inside look into their experiences as first-gen professionals and insightful tips on moving forward in the creative industry. With discussions like these, we’re able to better understand their perspective as creatives and better work to support them.
Showing up during these difficult conversations is only the first step. The hard part, and the step posing the most challenges, is addressing these issues and devising actionable plans to further the voices of marginalized creatives.
It’s not easy work, but nothing worth achieving is easy.
About the Contributors
Jesse is a former Digital Media Supervisor and current MBA Candidate at UCLA Anderson. Prior to these nice titles, he was born a First Generation Mexican American in Northside Houston, Texas. He loves his family, his roots, and his communities - down for them like four flats. He can talk about his hood and his people all day. However, he thinks it's just as important to share his story of transitioning from poverty to driving international advertisers' profit to earning a full ride fellowship at UCLA's MBA program. He’s Jesse, and he’s here to dismantle systemic oppression in every room he steps into.
You can follow Jesse on Instagram @jesse_delbarrio.
Gabriela is a first-generation Salvadoran-Mexican-American born and raised in Dallas, TX. She received her undergraduate education from the University of Texas at Dallas. For the past five years she has been working in social media for a variety of brands at advertising agencies. She loves hiking, kayaking, dancing and cooking.
You can find Gabriela on Instagram @itsgabywithoneb.
Cassandra Arrigo-Pastore is a writer and editor based in NYC passionate about mental health advocacy, work/life integration, and neurodiversity. Born in Arizona and raised in Florida, she received a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations from the University of Central Florida, and post-grad remains actively involved in ethical branding and the global advertising space. Aside from her freelance and agency work, you can find Cass at your nearest aboveground train, with the New Yorker mag in one hand and an iced dirty chai in the other.
