Why Trust Beats Talent in Fundraising, Alumni Engagement, and Leadership

[0:16]  Welcome back to another episode here on the Hunt Hustle Podcast. We have Miss Danielle in the building. How you doing today, ma'am?

[0:20]  I'm well, thank you.

[0:23]  Excited to be having this conversation today for those that are watching. It is a Friday. So we're winding down, getting ready for the weekend. I ask you, what is that winding down look like? What is a thing that you're doing to relax as we get into the weekend?

[0:37]  I don't like to make plans because my days are filled with pre scheduled obligations. And so and I work with a lot of people all the time, everywhere. So it a lot of people might want to get away from their desk and r and and hang out with friends or be in groups of people or events or concerts. For me, it looks more like a low key, quiet space to to just I guess kind of re recharge, if you will.

[1:06]  Yeah.

[1:06]  So yeah.

[1:06]  Yeah. What is something that people don't know that you do or like that they'll be surprised?

[1:14]  I actually mo I think a lot of people would be surprised to know that I am a avid and diehard horror nov book reader. So I like to read specifically

[1:24]  Really?

[1:24]  h like indie horror. So ever since I was like in the sixth or fifth grade, I picked up a Stephen King book back then. I don't know why my parents were letting me read that, but it was the nineties. And I read it and I just loved it. And so even to this day, I like to read a lot of really scary stories.

[1:42]  I'm I may sound crazy, but I think I'm on to something here. That is the Goosebumps book?

[1:48]  No, Stephen King is the author of those, of the famous you know, all the he's a famous author of all of the the books like Cujo and Carrie and Misery. all

[2:00]  Huh. Got it.

[2:01]  those that were turned into movies later on. Yeah, no, he's just

[2:04]  Got I got it. Yeah. That would not even though those goosebumps book back in the days, I just never read them. I never

[2:08]  those two. Don't get me wrong. I loved those two. Those were or the things, scary stories to tell in the you know, to tell in the dark, kinda those all of those things. yeah, those were those were definitely.

[2:16]  yeah, yeah. Yeah. That is so funny. So you're big reader, so you still read just as much?

[2:20]  I do. In fact, I'm reading extra right now 'cause I'm taking a gra I'm taking graduate course right now. so I'm doing textbook reading more, but I read all the time. Everything.

[2:30]  Okay. Let's go. And and what what got you into reading? Was this like something that mom and dad kind of instilled in you early age, or was just something you just kind of picked up?

[2:37]  I think I think that I my parents aren't actually big readers. And so I think that I actually just found I it was a cousin of mine gave me the book, one of the very first book. It was like The Red Dragon or something. And I read it and I think I've just felt a sense of escapism. and in my imagination kind of created this other world

[2:55]  Yeah.

[2:55]  that I could be a part of and just understand and and you know I I was always a real anxious kid, so this allowed me to kind of like channel that

[3:04]  Yeah.

[3:04]  anxiousness into a space that was kinda scary or you know, but not real.

[3:08]  What is your favorite horror movie or horror book?

[3:11]  My favorite horror movie, no matter what, of all time is The Very First Halloween with Mike Myers. I love that

[3:19]  Okay.

[3:19]  book. I mean that movie. I wrote I wrote and when I was in college I wrote a paper on it for we were in a film class and I chose that book, that movie, I mean, to to talk about it. It's so good.

[3:30]  Love it. When did you what did you you talked about going back to school? What are you going to school for?

[3:36]  strategic communication. So the masters of strategic communication,

[3:38]  Kind of tying back up everything that you're doing.

[3:40]  yeah.

[3:40]  Yeah, yeah. That's so cool. And what what what made you want to seek higher education? So many families kind of, you know, especially are you a first gen?

[3:52]  Yes.

[3:52]  So e even stronger there, right? Like you didn't have the representation. I mean, probably parents set that standard, but they obviously didn't do it. What made you say, Hey, I want to go get education? I want to make sure that I can get this degree.

[4:03]  Well, you know, I was the first in my family to get a bachelor's degree, but my dad actually not the first necessarily to to you know, go for a additional education. My dad went

[4:13]  Mm-hmm.

[4:13]  to D we're from Houston, native Houstonians, I'm fifth generation Houstonian. So my

[4:17]  Okay.

[4:18]  dad had left the city back in his seventies or whatever when he graduated from high school to go to Dallas and take computer courses, technol when computers were first emerging. And so,

[4:29]  Mm.

[4:29]  he said, I just got a flyer on my front porch and I went to check it out and the rest is history and he worked for HP for like twenty something, thirty years. So I think him falling into that and even seeing how even, you know, the the most minimal of education can help advance, you know, how where you are and and and your earning capabilities, capacity, I think he he did well for himself and made made good money in that working for HP. And so he he was always intent on making sure that we attended that we knew we were gonna attend college. I don't think he always knew what that would look like. So from the first gym perspective, he knew we needed to go. He wanted to fund it. But in terms of guidance and, you know, all that other part, he didn't really know what that looked like. so that

[5:13]  Mm.

[5:13]  I still navigated on my own. And then for this graduate program, same thing.

[5:18]  you mentioned computers, kind of the early days of computers. First of all, the first things I can think about when you say early days computers is all the colorful computers in a computer lab. First of all, T even said we had a computer lab at school. It's crazy. But also this right here. You remember these floppy disks? Really? What a coincidence. Yeah, yeah. No.

[5:31]  Yes, yes, I was just talking about that last night with my friend. Mm-hmm. was like, You remember these? Yeah, we used to save all our papers on those.

[5:39]  I'm saying I would love to know what's even on that. I just found it and you know, it says my my name on here. Funny thing is my handwriting hasn't changed. It looked like this in elementary and it's just as bad now. My my daughter looked at me, she's five, she's getting to you know, start writing and reading. And she looked at me like, Dad, why does your handwriting look like mine? I'm like, that's that's besides the point, ma'am. All right. What

[6:00]  That is hilarious. You'd be like, Honey, you have wonderful handwriting. What are you talking about?

[6:05]  organization? my God, you know, she'd be trying my life. what organization are you leading? And what's your title?

[6:12]  I am the director of alumni relations for the University of Houston downtown.

[6:17]  So Houston is really in your blood. You stayed home.

[6:21]  I did. and I'm an alum as well. So I went to school here, born and raised here, went to school here, went to college here, and then found found work straight out of college really, really quickly, really easily, in the late nineties. I'm

[6:34]  Same school and

[6:35]  sorry, early two thousands. I'm aging myself. Early two thousands, just a little bit. I actually

[6:40]  Mm-hmm.

[6:41]  went and worked I spent the pre before I was here, I left UHD, the University of Houston downtown to go and work for I spent about fifteen years doing nonprofit fundraising. So I worked with the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, and then more locally, the Houston Area Women Center. And I did those types of I was working on the development side and did those types of projects where we were raising money through fundraising. And so specifically I started to manage the events, special events, all the fancy and different kinds of events. But I also worked with individual giving and then fundraising campaigns. So all of that kind of like I what I started to realize was that, you know, you know, I loved doing what I was doing, but I could do work for something that was even closer to my heart by working

[7:27]  Mm-hmm.

[7:28]  for the University of Houston downtown in this role.

[7:30]  Yeah.

[7:30]  And so it kind of brought me back here to take this role that I've been in for about three years now, going into four.

[7:36]  Okay, so before that you were just in the nonprofit sector for the most part. What what brought

[7:40]  Mm-hmm. And this role is still in advancement. Advancement in higher education equals development equals fundraising, right? To an to a degree.

[7:46]  Mm-hmm.

[7:47]  So I still fall under the fundraising umbrella of the university.

[7:51]  What what led you into that nonprofit space? Just kind of that was just the first opportunity that presented itself?

[7:58]  Well, I was a communication studies major. and I I had the my parents were totally okay with me just picking something that made me happy. You know, they

[8:08]  Mm-hmm.

[8:08]  again they it was kind of a blessing that they necess they didn't necessarily know what to kind of push me into. So I was able to pick something that I enjoyed and I've always enjoyed, you know, presenting, speaking, learning about people, listening and all that. And so I did a lot of that while I was at the univers here at UHD. Or universities in downtown. And upon graduation, I went to start applying my applications. you know, I graduated in May of us of that year, and I started applying and I had trouble. So I reached out to a mentor of mine. She was the president of Pierre Pont Communication at the time here in Houston, and she had come to speak to a group of us here as a student. She said, Whenever you if you need anything, reach out to me. And she was the president, she gave our business card to us. So it was like, All I'm gonna send her, I'm gonna go out on a limb. I'm gonna, you know, email this lady and see if she can help me refine my resume. So she took she looked at it and she said, I need you to change X, Y, and Z. There were a few things, but she said, What do you do? Everyone has experience doing something. Take out all of this entry level, you know, first person, you know, for new graduate, take all that language out and put in there the things that you do. And I said, Well, I fundraise and I've coordinated and managed volunteers through the various student. groups that I've been involved with while at the university. And I have over 150 volunteer hours. And she says, so let's build that in there. So I built all that in there. And suffice to say, I think I had an interview and a job in September of that year with the American Cancer Society. And so they called me in and they said, you know, we were gonna give you this area. We do the relay for life, which was their big fundraiser at the time. It still is, I think. you just have to meet with these communities, get their the committees in these various communities, host these events. Here's your fundraising goal. Go out there and get

[9:52]  Love it. I love it. Fundraising is not easy either. What are you learning

[9:56]  It's not.

[9:57]  quickly doing fundraising in that position?

[9:58]  I learned very quickly that it's about the relationships and it is about gaining and earning the trust of the people that you work with, in terms of other volunt managing volunteers and empowering them. But more so when it's when you when it comes to raising money and awareness for an organization, any organization, it's about the story that you're able to tell. You know, you can't shove anything down someone's throat or in their face to to love or like something. even if you know it's great, you have to be able to have them see themselves in the story that you're telling. So I think it took me a while to realize that it was much more organic and natural than, you know, applying a set of principles, you know, to a real life situation.

[10:41]  Yeah. I am truly in that space right now, as I mentioned, leading into this event where it's kind of the first of its kind. but what I hear after the story of your organization, what I hear is like I didn't know you guys existed or hey, this has happened to me in the past and I didn't even know you guys give tech like there's just all these different things going on. And I have to tell the organization, like at the end of the day, man, people we have to build trust. We we have to people are not going to give if they don't trust us. So we've kind of burned bridges with so many people that we have to almost kind of start from the beginning and make sure that when we do get that we're keeping that communication that we're not just because we want something, but even in those moments where we just want to share a s an impact story. So they know where their dollars are going. and it's out of sight, out of mind. So many people I've heard say, Hey, I wanna give, but I I I don't even know where to go, you know, and they're then they find other organizations similar to yours and it's like, nah, now you're back to the drama board. You know what I mean?

[11:35]  Yeah, they're all great qua they're all great causes is a thing. So it it feels sometimes when I say, you know, you have to really find out, you know, what it is they're passionate about and speak to that, you know, it can sound kind of like almost a sales type of thing. And it it really isn't though, because the truth is is and I say this all the time, like I for to use University of Houston downtown as an example, I know that this university is doing incredible things. I know that this university is helping students on a level that is a little bit different than you'll see at other traditional universities. in in other places. And I know that the help and the assistance and the donations or fundraising that are given to the university change these students' trajectories in their lives. I mean, they really turn their families into, you know, a family a lot of times, not always, but a lot of times, you know, they're they themselves are children of immigrants, for example. And so it really helps them springboard, you know, into the next into the next space in terms of you know, economic mobility, you know, and and everything. And so I know those things. But how do I without just telling others, how do I get them to find a place where they know those things as well? But it doesn't feel like I've sold that to them. It doesn't mean that what I'm saying is untrue. It just means I have to find out more about them to get them lead them to the place, basically,

[12:55]  Yeah.

[12:55]  to understand why our mission and our cause is is important. And not that it again, not that it's more important than others. But why we may be at the forefront and let them make a decision as to how they wanna donate or spend their time, volunteer time or whatever.

[13:11]  And one thing that I'm doing right now is reaching out to those old s teachers that I think students love to see, right? So let's go look for those teachers.

[13:18]  yeah.

[13:18]  and and really bring those alumni that haven't that been out of school for ten, twenty years and have probably made a career for themselves and and bring them back to the fold and says, Hey, look what Edgewater's doing. But not only that, look at the students that showed up out of these. I mean, currently in in my school, we got mayors, we got, you know, people in school board.

[13:34]  Mm-hmm.

[13:35]  Are you guys tapping into those type of individuals as well, bringing them back? We talk about storytelling. I think there's a lot of storytelling and just that in itself.

[13:42]  So the university is it's a fairly young university. I've I think I've mentioned this to you before in terms of we just celebrated fifty fiftieth anniversary a couple years ago. And so, you know, we weren't necessarily, we don't have the we weren't kind of handed this hundred year legacy with all of these

[13:59]  Mm-hmm.

[14:00]  supporting, you know, alums and a place to start. So we really had to build from the ground up. And what that has looked like largely is just starting to research who they are. Like, let's look at our alums, let's find out where they are. And this is with a very limited budget, by the way. So it's not like we can hire this major data company that can come and do these sweeps and send me

[14:20]  Yeah.

[14:20]  this perfectly designed report. I mean, they can do that, but it costs twenty five, forty-five thousand dollars, right? we don't have that kind of budget. so I think it's in finding out who they are. And a lot of that is through some type through the networks that we do have. So we do, and we have been able to identify some of the pockets in Houston where a lot of our alumni are. A lot of them live, we have a big criminal justice program. And so naturally, a lot of Houston's leaders in law enforcement are alums. the chief of police currently is one of our alums. the former sheriff was one of our alums, the constable, just different things like that. So

[14:59]  Yeah.

[15:00]  so leaders in the community like that. We also have some members on city council, and so We try to find people that are influential in their spaces and we try to talk to them and and we have to do a lot of I don't want to say damage control, d damage repair, but these are people who like myself were like, I haven't heard from y'all in like X amount of years, right?

[15:19]  Mm. Yeah.

[15:19]  And so you really have to have those honest conversations that it's like, Look, I know in every case is different, but you can say, I know that, you know, whatever they're they might not want to get involved again because of these things. And all you have to do is just be as incredibly honest as possible and say, We understand those things happen. Here's where we are right now and and here's what we need. We need your help. You know, sometimes it's as simple as when you're talking to alumni telling them, We need your help. Are you willing

[15:42]  Yeah.

[15:42]  to help these students?

[15:44]  Yep. Being transparent. Right. I love to

[15:47]  Mm-hmm.

[15:47]  get on those calls and I and you know, just really be transparent. Like I I get it and I I apologize for what's happened in the past, but we're really moving into the future. And this is where we're at, and this is what we've kind of done. And I think with communication nowadays, it looks very different, right? Like right now, I'm on social and I'm creating these videos with some of these teachers, and people are like, wow, like you know, we've never tapped in to that audience. We've kind of stayed in that older generation. where it was, you know, sending mail to somebody's house. It was email, but now things

[16:16]  email.

[16:17]  are really different. We meet people where they're at. Is that text

[16:19]  Mm-hmm.

[16:19]  message? Is that social? What are some of the things that you guys are doing when it comes to just spreading the word?

[16:24]  Well, we have relied largely on our we have an official university, we have official university platforms that aren't necessarily alumni only. But we find that when we share things that are alumni related on the official channels, it serves to bring awareness not just to the alumni to see them, you know, see for alumni audience, but for the community to see kind of what our alumni are doing and for student whoever's following those pages, and then for whoever algorithm we happen to fall into. they see what we're doing. We have a lot of we're not actually able in the state of Texas to utilize Snapchat. I mean not Snapchat, TikTok.

[17:02]  Took one. Mm-hmm.

[17:03]  So we have to oftentimes rely, but our students do. And so we're not relying on them in a formal way, but what I do, I'll find if I'm on TikTok just in my personal time, someone will have posted their, you know, their first day at UHD or the gators in the Bayou, which we do have gators in the bayou. We are the gators. And so they make all these questions. Cool like connections on their own. And so it's those real like organic things. We also have student workers that do our social media. And so they're doing it in ways that I'm too embarrassed to do, right? Because I'm I'm not that they're embarrassing

[17:35]  Yeah.

[17:35]  for them, but like they're out there just videoing, right? Live and stuff. I'm like traumatized by the thought of being live, right? Like what could go something could go wrong. But I think that's what young people appreciate. And not just young people, they also come across our algorithms, right? When we are our for you page or our, you know, feed sometimes. and so I think it's we've tried to really utilize more of a natural way to get communicate to get, you know, what we're doing in front of the right audiences and in the community. So mm-hmm.

[18:05]  And something like TikTok where people love how authentic some you know the content

[18:10]  Right.

[18:10]  is, right? So that's that's also like you gotta almost be just yourself. You know, it's a lot of times when we go live, it is it's kind of cringe per se.

[18:18]  Mm-hmm.

[18:19]  But yeah, I am because I'm in the space of content on the wrestling side, I've kind of learned to do that and to just kind of sometimes realize I'll be an ass, you know, just to for the comedy, for the fun aspect of it. But it i it is very, you know, challenging. And I didn't know that. I didn't know that you guys could not utilize TikTok. Is that just at the school level? I'm guessing, the higher level?

[18:49]  No, it's I think it's I believe that's at the state level. don't quote me, but I think there's there was some state regulation that rolled out not too long ago

[19:45]  Mm.

[19:46]  from I think maybe Abbott. I'm not sure, in fact. I'd want to double check that, but yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. I'm just told I can't

[22:11]  Got it. Got it. Hey, that's not your hey, it's above your pay grade. I get it. No

[23:36]  do it. so but we do have like Instagram and we have

[27:12]  Yeah.

[27:33]  all we have all the others and so we use those. We also work with the other departments that have Instagrams. Like for example, we have alumni, UHD alumni Instagram. but we also have stu other departments that h host a an array of events that also post exciting content. And so we will work collaboratively with them so that some of that feed is showing our alums what students are doing as well. So, like, you know, a lot of a lot of working together because I don't have a content creator just for social media right now. So I have to really kind of piggyback off of the things that exist, in a lot of ways.

[28:23]  Are you guys utilizing AI for any form of communication to kind of let the people do the human work and let all this frequently asked questions and things happen on the back end on its own?

[28:39]  You know, I'm not from a technology standpoint, I'm not sure. I know that on the on our website and stuff they are using kind of, you know, AI for FAQs and things like that. I personally have not implemented it anywhere. I will use it on a personal level occasionally to proof my work or to find a nicer way to say something, perhaps. Something that, you know, can be received, you know, sound better, you know, like or make more sense.

[32:13]  Yeah.

[32:16]  I utilize it for that. It's really helpful for me right now, being a I'm I'm short staffed right now. So it's really helpful for me in terms of proofing and things like things almost like an assistant for the time being. But but no, and I have we haven't delved

[32:30]  I love it.

[33:11]  into it too much yet.

[34:37]  Yeah. I tell my staff, this is your best friend. Utilize your best friend, right? Like, you know, in a in a time of need, you go to you're like, man, didn't even think of that. That was good. Like, I appreciate that.

[35:02]  It's true, it's true.

[35:23]  what what what is some of that you say you've been doing this for two years? I could imagine you get in there, you have these goals that you wanted to achieve because in any role we want to just make sure we leave it better than how we found it. What are those things, plans that you're you've been working on?

[35:24]  Well, you know, as I think I mentioned this before, but you know, sometimes we get into roles and we inherit, you know, a system. Other times, you know, there is not one. There is one n one doesn't exist. So you have to create it. And I think with that I've learned a lot in this particular role because in prior roles there were already kind of infrastructure infrastructure and a pro and processes and a way we did business. And this department, because it was new as a depar standalone department for this university. I had to look at things like vision, what what what is the vision of this department? What are, you know, I also had to have the patience and persistence to try and and also the experimentation. I had to have the the be able to take risks and try things, right? Because you're really starting with nothing at all, right? And so like I think having the opportunity to build a structure where one doesn't exist has been one of ha you know, a really big challenge for me. But You know, it's also like I I use a Rocky Balboa. I know it's so overused, but it's so good. It's like, you know, you have to be not only willing to take the risk, but willing to take the hits and keep going. Because it's like anything. You're gonna be told no so many times and you cannot get discouraged, or you're gonna try something that falls flat. And you know, you gotta be okay with that. You know, it's okay to fall down and dust yourself off and get back up and then think, okay, I fell down for doing this. How can I make this better? And so I've done a lot of that in in trying to build and rebuild what we're doing here within the department and and and to create the alumni engagement that we want, which

[38:18]  Yeah.

[38:19]  ending goal is to create networks for our students.

[38:24]  I love it. I y you kind of just mentioned the failing and and the losing. And we all go through that. And I think the mindset is that when you fail, what do you learn from those moments? Because it only makes you better. Failing makes you better. Because you get to really figure out what doesn't work, as you mentioned. Do

[38:35]  Right.

[38:35]  you you recall a time where it seemed like failure, however, there was there was a blessing there? You recall any of those moments in your life?

[38:48]  I think in this first year, in the fur very first year of what we were doing, we did a lot of events that they had kind of hosted. The university had hosted initially, but I don't know if the goal or the purpose of the event, the outcome was ever truly established. And so I think that i it probably would have been in going with the flow and doing the events despite like some some hesitation that I had about the structure of them and the way they were being executed. and they and they inevitably many of them ended up not turning out or having the the outcomes that I had hoped for. And all I can do is use that information to know, you know, we have l like I said, we have a limited budget. And so every single thing that we do has to be intentional. And we have to do it almost answering the call from the audience. The audience being our alums. Can this can this can relate any situation. But what do your attendees want? What are they wanting to get out of this? Who are they going to meet? How are they gonna benefit from coming to this event? And then you can create value in the event that way. So I think what I learned is that you can't just do an event. And this, this, I knew this from before, right? But you can again, you can't just do an event and assume that your goals, you know, are the goals of the attendees and that they're gonna find this event successful. You have to really create the event or the activity around your as I'll say audience, but for it's alumni. But this is this relate this applies to any situation. So yeah, I would say that. I know it's kind broad, but I think that would probably be more specifically one day I had I printed name tags for all of our attendees to our Jingle Mingle, which is our annual holiday, you know, big our biggest event of the year. Yeah, that backed up the line for like a block, it felt like. And so we threw the we we gotta we got rid of that. And so this year we're gonna figure out a better way to do it.

[39:32]  That's funny you say that as I'm preparing my event, there's like some people that we invite and I'm like, I wonder if I should do name tags, but you just told me, do not do name tags.

[39:36]  It's always the the million dollar question. It's always a million dollar question. Or figure out a way that it won't hold up your line while you're doing it, you know? But yeah.

[39:54]  Yeah, yeah. Hey, I mean, I see where you're going with that. You just want people to get to know each other type

[40:05]  Mm-hmm.

[40:05]  ish. So I've seen people like grab blank name tags and then you

[40:12]  Mm-hmm.

[40:12]  just grab it and just write your own name and keep it moving. But it still could ideally hold up the line 'cause someone like myself, I'm here trying to write it as as legible as possible so my daughter's not making fun of me, you know what I mean? So

[40:14]  Yeah, yeah. No, I mean I think that's important and it i it I think any time you have to go back to the drawing board with as long as you have information, it's when you don't have anything and you're just kind of like when you first get started and you're like, maybe this'll work. But when you have information,

[40:16]  yeah.

[40:16]  historical data to to determine or help you guide what your next steps are gonna be, that's you should always use, you know, that to to help you figure out what is gonna be best ho you know for the next year. Last year we did a alumni award ceremony and we did a luncheon format and it was during the day and it was on like a a Thursday or Friday. And I did that because I wanted to allow the staff and students or anybody who was on campus already to attend, but the awardees were alums from all over and their families. Well, something that I had heard was they the the honorees were like, Well, I would have more family come, but it's during the day. You know, and so if y'all could host something, you know, my whole family really wanted to be here. And so what I ended up finding was that the people that I initially thought might want to go weren't that interested. But the people that were being honored and their families were. And so this year we'll be doing something a little bit different. We'll host a brunch on a Saturday so that they can have the so they're it'll be smaller, but their families can come and enjoy and celebrate. And that that all I learned a lot through that. But sometimes it's just trial and error.

[40:24]  Yeah, for sure. Everything is just trial and error. We're gonna figure out as we, you know, go what works, what doesn't.

[40:25]  Mm-hmm.

[40:25]  and of course you just kind of learned what works and what doesn't from a leader perspective. So I ask you, what are those leader qualities that you just pride yourself on that just make you who you are?

[40:25]  Well, I have I I have a natural personality that's kind of like I've always been kind of, I was always I channel this into more positive energy now, but I was always like the bossy chatty student, right? I always try to take over things. And so, like as I've gotten older, I've learned to be more diplomatic about the way that I do that. and and I had good intentions. I just always wanted the best out of people. If I was on a team, a dance team, like I always like thought I was a second coach or something, you know. So, you know, but I I try to channel that into being, you know, really that confident. representation of yourself. And one of the, you know, there's this quote, I always talk about how getting a seat at the table. I'm almost like I fight for a seat at the table all the time. And and it once you get it, you're not always going to have it. You know, you're going to have to fight again in different circumstances. I mean, I was the president of a little league, it was a dad's club. And I was like one of the first or second, maybe women moms that was the president of that organization. And I always credit that organization with teaching me so much about fighting and Fighting for your spot at the table and for your voice to be heard, right? And so I watch this, there's a soundbite from Obama and I'm gonna kind of butcher it up a little bit. But basically I tell my kids this all the time. I I tell them, you know, don't let people think or make you think that you don't belong in a place or or at a table. And he's he goes he goes on to say something about, you know, you'll you'll sit at those t when you get to those tables, you'll sit at those tables and with you'll see all the fancy food and the fancy the fancy places, the fancy dresses, the big bank accounts, and you start to have conversations with them. And what you find is, and of course he said this much better than I could, but they ain't all that. And

[40:26]  Yeah.

[40:26]  when you realize that they're just normal people, then you yourself, you can easily figure out why you two, you know, are deserve to have a spot at that table and be a part of the conversation. And I said that, you know, he also went on to say that they these people were just given the confidence to to feel that they belonged. And so I tell my kids, you know, you either manifest that confidence, which I manifest in myself, or you fake it. You fake it until you feel it. Right. And so I think those are things that just have naturally, you know, I always talk about, and this is no, this is no hit on the fact that I am I'm a Mexican American, right? So from Mexican descent. But I always say the Chihuahua is my spirit animal because the Chihuahua will make sure that you know they're there.

[40:26]  Yeah.

[40:26]  They're gonna make sure you see them. They're gonna make sure you pay attention to them. And I had a friend who had a chihuahua, and this chihuahua was so mean. And I went to their house and the chihuahua was Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You yapping at the on the ground. And I was talking, we were ignoring it because it was down there. Do you know this chihuahua went? So I'm standing next to the sofa. The chihuahua jumps on the sofa, gets on the back of the sofa so that it's eye-level with me,

[40:26]  Okay, yeah.

[40:26]  barked at at eye level, jumped towards me, went down, did it all over again, over and over again. And that chihuahua. Just impressed me so much.

[40:26]  Yeah.

[40:26]  I know it sounds simple, but I view myself as someone that's like, I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna, I'm

[40:26]  Yeah.

[40:26]  gonna fall down, I'm gonna get back up, and I'm gonna get to where I can at least speak to you. You know, I'm gonna get you're gonna see me and we're gonna talk,

[40:27]  That is funny. Yeah.

[40:27]  and you're gonna be happy that you listened, at least for the the fact that I always have I wanna do this in a positive way. I wanna be a voice, especially at UHD, where I am that group, that demographic of our students and our alums, which are mostly women and mostly. Hispanic women. So

[40:27]  Mm-hmm.

[40:27]  not that I speak for the voice of everyone, but I do speak for that fifty-seven, fifty-eight percent that are the, you know, that are Latinos. And so

[40:27]  Yeah.

[40:27]  I think I think that I do many times have to fight for my voice to be heard at a table where there's a lot of big voices. But I think that from a leadership perspective, you deserve to be there. And if you know that you deserve to be there, just own it.

[40:27]  Yeah. And sometimes it's hard, right? The self doubt, the imposter syndrome. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[40:27]  It is. It's the imposter syndrome. Yes. I had a vice president and he he would share the same thing with me. And it always made me feel better because he's like sometimes I just do I deal with the same thing and I'm I'm a VP. So

[40:27]  Yeah, I get it. I've walked I've been invited into some of these homes sometimes and I'm like, What is a young kid like me from Pine Hills, which was the hood, doing here, you know? And

[40:27]  Right.

[40:27]  and I walk in a room where I am the only color in a room or I am the only young person in a room. And it could be very intimidating, you know, and sometimes I have to remember, as you mentioned, I fought for these opportunities. Like none of this was handed to me. Like I am that Chihuahua as you mentioned that,

[40:27]  Mm-hmm.

[40:27]  you know, continues to just I the organization I'm telling you, I was on that board for seven years. And for five of those years, I felt like my voice was not heard. And then when the leader walked away and no one wanted to do it, I raised well, I mean, they just kind of voluntary me at this point. But I I did it, you know, and I I did it with grace. And it's just funny because I at that same table, I was told, they wanted me to be like vice president prior to all this. And and the president, sitting president told me, he's not ready. Maybe one day we can mold him and he could be ready. He knew nothing about me. He knew nothing about me. How you know, my qualities, my strengths, my weaknesses, that I ran my own nonprofit. And I just sat there like, what an asshole. You know what

[40:27]  Mm-hmm.

[40:27]  I mean? Like, you know, you really sat here and tried to judge me based off of what I may look like to you.

[40:27]  Right.

[40:27]  and now here I am leading the organization. So that I do feel like there's weight on my shoulders, right? Because it's like someone told me that I couldn't and that I wasn't

[40:28]  Yes.

[40:28]  ready for this. But it's like you didn't even know me. You know what I'm saying? You gotta be that chihuahua. You gotta get back up. so I I love that you kinda went to

[40:28]  Yeah, like Cardi Cardi B has her not all her lyrics are great, right? But one of

[40:28]  Ha ha ha.

[40:28]  she has a you know, I like it like that. There's a part where she says, you know, I like doing things that people say I can't.

[40:28]  Yeah.

[40:28]  And I love that. I embody that. Like if you make me feel like I can't do it, I'm gonna be that much more determined to do it, especially if it's something that I know I feel passionate about helping and advocating for, like the young people that go to this school, for example. Then you know.

[40:28]  I haven't followed Cardi B whole journey, but I'll tell you, I remember my wife watching her. I don't know what like reality show she was on prior, but I remember her then, right? Before she became who she is. And I remember my wife, like, Cardi B and C. The girl fought for where she's at today. You know, and

[40:28]  Mm yes, she has.

[40:28]  and and and people talked about this girl from the beginning of times. And she just always showed up her. And I I love Cardi for that. Like she

[40:28]  Yeah. Mm-hmm.

[40:28]  shows up authentically, Cardi, like that who is Cardi B. And I think a lot of times as leaders, we gotta remember that. I was just having a conversation with someone and it was like the suit and tie type thing. I've been in places where someone looked at me like, like, yo, you don't got a dress shirt on? I'm like, for what? Like, you know what I mean? I'm authentically me. This is how I show up. I don't have to be in a suit and tie to, you know, do business, to be a leader. I actually prefer when I love, I love when I get on this and I see leaders that are presidents of these million dollar organizations. And they're in an AC DC DC shirt. Like, yes,

[40:29]  Nice.

[40:29]  this is what I'm talking about. Showing up authentically you. How important is

[40:29]  Yeah.

[40:29]  that, you think, Danielle?

[40:29]  I think it's incredibly important. I think in a especially I mean, I know this hasn't always been the case, you know, because I know back twenty years ago or so you really did have to kind of fall in line to an extent, but where we are now is an incredibly exciting time in life where that it is encouraged to be different and to be authentically you. And I remember when I first started working, there were rules about like makeup and hair and you know, you had to wear hose, you know, you had to wear skirts and things like that. So I I have adhered to all those things. However, now I feel confident in even, you know, if I want to wear a bright red lipstick, I'm gonna wear a bright red lipstick. If I wanna wear, you know, a smaller hoop earring that, you know, that's who I am. These are my identities, you know, this is this is me. If I wanna wear, you know, a longer nail, not that these are super long, but if I wanna wear a longer nail with some glitter on it, that's what I'm gonna do because I only can feel I can I can only bring myself if I am myself.

[40:30]  Mm-hmm.

[40:30]  And I think people appreciate that, especially people in a space that most of them aren't doing that. Most of them are still continuing to fall into this kind of like, you know, norm. but I love it. I think it's great. And I think more and more people are admiring and appreciating people bringing their authentic selves. And when I don't know if you if

[40:31]  Yeah. And I want you

[40:31]  you know, but whenever you sorry, I mean interrupt you there, but

[40:31]  Now you're good.

[40:31]  whenever you talk, honestly, right? Like and I have a couple of times where I've been like, you know. shared like Cardi B. Well, I maybe I shouldn't say Cardi B because some of the stuff she does is kind of crazy. But, you know, you related though. You related to that. You know, you you found some piece of what I was sharing with you. Because that was my honest, that was my honest answer. You know, was that like sometimes inspiration comes in the in the strangest ways. So I wanted to share that.

[40:31]  N not only that, but meeting people where they're at. You probably

[40:31]  Mm-hmm.

[40:31]  also said it because you you really knew that I would really like knew who that was, right? That's why you said a lot of times in conversations, it's that easy. It's just really

[40:32]  Mm-hmm.

[40:32]  meet people where they're at. Like when you talk there like yesterday, my friend says, Hey, can you go ask that guy to help you get down the, you know, the elevator, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like it was a quick interaction, probably two, three minutes. And I come back and I says, Man, I found that that the guy worked at Frontier and the guy this, the guy that. And she says, Efrain, how the hell do you do that all the time? Like you come up with a whole documentary and you only spoke to that person for two, three minutes. It's cause I looked at that person. I immediately see the shoes. I started that conversation. I asked, you know, for real, like, what do you do? And he told me. And I I was able to find something to keep that conversation going. It

[40:33]  Right.

[40:33]  is a talent. You know, I would definitely say that it is a skill that you have to master.

[40:33]  Skill for sure, yeah.

[40:33]  But I also want to say, Daniels, that when I heard this recently. Someone says the people that are at the table now are on their way out because and they're still thinking of what it looked like a century ago, right? 25 years ago or or or more. But us, you know, within that space, we are the next leaders at the table. And I was telling my wife this, like, yo, it is very like I appreciate that people come to me and says, Efraine, you're doing great. You're doing this, you're doing that. I still feel like I'm I'm learning, to be quite frank. But people are really passing us the baton and we have to own it. And we have to believe it and have the confidence that we we will be the game changers, right? You talked about everything that you're building today. It is so hard when you're trying to build something from nothing, you know.

[40:34]  It is.

[40:34]  But what happens when you've built it? You now have created the legacy of what it looks like for the next person. Now you pass the baton to the next generation. So you're doing some amazing works for sure. and I really do appreciate you showing up authentically you and a woman in this space. Do you ever feel that's kind of challenging in itself?

[40:34]  Yes.

[40:34]  That's it. She said, Yeah, I I I'll leave it there.

[40:34]  Yes, I I I I will elaborate in that what I'm gonna go back to the time that I was in I was for ten I was on this board for ten years with the little league that I won't name, but it is an old little league here in Houston and it's a dad's club and I love that place firstly. I mean that that is it was an amazing opportunity for my two sons to play baseball where they didn't want to necessarily play like crazy competitive, you know, tourment tournament kind of style. and it has a very family atmosphere. However, when you're on a when you're talking to a bunch of of men and they're all men that are sports coaches of that kind of athlete athletic, you know, the athletes kind of, you you get kind of spoken to in different ways. And I don't even think they know or they pick up on it sometimes on how they minimize you or dismiss you or undermine you or ignore you. But again, I am and any of them will tell you that we're in the board meeting with me. I I I hold my own. I stay professional. I stay away from being super emotional in these meetings because I also, you know, being a communication studies person and now doing strategic communications and crisis communications is what I'm learning about a lot too, is that you have to not just and when I say I don't be emotional, I'm not emotional. I mean it's not that I don't think emotion is a bad thing. But in that particular situation, it wouldn't have been the best tool for me to gain the I and the respect of my of my fellow board members. So I communicated to them and I never ever let them see me upset or rattled by anything they tried to rattle me with. Cause they will test you. not even just as a woman, but no matter what. There will be someone that always someone that wants to test you and see like how far can I push this person to get what I want. and so I think as a woman. you're oftentimes ignored and overlooked and and it still happens. It still happens, you know, occ occasionally. but

[40:36]  I mean, kudos to you. I mean, growing up as a leader, I would remember go zero to a hundred. Obviously, no longer that. I've had to kind of keep those emotions. And it's not I would say it's really the passion. Like I get so passionate and just prices me off that some the

[40:37]  Right.

[40:37]  you know, but I I've had to learn that everybody's different. You know, not everyone's going to move at my speed, not everyone's going you know, and a lot of times just educating someone to kind of get them where you need to be. But I would say that Go ahead.

[40:37]  What of No, go ahead.

[40:37]  I was gonna say that you were in a room full of a lot of ego as well. Like

[40:37]  Yeah. I'll let you say it so I don't have to say it. But yeah. It was yeah.

[40:37]  Kudos to you, Jesus. I men gotta drop their ego. I see it all the time. And even in what I'm doing today is like I'm calling upon these leaders that are men that would had their hands, you know, hey, we need the money, but it's when it's time to work, it's like, you know, you you you just don't drop your ego because you think that you're better than whatever we're doing. And it's like, it doesn't have to be like that. Like we could truly work together and collaborate. But, you know, whatever. It's it's not about them. It's about the work that we do and about the next generation. This has been an amazing conversation with Danielle. And these are the type of conversation that we love to have with leaders. So if you guys are enjoying this, make sure you guys like, subscribe, and comment. We'll continue to share. We'll continue to inspire. We'll continue to share that heart and hustle. I'm Ephrain with the Heart and Hustle Podcast. We'll catch you on the next one. Latest.