Meet The Disruptors: Tammy Ramos Of LatinaVIDA On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
… We can look at the C-suite of most Fortune 500 companies and observe a sea of white, males wielding power and privilege. Even two, three tiers below the C-suite, we discover a significant lack of diversity. Disrupting this status quo and requiring that we do something different to get a different result, ie more women and people of color into leadership roles can be seen as a negative or a positive, depending on who you are. Women and POC would like disruption in the workplace so that they may enjoy some power and privilege. Those who currently hold all the power and privilege might see this disruption as “causing trouble.”
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tammy Ramos, J.D.
Tammy Ramos, J.D. is the Executive Director of LatinaVIDA, a nonprofit who partners with organizations to support DEI goals to equip the next generation of diverse leaders to rise to the top in their careers. Tammy is also a well sought after speaker who is known for her ability to connect, engage and inspire a broad range of audiences. Her passion is to empower women of color by building community and unity while celebrating diversity.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I am a first generation Latina in my family to not only graduate from college and law school, but I’m also the first to graduate from high school. I’m also the first non-teen mom. My mother was a 16 year old girl who had run away from home and came back pregnant with me. My father was an illegal immigrant from Mexico who left her out of fear he’d be deported. I often say that I grew up on the other side of the tracks into a life of poverty, homelessness, abuse, neglect and great sadness. Today, I have the privilege to live on this side of the tracks. I’m eternally grateful for all those along the way in my journey to success who believed in me, inspired me, opened doors for me and basically — took a chance on me. I find myself in this career because my high calling has always been to make my life count for something — to do good in a broken world, and as the last sentence of my essay for law school admittance says, “… to be the voice, power and strength of the unheard, weak and helpless.”
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I refuse to stand idle and not challenge those in positions of power, influence and privilege to become aware of the inequities that exist for women of color, especially Latinas. I tell them the truth. I give them the facts and the data. For example, Latinas represent 1 in 6 women in the U.S. and are projected to be 1 in 3 women by 2060. Despite Latinos being the largest ethnic demographic in the U.S., accounting for 19% of the populations, Latinos still only hold less than 4% of senior executive positions, less than 1% are held by Latinas. If the numbers don’t lie then who is lying? Wise up corporate America! Did you know that Latinos have 1.9 trillion purchasing power which will become 2.5 trillion in 2024. Latinos are the future. If you want to be competitive in your business, you need to understand the complexity and multifacetedness of the Latino community. Latinos are your future employees, customers, clients, suppliers, vendors, etc … or, maybe not for you.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I’ve made a lot of mistakes. Most were not funny. Many had to do with my lack of business acumen. With that said, my funniest mistake was being corrected when I said, “Ahha” too much in meetings. I did it because I was trying to demonstrate my attentiveness and agreement but was told it was annoying and didn’t bode well for my executive presence.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
The most important piece of advice I share often is that we need people along the way to support us in life and career. Some may be mentors, sponsors, coaches, counselors, colleagues, friends, family, professors, bosses, allies, etc. What all these people have in common is — your best interest. They want to see you happy and successful. I have been blessed to have had many lifelong believers in Tammy Ramos. One story is of my foster mom, Mary Pena. She was the leader of the Mecha Club at my high school. She saw that I had no home, no family, no hope. So, she took me in and gave me a home, family and hope. She changed the course of my life and helped me to see that there was so much more I could do and become. She inspired me and helped me apply for college where I would meet Dr. Maria Hernandezwho took a chance on me and gave me a seat in the High Potential Program at Saint Mary’s College. Dr. Hernandez has been a lifelong friend who has opened doors for me where I didn’t even know doors existed. These two women continue to build me up to continue to dream big dreams and see them come to fruition.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/disruptive
Disruptive — adjective
- causing trouble and therefore stopping something from continuing as usual:
- His teacher described him as a noisy, disruptive influence in class.
- changing the traditional way that an industry operates, especially in a new and effective way:
- disruptive technologies
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, disruptive seems to suggest that as it relates to an industry, disruption can “stop something from continuing as usual.” We can look at the C-suite of most Fortune 500 companies and observe a sea of white, males wielding power and privilege. Even two, three tiers below the C-suite, we discover a significant lack of diversity. Disrupting this status quo and requiring that we do something different to get a different result, ie more women and people of color into leadership roles can be seen as a negative or a positive, depending on who you are. Women and POC would like disruption in the workplace so that they may enjoy some power and privilege. Those who currently hold all the power and privilege might see this disruption as “causing trouble.”
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- Loretta McCracken — “Tammy honey, you have been a student of many things; become a student of God’s Word.” She told me this in a season of great marital abuse as I was contemplating divorce and felt so lost and afraid. Studying the Bible transformed how I saw myself — from a broken, lost and unloved woman of three little kids to a powerful, loved and treasured woman who had purpose.
- Tom Brown — “Have no little dreams; little dreams have no magic. Reach for the stars.”
- Mary Pena (mom) — “Everything will be ok. This too shall pass.”
- Judy Middendorff — “When someone gives you a compliment, just say thank you.”
- CLEO Leader (I can’t remember her name, but she was a black woman who inspired me to reapply to Notre Dame Law School.) When I received my acceptance, I asked her how I could ever pay her back. Her response was, “Just succeed. When you succeed, then I know I have done my work well.”
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
The older I get, now 51, the more I realize how much work still needs to be done to create equity and to close the gap for women of color. I’m only one person and I can only do so much. My goal today is to build stronger communities of women of color supporting other women of color. I am active in several organizations including How Women Lead, Women of Color in Engineering Collaborative and Notre Dame’s Hispanic Law School Association. United together — we can change the world!
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
Outside the Bible itself, the newest book that has had a huge impact on me is “The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America” by Deepa Purushothaman I have told Deepa personally how her book has nourished my soul because she tells the untold stories of women just like me. We are a part of a world designed and led by white men. It is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. We don’t fit; we don’t belong. We try, but the harder we try, the more painful it becomes. We begin to saw off the corners of our square pegs, which scars and discards what makes us unique, powerful and wonderfully different. Before long, we can’t recognize our reflections. Today, women of color over 50 years old seem to be rediscovering who they really are, reclaiming their true identities and rebuilding their place in the world.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 As a girl born into poverty, abuse, addiction, neglect and great trauma, I came to know the Lord in an orphanage at the age of 11 years old. Through the deepest, darkest traumatic and painful moments, I would repeat, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Although I was helpless, I found comfort in knowing that there was someone else I could count on to give me strength.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Movement — Melinda Gates would donate a large sum of money to support the career advancement of first generation Latinas in corporate America. I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by KTVU Fox News where I shared that Latinos are the future. We are the largest ethnic demographic, accounting for 19% of the U.S. population and the fastest growing demographic in the workforce. Today, we have a purchasing power of 1.9 trillion which will become 2.5 trillion in just two years. Latinas account for 1 in 6 women in the U.S. and will become 1 in 3 by 2060 and yet Latinas still only earn 57 cents earned by white men and hold less than 1% of senior executive roles. 21% OF THE 75M MILLENNIALS IN THE USA ARE HISPANIC. They outnumber all other ethnicities combined. All of this to say that Latinos are an organization’s future customers, clients, employees, vendors, suppliers, etc. Latinas, who are the first in their families to graduate from college and have a professional career, need to support in learning how to navigate a very white, male dominated corporate America. Latinas, coming from a traditionally very humble, hard-working, family oriented and community centric culture, generally do not have the skills or knowledge to successfully advance in their careers. They need programs like LatinaVIDA’s PODER Leadership Academy that teaches developing executive presence, creating a personal brand, developing a career playbook, attracting a sponsor and overcoming impostor syndrome.
How can our readers follow you online?
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Tammy Ramos Of LatinaVIDA On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
