A Life-Changing Opportunity

While growing up, I always knew I was going to become a lawyer. My paternal grandfather was probably putting that into my head from the minute I was conceived, amid instilling his political views and Peñarol as his soccer team of preference in Uruguay. This “must be lawyer” simply crumbled when I moved to the U.S., in 2004, and decided to become a Spanish/English translator. Neither college nor graduate school stopped me from practicing my profession, first on a part-time basis and, as of last year, as a full-time freelancer. But, last week, something rather unexpected happened…

After an entire week of tests and interviews held in Miami, I was hired as a Community Manager at Alma DDB, an advertising agency specializing in the Hispanic market. So, how is my life changing? Location: Tallahassee to Miami. Job type: Freelancer to full-time, in-house position. Job description: Linguist to community creator, social media expert, market researcher, writer, etc. Salary: Let’s put it this way: Not having to pay for health and retirement benefits out-of-pocket is just a peace of mind! Cultural environment: Going back to Latin America.

Throughout my years in the U.S., I’ve become more and more in tune with my Latin inheritance. Not only because I’ve had the need to somehow maintain it alive in a household where nobody else speaks Spanish, but also finding myself in a country where Uruguayans barely appear in formal U.S. statistics related to the Hispanic community (see the complete report). For all these reasons, and the fact that my son is struggling with his non-existent Spanish, I’m looking very much forward to being in Miami next Friday. The fact that I got an amazingly interesting job that will allow me to express my creativity, stimulate my brain, and give me the opportunity to fully immerse in research and writing activities is just an added value!

I hope to see you here often not only to share information about the social media world and the Hispanic/Latino culture and market in the U.S., but also to learn together the intricacies of the advertising industry… and everything in between.