June 3, 2025 • 47 mins
What does it take to break free from survival mode and start building real wealth? Miriam Simon, CEO of Mi Si Coaching and Consulting, reveals her 25-year journey from entry-level positions to corporate executive leadership.
She shares her powerful philosophy of honoring "your yes" – making decisions that align with your own values rather than others' expectations. This principle guided her from difficult beginnings to creating new leadership roles and eventually founding her own company.
She share her practical strategies for career growth for Latinas, that helped Miriam secure eight different promotions and significantly increase her income. She shares insider tips on customizing resumes, researching salary ranges, leveraging employer benefits like tuition reimbursement, and effectively using LinkedIn for professional networking.
Whether you're just starting your career, feeling stuck in survival mode, or ready to leverage your professional success to build wealth, this episode offers both inspiration and concrete strategies to help you honor your own "yes" and create the financial stability you deserve.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Violeta Sandoval (00:00):
Hola, hola, welcome to another episode of
the Money Chisme podcast.
One of the things I usuallytalk about is how I use, you
know, my current job to fund,like, my investments.
But in order to get to thatpoint, you want to first get
that nice job and get out ofthat survival mode in order to,
(00:23):
like, get financially stable andstart taking those wealth
building steps.
With me today I have mediumSimone to share some tips and
tricks on trying to navigatethat.
You know, either a corporatejob or a professional job.
Miriam Simon (00:40):
Thank you, violeta , for having me.
I'm super happy to share mystory and super happy to be able
to, you know, give some tipsand tricks of strategies that
I've learned throughout allthese years 25 years of
corporate experience andnavigating entry level all the
way to executive level, nowbeing able to do all the other
(01:06):
additional things, using moneyas a tool, which is one of the
main things that should be.
Everybody's goal is to usemoney as a tool, but in the
beginning you know I'm not.
It's not always this easy andit doesn't always come right
away for not, at least not forpeople like us, people from my
background.
It didn't.
I had to earn my way therepeople from my background.
Violeta Sandoval (01:28):
It didn't.
I had to earn my way there.
Yeah, I am in the military andI've been in the military for 14
years, and so now I've decidedto leave and now I have to go
find a job and you know, Ihaven't had to find a job in 14
years and of course it'smilitary side, so the corporate
side is going to be interesting.
But before we get into that,I'm going to let you introduce
(01:50):
yourself for those that may notbe familiar with you.
Miriam Simon (01:53):
Yeah, so my name is Miriam Simon and I'm the CEO
and founder of MeSee Coachingand Consulting.
So I started my own companylast year in July, on my
daughter's birthday, becauseshe's an entrepreneur.
She became an entrepreneurbefore me and I was thinking to
myself, hey, maybe that'ssomething I can do.
(02:16):
And so I started it, because Iwas thinking Misi is not only
the first two letters of myfirst and last name, but it's
also overarching theme of how Istarted and how I was able to
continue and how I was able tofind my calling and find what
(02:36):
was important to me.
So the me, see, stands for myyes, right.
So my yes, my theme is honoryou.
So in order for you to do thatright, you need to figure out
what are the yeses that you wantto say to, not the yeses from
other people.
Yeah, we have people who tellus, you know, give us advice or
(03:00):
tell us things on how to work orwhere to go or what to do, but
the reality is that it has towork for us, and so that's
what's been a common threadthroughout my entire career and
even through motherhood, eventhrough my relationship with my
wife, and what I started to dowas.
(03:22):
I worked my way up from entrylevel to corporate executive,
and then now I've been able touse my skills and development
that I've had as a coach.
I became certified last year too, and that has given me the
opportunity to say you know what, maybe I don't want to reach
higher, maybe I want to reachwider right.
(03:45):
So I was thinking how can Ireach wider and reach other
people?
If this is working in myorganization, how can I extend
myself to my community?
And that's exactly why my CEcoaching and consulting was
started, and you know, that'show I got into authorship as
(04:06):
well.
I'm also an author, and I havemy book Tattoos and Pearls
coming out in April, so I'mreally happy and excited about
that.
But before that, I wasparticipating in two anthology
series Latinas 100, leaving OurLegacy and Inspiring the Next
Generation, and the other one isHispanic Star, the New Face of
(04:28):
Power and I've been able towrite stories about triumph and
achievements that I didn't haveanywhere else that I could put
them in, and these booksanthologies gave me the
opportunity to do so.
Violeta Sandoval (04:45):
Yeah, I want to go a little bit back to
because it kind of triggeredsomething I wanted to talk about
.
It is something that, like,I've been dealing with recently,
because you said, I don't wantto reach higher, I want to reach
wider.
And I think that's one thingthat I've been dealing with is
like I don't really need to go,you know, higher.
(05:05):
I don't need to be like thevery top person, one like that's
a lot of responsibility,especially like in my field and
stuff I'm in, like occupationalsafety and health field and and
going higher and higher.
That's like so much moreresponsibility.
And, like you said, what is itthat you want to say yes to?
And I'm kind of like a littlebit stumped right now because
(05:29):
it's like what do I want to do?
Like I don't want to go tothese high management positions,
uh, because I don't want tohave to be on call.
You know, I want to be able toenjoy my daughter she's I have a
one old, so like I mean, and Ifought so hard to get her, so I
want to make sure to enjoy everylittle thing that she does and
(05:52):
I don't want to have to be atwork for, like usually they're
like 12 hour shifts and I'm likeand like I don't want to, I
don't want to.
So I'm glad that you are likeshowing that that it's okay to
not have to go super high,especially with our community.
That's like driven into us.
(06:13):
So I kind of want to go alittle bit into your thoughts on
that, on what, like you know,what's your advice on somebody
that is kind of like strugglingwith that?
Miriam Simon (06:24):
Yeah, what's interesting is that that's a.
That's a common distinctionpeople need to make as to
whether they want to become anindividual contributor, meaning
that you're able to do your ownjob, your own task, and don't
need to supervise other peopleRight.
And then the other part is doyou want to be a manager?
(06:45):
If you want to be a manager,there's a way more
responsibility on top of thatright.
So you're not only overseeing ateam, but you're also
overseeing tasks, and there's asuch thing as a working manager.
So you have your own work pluseverybody else's work that you
need to pay attention to.
(07:05):
And then thinking about theindustry that you want to work
in Right, so I work in AV, I wasworking in the aviation
industry, so I'm intransportation and in there it's
a 24-7 operation.
So there was a crossroads whereI said do I want to work as an
operations duty supervisormanager, or do I want to work
(07:35):
more in the staff departmentwhere I can go, transition into
HR right, and then workdifferently?
I don't need to be available 24seven to the 24 seven operation
, right.
So my wife is a 24 sevenoperation.
She's a manager for an aviationright.
So what she does today she'sactually on a 12 hour shift and
(07:58):
she works days and nights,rotating back and forth, right.
So for our relationship it wasimportant that one of us was
able to stay home and stay closeor at least be available to say
you know what, if I need toleave work, then I can go and
pick up my kids when they werein school.
Now my kids are in their 20s,but that was a consideration
(08:23):
back in the day when they werein school, and actually that's
one of the stories that I wrote,the decision that changed my
life, because I was thinkingshould I go to work in New York?
I live in New Jersey, I workedat the airport 30 minutes away,
(08:43):
my kids were going to schoolfive minutes, right across the
street, and was there anopportunity for me to go work in
New York, which was an hour,two hours away, and who was
going to come back and get thekids right?
So those are differentconsiderations, like the life
work.
I don't like to say life workbalance, I like to say life work
pendulum, because if you'rehere you're not there, right.
(09:08):
So you have to figure out whichway you're going, left or right
.
But I think that those there'sso many different considerations
to make when you're thinkingabout career moves and when
you're thinking about what kindof work do you want to do?
And then, of course, you know,as mothers, as women, we always
have other people that we'repaying attention to or we're
(09:31):
taking care of, and that comesinto consideration as well and
our support teams.
Do we have the right support?
Violeta Sandoval (09:39):
It's definitely a lot to think about,
which I didn't really realizeat At the beginning, when I
decided that I was going toleave the military, I thought
I'd just, like you know, get ajob.
But now it's like, with mydaughter's changed, everything
is like I don't want to be therefor long hours.
I want to, like you know, anice slow life now.
(10:01):
And it took a while to get youknow to this point because I
know, I understand that you knowa lot of people don't have that
, I guess, privilege and youknow ability to just nitpick
what kind of job they want.
So I do want to go over youstarted in what was your journey
(10:22):
?
Miriam Simon (10:22):
So I started working back when I was like 14
years old, part time in adoctor's office, and that was
because my boyfriend at thattime, his sister, was working
there and she needed somebody tojust step in, so that that was
like my first job.
Then I went to work at World ofScience at the Garden State
(10:43):
Plaza Mall and that was fun.
That one I actually got scouted.
I was walking out of Arapastelwith my grandparents, we went to
buy like school clothes andjeans and sweaters or shirts,
and the lady was standing rightoutside the mall on a table and
she said hey, you know, wouldyou like, are you looking for a
job?
(11:03):
Would you like to come work,are you looking for something?
And that was actually my firstjob before I was 18.
She even wanted to make me amanager, but I was so young that
I didn't have the age and Icouldn't.
And then, um, after that, myaunt helped me get a job at the
airport.
(11:23):
She was working security and sothen I was able to do that.
I was going to college, I didn'thave any kids yet.
I was like straight out of highschool, only 18 years old,
working at the airport.
I had three kids, so I fell inlove and I put it in quotations
(11:51):
because that was not a goodrelationship for me and it was
not even the right relationshipin no, no way, shape or form.
But I had three kids and theywere sick.
My first two were getting sickin the very early stages, like
before they were five.
My son almost had a near deathexperience as well.
(12:14):
So I needed to quit college.
I couldn't go to work and Icouldn't go to school and I
couldn't be a mother at the sametime.
So I needed to make thedecision to quit college and put
that dream on hold, right, andso I became a mother.
I kept my job because I stillneeded to work, and what's
(12:36):
interesting is that this personactually asked me not to go back
to work after having my kidsyeah, the first two.
And what was interesting isthat my aunt said to me Miriam,
you need to go back to work.
Like you don't know where thisis going.
You don't know if this is goingto.
(12:57):
You know, help you out.
You need to figure out how totake care of your kids, like
there's nobody else that's goingto take care of them but you.
And so I listened to her advice, right, and I went back to work
when it was time for me to goback.
After.
You know, you're cleared by thedoctor.
So then after that I workedthere for about 15 years just
making sure I took care of mykids and that was the main
(13:17):
priority.
You know, I really didn't thinkI had any options.
I was just really focused ongetting paid, really to make
sure that I had a roof over myshoulders and I had enough food
for them to eat.
I was doing okay.
But then the opportunitypresented itself where somebody
said, oh, there's an opportunityacross the street, working for
(13:42):
a good organization, you need totest in and interview and
follow all the protocols andentries right in.
So I said, okay, fine, itwasn't just me, it was a few
people.
I passed the test, I get in, Iget offered two jobs.
They offer tuition.
My goal, my dream of having adegree, is now back in my hands.
(14:09):
Like now I can feel it and Isaid, yes, you know what?
This is my opportunity.
My kids are bigger, right.
That old relationship has beenthere and done that and gone.
I've been with my wife now foralmost 20 years.
We've been together two decadeswith my wife now for almost 20
years.
We've been together two decades.
So she helped me raise my kidsand she's always been a great
(14:29):
support system, and so we talkedabout it and she said you know
what, if that's something youreally want to do, go ahead, go
back to school, sign up, we'llmake it work.
Then, at the same time that Iwas going to school, working
full time, raising my kids mykids are now teenagers, go back
to college and I also getpromoted every year, year and a
(14:54):
half.
So what I noticed was the factthat everybody that had left to
this organization was making 10,15, $20,000 within, you know,
five years, like they werealmost doubling their income
within five years.
So then I said to myself youknow what, maybe that's the goal
(15:14):
.
It should be for me too.
Like, why can't I double myincome?
And that's where I started tosay you know what?
What are the, what are the jobsor what's the career path I
need, what are the skills I need?
And then I started pulling allthe jobs Actually from school.
(15:35):
There was a first course likefundamentals of, of some career
fundamentals, and I needed toresearch a job, and in
researching a job, I found outhow much salary they made, what
was important to me, what did it?
You know, what did it fit myskills, what was I missing?
(15:55):
And so I did a full assessmentof it and then I realized, you
know what?
This is a path that I can take.
And so from there, I started topull all the bulletins from the
different jobs that were comingup and then I started to say,
okay, this is my starting point,what do I need to do and how do
I get there?
And so then, every single year,year and a half, no matter what
(16:19):
it was, I just kept applying tothe jobs and just kept on
applying, and I was told no manytimes, but there were times
where they said yes, and sothat's what helped me Right, and
and I've learned so much,because doing the interviews you
gain experience on interviewing, I imagine.
I had never I hadn't interviewedfor over 15 years and all of a
(16:42):
sudden I was doing it every year, year and a half.
Violeta Sandoval (16:44):
Oh, wow, that's what I'm scared of the
interviews.
Yeah, and don't be, because youknow what You're there.
Miriam Simon (16:52):
What I always tell people is that you're
interviewing them as well,because you want to know is this
a right fit for me, right?
Yeah, they're judging you.
Yeah, they're checking you out,right?
Yeah, they're checking to seeyour skills.
Yes, they want to hear what youhave to say, how you're going
to do certain work, what are thecompetencies?
(17:13):
Right, they want to know howyou do things right.
So you should come preparedwith examples of how you show
leadership, how you showteamwork, how you show all
communication, how do you workwith others all kinds of
different things and so what youcan do is you can prepare
before that.
So before I wasn't preparing,but then, now that I knew what
(17:36):
was needed, it was easier for meto prepare and I was like, oh,
I'm an expert, now I can reallygo ahead and go for it.
So I ended up getting likeeight different jobs titles
until I got to the one that Ihave and I didn't just double
employment workshop, and theytalked about like you know,
(18:09):
resume and interview and stuff.
Violeta Sandoval (18:12):
We didn't get to practice.
A lot of interviews they talkedabout like give tips and things
like that.
So I just haven't done it inlike so long.
And and I still got talkingabout myself because like I try
to be like humble and and youknow I suffer from that Uh, I
can't think of it right nowwhere, like I'm just too humble
(18:34):
or I don't think I'm at thatlevel yet, like in my mind I'm
not an expert, even though I'vebeen in my field for like six
years.
So I have to overcome that.
I'm still working on my masterresume.
I had to go back all those 14years on what I did because I
wasn't doing it.
So I will say that's one tipMake sure you're keeping
(18:54):
something throughout your time,because lesson learned for me
that now I have to go back andtry to remember everything I did
.
Luckily the Navy we do.
I'm not sure if in thecorporate world y'all have like
a yearly review.
Yes, a yearly review.
(19:15):
And it has all that, so we havethat one in the military as well
.
So I get to go just pulled allthose forms out and it says
everything I did for that year.
So luckily I have.
That is one thing that I didn'tknow some jobs offered was that
you were able to get tuitionfrom your job.
So can you tell us a little bitof you know how you got that?
(19:39):
How does it work?
Miriam Simon (19:41):
Yeah, so the organization is provides that
it's part of their programs.
It's part of how they help theiremployees, their benefits, and
so that's important for peopleto look for jobs that have
tuition reimbursement right.
So those are some of theconsiderations.
If that's important to youBecause some people don't need
(20:02):
it or don't want to furthertheir education, that's
perfectly fine too.
None of my kids went to college.
They're all doing differentthings and they're all making
money, but if you do, it's veryimportant to look for that.
So that could be aconsideration too.
When you're pulling your resumetogether you know you're getting
yourself ready to apply todifferent jobs is to go look at
(20:23):
the benefit section and take alook and see if they offer that,
and so what I did is I was ableto.
If you had a hardship, youcould request the money ahead of
time, or you can work with thecollege and they'll give you a
letter saying the grades youreceived at the end, and then
you submit the payment and thenthe company reimburses you a
(20:45):
percentage, and so for me, I wasvery happy and grateful.
If I got an A, I got 85% back,so that's not bad at all.
It was a good way for me not toget into loans and not to get
into debt, so that worked outreally well for me for the five
years that I went to school.
(21:06):
That time and tuitionreimbursement was the way for me
to be able to do it without allthat debt and taking out loans.
Violeta Sandoval (21:14):
And then you were able to use that as
leverage to like, go get more,more promotions.
And and I think that's one ofthe um, the things that some
people can, some people canlearn, is to, you know, take and
go out there.
The good thing is that we havethe Internet, like nothing is
pretty much hidden.
(21:35):
You could go to websites thattells you like the market value
or salary for whatever job thatyou're applying to, and
sometimes even the ones for yourjob there might be public.
It depends especially, I think,in California, if I remember, I
think they have to have likethe salary, so when they have a
(21:57):
job posting, some states havethat so you could check that.
And, yeah, I think in this timeyou can really do a lot of
research to help you, you know,get that promotion.
How did you?
Miriam Simon (22:12):
navigate that, yeah.
So part of it was checking okay, if I want to get to the higher
level business manager orwhatever manager position, it
was, what are the skills that Ineed right?
So at one point I needed thedegree.
Are the skills that I needRight?
So at one point I needed thedegree.
And so the degree I needed tohurry up and double on my
classes so that I can get thedegree in order to apply,
(22:34):
because there was one positionthat I did want and I couldn't
get it.
I was rejected because I didn'thave the degree yet, even
though I was very close, but Ididn't get it.
And then the other piece too,going back to the resume, is
making sure that any job thatyou go for, you rework and
customize your resume rightBased on that job description.
(22:59):
So what you want to do is if,if there's top of skills that
are on the job description thatmaybe are at the bottom of the
resume that you currently have,then you should really put them
more higher to the top and alsomake sure that it's relevant to
the job, because sometimes youmay not need to put every single
(23:22):
skill that you have right.
It may be that it just needs tobe the relevant skills for that
job, and so you always need tocustomize it to the position
that you're applying to.
You're not going to, you'regoing to make sure that you have
that experience, but you'regoing to customize it to make
(23:42):
sure it matches the jobdescription, and so, therefore,
people can see that you have theskill set for those jobs.
And so that's what I did.
I started pulling up the jobdescriptions.
I paid attention to the marketreference ranges.
So the salaries what are thesalaries?
Does it make sense?
Is it a lateral move, meaningis it like the same level to the
(24:06):
same level?
Is there a salary increase forthat?
Is it not?
Some people go for the same jobtitle.
If you go for the same titlewithin a organization, it may
not include a salary increase.
So you need to pay attention tothat as well.
Salary increase.
(24:27):
So you need to pay attention tothat as well.
If it does, then you need tosay okay, what are the
promotional parameters?
What's the salary increase Like?
What's the possibility?
So, a hundred percent, taking alook at what the salary ranges
are and what they pay for thatorganization, and also knowing
the differences between privatesector and public sector.
(24:51):
Because, even though they mayhave similar titles, they may
pay differently because one isprivate and the other is public.
So those are key differences aswell.
And then sometimes too, likeveterans, sometimes they have
veteran programs or they havedifferent types of programs that
(25:11):
help them, or entry levelpositions, or I would even look
for employee business resourcegroups.
There may be some of those, andthey may be able to also help
with some navigation help orcareer development.
You never know.
Some of these organizationshave EBRGs, which are employee
(25:31):
business resource groups, oremployee resource groups that
also offer additional resources.
Violeta Sandoval (25:39):
Yeah, when you were doing this research, what
kind of thing did you just uselike the company website, or
were you looking at like I guess, uh, what kind of websites are
out there for someone that is,you know, thinking about doing
this what?
Where can they go?
Miriam Simon (25:56):
Yeah, so there there's some.
There's a glass door thatpeople can use where you can
pull it up, right, and nowadayssome of the organizations do
have public uh, knowledge, likethe salaries are posted.
So if they're posted, that's aneasy way to just look up the
job title and then you can pullup how much people are making
(26:16):
currently in those roles or theyear before, because it tends to
be the year before.
And then, like you mentioned,in some states it's required
that they post the jobs right,and so it's important to see,
well, if they begin at this andthey end at that, right.
What are the considerations asto how I would be considered at
(26:40):
the lower range or the higherrange, right?
So you need to think about yourexperience and how many years
you've been in the industry.
What do you bring in additionto things like that?
Because if you get close to thehigher, it may be harder to you
, may be overqualified, or itmay be harder for you to even
(27:01):
get that job because there's nopromotional opportunities.
If you're looking for it, ifit's totally fine, then it works
for you.
So there's definitely a lot ofconsiderations, but I would say
look at the online, do yourresearch, pull the job titles
that you're interested in andthen, through there, you'll
(27:22):
receive more and more links.
I would also go into LinkedIn.
You'll receive more and morelinks.
I would also go into LinkedIn.
So LinkedIn I have a lot ofpeople that I'm connected with
now because I've been prettyactive there, and there you can
build your profile based on yourskills and then there you can
(27:42):
start to either connect withother people and maybe even do
some interviews and find out andsay, hey, you know, I see
you're in this industry.
Would you mind talking to mefor a few minutes?
I'm thinking about going intothis job title.
You know anything I need toknow?
You'd be surprised how manypeople want to help you.
Some may say no, but there maybe some people who would be
(28:05):
willing to help.
You can find different coachesor different career coaches,
just different people.
You know, based on the title,there's plenty of people that
will be willing to help.
Violeta Sandoval (28:19):
I'm barely getting started in LinkedIn and
I'm kind of like overwhelmed.
But, like most of these jobsthat you find is through
networking, and so LinkedIn isone of the great ways.
But I'm kind of like lost with.
Linkedin is like what do I postthere?
Like how do I do it?
So I'm curious to what kind oftips would you give to someone
(28:43):
that is, you know, trying to getinto LinkedIn?
Miriam Simon (28:47):
Yeah, so you want to make sure it's a career
focused right.
So you can talk aboutmilestones, right.
So I talk about like oh, today,you know, I have something with
the book going on, or Iparticipated in a career panel,
right?
Or I went to an employeebusiness resource group event.
(29:08):
So in the beginning, what Itell everybody is, if you're not
going to post right away, it'sokay, right?
Just start to see who you areinterested in, right?
What are the topics orindustries that you're
interested in?
What are the topics orindustries that you're
(29:30):
interested in?
And then you can start to say,oh okay, this is the way that I
can participate in this socialmedia outlet, right, Because
LinkedIn is very different thanInstagram and very different
than TikTok, right?
So you're not going to post thesame things on on all of them,
but you can have similar,similar posts, but they come
(29:51):
from a different voice or adifferent perspective.
A little bit Like on TikTok,you can have a little more fun,
Right, but on LinkedIn, you,you're going to be a little more
professional in the way thatyou say things or you're going
to keep it clean, Right.
In other places you may not,but you're going to keep it
clean, right.
In other places you may not,but you also have to be careful,
because nowadays.
I don't do it, but people saythey do.
(30:14):
This is what I hear, that theydo.
Take a look at what the othersocial media.
You know what you have outthere on social media.
But what I did in the beginningbecause I was the same way,
(30:46):
no-transcript that you want andthen, based on that, those can
come into your inboxautomatically, Right?
So I created a profile and thenyou think about OK, is it for a
manager, for a supervisor orfor a job title?
It could be analyst, let's say,if you want an analyst job,
(31:07):
Right.
So then you put in yourexperience and your profile, you
add your about what is it thatyou're about and what you're
interested in doing, and thenyou can go to the job titles,
like what you're looking for,and then you can actually look
up analysts and then those willstart to come into you.
You'll start to see all thedifferent opportunities.
(31:29):
It even asks you like remote,hybrid, in-person things like
that, so it can really customizeyour experience on there.
So in the beginning it wasreally just to get a feel of it
and I do have different jobscoming in.
So I look at, like directorjobs what are the jobs out here?
You know, in New York, inCalifornia, in Canada.
(31:53):
What are the differences?
What are those job descriptionslook like?
What are the differences inthem?
What are those job descriptionslook like?
What are the differences inthem?
In case any you know, do I wantto work for this kind of
company?
What else is on their companypage?
Right, you can find out a lotabout them just through LinkedIn
and the job postings.
Violeta Sandoval (32:13):
Thanks for the tips.
I'm definitely going to go,like you know, adjust my
LinkedIn.
You were mentioning, like youknow, at the beginning of the
podcast, that you were talkingabout going wider.
Like, what does that mean toyou?
Miriam Simon (32:26):
Yeah, so what that's about is the fact that
once you get to a certain level,it's a little harder and it
takes a lot longer to continueto go higher.
And so what I was thinkingabout is the fact that I wanted
to reach my community and Iwanted to reach other people.
(32:46):
I wanted to be able to help, Iwanted to give back.
Right For me, it's always beenabout impact, and it came to a
point where I recognized myworth, where I recognized my
worth.
And so in the beginning you'rekind of like I don't know, am I
(33:07):
good?
Like you know, you think yourlife experiences aren't
important.
But then you start to gain theaccolades and people start
telling you and you start seeingthe results.
And so I I'm also a HispanicAchiever Award recipient and I'm
a senior advisor for anemployee business resource group
.
I started with theadministrative professionals and
(33:28):
now I moved to the ParentsWorking Together group.
And so I created that role,right.
So I created that role and Iwas thinking you know what I
think the other resource groupswould benefit from that.
How can I get that going?
And so I began advocating forit, just like I began advocating
(33:49):
for the administrativeprofessionals networking group.
I noticed there was a need andI began advocating and then I
said, okay, we got that createdOkay, done.
Now.
The next one the advisor Okay,done Now.
The next one the advisor okay,created, now, done, right.
So then I was thinking, how do Ikeep?
How do I keep creating thespaces and the roles that don't
(34:12):
exist and give other people anopportunity, right?
So the important thing aboutbeing a leader is that you
realize you're in the room.
About being a leader is thatyou realize you're in the room,
so you have differentopportunities to bring for other
people, right.
And so I said, okay, let methink about this.
And, um, first I said let meshow them how.
So I did it first.
And then I started to say thisis working.
(34:34):
This is really, you know,showing the data behind it, the
professional developmentprograms too, showing the data
behind it, the professionaldevelopment programs too.
And now I have about 60%promotional rates from the
programs that I ran.
And so then I recognized myworth and I said to myself you
know what?
I can really take thisexternally and I can help other
(34:57):
people and I can reach more.
And I just kept thinking my highschool and I kept thinking
about the kids, because I wentto do career week there and I
remember how somebody was reallytalented I started talking
about tattoos and pearls and hehad his art in his notebook.
(35:22):
And another one said he wantedto do like media.
Right, he wanted to do cartoonsand he wanted to do all this
other stuff.
And I said to him oh, you know,so do you have a computer or an
iPad that you can use thesedifferent programs?
And they didn't right, andthese are high school kids.
They weren't even like littlekids, they were high school kids
(35:45):
.
And I just remember that and Ijust kept thinking to myself
like, wow, miriam, like this iswhere you came from, right, you
need to go back and you need tostart giving back to the
community and reaching ourpeople and reaching and letting
them know that there is a wayout, there is more to this world
(36:07):
, right?
I just remember when I was inschool and I remember reading in
the history books abouttransportation and that's
probably what led me there and Iremember people saying I mean,
in the textbook it would saythat transportation gave you
opportunities.
So, because you were able totake the train to another city,
to where the work was, you wereable to jump on the train and go
(36:29):
, right, and so that's mycommute, three days of the week,
every week, and that's whatalso helped me get into New York
, right?
So it's just that, and so Ithink sometimes we just need to
show other people that, yeah, wecame from this, yes, we're
immigrants.
Right, I'm an immigrant, I gothere, in six months.
(36:50):
I wasn't born here and I wasraised here.
And then, yeah, I didn't have alot of money.
No, things weren't handed to me, I needed to work for them.
Have a lot of money?
No, things weren't handed to me, I needed to work for them.
And then, once you get to acertain point, you can turn
around and help others.
And so I reached that pointwhere I knew that it was time
(37:11):
for me to start helping andstart reaching out and start
showing others the path forwardand, you know, continuing on for
the next generation, that'swhat one of the reasons I
advocate for building wealth andgaining the financial stability
through finding a nicecorporate job or whatever it may
(37:33):
be that's going to get youthere.
Violeta Sandoval (37:35):
That's financially stable because
you're kind of like in a tunnelvision just trying to survive,
pay bills and all this stuff.
And once you start being ableto get that financial stability,
you're able to pull back andthen you keep building.
You know your income and nowyou could actually start.
You know giving back and Ithink that's an important thing
(37:58):
in our community.
You know to help our communitybecause you know, of course,
we're behind so we have to tryto accelerate.
You know catching up and Ireally love that we have so many
.
You know women like yourselfand you know other people that I
see in the community.
(38:19):
I've been I think that's one ofthe best things of doing this
podcast that I've been able tokind of like see how we are
coming together to help ourcommunity and that's like the
real wealth right there.
But I'm finding ways to giveback in the community.
I'm still working on.
You mentioned your book.
(38:39):
I want to talk a little bitabout your book because I know
it's coming out soon.
Miriam Simon (38:42):
Yeah, yeah, and and don't underestimate the
experience that you have,because the knowledge is key.
Right, that you are bestequipped to help a younger
version of yourself or aprevious version of yourself.
And and even the podcast is isis 100% your voice and 100%
(39:06):
reaching other people.
Right, because that's why Istarted my podcast to Latina Mic
Drop podcast, because I wantedto be able to share my voice and
my expertise.
And guess what?
It was minimal investment forme to do it.
And guess what?
It was minimal investment forme to do it.
I barely had to spend any money.
I did take a course to be ableto figure out how to do it,
(39:29):
because I was able to pay for itand that helped me
exponentially.
You know, move forward, butthose are don't underestimate
what you have gained, that lifeexperience that you have gain,
that life experience that youhave, maybe the difference
between you know just talkingabout it and helping it and
sparking uh and and momentum inother people, and that's super
(39:50):
critical and being able to dothat, yeah, um, and, and I, I
love using money as a tool, sothat's the best part right now
is being able to use the moneythat I make.
So that's how I became a Forbescoaches council member, right?
So, because I can participatein that.
Now I'm able to talk aboutdifferent coaching experiences
(40:13):
or leadership experiences.
Now I can't even believe thatI'm part of an expert panel who
contributes to these articles.
And you see it on Forbes andit's in their leadership section
, right?
And you think, oh my God, likeme, somebody from like me doing
this, you know, but once you getto a certain point, you can
start to leverage it and use it,and I think about your voice is
(40:38):
just so critical and soimportant, and sometimes it's
just a fresh take that peopleneed to hear.
So don't ever underestimate.
I always, always, alwaysfocused on the experience that I
had.
That really was that lifeexperience, and that's actually
(41:08):
what Tattoos and Pearls is about.
Because Tattoos and Pearls isabout how you're marked for life
, like the different experiencesthat happen to you.
That's the tattoo part.
Marked for life, like thedifferent experiences that
happen to you.
That's the tattoo part.
How you live through life.
(41:28):
And some things are very hardand in our communities we don't
like to talk about those hardthings.
We like to, you know, keep itin the closet or, you know,
don't air your dirty laundry toanybody outside the house.
And so I said you know what?
I think it's time for me to beable to talk about those things
and give people the opportunityto see and say you know what,
(41:52):
I'm not alone in this.
I know that I can come out ofit.
And then that's where thepearls of wisdom come right.
How do you turn all thoseexperiences that you've had into
your leverage, into how youexecute, into your success?
And that's been like.
(42:13):
The main goal is to show peoplethat, yeah, we may have had it
hard is to show people that,yeah, we may have had it hard,
but what we bring to the tablealso counts and it also helps us
succeed.
And leadership does look thisway too.
And that's important, because Iwasn't always chasing a title
and I wasn't always.
I always didn't need a title tobe the leader.
(42:35):
I was a leader anyways.
I was a leader anyways in somany different leader anyways in
so many different ways.
Why?
Because I'm first gen, becauseI needed to stick my neck out
right for my family when I was akid and there were so many
different ways.
And so I talk about a lot ofdifferent stories and then how
you can use it to your advantagein leadership and leading your
(42:56):
own life, which is important,and hearing your own calling and
your own life, which isimportant, and hearing your own
calling and your own, your ownimportance and and noticing that
worth, right, and and kind oflike taking everybody else out
of the equation for a hot second.
We're going to take them intoconsideration, we love them.
We there's our support teams,right, we love them and
(43:17):
everything like that.
But there comes a point whereyou need to say hold on, I need
to sit with myself and I need tofigure out what's good for me,
and if it's good for me, thenit'll be good for everybody else
.
And we're taught the totalopposite to take care of
everybody else before we takecare of ourselves, and that
hurts us in the long run andthat's not, it's not, it's not
(43:40):
going to help you and everybodyelse.
You know it's just not.
But it can, but then it's atyour expense in a way, right.
And then you're like thinkingI'm not happy, I'm not doing
anything that I like, nothingsparks joy for me, but then in
this way you can, and that'sthat's one of the reasons why I
wrote Tattoos and Pearls, andalso because we're so many
(44:03):
people that think, oh, the oddsare stacked against us, the
statistics are this and that,and I say you know what that
means there's more opportunity.
The opposite of that isopportunity, and that's how I
see it.
I've always said you know whatOkay means there's more
opportunity.
The opposite of that isopportunity, and that's how I
see it.
I've always said you know what?
(44:23):
Okay, only 3% of Mexican womenor Mexican background have a
degree.
Well, guess what?
I'm going to be one of those 3%people Now, it's like think up
to 20.
And that was back in the daywhen I first started.
So imagine that it's incrediblejust to see how far we've come
and how far more we can go.
(44:44):
Like there's so much runway outthere for us.
When does your book come out?
Yeah, so it'll be on Amazon,and people could find me at
MiriamSimononline, and I'm anauthor, miriam Simon, on social
media.
So YouTube, my own YouTubechannel, and Instagram on
Facebook, and then Latina MicDrop.
(45:06):
You can find me at Latina MicDrop podcast on IG.
Violeta Sandoval (45:12):
And I will have all her information down in
the show notes or thedescription, depending where
you're listening or watchingthis podcast.
And yeah, go get her book.
I know I'm going to add it toto my little stand over here and
excited to read it.
So thank you so much for comingon here and sharing your
(45:32):
expertise and your story, whichI always get so hyped up after,
like interviews like this.
So I'm so motivated out.
So thank you so much for comingon here.
Miriam Simon (45:41):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
And that was the other reasontoo was the fact that I didn't
have a Latina mentor or sponsoror anything like that.
In the corporate spaces.
It was always other people, andso that's why I wanted to
become that big sister forpeople, or mentor or whatever it
is that they need, so that theycan say you know what I can
call Miriam, and she's going tounderstand me, she's going to
(46:04):
get it.
Yeah, yep, thank you so much,and thank you for your service
too.
Violeta Sandoval (46:10):
Oh, thank you, thank you, um.
Well, that's it for thisepisode.
I will see everyone in the nextone.
Bye.
Hola, hola, welcome to another episode of
the Money Chisme podcast.
One of the things I usuallytalk about is how I use, you
know, my current job to fund,like, my investments.
But in order to get to thatpoint, you want to first get
that nice job and get out ofthat survival mode in order to,
(00:23):
like, get financially stable andstart taking those wealth
building steps.
With me today I have mediumSimone to share some tips and
tricks on trying to navigatethat.
You know, either a corporatejob or a professional job.
Miriam Simon (00:40):
Thank you, violeta , for having me.
I'm super happy to share mystory and super happy to be able
to, you know, give some tipsand tricks of strategies that
I've learned throughout allthese years 25 years of
corporate experience andnavigating entry level all the
way to executive level, nowbeing able to do all the other
(01:06):
additional things, using moneyas a tool, which is one of the
main things that should be.
Everybody's goal is to usemoney as a tool, but in the
beginning you know I'm not.
It's not always this easy andit doesn't always come right
away for not, at least not forpeople like us, people from my
background.
It didn't.
I had to earn my way therepeople from my background.
Violeta Sandoval (01:28):
It didn't.
I had to earn my way there.
Yeah, I am in the military andI've been in the military for 14
years, and so now I've decidedto leave and now I have to go
find a job and you know, Ihaven't had to find a job in 14
years and of course it'smilitary side, so the corporate
side is going to be interesting.
But before we get into that,I'm going to let you introduce
(01:50):
yourself for those that may notbe familiar with you.
Miriam Simon (01:53):
Yeah, so my name is Miriam Simon and I'm the CEO
and founder of MeSee Coachingand Consulting.
So I started my own companylast year in July, on my
daughter's birthday, becauseshe's an entrepreneur.
She became an entrepreneurbefore me and I was thinking to
myself, hey, maybe that'ssomething I can do.
(02:16):
And so I started it, because Iwas thinking Misi is not only
the first two letters of myfirst and last name, but it's
also overarching theme of how Istarted and how I was able to
continue and how I was able tofind my calling and find what
(02:36):
was important to me.
So the me, see, stands for myyes, right.
So my yes, my theme is honoryou.
So in order for you to do thatright, you need to figure out
what are the yeses that you wantto say to, not the yeses from
other people.
Yeah, we have people who tellus, you know, give us advice or
(03:00):
tell us things on how to work orwhere to go or what to do, but
the reality is that it has towork for us, and so that's
what's been a common threadthroughout my entire career and
even through motherhood, eventhrough my relationship with my
wife, and what I started to dowas.
(03:22):
I worked my way up from entrylevel to corporate executive,
and then now I've been able touse my skills and development
that I've had as a coach.
I became certified last year too, and that has given me the
opportunity to say you know what, maybe I don't want to reach
higher, maybe I want to reachwider right.
(03:45):
So I was thinking how can Ireach wider and reach other
people?
If this is working in myorganization, how can I extend
myself to my community?
And that's exactly why my CEcoaching and consulting was
started, and you know, that'show I got into authorship as
(04:06):
well.
I'm also an author, and I havemy book Tattoos and Pearls
coming out in April, so I'mreally happy and excited about
that.
But before that, I wasparticipating in two anthology
series Latinas 100, leaving OurLegacy and Inspiring the Next
Generation, and the other one isHispanic Star, the New Face of
(04:28):
Power and I've been able towrite stories about triumph and
achievements that I didn't haveanywhere else that I could put
them in, and these booksanthologies gave me the
opportunity to do so.
Violeta Sandoval (04:45):
Yeah, I want to go a little bit back to
because it kind of triggeredsomething I wanted to talk about
.
It is something that, like,I've been dealing with recently,
because you said, I don't wantto reach higher, I want to reach
wider.
And I think that's one thingthat I've been dealing with is
like I don't really need to go,you know, higher.
(05:05):
I don't need to be like thevery top person, one like that's
a lot of responsibility,especially like in my field and
stuff I'm in, like occupationalsafety and health field and and
going higher and higher.
That's like so much moreresponsibility.
And, like you said, what is itthat you want to say yes to?
And I'm kind of like a littlebit stumped right now because
(05:29):
it's like what do I want to do?
Like I don't want to go tothese high management positions,
uh, because I don't want tohave to be on call.
You know, I want to be able toenjoy my daughter she's I have a
one old, so like I mean, and Ifought so hard to get her, so I
want to make sure to enjoy everylittle thing that she does and
(05:52):
I don't want to have to be atwork for, like usually they're
like 12 hour shifts and I'm likeand like I don't want to, I
don't want to.
So I'm glad that you are likeshowing that that it's okay to
not have to go super high,especially with our community.
That's like driven into us.
(06:13):
So I kind of want to go alittle bit into your thoughts on
that, on what, like you know,what's your advice on somebody
that is kind of like strugglingwith that?
Miriam Simon (06:24):
Yeah, what's interesting is that that's a.
That's a common distinctionpeople need to make as to
whether they want to become anindividual contributor, meaning
that you're able to do your ownjob, your own task, and don't
need to supervise other peopleRight.
And then the other part is doyou want to be a manager?
(06:45):
If you want to be a manager,there's a way more
responsibility on top of thatright.
So you're not only overseeing ateam, but you're also
overseeing tasks, and there's asuch thing as a working manager.
So you have your own work pluseverybody else's work that you
need to pay attention to.
(07:05):
And then thinking about theindustry that you want to work
in Right, so I work in AV, I wasworking in the aviation
industry, so I'm intransportation and in there it's
a 24-7 operation.
So there was a crossroads whereI said do I want to work as an
operations duty supervisormanager, or do I want to work
(07:35):
more in the staff departmentwhere I can go, transition into
HR right, and then workdifferently?
I don't need to be available 24seven to the 24 seven operation
, right.
So my wife is a 24 sevenoperation.
She's a manager for an aviationright.
So what she does today she'sactually on a 12 hour shift and
(07:58):
she works days and nights,rotating back and forth, right.
So for our relationship it wasimportant that one of us was
able to stay home and stay closeor at least be available to say
you know what, if I need toleave work, then I can go and
pick up my kids when they werein school.
Now my kids are in their 20s,but that was a consideration
(08:23):
back in the day when they werein school, and actually that's
one of the stories that I wrote,the decision that changed my
life, because I was thinkingshould I go to work in New York?
I live in New Jersey, I workedat the airport 30 minutes away,
(08:43):
my kids were going to schoolfive minutes, right across the
street, and was there anopportunity for me to go work in
New York, which was an hour,two hours away, and who was
going to come back and get thekids right?
So those are differentconsiderations, like the life
work.
I don't like to say life workbalance, I like to say life work
pendulum, because if you'rehere you're not there, right.
(09:08):
So you have to figure out whichway you're going, left or right
.
But I think that those there'sso many different considerations
to make when you're thinkingabout career moves and when
you're thinking about what kindof work do you want to do?
And then, of course, you know,as mothers, as women, we always
have other people that we'repaying attention to or we're
(09:31):
taking care of, and that comesinto consideration as well and
our support teams.
Do we have the right support?
Violeta Sandoval (09:39):
It's definitely a lot to think about,
which I didn't really realizeat At the beginning, when I
decided that I was going toleave the military, I thought
I'd just, like you know, get ajob.
But now it's like, with mydaughter's changed, everything
is like I don't want to be therefor long hours.
I want to, like you know, anice slow life now.
(10:01):
And it took a while to get youknow to this point because I
know, I understand that you knowa lot of people don't have that
, I guess, privilege and youknow ability to just nitpick
what kind of job they want.
So I do want to go over youstarted in what was your journey
(10:22):
?
Miriam Simon (10:22):
So I started working back when I was like 14
years old, part time in adoctor's office, and that was
because my boyfriend at thattime, his sister, was working
there and she needed somebody tojust step in, so that that was
like my first job.
Then I went to work at World ofScience at the Garden State
(10:43):
Plaza Mall and that was fun.
That one I actually got scouted.
I was walking out of Arapastelwith my grandparents, we went to
buy like school clothes andjeans and sweaters or shirts,
and the lady was standing rightoutside the mall on a table and
she said hey, you know, wouldyou like, are you looking for a
job?
(11:03):
Would you like to come work,are you looking for something?
And that was actually my firstjob before I was 18.
She even wanted to make me amanager, but I was so young that
I didn't have the age and Icouldn't.
And then, um, after that, myaunt helped me get a job at the
airport.
(11:23):
She was working security and sothen I was able to do that.
I was going to college, I didn'thave any kids yet.
I was like straight out of highschool, only 18 years old,
working at the airport.
I had three kids, so I fell inlove and I put it in quotations
(11:51):
because that was not a goodrelationship for me and it was
not even the right relationshipin no, no way, shape or form.
But I had three kids and theywere sick.
My first two were getting sickin the very early stages, like
before they were five.
My son almost had a near deathexperience as well.
(12:14):
So I needed to quit college.
I couldn't go to work and Icouldn't go to school and I
couldn't be a mother at the sametime.
So I needed to make thedecision to quit college and put
that dream on hold, right, andso I became a mother.
I kept my job because I stillneeded to work, and what's
(12:36):
interesting is that this personactually asked me not to go back
to work after having my kidsyeah, the first two.
And what was interesting isthat my aunt said to me Miriam,
you need to go back to work.
Like you don't know where thisis going.
You don't know if this is goingto.
(12:57):
You know, help you out.
You need to figure out how totake care of your kids, like
there's nobody else that's goingto take care of them but you.
And so I listened to her advice, right, and I went back to work
when it was time for me to goback.
After.
You know, you're cleared by thedoctor.
So then after that I workedthere for about 15 years just
making sure I took care of mykids and that was the main
(13:17):
priority.
You know, I really didn't thinkI had any options.
I was just really focused ongetting paid, really to make
sure that I had a roof over myshoulders and I had enough food
for them to eat.
I was doing okay.
But then the opportunitypresented itself where somebody
said, oh, there's an opportunityacross the street, working for
(13:42):
a good organization, you need totest in and interview and
follow all the protocols andentries right in.
So I said, okay, fine, itwasn't just me, it was a few
people.
I passed the test, I get in, Iget offered two jobs.
They offer tuition.
My goal, my dream of having adegree, is now back in my hands.
(14:09):
Like now I can feel it and Isaid, yes, you know what?
This is my opportunity.
My kids are bigger, right.
That old relationship has beenthere and done that and gone.
I've been with my wife now foralmost 20 years.
We've been together two decadeswith my wife now for almost 20
years.
We've been together two decades.
So she helped me raise my kidsand she's always been a great
(14:29):
support system, and so we talkedabout it and she said you know
what, if that's something youreally want to do, go ahead, go
back to school, sign up, we'llmake it work.
Then, at the same time that Iwas going to school, working
full time, raising my kids mykids are now teenagers, go back
to college and I also getpromoted every year, year and a
(14:54):
half.
So what I noticed was the factthat everybody that had left to
this organization was making 10,15, $20,000 within, you know,
five years, like they werealmost doubling their income
within five years.
So then I said to myself youknow what, maybe that's the goal
(15:14):
.
It should be for me too.
Like, why can't I double myincome?
And that's where I started tosay you know what?
What are the, what are the jobsor what's the career path I
need, what are the skills I need?
And then I started pulling allthe jobs Actually from school.
(15:35):
There was a first course likefundamentals of, of some career
fundamentals, and I needed toresearch a job, and in
researching a job, I found outhow much salary they made, what
was important to me, what did it?
You know, what did it fit myskills, what was I missing?
(15:55):
And so I did a full assessmentof it and then I realized, you
know what?
This is a path that I can take.
And so from there, I started topull all the bulletins from the
different jobs that were comingup and then I started to say,
okay, this is my starting point,what do I need to do and how do
I get there?
And so then, every single year,year and a half, no matter what
(16:19):
it was, I just kept applying tothe jobs and just kept on
applying, and I was told no manytimes, but there were times
where they said yes, and sothat's what helped me Right, and
and I've learned so much,because doing the interviews you
gain experience on interviewing, I imagine.
I had never I hadn't interviewedfor over 15 years and all of a
(16:42):
sudden I was doing it every year, year and a half.
Violeta Sandoval (16:44):
Oh, wow, that's what I'm scared of the
interviews.
Yeah, and don't be, because youknow what You're there.
Miriam Simon (16:52):
What I always tell people is that you're
interviewing them as well,because you want to know is this
a right fit for me, right?
Yeah, they're judging you.
Yeah, they're checking you out,right?
Yeah, they're checking to seeyour skills.
Yes, they want to hear what youhave to say, how you're going
to do certain work, what are thecompetencies?
(17:13):
Right, they want to know howyou do things right.
So you should come preparedwith examples of how you show
leadership, how you showteamwork, how you show all
communication, how do you workwith others all kinds of
different things and so what youcan do is you can prepare
before that.
So before I wasn't preparing,but then, now that I knew what
(17:36):
was needed, it was easier for meto prepare and I was like, oh,
I'm an expert, now I can reallygo ahead and go for it.
So I ended up getting likeeight different jobs titles
until I got to the one that Ihave and I didn't just double
employment workshop, and theytalked about like you know,
(18:09):
resume and interview and stuff.
Violeta Sandoval (18:12):
We didn't get to practice.
A lot of interviews they talkedabout like give tips and things
like that.
So I just haven't done it inlike so long.
And and I still got talkingabout myself because like I try
to be like humble and and youknow I suffer from that Uh, I
can't think of it right nowwhere, like I'm just too humble
(18:34):
or I don't think I'm at thatlevel yet, like in my mind I'm
not an expert, even though I'vebeen in my field for like six
years.
So I have to overcome that.
I'm still working on my masterresume.
I had to go back all those 14years on what I did because I
wasn't doing it.
So I will say that's one tipMake sure you're keeping
(18:54):
something throughout your time,because lesson learned for me
that now I have to go back andtry to remember everything I did
.
Luckily the Navy we do.
I'm not sure if in thecorporate world y'all have like
a yearly review.
Yes, a yearly review.
(19:15):
And it has all that, so we havethat one in the military as well
.
So I get to go just pulled allthose forms out and it says
everything I did for that year.
So luckily I have.
That is one thing that I didn'tknow some jobs offered was that
you were able to get tuitionfrom your job.
So can you tell us a little bitof you know how you got that?
(19:39):
How does it work?
Miriam Simon (19:41):
Yeah, so the organization is provides that
it's part of their programs.
It's part of how they help theiremployees, their benefits, and
so that's important for peopleto look for jobs that have
tuition reimbursement right.
So those are some of theconsiderations.
If that's important to youBecause some people don't need
(20:02):
it or don't want to furthertheir education, that's
perfectly fine too.
None of my kids went to college.
They're all doing differentthings and they're all making
money, but if you do, it's veryimportant to look for that.
So that could be aconsideration too.
When you're pulling your resumetogether you know you're getting
yourself ready to apply todifferent jobs is to go look at
(20:23):
the benefit section and take alook and see if they offer that,
and so what I did is I was ableto.
If you had a hardship, youcould request the money ahead of
time, or you can work with thecollege and they'll give you a
letter saying the grades youreceived at the end, and then
you submit the payment and thenthe company reimburses you a
(20:45):
percentage, and so for me, I wasvery happy and grateful.
If I got an A, I got 85% back,so that's not bad at all.
It was a good way for me not toget into loans and not to get
into debt, so that worked outreally well for me for the five
years that I went to school.
(21:06):
That time and tuitionreimbursement was the way for me
to be able to do it without allthat debt and taking out loans.
Violeta Sandoval (21:14):
And then you were able to use that as
leverage to like, go get more,more promotions.
And and I think that's one ofthe um, the things that some
people can, some people canlearn, is to, you know, take and
go out there.
The good thing is that we havethe Internet, like nothing is
pretty much hidden.
(21:35):
You could go to websites thattells you like the market value
or salary for whatever job thatyou're applying to, and
sometimes even the ones for yourjob there might be public.
It depends especially, I think,in California, if I remember, I
think they have to have likethe salary, so when they have a
(21:57):
job posting, some states havethat so you could check that.
And, yeah, I think in this timeyou can really do a lot of
research to help you, you know,get that promotion.
How did you?
Miriam Simon (22:12):
navigate that, yeah.
So part of it was checking okay, if I want to get to the higher
level business manager orwhatever manager position, it
was, what are the skills that Ineed right?
So at one point I needed thedegree.
Are the skills that I needRight?
So at one point I needed thedegree.
And so the degree I needed tohurry up and double on my
classes so that I can get thedegree in order to apply,
(22:34):
because there was one positionthat I did want and I couldn't
get it.
I was rejected because I didn'thave the degree yet, even
though I was very close, but Ididn't get it.
And then the other piece too,going back to the resume, is
making sure that any job thatyou go for, you rework and
customize your resume rightBased on that job description.
(22:59):
So what you want to do is if,if there's top of skills that
are on the job description thatmaybe are at the bottom of the
resume that you currently have,then you should really put them
more higher to the top and alsomake sure that it's relevant to
the job, because sometimes youmay not need to put every single
(23:22):
skill that you have right.
It may be that it just needs tobe the relevant skills for that
job, and so you always need tocustomize it to the position
that you're applying to.
You're not going to, you'regoing to make sure that you have
that experience, but you'regoing to customize it to make
(23:42):
sure it matches the jobdescription, and so, therefore,
people can see that you have theskill set for those jobs.
And so that's what I did.
I started pulling up the jobdescriptions.
I paid attention to the marketreference ranges.
So the salaries what are thesalaries?
Does it make sense?
Is it a lateral move, meaningis it like the same level to the
(24:06):
same level?
Is there a salary increase forthat?
Is it not?
Some people go for the same jobtitle.
If you go for the same titlewithin a organization, it may
not include a salary increase.
So you need to pay attention tothat as well.
Salary increase.
(24:27):
So you need to pay attention tothat as well.
If it does, then you need tosay okay, what are the
promotional parameters?
What's the salary increase Like?
What's the possibility?
So, a hundred percent, taking alook at what the salary ranges
are and what they pay for thatorganization, and also knowing
the differences between privatesector and public sector.
(24:51):
Because, even though they mayhave similar titles, they may
pay differently because one isprivate and the other is public.
So those are key differences aswell.
And then sometimes too, likeveterans, sometimes they have
veteran programs or they havedifferent types of programs that
(25:11):
help them, or entry levelpositions, or I would even look
for employee business resourcegroups.
There may be some of those, andthey may be able to also help
with some navigation help orcareer development.
You never know.
Some of these organizationshave EBRGs, which are employee
(25:31):
business resource groups, oremployee resource groups that
also offer additional resources.
Violeta Sandoval (25:39):
Yeah, when you were doing this research, what
kind of thing did you just uselike the company website, or
were you looking at like I guess, uh, what kind of websites are
out there for someone that is,you know, thinking about doing
this what?
Where can they go?
Miriam Simon (25:56):
Yeah, so there there's some.
There's a glass door thatpeople can use where you can
pull it up, right, and nowadayssome of the organizations do
have public uh, knowledge, likethe salaries are posted.
So if they're posted, that's aneasy way to just look up the
job title and then you can pullup how much people are making
(26:16):
currently in those roles or theyear before, because it tends to
be the year before.
And then, like you mentioned,in some states it's required
that they post the jobs right,and so it's important to see,
well, if they begin at this andthey end at that, right.
What are the considerations asto how I would be considered at
(26:40):
the lower range or the higherrange, right?
So you need to think about yourexperience and how many years
you've been in the industry.
What do you bring in additionto things like that?
Because if you get close to thehigher, it may be harder to you
, may be overqualified, or itmay be harder for you to even
(27:01):
get that job because there's nopromotional opportunities.
If you're looking for it, ifit's totally fine, then it works
for you.
So there's definitely a lot ofconsiderations, but I would say
look at the online, do yourresearch, pull the job titles
that you're interested in andthen, through there, you'll
(27:22):
receive more and more links.
I would also go into LinkedIn.
You'll receive more and morelinks.
I would also go into LinkedIn.
So LinkedIn I have a lot ofpeople that I'm connected with
now because I've been prettyactive there, and there you can
build your profile based on yourskills and then there you can
(27:42):
start to either connect withother people and maybe even do
some interviews and find out andsay, hey, you know, I see
you're in this industry.
Would you mind talking to mefor a few minutes?
I'm thinking about going intothis job title.
You know anything I need toknow?
You'd be surprised how manypeople want to help you.
Some may say no, but there maybe some people who would be
(28:05):
willing to help.
You can find different coachesor different career coaches,
just different people.
You know, based on the title,there's plenty of people that
will be willing to help.
Violeta Sandoval (28:19):
I'm barely getting started in LinkedIn and
I'm kind of like overwhelmed.
But, like most of these jobsthat you find is through
networking, and so LinkedIn isone of the great ways.
But I'm kind of like lost with.
Linkedin is like what do I postthere?
Like how do I do it?
So I'm curious to what kind oftips would you give to someone
(28:43):
that is, you know, trying to getinto LinkedIn?
Miriam Simon (28:47):
Yeah, so you want to make sure it's a career
focused right.
So you can talk aboutmilestones, right.
So I talk about like oh, today,you know, I have something with
the book going on, or Iparticipated in a career panel,
right?
Or I went to an employeebusiness resource group event.
(29:08):
So in the beginning, what Itell everybody is, if you're not
going to post right away, it'sokay, right?
Just start to see who you areinterested in, right?
What are the topics orindustries that you're
interested in?
What are the topics orindustries that you're
(29:30):
interested in?
And then you can start to say,oh okay, this is the way that I
can participate in this socialmedia outlet, right, Because
LinkedIn is very different thanInstagram and very different
than TikTok, right?
So you're not going to post thesame things on on all of them,
but you can have similar,similar posts, but they come
(29:51):
from a different voice or adifferent perspective.
A little bit Like on TikTok,you can have a little more fun,
Right, but on LinkedIn, you,you're going to be a little more
professional in the way thatyou say things or you're going
to keep it clean, Right.
In other places you may not,but you're going to keep it
clean, right.
In other places you may not,but you also have to be careful,
because nowadays.
I don't do it, but people saythey do.
(30:14):
This is what I hear, that theydo.
Take a look at what the othersocial media.
You know what you have outthere on social media.
But what I did in the beginningbecause I was the same way,
(30:46):
no-transcript that you want andthen, based on that, those can
come into your inboxautomatically, Right?
So I created a profile and thenyou think about OK, is it for a
manager, for a supervisor orfor a job title?
It could be analyst, let's say,if you want an analyst job,
(31:07):
Right.
So then you put in yourexperience and your profile, you
add your about what is it thatyou're about and what you're
interested in doing, and thenyou can go to the job titles,
like what you're looking for,and then you can actually look
up analysts and then those willstart to come into you.
You'll start to see all thedifferent opportunities.
(31:29):
It even asks you like remote,hybrid, in-person things like
that, so it can really customizeyour experience on there.
So in the beginning it wasreally just to get a feel of it
and I do have different jobscoming in.
So I look at, like directorjobs what are the jobs out here?
You know, in New York, inCalifornia, in Canada.
(31:53):
What are the differences?
What are those job descriptionslook like?
What are the differences inthem?
What are those job descriptionslook like?
What are the differences inthem?
In case any you know, do I wantto work for this kind of
company?
What else is on their companypage?
Right, you can find out a lotabout them just through LinkedIn
and the job postings.
Violeta Sandoval (32:13):
Thanks for the tips.
I'm definitely going to go,like you know, adjust my
LinkedIn.
You were mentioning, like youknow, at the beginning of the
podcast, that you were talkingabout going wider.
Like, what does that mean toyou?
Miriam Simon (32:26):
Yeah, so what that's about is the fact that
once you get to a certain level,it's a little harder and it
takes a lot longer to continueto go higher.
And so what I was thinkingabout is the fact that I wanted
to reach my community and Iwanted to reach other people.
(32:46):
I wanted to be able to help, Iwanted to give back.
Right For me, it's always beenabout impact, and it came to a
point where I recognized myworth, where I recognized my
worth.
And so in the beginning you'rekind of like I don't know, am I
(33:07):
good?
Like you know, you think yourlife experiences aren't
important.
But then you start to gain theaccolades and people start
telling you and you start seeingthe results.
And so I I'm also a HispanicAchiever Award recipient and I'm
a senior advisor for anemployee business resource group
.
I started with theadministrative professionals and
(33:28):
now I moved to the ParentsWorking Together group.
And so I created that role,right.
So I created that role and Iwas thinking you know what I
think the other resource groupswould benefit from that.
How can I get that going?
And so I began advocating forit, just like I began advocating
(33:49):
for the administrativeprofessionals networking group.
I noticed there was a need andI began advocating and then I
said, okay, we got that createdOkay, done.
Now.
The next one the advisor Okay,done Now.
The next one the advisor okay,created, now, done, right.
So then I was thinking, how do Ikeep?
How do I keep creating thespaces and the roles that don't
(34:12):
exist and give other people anopportunity, right?
So the important thing aboutbeing a leader is that you
realize you're in the room.
About being a leader is thatyou realize you're in the room,
so you have differentopportunities to bring for other
people, right.
And so I said, okay, let methink about this.
And, um, first I said let meshow them how.
So I did it first.
And then I started to say thisis working.
(34:34):
This is really, you know,showing the data behind it, the
professional developmentprograms too, showing the data
behind it, the professionaldevelopment programs too.
And now I have about 60%promotional rates from the
programs that I ran.
And so then I recognized myworth and I said to myself you
know what?
I can really take thisexternally and I can help other
(34:57):
people and I can reach more.
And I just kept thinking my highschool and I kept thinking
about the kids, because I wentto do career week there and I
remember how somebody was reallytalented I started talking
about tattoos and pearls and hehad his art in his notebook.
(35:22):
And another one said he wantedto do like media.
Right, he wanted to do cartoonsand he wanted to do all this
other stuff.
And I said to him oh, you know,so do you have a computer or an
iPad that you can use thesedifferent programs?
And they didn't right, andthese are high school kids.
They weren't even like littlekids, they were high school kids
(35:45):
.
And I just remember that and Ijust kept thinking to myself
like, wow, miriam, like this iswhere you came from, right, you
need to go back and you need tostart giving back to the
community and reaching ourpeople and reaching and letting
them know that there is a wayout, there is more to this world
(36:07):
, right?
I just remember when I was inschool and I remember reading in
the history books abouttransportation and that's
probably what led me there and Iremember people saying I mean,
in the textbook it would saythat transportation gave you
opportunities.
So, because you were able totake the train to another city,
to where the work was, you wereable to jump on the train and go
(36:29):
, right, and so that's mycommute, three days of the week,
every week, and that's whatalso helped me get into New York
, right?
So it's just that, and so Ithink sometimes we just need to
show other people that, yeah, wecame from this, yes, we're
immigrants.
Right, I'm an immigrant, I gothere, in six months.
(36:50):
I wasn't born here and I wasraised here.
And then, yeah, I didn't have alot of money.
No, things weren't handed to me, I needed to work for them.
Have a lot of money?
No, things weren't handed to me, I needed to work for them.
And then, once you get to acertain point, you can turn
around and help others.
And so I reached that pointwhere I knew that it was time
(37:11):
for me to start helping andstart reaching out and start
showing others the path forwardand, you know, continuing on for
the next generation, that'swhat one of the reasons I
advocate for building wealth andgaining the financial stability
through finding a nicecorporate job or whatever it may
(37:33):
be that's going to get youthere.
Violeta Sandoval (37:35):
That's financially stable because
you're kind of like in a tunnelvision just trying to survive,
pay bills and all this stuff.
And once you start being ableto get that financial stability,
you're able to pull back andthen you keep building.
You know your income and nowyou could actually start.
You know giving back and Ithink that's an important thing
(37:58):
in our community.
You know to help our communitybecause you know, of course,
we're behind so we have to tryto accelerate.
You know catching up and Ireally love that we have so many
.
You know women like yourselfand you know other people that I
see in the community.
(38:19):
I've been I think that's one ofthe best things of doing this
podcast that I've been able tokind of like see how we are
coming together to help ourcommunity and that's like the
real wealth right there.
But I'm finding ways to giveback in the community.
I'm still working on.
You mentioned your book.
(38:39):
I want to talk a little bitabout your book because I know
it's coming out soon.
Miriam Simon (38:42):
Yeah, yeah, and and don't underestimate the
experience that you have,because the knowledge is key.
Right, that you are bestequipped to help a younger
version of yourself or aprevious version of yourself.
And and even the podcast is isis 100% your voice and 100%
(39:06):
reaching other people.
Right, because that's why Istarted my podcast to Latina Mic
Drop podcast, because I wantedto be able to share my voice and
my expertise.
And guess what?
It was minimal investment forme to do it.
And guess what?
It was minimal investment forme to do it.
I barely had to spend any money.
I did take a course to be ableto figure out how to do it,
(39:29):
because I was able to pay for itand that helped me
exponentially.
You know, move forward, butthose are don't underestimate
what you have gained, that lifeexperience that you have gain,
that life experience that youhave, maybe the difference
between you know just talkingabout it and helping it and
sparking uh and and momentum inother people, and that's super
(39:50):
critical and being able to dothat, yeah, um, and, and I, I
love using money as a tool, sothat's the best part right now
is being able to use the moneythat I make.
So that's how I became a Forbescoaches council member, right?
So, because I can participatein that.
Now I'm able to talk aboutdifferent coaching experiences
(40:13):
or leadership experiences.
Now I can't even believe thatI'm part of an expert panel who
contributes to these articles.
And you see it on Forbes andit's in their leadership section
, right?
And you think, oh my God, likeme, somebody from like me doing
this, you know, but once you getto a certain point, you can
start to leverage it and use it,and I think about your voice is
(40:38):
just so critical and soimportant, and sometimes it's
just a fresh take that peopleneed to hear.
So don't ever underestimate.
I always, always, alwaysfocused on the experience that I
had.
That really was that lifeexperience, and that's actually
(41:08):
what Tattoos and Pearls is about.
Because Tattoos and Pearls isabout how you're marked for life
, like the different experiencesthat happen to you.
That's the tattoo part.
Marked for life, like thedifferent experiences that
happen to you.
That's the tattoo part.
How you live through life.
(41:28):
And some things are very hardand in our communities we don't
like to talk about those hardthings.
We like to, you know, keep itin the closet or, you know,
don't air your dirty laundry toanybody outside the house.
And so I said you know what?
I think it's time for me to beable to talk about those things
and give people the opportunityto see and say you know what,
(41:52):
I'm not alone in this.
I know that I can come out ofit.
And then that's where thepearls of wisdom come right.
How do you turn all thoseexperiences that you've had into
your leverage, into how youexecute, into your success?
And that's been like.
(42:13):
The main goal is to show peoplethat, yeah, we may have had it
hard is to show people that,yeah, we may have had it hard,
but what we bring to the tablealso counts and it also helps us
succeed.
And leadership does look thisway too.
And that's important, because Iwasn't always chasing a title
and I wasn't always.
I always didn't need a title tobe the leader.
(42:35):
I was a leader anyways.
I was a leader anyways in somany different leader anyways in
so many different ways.
Why?
Because I'm first gen, becauseI needed to stick my neck out
right for my family when I was akid and there were so many
different ways.
And so I talk about a lot ofdifferent stories and then how
you can use it to your advantagein leadership and leading your
(42:56):
own life, which is important,and hearing your own calling and
your own life, which isimportant, and hearing your own
calling and your own, your ownimportance and and noticing that
worth, right, and and kind oflike taking everybody else out
of the equation for a hot second.
We're going to take them intoconsideration, we love them.
We there's our support teams,right, we love them and
(43:17):
everything like that.
But there comes a point whereyou need to say hold on, I need
to sit with myself and I need tofigure out what's good for me,
and if it's good for me, thenit'll be good for everybody else
.
And we're taught the totalopposite to take care of
everybody else before we takecare of ourselves, and that
hurts us in the long run andthat's not, it's not, it's not
(43:40):
going to help you and everybodyelse.
You know it's just not.
But it can, but then it's atyour expense in a way, right.
And then you're like thinkingI'm not happy, I'm not doing
anything that I like, nothingsparks joy for me, but then in
this way you can, and that'sthat's one of the reasons why I
wrote Tattoos and Pearls, andalso because we're so many
(44:03):
people that think, oh, the oddsare stacked against us, the
statistics are this and that,and I say you know what that
means there's more opportunity.
The opposite of that isopportunity, and that's how I
see it.
I've always said you know whatOkay means there's more
opportunity.
The opposite of that isopportunity, and that's how I
see it.
I've always said you know what?
(44:23):
Okay, only 3% of Mexican womenor Mexican background have a
degree.
Well, guess what?
I'm going to be one of those 3%people Now, it's like think up
to 20.
And that was back in the daywhen I first started.
So imagine that it's incrediblejust to see how far we've come
and how far more we can go.
(44:44):
Like there's so much runway outthere for us.
When does your book come out?
Yeah, so it'll be on Amazon,and people could find me at
MiriamSimononline, and I'm anauthor, miriam Simon, on social
media.
So YouTube, my own YouTubechannel, and Instagram on
Facebook, and then Latina MicDrop.
(45:06):
You can find me at Latina MicDrop podcast on IG.
Violeta Sandoval (45:12):
And I will have all her information down in
the show notes or thedescription, depending where
you're listening or watchingthis podcast.
And yeah, go get her book.
I know I'm going to add it toto my little stand over here and
excited to read it.
So thank you so much for comingon here and sharing your
(45:32):
expertise and your story, whichI always get so hyped up after,
like interviews like this.
So I'm so motivated out.
So thank you so much for comingon here.
Miriam Simon (45:41):
Yes, thank you so much for having me.
And that was the other reasontoo was the fact that I didn't
have a Latina mentor or sponsoror anything like that.
In the corporate spaces.
It was always other people, andso that's why I wanted to
become that big sister forpeople, or mentor or whatever it
is that they need, so that theycan say you know what I can
call Miriam, and she's going tounderstand me, she's going to
(46:04):
get it.
Yeah, yep, thank you so much,and thank you for your service
too.
Violeta Sandoval (46:10):
Oh, thank you, thank you, um.
Well, that's it for thisepisode.
I will see everyone in the nextone.
Bye.
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