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Hola. I'm Claudia Romo Edelman and I'm Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner and
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a La Latina, the playbook to succeed being your authentic self
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Today, we have Marisa Solis,
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a senior vice president for global brand and consumer marketing of the
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NFL. If you stick around,
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you're going to learn three key takeaways.
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Marisa is gonna talk to us about number one.
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How has she made all her organizations take the big bet?
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Yes, Pepsico and the NFL,
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investing the big bucks and you know,
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like putting Latinos first,
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not before building her own credibility.
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Number two, we're going to learn why Latinos are perfectly suited
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to be the best employees in any organization because we grow up
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in substances that make us more resilient,
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more flexible and more adaptable.
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And that's flipping the script completely.
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And number three, that this is not about you in order
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to promote yourself and get career advancement,
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try to solve the problem of someone else.
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Stick around all of that and more here in our podcast,
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A La Latina, Hola Bien Benitos,
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everybody. Thank you so much for being here,
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another podcast at La Latina edition.
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Thank you for having me I'm excited.
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So for today, we're very excited to be here with you
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Marisa Solis, Senior Vice President of Global brand and consumer marketing
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Let's start early on because we know that our audience millennial Latinas
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young Latinas climbing the ladder will want to know how did
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you grow up and especially what of the values that you think
01:46
have propelled your career.
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Could you trace back to those early years in Mexico City?
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And then when you move to Texas with your family?
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Yeah, I will tell you probably all the values my core
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foundation was built when I was growing up,
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partly in Mexico City.
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I lost my dad when I was very young at the age
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of six. So I had to see my mom really survive
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she later was remarried and when we moved to the States,
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the only thing they could do in the States was restaurants.
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So they went into the restaurant business and the restaurant business as
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you know, is really tough.
02:22
It's 24 7 and you learn very early on that work ethic
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my dad used to tell me there's no job
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you take pride in everything,
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whether you're washing dishes or mopping floors or hosting somebody.
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And it was really that work ethic,
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that pride in what you do,
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putting your 110% that I grew up with and it stuck with
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And I think that just following up on that,
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like, I know that you went to Georgetown University,
02:55
with the idea of actually becoming a diplomat,
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we would like to know more about those dreams.
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And then how do we have,
03:03
how do we, how do we fast track from,
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from now? Like I've seen you and we admire you and
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I think that a lot of Latinas would benefit from understanding what
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the big picture is and what are the steps that you need
03:16
to take to get there?
03:18
Can you talk a bit more about like,
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coming to the States as a Mexican immigrant and you know
03:28
in South Texas, I knew I wanted to somehow go back
03:32
to Mexico or go back to Latin America and help Latin America
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And the only way I knew how to do that would
03:39
be to be an ambassador.
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So I had this whole dream from childhood to be an ambassador
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to Latin America. I went to Georgetown,
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I studied to be an ambassador foreign service.
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I passed my foreign service exam.
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So I was ready to go.
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And literally the day I graduated,
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you know, my dean pulled me to the side and said
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you know, the reality is that it's going to take
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a very long time for you to be an ambassador.
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If you go into the foreign service because career officials,
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you know, tend not to be foreign service or tend not
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to be ambassadors. Only 2% of career officers make it.
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If you really want to be an ambassador,
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you gotta go make a name for yourself.
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You know, earn a lot of money contribute to someone's campaign
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later on down the road and then maybe they'll appoint you ambassador
04:30
somewhere. So I kind of took that advice to heart and
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instead of going into the foreign service,
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I went the corporate route and started my first job in Procter
04:41
and Gamble in Latin America.
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I didn't know anything about marketing.
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you know, I wanted to make a difference and they recognized
04:49
something in me and that,
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that was my first job.
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But, but then from there to the NFL,
04:56
I mean, like we can track honestly an incredible rate of
04:59
promotions and change and all your hard work.
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But also I think that it is related to seeing the big
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picture and how do you actually get to there faster and again
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you know, like understanding that there's for 100 male promotions
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only 71 Latinas get equally promoted.
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So we're really down behind.
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And so how do we fast track those promotions?
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How have you made it?
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it wasn't about getting promoted.
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I want to be the director.
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I want to be the president or the vice president.
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It wasn't about climbing the ladder.
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For me, it was always about the purpose.
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Like I just wanted to be,
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have an impact and be a representative of my community.
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So anytime I saw an opportunity to have bigger visibility,
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to make a bigger impact,
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I took it and it didn't matter if it was gonna be
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director of brand this or you know,
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this other thing. And I think that was very freeing for
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me because I, I see a lot of Latinas,
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you know, have this vision of like a very structured career
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path. Ok? I'm gonna go in work really hard,
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go from manager to senior manager to then director,
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senior director, maybe vice president,
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you know, the letter and that can be very limiting
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I, I just didn't ever think of it that way
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I said I'm gonna go where the opportunity goes and where
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I have the, you know,
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the opportunity to make that impact and to be visible and to
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help solve issues for people.
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And you have spoken about how sponsors and mentors took a bet
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on you wanted you to succeed.
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So can you tell us like how that happened?
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Mentors played a big role especially early in the career because
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they're more like coaches,
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you know, they really tell you sometimes the things you don't
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hey, you need to be better at,
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you know, you need to know your data better.
06:54
You need to make sure that you don't talk for five minutes
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You've got to have your 32nd speech.
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they're really good at kind of training you to be ready in
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the moment. I think for me,
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the breakthrough was the sponsorship piece and you don't really know,
07:12
I didn't know that I was building sponsors.
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what I did know is that I identified the people
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in my organizations that were the most influential.
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the head of marketing is the most influential.
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And I said I'm going to find out that person's agenda and
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I am going to make it my mission to solve that person's
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And, and very early on,
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you know, in my career at Pepsico,
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I mean, I can name countless sponsors that fast track my
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career. Tom Greco was the head of sales at Frito
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Lay. I got to know him because I had an interest
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in sales as a marketer,
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worked with him a couple of times and he became CEO of
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FRITO A. and he needed somebody to go do like
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a new venture to launch a frozen product,
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a frozen snack. Nobody wanted to do it because it was
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a big risk. It didn't really promise to the promotion.
08:18
It was just like a side project of his on the side
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you know what, it's important to him,
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it's important to the company.
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I'm, I'm gonna go do it.
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And that was one of the best things I ever did because
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it exposed me to him,
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to his leadership. It was an opportunity that nobody else saw
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that. Then later grew the business.
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It got me in front of Walmart,
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can be very important in that line of business.
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Like Walmart is everything.
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If Walmart likes your product as a consumer product company you're in
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So that was a very early,
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you know, way that I got myself front and center and
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the most influential person in the company.
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And then he became vested in me and my career and I
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didn't know it at the time,
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but he was, you know,
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talking about me, he was promoting me at higher up levels
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in Pepsico, you know,
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you know, that the people that later on in my career
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also helped me fast track.
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So it was important to start by knowing,
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you know, what is it about this person that I can
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help resolve? How can I be of help to this person
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be the problem solver,
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help grow the organization.
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But let's pause here.
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I mean, you just drove so many like,
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OK, there's one diamond and there's another one.
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All right, let's one I can totally see you as an
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ambassador Solis. I love that.
09:52
I mean, like you started listing a couple of things that
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people told you all across or that you were able to pick
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up. Like, don't talk for too long,
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don't do this. I would love to see a little bit
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more like fleshing out that list so that our audience can get
10:07
those tips that all of us would love to know early on
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right? Like the sooner the better.
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And then the other one I just want to understand.
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So wh what you're saying is the way to progress and bring
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value is by finding what problem can you solve?
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This is not about you and your promotion depends on how much
10:30
you are solving some.
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Can you like break those two pieces down a little bit more
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I, I think many times there's this myth that if you
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want to get ahead and you want to get promoted,
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go ask for the promotion.
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People say go ask for the promotion,
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but you can't walk into a senior leader's office and say I
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want to be promoted to X because I bring all this stuff
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boom, boom, because they're just gonna look at you like
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OK, you're one of many people have come into my
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office asking that what you need to do is do a
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little bit of research and understand whoever you're gonna ask whether it's
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that company CEO or the head of marketing or whoever,
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what is that person's biggest agenda item?
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Like what is that person's biggest challenge?
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And you go in there and be very well prepared because it
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you have like a minute to make your case and you make
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your case and you say,
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I know you have this issue,
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I know that, you know,
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this is going to be the way to grow the company or
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grow our marketing. Here's what I'm going to bring to the
11:40
table and I propose that,
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you know, you help me,
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help you, you don't even ask for the promotion.
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I'll give you an example.
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Steven Williams, he's wonderful leader.
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Again, fri A CEO I really wanted to work for him
11:56
the best and I wanted to come back and lead marketing for
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Frido. And I had a meeting with him and I
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literally had five minutes,
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I think five minutes and all I said to him was I
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didn't say I wanted to leave marketing.
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I didn't tell him he already knew all the things I had
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done for the company.
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So there's, there's a point when your record speaks for itself
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what I said to him was,
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you know, the company is at such a point where there's
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so many ways to grow because we're the biggest snack company,
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the biggest beverage company.
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There's so many audiences,
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there's so many things to reach and so many opportunities.
12:35
And all I said was I want to be your Chief Opportunity
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Officer. I want to unlock those opportunities and you know,
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double our growth and make our company,
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you know, continue to make our company great.
12:46
And he remembered that he's like Chief Opportunity Officer.
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I love that I didn't become Chief Opportunity Officer.
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I actually got the SVP role for,
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for brands, but he remembered that because it was about the
12:59
company, about his agenda and what he needed to do.
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very important is you need to understand the role you play within
13:08
the organization and how you can help that add value to that
13:12
organization. I also love you didn't say it with these words
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but I've, I've heard it said with these words which
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is think about who is speaking on your behalf or about you
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in the conversations that matter.
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Like whenever they're talking about a project and they're thinking who's going
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to be leading it from a marketing perspective,
13:29
who is in that room that is gonna say Marisa should lead
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that. And I think it's hard to know like who is
13:37
making those decisions. How did you,
13:39
how did you identify the one person that could speak about you
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unless everybody was speaking about you.
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But it seems like you were very strategic about.
13:47
There's this person that will be in the room early on in
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your career. You don't know.
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I mean, I honestly didn't know,
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I didn't even know about the big rooms and,
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and how it all works.
13:58
Sometimes mentors, they can help you,
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help you and teach you that.
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But I think you do know,
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you know who your boss is,
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you know, who his peer or his or her peers are
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and as you go through an organization,
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you start to learn how it works.
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And it's just important to observe who,
14:17
who are the people making the decisions,
14:20
who are the people moving and pushing the organization because those are
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the people that are probably going to be in those rooms and
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those are the people that are going to be pushing you.
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And again, you present yourself to those people and you,
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you, you make yourself valuable by either adding to their
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ensuring that you understand their agenda and you can advance their agenda
14:44
And I think that's a very authentic way to do it
14:47
a La Latina because we're not,
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you know, we're humble,
14:50
we work hard and we just don't want to go and show
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look at me like we don't do that.
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And so if we understand that part of our playbook could be
15:01
by doing the things that we do the best,
15:03
which is serve each other carefully,
15:05
each other by looking at this in a strategic way,
15:08
which is I'm gonna be a problem solver for you as a
15:11
way to fast track my career,
15:13
then if we're doing something that is authentically Latino,
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you know what? In the,
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Yes, absolutely. There's this idea that you can get
15:24
to the top on your own,
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right? Like stepping on other people that that's how you get
15:28
to become the CEO of a company.
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And it really doesn't seem to sit well with Latinas because Latinas
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in general, like we're part of a community,
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we want to bring other people with us.
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And I love when I hear you saying that it's not about
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it's about helping others.
15:47
But at the same time,
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you're helping others, you're elevating your own visibility.
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So it's the secondary effect of Yeah,
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and, and bringing others with you is absolutely critical.
15:58
because later when you have the opportunity to have your own
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vision and create kind of what you want to do in your
16:05
own agenda, if other people aren't inspired by it and support
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you, you don't get anywhere.
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So do you learn that early on and then you build that
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as you get the courage to build your own vision?
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I think that for me,
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that's why I wanted to talk about fast tracking because I,
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if I look at you from the vision and the dream to
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become ambassador Soli going into consultancy,
16:32
then getting into, you know,
16:33
like CPG Proctor then you moved on to consultancy,
16:38
then you started, you know,
16:39
like with Pepsico FRITO and now the NFL,
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I think that, you know,
16:43
like we would like to know how,
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how did you get to the NFL?
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Probably as Cynthia was asking like,
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you, you got many phone calls but then you choose those
16:53
you chose this one to pick it up and come.
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Why was the decision of the NFL?
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How, how was it in your own also?
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You know, like personal growth line,
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I could probably write a whole book about that chapter and that
17:07
decision, it was not an easy decision.
17:09
I mean, people say you work for the NFL that must
17:13
have been, you know,
17:14
a no brainer. The NFL calls you,
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of course, you say yes.
17:17
It was a very hard decision.
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I wasn't expecting the call at all.
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very good place at Pepsico.
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you hear me talk about the company,
17:27
I bleed blue. I say I love that company.
17:30
All the leaders there are incredible.
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So I had a vision already of what my career was going
17:36
to be. I already had my Pepsico career in my mind
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So this phone call came completely out of the blue and
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I remember it distinctly because you know,
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the, the head hunter said,
17:49
leading brand for an iconic whatever organization I said,
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hey, you know what I already work for an iconic organization
17:56
I probably don't need to hear it.
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So there's probably five brands that I would actually entertain.
18:04
you probably should hear this one.
18:06
It's the NFL. I said the as in the national football
18:10
league. And I was like,
18:15
you know, I was just listening to just to hear it
18:17
out. And I remember telling my husband,
18:19
you know, I got this call,
18:22
I should probably entertain the interviews because I just want to know
18:27
I wanna learn the process and see what they're looking for.
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And gosh, I doubt that I'll make it through,
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but I just want to learn sure enough that the process happened
18:38
And then when the offer actually came,
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It's a completely different.
18:45
honestly, like jumping off a cliff,
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it's like you've gotten to that height in your career and then
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there's this cliff and somebody tells you if you jump off,
18:55
you know, you may fall and fall flat and die on
18:58
your face or you may jump off and fly.
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let's take the risk and,
19:06
and see what happens.
19:07
I didn't want to like a couple of years later,
19:09
look back and say there was this great opportunity and I didn't
19:13
take it. And of course,
19:16
it's the biggest platform in sports,
19:20
arguably in America will soon be hopefully in the world and
19:25
just the opportunity to story tell to elevate communities.
19:30
I mean, everything that was that my purpose is I kind
19:35
of saw the alignment,
19:36
it was about the opportunity to be visible and make a bigger
19:40
impact and be able to elevate my community like it was just
19:44
so great and it aligned.
19:45
And I said, let's let's do it.
19:48
let's take, let's go to that.
19:51
That's second topic, a theme that I think I,
19:55
I associate with you and you said in Cannes while we were
19:58
there in Klay. And this year you said,
20:00
like you gave that advice to companies.
20:04
you talk to leaders,
20:06
you've been taking the big bet you've been making companies take the
20:11
big bet. You took your first big bet.
20:14
When you know, like when,
20:15
when that Dean told you don't go into diplomacy in Pepsico,
20:20
I would love for you to talk a little bit more about
20:22
like, not only how you took it when you decided to
20:26
agree to take the Latino portfolio as opposed to keep on,
20:30
you know, like general market,
20:31
but then how you transformed,
20:33
you know, like how you made Pepsi could take the big
20:36
bet as a company in the portfolio that you were building.
20:40
like we'll talk about the NFL and the biggest bet of all
20:43
that you made in bringing Latino to the Super Bowl.
20:47
It seems easy to say,
20:49
oh, just take the big bet and go.
20:53
right? And it requires mentors and sponsors and people around you
20:57
to give you the right advice.
21:00
The Hispanic Business Unit at Pepsico when that first came up
21:05
I was asked to do it,
21:08
I didn't want to do it.
21:09
So there was no Latino portfolio of Pepsico.
21:13
no, there, there was,
21:14
I mean, there was a multicultural marketing group.
21:18
some levels of marketing and communication to Latinos and,
21:23
and other multicultural communities.
21:25
I think that at the time,
21:28
Andre in particular had a vision that she really wanted to create
21:34
this something deeper to serve the Latino community.
21:38
And again, when they came to ask me,
21:40
I, I turned it down.
21:42
Look, I don't want to derail the conversation,
21:44
but I think we can teach,
21:46
not teach but like explain something as marketers to Claudia that I
21:49
hope the audience will also understand when you're in marketing and somebody
21:52
tells you, you're gonna do multicultural marketing.
21:54
You're like, what did I do wrong?
21:56
They're just gonna put me aside and they're not gonna let me
21:59
actually drive the strategy.
22:00
I'm gonna be translating ads to Spanish or try to make the
22:04
story of an ad fit for the Latino audience.
22:08
So I would go also got asked to do a multicultural marketing
22:12
and I always said no.
22:14
And I love to see that you ended up saying yes.
22:17
And I hope that that something that we can flip the script
22:20
And when somebody gets asked,
22:21
do you wanna do marketing for multicultural audiences?
22:24
It's not they want to put you aside.
22:27
But it's actually, it feels like a promotion.
22:29
Well, it's interesting you bring that up because yes,
22:34
it wasn't so much that about the job.
22:37
It was about my identity because I didn't want to be pegged
22:41
I always said I am a business leader,
22:45
period. End of story.
22:46
That's it. I don't want to be a Latina this or
22:49
this or that. And so that's I said absolutely not.
22:53
So I, I turned it down but my,
22:56
one of my biggest mentor sponsors whatever my idol maybe you call
23:02
it. And that is Al Carey think,
23:06
You know, he came to me and said,
23:10
you don't understand what this could mean for our company,
23:16
he's like, there's no one else that can do this job
23:18
This is a very important job,
23:20
but only you can do this job because you understand,
23:23
you know, the community,
23:24
you understand the insight and only you can bring it to life
23:28
and you know, really make this work and his words really
23:33
kind of made that whole change in me of OK,
23:36
maybe being Latina is actually a good thing for business.
23:40
It's not, don't try to hide it,
23:43
use that power for the benefit of the company.
23:46
And he really was the one that convinced me.
23:51
it's such a, you know,
23:53
probably one of the proudest things I've done in my career,
23:56
if not the proudest because we started from scratch.
24:01
it was like, Marissa,
24:01
go build a business unit and we had to build it from
24:06
the ground up. You know,
24:07
we had to get the marketers,
24:09
the researchers, the financiers,
24:13
the sales force that was probably the most important piece is that
24:18
we discovered there's little stores everywhere in America,
24:22
New York is filled with them little colados or little places that
24:26
could sell our products.
24:28
But when our sales organization was going in,
24:32
speaking in English and,
24:33
and being very transactional,
24:35
they weren't building those relationships and we weren't building the business.
24:39
And the minute you had a Latino sales force with Latinos speaking
24:44
Spanish being Latinos to Latinos,
24:47
those relationships with all those small business started to form and the
24:52
business just started to take off.
24:54
It's a, it's an amazing story and I'm so proud
24:58
that it's still there.
24:59
it's a legacy if you know,
25:01
you may have Esperanza Tisdale in your podcast later,
25:06
she leads the beverage piece of the business.
25:09
Antonio Colonna leads the foods part of the business.
25:11
So now there's like a huge organization dedicated in Pepsico,
25:17
dedicated to Latinos in the Latino business.
25:21
So I remember one of the first figures that I heard
25:26
from Pepsico was declaring pretty openly that like 65 I think percent
25:32
of their growth in the next couple of years depending on the
25:34
Latino community. So pretty much that was you you know
25:38
like that started the baseline,
25:40
we built a in this case to convince the organization that they
25:45
needed to invest behind the Hispanic community.
25:47
And again, you did that by not thinking of you and
25:51
your success. But looking at what,
25:53
how can I solve that growth and that opportunity problem?
25:56
And Al is a person of the film Flaming Hot,
26:00
right? The one that is al helped Richard Montanez early
26:05
in his career too when Richard,
26:07
you know, was doing all the product experimenting in Cucamonga in
26:11
Rancho Cucamonga. So yeah,
26:13
Al is a champion of the Latino community.
26:19
I mean, he's the best human being but also,
26:24
very successful and savvy business leader who recognized the opportunity.
26:28
But from that moment to the investment that Pepsico did to the
26:33
massive investment of Pepsico to the campaign of John Leguizamo say,
26:37
like where you know,
26:38
like look how far we've come from.
26:41
How did you make Pepsico take the big bet first not
26:46
only on you but on the market,
26:48
like on like that was a big bet.
26:52
how, how, what did it take?
26:55
the first thing was you had to build the business case and
26:58
you had to show why the Latino community was relevant and important
27:04
to the business. And it wasn't just the numbers around the
27:08
Latino community, right?
27:09
It wasn't just that we're now 65 million strong,
27:13
a trillion in, you know,
27:14
economic power. It wasn't those things.
27:16
It was very specifically what that community represented to future consumption of
27:23
liquid refreshment beverages and you know,
27:26
salty snacks and now savory snacks because that community represents
27:34
a big portion you know,
27:36
of consumption for the business.
27:37
So it was from a consumer point of view,
27:40
that opportunity, the B to B opportunity like how we grew
27:45
our business with all of these small,
27:47
you know, countless little community,
27:50
you know, stores all over the U the US,
27:53
that was another big point to convince them.
27:56
So it was building the case,
27:58
then after you build the case and people believed in it,
28:02
then it was building the team,
28:04
you had to build the right team.
28:06
So again, back to the,
28:07
you can't accomplish things on your own.
28:09
Like you're not an island.
28:11
I had to make sure that I had the right Latinos,
28:16
the right leaders, the right passionate people to come in and
28:21
help create products and help sell and help market and help research
28:26
to truly build, you know,
28:28
that business for the future.
28:29
And it was great because a lot of these team members
28:34
were young and up and coming and rising stars in the company
28:39
you know, they didn't see it was kind of like me
28:42
like, oh, now I'm being pegged to be in this
28:45
Hispanic thing. But then as it started to take off,
28:49
I think it was a source of pride for,
28:51
you know, for a lot of us that gosh,
28:54
we could really make a difference in our community and make a
28:57
difference for our company and add value and growth to our company
29:02
are you applying a similar framework in the NFL?
29:06
Yes, very similar framework now,
29:08
granted very different businesses,
29:10
right? We're not selling products.
29:13
But if you think about,
29:14
you know, the business of the NFL,
29:16
which is the game and all that the game represents our fan
29:21
base is so incredibly important.
29:23
And when you took a look,
29:25
you know, especially back when you know,
29:27
I joined and even a few years before you took a look
29:30
at the fan base and the fan base of the NFL is
29:34
very homogeneous, right tends to be older.
29:38
Central America tends to be more white male.
29:42
And when you see the demographic changes in our country,
29:45
the future is young the future is multicultural.
29:50
the future is women.
29:51
The future is intersectional,
29:53
right? So it isn't even about just Latino or African American
29:57
It's about, you know,
29:58
all these intersections of ethnicity and culture.
30:02
And so it was really,
30:03
really important for us if we're going to be relevant,
30:09
10 years from now that we made sure that we reached out
30:12
to that audience and that we grew that fan base.
30:14
So that was an easier business case.
30:18
believe it or not to make.
30:20
Right? Well, it was much later and it was much
30:22
later in a different place.
30:27
I do want to make sure that you tell the story of
30:30
that Emmy Award campaign that made every Latino cry during the Super
30:34
Bowl by seeing us for the first time in a two minute
30:38
video, seeing Diana running as a flagship,
30:42
you know, like as a flag football champion,
30:44
seeing the Latinos exposed there and how,
30:48
but also I want you to tell the story of that,
30:50
but how did you make it so many of us?
30:53
So many of the people that are listening to this podcast and
30:56
incorporate America tried to make their,
30:58
their case relevant, try to make sure that their companies understand
31:03
their numbers and yet,
31:04
you know, like they,
31:05
they only meet deaf ears or they just get closed doors.
31:09
So tell the story of how did you make that incredible Super
31:15
the way that you did with the NFL and,
31:18
you know, like all those.
31:20
what did it take personally from you?
31:22
What, what was the wisdom,
31:24
what's a playbook that maybe others can learn,
31:27
It's, it's funny because in a way we just did,
31:32
we didn't overthink it,
31:33
it was like we have to tell this story and we did
31:36
but I will give you the,
31:38
the context and the backdrop.
31:41
a perfect storm one we knew we had to expand our,
31:45
our fan base. and we needed to reach much broader
31:50
you know, young people.
31:51
Gen Z women was very important,
31:54
the Latino community. So those kind of were the three biggest
31:57
things that we knew.
31:58
We want, we needed to reach.
32:02
the sport of flag football is becoming so increasingly important to the
32:06
league because flag football is the entry way into football.
32:10
And it really is the way that everyone can play the
32:14
sport because it's a sport that no matter what gender,
32:18
ethnicity, age, even ability level you can play.
32:22
And so the rise of that sport you like,
32:28
you can play, you know,
32:30
the rise of that sport was happening at the same time as
32:34
this other story of we needed to reach,
32:36
you know, younger and a more diverse audience.
32:39
And then the other perfect storm was that Diana Flores happened to
32:45
win the world championship.
32:47
She was the captain of the Mexican national team captain and quarterback
32:51
and she was featured,
32:53
in a game in Los Angeles.
32:56
I think they went out on the field and they recognized her
32:59
the league made her captain of the pro bowl
33:03
with Peyton Manning her,
33:05
her idol. So she was already somebody that we were placing
33:09
a bet on. And you know,
33:11
because she, she was such a great,
33:13
great, she is such a great star.
33:16
So all the stars kind of aligned.
33:18
All all that, that formula needed was just the belief and
33:22
the push that we should do this.
33:25
And I have to give a lot of credit to,
33:27
you know, Tim Ellis,
33:29
let's do this, let's go for it.
33:31
You know, I had the support in the boardroom.
33:36
you know, that support was absolutely critical and you know,
33:41
when you meet Diana,
33:43
I mean, she's the most wonderful human being.
33:45
How could you not tell her story?
33:47
Her story is so powerful and it just lent itself to that
33:52
beautiful story arc that you need for a successful Super Bowl spot
33:56
right? It was drama,
33:58
it was purpose, it was endearing because you saw her story
34:04
and it was representing a community that had never been
34:09
heard at that stage,
34:10
right? So putting her story front and center.
34:13
The first ever I think,
34:15
don't quote me on this,
34:16
but the first ever Spanish language commercial in the Super Bowl,
34:21
that was, that was great.
34:24
you had to do it that way because we could have very
34:28
easily gotten an actress to play her and still told the story
34:32
of women in flag football and made that scene with her mom
34:35
in English. But that wouldn't have been her,
34:37
it wouldn't have been a real story.
34:40
And the power of impact is always telling the authentic story
34:45
is always telling the real thing and putting it front and center
34:50
Sorry, I just like to finish on this one because you
34:53
said in Cannes that it took a village and you build trust
34:57
in a way that a village,
34:59
he took a village and the agencies.
35:02
No, it took a village,
35:05
this was a truly a story of,
35:08
you know, you had to have the support from the top
35:11
So from Roger Goodell all the way down to senior leadership
35:16
you know, your advertising and creative agency had to be vested
35:19
in her story. They couldn't go off and tell some other
35:23
crazy creative, it was her story.
35:25
So she trusted us and the agency and we trusted the agency
35:30
with her story. Then we had to get the right director
35:32
the right production company to bring the story to life.
35:37
and then the right partners,
35:39
right? Obviously, the players that are in it,
35:41
but I I want to tell the story of Billie Jean because
35:44
this was very important.
35:45
So Billie Jean King was in the commercial,
35:48
you know, she's the,
35:50
I mean, she is the Trailblazer in women's sports and we
35:54
thought it would be so special for her to appear in it
35:58
right? And give a nod to this wonderful woman Trailblazer
36:02
And when we called her,
36:04
I mean, she was absolutely thrilled she wanted to do this
36:07
for Diana. but she couldn't do it because we shot
36:12
the same week as the Australian Open.
36:15
I'm not going to be able to do it.
36:17
I have this conflict.
36:18
Well, lo and behold a few days later,
36:21
she called back to say she believed in it so strongly
36:25
she flew, I think from New York to L A shot
36:28
the commercial with us and then flew to Australia.
36:31
And that was just a testament of,
36:34
I mean, her belief in,
36:36
you know, this woman Diana and,
36:38
and, and the bigger story of the power of sports,
36:41
right? Women Trailblazer in sports representation in sports.
36:45
and just the impact that you have when you tell stories
36:49
of communities that are not seen or heard so very,
36:52
very impactful and yes,
36:54
a big bet. But I bet that,
36:57
you know, all of those people the village was,
37:00
was willing to make right.
37:01
You can't make the bet sometimes on your own.
37:04
You have to have the people around you,
37:07
you know, believing in it as well to,
37:10
I think you're trying not to take too much credit for getting
37:14
for selling this idea.
37:17
And I think that the,
37:18
this idea of the innovator's dilemma,
37:22
like you prove that,
37:24
that you can make a bet and you can,
37:27
you can like look at the future and grow,
37:29
but there's risk associated.
37:32
I'm sure that you have uncomfortable conversations that not everybody was sold
37:36
on it. And I think you should take a little bit
37:40
more credit for showing that the,
37:44
the, the changes and the multicultural investments that we're seeing now
37:48
are better than before,
37:49
but they are not yet where they should be and that there
37:52
is actually a business reason to make these investments and to not
37:57
fall in this innovators dilemma because the NFL could just continue marketing
38:01
to white male and they would see benefits today.
38:04
But you are the one saying,
38:05
ok, do you want me to be the chief brand officer
38:08
today that the dies after me or do you want me to
38:11
give it life in the future?
38:14
it's a, it speaks really highly on your storytelling abilities.
38:18
Well, I appreciate that.
38:19
we did make a choice,
38:20
there was a choice to be made of all the messages
38:24
we could have said and of all the things we could have
38:27
emphasized, we took the bet that it had to be her
38:30
story. And you know,
38:32
it was the right bet.
38:33
It certainly paid off.
38:35
But it's linked to like I said,
38:38
from the very beginning,
38:39
it's linked to the overall vision and mission that the league is
38:44
trying to do. So this wasn't about me like,
38:46
oh, I want to put a Latina.
38:48
No, no, this was about the vision of the league
38:50
being more approachable, more human,
38:55
embracing of inclusivity and diversity and elevating,
38:59
you know, AAA sport that belongs to everyone.
39:03
So it fit perfectly like it wasn't,
39:05
you know, just out of the blue.
39:07
So before we move on,
39:09
I would love to my son made me read recently how to
39:13
influence people and gain friends because he's in that period of his
39:18
life where he wants to influence people and make friends and it's
39:21
like a super old book,
39:23
but a lot of what you said could be applied,
39:26
you know, like it's not about you.
39:28
It's about like, how do you actually bring the others along
39:31
Is there more about what you did?
39:33
Like alone? We had the Super Bowl two minutes,
39:35
we had Diana, you had,
39:37
you know, like the entire country crying and you won,
39:40
won an Emmy and you probably won like millions of fans and
39:43
all of that? What was your way of getting it done
39:48
Did you make people believe that it was their idea?
39:51
It was not about the Latinos.
39:52
It was not about your ideas,
39:53
but it was about like how much,
39:54
you know, it was a business case but it was about
39:56
not getting credit or it was,
39:58
you know, like tell us more about that.
40:01
it was ultimately about,
40:04
you know, I talked at the very beginning about really understanding
40:08
people's agendas and making sure that you are positioning things to solve
40:13
their issue or to advance their agenda.
40:17
And at the end of the day,
40:18
the agenda of the league is to be more inclusive is to
40:23
grow our fan base is to be relevant.
40:26
And so it was easy to convince and you know,
40:29
maybe to your point I say easy.
40:31
But when you have a story that links back to the full
40:36
vision of what the league wants to do,
40:39
it's a lot easier right?
40:40
Than when you make it about yourself.
40:42
So it was never about,
40:44
ok, we're gonna win an Emmy or let's make this to
40:48
get the number one spot on the ad meter.
40:51
It was always about let's tell a powerful story.
40:54
Let's shine the light on,
40:57
you know, on this person that needs to be seen.
41:01
Like, what else can other Latinas that are trying to make
41:06
that shift, trying get their organizations to take a big bet
41:09
What else can they do to gain relevance and to make
41:13
it a reality, we should do some role playing.
41:15
You're trying to sell me something.
41:17
And I mean, the business case is the first case,
41:22
right? You got to have the business case.
41:25
You've got to have a bit of credibility,
41:28
right? You can't just walk in if you've never done anything
41:33
or like you do have to build a little bit of trust
41:36
and credibility over time.
41:38
That is by helping solve the problems of other people.
41:42
People know that, you know,
41:44
the business people know that you're purpose driven,
41:46
people know that you're authentic and being yourself,
41:49
that you're not trying to sell them,
41:51
you know, that you are a person of your word.
41:54
So if you say you're gonna do something,
41:56
you do it, you know,
41:58
you don't back, back off on,
42:01
that you promise. Sometimes it's quite frankly you under promise
42:06
and you over deliver,
42:08
hey, I'm gonna give you,
42:10
you know, I'm gonna give you 10 of these things and
42:13
then you come back and you give them 30 they're like,
42:15
oh, ok, I'll remember this,
42:17
right? So it's just building that credibility over time.
42:21
But I just think the key is positioning that big bet
42:26
so that people can see beyond like what is going to happen
42:32
And again, it's not,
42:34
we're going to win an Emmy if,
42:35
if we do this is wow,
42:37
this is going to open the door to a whole new world
42:41
of fans for the league to reach out to,
42:44
for the league to connect with,
42:46
for us to be relevant,
42:48
you know, in the future.
42:49
That that's the story.
42:51
That's how you, I mean,
42:52
at least in this case,
42:53
that's how we positioned it.
42:55
I do want our audience to not go and take a big
42:59
bet before building credibility because I think that credibility is like a
43:03
bank, right? You make deposits and then there's a day
43:06
when you need to make a withdrawal and you already came with
43:10
a lot of credibility and I'm sure you started your time in
43:13
the building that credibility in house and then you felt like you
43:17
had the, the credibility,
43:20
ok, now let's take a bit together.
43:23
But like thinking of it as a bank,
43:26
I think it's a good way of first and then you make
43:29
the withdrawal and, you know,
43:30
there will be times when you won't be successful.
43:34
Many times. I think the way you manage,
43:38
failure is absolutely critical in building your credibility because if you own
43:44
up to it from day one,
43:46
if you take responsibility.
43:49
And if you immediately identify the learning,
43:52
like this is what I learned,
43:53
this is what I'm gonna change and here's what we're gonna do
43:56
moving forward that immediately buys you credibility.
43:59
If you try to point the finger at other people or
44:03
claim that, you know that.
44:06
You know, I'm sorry,
44:08
but my team just did this or you know,
44:11
or, or just make an excuse.
44:13
Oh, it'll never happen again.
44:15
I'm sorry. This is no,
44:16
no excuses. You own up to it and you move on
44:20
that definitely helps build credibility.
44:24
So let's talk about being a Latina and being Latina.
44:27
So 76% 76% of Hispanics,
44:32
whatever you wanna call us,
44:34
feel that they cannot be themselves at the workplace.
44:39
you know, work with someone,
44:41
we don't even know and we leave ourselves at home and we
44:44
bring that person that we think might have a chance of succeeding
44:50
So we wanna talk about that effort.
44:52
Yeah. Can you tell us,
44:55
like, think about your time probably at Pepsi and earlier in
44:59
your career, do you feel like you had to hide some
45:03
of your values as Latina?
45:05
And then inversely were there elements of,
45:08
of your culture and your upbringing that you dialed up because you
45:13
thought they would help you in your career?
45:15
Yeah, I never hid anything because I,
45:20
I just couldn't, I had to be myself.
45:22
Now I dialed up certain things for sure.
45:25
But I didn't change and even when I was told over
45:30
and over, and I'll tell you the one piece of feedback
45:32
that I always got And to this day maybe I'll write a
45:37
but I was always told I was too nice.
45:42
in business you have to be ruthless and in business you have
45:47
focus and be assertive and you can't be nice to people and
45:51
I just couldn't, I don't know that that's just a part
45:54
I couldn't change. Right.
45:56
And so I refused to listen,
45:58
which that might not be a good thing,
46:00
but I refused to listen.
46:02
I think that you can,
46:04
there may be a time when you know,
46:06
it's time to not be so nice but give people the benefit
46:10
of the doubt and be nice.
46:11
So over time, I ignored that feedback.
46:15
and I think I am still nice and it still worked
46:18
out. So that one worked out.
46:21
I didn't have to sacrifice me,
46:24
right me authentically because I,
46:26
I just who I am is very important to me.
46:31
I think a couple of things I did have to build some
46:35
other, some other things.
46:37
You know, my business presence,
46:40
my knowledge, I had to be trained on the vernacular
46:45
of the organization. So when I was,
46:48
you know, a young Latina growing up in the company,
46:52
I was very casual because I am a casual person.
46:56
And so I would go in and,
46:57
you know, sometimes with senior leaders.
46:59
I have a great idea and and particularly when you're trained
47:05
in the sales organization and you're going up to the Walmarts of
47:08
the world, you just,
47:09
you cannot be that way.
47:11
And so yes, I had to learn to be very formal
47:16
to use the company's,
47:18
you know, vernacular and language and learn the business cold
47:23
like I had to know my numbers,
47:27
like they were second nature to me.
47:29
And I'm not necessarily a numbers person.
47:31
And so I did have to work very hard to become a
47:34
numbers person. So those things I had to build and
47:38
then I did hide my la like Latina wasn't a part of
47:44
my early career because again,
47:47
I wanted to prove myself as a business leader.
47:49
So who I am as a person,
47:50
Marissa, I never sacrificed.
47:53
I was nice. You know,
47:55
I had fun. I talked about my daughter like I'm a
47:57
very open person and that didn't change,
48:01
but I never really explored or maximized the power of being
48:09
Latina because I just didn't know,
48:11
I didn't know that it was a power.
48:12
I didn't know that it could change and make an impact.
48:15
I didn't know until very late until Al Carey said you need
48:20
to do this, you don't understand.
48:22
And that's when it just like,
48:24
wow, it was the big moment.
48:26
It was my aha moment was,
48:30
it's like Ponte Las Pilla.
48:31
Like you are Latina and it means something and you should be
48:35
driving with it. And that was late.
48:37
That was not early in my career.
48:38
That was much later.
48:39
So I want to talk to you about flipping the script and
48:42
I think that for me,
48:44
I, I want to talk about this with a personal story
48:51
I was in Mexico City and when I was a teenager,
48:54
there was this massive series of earthquakes in Mexico City in 1985
49:00
And me, like everybody that I know went out in
49:02
the street and started,
49:04
you know, like finding their family and friends and started volunteering
49:08
and there was a self organization happening in that moment,
49:11
self leadership, like shelter here,
49:13
food there. And I was in this particular group that was
49:17
like sweeping the streets and trying to find whether people were trapped
49:20
in the buildings. And I,
49:23
you know, I remember very distinctively how confusing it was and
49:28
like noise there was,
49:29
but there was something that stopped me and I started screaming out
49:35
stop. And so one of the guys in my group who
49:40
that was only men and they were all very big.
49:42
And so he turned around and he was like,
49:44
what? And I was like,
49:46
I think I hear someone and he was like,
49:48
think or heard and I just looked at him and started shouting
49:52
even louder. Like stop,
49:54
stop, stop, come back.
49:55
So he was very angry.
49:56
He came back. By the time he came,
49:58
we could clearly hear there was a voice.
50:00
So both of us looked at each other and started shouting like
50:03
stop, stop, come back,
50:04
come back. And so four people came,
50:05
we started shouting, stop,
50:07
come back until we were enough 20 people to start pushing that
50:11
wall. And it was like four hours,
50:12
at least it felt that way until we were able to break
50:16
through, see the light.
50:17
And there were the eyes of this girl like eyelashes full of
50:22
dust and she was looking at us as in you,
50:26
And that was the first time in my life in which I
50:29
felt useful. But it was also the first time in my
50:33
life that I was like,
50:34
wait, my father criticized me all the time.
50:39
I'm so loud. It's great to be loud.
50:42
You know, it was like for me,
50:43
it was a a flip the script that happened just there by
50:47
seeing the mother hug that that girl where she didn't even look
50:51
at me. But I knew that I had a role to
50:54
play because I was loud and that was a great thing.
50:57
And honestly, I've been doing that my entire life,
50:59
right? Like 25 years,
51:01
I'm just like trying to get the attention of people to doing
51:03
something but I think that there is something about like flipping the
51:06
script about saying like loud is great because I was able to
51:10
bring the attention of people to something they didn't see and sometimes
51:14
corporations see our values as something negative.
51:18
And I think that is,
51:19
is great when you can flip the script and when you have
51:21
a script that is helps you talk,
51:23
talk to us about your script,
51:26
how we've been, you know,
51:27
like living with that and how do you think there are some
51:30
some things that you have seen in corporate America or you're
51:33
like, guys, let's flip this script.
51:34
Let's talk about like family as team building or about,
51:39
you know, like loudness as enthusiasm or something.
51:44
I, I don't know if they,
51:45
if it's as direct as that,
51:48
I do think, you know,
51:50
I talked to you about this whole,
51:51
you're too nice and I had a lot of feedback that I
51:56
was too nice to my team.
51:58
I wasn't tough enough on my team to make them,
52:03
And I think when I look back now,
52:05
if I could flip the script,
52:07
it was really about empathy.
52:10
And when you're empathetic and understand those around you,
52:14
their needs, you know,
52:15
it's, you build a bond and a relationship with your team
52:19
like they are gonna be willing to walk through walls for
52:23
you. And it doesn't take a,
52:26
you know, you've got to do this or it doesn't take
52:28
a strong arm, like sometimes the empathy,
52:32
being vulnerable, being able to share actually creates a more powerful
52:37
team, right? And more and more powerful,
52:39
loyalty and bond. So that would be a big one.
52:42
I think in terms of flipping the script,
52:45
if you will, I think a big one that all
52:49
of us Latinas need to need to take hold of is,
52:53
you know, we all grew up with some sort of challenge
52:56
right? Whether it was finding our voices,
52:59
whether it was trying to,
53:00
you know, fit in navigating the chaos,
53:06
And maybe sometimes not knowing what our path is and living in
53:10
that ambiguity, you can turn that into a strength because today
53:15
being able to navigate an ambiguity,
53:18
it is a humongous strength,
53:21
it is ambiguous, things change literally every minute.
53:26
And you've got to just be able to be comfortable in
53:29
ambiguity, you know,
53:30
be adaptable and those things are powerful things.
53:34
They're, they're not just powerful,
53:37
they're powerful in the board room.
53:39
And so I think from a Latina standpoint,
53:43
navigating an ambiguity, you know,
53:45
being able to manage the chaos is a,
53:50
is a strength and then doing it with empathy and kindness and
53:55
caring. That's, that's key,
53:58
you know, that is key in a world of craziness,
54:01
I would say that's a pretty big flip of the script for
54:04
us. I think that Latinas then are the perfect employees and
54:08
the perfect leaders for the future because I don't know,
54:11
50 years ago, people would actually have a career,
54:13
the entire career in the same company.
54:15
And your man manager or the CEO could be pretty aggressive and
54:19
not empathetic at all.
54:21
But where would you go?
54:22
And now where do you go?
54:24
Like people are leaving jobs because they don't like their managers because
54:27
they're mistreated and the tenure of people in companies is shorter,
54:31
but they stay, they stick around for leaders like you that
54:34
show empathy. And I don't know if you were experiencing this
54:39
I'd say maybe five years,
54:40
I've shifted how I even write job descriptions for people that come
54:44
work with me because the jobs are so fluid like you come
54:48
and I write a job description and then no job description had
54:52
a generative A I three months ago and now it's all about
54:55
generative A I. So if you create a very rigid job
54:59
description, you, you bring the wrong person for the job
55:03
to be flexible, it's I think super important.
55:06
So everybody should be employing more Latinas.
55:09
And absolutely, I agree with that 100%.
55:12
And so talking about you,
55:14
Marisa and your brand,
55:15
you were talking about like you being,
55:17
you know, like maybe too nice and so on.
55:21
we, we have deep respect and a notation for you for
55:24
your career, for your personally.
55:27
And that's why we wanted you to share your knowledge and literally
55:31
just like, make sure that our Latinas have the playbook early
55:34
on in their careers.
55:36
So how do you do your choices when it comes to building
55:40
also that, you know,
55:41
like your brand? Yeah,
55:43
your personal brand, like we see that you are out there
55:47
you're speaking, but you're also thoughtful about what you speak
55:51
about because as a marketer,
55:52
you're, you're creating your own brand.
55:55
I think if we ask 10 people that have heard you speaking
55:58
or that have encountered you professionally,
56:01
there's certain things that we would all say about you.
56:04
So how should our audience think about building their own brands for
56:09
the future of their careers?
56:11
I, I think as a marketer,
56:13
it's, the model is very similar,
56:15
right? As to how you would build a brand.
56:18
first you really need to think through,
56:21
you know, who is that audience you want to impact?
56:25
because you, you can't please everybody,
56:28
right? who really matters to you.
56:32
As a person that you want to impact that you
56:35
want to inspire, that's really important.
56:37
And then what is that point of distinction?
56:40
What sets you apart,
56:42
you know, what are the things that you want to be
56:45
known for? And ultimately how that point of distinction points to
56:49
your purpose. I mean,
56:50
that purpose is a huge thing.
56:53
What is your purpose?
56:54
What do you live for?
56:55
And I think you can see certain people,
56:58
you know what their purpose is.
56:59
Some people are innovators,
57:02
some people are disruptors.
57:05
I think that I am a bridge builder,
57:08
like I am definitely,
57:09
I like to connect dots and connect people.
57:12
But ultimately, I think I give a voice,
57:15
I feel like I have that purpose to give a voice to
57:19
those that, you know,
57:21
can't find it themselves or,
57:22
or unseen or unheard.
57:24
And I'm just very privileged to have,
57:27
you know, to be in a position where I can do
57:29
that because I have,
57:32
you know, I have people that believe in me,
57:35
you know, all of those things at my disposal that I
57:37
can leverage to make that impact and not just for me and
57:41
for the communities, but clearly for the organization I serve,
57:44
right, in this case,
57:45
for the league, like,
57:46
how do we make the league more relevant?
57:48
But at the same time,
57:49
how do we elevate all these communities and you know,
57:52
make that, make that impact?
57:54
Great. We have a couple more questions for you.
57:57
What would you give yourself as advice if you were talking to
58:00
30 year old Marisa professionally?
58:04
And you have to like 11 people.
58:07
Yeah, I, I would probably tell my younger self take
58:12
more risks. Like life is way too short.
58:16
I think I was very calculated,
58:19
and I did plan a lot and I thought I'd overthought things
58:24
I think sometimes you just have to jump off the cliff.
58:31
in my career and it,
58:32
and it's been amazing,
58:34
you learn all these new things about yourself.
58:36
If I had been doing the same kind of cliff jumping back
58:40
when I was 30 I mean,
58:42
Maybe I'd be in a beer now.
58:45
everybody finds their time,
58:47
but I, I really wish I would have taken more risks
58:51
earlier earlier in life.
58:53
And who else do you think we should have in this podcast
58:56
if we have, you know,
58:59
if we have the opportunity to pretty much create a playbook for
59:05
young Latinas so that they can fast track and take the big
59:09
bets. Who else shall we have?
59:12
there's so many incredible Latina leaders.
59:15
you know, a lot of them.
59:17
I, I'd love to see SB just because she's kind of
59:22
I mean, I mentored her and I see her grow and
59:24
I'm so incredibly proud of her.
59:27
and she's now leading the Hispanic Business unit at Pepsico.
59:30
So I'd love to see Esperanza.
59:35
what an incredible icon.
59:39
you know, one of my inspirations,
59:41
she's built a business from scratch.
59:43
She has a lovely family.
59:45
I mean, she's the whole,
59:47
you know, the whole package and the real thing.
59:49
So the Triathlon thing.
59:51
Yeah. And the thing.
59:53
So I'd love to see her.
59:54
Please have Diana. You will love Diana.
59:56
She, Diana is incredible and she's so humble and you
1:00:02
know, she's, she's kind of early right in her stage
1:00:05
of finding herself and really blooming.
1:00:08
And so I think she would be,
1:00:09
she would be amazing.
1:00:11
So you have all these,
1:00:12
you know, incredible leaders,
1:00:15
maybe some actresses, you know,
1:00:18
get get some actresses and some directors in here.
1:00:22
Yeah. So I think that the last question is any
1:00:25
final message for our audience looking at,
1:00:28
you know, like looking at you and saying like,
1:00:30
OK, how, how do I do this best?
1:00:34
I would say it's a journey like it's not,
1:00:38
there's not a like a formula that you have to follow and
1:00:42
all of a sudden you're successful,
1:00:44
it's a journey you learn along the way.
1:00:46
You, you step back,
1:00:48
you have failures and,
1:00:49
and drawbacks that you learn from and then you,
1:00:51
you keep going. I think for me,
1:00:54
the thing that's kept me going is,
1:00:56
you know, that inner fuel,
1:00:58
it's my purpose. You know,
1:01:00
it's my parents, right?
1:01:02
I live to honor their legacy.
1:01:06
and it's my community,
1:01:08
I wanna build my community that fuels me.
1:01:11
So find whatever it is that fuels you because the days are
1:01:15
long, the days are hard,
1:01:18
you know, it's not all roses out there.
1:01:20
So you have to find the thing within you that just powers
1:01:24
you forward. You know,
1:01:26
it makes you give that impact.
1:01:28
Ok, great. Thank you,
1:01:30
Marisa. This was great.
1:01:32
Incredible. Thank you so very much Marisa Ali,
1:01:35
senior vice president of global brand and consumer marketing of the NFL
1:01:39
It was a pleasure having you here.
1:01:40
It was a pleasure to be here for ambassadors.
1:01:42
We don't vote, right?
1:01:47
but you can influence you.
1:01:48
Tell me what to do.
1:01:51
Thank you. I mean we have a Mexicana disa she can
1:01:56
help us figure it out.
