Woman of Impact: Meet Maricella Herrera, Director of Global Membership at Ellevate Network

by Solange Lopes | Dec 29, 2016 | Career

You know when you meet a Woman of Impact whose life story and views reminds you so much of yours? That’s what happened when I was virtually introduced to Maricella Herrera. Hearing and reading about her story had me jumping up my seat and nodding like no tomorrow. Maricella’s powerful life and career story speak of the incredibly transformative impact of diversity, and how women sitting at the decision table can change the game for all of us. 

It’s so empowering to read about strong, determined women who inspire us to be our best selves and pursue the passions and ideals they truly believe in…But without further ado, here’s Maricella Herrera…

Hi Maricella! Thanks so much for accepting to be featured on TCS! Tell us about you and what you do!

My name is Maricella Herrera. I’m Director of Global Membership at Ellevate Network. I’m Originally from El Salvador, moved to Mexico for college and to New York for business school.

As Director of Global Membership I work on a variety of projects. I look for ways to increase our membership through high-level branding and marketing strategy, regional expansion plans, programming and membership benefits strategy. 

I work closely with potential volunteers to develop new chapters, with our chapters and with our team to develop winning partnerships, campaigns and marketing strategy that will elevate the brand and help us become bigger and better.

 I also co-host the Ellevate Podcast and work on other special projects. You can say I’m a generalist and know a little about a lot, as well as know the brand inside out having been here the longest (almost 5 years!).

What led you to work for Ellevate in the area of Global Membership, and what do you love most about your job?

When I was looking for a job after business school I was first focused on going back to banking, where I’d spent the beginning of my career, but my heart wasn’t in it. The cutthroat industry, the long hours, the increasing competitive nature… it wasn’t what I wanted anymore. 

I had started to look into social enterprises, I wanted to do something that made a difference in the world. I wanted to work not just for money but for mission and purpose. Thankfully, and through my network at Columbia, I met Janet Hanson, the founder of the then-named 85 Broads. 

She offered me a job at 85 Broads helping her run the business as soon as I finished my MBA. The rest is history: Janet sold 85 Broads to Sallie Krawcheck and I stayed with the company. We rebranded the to Ellevate Network, the team grew exponentially and we’ve been making strides ever since.

As a generalist I get to work on different projects. It was hard to get used to this after being a specialist in my prior job, but once I got into the idea that I could do whatever I wanted with my role it made things a lot more fun. I love that I get to help everyone reach their goals, I get to drive my own projects, and I’m constantly thinking of where the business is going next.

What I love most about my job is the smart and driven people I work with. Our team is small but mighty and it proves to me again and again that a small group of people who are truly passionate about what they are doing can really have an impact. I also love that there isn’t a dull minute, we have fun doing what we do.

As a multi-cultural, multi-lingual woman, how do you feel your diverse and rich background adds to your day-to-day job?

I strongly believe in the power of diversity and having diverse perspectives around the table, that’s one of the main reasons why I work at Ellevate. 

Having lived and worked in countries that are leaps and bounds behind the US in terms of gender equality and that are culturally and predominantly male-dominated (does the term “machista” ring a bell?) I can see, from a very different perspective, why Ellevate is needed and I can shed a light to when we’re taking things for granted.

In NY where we are based a lot of people come from backgrounds that can identify with mine easily. They grew up in Latino families, they are first generation immigrants, they’ve worked hard to get here…so we bond pretty quickly. And of course, speaking more than one language never hurts in a city like NY! Spanish is always super useful.

Describe what a typical workday looks like for you.

The beauty of my job is that there is no typical workday! Usually I come into the office between 9 and 9:30, by then I have already checked my email on the way so I have a few things I know I have to get to first thing. So I grab a cup of coffee and tackle those pressing emails/issues first. 

I then write my priorities for the day so that I have them ready for our daily stand up meeting with the team. This is important so that we can share what we’re working on, what we need from each other, and get feedback.

The rest of the day goes by pretty differently. Usually I check in with members of our team to see if I owe them anything or if they need anything from me. A lot of the times my days are pretty packed with calls with awesome women around the country who want to volunteer for our chapters and want to learn more about how to bring Ellevate to their cities.

 Other days I get to be head-down, noise-cancelling-headphones-on and focus on the actual “doing” of work: checking the marketing calendar to make sure we’re hitting our targets in timelines, writing outlines for next projects, checking on our podcast episodes, guests and schedules, and seeing what’s the next big project we’ll focus on.

As far as what you can see in your work, what have been the biggest obstacles to women succeeding in their careers and fields?

From the stories I hear in our community, I’d say the biggest obstacle is believing that hard work is enough to be successful. The skills you need to get a job are not the same as the ones you need to be a leader.

Women tend to put our heads down and working extra hard. And that’s ok, we need to work hard, but the truth is that hard work will just get you up to a certain point. You need to get out there and network, be in the same room as the decision-makers, you need to advocate for yourself and ask for what you want.

Can you share with us one of your career’s AHA moments?

When I was in Business School I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do after I graduated. I had thought I wanted to go back into finance. I spent most of my classes doing finance courses, and I spent most of my free time doing recruiting for investment banking.

 It took me a few forced conversations at networking events to make me realize that I didn’t fit in. The big AHA moment came after a certain phone interview with a small bank in Mexico. We had been through several rounds already and they were ready to bring me down to meet the CEO and talk about an offer. 

I was happy… until the guy on the phone (yes, he was a guy) told me that if they were to give me this job I should know that they would expect me to dedicate the next few years of my life to the company. He was “just wondering” if I had any plans of getting married soon, or having a family.

I was pretty shocked, but it still took me a while to realize how wrong his comment had been. I realized that the sick feeling I felt in my stomach was completely warranted. That even though I didn’t have any plans of having a family just yet, it wasn’t right for them to hint at it as a condition of employment. 

And it was so clear to me, right then and there, that I wasn’t looking for a job. I was looking for a place I felt valued as a person, a place where I could be myself, a place that was more than just about making money. My perspective changed, and it was clear to me that I needed to switch my focus for my future career. 

From then, I dropped my search for a finance job and started exploring other options, things that were aligned with my values and with my view of the world.

What advice would you give other women who may want to follow in your footsteps and pursue a similar career?

I’d say the first thing I’d suggest is to really understand what you care about, what your passion is, and what will make you truly happy. 

And then start talking to people who might be able to give you different perspectives of what they do. It’s important to follow your gut, and be open to opportunities as they come.  

If you could have done one thing differently in your career, what would it be?

I would have embraced uncertainty sooner. I would have stopped thinking I could control everything because the truth is that I can’t, nobody can. And I would have stopped putting things in boxes, particularly when it comes to my role.

Business is fluid and in small companies roles are also fluid. You can be doing something today and something completely different tomorrow, it’s part of the beauty of it. 

If you keep trying to put it into a set mold of what you think a successful person should be doing or should be following it won’t work. And you won’t be happy. It took me a while to throw everyone else’s idea of success out the window, but once I did I found myself being more productive, more creative, more driven, and happier…which in turn translated into being more successful, on my own terms.

Want more info on Maricella? Here’s her official bio from the Ellevate Network site:

Maricella Herrera Avila is the Director of Global Membership at Ellevate. She joined the former 85 Broads team back in 2012, shortly after earning her MBA at Columbia Business School. In her role, Maricella oversees the delivery of current member benefits while paving the road for future opportunities within the organization.

Born in El Salvador and now settled in Manhattan, Maricella earned her undergraduate degree in Finance at the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. It was there that she launched her professional career at Banamex, a Citigroup subsidiary, as part of the corporate real estate banking group, first as a credit analyst and then as a relationship manager for some of the largest residential real estate developers in northern Mexico.

An avid photographer, voracious reader and self-proclaimed people-watcher, Maricella enjoys traveling the world and believes that immersing oneself in another culture is one of the best ways to learn and grow. Among her favorite trips was one she took to Nepal, where she completed a project for a microfinance institution while still in business school.

Thank you so much Maricella!

To Your Success,

The Corporate Sis.