Career Arc Stories, A Conversation with Erika Vazquez

Erika Vazquez and I go way back. We met while working at Macy’s Inc., where our professional career began. We used to smile and wave to each other in the hallway every time we saw each other. Those interactions led to conversations in the copy room. That led us to developing an internal, grassroots mentoring circle for women at the company. That evolved into a bond and close friendship for well over 16 years now.

What I admire most about Erika is her tenacity, constant quest to be better at whatever she’s doing and her commitment to pay it forward by mentoring other women. It was a joy to interview her for this series.

Did you find your career or did it find you?

My career totally found me. It’s been a wonderful journey, but certainly not without challenges and missteps. When I think about my career it was always rooted in hard work, resilience, and collaboration. Those attributes enabled leadership to see something inside me and for doors to open.

My career has taken so many different paths, but my journey was organic along the way. I’ve gone from Product Development to Merchandising, to Inventory Planning and Allocation…now I work in Supply Chain.  I have not had a linear trajectory at all, but each experience was a steppingstone for the next opportunity.

How did your personal experience or upbringing influence your professional career?

For me specifically, I’m Cuban and Puerto Rican. I do think culturally, we’re people pleasers. We want everyone to be happy. It was through maturity and experience that enabled be to label this behavior. Every set back I experienced, I would say to myself, “why I am getting passed up for opportunities?” I learned that it was because I wasn’t asking for them or raising my hand to be included. As far as my upbringing, I wasn’t asking because I wasn’t raised to ask. I was taught, you get what you get through hard work and effort. I was raised to be really grateful for everything that I had, but not to ask for more.  There was always something inside of me that wanted more.

As I got older and I met my husband, that changed me professionally. I was the type who never minded working late. I was a single woman living in NYC so time wasn’t scarce; I had plenty of it. All of a sudden, I had to figure out how to make my personal life work with my professional career. When I became a mother, it amplified it even more. Becoming a mother changed how I worked. It was about working smarter, not harder, because I wanted to be out the door by 5 o’clock in order to be home with my children. To have dinner with them. To give them their bath.

More and more, I’m excited that our world is changing. Our culture is changing. Maybe because we’ve been working from home for almost a year now, and this is my current experience/lens, but there’s a shift, a disruption in this whole idea of work/life balance.  Work and life are intertwined. I remember people saying all the time, bring your professional self to work. Now it’s, bring your authentic self to work. I think it’s important to note that your personal life will have an impact on your career, on your work, on your job.

What stood out for me in what you shared is the cultural learning. That saying, “you get what you get”. Not asking for the things that you want. Can you recall a time you asked for something in your career and what created the urge to finally do it?

There isn’t one example that stands out for me. Asking for what you want is a muscle that you need to flex. Now I’m constantly saying, “I need this! I want that! Why don’t I have that?” It becomes easier with practice. Like anything else.

I can reverse it and tell you about a time when I didn’t ask. When I returned from maternity leave, I wanted to work from home on Fridays and I didn’t ask. I remember thinking, why didn’t I ask? Sure enough, a couple of months later, another woman returning from maternity leave said to me “hey I asked to work from home on Fridays and they said yes”. There are plenty of those stories in my journey where I thought to myself, “she knew to ask and I didn’t. why didn’t I ask?” These examples built up momentum for me to realize that I have a voice and it’s important that I use my voice.

What advice would you give to your younger self? 

My advice would be, you have everything you need to make a good decision and trust your instincts, trust your gut. It’s not going to lead you wrong. I say this as a person who has taken opportunities for all the wrong reasons, knowing they were the wrong reasons.

I left Macy’s early in my career. It’s funny because at the time I was leaving, Macy’s was offering me several compelling opportunities, but all I could see was the compensation package that was offered to me by another company. Macy’s was my first job after college, so I was making no money. Even a $10K increase is a huge percentage increase and would have been life changing at the time.

I had negotiated a pretty competitive offer and I was excited about the compensation. But my gut was telling me “this is wrong, do not take this opportunity”. I didn’t listen. Sure enough, six months later I found myself at a third company.

Everything worked out for me. But if I could go back I would say to myself, wait this isn’t everything. The money will come if you’re good at what you do, if you have the passion, and build the right relationships. You don’t have to be in such a rush to get to a certain number of zeros in your paycheck. There are so many other intangibles that make for a really great experience and for building a career.

I left behind a company that was willing to develop me, invest in me. I had mentors. I had a network. It was a huge company. I’m fortunate this occurred early in my career because I evaluate opportunities more holistically and thoughtfully now.  I ensure the company, position, team align with my core values, and factor in compensation vs. making that the only deciding criteria.  I make decisions with intention.

My go to mantra and inspiration,

“If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb

Your personal brand in 10 words or less. 

Doing things from a place of authenticity, love and connection.

More About Erika Vazquez

Erika Vazquez is the AVP of Retail and eCommerce Supply Chain at L’Oreal USA. Her experience and expertise spans across supply chain, planning, allocation, merchandising and product development. Working for global brands such as Michael Kors, J Crew, Madewell, Coach and Macy’s Inc.