My Passion
My passion for cultural transformation, effective multicultural leadership, and healthy cultural communications comes from my bi-cultural heritage. My experience was a fascinating, and sometimes painful, experience.
My father, Pablo, was one of 27 children from the mountains of Puerto Rico. My mother, Phyllis, was an orphan from the state of Kentucky. I am literally a Puerto Rican Hillbilly!
My mixed cultural heritage has been the impetus behind my cultural work and study. I lived through a significant amount of cultural conflict in our family and every time I can help someone, a group of people, an organization, or a community become culturally healthy and skilled, it is like redemption for me.
So, you can see, my work is more of a calling and mission for me, than a job. I love what I do, and most of all, I love seeing people learn to connect, create and collaborate with one another in spite of their cultural differences. I would love it if you would become part of my story and also create a new one for yourself and others you influence.
My Bio
Ifounded Bilingual America in 1992 and am still the acting CEO. I am the author of The 6 Stages of Cultural Mastery, The 6 Stages of Cultural Sales, The Cultural Transformation Manifesto, and The 12 Hidden Truths to Learning Spanish. My next book is scheduled for release April 20, 2022 and is entitled, To Belong or Not to Belong – Why People Want to Belong, or Not.
I am also the course developer and teacher of the CulturalMastery™, SpanishPower™, LíderesExitosos™, InglésPoderoso™, and Success with Hispanics (under revision) courses.
I am an internationally respected expert in the fields of cultural mastery and transformation, diversity and inclusion, Hispanic culture, and foreign language acquisition. I speak on cultural mastery, cultural transformation, multi-cultural leadership, diversity and inclusion, organizational culture and Latino / non-Latino business relations.
I am a founding member of The Speakers Guild of America, a professional member of the National Speakers Association and a speaker for Leadercast. See below for a client list.
I have undergraduate degrees in theology and communications and also Masters Level training in counseling. I read one book weekly and am a voracious consumer of courses of top experts in interpersonal relationships and business.
My Clients
I am, or have been, a consultant to the brands displayed below. This list is not fully exhaustive as I have more than 25 years of experience in the field of cultural communications. I have also served on the board of the Home Industry Leadership Board sponsored by HomeAdvisor and am a member of the Corporate Advisory Board for the Hispanic Corporate Council of Atlanta.
