First of all, I love you.
Not for what you are, but for what you can be.
Please know, this letter is uncomfortable for me.
Ironically, discomfort is where I ultimately find growth.
In my short, 12 years of knowing you, I’ve been critical of you.
Mostly because in my first dates with you, I came in strong.
Naively sharing my Mexican upbringing and essence with you in hopes of acceptance.
That hope quickly changed, however, the more I got to systematically know you.
Constantly sharing my essence with you for the sake of acceptance became exhausting.
I learned acceptance was the wrong thing to hope for.
You taught me how wrong I was for seeking that.
And for that, I'm grateful.
At some point, I lost myself in you, riding the wave of comfort among smoke and mirrors.
I’ve worked with some iconic brands that exposed me to some hard, but fun work.
I’ve traveled across the country.
I’ve drank free beer and had some competitive foosball tournaments with some great human beings.
They too, rode and some, still ride that wave of comfort.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
Comfort feels safe. I get it.
In my journey with you, I've grown professionally.
You’ve opened some really exciting doors for me.
I’ve walked through them all.
I’m relentlessly curious like that.
And even though most doors have granted me professional growth.
Some only had the "sense" of purpose.
None fulfilled it.
None have filled the gap I know is missing in you.
And the truth is...
I know I’m not alone in my feelings.
This brings me back to how my journey with you is no longer about acceptance.
It’s about acknowledgement.
Not the Hispanic Heritage Month, temporary kind.
The every month, forever kind.
Minorities like me working, creating and dreaming in your space are here to stay forever.
We shouldn’t have to “sell-in” our existence to you anymore.
Let alone, hope for acceptance.
That shit is exhausting.
The reason we are so much more than a niche to your conglomerate foundations...
...is because our versatility is of immense value to your collective worth.
We. Can. Do. It. All.
Please, don’t forget that.
Lift up our versatility and cultural differences with you, in Power, not just in talk.
Be 100% confident in our capability to bring forth value, of all kinds.
We are representative of the make-up of our country and our world.
We are the truth.
Dear Advertising Industry,
2020 has been ravishing, painful and revealing to the world.
I know you've felt the impact, hopefully, not just financially.
Despite this.
I am Hopeful.
I can’t help it, I’ve always been.
It is an ingrained immigrant characteristic that ignites optimism.
I’m lucky like that.
I just want to know…
Can I expect you to get our value after 2020?
Will you lift us up in Power after 2020?
The world is watching.