Color Magazine - Edition 26 - Women's History

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Marie diaz’sPursuit of excellencePLuseveryOne cOunts: What yOu need tO KnOW abOut the 2010 cenus

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....AN EVENING OF CONVERSATIONS, CONNECTIONS, FOOD AND MORE!

LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUM

The forum will consist of an evening of conversations and connections with renowned, women of color, executives from various industries. The event will begin with a cocktail reception followed by an intimate dinner and unique panel-style discussion with a moderator. The panel will be broken up into two sessions with interludes of entertainment. Attendees will have the oppurtunity the opportunity to forge relationships and learn from inspirational women of color who have excelled in their industries, reinforcing Color Magazine's mission of promoting professionals of color. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Color Magazine Foundation, which provides financial assistance to professionals of color wishing to pursue graduate level degrees.

For more information or sponsorship opportunities,visit www.colormagazineusa.comto email [email protected]

LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUMLEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUMLEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUMLEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUMLEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUMLEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT FORUM

The forum will consist of an evening of conversations and connections with The forum will consist of an evening of conversations and connections with The forum will consist of an evening of conversations and connections with The forum will consist of an evening of conversations and connections with renowned, women of color, executives from various industries. The event will renowned, women of color, executives from various industries. The event will renowned, women of color, executives from various industries. The event will renowned, women of color, executives from various industries. The event will begin with a cocktail reception followed by an intimate dinner and unique begin with a cocktail reception followed by an intimate dinner and unique begin with a cocktail reception followed by an intimate dinner and unique begin with a cocktail reception followed by an intimate dinner and unique begin with a cocktail reception followed by an intimate dinner and unique panel-style discussion with a moderator. The panel will be broken up into two panel-style discussion with a moderator. The panel will be broken up into two panel-style discussion with a moderator. The panel will be broken up into two panel-style discussion with a moderator. The panel will be broken up into two sessions with interludes of entertainment. Attendees will have the oppurtunity sessions with interludes of entertainment. Attendees will have the oppurtunity sessions with interludes of entertainment. Attendees will have the oppurtunity sessions with interludes of entertainment. Attendees will have the oppurtunity the opportunity to forge relationships and learn from inspirational women the opportunity to forge relationships and learn from inspirational women the opportunity to forge relationships and learn from inspirational women the opportunity to forge relationships and learn from inspirational women the opportunity to forge relationships and learn from inspirational women of color who have excelled in their industries, reinforcing Color Magazine's of color who have excelled in their industries, reinforcing Color Magazine's of color who have excelled in their industries, reinforcing Color Magazine's of color who have excelled in their industries, reinforcing Color Magazine's mission of promoting professionals of color. A portion of the proceeds will mission of promoting professionals of color. A portion of the proceeds will mission of promoting professionals of color. A portion of the proceeds will mission of promoting professionals of color. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Color Magazine Foundation, which provides financial assistance to go to the Color Magazine Foundation, which provides financial assistance to go to the Color Magazine Foundation, which provides financial assistance to go to the Color Magazine Foundation, which provides financial assistance to go to the Color Magazine Foundation, which provides financial assistance to professionals of color wishing to pursue graduate level degrees. professionals of color wishing to pursue graduate level degrees. professionals of color wishing to pursue graduate level degrees. professionals of color wishing to pursue graduate level degrees.

For more information or sponsorship opportunities,For more information or sponsorship opportunities,For more information or sponsorship opportunities,For more information or sponsorship opportunities,visit www.colormagazineusa.comvisit www.colormagazineusa.comvisit www.colormagazineusa.comvisit www.colormagazineusa.comto email [email protected] email [email protected] email [email protected] email [email protected]

WINTWO TICKETS

TO THIS EVENT!

TEXT THE WORDCOLOR TO 89800

SPONSORS

WOC Ad.indd 1 2/22/10 7:30:57 PM

3www.colormagazineusa.com March 2010

ContEnts

March 2010

BusinEss 5 | Empowerment 101 10 | Gatekeeper or Promoter?

BEnChMarks 6 | Big Sisters 8 | Q&A with Joyce Beach-Small

12 FeatureMarie diaz Founder and ceO of Pursuit of excellence

15 Featureeveryone counts: the 2010 census

EntErtainMEnt 19 | Red Tent Author Anita

Diamant 20 | Carrie Rodriguez: Love &

Circumstance

LifEstyLE 21 | Beauty: Innersense & Lush 22 | Rolando Herrera’s Mi Sueno

and the Hispanic Wine Scene

4 MaGaZINE March 2010

Joanne M. choi is a freelance journalist and also contributes to asian Boston. she is a hr analyst at Mass General hospital and her passion is staying up-to-date on people and society.

Con t r i Bu t i nG W r i t E rs

In a city rich in shades here is a color that includes all…

Color Magazine is the premier all-inclusive monthly magazine that highlights and promotes

professionals of color.

4 Copley Place | Suite 120 Boston, MA 02116

(617) 266.6961 [email protected]

PublisherJosefina Bonilla

[email protected]

editorMichael Chin

[email protected]

Chief oPerating offiCer

Lisette [email protected]

advisory CommitteeGreg Almieda

Ferdinand Alvaro, Jr. Daren Bascome Mark Conrad

Kim Dukes-Rivers Beverly Edgehill Yvonne Garcia Digna Gerena

Kimberly Y. Jones Samson Lee

Brenda Mckenzie Juan Carlos Morales Oswald Mondejar

William Moran Nereida Perez

Russel Pergament Carol Sanchez

John Sims Eduardo Tobon Leverett Wing

PublisherColor Media Group, LLC

distribution

GateHouse Media

trond arne undheim is an entrepreneur, speaker and author. he lives between Boston and London, speaks six languages and has a Ph.d. in sociology. he writes frequently on wine and society.

anna Giraldo-Kerr founded shades of success, a career coaching firm, to help professionals of color proactively manage their careers. in 2006, anna’s editorial commentary on immi-gration and education was awarded national recognition at the first national Ethnic Media awards.

FRoM THE PuBLISHER:

WELCoME

bridgit brown is the development director at teen Voices — a magazine created by and for teen girls from Boston and distributed all over the world. she is a contributor to Color Magazine, the Bay state Banner and WGBh’s Basic Black.

sittinG at My desK, listening to the sounds of my two boys laughing and playing, I am reminded of the things women have to balance and the things yet left undone. I started the year

contemplating Color Magazine’s accomplishments and now my thoughts take hold of what is still to come. It is not enough to merely think of ways to change and better your life; the actual process of taking one step towards your goal is essential. Stephanie Lovell of Boston Medical Center once said, “The mere act of doing something creates change.” I use that phrase often. We find inspiration in others and those close to us.

My boys came home from school the other day and asked me if they were Puerto Rican. “Of Course you are,” I answered. They too, are marked by the challenges of a perception marred by others. Change happens when you take a step forward with the uncertainty and courage that we leverage our lives and look forward to a better future. As I think of my boys and my life, our mission has never been clearer: this year we plan to change percep-tions with renewed vigor and commitment.

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, Marie Diaz has become an inspiration to many, and I find comfort in knowing there are others like me, like her, who have created their own paths as the old one did not fit our needs.Josefina

beverly edgehill is the President and CEo of the Partnership inc., the premier talent management service for professionals of color in new England. Previously, Beverly was the Vice President organizational Ef-fectiveness at fidelity investemnts in Boston and is a sought after speaker on women and leadership.


the WOrd empowerment belongs to an exclusive club of nouns that career-minded professionals want to be associated with. Other words in the club are leadership and success. Leadership can be taught and developed. Success is a function of perception and perseverance. But empowerment seems to have an elusive meaning that begs further exploration.

A recent search in Amazon.com under books that have the word empowerment in their titles yielded 2,563 items; a keyword search resulted in approximately 99,000 books. Empowerment sells because we all want to be and feel empowered. But do we really understand what empowerment is after all?

the Meaning of empowerment

“Empowerment to me means being given the artistic freedom in your work to take full ownership in making things happen,” said Karina Arnaez, Boston Chapter President of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. Her comments capture the essence of the formal definition of empowerment: according to the Merriam-

Webster dictionary, the verb, empower means to give power to. This description assumes the involvement of two parties, one who lacks power and another indi-vidual who has it and is willing to share it. In this case, the person is allowed the “freedom” to take innovative action and be accountable for her work. This is an example of professional empowerment.

Others disagree with the notion of

giving or sharing power. Activist Gloria Steinem illustrated this perspective best, “Power can be taken but not given. The process of claiming it is empowerment itself.” In this scenario, empowerment is squarely placed on the individual who lacks it. Empowerment happens when she experiences taking ownership, or power, for herself without waiting for others to grant it. The civil rights movement of the 60’s is a great example of this type of empowerment.

sources of empowermentGiven the contrasting ways to interpret empowerment, per-

haps we need to look at the sources of empowerment to gain a better understanding of its meaning. During our research, we identified three sources that enable empowerment: self (internal); others (external); and each other (relational).

Self-empowerment is what Ms. Steinem’s comments advo-cate: The ability to give oneself the power, or permission, to be the decision maker of your own destiny. This process requires self-awareness and courage to make decisions accordingly. Boston-based career coach, Terry Del Percio agrees, “To me, empowerment comes from inside yourself; when you have faith and push ahead in spite of your fears.”

Empowerment through others is a one-way approach to allow those perceived in less powerful positions inside the power circle. For this dynamic to work effectively, the parties involved need to share mutual trust and respect. They also need to be clear about the expectations and demands for each role. Mentoring and coaching relationships exemplify this type of empowerment.

Empowering each other is a third way to claim power. This is a two-way, relationship-based process that requires ability to engage and the willingness to show vulnerability in front of others. In this scenario, both parties uplift and affirm each other’s need to feel empowered. By doing so, each person facilitates self-empowerment. For this third source of empowerment to take place, it has to occur in a supportive, non-judgmental environment where participants feel validated and appreciated. Support and affinity groups offer the most optimal examples of this category.

I consider self-empowerment the key to reaching all other forms. Preparing to claim your power, however, could be a daunting experience. Remember that no one can give you what you do not think you have or deserve. So, if you do not feel worthy of power, you will always be looking for validation from others to get it.

That may be the greatest revelation about attempting to define empowerment: We are always looking to be em-powered by others. And we often forget that we have the ability to empower others and, most importantly, to empower ourselves.

empowerment 101By AnnA GirAldo-Kerr

BusinEss

l | To read more of Anna’s perspectives on empowerment, success and leadership, visit: www.shadesofsuccess.net.

Gloria Steinem in

1972


Keneisha MurPhy is exactly what her Little Sister needed, and she is exactly what the Big Sister mentoring organization hopes to find more of.

The Big Sister Association is the oldest and largest mentoring organization in Greater Boston exclusively serving girls. It offers both one-on-one and group mentoring programs, and in 2009, served more than 2,700 girls ages 7-15 in 69

communities in Eastern Massachusetts.For Murphy, who was a Little Sister herself once, being a Big Sister to Milan is a way for her to

give back to her community.

“I get a great feeling from helping someone who doesn’t have what they are hoping for in their life,” said Murphy, 33, who has been matched with 13-year-old Milan for three years. “I was looking for a way to give back to my com-munity and I thought of Big Sister. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Murphy, who works as support staff at Har-vard, said she was a Little Sister for about a year when she was 10 or 11, “a long time ago,” and the program didn’t incorporate the numbers of hours Big and Little Sisters should spend together, as it does now. For that reason Murphy doesn’t recall a lot from that time, she does remember, “it was great to hangout with someone that was not part of my family.”

“I see some similarities in how she is and how I used to be,” Murphy said. “It’s good to have someone who can give that child a nudge, encour-age them to open up and learn how to speak out about what’s important to her.

“Her mom wanted her to have a Big Sister. She’s a middle child and she needed more atten-tion to do the things she was interested in. It takes her a while to warm up to strangers, but I see a big difference. She’s making new friends. It’s coming along.”

She and Milan get together at least once a month, often going to the community events that are on the Big Sister calendar. Otherwise they will go to the mall or the movies. Murphy also often attends family events.

Women who volunteer as Big Sisters go through a screening and training process and are asked to make a commitment of one year. Like Murphy, most are in their 20s or early 30s and single. The organization, which is an affiliate of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, has more than 2,100 women volunteering for its programs but only 27 percent are women of color. Big Sister is seeking ways to bring more women of color into its programs.

“Eighty-four percent of the girls we serve are girls of color,” said Chief Operating Officer Mia Roberts. “There is a need for more women of color to share their rich heritage and experience to help girls develop.”

For Murphy, being a part of Big Sister is a long-term commitment she is happy to make.

“Things are so different for kids now,” she said. “They are exposed to so many negative things that can get them sidetracked. Bullying in school? Geez, it wasn’t like that when I was in school. It’s important they have positives too. That’s why it’s so important to stay involved in a child’s life.”

l | To volunteer for the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, women must be at least 20 years old to participate in the Community-Based Mentoring program and at least 18 years old to participate in our School-Based and Group Mentoring programs. For more information and to apply, visit www.bigsister.org or call 617-236-8060.

Milan with her Big Sister Keneisha

Murphy at the Annual Big Sister

Appreciation Dinner

big sistersWomen’s History in the Making

By Michelle McKenzie

BEnChMarks

www.psgstaffi ng.com

For more informationor to schedule

an appointment call:Greg Almieda, Managing Director

PSG Diversity Consulting89 Devonshire StreetBoston, MA 02109Tel: 617.250.1009Fax: 617.878.0009

Diversity Consulting ServicesTraining Consulting Recruiting

PSG Diversity Consulting

Services focuses on helping our customers

develop, market, and execute

effective diversity recruitment and

retention programs.

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Dana-FarberCareers.com

For current opportunities available, visit us online:

Together we’re making Cancer/HIV/AIDS history.

Dana-Farber is Proud to Celebrate Women’s History Month.At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we are determined to conquer cancer, HIV/AIDS and related diseases while providing compassionate care and medical services to all who need them. Dedicated to Discovery...Committed to Care. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCESIMMONS

THE PREmIER LEADERSHIP EvENT FOR wOmEN

FOR 31 yEARS the Conference has set the standard for women’s professional events, presenting an extraordinary blend of thought, leadership, motivation, and networking. Our 2010 program continues the tradition with a power-packed day of information and inspiration.

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Cm: As the Director of Diversity, what are your core responsibilities?Jb: I am responsible for building awareness and implementing diversity strategies and programs in the workplace, workforce and community. I oversee all internal and external communica-tion for all corporate related diversity initiatives and events, and serve as the central point of communication for our community outreach.

Cm: What is the corporate diversity policy at BCBSMA? Jb: At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, we are com-mitted to supporting diversity and inclusion throughout the organization. We value the contributions and perspectives of all associates, customers and members of the community. At BCBSMA, when we speak of diversity, we include diversity of thought, opinion, religion, background, experience and sexual orientation, as well as the physical aspects of race, gender, age, and disability.

Cm: How would BCBSMA handle a charge of discrimination in employment?Jb: We strongly adhere to our Equal Employment Opportunity policies within our organization. We have highly dedicated and experienced professionals working within our Human Resource department that carefully review any violation that may arise. The infrastructure and process that we follow, provides for diligent, sensitive and timely review of any charge of discrimi-nation.

Cm: Can you please outline the diversity strategy at BCBSMA? Jb: Our strategy for diversity and inclusion is clearly aligned with the company’s strategic goals, and pertain to our work-force, workplace and community. When implementing our goals, we use a systemic process to apply the initiatives that are

driven off of the diversity strategy. Within this process, we engage senior leadership to drive the diversity strategy through all levels of leadership within the company. We embody a holistic approach that allows everyone to have ownership. We firmly believe that this is paramount for sustainability.

Cm: Can you describe some of your diversity initiatives?Jb: Our Talent Management Strategy is our long-term initiative that focuses on workforce - from recruiting to retirement. This initiative also includes: pipeline and workforce development, educational opportunities, advancement, and succession planning. I am responsible for incorporating a diversity lens into every aspect of the Talent Management Strategy. We have created metrics that track our progress and successes, as they relate to these areas.

We continue to build relationships, and partner with local organizations for professional development and networking pur-poses. Our affiliation with the Association for Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), and the Network for South Asian Professionals (NetSAP) for example, provide our associates with varying degrees of support and networking opportunities.

At BCBSMA, we have aligned our community outreach with our diversity strategy. For example, we were one of the original signers of the Commonwealth Compact. We provide our bench-mark information and actively participate in the steering council, which exemplifies our commitment to helping make Massachu-setts a more welcoming place for people of color.

critical diversity strategies:Q & A with Joyce Beach-Small

By BridGit Brown

JOyce beach-sMaLL is the Director of Diversity with Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts (BCBSMA). Founded in 1937, the company contin-ues to grow significantly, and is consistently recognized for providing excel-lent service and coverage nationwide. Headquartered in Boston, BCBSMA provides healthcare insurance to approximately three million members.

Joyce began working at BCBSMA nearly fourteen years ago. Since that time, she has held a variety of leadership positions within various business areas, including: Operations, Sales/IT, and Human Resources.

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MGH Values and Supports Working WomenThe Massachusetts General Hospital’s commitment to working women and working mothers is reflected in:

Hospital Subsidized Childcare at two MGH–owned facilities.

The MGH Office for Women’s Careers, dedicated to the promotion of women into leadership and faculty positions and the retention of women faculty.

Job Sharing and Flexible Scheduling, allowing employees in many roles to better balance both their work and personal commitments.

On-Site Fitness Center, Hair Salon and Banking at our Main Campus.

The Mothers’ Corner, a private, comfortable space where new mothers can express their milk while at work.

To learn more about the exceptional array of work/life benefits that placed MGH on Working Mother Magazine’s “100 Best Companies” for working mothers for three consecutive years, please visit us at: http://www.massgeneral.org/careers/worklifebenefits.aspx

Join us. MGH offers career opportunities in all areas of patient care, research,

administration and operations. To see a complete list of our current opportunities,

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By embracing diverse skills, perspectives and ideas, we choose to lead: EOE.

workexcellencelife

At Eastern Bank, we foster an inclusive environment by valuing different backgrounds, cultures, and ways of thinking. Greater diversity enhances our ability to be innovative, serve a broader group of customers, and as a result, our team members thrive.

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When it cOMes tO di-versity there is good news and not so good news. The good news is that, by now, the business

case for diversity has been well established and accepted by most Fortune 500 companies as an important factor in sustaining organizational growth and profitability. The not so good news is that many organizations overlook how their com-mitment to diversity is perceived by the public. For example, organizational stewards play an essential, but often overlooked, role in how an organization is viewed by the public. As a stew-ard, they sit at the “gate” of the organization and can be either gatekeepers, who keep people at bay, or promoters who let people in. Gatekeepers tend to create an image of the organization as being committed to diversity but only on certain terms – which often translates into their terms. They set barriers in place that make it difficult for diverse suppliers or talent to connect with individuals on the inside of the organization. On the other hand, promoters create an image of the organization as being a willing partner with the community. They create opportunities for diverse resources to pitch their products and services to determine where there might be a match.

Gatekeepers Gatekeepers wield a lot of power, often more

than they should. I recall a situation where I was leading a major fundraising initiative and bumped into the CEO of an organization that I knew supported diversity. I described the goals for the initiative and the benefit to his organization for sponsoring the initiative. He immediately saw the value and agreed to get on board. He asked that I contact his assistant and have her begin the paperwork for sponsorship. When I reached out to her, she was very impatient and I felt like she was interrogating me. Her tone was that she had to approve the sponsorship request. She was abrupt and concluded our call by saying she would check in with the CEO to see if he was interested and would get back to me. She hadn’t listened to me explain that he was on board and that my contact-ing her was to initiate paperwork, not for her make an approval. I left the conversation feeling shut out and wondered how committed the CEO was to the initiative. Could it have been that he was saying that he would think about my request or had he really approved it? My encounter with his assistant

was not positive. She was clearly standing at the gate of the organization and I felt she was trying to keep me out!

PromotersLike gatekeepers, promoters also wield power

but they choose to use it to benefit their organiza-tion versus their own benefit. When I was leading a cross-industry initiative that involved CEOs from multiple organizations I came across a true promoter. Because of my role, I needed to have direct contact and interface with the CEOs of the organizations involved. In one instance the CEO invited me in to meet with him about an organiza-tional issue. When his human resources executive found out about our meeting together she was very supportive. In fact, she immediately began to brain-storm how my meeting with the CEO could further help advance the organizations diversity agenda. She didn’t try to keep me out; instead she became a promoter and a collaborator. She saw how my involvement could advance the bigger picture for the organization.

I believe the gatekeeper in the fist story didn’t understand the implications of her actions. I believe she didn’t have the same picture for diversity that the CEO had, and perhaps from her point of view, she was simply doing her job to protect him from the hundreds of sponsorship requests he receives. The problem however was that her motive and

what I experienced were two different things. The irony is that the sponsorship request was processed, but it left me, perhaps unfairly, wondering about whether the organization was fully committed to diversity or if they were paying it lip service.

On the other hand, the promoter seemed to understand the value of external partners. She will-ingly promoted my involvement with her organiza-tion. In turn, I experienced congruency between the message from the CEO about his commitment to diversity and her actions.

As a CEO or an executive responsible for diversity, it is important to know who is manag-ing your image and that of your commitment to diversity. A gatekeeper can have a negative impact – a promoter will reinforce a positive image of your commitment. The gatekeeper is often a per-son who doesn’t understand the overall objective of your diversity strategy and how it benefits all employees. You can help to minimize the negative effects of a gatekeeper by repeating your values and by describing the behaviors you expect all employees to display towards external resources. Conversely, you can maximize the positive effects of a promoter by recognizing how their behavior is the first personal impression of your organization and of yourself outsiders get, and that they can and should provide opportunities to partner with external resources and consequently work towards achieving the organizations overall diversity goals.

Gatekeeper or PromoterWho is Managing Your Image?

By Beverly edGehill

BusinEss

energized by

DiversityAt National Grid, one of the world’s largest investor-owned utilities, we understand the power of inclusion and diversity in our workforce. We value an individual’s skills, special talents and multicultural experiences – qualities necessary to develop and deliver clean energy products and services. We provide services to more than7 million customers, managing their energy needs while maintaining our commitment to preserve the environment. Learn more about us by visiting our website at www.nationalgridus.com.

6280DIV.indd 1 9/17/09 11:30:06 AM

The road to success doesn’t have to include a daily battle with traffic. Get to know Rockland Trust.Rockland Trust is a full-service, commercial bank serving Cape Cod, the SouthCoast and MetroWest. Our corporate offices are conveniently located off Route 3 in Hanover, just 25 minutes from Boston.

Our inclusion in the “Boston Globe’s Top 100 Companies in Massachusetts” speaks to our strength, stability and success.

We are actively recruiting for:

w Credit Analyst w Commercial Lenderw Mortgage Originator w Financial Analyst w Customer Service Representative

For more information, including a listing of benefits, visit www.RocklandTrust.com.

At Rockland Trust you’ll find a respectful and inclusive environment where everyone is given the chance to succeed. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

SM

For over 75 years, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. has been the leader in creating nutritious juices and food products for the entire family. Most of our success is due to the diversity among our 2,000 employees worldwide. At Ocean Spray, we strive to create an inclusive culture in which individual perspectives are valued and differences leveraged for greater opportunities in today’s multicultural society.

To apply, visit www.oceanspray.jobs

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. believes diversity makes good business sense. We take pride in being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.


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Marie

Diaz



md: It really did because I didn’t have a lot of money to start my business. It made me look at things from the standpoint of, how do we figure this out? I don’t want to hear what we can’t do. I want to hear how can we get it done. I think that had such an impact on me, and it still does today.

Cm: Was there ever a point where you doubted that starting this business was a good idea?md: Yes. My mother died the same year I started my business. And she was my biggest inspiration. Every time I came to her she always came back

lll

PriOr tO startinG her huMan resOurces ManaGeMent cOMPany, Pursuit of Excellence, Marie Diaz came home from one of her monthly, three-week-long business trips to find herself locked out of her home. When her housekeeper – who was taking care of Diaz’s three boys – opened the door, her furniture was rearranged and her boys were nowhere to be found. Frustrated and exhausted, she demanded an explana-tion. Turns out, her housekeeper had changed the locks as a precaution after misplacing the keys, and the boys had been rearranging the house and

were cooking all day to surprise their mother. “I felt about two inches tall,” recalled Diaz. The next day she quit her job.

Taking the skills and knowledge she gained from working for a Fortune 500 company, she de-cided she could do it for herself. She was right – after sixteen years as CEO, she has received dozens of awards and recognitions for her business and community service, including the National Anne Maria Arias Award given to the top ten Latina entrepreneurs in the country.

lll

“i don’t look at the accomplishments as validation; i look at them as stepping-stones.”

lll


Cm: When you were a kid did you have an entrepreneurial streak? Did you have a lemonade stand or something?md: Did I try and do something at a young age to make money? (laughs) Not really, I was more involved in the community. My mother was very big into helping people. Never really on the entrepreneur side, although I did start working at an early age. I was 14 going on 15.

Cm: What was your first job?md: You’re going to laugh. I worked as a waitress at Burger King.

CM: Did you learn anything that translates to your work today?md: Oh absolutely. One of the reasons why I had to work was I came from a very poor background, and I wanted to help contribute to my family. I grew up catholic and so I went to catholic schools – you’re kind of in your own little world there. When I got the job it makes you meet all these different kinds of people with different kinds of thoughts, ways they dress – I mean we wore uniforms all the time. So it was a big eye-opener and I definitely was very curious growing up. My mom always used to say that I would make a good attorney because I’m always asking questions. That is something that I still use today, but now it helps me clarify what people are saying and their thought process.

Cm: You came from a poor background, yet your mother still felt strongly about giving back. md: She believed there is always someone out there who has it harder, which was one of things that she taught me. My real father had died at a young age, when I was three. And my stepfather was an alcoholic… with that, he was very physi-cally abusive to my mother and I guess you can imagine growing up in that environment. Even with all of that, she was always about, it’s not

what happens to you, it’s how you handle it. This is where all these positive sayings that ring in my head come from. If you do something negative, negative is going to come back and that gets you nowhere. So you might as well handle it positively. Her biggest saying that has always stuck in my head – not to cry. She would say, and this is the catholic side coming out, whatever you have, if it’s worse than having nails put through your hands and feet and ran through a street with people who you thought were your friends making fun of you, then you can cry. But if it’s not worse, then let’s figure it out and get something positive from it.

Well, when you tell a kid that, where do you go with that? (laughs)

Well you always help people no matter who they might be. She would always invite people over for dinner and go to kitchens where they served people who were less fortunate than us. We always had to be OK with that, because she always brought us kids along with her.

Cm: The lesson of never crying, did it help you when you were starting your business?

with something. You know how you just want to lean on someone at times? She was definitely that to me.

When I had quit my job that I had prior to starting Pursuit of Excellence, one of the reasons why I was quitting was because I was in Australia speaking, and there was a women who was also speaking. She was quitting a 1.2-million-dollar-a-year position. It was amazing to me and the media was talking about it, and they asked her if it was because her kids needed her. She said, it wasn’t that her kids needed her, because they had obvi-ously been growing without her, it was that she needed her kids, and her life back. At what point in your life do you decide that your net worth has nothing to do with your self worth?

It really made me look at who I was, and the simple fact that I grew up poor – and I always say it was rich in love – but she taught me how to get over those kinds of things. You know how you don’t realize what you have until its taken away from you? Me striving to do what I had to do was all about net worth. When I started working, my first husband passed away, my first son was three years old, and it took me quite a bit of time to get over that. I share with individuals that I don’t know if I would be who I am today without some of the tragedies that happened in my life, my drive and determination would probably be a little bit different. I don’t think I would have the drive that the only person you can count on is you to make something happen – create the opportunities if they aren’t there for you. Be creative because that truly is what the world is made on.

Cm: And that translated to you starting your own business? md: Exactly. I wanted my life back. I wanted my family. I thought to myself, that if I can do what I did working for a fortune 500 company and growing so much in eight years. And travelling around and speaking – I could do it for myself.


The things that kept playing in my head were the sayings from my mother.

Cm: Sixteen years later your business is doing quite well and you have received numerous recognitions. Does that validate your decision from a professional standpoint?md: I don’t look at the accomplishments as vali-dation; I look at them as stepping-stones. There’s so much more that I want to do. One of the things that is important to me, because it is our motto, is to give back to our community.

I also think that if I can do it, anyone can do


it. I really had no major training. I just had the mindset, what I don’t know, I will know. There’s so many resources out there and people. My mother always used to say I had an old soul, be-cause I always talked to older people. They had the best stories, they looked at things differently than people my age. I think that’s how I feel, as I look at some of my accomplishments, and can give back to the community.

Cm: If you got to start over, start your business again, what would you do differently?md: Oh my gosh, if I knew everything I learned from about seven years and on. Survival in busi-ness is what you are learning the first one to seven years. Then you look back and see all of these things you’ve tried, and you fine-tune them. We’ve been very blessed in that we have doubled in size in the past four years and we will double again this year, as of today. I think that I would implement everything I started seven years later from the start. I think we would have been a lot more successful early on.

Cm: Could you have avoided some of that if someone had helped you? What advice would you give to someone starting a business? md: Absolutely. The entrepreneur’s strengths are that they are very creative and they are very ego driven. They have to be, in some sense, as the presidents or CEOs going out and selling their products or services. But I think that also starting out you feel like you have to know everything, and you feel like you can’t tell anyone your problems and you don’t seek help. I think what I learned after that seven-year period is that its OK to ask for help. It’s OK not to know everything, and it’s even OK to share that with people! I think that was the biggest lesson I ever had to learn, and that was when I really started growing. You keep

making mistakes and you realize that other people have made those mistakes too.

Cm: Tell me a little bit about the book you’re writing. md: It’s called, If You Knew You Couldn’t Fail, What Would You Do? It’s written in twelve chapters, you go through each chapter and read about methodologies and different people and successes, but it also talks a lot about how I use these 12 steps. If you use these 12 steps, in a year you’ll start seeing some results. Whether it’s entrepreneurship, starting your own business, your personal life or your professional life, if you

use these steps you will gain a higher degree of success.

My motto is that success doesn’t come to you, you have to go get it – but one thing I emphasize is that success is different for everyone. To some it’s owning a business, to some it’s having a successful marriage, to some it’s having five kids. But at the end of the day, what does it mean to you and how are you going to get to it? You have to have the mindset: If I knew I couldn’t fail how would I do it? If you don’t have that mindset you start putting limitations on yourself. It’s about taking those self-limitations away and creating the plan to get you to a higher degree of success.


The 2010

Is Here

EveryoneCounts:Census


LiKe a cheerLeader, every page of the U.S. census 2010 website exhorts the american masses, “It’s in our hands.” In one sense, “it” is the questionnaire residents nationwide receive from the bureau to be filled out and returned so that

the resulting data yields an accurate – and useful – portrait of the United States. “It” can also be seen as the future: Participate in the census, and you and your community, city, or state may benefit politically and financially. a lot of power and money is at stake.

By JAcK curtis

n

ever-chanGinG deMO-GraPhics

The problem is that southern and western states are growing faster than the northeastern states. Secretary Galvin says Massachusetts is making “as determined an effort as possible” to get a thorough and accurate count. He acknowledges that the state’s extraordinarily diverse population makes the upcoming count very challeng-ing.

A wide swatch of people and organiza-tions across Massachusetts – politicians, community organizers, social workers, public agencies and nonprofit organiza-tions – worry about losing their share of the pie. But state leaders maintain that Massachusetts population numbers are still strong, fueled by immigrants, the state’s fastest growing segment, which now comprises 14 percent of the state’s inhabitants.

In July 2008, Bureau estimates put

Boston’s population at 620,000, up from 589,000 in 2000. Based on the Bureau’s July 2008 estimates, there are more than 8.36 million people living in New York City, a four percent increase over the 2000 Census.

According to UMass Amherst soci-ologist C.N. Le, the 2000 Census results showed that the U.S. population was becoming increasingly non-white, with Latino and Asian numbers growing the most. “I expect to see a continuation of that trend with the 2010 Census,” Le said. The Census Bureau predicts that by 2046, whites will no longer be a majority... Massachusetts is following this general pattern.”

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a hercuLean tasK

The decennial census count gets underway in March, when the Census Bureau mails or delivers questionnaires to households across the country with the

The U.S. Constitution mandates a count every 10 years of every person living in the United States – all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens and non-citizens alike, regardless of legal status, one by one. The population statistics are used to allocate seats in the U.S. House of Representatives – a process based on the population of every state – and to draw boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts. The data affect the yearly distribution of $400 billion in federal funds to state and local governments for infrastructure, re-development, new hospitals and schools, and social services. Twenty major federal programs rely, in part, on census data to apportion funds to states and communities. The Brookings Institute estimates that every person counted is worth $1,700 per year. In addition, thousands of companies, civic agencies and non-profit organizations use this valuable population information when making corporate and public policy decisions.

The 2000 Census was the first time in 30 years that Massachusetts did not lose a representative. But this time around, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin, the state’s liaison with the bureau for the 2010 Census, has said, “I don’t know if I can pull a rabbit out of the hat again.” New York State lost two seats in 2000, going from 31 to 29 representatives. Using Census Bureau estimates released December 2009, Election Data Services, a political consulting company that analyzes census and political data, projects that both Massachusetts and New York State will lose single seats once 2010 tallies are in.


requirement that residents fill and return them in postage-paid envelopes by April 1, which is National Census Day. The forms do not ask about immigration status; answers are strictly con-fidential; and the bureau cannot share the information with any other agencies. Between April and July, Census workers will follow up with visits to households that did not respond. By law, the U.S. Census Bureau delivers population counts for apportionment to President Obama by December 2010. In March 2011, the Bureau delivers, by law, redistricting data to the states.

The U.S. population now tops 305 million, an increase of more than 20 million since 2000. Charting a population increasingly more diverse and mobile, the Bureau inevitably undercounts thousands of people. Several key factors affect the undercounting of communities: hard-to-count groups, such as low income neighborhoods, immigrants and people living in rental units, dormitories or nontraditional households; language barriers; misperceptions that census information can be shared with other agencies; unfamiliarity with how the census affects political representation and federal funding; privacy concerns; and distrust of government.

]Census 2010 faces another major obstacle: Some Latino leaders are urging undocumented immigrants to boycott the census as a way to protest the lack of immigration reform. Other immigrant leaders oppose this tactic because undercounting can drain dollars, political representation, and influence from Latino communities.

“While I understand their frustration,” said Giovana Negretti, founding director of Oiste?, a Boston-based Latino civic education and advocacy organization, “the boycott is the wrong strategy. The census is one of the best tools Latinos have to improve their quality of life.”

“If Massachusetts’s immigrants are undercounted, there might be less funding for social services that directly benefit their communities,” Le said. “Further, they won’t receive the kind of attention their growing numbers warrant.”

n

buiLdinG the trust, raisinG the nuMbers

The Bureau has ramped up its push to encourage participa-tion in this year’s census. At $340 million (vs. $100- $150 million for the 2000 Census, the first with an ad budget), the Bureau’s advertising strategy represents the most extensive and diverse outreach campaign in U.S. history. With print and TV ads appearing in 28 languages, much of the campaign tar-gets various ethnic audiences. Since one in five U.S. residents speaks a language other than English at home, the Census Bureau is distributing instruction guides and sample forms in dozens of languages in places such as community centers, barbershops and supermarkets, and offering online informa-tion and over-the-phone help in 59 languages.

Another big difference from a decade ago is that the cam-paign is running in media outlets that did not exist in 2000, including Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube, plus a blog by census director Robert Groves.

Making it easier for residents to respond, the Bureau will use a streamlined questionnaire – the shortest in history, tout-ing it as “10 questions in 10 minutes.” For the first time, the Census will distribute census forms in English and Spanish to about 13.5 million households in neighborhoods with high concentrations of Spanish-speaking residents. The Bureau has also dropped its “long form,” which since 1930 collected socioeconomic and housing data on every sixth household.

In addition, the Bureau has partnered with more than 150,000 businesses, nonprofits and community groups na-tionwide to build trust in its message that filling out the form is important, safe, and easy. With its Census in the Schools program, the Bureau has also involved K–12 teachers and students.

To help communities prepare for the 2010 Census, the bu-reau compiled a database that ranks the hardest-to-count areas. According to the Boston-based Metropolitan Area Planning Council, among the 651 tracts that make up one percent of the hardest-to-count tracks, 19 are located in Massachusetts.

Counting the hard-to-countIn recent years, the state and Boston have tallied hard-

to-count residents living in dormitories, prisons, and nursing homes. In 2008, the Boston Redevelopment Authority worked with the Census Bureau to identify every site in the city that should receive a 2010 Census form. With the student popula-tion in Massachusetts approaching 350,000 – “our cash crop,” as Secretary Galvin calls them, the state worked closely with colleges and universities to inform their students, especially out-of-staters, that the census is a count of who is actually here on Census Day.

More determined than ever, Massachusetts and Boston are devoting ample funds and energy to reach immigrants and other hard-to-count groups. In the 2000 Census, 69 percent of Massachusetts residents returned the census form, slightly above the national rate of 67 percent, but lower than large states such as California, Colorado, and Virginia. In cities with large immigrant populations, such as Lawrence and Boston, the response was lower. Federal officials hope to increase Boston’s return rate from 57 percent in 2000 to 70 percent in 2010.

Municipalities throughout the state have formed Complete Count Committees – public

officials, community leaders, volunteers – to maximize participation in their communities. “The bureau is doing the right thing,” Negretti said, “partnering with communities and working at the grass roots level to foster trust. People respond to people they know, from the agencies in their neighborhood to the church down the street. At their doors, they will believe people they know.”

New York State, expecting a count of more than 19.5 mil-lion, is also going all out.

Proclaiming “You are New York. Make yourself count,” the state’s census website has posters, brochures, and post cards for downloading. New York awarded $2 million to nonprofit groups and local governments for community and media out-reach. With the nation’s highest percentage of hard-to-count residents, New York City is orchestrating several aggressive outreach programs, including an information campaign target-ing public housing residents.

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a by-the-nuMbers natiOnaL POrtrait

“I am confident that the 2010 Census will result in robust, useful data for academics like myself,” Professor Le said, “as well as for companies, organizations, and the general public. I hope that people will see the value of the census and that participation is an important civic duty for all Americans.”

The census counts – so that we have a true portrait of our country and vivid pictures of our communities. As Mayor Menino says in his online video, “Your task is simple – fill it out and send it back. But the implications are enormous. Let’s use this opportunity to show that everyone counts.”

Find Out Moregenerall For census basics and data, especially for busi-ness and industry www.census.gov

l For 2010 basics, updates, photos, video and materials download 2010.census.gov

Census in schools: it’s about usl For teachers, teens, and kids: lesson plans, fact sheets, activities, posters, even color-ing pages. www.census.gov/schools

Follow Census 2010 at l www.youtube.com/user/uscensusbureau l twitter.com/uscen-susbureau l www.facebook.com/uscensusbureau l www.flickr.com/pho-tos/uscensusbureau

The Census Projectl A broad range of or-ganizations focused on making Census 2010 fair and accurate www.thecensus-project.org

Getting Involvedl Quick links to materi-als: flyers, guides, post-ers, brochures 2010.census.gov/partners/materials

l Information of form-ing and joining com-plete count committees 2010.census.gov/partners

Massachusetts l Why participate, lan-guage assistance, FAQs www.sec.state.ma.us/census l Want to volunteer? Have ideas on spread-ing the word? l 1-800-462-8683 l [email protected] l Boston Regional Cen-sus Center 2010 l 617-223-3700 l [email protected]/boston

New Yorkl Basics, why par-ticipate, language as-sistance www.nyc.gov/html/census2010

l new York Regional Census Center 2010 212-356-3250 l [email protected]

l FAQs and resources census2010.ny.gov


since her debut nOveL, the 1997 New York Times Best Seller The Red Tent, Anita Diamant has written three more acclaimed books: Good Harbor, The Last Days of Dogtown and Day After Night, two of which take place in Massachusetts. When I found out she also lives in Massachusetts, I wondered if I would ever get to

meet her. Not a week later, I did, at the Women’s Lunch Place Annual Spaghetti Dinner at the Taj Boston, where she was the guest speaker. We connected after and she answered some of my questions.

ism, essays, books) I find it easier to write. Even though I’ve published four novels, I still feel like a novice in this form. But I do love the challenge, which keeps drawing me to fiction.

JC: You are a prolific author, sought-after speaker, wife, mother and active in your community. How do you balance all aspects of your life?ad: Balance comes and goes, and some days (weeks/months) are better than others. So there have been times I’ve managed to keep the various de-mands on my time and energy in good alignment. Other times, I’ve had to let go of some aspect or other to take care of the most pressing needs. I think it is helpful [to] think of this as a dynamic, fluid practice rather than an attribute you ever achieve. In other words, don’t be too hard on yourself when things get out of whack; you can recalibrate another day.

JC: What advice do you have for aspiring writers who want to write professionally but can’t leave their day jobs?ad: First: read, read, read. Read deeply and broadly. It will feed your writing. It is an on-going part of your writing life.

Then, if you can manage the time, get into a writing class or a writing group, so there will be other people (not your family) expecting you to give them pages. Deadlines, even if it’s only for a few paragraphs at a time, are a great discipline.

JC: Two of your books are set in Cape Ann, Mass. and two in Israel. Why did you choose these two locations?ad: I didn’t really plan this. Ideas for books sort of “find” me and it just so happened that these four books landed in two locales. Cape Ann is a place I go to relax and stare at the sea – a very creative and generative setting for me.

JC: What are you working on now?ad: Too early to reveal just yet, but I am pretty sure it will be a novel.

Good harborThe restorative effects

of a beautiful beach and warm friendship

complement each other in this ode to the older

woman who is confront-ing her past, her present

and what she wants out of life. Through the lives of main characters,

Kathleen and Joyce, Diamant shows us how intertwined, mistakes,

forgiveness and re-demption truly are.

the Last days of dogtown

In The Last Days of Dogtown, Diamant uses

the secret longings of the women in her book

to demonstrate the freedoms lacked by the women of yonder days.

Her characters – all on the fringe of early 19th century society – forge ahead, though they are mocked and

discounted because of socio-economic status, skin color and beliefs.

day after nightThe plight of Jews dur-

ing the holocaust is well known, but what

happened to those who were left to mourn their

families and carry on with their memories? From an unclaimed

photograph, Diamant imagines the lives of sur-vivors who go to Israel to build a new life on a kib-butz (communal farm). These survivors dream of new lives and try to forget their old ones.

anita diamantBy Joanne M. Choi

JC: Many of your fans were introduced to you 12 years ago via The Red Tent. Did you ever imagine the book would have the impact it did? ad: I could never have guessed at the success of The Red Tent or its impact. I hoped the book would find its audience and I believed that there were readers eager to explore the untold stories of women in the ancient past. However, I know that many titles die quiet deaths without being read. I am deeply grate-ful to women’s book groups, which are responsible for the word-of-mouth support that made it a best-seller.

JC: What message did you want

your readers to come away with after reading about Dinah in The Red Tent?ad: My primary goal as a novelist is to provide readers with a good story, a page-turner. Of course, my beliefs and values are certainly present in every-thing I write. If there is a “message” it is simply that women’s lives are filled with dignity, meaning, passion and intelligence.

JC: You write both fiction and non-fiction. Which do you enjoy more?ad: I enjoy writing both. Because I have so much more experience with non-fiction in various forms (journal-

EntErtainMEnt


FOr a LOnG tiMe nOW, Carrie Rodriguez has ended her

live shows with her rendi-tion of the soulful Spanish ballad “La Puñalada Trapera.” Hauntingly beautiful, the song isn’t the upbeat kind of tune most singers want to send their fans off into the night with, and its story of a dying lover accusing the one who stabbed her in the heart, isn’t exactly uplifting either.

But it’s the perfect song for Rodriguez because it represents two of the keys to her love of music: family and raw emotional honesty.

“My great-aunt (Mexican bolero balladeer Eva Garza) recorded the song back in the 1950s and hearing that song and listening to the emotion she put into it was a huge influence on me wanting to become a singer,” Rodriguez said. “My father is a singer, too, and he was always trying to get me to listen to music that was just a little difficult or just a little beyond me so I’d grow to understand and appreciate it. He gave me a Leonard Cohen record when I was just nine years old. What nine year old listens to Leonard Cohen? I couldn’t stand it then, but as I grew older and learned more about music, and the emotions in music, he became one of my favorite artists.”

Emotion and honesty soon became what Rodri-guez looked for in every song she sings, those she writes and those from other artists that she cov-ers. On her new CD, Love & Circumstances, (set to be released April 13), she pays tribute to her roots by

recoding her great-aunts song, as well as a ballad written by her father, David, called “When I Heard Gypsy Davy Sing.” She surrounded them with uniquely intense covers of songs by Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Merle Haggard and Townes Van Zandt, among others. She even did what many sing-ers have found impossible: she took a country stan-dard like Hank Williams Sr.’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and made it her own.

“People ask me all the time about the intensity of the music I sing and why I don’t just throw a simple pop song into the mix,” Rodriguez said with a laugh. “There’s a place for pop, but it’s not with me. I want to find the raw power in songs and explore

the emotions that inspire them and that they inspire in the people listening to them. That doesn’t mean I’m an angry or intense person all the time. These songs are like the blues to me. Singing them and listening to them makes me feel better. That’s the journey I try to take the listener through.”

The musical journey is important to Rodriguez, sometimes quite literally. To decide the order of the songs on Love & Circumstance, she drove around with her producer (Lee Townsend) listening to the songs on the car stereo for hours. “So much music today is all about the single song. People buy singles for their iPods and listen to their music with the shuffle button on so they never know what’s going to play next. I think

that’s a shame,” she said. “Think of your favorite album. One of the things you love about it, whether you realize it or not, is the way one song flows into another. It’s all part of the journey that the album takes you on. So it was a big deal for us to decide the order of things. You can find your favorite songs on it, but I really think the way to listen to (Love & Circumstances) is from the first song through to the last. That’s the complete journey.”

carrie rodriguez Love & Circumstance

By John BlAcK

l | Carrie Rodriguez will have a release party for Love & Circumstances on April 13 at Joe’s Pub in new York City.

EntErtainMEnt


LushLush began in

England in 1994, and the first u.S. store opened in 2002 in San Francisco. Lush has a multi-ethnic workforce that works for competitive wages and all north American products are made from their Canadian factory to minimize the carbon footprint. I like support-ing a company that tries to be a good citizen, uses minimal packaging and supports charitable causes – especially when their products live up to the hype.

The Henna Fluff Eaze is a wonderful jasmine elixir, which reminded me of a sensuous flower garden and left my hair soft. Between the Flying Fox Shower Gel and the Karma Body Soap, I pre-ferred the soap. It was

easy to get a good lather and do a fast cleansing, plus it had a wonderful patchouli fragrance that filled my bathroom.

I always feel like men get neglected in the beauty realm so I re-cruited some of my guy friends as testers. Tester #1 tried the Cosmetics Lad, T’eo Deodorant, and the Ambrosia Shav-ing Cream. His favorite was the Ambrosia Shav-ing Cream, because, as he put it, “it was a great shave.” Tester #2 en-joyed using the Daddy-o Shampoo because of its “refreshing smell and unique color.” He also added that the Chai Shower Gel did not dry out his skin, unlike other soaps.

JoAnne M. choi

a beautiful WorldThese Earth-friendly Products will Rock Your World, Gently

innersenseWhen I first came across the

Innersense organic Beauty line I was taken aback by the simple, brown-hued packaging. Let’s face it, right now there is a substantial amount of organic product on the market in fancy packaging, which can be insanely overpriced. So when I saw the simple, organic look of Innersense, well, it was a breathe of

fresh air. They are not your average

“green” product. The philosophy behind the brand is more spiritual and reflective on the earth than it is about market share. It’s about being one with your inner identity and listening to your body.

The hair products offer yummy smelling shampoos, conditioners and styling products that you will

fall in love with. They leave your hair feeling super soft and manageable. The skin products are developed with organic oils and butters and all products are animal-friendly. (Even the ingredients they use from different manufactures are animal friendly.) My favorite was the Blissful Body Butter, at only $25 you can use it generously. To top it off, a portion of Innersense profits are donated to

environmental causes and charities. Talk about good Karma.

rosAnnA ortiz s inel

BEauty

Visit www.lush.com

to purchase products or

find a retailer.

Visit www.innersensebeauty.com to

purchase products or find a retailer.


rOLandO herrera used to make a salary that could barely cover his monthly car payments and a bed for the night. He moved to the United States at age 15

and held a night job all through high school as a dishwasher at the Napa Valley restaurant Auberge du Soleil, dreaming he would one day be earning $10 an hour. At 45, his 12-year old wine label, Mi Sueno, produces 6,000 cases of wine a year and sells in sixteen U.S. States, Japan and China. He consults for Red Stitch, a high-end Napa Cabernet. Rolando still dreams. But these days he dreams of building his own winery in Napa Valley. Color spoke with him on what it takes to become a winemaker.

“Working hard is part of my nature,” Rolando said, speaking of his days as a dishwasher. But he always thought he was meant to do other things and recalling his ambition, said “the square footage is too small in a restaurant.” After his junior year in high school, “I asked one of my cousins to give me a job, but he just laughed.” Rolando managed to find work helping to build a stonewall at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. The win-ery’s owner, Warren Winiarski, liked his work ethic. After the wall was completed, Winiarski kept Herrera employed through the harvest doing odd jobs. However, the teenager still had school and raced home every day to work from 3pm to 11pm, saving a few late hours for homework. Rolando remembers stepping into the wine cellar one day when it dawned on him, “The smell of oak barrels and wine hit me. The lighting, the casks. Every-thing. All this mystery, the questions. I have found

becoming Winemaker rolando herreraBy TronDe arne UnDheiM

the hispanic Wine sceneWInE ConSuMPTIon AMonG LATInoS HAS InCREASED TREMEnDouSLY. “FIFTEEn YEARS AGo AT A WEDDInG THEY WouLD SERVE TEQuILA AnD BEER, noW THERE IS WInE AT EVERY EVEnT,” HERRARA SAID. WHILE An

EARLIER ATTEMPT To START A HISPAnIC VInTnER’S ALLIAnCE FAILED, MAnY InDIVIDuAL VEnTuRES DID noT.

ALEx SoTELo: alexsotelocellars.com l CEJA VInEYARDS: www.cejavineyards.com l FRIAS FAMILY: www.friasfamilyvineyard.com l GuSTAVo THRACE: www.gustavothrace.com l MI SuEno

WInERY: www.misuenowinery.com l REnTERIA WInES: www.renteriawines.com l RIoS WInE CoMPAnY: www.rioswine.com l THE RoBLEDo FAMILY: www.robledofamilywinery.com l MARITA’S VInEYARD: www.maritasvineyard.com

my home. I know what I want to do the rest of my life.”

The first few years he was just cleaning. Three years later Rolando became Stags Leap’s Cellar Master. From Stag’s Leap he moved on to the much smaller Chateau Potelle

Winery, followed by Vine Cliff Winery and now as a winemaker. In 2001 he joined famed Paul Hobbs Consulting as Director of wine making. With much self-doubt, he then bought a few tons of Chardonnay grape and experimented. “When I started, being a Hispanic winemaker was ex-tremely rare. My friends thought I was crazy.” But soon, friends, wine shops and restaurants all

thought the wine I was making was French wine, and unanimously declared, “You need to bottle this stuff yourself.” The logistics and permits took time, but the result was 200 cases of Chardonnay that were sold out in an instant.

Rolando’s biggest challenge is work/life bal-ance. “While it is great to have your own busi-ness, you have to give up a lot and need support. I have great support from my wife. She was the first person who said that I some day would have my own label. I have six kids, from three to 11 years old. I want to spend more time as a father, I want to buy a piece of property and have a winery in the country.”

His label, Mi Sueno, refers to “what we share, what this country is built upon.”

“No matter what you do in life, find something you love,” Rolando said, “and since dreams are free: if you are going to dream, dream big”.

LifEstyLE

trond’s PicksMi sueno el Llano red Wine napa valley (2007, $40, 89/100)

This powerhouse of a napa wine, a Syrah/Cab blend with 14.5% alcohol, feels almost alive. The floral and vanilla bouquet with a strong tannic structure gives way to jammy notes of blackberry that might make wine critic Robert Parker blush like a teenager. The lingering aftertaste emanates from grapes with quality time in French oak. Despite the complexity, peppery warmth and chocolate makes it imminently drinkable. Yet, graphite and gasoline undertow scares away the Merlot crowd.

Medalla real cab chile (2007, $18, 87/100)

This intense, ruby red Maipo Valley effort has a strongly vanilla flavored nose with tannins that make you dry on the mouth, fullness and body, yet with elegantly inserted fruit layers giving you a Bordeaux feel for a penny. Cedar and chocolate undertones and silky texture complete the picture of a full oak experience with some finesse. I might have had this one a few years too early, but who has the cellar space, anyway?

silver Palm cabernet chile (2006, $15, 89/100)

Camouflaged citrus on the nose gives way to a strong blackcurrant, vanilla, Merlot-like smoothness and medium aftertaste making it a perfect complement to Mexican food, kisses, cheap American milk chocolate and suchlike. Hints of vanilla and a cinnamon and pepper aftertaste add some seriousness that might lend itself to a steak or some serious type of meat if you are so inclined.

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Color Magazine - Edition 26 - Women's History