Written by Roberto Rodriguez ’27
There’s something about loading onto a bus with a group of students you’ve never met,
heading somewhere unfamiliar, that strips away a lot of pretenses. By the time we pulled up to
LAist in Pasadena, I was already in a different headspace than I usually carry into a professional
setting.
LAist is a nonprofit public media organization, and walking in I had a surface level
understanding of what that meant. I left with something much richer.
Alejandra Santamaria, President and CEO and an LMU alumna from the class of 1994,
opened the morning with remarks I wasn’t expecting. She didn’t give us a polished keynote. She
told us the truth about how she got to becoming a CEO. She started as an intern at Univision, persistent and
undeterred, and built a career over decades that eventually led her to lead one of LA’s most
respected public media organizations. What struck me wasn’t her résumé. It was the honesty
about what her climb actually looked like, and the message underneath it all: keep showing up,
even when the door is slow to open.
After some group presentations, I found myself in a one on one conversation with Sandra
Vazquez, Vice President of Finance and Strategy. I didn’t plan it. It just happened the way good
conversations do. We connected quickly. Sandra is a fellow Economics major who also spent
time in banking before transitioning through Sony, Warner Bros., and Disney as a Senior
Financial Analyst before landing at LAist. I told her about my time at JPMorgan Chase, about
applying to roles there and hitting walls, about trying to figure out how a background in banking
and procurement translates to industries like media or nonprofits. She listened. And then she said
something I’ve been thinking about ever since: “don’t let one closed door discourage you. Find
another leader within the organization. Keep going back. The door you’re looking for will open.”
I also want to give a genuine shoutout to Erin Mercer, Vice President of People and
Operations, who was warm and engaged throughout the morning. When I followed up with her
by email after the trek, she responded with something that honestly caught me off guard. She told
me that an unconventional background in Economics, banking, and procurement isn’t a liability
in People and Culture. It’s a strength. She offered to be a resource as I continue figuring out my
direction. That kind of generosity from a senior leader at an organization you’ve just met is not
something you take for granted.
Our second stop was Step Up, a mentorship nonprofit in the Arts District dedicated to
helping girls and those who identify with girlhood define their destination and get there. Before
the trek I had heard the name but didn’t know much about the organization. Seeing it in-person
made the mission real in a way that a website never could. The work they do for young women
across the country is inspiring and I left with a deeper appreciation for what
community driven programming can accomplish.
The last stop of the day was Universal Music Group in Santa Monica, and I have to be
transparent about something. I’m a drummer. I’ve been performing with my family’s Latin band,
Los Radiantes de Rodriguez, for most of my life. So, walking into a building where the music
industry actually operates was not a neutral experience for me. I wasn’t just a student on a career
trek in that moment. I was someone who grew up in the rehearsal rooms and late-night gigs that
feed into a world like this one.
We heard from a panel of LMU alumni including Troy Womack-Henderson ’24, a
Business Analyst at UMPG who graduated just two years ago. Hearing her talk about the
transition from LMU to one of the world’s largest music companies, honestly and without the
polish of someone who has told the story a hundred times, was exactly what I needed at the end
of a long day.
Career treks can feel like field trips. You show up, you listen, you shake some hands, and
you go home. This one didn’t feel like that. It felt like a series of real conversations with people
who had figured something out and were genuinely willing to share it.
The thing I keep coming back to is this: every person we heard from had taken a path that
didn’t go in a straight line. Industry changes, pivots, unconventional combinations of
experience. And not one of them framed that as a disadvantage. They framed it as the thing that
made them good at what they do.
I’m still figuring out my own path. But I left that day feeling less like I was behind and
more like I was exactly where I’m supposed to be.
To Ronan Carey and Marcy Hess and all the staff at LMU Career and Professional Development, thank
you for creating a program that takes first-gen and transfer students seriously. You built
something that matters.
