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Webinar: ‘Lead In Life’ – An Interview with Dr. Laura Murillo

Thursday October 28, 2021
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
View Webinar Recording
Laura Murillo

Murray Resources has partnered with our sister company, ResumeSpice, to bring you the following free webinar: ‘Lead in Life’ – Interview with Dr. Laura Murillo

Dr. Laura Murillo is the President and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Under her leadership, the Chamber has set records in membership and revenue, becoming one of the most influential Chambers in the nation.

In this webinar/podcast, we’re going to dive into many of the unique life and professional experiences, powerful lessons, and career advice Dr. Murillo shares in her new, bestselling book ‘Lead in Life’.

Some of the areas we’ll cover:
– Dr. Murillo’s unique career path and rise to CEO.
– How professionals can distinguish themselves and become leaders in their fields.
– What traits Dr. Murillo looks for when hiring.
– Some of Dr. Murillo’s favorite interview questions.
– Advice for those at the early stage of their careers.
– Advice for later stage professionals / career changers

Dr. Laura will also share her unique experiences as the daughter of immigrants, a woman, an executive, a media producer and host – and how they’ve shaped her perspectives and insights as an authority on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

PLUS…your questions taken live during the webinar!

View Full Transcript

Keith Wolf:

Okay, well, let’s get started. I am super excited about today and our guests. I’m Keith Wolf. I’m the managing director of Murray resources. We’re a national recruiting firm based here in Houston. I’m also the CEO of resume spice. We are a national career coaching and resume writing service. So together we’re bringing you this webinar. It’s a webinar. It’s also a podcast and find it in both places. And it’s actually the first webinars, five podcasts under our new name. So we have named this podcast, my one life build a life and career you love, and there’s no better guests to have on for the kickoff of that name than our guests today. If you’ve missed any of our past podcasts, you can go to my one life podcast.com. You can find any past episodes. Jamie roots of the who is formerly the president of the Texans, various career coaches, amazing business folks and, and people in the political world.

Keith Wolf:

So it’s a really, it’s a great roster of guests that we’ve had in a really lucky. And today we have another one Dr. Laura, Maria, she is a use of icon and she is the president and CEO of the Houston Hispanic chamber of commerce. She has led the organization since 2007, under her leadership. The chamber has set membership and revenue records. It’s become one of the most influential chambers in the country. It’s one of the national and regional Hispanic chamber of the year award, the marketer of the year award, multiple times to diversity in business awards from the Houston business journal, she’s a founding executive and producer and host of the chamber radio and television programs on CBS Odyssey, unit Univision cube, 57 national, the cumulative audience of 3.3 million between those shows. She’s also a commentator national media outlets. She has a BA I know this is, this is going on.

Keith Wolf:

We can take a whole podcast, but we’ve got to go through some of this BA and master’s degree and doctorate from the university of Houston, where she served as the executive. And for 15 years there became the youngest director in [inaudible] history. She’s also been bestowed the highest honor, the presence medallion. She, before that she was an executive Memorial Hermann, Texas medical center for seven years. She served on the CEO’s executive committee. She’s been named the 2021 global leader of influence honor eight by the world affairs council. She’s been a top 30 Texas CEO’s she’s received the Alia award, the highest honor bestowed by the Mexican government of a Mexican American. And it goes on and on and on. And Dr. Maria was the first she’s starting to be appointed to the Washington DC board of governors of the federal reserve system, community advisory council.

Keith Wolf:

And I, I love her, her backstory. I’m the youngest of nine children born to Mexican immigrant parents raised in Houston’s east end Magnolia. And she began working in her family’s business, the restaurant at age 10. She’s also the mom of two amazing daughters who are high achievers in their own, right. And somehow she’s managed to write a book. So we’re going to talk about, oh, there it is. There it is, lead a life. So we’re going to talk about that. And we talked about the book, I just super excited to introduce a documentary to our audience and, and go through some of some of your backgrounds. So thank you for being here and we’re excited to have you

Laura Murillo:

Thank you for the invitation and for all that you do, and everyone who’s joining us. Appreciate it. And please visit my website, Dr. [inaudible] Dot com for more info.

Keith Wolf:

Perfect. So let’s I read your book. It’s a fantastic book. You know, even though, you know, we haven’t known each other long, I feel like I know you very well. When you read someone’s book, you shared a lot of really intimate information about your background and your upbringing, and, you know, the book sort of kicks off with a sort of cliffhanger you’re put in a very difficult situation many years ago as a child. I think we, oh, there we go. Okay. Sorry. I thought we lost you for a second. Why don’t we start there? I don’t know if those that scene, if you want to talk about it a little bit, if it was that scene or I’m always interested in what someone’s motivation was you’re somebody who in high school was voted most popular, most likely, likely to succeed. So you weren’t exactly a late bloomer. I mean, you’ve been a high achiever from the get go. So where does that motivation come from?

Laura Murillo:

It comes from my parents. Quite frankly, they immigrated to this country. New Nolan did not speak. The language, had no money to speak of and came here in the hopes that they and their children could live the American dream. And I saw their struggles. I saw their sacrifice. I saw their success and it inspired me from a very young age as I was 10 years old, working in my parents’ restaurant with my brother and sister-in-law and other family members to see how far my parents had come. Despite the fact that they had very little education, hard work was instilled in me by my father, compassion came from my mother. And so I believe I was fortunate to have two parents who instilled some very, very strong seeds of ambition and drive from a very early age. And the belief that in this country, if you work hard and you get educated, that there’s, there are so many opportunities for you. And I took advantage of them from then and continue to do so, and all along the way through people, passion and persistence as my book describes

Keith Wolf:

What was your vision for your career? I mean your career, and you can really say it’s about a lot of super successful people. You look at their career, it’s not as linear as some people might think. I mean, you’ve done a lot of different things. And so growing up, what did, what did you envision? And I imagine you may have even gone farther than you ever expected to, but I don’t want to put words in your mouth. What was your vision for your career? Starting on,

Laura Murillo:

I’ll tell you. I always enjoyed helping people finding solutions to problems, but most of all, helping people, always. The other thing that I enjoyed was watching people like Barbara Walters and other people on television. But what I noticed that there were very few people who looked like me and if they were perhaps they were on Spanish language media. And so I always wanted somehow to be involved with the media so that it could help people. So I could tell the stories and it wasn’t until many, many years later that that part of my career evolved. So I think I’ve been at the right place at the right time. I’ve had a lot of mentors and people who’ve opened doors for me. I’ve always taken care of the job that I have, and I’ve not been worried about the next one. And that’s some of the advice that I’ve given my book in life lessons, which include taking care of the, of the job that you have, so that the next one presents itself to you versus what a lot of people do I find is they’re, they’re so worried about the next job.

Laura Murillo:

They’re not taking care of the one day house. And so I’ve been Boston to Houston is a great city. I’ve been here my whole life. I know a lot of people and I’ve worked very hard from the time I was 10 through all of the different career opportunities that I’ve had, whether it was in education for so many years in health care in business, but it all started at age 10 in a family business, learning customer service, learning, and understanding how to work with people, speaking Spanish, translating into English. And all of those things have made me who I am today.

Keith Wolf:

You talk about mentors and you talked about your mentors in your book. Was that intentional that you sought out mentors or were there folks who, you know, saw potential in you and took you under their wing? Talk about that a little bit, because we get that question a lot because of the value of mentors and how you go about even finding your mentor.

Laura Murillo:

Yeah. Well, first of all, I think something very important. What you don’t want to do is ask someone to be your mentor. Let me begin with that. It needs to be organic. It needs to be someone that you admire appreciate, you see them doing something that perhaps you want to do and you become part of their circle. And then they say, come with me to this event, or let me forward this article to you. And then before you know it, you’re calling them for advice, or they’re calling you saying, you need to do this. I have never been in a situation where it’s will you be my mentor? I’ve had people ask me to be their mentor, but I have found that it is a more organic, natural connection that you might have with someone. Now, having said that, did I seek out particular people that I wanted to be like that I believe that I could learn from? Absolutely. So you need to find ways to be close to those individuals, to be on committees, to volunteer, to have the opportunity, to hear them speak and find value, not only for yourself, but value for them where it’s a reciprocal relationship and not just a one-way transaction.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. And you, and I mean, you, you humbly said that you have been lucky to be in the right place, the right time, but you’ve obviously taken advantage of opportunities that have come your way. And you know, one interesting story in the book is just the way you dress and the way you’re prepared for an opportunity that came about. I’ve heard you talk a little bit about it, but I think the audience might find this story. Interesting.

Laura Murillo:

Yeah. I’d like to call it, be ready, stay ready. And in my case, I worked in the medical center and we were in business suits. And as we were in the hospital, you had to wear stockings and clothes shoes. And it was a very strict dress code. But on Friday it was casual Friday, but I noticed our CEO still came in her professional attire. And as the, one of the youngest people on her executive committee as the only Hispanic is the only person who was not a clinician, a doctor, a hospital administrator. I believe that I needed to stay in full uniform of a suit. And one Friday there was a situation where she needed to go out on the floor and in the hospital and needed to take someone from our executive team. And she looked around and everyone was in their Memorial Hermann, polos and khakis.

Laura Murillo:

I was not, and I was sitting up straight, ready to go. And she said, come with me. And she normally would not have asked me to go with her because I did not have the experience that my colleagues who were superstars had, but I was ready and I took notes and I collected business cards and I knew how to get us there. And I smiled and knew people’s name along the way. And she saw me in a very different role than she had. And I just always like to say people, you’ve got to be ready. You have to anticipate the needs of others. And when that opportunity comes for you to give it to someone else, remember the power that you have and the opportunity that you can provide to others. So it’s be ready, stay ready, but also it’s pass the ball. If you have the ball, be willing to pass it to someone else and give them an opportunity.

Keith Wolf:

So somebody like that, that you might have, you’ve met so many different, incredible people in your career. What I’m always curious, what would be some of the things that the audience might be surprised to hear about some of these leaders? You know, we know they’re, well-educated in many times they, sometimes they come from me and sometimes they don’t. But what are some of the things you’ve met so many different people? What are some of the things that folks might be surprised to hear about some of the leaders you’ve met?

Laura Murillo:

I think they’d be surprised about how much they want to help have. They do want to mentor you how they want to be candid about areas where you can improve. And so we are often intimidated by these people. We are afraid to ask for their help and guidance. But what I have learned is that they make themselves available. They want to see you succeed. They consider your success, their success. And so I do my best to mentor and help and open doors for others because I know what a difference it has made when very powerful people like the Tilman Fertitta makes the time to come to my international book launch. It was there at his hotel, at his private club and he picks up my book and he says, go and get it. And then keep posted on all of his social media. He doesn’t do that every day, but he did that for me because he believed in me, he saw the book and he has written several himself and he knows how hard it is. And I think that when people like that make time for you, it’s a blessing, but it’s also an opportunity for you to remember that you need to do the same for others. And I don’t take it lightly.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. And I love, so I think we lost you for a second, but yeah, in the, in the book, I mean, you talk to the story of persistence, right? I mean, you, you were determined to have him speak and you weren’t going to take no for an answer. It was just not right now. And how many years did it take you to convince him to, to talk?

Laura Murillo:

Yeah, it took about two and a half years because his team said he doesn’t do that. And it was more than just having him come out and speak at the chamber. I think eventually he would have done that. It was more of a relationship with his team, a relationship with the Houston rockets, an opportunity for talking about diversity, talking about procurement opportunities, talking about getting CEOs to be out there and hearing our story on whatever our topics might be. And so it wasn’t just about coming out to speak, but it certainly was the opportunity for him to come and see the caliber of the people that we were engaged with and have him with his own eyes, understand what we, the chamber were trying to do. And that, for me, that was just step one to many that have occurred since then.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. I don’t even know if he used the word networking in the book. I don’t, I don’t, I may miss it. My reading comprehension isn’t the best of the times, but you’re clearly a, a, an amazing networker. Some of them may come natural, but I think what you’ve already kind of mentioned it already. You’re always looking for opportunities for both sides. You’re not trying to win a negotiation. You’re really trying to find an opportunity to understanding what the other side may, may need or want. I think example of that is, you know, the chairman of M and G and how you sort of negotiated for space for the organization without if, unless I missed it, not paying anything out of pocket. So talk about that. And in some of these, the negotiation that either comes naturally or, or is a skill that you’ve picked up

Laura Murillo:

Networking.

Laura Murillo:

Yeah. Well, networking number one, I think I got that from the restaurant because you’re constantly engaged with people. And so I think this, my nature is one, that’s a very social type of nature. Secondly, I was in that environment and I saw my father negotiate and he was a sales person, you know, at heart. So I had that big advantage. And then over time, just continue to develop that and listened to what the other person was trying to do. And an understanding that Amegy wanted to enter this Hispanic market and be front and center and being able to echo what they needed and, and collaborate with the chamber. When we did not have the funds, when we are least had expired where we were. And I only learned about it two months after taking the position and leaving the Texas medical center and Memorial Hermann for a nonprofit organization that was ready to close its stores was a very big, big risk on my part. But as I say in the book, I believed in what the chamber could be. And I had a vision for what it could be, not for what it was. And they were going to be three words that were going to help us get there, people, passion and persistence, and absolutely Amegy bank. And Paul Murphy, we’re the first keys to helping us get closer to where we are today as one of the most influential chambers in the country bar, none Hispanic or not.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. And I love the message in the book as well. You know, talking about what things could be and seeing them for what they can be. I think that applies to a lot of different things, not just an organization, but our role, a position, somebody going into a new role and thinking about how big that role could be and how many people you could impact. Is that something that, you know, where did that come from? And kind of, you know, when you’re looking at the, at the the chamber before you joined, what was your vision for it? I mean, how, how far did you expect to take it?

Laura Murillo:

I like to build things. I like being part of challenging opportunities and I was served on the board of the chamber before I became president and CEO. And so I knew enough to know the potential. There was a lot, I did not know that I discovered later, but all along the way, I believe that there was only one way for this to go. And that was out because in my opinion, I knew enough people in the city to know that they cared about this organization, that they understood that business was important and that whatever challenges might present themselves, I believed I was not alone. And I believe that if I had the right people on the bus, that we would get there and we have, and we’ve grown it and it’s been diverse and it’s been hard and I’ve worked long hours and I’ve cried and I laughed and we’ve celebrated, but it was not easy.

Laura Murillo:

Nothing is easy. And I would not have enjoyed it as much as I enjoy it, if it had been easy. And so the fruit of our success is so much sweeter, so much better because it was hard earned. And people underestimated me because I was a woman. Because at that time I was younger than most of the people who had had that position. We had fired three CEOs in less than four years prior to my coming to the chamber. And here we are, I’ve been at the chamber almost 15 years. That is unheard of, and the best is yet to come in my opinion.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. He touched on a diversity and DIY is such an important part of what you do. And it’s mentioned in the book quite a bit. What are you seeing companies make strides? I mean, you talk about, you know, throwing a, a Mexican American party and having the Hetus. I mean, that’s, that might be what some companies feel as a diversity day, but that’s really, you know that’s not the vision obviously for it and what a company is doing, you know, if they’re really embracing it what are they doing well, what are some companies maybe not doing as well? Sorry, what a little bit right there.

Keith Wolf:

So we lost Dr. Real just for a second. If you have questions while she’s rejoining, just pop them in the chat. I know a lot of people ask questions as you were signing up for the for the talk so she can get back on real quick. Okay. Well, everyone will stare at me until we get back on, which is totally fine by me. I was built for this, your favorite thing about my office and the chat or the thing that you think I need to do with this whiteboard behind me. Okay. All right. Well, we’re going to give, okay. What can companies do to improve the diversity challenges? Thank you, Jeremy. You obviously don’t want to comment on my background. That’s fine.

Laura Murillo:

Can you hear me?

Keith Wolf:

We are back. Okay.

Laura Murillo:

Okay. I can hear you. I can’t see you. The power in my house just completely went out. Don’t know what’s going on, but I can hear you guys and hopefully I’ll get back on a video in a second, but you were talking about some of these challenges as it relates to ordering food that is food or celebrating one day thinking somehow, can you hear me?

Laura Murillo:

And thinking that somehow, okay. That checks the box. Well, that’s really all it is. It’s checking a box it’s window dressing the real way to really embrace diversity. Equity and inclusion is a strategic way of doing that. And it’s not one day a year. It’s looking at your business, your company, your organization, and saying, what is the assessment? How many people are working here? Who’s represented who is not, who has a voice? How can we make things better for all? And diversity is one thing. Clues is another. And so I have worked very closely with a variety of CEOs to help them understand what some of the things they are doing that are making a difference and how some of the things they do, which are well, intention can often be seen as something that is patronizing and they don’t even realize it. So it’s, it’s very rewarding work. And I see more and more corporations understanding the magnitude and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Keith Wolf:

That’s great. That’s great. Yeah. We have a question we’ll kind of, while we’re down there for a second, what can companies do to improve their diversity challenges? So their ability to attract, I don’t know if that’s Jamie, that’s specifically what you’re asking, but to attract different backgrounds to their companies, what do you think companies can do? Because,

Laura Murillo:

Well, they have to want to do it. Number one, and they need to understand that they’ll need to collaborate with partners to help identify individuals. And then once they have them to make them feel included in diverse and giving them a platform to share that experience and their thoughts on how the decision making process processes spent. So there’s a lot of ways to get started, but it does begin at the top. It does begin with the leadership. It cannot be in the middle management conversation and then, oh, let’s form an employee resource group or something like that. And, and do you task one of your minority leaders with this responsibility on top of their other responsibilities, you need to look at putting a budget behind some of these initiatives, bringing in speakers, bringing in someone to again, do an analysis of the gaps within your company and the opportunities.

Laura Murillo:

I’ll give you a quick data point. So according to a report by McKinsey and company, they found that when you have women or minorities on your corporate board, that revenues are likely and performance are likely to increase as a result. So I always like to say to corporate partners and others, that this is not a social justice issue. This is about your bottom line. And this is about revenue. And this is about growing your business. And I don’t believe that in this day and age, you can afford to neglect in Houston, for example, almost 45% of the population. You wouldn’t want to do that. And so you can go further. You can do more, you can earn more because you’re listening to people who come from different experiences and have shared experiences with your consumers.

Keith Wolf:

That’s a great message. This is a great message. And we have the common here that we’re experiencing a windstorm. So power is doubt. Actually, our internet went down a little rosy. It was very

Laura Murillo:

Bizarre. I’ve got my back up against the wall here by the light switch so that I can move out if I have to. But nonetheless, you know, this is live. This is live radio and podcasts and all that business. So we figure it out.

Keith Wolf:

The fact that you’re going to be with a flashlight in the basement just a minute. Thank you for sticking it out. Talking about Houston you’re about as big a proponent for the city as there is. What are some of the things you love about it and what are some of the things that you’re excited about for Houston’s future?

Laura Murillo:

Oh my goodness. Well, first of all, I can’t keep talking without talking about our Houston Astros, what an exciting time and just sports overall for our area. I serve on the bid committee to try to bring the 20, 26 FIFA world cup to Houston, Texas. And that’s very exciting and that will bring billions of dollars hopefully to our city. We’re one of 17 cities that are in the final conversations and 10 of the 17 we’ll get to host matches in their city, not to mention the global spotlight that would be on our great city. So from a sports perspective, I love Houston. I love my university of Houston. I was able to not only work there for almost 15 years, but earn all three of my degrees from U of H I think we have some extraordinary people in this city and only in this city, can you be the daughter of immigrant parents who came across the Rio Grande day with less than two years of education and go on to succeed in the city and serve on the federal reserve board.

Laura Murillo:

And so many other boards and being part of meeting presidents from around the country and write a number one international bestseller Ben in Houston, Texas. And so I am humbled by the many opportunities afforded to me, but most of all, I feel like part of what I want to share is that if you’re going to do it anywhere it can be done in Houston, Texas, and that there are a lot of people that are willing to help open doors so that you can do so that you can succeed. Or as I like to say as the name of my book, that you too can lead in life.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah, no, I love that. And I know that they’re everything from high school kids who join these calls or listen to them later to folks later in their career. Curious, I want to kind of go through the stages of career. So someone who’s in high school and is looking, you know, maybe they want to be in business. Maybe they want to be in politics or media. They, what, what advice would you give somebody, you know, as a, as a mom of two daughters who did exceptionally well when talking to the Ivy leagues and how, what advice would you give to somebody who’s in high school right now?

Laura Murillo:

You know, when I was in high school, I didn’t know if I was going to college. It was one day at a time I was at HIV STI at one of the lowest performing schools in Houston, but there were teachers and counselors who took an interest in me and told me I should go to college. And so I remember when I was 15, I heard a woman who came to our career day and she was Hispanic and she was a mother of four. She grew up in the same neighborhood and she had a doctorate degree. And so when I saw her, I knew in that moment that I had options and that she had done things that I did not know a woman could do. And so if you’re in high school and you aspire to do something and you may not know what that is, I encourage you to read, learn about meat, talk to people who have done what you are interested in doing, and don’t let it overwhelm.

Laura Murillo:

You take one step toward that goal. Often we think we have to do so much and it frightens us. And we, we are almost still in our steps because we think it’s too much. And when you’re in high school and you’re enjoying that experience and you’ve got to figure out if you’re going to college a two year degree training, military service, just know that there are people out there who want to help you, who have already done almost anything you’re thinking about doing. You probably will not be the first. So seek help, seek advice, get guidance, talk about it, write things down and remember one step at a time, take one step.

Keith Wolf:

And what about, what about somebody who’s in the middle of their career? Or, you know, we’ve had people ask us, w what about not approaching? And what about after after 50? You know, and you wanna make a career change or do something different? What, that’s not me by the way. I’m good where I am just to be clear, but for some people who want to make a career change, what advice would you give them? And you’ve had several different careers different organizations. What advice would you give somebody who’s in that situation?

Laura Murillo:

I think we pay a lot of attention to getting a job to the interview, to our resume, to our presentation, how we come to the office, we pay a lot of attention to that. I think where sometimes we fail is how we leave when we leave, when we need to know it’s time to go, whatever those reasons may be. And my biggest advice to those who are already in their career is make sure you go in a professional way. And it’s very easy to say. And sometimes we need to swallow our pride and do it anyway, as a professional courtesy and also know our worth. I talk about that in the book, knowing your worth, if you are unhappy, if you feel you should be earning more, if you feel like no, one’s listening to you and you dread going to work, it’s time to go.

Laura Murillo:

Now what you’re going to do, I don’t know, but you absolutely in your heart of hearts, you know, whether or not going to work or working remotely is fulfilling to you. If it is not, then you need to begin to seek things that are fulfilling and find a way if it is that you want to stay in that career path, what is something new and exciting that you can do that will keep you energized? You know, when I came to the chamber, they had golf tournaments and networking mixers, and all kinds of things like that were in my opinion, not of interest and we’re not going to move the ball down the field. And so instead, you know, I incorporate it with board members and others, things that we believed were much more impactful. And so I like to say that when I go into a role, it’s never the role that I went into.

Laura Murillo:

It’s what I helped make the role become. And so if you are hired to be a salesperson and, and that’s what you’re supposed to do, are there other things that you could do that would be fulfilling and exciting to help make you the best salesperson that you could be? And so we’ve got to ask ourselves those questions. Am I happy? Do I want to do this? Am I making a difference? Do I wake up energized and motivated and passionate about this? And if you’re lucky, then you know, it’s the right fit. And sometimes you’ve been great at it for 10 years and you want to try something else. So don’t be afraid at the end of the day, don’t be afraid, but when you leave, make sure you do it well,

Keith Wolf:

That’s such good advice. That’s such good advice. I think a lot of folks I’m being in this industry, you see people leave jobs all the time. Of course, how they lead you, whether it’s a positive or a negative way can really impact how they’re thought of, you know, from that point on regardless of the job they did while they were there.

Laura Murillo:

And it’s so easy, it’s so easy to say, well, they did this to me and they did that to me. And let’s, let’s go with that. Yes, they did. But what do you win at the end of the day? Because you’ve put in 5, 6, 8, 12 years at this company and it’s washed away by the way, you leave better to, to write your letter and give them praise and thanks for the opportunity and just put that other stuff behind you. It’s just not good to carry that baggage. And that being wronged, just be the bigger person, move on and be grateful that you were employed so long with that company. And at the end of the day, you were able to have a career, have a salary, take care of your family and now onto bigger and better things.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah, that’s great. And you know, you’ve hired a lot of people, right? So I’m, I’m curious, you know, what do you look for when you’re hiring? What are some of the trends you’ve looked for?

Laura Murillo:

I look for attitude, the right attitude. I’ll look for people who are by nature, happy and want to, to be an environment that’s fast paced and that are willing to be developed. And, and part of what I enjoy doing is developing people because I’ve had the great fortune of having bosses. Who’ve helped develop me. And so it’s not easy to find the right people. You have to help them understand where the bar is. And in my case, it’s a very high bar in terms of expectation. And so you’ve got to find the right people who understand that it’s not just glitz and glamor. They see art events and other things, and it’s, what’s behind all of that, right? How do you get there? And I, I encourage people to to do their bedding and interview and make sure that not only are you being interviewed, but you’re interviewing the company to make sure it’s the right fit.

Keith Wolf:

I, you know, I love, I love the happiness, you know, interviewing and hiring happy people. I mean, how do you assess that? How do you, how do you know they smiling a lot? I mean, how do you assess somebody who’s happy and optimistic? I, I agree. It’s important, but how do you find that out?

Laura Murillo:

Well, I think you just try to ask questions and, and listen to how they answer the phone and ask them what they’re passionate about. And if, if they saying nothing, I mean, that’s a pretty good sign that they probably should not be somebody that you want around. So I ask questions that are not necessarily even connected to the job. It’s just like, what brings you happiness? What do you like to do when you’re not working? What are the kinds of environments that you like to be around? So, so just trying to spend more time with them. And I don’t hire anyone that has not been interviewed by the rest of the team, because at the end of the day, they have to work together. And so I let them go off and I say, you know, here you go talk to this person and convince them they should not work here. Right. And at the end of the day, after everything you’ve said, and they still want to work care, then we’ve got a conversation. Yeah,

Keith Wolf:

Yeah, no, I love that. We got a question about going back to diversity inclusion a little bit what can a company company specifically, do they have multiple cultures within that company to make sure that everyone feels, everyone feels included, right? They have multiple cultures within the company. So not you guys talking as much about about the hiring, but making sure there’s one cohesive company and that everyone feels for

Laura Murillo:

Included. Well, I think it begins with talking to them and asking them,

Laura Murillo:

Do you feel that we’re doing enough to make everyone feel included and inclusive? What would, what would bring, what can I do is your boss or your employer? What can the company do to help create more of a conversation around different cultures? I think if you ask people, they’ll tell you, they’ll tell you how they feel, but you have to be open to hearing them out. And they have to feel like they can say without unintended consequences, that in any way, and that it’s not us versus them, that we, and in order for us to work well together, we want to be sensitive to things that are important to you as an employee, like share that with us, help us understand, help us understand what we can do. And oftentimes it’s subtleties these days. It’s still longer. Usually it is intended acts or conversation awards. It’s, it’s subtleties. It’s the not knowing that that might be offensive. So you’ve got to start with conversation and it has to come from the leadership. The top of the organization has to say, we care about this, and we have a large contingency of X, Y, or Z, and we want to make sure you’re happy. What are some of the things that we can do to make sure you feel included? And sometimes it’s easiest. That is just starting a dialogue.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. That’s great advice. That’s great advice. And we were, we got a question around the book and I do want to talk more about that. And somebody who’s interested in publishing their own book and they want advice for making the publishers, but besides the business side of it why, why now, you know, what was sort of the motivation behind writing the book now? I mean, you achieved a lot, but I know you’re going to go on to even more things in your career and you can write it at any time. So why now what’s sort of the motivation behind getting started on this project?

Laura Murillo:

Yeah. I’m not sure I could ride it any time. I’ve thought about this for 10 years and never had the time to do it. And even though I knew my stories for, I wanted to share, I needed, I wanted something that would resonate with a need that I could help fill with solutions and answers and anecdotes. And so with COVID and so many organizations and companies shut down, we were under locked down. My daughters came home from college. My oldest brother died. We were trying to figure out, you know, what we were going to do with the chamber, given this whole virtual environment, when else would, I’ve had time in the evenings and weekend on weekends to pull this all together and get with publishers and produce this book, then went on to become a number one international bestseller in three countries. The timing was right. The conversation around diversity equity and inclusion was very important and it gave a backdrop to all of these stories. So it was the right time, the right place, a board of directors who cheered me on and have really embraced the idea that these stories must be told and that there is light at the end of the tunnel, as it relates to diversity equity and inclusion. And that Houston can be the champion in this space.

Keith Wolf:

So just in terms of your actual process, now, I want to minimize the work that goes into close to 200 page book. I mean, how much time does that take and what was your process for getting out of your head onto paper?

Laura Murillo:

Yeah. So one of the things I did over the 10 years is I would just write chapter titles or sentences that I thought would trigger to help me remember something that may have happened as writing all those down and then realize, oh, that wasn’t such a big deal after all. And then just getting started the hardest part to this, the hardest parts of going and earning my doctorate was usually that first step of saying, I’m going to do this. And it was a very difficult process because one of the things that I learned was it’s a lot easier to ride a lot. It’s a lot harder to condense it and, and get to your point and be succinct and make people laugh and make them cry and stay on point next to my doctor. This is the most challenging thing I have ever done. And I had a great team publishers and editors and others who were there to help me through this process. I’m so glad I did it. And I did not realize this. But I know it now, 95% of all published authors are white in this country.

Laura Murillo:

And the fact that, you know, I’ve had the opportunity to do this and that I have the opportunity to share it with the world. That is certainly very important to understand that we need more people to share their stories and that there is a very big need for people to help others understand those experiences and that our children and, and other children get to say that for women and Hispanics and whoever the other is, is that there are people out there like them that they can emulate that they can say, okay, if that person did it. So can I,

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. Yeah, no, I think that’s, that’s really important. If folks have questions by the way, we have a couple of minutes left here and love to get some more questions. And if you have, we’ve got a couple of minutes, you know, in terms of just time management, I love to ask people about the tools that they use. And, you know, you talk about your to-do lists in your book and, and maybe, maybe that’s it, but you know, how do you prioritize what you need to do? You’ve got so many different things going on. How do you work on the most important thing to, how do you make sure that those are the things that get done?

Laura Murillo:

I’ve gotten a lot better at it. And one of my strategies is saying, no, thank you. And not only saying, no thank you, but saying, I am not available. However, here are two other people that I think you should consider speaking with and sharing that opportunity with others who would absolutely thrive and could provide value and understand that I don’t need to do everything in most cases, I’ve been there. I’ve done that. And is this where I want to spend my time? So I’m much more selective and I’ve got a great team that is constantly helping me keep up with my calendar and we try to take things off that aren’t necessary. And I plug in time to disconnect, to go to a game, to sleep in late to block out time just to read. I am, I’m very organized to be tell person, and I write things down and I plug it in and I, I stick to it. I try to, I do my best. It is a challenge. I’m very busy, but it’s busy doing things that are important to me.

Keith Wolf:

I love that. I mean, I use I use Trello as my project manager of a whole lot of runs my whole life. But you know, I think it’s, it’s, it’s hard to prioritize everything that you have to do and to be to understand you’re not going to get to everything. I’m going to end sort of with this rapid fire questions that you, you may not be prepared for, but I’m going to ask them and if you have answers, great do you listen to podcasts? And if you do sort of what’s, what’s your favorite podcast? Listen to

Laura Murillo:

Brittany.

Keith Wolf:

Okay.

Laura Murillo:

And it thinks she does. And then from my nerdy side, anything, the federal reserve puts out on, on the economy and economic forecast, et cetera.

Keith Wolf:

And what about reading? You mentioned somebody says my favorite too. What about reading? You mentioned that you read quite a bit, so what do you, who are your favorite authors or books or leadership advice? Who do you turn to?

Laura Murillo:

Well, I love all of the self-help. Self-Improvement good to great. The McKinsey way, anyone who’s a forward thinker you know, anything that I think, I don’t know anything about, for example, a water, I’ll read something about water. I’ll, I’ll read books on topics. I’ve known nothing about how the universe works, things like that. I just try to be very eclectic in my selections.

Keith Wolf:

I love it. What about organizations that you admire, whether it’s here in Houston or, or elsewhere, any organization that you you’ve turned to and you love the way they do business?

Laura Murillo:

Well, I must say that anything that is supportive of women and of children and helping them be better. I, I think of the everything from the girl Scouts, my daughters were girl Scouts. I think of leadership programs, anything that will help people be their best and afford them an opportunity to develop are, are certainly important to me. And that’s why part of my role at the chamber, one of the things that the board and I put together was an emerging leaders Institute is a foundation. And again another piece of my job that was not there, that, that I added because it brought joy to me and, and is helping, you know, hundreds of young professionals. And thankfully I have a board of directors who embraced it and realized that it would and could be very helpful to Houston, to these leaders and to corporations. So anything that’s a vehicle to expanding on people’s great skills and just making them better.

Keith Wolf:

And what, what are some of the ways that people can get involved in, in the organizations that you’re involved in? So whether it’s the chamber or bringing the world cup here, or what are some of the ways that people can get involved?

Laura Murillo:

I think you need to find out what brings you joy and passion. Do you love volunteering? Other people, you know, have money to check others. You know, you want to be out there delivering packages or sitting down and, and getting on the phone and providing is, find out what makes you happy. And now that we’re in many ways in a virtual environment, you’re not limited to the city. You can do things at a national level, and people are always looking for volunteers. And if you’re trying to change careers or looking for a new career path, one way to do it is to volunteer. Let’s say you are an accountant, but you really would love to be, I don’t know, a really famous DJ. Well, maybe you do some volunteer work in that space until ultimately someone pays you for it. Or you want to start your own nonprofit, but in the daytime, you are a sales person. Well go and volunteer and figure it out and get out there and start doing it until you can phase completely into a role that you’re passive. Don’t waste any time. Remember that first step is usually the hardest, and there’s a lot of people who want to help you.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah, that’s great. Well, one last question for me, and that is, you’ve been all over the world. You’ve seen a lot of different places. I’m always curious. What are some of your favorite cities or countries that you visited?

Laura Murillo:

I’m going to say Turkey. I traveled there with me or a niece Parker and a delegation of, of business folks. And it was east west. The people were phenomenal. The history, the different cultures, the food so much to learn. It was magnificent. And I love traveling. I love connecting the dots. I remember being in China, in the forbidden city and I was this big when I looked up at the walls. I mean, I felt this big. I thought, my goodness, you know, this world is so large now, how did I get here? How did I get here? And it gives you an appreciation of coming back home, wherever home is. But knowing that now, today in this environment with technology, we are in a global space and that those stores and those opportunities are there for you. And I believe it. And I have seen it personally, and I love my Houston and I appreciate what it has done, but I also know that there’s a big world out there that is just waiting for people like me and you to engage with them and find ways for us to be connected. So, so many more places to see and travel.

Keith Wolf:

That’s fine. Well, I cannot thank you enough. I’m a true pro you know, just hopping around your house, making it happen. I mean,

Laura Murillo:

I don’t know what happened to the power and I’m standing here with my arm, searching arms just to keep the phone up. So I’ll have to do this again, and we’ll be stationary and hopefully we won’t have any issues with power, but thanks for what you’re doing. Thank you for the podcast, the opportunity, join you. And again, please visit my website, Dr. Lauder modio.com. If you’re interested in me coming out and speaking to your company or group, let me know. And my book is lead in life, succeed in the era of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Thank you again. Really appreciate it.

Keith Wolf:

Yeah. Thank you. And thanks everybody for joining. Really appreciate everybody being here. Have a great rest of your day. Thank you, Dr. Maria. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Bye.

 

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