Latest / The Lawtino™ / Where You Come From Doesn’t Define You

Transcript

Where You Come From Doesn’t Define You · The Lawtino™

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Latino Podcast, where we amplify the voices of Latino professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders coming together to educate, inspire, and connect across one of the most dynamic binational regions in the world.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Bicultural, premium, powerful.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, Sean Gomez.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, welcome to yet another edition of the Latino Podcast.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: We're here in Washington, D.C.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: at the Hispanic National Bar Association's annual conference.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: We're now uh and we're getting to meet all these amazing, incredible, kind, and impressive people from all over the country.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Our next guest is one of them.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: We're doing the quick kits part of uh the day where we'll talk to uh these lawyers, figure out kind of what where they're from, what they do, how they got involved with the Hispanic National Bar Association, what uh recommendations or wisdom they would give to people about being involved, and then you know, just see how the conference is going and see if you know there's something in your life, you know, that you've learned from that might be a benefit to others.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: This uh podcast, as always, is brought to you by Gomez Trial Attorneys, your sponsor.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we are a national uh consumer rights law firm uh with offices both in the United States and Mexico.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_03: We are binational, bicultural, and best in class.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: So, David Arreguin um is my co-host, originally was a guest on the podcast.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: So who knows, maybe you'll end up being a lawyer at Gomez Trial Attorneys by virtue of your your involvement here today.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_03: So tell us uh who are you?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um, where do you live?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: What kind of lawyer are you?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, first of all, thank you for having me.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Amber Gonzalez, Denver-based, um, and I'm a complex commercial litigator at Hogan Levels Cadwalleter.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty new there, so I'm really excited for this new chapter of my career.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh basically, my practice consists of business disputes, mostly higher stakes litigation, everything from class action defense to breach of contract.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we represent a lot of clients in the food and beverage space and um also getting into some sports law and um entertainment.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And some of my colleagues and I are hosting a panel here at the conference tomorrow on women in sports.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: Super cool.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's a hot space, right?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I think you were telling me there's a lot of money out there that's looking to put money into uh, and we're just listening to some Latina entrepreneurs into um uh women's athletics and and those things, right?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, the what the session that's going on right now is about Latina entrepreneurs, and uh, one of the statistics they mentioned is that women-owned businesses receive less than 3% of venture capital in this country.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Latina-owned businesses are less than 2% of that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um so we're really, really underrepresented in private equity and business and venture capital.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but we're starting to see in the sports space specifically a lot of women um funding that's like coalitions, as opposed to you think of your traditional sports teams owners are usually like one guy, right?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost always a man, usually one guy, sometimes a family, but it's usually led, um, just kind of in this almost monarchy kind of way.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you're seeing a big change in the way that funding is happening in women's sports because it's more collaborative.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: So women are coming together and forming these coalitions to fund women's sports and related kind of supporting industry in a way that's allowing more women to participate and also a little bit adventurous in the way that they're investing.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: And what do you think uh drove that?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know, like, for example, you got soccer, you got WNBA, which is like exploding.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think like any of these sports had anything to do with that as well?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Or oh, absolutely.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're blowing it out of the water.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Denver just got a National Women's Soccer League team, the Denver Summit.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this year they're in Australia.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: Bring a wave's gonna take them out.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: We're from San Diego, we have our own team, the Wave.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this year, uh, the Denver Summits inaugural home opener, they played at Bronco Stadium, and they had over 63,000 in attendance.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was it's really phenomenal.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of excitement happening.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And just yesterday, I was talking to another attendee here at the conference who's based in Seattle, and he was saying what really excites him is not only are the the women athletes across sports super uh excited and ambitious, but they're they're really great at the technical aspects of sports.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so you see people who are longtime sports fans adopting women's sports because they really see them as the incredible athletes that they are, and there's a lot of momentum right now.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, very, very short story.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: I went to a boxing match on Saturday, and the women's fight, everyone was rooting for that one.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was incredible, just the energy they had.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: So women can fight, man.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like, don't mess with women, and they can they can play sports, and you know, we we see NFL referees, like you know, it's it's very good you're doing your work, that work.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_03: I think it'll be uh very uh good for you and your new your new team.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so you're in Denver, correct?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and um are you here we are at the HMBA um conference.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: How did you get involved in HMBA?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: What's your uh history with this group?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I got involved in HMBA as a law student.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: I attended my first conference uh in 2014 when I was a second-year law student.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: I got involved because it was a really close relationship between the HMBA or the incoming president at that time was Denver-based and a former president of the Colorado Hispanic Bar.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was really involved in the University of Colorado's Latino Law Student Association.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And knew lots of the attorneys who would be here.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, we were real a scrappy group.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: We put together five students from CU, uh, found funding from every place we could and stitched it together, shared rooms and expenses, um, and came actually here to DC for our very first conference ever.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: I've been involved ever since, and I'll say this adds a lot of value to my career, not just in terms of you know, meeting new business relationships, but it's invigorating.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's the only place in the world where I'm gonna sit in a room with this many Latino attorneys who have similar experiences to mine and really feel that camaraderie.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: It uplifts me.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_03: How exciting! So I know there's uh some law students like working here, right?
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: That are Yeah, they're interested in the uh, for example, on the podcast.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: I like they're like, well, hopefully one day we can be on the podcast.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: Come on over, like we're ready for you.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you could you could be an example.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: You'd be like, hey, I was you, you know, and here I am, you know.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like we have a couple from the University of Colorado here that I've been.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, good for you.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: And from what I'm seeing, HABA is good at getting new member law students and then retaining them.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Because you're a story.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: My cousin, who's also a lawyer, he's around, he was also a story.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, well, that's good for good for them, you know, good for HMBA.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, for our listeners, you know, who are not HMBA members but might be eligible to be HMBA members, uh, what advice would you give them about joining and getting involved?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many opportunities, and you can be as involved as you want to be.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can be someone who just comes to the conference once a year, or somebody who's involved in planning local events and helping to create community in your city.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a really welcoming space.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the first and foremost.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but really close second is we're fun.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really fun group.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think as far as professional organizations go, Latinos are really the funnest.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, I think I agree with that.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: Javi was out pretty late last night, so I think he agrees.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, old man here Gomez went to bed.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_03: But but people that we met here have been super nice, super kind.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, obviously, I think I agree.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: Groups like this one are tend to have the funnest.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think so.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think so.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's uh we were talking, and that's how we got you on the podcast, right?
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like we have to be.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, you just fucked up, yeah.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: Which is which is nice.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: We're getting that traction, plus we get to get hear great stories.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Fellow dirt biker, which I appreciate.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: Dirt biker and scuba diver.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: So that's pretty cool.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, so tomorrow, your team is gonna be speaking on a panel.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's exciting.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so my colleagues, Mishaq Rhodes and Ashley Kasvery, are speaking with me along with the general counsel of the Denver Summit, the Women's Professional Soccer League.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we'll be speaking at 11 o'clock, and the name of our uh panel is We Play Ball, Women in Sports.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's gonna be super well attended.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: I hope that's that's exciting.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so good for you guys.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: You guys just made a move from one firm to another firm.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_03: Your new firm obviously supports you being here.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so that's exciting.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_03: I understand that the leader of your uh group is a Latina herself, right?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, all three of us who are speaking on the panel made that move together to Hogan Levels, Ked Walleter, and um our fearless leader, Mishach Rhodes, is an equity partner, um, a former college athlete herself.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: She uh played uh college uh basketball at Regis University and was inducted to their Hall of Fame a few years ago.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, very good.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so this is a topic that's like really on point for our team.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing, super cool.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_03: Well, good for you for doing that work, good for you for agreeing to be on our podcast.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so uh what about, you know, a lot of our guests, you know, they share a little something they had to fight through to get to where they are, and we find that provides inspiration and guidance for our listeners.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_03: Did you ever have like something you had to fight through to get to where you are today?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, who amongst us hasn't?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so even just getting to undergrad was a major struggle.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the first person in my family to graduate college to you know attend a four-year university at all.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um was that you?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: It was me.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, conducting.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: I was saying my parent, neither of my parents even finished high school.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up with my grandparents because both of my parents were in prison when I was a little kid.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of shame and stigma around where you come from sometimes.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Whether that's that you come from a family like mine that doesn't have a lot of prestige, that's looked down on a lot in society.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you come from a family of immigrants and your papers, your parents didn't have papers and you feel shame and fear surrounding those things.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important to remember that where you come from is not the sum of who you are.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And also you're not less of a person because of your family background or because of the struggles that you faced.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's more common than you'd think the number of people who grow up in poverty or without lots of different types of privileges who end up achieving really amazing things.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_03: Totally agree.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: I think I think it can be, you say is is not an off-suit, it can be a super fuel, you know, because you've you're tough.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like you're you're a fighter and a scrapper and you've done it yourself your whole life, and here you go again.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for sharing that.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: That takes a lot of vulnerability.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important um for people to who young people who are just starting out to see reflections of themselves in the people that they want that hold positions that they want to eventually achieve themselves.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: And as long as you put on airs that you have to come from a certain type of pedigree, it's intimidating to the generation behind us.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you for sharing that.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: Panelists at HMBA.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yes, now a guest at the podcast.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_03: Room room.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: Motorcycles, scuba diving, traveling the world.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: We learned a little bit about travel before.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: So such a pleasure to get to know you a little better.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for joining us.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, thank you for uh being a uh guest on the podcast.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: So this will be uh oh, if people want to find you, where do they find you?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, you can find me on LinkedIn, uh, it's Amber Gonzalez or on Instagram, Amber Rose with one R.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So Amber Rose fantastic.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: Fantastic, she is too.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you so much for being on the podcast.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_03: This concludes this episode of the Log Tino podcast.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like us, follow us, share us, or jump on someday, just like Amber did.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_03: This signs off.