Breaking Barriers: Diana Zalaquett‎‏'s Global Journey from UN to Tech Enablement

(upbeat music) - Good morning, Diana. How are you? - I am doing great, super excited to be here and to connect with you today. - I'm super happy to be hosting you to be chatting with you. It's been a while. I know you gloved, tortured the world, done crazy beautiful things. So for everybody listening, I would like to welcome Diana Zalaket. Go to market enablement and change management, project manager, a HubSpot. Let's just start with, what does that mean? - Oh my goodness. You know, as a project manager, and especially in change management, I help prepare, support, and equip our sales and CS teams to be their best selves, honestly. Like how can I make their lives easier, making their time really worthwhile when they're on the floor or talking to their customers? And that might be implementing a huge behavioral change or that might look like enabling inbound at Boston as when I've been to this wonderful event. So I jump on different types of projects like those. - Oh wow, okay, 'cause that, okay, that clarifies it to me. And just for everybody listening, Diana, you have an incredibly diverse background as a person and obviously within your career. So going from like UN program officer, which we're gonna jump into shortly to tech industry leader. So talk to me about your journey, working on a line man, an aligned mind man, moving into tech enablement. How did it, what happened that led you to go from diffusing sort of international conflict to diffusing tech challenges? - Yeah, for sure, I love this question. - Wow. - It does sound like a big leap, but when I think about it at the core, both roles have a lot to do with solving complex problems and ultimately bringing people together. So when I worked on the land mind band at the UN, I focused on creating alignment across countries that had very different perspectives, right? So in tech enablement, it's not too different. I'm also aligning cross functional teams to make sure we roll out strategies that solve real business challenges, whether that's coordinating international efforts for the mind band to launching a new product that inbound. I think they both are connected in that you still need to be able to communicate clearly. You still need to be able to create buy-in, managing change, I think is universal. So to me, it's like just shifted from geopolitical landscape to a business ecosystem. But when I think about it more deeply, I grew up in Lima, Peru, although I was born in Bolivia. My parents are Chilean and Lebanese. So I vividly remember moving to Peru during the time one, fear was a constant, there was terrorism happening at the time. And I'll never forget the thing that my brother was kidnapped. And living through that really shaped my understanding of security, but also of having privilege, living in a country that was going through terrorism, but also being able to attend an American English speaking school. When I moved to the US while I wasn't escaping what countries like Venezuela are facing now, I was escaping a feeling of truly feeling safe and a crushing weight of a country's financial instability. So I was reflecting on my career path and I ultimately chose international affairs and political science as my first career jump, thinking that this one day would give me enough power to be at the UN and make treaties and convince state parties to make Latin America safe. When I left my family behind in Peru, I was haunted by this feeling of guilt. Like I was abandoning them during a crisis while I sought out my future in the US. So I still carried this story of fear with me, hoping that leaving would somehow let me leave that fear behind. But now that I'm in the tech space and not at the UN, I still have this constant nudge to represent Latina, Latina woman and do whatever it takes to make space for other Latina's who may have experienced something similar like leaving your family behind. It's beautiful that you say that 'cause I moved around a lot as well and searched for that safety and at first when you have the opportunity to move out into a safer environment, at least for me it was like I left with a grudge. 'Cause like why, and no, and how come? And then now over the years, I don't know if it's my CPTSG for them coming down a bit, but I'm like, you wait a minute, I can actually fuel, I can alchemize that fear in a way and actually make something positive to help other people around the world going through that. And just turn the news on, it's the world's gone mad. It's nuts out there. And when you were working at the UN versus the tech industries, how did you manage to dodge a bias? 'Cause what I find is when NGO political environment, so I worked with the EU as well on a South China regional development program, what I found hard as a social scientist was how do you break the preconditioned bias? Because that doesn't exist in the tech space, unless it's, ooh, I prefer this to you, I prefer that to you. How do you approach that? - Yeah, well I think that as an immigrant, there's this saying, I don't know if you've heard it, it's called media key, media yeah. And because I've lived in so many different places and my identity is a blend of different cultures and contexts, I always seem to put fault to my culture, whenever there's something I'm not being able to get through to or something I'm not able to accomplish, I always say, oh, it must be because I'm Latina or because I'm an immigrant. And so a lot of the times navigating this bias is also navigating a limiting belief and a story that I tell myself. So I think although there is an inherent bias that exists, there is an opportunity, at least for women like me, to do a lot of inner work, to ultimately show up from a place of your worth and not a place of your wound, especially if you are entering a space where it's male dominated or where you are walking into a space where there aren't a lot of women in tech or a lot of Latina women in tech. So navigating that same environment in the United Nations was huge, right? I remember even facing representatives that felt kind of a grudge when people wanted to speak English. Like I was working in Geneva, they wanted to speak French, right? Because that's what's in Geneva and Switzerland. So there was even this feeling of, even the language that you speak holds a bias. So a lot of the times what has worked for me is to just go back to grounding myself into owning my worth and showing up authentically as myself. Of course, navigating all of this also means understanding cultural dimensions and different communication styles and adapting your communication style to the audience that you're speaking to. And I think that has helped me navigate both in the international Ferris political science world now into the tech space. I love that. I think authenticity is like key and critical in providing that ability to come back to Central. And I, it's funny you say that 'cause my daughter has moved around a lot. And then again, why am I, I'm like, just be yourself. And you're gonna realize that being so multicultural is a great thing. And yeah, but I think to reach that needs a bit of time. And yeah, time. And I love how you said, show up not from your wound, but from your worth. Oh, that's a really like on points. Cool. Beautiful. And you were like some gloved chocolate superwoman out there. As you moved from bedo, your parents are Chilean Lebanese and the States and Switzerland. That's a lot. of multiculturalism sort of being thrown at you. What's the biggest culture shock that you faced? And how did you manage to turn it into an advantage rather than keep it a shock? Goodness, I think I could do a whole podcast about this. Coming to the US as a Latina at 18 was challenging, everything felt different. And one actually one of the biggest shocks to me was the perception of time. So Latin America relationships really often take precedence over the strict deadlines and the sort of fast pace of life. And in the US to me it felt like efficiency was everything right. So to me it took a really long time to adjust and blend the two. And I really harnessed and took advantage of the value that we place on relationships as my superpower, right? The power of connection, the power of community that comes from the Latino culture. And I matched that with this sort of urgency that exists in the Western world to drive and produce. And so I think that balance ended up becoming my superpower honestly in this kind of fast-paced industry that we're in that is tech. But other things that also shock me besides the view of time and how fast things move is adapting to people being so direct, especially in Latin American culture, communication is a little bit more indirect, more nuanced. People tend to give you a lot of context before they get to the point. And so to me being blunt or being direct or asking very clearly for what I wanted was very difficult in the beginning, being straightforward, saying no to me it felt harsh. And it was hard for me to put the task ahead of the relationship. Starting to style switch and balance between being a little bit less direct and a little bit less indirect and switching to being a little more direct. Really helping me. I think another big culture shock and I'll say just one last thing about being a Latina in the US is I used to in the very beginning of my dating years. I'll say I remember encountering men who thought that my interest in them was all about a green card. And they couldn't fathom that I had my own dreams, my own ambitions, my own path. And I feel like that sort of reduced me to a transaction and a lot of men would say, oh, you're interested in the green card aren't you? Or even I remember crossing immigration into the US and at the time when I was engaged, the immigration officer said something like that's what you do, right? You come here and marry our men. And that just really stuck with me. And so I carry those comments with me similar to you, not as scars but as fuel. Because now I know my worth and it's far more than a piece of paper and far more than a green card. And so during this time of culture shock and kind of understanding what my place was here in the US, I really leaned into understanding the cultural dimensions, a specific country and understanding that there's no right or wrong, but finding a balance between direct or indirect between a culture that values task versus relationship or a task that or a culture that values hierarchy versus egalitarianism. Yeah, there's a great book about the culture about by Mayor. Like I read it again. And just echoing what you were saying that your worth is way more than that green card and the piece of paper. What I find is again, it goes back to that question of bias. This is someone's bias. Oh, you're a Latina woman. You want the green looks of bias. That's what they've been conditioned to believe. But you have something more than someone who's only been in that one place where they were born and raised and grew up in St. Cindergarten and so on and so forth. And that is the ability to understand different cultures and not have a right to buy it. So I'm sure it was horrible to experience that, but kudos to you for again, turning it around and alchemizing it into saying this is going to be a value and a super power. What am I doing in sculpture shocks when I was to Sweden after Chile? Does the number of men with babies and strollers? I love it. I was like, huh? Because I went to leave with a really big thing here. So in Chile, we'd go for coffee in the morning. It's all soccer moms having coffee here. Dads. Yeah, generals change too, depending on what country you're in. It's huge. It was crazy. It took me a while to be like, oh, wow. That was really stuck with me. I'm talking about change management. I know you're in the Queen of the ad car model at HubSpot. How has this changed management framework enabled or helps HubSpot or any of the HubSpot customers or people in general in such a fast-paced changing industry like deck? Yeah. Ad car to me is a very, it sounds theoretical, but it's actually very practical when you break it down. And it has helped HubSpot. It has helped me a ton, even in my own personal life, when I'm trying to implement some sort of a change. If you use it more as a framework and not as a rule book and ad HubSpot in particular, change happens so fast. Ad car has helped us structure the change, whether it's launching a new product or a new go-to-market strategy. So for example, when I implemented ad car for a global rollout, you start with awareness and desire. I think that the desire piece is my favorite because you always need to get by and you need to understand what's in it for the person who will be impacted by the change. Yes, we are aware of this change, but do we want to change? And why should we? So I think really leaning into that desire piece before anything else is key, making sure people know why the change is happening and how it will benefit them. And then you move into the knowledge, the ability phase, which is all about, hey, what content do we need to create? What material do we need to put out there? How do we socialize it? And I think the most important piece that usually gets left out is the last piece, the reinforcement stage, which is so crucial, especially when you launch a big behavioral change. You need to reinforce it somehow. So having that critical last step is huge. And I would say not just in tech, but in any change management type project using the ad car model is really valuable. Do you think I could apply it to my weight loss test? Oh my god, of course, I think you could apply ad car to anything. Of course, the way that you execute changes, but I mean, starting with awareness for anything, I think, is key. Yes. Okay, I'll remember that one. And I think what I what I really like about ad car and the desire stage is that buy-in sometimes companies when they're implementing change, they approach it top down. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What I like is that buy-in, you need to get the buy-in bottom up because if you're going to bring in change, guess what? Everyone has to be bought in not just management. And I feel it's really critical because it brings back that concept of how do I approach this change from a human-centric perspective? How do I respect this human being? It's going to go through this change or not so that they feel supported and heard. And not only heard, but whoever is leading the change management program takes action. It has to be actionable. And I feel if more and more businesses do this, change is the only constant so it will be less scary for anything and everything. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And you've spoken a lot about being a Latina in the US. So that's like culture in a society. What about if I take it a little sort of step deeper? And it's Latina in the US in tech, which is very male dominated. So you're breaking gender and culture. and language barrier. And I know that you've empowered a lot of Latinos with the Latinx community impact. How do we move beyond token diversity and more into real true inclusion? Yeah, that's a great question. And I think just adding to what you just said about change, which also has to do with moving beyond token diversity is implementing change is all about including people that are being impacted by making them part of the change. And that also speaks to diversity, which is about representation, but inclusion is about impact. So we can't stop at checking the boxes. And I think in places like HopeSpot, we do work a ton to make sure that diverse voices aren't just heard, but also integrated into the decisions that are being made. So I think it's about fostering environments where people are feeling empowered to speak up, to lead, to bring their full selves to work. I think for the Latinx community, it means being seen as innovators as leaders, not just as a number in the diversity report. And now I coach with I coach and mentor, Latina's intake to step into the careers that they dream of. But I also empowering them to use their own unique perspectives, to break through those glass ceilings, to speak up in a room full of men. There's a big saying in a US culture, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? And a lot of our culture, Latin American culture, has taught us women to gaya lita te vez masoanita, or you look better when you're quiet, right? Or when you wake yourself smaller or when you're more humble. So we have this knee-jerk reaction to make ourselves small. And knowing that there is a space that welcomes you and is actually empowering you to make yourself big and take up space is I think the best way to move beyond token diversity to real inclusion. Yeah, and what you're saying that it's not a checkbox, diversity and inclusion programs are not about pretty slides that I presented to the team. So there we go, we're done because what's very common if I may is the more authentic, the more diverse, somebody is usually your minority for the use of a term. And that typically leads to cancel culture. Oh, let's just shush her because it's her again. I face this a lot. And so echoing that with you're not going to make me small. The more you do that, actually the bigger I'm going to get. And I feel it's on team leaders and management and coaches and everyone that sort of driving teams to become super aware and think of that because diverse teams actually increase profitability because problems all the approaches different efficiencies, cost cutting, there's so many angles that can actually impact companies in a really healthy way. If they approach diversity as you were saying not just a checklist on the slides. And you were saying that part of your Rola Hub Spot now is to create content and what you're doing with the Latin community to mentor and train. I understand your your non-line instructor on various different platforms. So you've managed to somehow build an online professors playbook for the use of a term. What are your thoughts around the future of education and professional development in the digital age and how do you compare that digital age with its challenges to in-person charisma? Yeah, that's huge. And I think I saw the first glimpse of this during COVID when I started teaching dance classes online and getting zero energy back from pouring 100% of my energy into a screen, right? Because when you're in person, you get you see the sweat and feel the smiles and the hugs, right? So engaging people even during a dance class, right? Through a screen is definitely different. And building online courses or creating content online, you can't rely just on your body language or on eye contact in the same way. But it really forced me to be more intentional and authentic, really creating more space for curiosity for asking questions, using more stories and real-world examples. I think that help keep people engaged and using humor, honestly, I think using humor is huge, especially when you're trying to teach something online, being authentic at the end of the day, just cuts through and creates that connection that you want to keep people in their attention. I think that what I've learned also through the transition now from in-person to online platforms is that I don't observe the world or just observe the world around me. I have learned to try to experience it fully with every sense engaged, even though what I'm just engaging is my eye, my vision, and I'm not touching, I'm not feeling the same energy in the same room. But I think that for people that are now building on my courses or trying to build content online, it's really leaning into your intuition and realizing that there's a deep emotional connection with the world that is a strength. It's not a weakness, at least for me in the beginning, that emotional connection. Sometimes I thought, "Hey, I'm too sensitive," or "I'm taking things too personal," but understanding that it's not a weakness, it's what allows us to make meaningful connections with others and understanding what a level that goes beyond the surface even if it's through a screen. So, yeah, I'm racing that emotional depth is huge in order to be successful online. I'm talking about intuition, one thing I just need to train the lights on, because it's sweet and it's getting dark very early now. Some about intuition and sort of cultural biases. Do you think some cultures train you to suppress your intuition? Yes, so much. Not only can it come from deep rooted cultural values, but also just from how you grew up, right? Learning to honor your intuition, and trust that gut feeling to me is more than just a six-sense, this essential guide that you have to make decisions, and tuning into it regularly to let it lead you both in the personal and professional realm is huge. But it's hard, right? Because the world often pushes us to toughen up, to be more competitive, to value profit over purpose. But in order to access your intuition, you need to stay true to who you are. And you'll realize that you can thrive not being liked by everyone, but by embracing what makes you unique. What's that secret sauce? That makes for you. Well, I go, "Shangirang Goosebumps," just hearing everything you're talking about. And you mentioned dance class. So I know you're a fitness instructor, and I've been a couple of the people that I've hosted on the podcast will come with sort of the sporty athletic side to them. How do you feel sports fitness impacts your career success? Hoof, I don't think I could have ever gotten anywhere without movement at the forefront of everything I do. For me, fitness is not just about staying healthy. It's about balance, and movement to me is medicine. And yeah, when you're in a high-pressure environment like the tech world, moving your body just helps clear your mind, whether it's just a quick workout or even just taking a walk outside with a great beat in the background or finding that flow that you need. It keeps me sharp and ready. I have learned over time that, you know, even though I do teach group fitness classes and I do that on the side and really truly enjoy it, I have learned to give me my time. And that means in the morning, sometimes to just be with myself, that quiet space through movement just allows me to ground myself. And whatever is going on in my head to move through me and that comes through movement. - Yeah. Completely related to that. It's like also moving that stagnant energy. It's self love in a way. It's enabling yourself to show up in your best form. I also find the sort of athletic sports and career somehow impacts stamina or the ability to fall down and get up and try again, for example, doing Zumba class. If you're trying to learn a new choreography. It took me a while to move my hands and legs at the same time. But I did it and I kept going and showing up. And I feel like those sort of subconscious lessons when you apply them in the work environment can also give you a form of sheltering and support that's not only work related, but again, human centric 'cause you can't take the human out of work. So we spoke about Latin, Latin eggs. And I know that you have also been a head ex speaker. So you stood on that red dot. What's one message like you would want every aspiring tech leader to hear and why? - Yeah, I've said it throughout this conversation, but don't be afraid to show up as your authentic self. Your unique perspective is your superpower and too often feeling the pressure to fit into a mole, especially in tech. If you break that mold, you drive innovation. So speak up, take risks, be out non-apologetic about who you are because that's where the real impact comes from. And your emotions are not something to suppress. There's something to channel. Your emotions give you insight, they give you empathy, they give you connection, but they also require care. And I think the balance comes from recognizing that your emotional world is actually a strength. And when you learn to harness that you can actually inspire, you can heal, you can create with power. So I've learned that living authentically also means accepting every part of yourself, whether it be the depth, the sensitivity, the emotions, but using that to fuel your path. And then not only do you grow into who you truly are, but you also help others grow along the way. And I think lastly, I'd say for those interested in a career or move or pivoting, like at the end of the day, it's just finding a career that you enjoy, that you're good at, that has an impact in a place where you feel valued. And just ask yourself, am I 60% qualified for this opportunity? If the answer is yes, go for it. I'm 60% qualified to be on TEDx stage, go for it. A man with the exact same qualifications as you probably would. Dreaming big and embracing the work that you love. Yeah. You know, again, brilliant, like for your so long point. And part of the reason I delayed launching a podcast as bullied as a kid for having frog voice, podcast is all about voice. You have a beautiful voice. I was like, okay, should I get one of those mics that changed? And then I said, it took me years actually to just realize, I love my frog voice. So we get here, I am, I'm going to use it. And I found that out. I went to the healing circle, a couple of months back. And I deep husky. And so I just started speaking. And then the healer was sort of her reaction. Her body language was like, whoa, she was like, your voice. I was like, yeah, what about it? Here we go again. She was like, you should use it was like, we. And it's these little things where like. All of those emotions I carried around it. Turn them around like in a washing machine and just bring it all out because hosting stories like yours and everything you're saying. Of course, you're going to inspire people and help and motivate. And so there's no reason to shy away from authenticity and who you really are. Because of that mold, you know, that you were talking about. A man would do a better job. A woman should have a high-pitched voice kind of same idea. So yeah, thank you for that. And then I'm a little bit over time. So sorry. But if you have time. Okay, great. If you have time just for closing thoughts. What would be. Like your. If you could change one thing. If you had a magic wand. Or if you had a magic wand. What would you. Wave it to do. And why. I would. Turn compassion inward. And the most valuable lesson. Over time that I've learned is to extend. The same love and understanding to yourself. That you offer freely and so freely to others. It's easy to give. But it's so important to receive as well. And sometimes we need to have our own self compassion. And use that as a tool for resilience for continued growth. Because as women, we often find that our biggest superpowers to. Give and sometimes we forget how to receive. So one of the biggest changes I've made in my life is to open myself up to receiving everything that I'm worth. And everything that I deserve. And when I did that, it was like opening the flood gates. Everything just started to come in and flow. So yes, turning compassion inward. I love that. And you're right. We tend to sell up other people's. Junk or jars. And then the question remains. Who's feeling up to yours? Exactly. Yeah. Beautiful. Diana, this has been an amazing conversation. I can't wait to read your book or watch your series. Whenever you decide to do one. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You have so much to give to this world. And thank you. For all that you do in making it a better place and helping people around the world. And if for the listeners, if they want to reach out to you, what's the best way for them to find you? Yeah, the feeling is mutual. I have to say the exact same about you. And I'll end by saying that. I recently launched my coaching business. So I'm coaching high achieving women who want to fall in love with their careers who want to take an airplane view of their careers and envision what would make them love it. And then you create time and space to set yourself up for success, attaining those goals through healthy practices, setting boundaries so that you have time and space to focus on the work that actually matters. So you can find me on Instagram and Danza Diana or my website, Diana select it calm. Alright, love it. And I'll include it in the episode bias. So that people can find you. Super well, have a wonderful day, rest of the day. And I appreciate your time and stay wonderful, stay you. And I'll see you soon. Thank you, Rania. Appreciate you. Thank you. No.