Jonathan Salazar on covering his Latino heritage and embracing his culture

“I did not have familiarity with the term covering,” said Jonathan Salazar during our recent conversation. “But I began to understand that it's something that probably a lot of us experience in many different shapes and forms, including myself.” 

Having met Jonathan in the summer of 2007, when we worked together at Rocky’s on the River in southern Indiana, I knew facets of his story. Since our days at the restaurant, he’s held global positions at Brown-Forman, led a brand-advertising firm, and now oversees integrated marketing and analytics at INXEPTION. I appreciated the opportunity to learn about his experience as a Latino man who moved to the U.S. in 1996 and to better understand how he approaches leadership and inclusion in the workplace, raising kids, and uncovering as part of his journey. 

Jonathan shared, “I have done certain things where I was covering my true self. You know, I'm from Mexico originally. I moved here when I was nine years old. And for me, covering - historically - has really been about that aspect of myself. Being Latino, being Mexican.”

He described his first year at school after moving to America. “When I started elementary school [4th grade], there was no Spanish speaking teachers, staff – nothing,” Jonathan said. “I remember my first day of school. I got lost because I couldn't find my classroom. And I couldn't ask anybody for help, because I didn't speak English, and nobody spoke Spanish. I just went from classroom to classroom. And, back then they had the rosters posted right next to the classroom doors. Eventually, I found my brother's name on one of the rosters because my brother was a year older than me in school. And I was just like, ‘I'm just gonna go in here because I don't know where to go.’ So I went in there, and my brother wasn't in there. I knew he was probably lost too.”

“I tell you that story because the school’s solution for us not speaking the language was to assign us an English tutor that didn't speak Spanish,” he said. “So for the first year of my schooling experience here in the U.S., I really couldn't communicate with anybody at school.” He said the experience at school and with their tutor was a “sink or swim”  scenario. And, “it kind of triggered something in my head where it's like, I want to be American. You know, I want to be White like everybody else. Throughout my life, there are experiences where I really kind of shoved down or covered the fact that I was Latino.” 

By looking at Jonathan, you wouldn’t necessarily assume he’s from Mexico. “I hear all the time, you don't look Mexican, you don't sound Mexican. And there was a point in my life where that actually kind of made me, I don't wanna say ‘proud’ but, like I accomplished it [being White]. And it wasn't till I started getting older when I realized, that's not me. I am from Mexico, I have Mexican roots. And, I need to live that truth.” 

Jonathan described how affiliation-based covering also took place when engaging with other Mexican students. “I remember one time I was in high school and we were at a soccer game. I was in the stands, and there was a group of Mexican students, and they started singing a traditional Mexican soccer song,” he explained. “I felt kind of, not embarrassed, but I knew the song and I didn't want to sing it. I didn’t want people to think that I was like those students. Looking back at it, covering had a negative impact.” 

Since then, his understanding of self and his journey helped him see the value in his Mexican roots and culture. “I'm 35 now, and I'm still discovering who I am. But I have a better sense of what's important to me, and not hiding those aspects of my life or caring that somebody is going to think of me differently, ” Jonathan shared.

It’s these types of evolutions of self I appreciate hearing about. How we can, throughout our lives, reorient ourselves to different facets of our culture and past, seeing new value and our deep connection to it. For Jonathan, this included being able to facilitate an invitation to his colleagues to celebrate his Hispanic culture with him, something he was “really proud of.” It made me wonder how this new relationship to his heritage enhanced or impacted his interpersonal relationships with colleagues and sense of belonging within the companies he’s worked for. 

He said, “I think that the culture of the organization has a significant impact on your sense of belonging, right? I think that if the culture is such that bringing your true self to work is not only encouraged, but it's admired, then I think that's going to be reflective when you actually do bring your true self to work out, that's going to be received.” Jonathan went on to share, “I've had the fortune of working at organizations where the culture was very encouraging and very accepting of all employees bringing their true self to work. So once I did that, you know, once I was able to showcase that … I think that really did enhance the relationships.”

We went on to discuss the critical role leadership plays in setting the tone and expectation regarding celebration of culture and creating an inclusive environment. “When I was there, I think that really kind of helped me understand how Brown-Forman does an exceptional job of creating an environment for all employees to feel safe in bringing their true selves to work. I really do believe that,” he said. “Because I was at Brown-Forman for so long, I think that also kind of served as a way for me to understand how it should be, right?, like how an organization should make you feel. It's okay to be who you are here at work because not only are you going to be accepted, you're going to be celebrated. And you're also here because you do a great job. So when I took on more leadership roles in the other organizations, I made sure that that was true. And I made sure that it was known, and that people were aware of my approach, and the way that the culture that I was bringing with myself was exactly that, right? Like, to me, you feeling safe enough and vulnerable enough to be your true self at work is success in the culture, right? That's really what we're striving for. So doing things like implementing certain things about restrictive dress codes, or addressing different holidays, or why people can take time off, I think those are all elements for ensuring that the areas where people can feel safe and being themselves are being addressed.”

Jonathan evaluates a company’s practices and existing culture before entering it. This includes using the interview process to understand the current climate. During interviews, he said he asks about “things that you normally wouldn't particularly think to ask an interviewer like, ‘Tell me about your diversity, inclusion, and equity initiatives. Tell me about how you're helping the community. Tell me about what leadership thinks about what's happening in our political and economic ecosystem.’ I began to ask and I wasn't ashamed to ask those questions, because those are things that are important to me. Those are things that when I think of an organization, I want to make sure that I'm working for an organization that may not necessarily be fully aligned with everything I believe in, but that I feel proud to say I work for.” 

As advocacy continues for uncovering and culture where people can be their true selves, it raises questions about what that tangibly means. Jonathan offered an example of how people’s self-expression has evolved over the past few decades.

“Twenty years ago, you were in an office, and you had a tattoo, like, you better cover that up. Now it's like, no, you can still be a VP of Marketing and be covered in tattoos, and that doesn't exclude or disqualify you from doing what you need to do.”

His examples and experiences at work made me wonder how Jonathan brings his approach to inclusion home, working with his wife and engaging with his kids to create an environment of cultural pride. “I have a nine-year-old and a five-year-old, and I think for them, it is similar to how I approach the culture at work. I'm really just allowing them to feel safe to be who they are, right? And if they're starting to express interest in something, not to suppress it or to shut it down – to let them be curious in exploring something or understanding new things,” he said. 

As we talked about his family and that mindset of safety, our conversation came full circle. “I think the effects of covering, for me, wanting to be non-Mexican for so long made it so I was kind of stuck in-between worlds,” Jonathan shared. “When I'm with Mexican friends, they hear me speaking Spanish and they know that I speak Spanish with an American accent. Right? Even though I'm fully 100% Mexican. And then when I'm with my American friends and they hear me speak in Spanish, they're like, ‘Oh, you speak Spanish really well, like you're a native speaker.’ So my Latino friends see me as this American that’s part Mexican, part Latino, and then my American friends see me as like, well, he's Mexican.”

He continued, “I think that's a result of me just believing the cover so much. It has made certain tough situations for me, feeling like I don't really belong in either group, right? The group that I was trying to belong in at first and the group that I'm now proud to be part of. When I was at Brown-Forman, we had an Employee Resource Group (ERG), and we did a series of ‘real talks’ and I talked about this experience, and I got a lot of positive feedback from different Latinos, including people that have young kids that are growing up here in the U.S. Because that's a reality, right? I'm dealing with the impact of trying to belong in this group so much. And then I was like, proud that I was part of this other group.” 

As we wrapped up our conversation, Jonathan shared, “I'm getting more comfortable and confident in who I am - I don't need to try to fit in into either one of those circles, I need to be me. And then whoever's in those circles will fit around me.”