Observing successful people, reading,
and discipline played an important role in
her career, but rationalizing things is
what she does most. She narrates how she
would take the road that was the most
difficult because no one else would take
and if she could overcome that particular
obstacle, then the next obstacle would be
less intimidating. “I would think through
the path and determine where it will
take me,” she states. “I observe people in
my own way; I would observe very
successful actors, very successful business
people. Even at a young age, I would
compare which teacher provided the best
education. People say ‘you always have
a list on your mind, it is always working’
and it is really true.”
Always processing several things at
once, her inspiration also derives from
other’s failures. I would say to myself
“how do I avoid making that same mistake,
what do I need to do, what should that
person have done to avoid that mistake?”
With a desire to give back to her
community, coupled with her determination
to make herself the most informed, engaged
citizen she could be, she would research
and read everything she could get her
hands on. Inspired by her mother to read
daily, Carranza shares the story of how
her mother read the Sun Times newspaper
page by page every day to learn and
understand English. At one time, I was
reading several newspapers,” she says.
“My husband would ask me, ‘Are you
going to read all those papers?’ I would
say “yes.” I thought, if it worked for my
mother it was going to work for me!”
While Carranza could not attend
Harvard or Stanford, she believed she
could keep learning from the best by
subscribing to the most expensive
Harvard journals. She recounts she
would read books of the best management
development techniques and employee
relations techniques. It was that practice
combined with ambition that allowed
her to work her way up the corporate
ladder at UPS, where she became the
highest-ranking Latina in the history of
the company.
Initially supervising about 12 employees
to tens of thousands nationwide and
international by the time she left the
company, Carranza feels her experience
was unique. “I was involved as an executive
at UPS and those types of company
transitions, is a unique education,” she
shares. “You can learn it from a book but
it’s nothing like living the process.”
A clear denominator has run through
all her varied positions, every task she
takes on she turns into an opportunity for
building bridges. If success for Carranza
can be attributed to a combination of talent,
drive and determination, it must be noted
that it also stems from one other very
important source—her network. For
instance, back when she was at UPS she
would be provided with the opportunity.
Whether it was management, human
resources, or operations, it did not matter
if she wasn’t familiar with the department.
As she states, she would take advantage of
all the training and educational opportunities
the company provided.
“One day I walked into the office and
my manager asked ‘have you ever thought of
going into operations?’ Because I was
very good at HR and they had plans, I
said ‘I’ve been thinking about that.’”
And he said ‘you want to try it?’ I said
‘sure,’” she shares. “I left HR and all the
administrative work, but, I believe there
are opportunities available for women
who say ‘sure I’ve been thinking about it.’”
Given the opportunity, training, and
mentorship, she excelled at every stage
of her career at UPS. “I used to say, If I
could do it, there is opportunity for
women who really want to bite the bullet
and take advantage of it,” she shares.
Motivated to work hard and better for
the long-term, Carranza is proud of her
achievements. When she retired from UPS,
she felt there was more for her to accomplish
as she had gained so much knowledge,
strength and character. “My upbringing
brought me this far,” she shares. “My
education provided a lot more opportunities
Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and
Treasurer Jovita Carranza.
28 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 24, No. 1, 2018
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