The Basics
How long have you been at City Light? I’ve been with City Light for seven months.
Division: Workforce Excellence
Tell us about your role. What does your job entail? I am the workforce development manager. My job entails leading a dynamic team of wonderful professionals that has a passion and dedication for the personal and professional growth and development of all employees at Seattle City Light. I’m in a lot of meetings.
Background
Hometown: Santa Cruz, Calif., by way of Yakima, Wash., before moving to Seattle. I’ve lived in Washington for 23 years.
Alma Maters: Undergrad from Heritage University in Toppenish, Wash. and graduate degree from Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash.
Discipline/Trade of study: Bachelor’s degree in business administration and Master of Science in organizational leadership/global leadership
Tell us about your family: My family consists of my husband, Glenn Paul, and our three kids: Litxuli (Leet-Sue-Lee) 19, Lilu (Lee-Loo) 15, and Phoenix, 12. My husband is a senior software engineer with Service Now. Our eldest daughter Litxuli is in college. She’s fluent in Japanese, Korean and Spanish and will move to Japan for her master’s program next fall. We are a little nervous about her living overseas, but we understand it’s part of our family’s evolution. Our daughter Lilu is a sophomore in high school and plays viola, and our son Phoenix is in sixth grade and plays clarinet. As a family we love to travel internationally and immerse ourselves in different cultures. When at home, we like movie nights, video games, board games and spending time with our big Mexican and Chamorro (Guam) families; we eat a lot of good food!
Just for Fun
What’s the best piece of advice you have received? My mother always told me and my siblings, “en todo lo que hagan, haganlo con ganas!” which translates to “In everything you do, do it with gusto (intent/passion)!” I learned that it is best to figure out what your purpose is and do it with passion. My core purpose statement is: “I inspire people to thrive.” I do that through my work and the people in my life.
What do you like most about your role? I love and admire the people that I work with. I don’t like the term “my employees.” It feels so possessive. I like saying “my team members.” I sometimes sit in awe of their skills and passion for their work and what they are trying to accomplish. We all want to make an impact in the lives of our employees. I like that we all have common goals and support each other to accomplish them. I like to remove barriers that prevent team members from accomplishing goals.
What’s your favorite movie genre and/or all-time favorite movie? NERD ALERT! I love sci-fi movies and TV shows. My favorite movie of all time is “The Fifth Element.” I can sit through it and mouth the movie word for word. (My kids don’t find that amusing.) I also love “Star Trek” (movies and TV series), “Firefly” TV series, “Star Wars” movies and TV series, and “The Orville” TV series. My guilty pleasure is the show “Hot in Cleveland,” because Betty White!
What is your idea of a perfect day? A Seattle summer day by the lake with our kids. We used to live in Bothell and would go to Martha Lake in Mill Creek a lot. Now that we live in Seattle, we still go up to Martha Lake a few Saturdays in the summer. We love meeting family there, taking a lot of food, big floaties, frisbee, football and watching the kids jump off the wood pier.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? We are buying a small home in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Before I came to City Light, we used to work remotely from there two months out of the year. Now, we visit my friends and family their often. It’s our second home, and we plan on retiring there. It’s a magical place that is rich in culture, history, terrain, and we can’t see ourselves anywhere else. Oh, and margaritas!