28
Feb
2016
What Marketers Can Learn from Stand-Up Comics
Human nature is complicated. Why do we think that culture is any easier to understand? Rather than acknowledge the complexities, Corporate America wants to put the cultural conversation in a neat little package and boil it down to superficial elements such as race-based casting, language versioning, and we-are-the-world Benetton imagery that validates its notion of... Read More
28
Feb
2016
Lower East Side Library: A Love Affair
On November 18, 1966, I got my first library card. I had just turned six. We lived on New York’s Lower East Side and our branch was Seward Park. Built in 1909, the red and grey four-story brick building stood near the intersection of East Broadway, Essex Street, and Canal. Unless it was raining or... Read More
19
Jan
2016
Hold On To Your Hat
The Panama Hat is not from Panama. It’s from Ecuador. There is a hat that is worn by Panamanians – particularly in the countryside (el interior). It is called the Sombrero Pintao. Pintao is pintado (painted). Dropping d’s is quite colloquial. Dropping hats – not so much.
19
Jan
2016
What Gladwell’s ‘Outliers’ Can Teach You About Marketing
In his latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell asks, “Why are we so squeamish? Why is the fact that each of us comes from a culture with its own distinctive mixture of strengths and weaknesses, tendencies and predispositions can be so difficult to acknowledge? Who we are cannot be separated from where... Read More
19
Jan
2016
Navigating Intersections In Panama City
I have always been struck by the fluid lane-changes and cultural mash-ups that are part of day-to-day life in Panama, but never more so than on this year’s trip—one of at least twenty that I have taken since meeting my Panamanian husband in New York over thirty years ago. Over time, Panama City has become... Read More
7
Dec
2015
7
Dec
2015
On Being An ‘Honorary’ Latina: Am I An Ally Or A Lie?
It was the middle of my workday when I received a call from Hispanic Executive magazine.
“We would like to do a feature story on you,” the caller said. “We have done our research and believe you are the type of person that our readers would like to know more about.”
7
Dec
2015