Bernadette Rivero
Bernadette Rivero, President of The Cortez Brothers, described as an incredible experience to be a speaker at the 3% Conference, held at Chicago on November, 8 to 9 November. “Share the stage with so many professionals that I admire: Reza Rostampisheh, Associate Director Strategic Planning in Campbell Ewald; Tasha Gilroy from VMLY&R; Jarrell Fudickar, Art Director; Daisy Tinsley Barnett, Head of Media Production Strategy in LinkedIn. I learned — from them — that there’s not just one way to live and thrive in the advertising industry, but various ways.” During the discussions at the conference, there as a sense of great desire to see real change in the industry, better working conditions and ways of working that help people who are looking for some semblance of balance between their professional lives and careers, she explained. “The first step in a plan of action towards meaningful industry-wide change is admitting that we have to change in the first place, and you heard those voices loud and clear at this conference: the ad industry needs to be more welcoming, flexible and creative at the same time, because we’re at great risk of losing our most creative minds to in-house agencies, to the the tech world, and to other industries where you’re not working 24 hours a day without taking into account that people have families, or loved ones, and the desire to have the space and freedom to CREATE under the guidance of creative leaders. That’s true for both men and women, judging by what was said and discussed at the 3% event” she said. Rivero said she would love to see more of a US Hispanic ad agency presence at next year’s conference. “I don’t recall ever having seen that many Latinas on stage as in this conference, in the ‘General Market’ advertising arena, and I’m left wanting even more in the future because it feels like, for the very first time, the General Market is giving a bit of floor space to diverse voices, and we definitely have those amongst the women of the U.S. Hispanic ad world. .”
