Bernie Borges [00:00:01]:
All right, Myriam, here we go. Oh, you know what? I forgot to ask you. Do I pronounce your last name Del Angel?
Myriam Del Angel [00:00:09]:
It could be either Myriam Del angel or Myriam De La Hill. Whichever.
Myriam Del Angel [00:00:16]:
The land Hill? Medium De Lanhel.
Myriam Del Angel [00:00:26]:
Yeah, I. Whatever works. I usually when I introduce myself, I’ll say, I’m here in Delangeo or medium Delange. Respond to both.
Bernie Borges [00:00:33]:
Okay, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. All right, here we go. In 3, 2, 1. What does it take to rise as a first generation Latino woman in corporate America when no one ahead of you has walked the path and the rules weren’t written with you in mind? Well, today’s guest, Myriam Delangel, is a woman of extraordinary accomplishment who has done just that and more. Born in the US to parents from Mexico and Colombia, Myriam’s journey through the world of corporate HR is both inspiring and instructive. And in this episode, we are going to unpack what it means to lead with cultural intelligence, to stay grounded in identity while navigating change, and to discover what fulfillment looks like in the workplace today, especially in an era of AI and job uncertainty. So if you are someone that’s seeking career fulfillment, cultural alignment, or clarity in a changing world, this conversation will not only inspire you, it will equip you with insights that you can act on. Myriam, welcome to the Life Fulfilled podcast.
Myriam Del Angel [00:01:48]:
Thank you, Bernie. I’m so excited to be here.
Bernie Borges [00:01:51]:
I’m excited for our conversation. So let’s get into it. You know, you’ve described yourself as a first generation US Woman with roots in Mexico and Colombia, so I’d like to start a conversation by just hearing a little bit of your kind of your backstory, your personal story, what it was like growing up in the US and the influences that your parents have really brought to you from both Mexico and Colombia and how it shaped you.
Myriam Del Angel [00:02:19]:
Sure. Thank you so much. So I’m born and raised in Chicago in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, a neighborhood named Little Village La Vieta. And my parents. It’s so interesting, I always say this when I speak that I was never fully Mexican, I was never fully Colombian. I’m never fully American. I’m just me. So it’s a combination of each.
Myriam Del Angel [00:02:45]:
And having the different cultures within the household is amazing because it’s very similar. But there are some differences within food, even language. Right. I know how to say different things, maybe in two different ways in Spanish, and visiting those countries every other summer really has helped me kind of appreciate the lifestyle versus, you know, from South America or Latin America in general to here in the United States. So it’s definitely give me a different perspective of how people behave, how people treat each other and how people enjoy themselves.
Bernie Borges [00:03:24]:
Okay. You said you visited both countries, so that has. That must have given you a tremendous perspective, Myriam, on the cultures in both countries, Mexico and Colombia. But again, being U.S. born and of course, living in the U.S. growing up in the U.S. so as you were visiting and then coming back home, how did that shape you and influence you in general?
Myriam Del Angel [00:03:50]:
What’s interesting. So my parents, who only speak Spanish at the time, they speak English now. They wanted me to practice my Spanish. So whenever I would go to Colombia, I would go to Mexico. My cousins wanted to practice their English. So it was always that battle of like, no speak English, no speak Spanish. It was great. So I would come home and again, I was in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, so 98% of the people that I went to school with were predominantly Mexican.
Myriam Del Angel [00:04:19]:
But I enjoyed bringing the stories of the different ways of doing things, how school is very different, the music, music is very different as well in each country and just really seeing how people live differently. So I’m a city girl and my mother’s from Bogota, which is the main city in Colombia, So it was city life. But when I would go to Mexico, it was kind of like in the ranch, so kind of, you know, chasing the chickens with my grandma or, you know, going to see different types of, you know, ants and bugs and stuff like that. So I love it. I do wish my children. I have three kids, 16, 18, 20 now, that they would have experienced that because they’re more American, I would say. And this being in the city, they don’t understand that how they’d have to warm up the water to take a shower. Right.
Myriam Del Angel [00:05:11]:
And things like that. But I appreciate it made me appreciate so much of where I live, who I am, and the opportunity for education that I have here in the United States at the time.
Bernie Borges [00:05:23]:
Yeah, you know, I don’t know if I told you how much I told you about my background, but there’s a little bit of similarity. So I’m US born and raised, but my parents are from Cuba and. And likewise spoke mostly Spanish when I was very, very young. But they did learn the language, learned to speak English, and acclimated and became naturalized citizens and all of that. But I didn’t go back and forth. In fact, I’ve never been to Cuba. You probably know there’s a different relation with Cuba than there is with Colombia and Mexico, so.
Bernie Borges [00:06:00]:
So kind of a different scenario for me. But anyway, back to you and your. Your journey. I want to fast forward a little bit because, you know, our time together flies on these podcast episodes. I want to fast forward to your corporate journey.
Myriam Del Angel [00:06:13]:
Sure.
Bernie Borges [00:06:13]:
Like, how did that happen? At what point did you begin that and just, you know, start to share that journey?
Myriam Del Angel [00:06:20]:
Well, it’s interesting. Growing up, my parents, who were entrepreneurs until they retired, did work in factories. And at the time, I, you know, just culturally, I’m the girl, and I have a brother. My brother went to public school, but my father really wanted me to go to a Catholic school. And unfortunately, the factory he worked at for 20 years decided to relocate to Indiana and he decided not to go with them. So he got a package. In that time, I was in my starting my junior year in high school, and I took the opportunity myself because I really wanted to go to public school to tell my father, hey, dad, you don’t have to pay the monthly tuition if I transfer to a public school. And I tried to get in various public schools starting junior year.
Myriam Del Angel [00:07:08]:
It was difficult. And I got into one that was called Jones Magnet School. And I bring that up to give you a little bit background because that school was unique. It was only 11th and 12th grade, and half the time you had to work, you had to dress up professional. It was a professional high school. I worked at Northern Trust bank at the time. So half the day I was in school, and the other half I was actually at the corporate office in downtown at Northern Trust. And that was my introduction to the corporate world.
Myriam Del Angel [00:07:40]:
Then when I graduated, I continued on the WAZE program and through Northern Trust Bank. That was for college students. And I continued doing internships there with that. So that’s what started me in the corporate space. I will say after two years, I became a resident advisor in college and I quit the corporate world and just really did the college life, being an RA and enjoying that. And when I was an RA, it was similar to being an HR person, which I didn’t realize that, right. Laws, policies, how to do programming and things like that until a counselor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where UIC, where I went, told me, you know what? I think you’d be great in HR. And I was like, what’s HR? Because the university didn’t have that program.
Myriam Del Angel [00:08:31]:
And he told me, Northeastern Illinois University has that program. So I ended up transferring to another university that didn’t have on campus at the time. They do now. So I had to get an apartment and do all these things, But I truly fell in love with the HR side of it. But the degree was under the College of Education, where right now HR is usually under business. But at the time, it was more so like a training and development function versus what has expanded now to more strategy and things like that.
Bernie Borges [00:09:03]:
Okay. So, Myriam, as you know, but for my listener, you and I met at the HR Executive Summit a few months ago.
Myriam Del Angel [00:09:11]:
Yes.
Bernie Borges [00:09:12]:
Where we were. We both spoke at the event. And so that event is for HR leaders. So clearly you’ve had a number of leadership roles in hr, and I’d like to go there next.
Myriam Del Angel [00:09:23]:
Sure.
Bernie Borges [00:09:24]:
Share a little bit of that journey. Your journey to HR leadership roles and how your multicultural, particularly your Latin background, has influenced, you know, what you’ve experienced in HR leadership roles.
Myriam Del Angel [00:09:40]:
Sure. So I think growing up, I had you kind of be like a survivor. Right. You’re the. The child who has to help the parent, translating, calling, making appointments and things like that. Because English was. I was very strong at it, obviously. And that has given me to.
Myriam Del Angel [00:09:59]:
To have that grit to kind of like, figure it out, how things go in life. So when I was in college, I had to pay for college and got scholarships on my own, so I actually worked full time. So it took me eight years to get my undergrad. And once I graduated, I ended up. My first job out of college was with Arthur Andersen, which was a prestigious accounting firm at the time. And it was a great experience because there wasn’t a lot of people that looked like me in the sense of being Latina. So it was a big culture shock. Not as much, though, because when I was in high school and when I went to that Catholic high school that was predominantly white school, but being in the corporate space and going through college and all the diversity and all that.
Myriam Del Angel [00:10:48]:
So when I started there, it was. I learned a lot. I learned a different way of working. But I think what really kind of helped me, the next role, was when I went to Microsoft. That was brand new. My first day at work, I had to fly to Canada, to Toronto, because my manager sat there and let me just tell you, if you’re not used to that world, if you’re not used to growing, I didn’t grow up with, you know, lawyers or accountants or anything like that. So this was all brand new to me.
Myriam Del Angel [00:11:21]:
I didn’t realize until I was in the taxi, because there was no Uber back then, on the way to the airport, that I needed a passport. So thankfully, I had one, right. Because of my traveling to Colombia and Mexico and all those things. And then I did some Europe trips in college, but I didn’t think about that, so I had to go back, get my passport. Thankfully, I didn’t miss my flight. But that company really opened up a lot for me. I traveled quite a to Redmond, Washington, to their corporate office, doing retreats, doing leadership development. I mean, I was just literally learning, learning so much.
Myriam Del Angel [00:11:57]:
But I also had that way of being of, do I belong here? Because I don’t understand. And let me give you a quick example. When I was in Redmond for a meeting, there was a gentleman that said, wow, Myriam, you have an accent. And I got very defensive because I’m like, oh, my God, no, I speak English very well. Like, what do you mean I have an accent? And he goes, no, you have a Midwest accent. You’re from Chicago. And I was like, oh, my God. But I was.
Myriam Del Angel [00:12:25]:
I have that chip on my shoulder, right? Always questioning, like, am I. Do I belong? And just really feeling like that throughout my career. But because I have that grit that I’m like, I’m gonna figure it out. I’m here for a reason. And I continued. One thing that’s interesting about my career, 25 years in HR is I’ve worked remote 95% of my career, which is very unique. So I. Before the pandemic, I’ve already had that lifestyle, so it wasn’t hard for me to transition to those things.
Myriam Del Angel [00:13:00]:
I did quite a bit of traveling, but it worked out well. And that has really given me the strength to get into those leadership roles because I had to learn how to be. You know, that diversity of working from home or going in the office and traveling, doing those things.
Bernie Borges [00:13:16]:
Yeah. Well, we have a lot in common, Myriam. So I started working remotely in 2001.
Myriam Del Angel [00:13:21]:
Okay.
Bernie Borges [00:13:22]:
Long before COVID and it took me six years to complete my college degree. Okay, yours was eight years. In fact, I just recently told that story on another podcast episode, so I’m not even going to go there. But on that, though, when you completed your college degree, as you said, in eight years, I’m sure you felt like that was a huge sense of accomplishment. And so I want to ask you about that. What does accomplishment mean to you, given this whole story, the backstory that you’re sharing with us?
Myriam Del Angel [00:13:56]:
Right. And it’s so interesting you. You say that because everyone has their own definition of accomplishment or success. And at the time for me graduating, I’m the first one and only one in my immediate family that has a degree that it was just a sense of like I did that I was on my own. I left home. My parents really didn’t understand the whole college. They, my parents unfortunately didn’t even go to high school, right. And.
Myriam Del Angel [00:14:24]:
But I admire them, right. Coming to a country, not knowing the language and, you know, being entrepreneurs. I actually legally, in fact, emancipated from my parents when I was 18 and just been on my own ever since, just because it was, it was just easier for me to get financial aid and not trying to help my parents understand why I need their income tax forms and things like that. But I’ve been on my own, right? It was, for me, it was like, wow, I did this. And no one can take that from me. And that’s what I teach my kids, like go to school. No one can take that from you as well. Once you get that education, until whatever you decide to continue, no one can take that from you.
Bernie Borges [00:15:05]:
Well, Myriam, you’re speaking my language because when, whenever I talk about my fulfillment centric leadership framework, you saw me speak on that at the HR Leadership Summit. And I talk about what is fulfillment and how it’s the second most powerful emotion in our humanity. And usually when we experience fulfillment, it is immutable. Nothing can take it away over whatever that thing is that you feel fulfilled about. It’s immutable. So I love that. Again, you’re speaking my language. I want to ask you, in your corporate life, I know that you’ve encountered this thing that you call cultural intelligence.
Bernie Borges [00:15:42]:
So I’m going to ask you to speak to that. You know what, what do you mean by that? And why is it a thing?
Myriam Del Angel [00:15:47]:
Sure. So because of an HR and been in HR for my whole career, I get to see the good and bad and the ugly. Right. So whenever, unfortunately, there are situations, investigations, things like that, I’m part of that. So I get to see how people are treated. And there I’ve been blessed to be in so many global organizations from three of the big four. From Microsoft, Accenture, most recently at Ronstadt, which is also a global organization, that a lot of the conflict or the challenges is really around how you treat people. And people maybe they haven’t been exposed to or have experienced that there is a sense of cultural awareness that’s so important.
Myriam Del Angel [00:16:39]:
So, for example, if you work in a global organization and you have to have meetings with people outside of the United States, that takes a lot of empathy. And a lot of understanding how to work with people. There’s two types of relationships that you have in that it’s either trust or transactional. Right. So for, in the United States, for instance, we get on a call and we get right to it, like, oh, how was your day? Good. Okay, let’s get to it. Where, if you’re working with people, say Latin America or in Europe, depending where in Europe, of course, they want to know how really was your weekend, how are the kids, how are things going? That trust needs to be built in order to work with people. And a lot of people don’t understand that.
Myriam Del Angel [00:17:24]:
So when it gets to HR, it’s like, well, they’re not doing their work or they’re not even responding to my emails and they’re not working late, or vice versa, they expect me to be on there, I’m on holiday, things like that. So I think that is very important as a leader to really understand what it is, who your audience is and how to approach that scenario, because it’s not the same across the board.
Bernie Borges [00:17:48]:
Okay, so then given that, that lens that you have about cultural intelligence and given that we in the US are a melting pot, and I really think much of the world is a melting pot, it’s not unique to the US by any means, what advice would you give to someone, whether it be a Latina woman like you. But, but I’m going to ask it about women. What, what advice would you give to women, whether Latina or not, who come from quote, unquote, underrepresented backgrounds and really aspire to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish in corporate leadership or some other career trajectory that they, that they aspire to.
Myriam Del Angel [00:18:34]:
Right. I think the first thing is really to stay curious and understand the landscape, understand the organization that you’re in, but also to speak up, unfortunately, culturally, even for many women, it’s better to stay quiet and just really do the work and feel that, okay, I’m doing the work, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, but if there’s conflict or if there’s a sense of something not feeling right to speak up and talk to someone about it. Also look at people who you admire, or if you want to do the next level role, go talk to someone who’s doing it. Nine times out of 10, people will take the time to talk to people and just say, yeah, let me share what my day to day is, what I did to get here. So really just having those types of opportunities is to talk to people, to feel confidence. Confidence is one huge thing that women, myself included, have to work on every day. And that could be just from how you grew up or where you live or the experiences that you’ve had. And the managers, some people in general, not just women, but men and women can have really bad managers.
Myriam Del Angel [00:19:53]:
And what’s that saying? People leave the managers, not the company. And that is so true. And I see it from an HR perspective. So really just staying focused and having confidence in yourself and staying curious.
Bernie Borges [00:20:06]:
So I love that. Can I add one?
Myriam Del Angel [00:20:09]:
Sure.
Bernie Borges [00:20:09]:
And what I want to add is seek. This is for women, advice for women now. Right. And that is to seek and find male allies or mentors. In recent years, I have mentored a number of women both early stage careers and further along in their careers just to provide some male perspective. Because what I see, Myriam, is a lot of women kind of hang out together and maybe don’t have enough support from other men. And so I’m saying find some men that you can trust and respect and can mentor you and guide you and be an ally and advocate for you.
Myriam Del Angel [00:20:49]:
Right. 100. Another thing to add to that, aside from mentors, is find those sponsors, Find those people that will talk about you when you’re not in the room and say, hey, you know, Bernie’s great at this. Let’s consider him for this. So that is another thing that, you know, people in general should be looking at.
Bernie Borges [00:21:06]:
Yeah, yeah, agreed, agreed. Okay. I want to switch gears a little bit. And you know, there’s just so much every day in the news and in LinkedIn and everywhere about the rise of AI. Not that it’s new by any means, but boy, the pace, the acceleration just seems to be just accelerating every day. So I want to get your perspective on what, what you think the impact of AI is specifically since, you know, your career has been and is in HR. What, what do you see as the impact of AI in HR?
Myriam Del Angel [00:21:44]:
Sure. And now I will say it has been highlighted so much in the last couple years, but we’ve had AI for, for a long time. Right. We had the, you know, the bots and things like that that people don’t realize that is AI and Google. Right. Asking questions and doing that. So I’ve been doing a lot of research recently because of the HR space. And one thing that I’ve learned is you can start with AI, but you should always end with human intelligence, because AI, the fear is that AI would take jobs.
Myriam Del Angel [00:22:18]:
And it was interesting. I went to an event and one of the speakers said, yeah, it can take your job if you don’t understand what AI is. So go and learn about AI because it will be part of your job, whether you like it or not in the future. AI has helped, helped. So AI is there really to help with processes to short time in doing things and things like that. But you still need that human touch to make those critical decisions. So I look at AI as a tool and not as the end all, be all. And a lot of organizations are starting to realize that too.
Myriam Del Angel [00:22:54]:
There has been a trend in the last, I want to say, year and a half of people unfortunately losing their job. I mean, it could be economy, it could be our latest administration and all those things and people are blaming AI. But organizations, for instance, there was a big organization that had mentioned that they decided to use AI strictly for their HR purposes and let go of their HR team and maybe had like one or two leaders within six to eight months, they went back to hiring HR people because the people at the company did not feel connected, they did not feel fulfilled, they did not feel heard. And that is the part that it depends on what kind of culture you want in your organization. You really need to have that human side of it. So companies are realizing that.
Bernie Borges [00:23:45]:
Yeah. And what I’ll just add to that and boy, we could easily just have another whole conversation about that. But what I’ll. In the interest of brevity, because I have one more question that I want to ask you. And that example you just shared, Myriam, where they brought them back, that is becoming very commonplace. And it’s not limited to HR, by the way, where senior leadership eliminated a bunch of jobs and said, you know, AI is going to do it, and then three, six months later brought most, if maybe not all of them back because it didn’t work out the way they thought it was going to. So.
Myriam Del Angel [00:24:19]:
Right.
Bernie Borges [00:24:19]:
There’s a lot of that happening. So. Okay, last question before we wrap here. I’m gonna, I’m going to kind of bring two questions together. I’m going to kind of mess them up. Okay.
Myriam Del Angel [00:24:32]:
Okay.
Bernie Borges [00:24:32]:
And I hope when I mess them, I don’t mess them up. But we’ll find out what’s next for you, Myriam. And, and here’s my meshing. What’s next for you? And. And how does that contribute to your fulfillment?
Myriam Del Angel [00:24:47]:
Right. So unfortunately, recently I, I’ve been part of a reduction in force. When I was at Ronstadt, they went from a regional way to a vertical. And in that, you know, there was a large population, people had to leave the company. And so right now I do have my Own consulting company. It’s called LML People Consulting. And people are like, what’s lml? They’re the initials of my kids. I always bring my kids into everything I do.
Myriam Del Angel [00:25:15]:
They, they are my world. And I’ve been just doing a lot of coaching, a lot of panels, a lot of speed engagements around hr because that is my passion. But I’m also an author. I wrote Latinas in Corporate and that is where I talk about the challenges that women, Latinas specifically have in the corporate space. Because unfortunately we’re the least paid in the corporate world. But I did have fun with it. I created three fictional characters to kind of get a taste of different types of Latinas and different areas of life that they’re in trying to achieve within the corporate space. I’m also part of Latinas Rising up in HR series, book series, but I’m also part of the organization and we have amazing things coming coming in 2026.
Myriam Del Angel [00:25:59]:
Priscilla Guasso is the founder and owner of that and I work closely with her and we try to elevate Latinas in hr, but we also there as a tool and resource for people who have questions around HR in general. It’s not just Latina focused and so really just focusing on that and looking for my next opportunity. But I’ve been blessed with so many accolades recently. I was just named as one of the top 50 women in Illinois. So that was a great experience there and just really working through and helping people and doing a bunch of consulting work currently.
Bernie Borges [00:26:40]:
So it sounds to me like kind of reading between the lines that the fulfillment piece of that is really being able to leverage your entire body of work, your experience, your background, your upbringing and all of that experience, whether it’s through the consulting and coaching and, and, and speaking work that you’re doing and the writing. It’s like all of that, it just seems like that is what’s driving your fulfillment.
Myriam Del Angel [00:27:06]:
Right? I’m passionate about it. Right. I’m. I’m in a career time in my career. Right. I’m an executive. I’ve seen a lot. I still have so much more to give, but I’m trying to leave a legacy to my kids.
Myriam Del Angel [00:27:19]:
Right. I want them to know that you should follow your passion. And I try to implement that with my kids. Like, you have to enjoy what you’re doing because then it’s not work. And also wanting them to see that just being Latina and a woman, I have two girls and a son, that you can do anything. And I know it’s a little rough right now with a current administration to see that hope, especially in this generation. But we need to work through it. We need to fight through it and just giving them that sense of pride of what can be done.
Myriam Del Angel [00:27:56]:
And their father as well is doing the same thing. So I think it’s important to show our next generation that we can do it. And there’s so many tools now that they have. It’s not saying it’s easier, but it’s. It’s probably a little bit quicker to get information.
Bernie Borges [00:28:11]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, sounds like you’re being a great role model to them. And so to your point, that’s the absolutely legacy building stuff. So that’s fantastic. Myriam, I want to thank you before I thank you and say goodbye. Of course. Want to invite you to share with my listener.
Bernie Borges [00:28:27]:
How can people connect with you and get into your world?
Myriam Del Angel [00:28:30]:
Sure. So you can find me on LinkedIn. I’m also on Instagram. I have. It’s Myriamhr Latina. I also have a website. It’s www.Latinasincorporate.com. my book is sold on Amazon, on Barnes and Noble, and it’s actually sold internationally as well.
Myriam Del Angel [00:28:50]:
Not in all countries, but some countries. It’s not translated yet, but it, it’s. You can definitely find that or just, you know, Google my name and you’ll see a lot of things that I’ve done and so far.
Bernie Borges [00:29:02]:
Well, my listener knows Myriam. Those will be linked up in the show notes for this episode. And I just want to thank you for coming on and sharing your backstory and all of your insights and your inspiration on this episode of the Life Fulfilled podcast. It really, really is an inspiration and I’m so grateful. Thank you.
Myriam Del Angel [00:29:19]:
Thank you so much, Bernie, for having me. It was so much fun to share my information and good luck to you with everything that you’re doing with your podcast. It’s so much fun.
Bernie Borges [00:29:27]:
Thank you.
