Jose Cordova
Vice President of Sales
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Tell us a little bit about yourself (work history / hobbies / fun facts)
I was born in the United States while my dad was attending graduate school in Boston and moved back to Venezuela when I was about 2 years old. During my last year of college in Venezuela, while getting my bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar, I had the opportunity to do an internship with a US fortune 500 industrial company, which brought me back to the US. I never imagined myself living in a different city than my family, let alone a different country. Even though my wife is from Venezuela, it was after living in the US for 2 years that we met for the first time in Chapel Hill, NC. Now I have three beautiful kids and I spend my days working with a great group of people that are passionate about providing the best lighting and building management solutions to customers.
How has your experience as a Hispanic American been working in corporate America?
So far, being a Hispanic in corporate America has been a humbling and rewarding experience at the same time. Moving to the country with the strongest economy in the world is a dream many people have but cannot always realize; therefore, I understood the value and the importance of the opportunity when I was offered to work in the US.
During my first years, I was very conscious of small things like grammatical errors, accent while speaking, becoming a football fan, etc. It was important because most of my co-workers grew up in the same area and could relate to one another. As I progressed through my career in corporate America I came to realize that although being able to properly communicate with others is very important, more important are the values I learned as a kid to always respect people, to be grateful for what you have and to always do the best job you can. I am proud of my Hispanic background and will continue to teach our beautiful traditions and family values to my kids.
