Recently, I got to sit down with my boss and family friend, Lisa Ramos, CEO of Seaport Federal Credit Union. Over the years Mrs. Ramos has successfully made her way through the business realm.
Lisa Ramos was born in Newark, New Jersey on April 4. She was born into a hard working Puerto-Rican family. She graduated from Seton Hall University, prior to graduation she went to Essex County College for 2 years and then transferred to Seton Hall.
While in collage, Lisa had already began her climb up the mountain of success starting in retail at Macy's, in the jewelry department. At the time it was just a job that made her money, Lisa explained. She then went on to tell me, how looking back she realized it was an important job that gave her the customer service experience she would eventually need again through out her career. A little while after that a position in the customer service department of Macy's opened up, she applied and got the job where she took phone orders; gaining more customer service experience. After she graduated, they moved her from the phones back out to the floor where she was an assistant manager. While she did note there wasn't much to the job, it gave her a title, that would look good when it came time to move on. No longer wanting to be in retail, Lisa began applying to jobs else where, landing a job at ADP; a pay roll company. After two years at ADP she decided it was time to move on and from there she got a job as a pay roll clerk at a different company. There Lisa would eventually move up and become a manager. However, soon after the company decided to move the payroll department to Texas. Wanting to stay local, she left the company applied for the only office manager position open at Seaport Federal Credit Union (formally known as Sea Land). Lisa believes that because of her supervisory background they hired her. She was the office manager for about 13 years. After 13 years, the company offered her the CEO position she holds now. Lisa firmly believes that while at the time some of her jobs seemed as if they were not of importance, every job she had helped attributed to her success.
Through out all the accomplishments within her career, when asked about her greatest achievement in life, Lisa said her greatest achievement is her children. She acknowledged that it wasn't easy growing a family and a career at the same time, however she had endless support from her husband and family. As we were talking about the impact her family had on her career; she made it a point to mention that while it was not easy, it was definitely worth it. She wanted others to know that as long as you have time management skills, not only can you start a family and grow a career at the same time, but you can really accomplish anything you want to get done in life.
During our conversation Lisa and I spoke about many key points in our everyday lives as women, however I think one of the most important things we spoke about when talking about things that challenged her, Lisa brought up the judgement and tough times she had dealing with women in the industry. One of the main reason I felt I should start this blog was because I felt as though we need to see more women supporting women. There are so many times in everyday life where women give other women a hard time; whether it be about appearance, lifestyle choices, or trying to pull someone down. It's time we started making a better effort to help one another out. Think about your daughters, nieces, and little cousins; how would you feel if you found out a girl at school was giving them a hard time? I'm sure most of us would be upset, might even say something along the lines of "stick up for yourself." However, while yes as women we should learn to stick up for ourselves but we also should be demonstrating to the younger generation how to get along with each other. So for the next time your big mouth mother - in - law, annoying aunt, or stubborn coworker gives you a hard time; instead of answering back in an argumentative tone, try being nice and defuse the tension not only for yourself, but for the younger generation looking up to you.
I am so grateful to have women like Lisa in my life to look up to and learn from. For those of you reading this who have women in your lives who have helped and supported you in your life, be sure to have them contact us so they can be featured on this page as well. And remember ladies, we are women above everything else.
Thank you for reading.
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