In this episode of the Purple Line, host Keith Fernandez and guest Sara Guerrero, who is a Communications Director for Congressman Robert Garcia discuss Guerrero's career journey, including her work for Senator Cortez Masto, the DNC, and the Biden campaign.
Sara Guerrero, who is a Communications Director for Congressman Robert Garcia, talks with Keith Fernandez about her career journey, experiences living in Capitol Hill and the importance of relationships and networking in the field of politics.
Sara shares her experiences of making tough career decisions and how she's grown more comfortable with them over time. The conversation focuses on Sara Guerrero's career in public service, her journey, and her commitment to diverse representation in politics and on Capitol Hill.
Guerrero shares her experiences of making tough career decisions and how she's grown more comfortable with them over time.
The conversation also emphasizes Sara's dedication to representing diverse voices and communities.
She shares life lessons on the importance of relationships, mentorship, and supporting the professional growth of individuals from diverse backgrounds.
I remember I wouldn't go to the roof of my building because I could see the Capitol. And it felt like I was like, I can't even look at her. It's like, I'm so sad. Every time I've left the Hill, I know I've known I wanted to come back. And I think being able to be confident in the relationships that I have with folks has made it easier.
Right. When I was leaving the Senator's office, I spoke with, you know, some of my supervisors and they were like, listen, like there's no job security. And in this work, your job security, your safety net is your network. The
Purple Line is a community podcast, bringing you in depth conversations with diverse leaders in the public and private sectors. Whether you're a student looking to gather advice or a professional tuning in for valuable resources, our dynamic programming [00:01:00] provides tips for all ages and backgrounds. I'm your host, Keith Fernandes, and this is The Purple Line.
Joining us now is our next guest, Sarah Guerrero. Sarah came to the U. S. from Colombia as a child. She grew up in Spring Hill, Florida, and graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Following graduation, she began her career in communications as a press assistant in the office of Senator Chuck Schumer.
From there, she served on the Biden 2020 campaign in Nevada and later was Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. She is currently Communications Director for Congressman Robert Garcia. In her free time, Sarah enjoys being involved in the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, where she has served as a board member, and exploring the running roots of D.
C. Sarah Guerrero, thank you for joining us on the purple line. Someone I've known for many years who's a leader on Capitol Hill Who's been on campaigns and is now communications director to congressman Robert Garcia from California Incredibly exciting leader. I think he's president of the freshman class, right?
All right, so I mean you're pulling double duty already. So you got to talk to your boss about a raise I [00:02:00] think but tell us a little bit about What you're doing on Capitol Hill now as a comms director for this incredibly visible member trailblazer and how you got there. Yeah. So first, thanks for having me on Keith.
Always an honor to get to chat with you. So as a comms director, I'm really coordinating communication strategies. So just making sure that we are engaging the right outlets, the right, you know, different publics that read different publications and really like getting his name out there and making sure that people know what he's doing at work every day for those super long hours.
So really fortunate to have gotten to where I'm at right now today. I think it's in thanks in huge part to the Latino community here in DC. I moved here without a job. I was an intern. I had like three gigs. I was working at like an exercise studio and nannying and doing all this stuff and having, you know, Latinos to look up to on the Hill that really.
Looked out for me and were able to flag different opportunities are really a big part of the reason why I was able [00:03:00] to, you know, even get this job. You know, I, I heard about this job through a friend in a group chat that we call like Latinos on the Hill. So even, even that, I think it's all been like really, really thanks to our close knit community and all the work that we've been able to accomplish together.
That's incredible. And I know that this is not anywhere near the beginning of your career journey. You've worked for so many incredible, important folks and organizations like. You know, Senator Cortez Masto, like the DNC. Tell us a little bit about those jobs and like, what did you learn in those jobs that helped propel you to success?
Yeah, so I think, you know, Senator Cortez Masto, she's the first Latina in the Senate and she is an incredibly driven member. I did work on her comms team, so that's going to be the message you're going to get from me. But no, she's incredible and I think, you know, there would be moments when we were briefing her and I'd look around the room and we were all women, right?
And that was really powerful and also seeing the discipline, the message discipline, you know, in comms we have different kinds of comms depending on You know, what [00:04:00] member you're working for. And, and I think being able to work for an office that represents a state as diverse, ideologically as Nevada was really instrumental in teaching me how to always think of like both sides and be really deliberate about being thorough with everything, whether that be a tweet or a drafted statement, or maybe something that someone's going to say to a reporter in the hallway.
So I was able to use that experience to then go to the DNC where I was the Western regional desk and I worked with Nevada and Arizona specifically, again, to like very purple states, like it was really fascinating to, to get to. so to work with reporters in those states too and kind of see how it, it is a huge advantage in the West to be more moderate in that way, especially with the way that you communicate to reporters and to voters.
And how, how is it different working in an official office and then going and working in a campaign setting? I imagine the pace is a little bit different, but what really changed about your job? Because I feel like there's this constellation of comms that you can do [00:05:00] and levers you pull up and down depending on what you need to do.
So how was that transition? My gosh, it was so you know, I was lucky enough to do I was briefly on the Biden campaign. I was the Nevada Deputy Press Secretary. And that was like, go go go 24 hours a day, like, always like Pitching and like figuring out what radio slots we had open and like all this different stuff.
And I think that is what best prepared me for going to the DNC after. So it was a huge change, like working in a personal office, especially on the Senate side is a much, it's a much larger operation sometimes. And also everyone has their, their, their tasks and their kind of line of. Like this is what it looks like to be a really good press assistant.
This is what it looks like to be a really good communications director, everything like that. And on the campaign side, it's more like every day you have to win the new cycle. It's much more aggressive. It's just a lot different. And at the committee, I was able to learn really like the political strategy that goes behind a lot of these things and things that you have to keep in mind and the importance of relationships.
I mean, drawing it back to [00:06:00] when we first answered, you know, discussed how I got on the Hill, I think. When you go and do campaign politics, especially at a committee, you work so closely with the political team, like, it's, it's, it's a very cohesive situation. Whereas on the official side, in a personal office, you're strictly doing official side work.
So you're not really getting into the nitty gritty of, you know, Who said what and how that plays into your statements. Yeah. And I think that it's really interesting that you've had such a diversity of experience. You know, you're still very young and you're a comms director on the Hill and you've worked for these amazing organizations and people.
And what's always struck me about you personally is that you have. You've been courageous enough to leave a great job that you have, and then go into an even better job and sort of not look back and know your worth and know your value. How did you make those decisions? I imagine they're, they're tough because when you've got a great thing, you want to keep it going, but then you go, well, maybe where I am is not where I'm supposed to be so I can continue to grow.
Yeah. I mean, I think [00:07:00] you just said it yourself, right? Like being in, being on these amazing teams and, and kind of knowing when. To call it know that, you know, I am so thankful for everything that I've learned here and everything I've been able to, you know, work on here, but knowing that, you know, maybe with the timeline that I'm hoping for, things just weren't going to move in a certain direction.
I think being close with more like senior staffers and having their backing sometimes and understanding that. You know, being able to meet with folks and be like, Hey, am I making the right call? You know, it's certainly, I, I, I do doubt myself sometimes. I think the hard, the first time I left a job that I really didn't want to leave, I worked for Schumer as a press assistant and it was like COVID it was August and the opportunity to jump on the Biden campaign came along and I was like.
Okay, this is great, but I don't want to leave my federal job with my paycheck. Like, you know, this is a campaign. It's going to be crazy. And I came across this quote and it said, you know, courage is an [00:08:00] acquired taste like caviar. And I was like, okay, like you have to get, it's never comfortable to leave like a job.
It's just like making that jump and believing in your ability to really like work hard to get, you know, to get to where you want to be. That sounds like a platitudinous, but I think more so like. Hey, I'm really comfortable. Like I need to go, like I could stay comfortable and not really progress, but it's, I owe it to myself.
And you know, I need to start getting more comfortable with making uncomfortable decisions that lead to better outcomes, like professionally and personally. Yeah, I, I agree. And has it gotten easier to make those decisions over time or is it still the same kind of like gnawing in your stomach where you're like, Oh, should I, shouldn't I?
Yeah, you know, I think it has gotten easier. That was I will, I will never forget how I felt. I remember I wouldn't go to the roof of my building because I could see the Capitol and it felt like I was like, I can't even look at her. It's like, I'm so sad. Every time I've left the hill, I know I've known I wanted to come [00:09:00] back.
And I think Being able to be confident in the relationships that I have with folks has made it easier, right? When I was leaving the senator's office, I spoke with, you know, some of my supervisors and they were like, listen, like, there's no job security in this, in this work. Your job security, your safety net is your network.
So make sure that, you know, you have people you trust and that are looking out for you, not just now, but like long term. And I think, you know, as I've I've been able to work with more, you know, really incredible, talented, like kind people. It's given me more confidence to really know that, you know, there's always something like bigger and better out there.
Like, should I decide whatever moment to, to pursue that? Yeah. And I mean, I think the through line of your career in public service has really been about serving. Not just the Hispanic community, but everybody. And what inspires you to keep going, whether it's campaigned, whether it's the official side, clearly there's a theme of public service.
So what makes you get up every morning and choose to do this? Because it is an active choice. Yeah, definitely. You know, I [00:10:00] think just being able I'm really close to my family back home in Colombia, I'm Colombian. And hearing about the things that like my distant cousins are dealing with or, you know, I'm very much this.
Embodiment. So cocky. I'm not, but like, I am in a way a testament to like all the hard work that my parents did. And I think, you know, you mentioned like This not being just a Latino experience, but just like a broadly like American experience, like whether your parents were immigrants or your parents were like low income or maybe, you know, something else, you know, that they some ordeal that they dealt with.
And I think I'm always motivated by my colleagues, you know, that have also. come from places where, like, you weren't traditionally expected to be able to, like, comfortably walk these halls and be at decision making tables. But, you know, staying close with family and hearing about the things they're dealing with always reminds me, like, I'm really so lucky to get to do what I do, right?
Like, I get to pursue this dream of [00:11:00] being a voice that represents different points of view that's kind of new. You know, a recent example, this is, you know, it sounds like, oh, whatever, but, you know, in the moment. So the Bad Bunny performance at the Grammys, that wasn't optioned. I was like, that is so messed up.
And I brought it up to my boss, who's like a young Latino. And he was like, that is messed up. Like, let's write to the CEO of CBS. And he like apologized. And I was like, oh my God, like, that's so cool. You know, those moments where you get to kind of It's like, you know, that, that's just like one example, you know, of many, but you get to really bear the fruits of, of being, you know, a diverse voice in a space that like doesn't really have a lot of that usually.
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that, you know, last question is. What do you see in the future in this space? I mean, you're, you're a trailblazer in your own right, but how do more people, you know, get involved? How do more people make the decision to enter public service and perhaps walk halls that weren't [00:12:00] available to them before?
Yeah, I think just making a decision, you know, about knowing kind of like what it's going to take. I remember when I was an intern, I heard stories of staffers that were like, I have three jobs but like I make it work because I really want it and like to me I was like that sounds crazy but then like I don't want to go to med school, I don't want to go to law school, like that's what I want to do and like.
Being comfortable with the discomfort of the first few years, I think it's, it's kind of daunting, but like, once you do get to DC, there is a group of people that like will want to take you in and will want to help you and like, there's a huge advantage to this being a relationship driven space and like, if you are a gregarious person, and you are like, that's your vibe and you want to like, really be able to leverage your ability to succeed in social situations like this is the place for you.
So I think, you know, yeah. Getting comfortable with the idea of a few uncomfortable years that like really, really, really do pay off. And you really do get to work your way up. And this is like a great like meritocracy. Honestly, the Hill has [00:13:00] been really, you know, it's demonstrated that at least my perception of it.
I love it. I agree. And then last thing before we go, this is a real last thing. I told you I was going to ask you about a fun fact about you. So tell me what is a fun fact? I am a dual citizen, so I still have my Colombian citizenship, which is wonderful. I get one, I get to skip certain lines when I fly into Columbia, so it's always great.
I love it. So next time I'll be flying in, I'll fly in with you. You got it. You got it. You got it. We'll make it happen. All right, Sarah Guerrero, thank you for walking on the purple Line with us. Incredibly thrilled, excited, and honored to have been able to interview you and speak with you, and can't wait to see what you do next.
Pretty much take over the world at this, this point. Thanks, Keith. All right, thanks. Thanks for listening to the purple line. You can follow me at underscore Keith Fernandez on Twitter and make sure to follow Chile across all social media platforms at the Chile for the latest updates. Hello, this is Maryann Gomez, Orta, Chile, president and c e o.
You are listening to the Purple Line Podcast. We would like to thank the [00:14:00] sponsors of our internship and fellowship programs. The Coca Cola Foundation, Comcast, Altria Client Services, Ford Motor Company, The Home Depot, Walmart, UPS Foundation, Televisa
Univision, McDonald's Corporation, and Cortiva AgriScience. Thank you.