For Hispanic Heritage Month, #LatinaGeeks is spotlighting some of the many incredible women working in technology-related fields today. And today’s honoree is a staple in the San Diego community—Aida Soria! Aida is an Emmy Award winning producer, bathing suit designer, and DJ who is passionate about representing her community. We think she is the perfect person to give our Latina geeks some powerful professional and personal advice!
Aida, a third-generation San Diegan, graduated from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. Not quite sure what to do next, she enrolled in community college for some hands-on experience with television production. She quickly fell in love with the behind-the-scenes technical jobs such as shooting, editing, technical directing, and even directing! During that semester, she volunteered at the Latino Film Festival and learned a great deal about event production. She went on to intern at KPBS where she had her first taste of real-life journalism. She was hooked! From then on, she worked her way up to producer and has been the segment producer at Fox 5 for seven years.
When discussing the obstacles and challenges she’s faced along her career path, she notes, “in my experience, there are very few Latinos in newsrooms, even in San Diego. During our pitch meetings, I feel a large responsibility to not only educate the audience about our issues, but to have enough knowledge to back up my pitches to make it on TV.” In one instance, Aida tells us that she booked Dolores Huerta for a spot at the studio and realized that not one person in the room was familiar with Huerta’s work. She understood then her enormous responsibility to educate her peers and to tell Latinx stories.
She has grown a great deal from these moments and states, “it is also my responsibility to go outside of my circle to find stories outside of my comfort zone to portray fair and well-balanced stories.”
Throughout her career, Aida has learned a great deal and picked up some wisdoms along the way. On advice she would give her younger self, she says, “I would remind myself to not fear failure. I will always win by taking a chance and growing outside of my comfort zone. Although, some days may be harder than others, it won’t last forever, just keep moving.”
Everything happens for a reason, both good and bad, but make sure to learn a lesson from it. - @Aida1904 via @LatinaGeeks Share on XAnd of course, she has plenty of advice for those looking to enter their preferred career paths. She relays this: “I felt most of my opportunities came outside of the classroom. I volunteered for jobs/events in order to extend my circle in the field.” Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and try anything, amigas!
Lastly, Aida left us with one of her most valuable pieces of advice.
“Everything happens for a reason, both good and bad, but make sure to learn a lesson from it.”
This article was written by Paulina Saracco.
As a Digital Brand Specialist, Paulina is highly skilled at developing and implementing social media strategies and digital marketing plans. She has worked across various sectors including homebuilding, technology, arts, and nonprofit. In her spare time, Paulina likes to go explore new hiking trails across Southern California. She loves spending time with her family, and catching up on her favorite shows on Netflix, and training for her next marathon! Connect with her on LinkedIn.
