Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Delgado, Vice President of the Santa Maria Group.
Lauren, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My story began where many blossoming journeys begin: rock bottom. I graduated college with a BA in English Literature in 2010 – which was basically the peak of the worst economic crisis of my generation. Though I considered going to law school, I ultimately chose to go straight into working. However, a severe recession also means a severe lack of job openings. And arming yourself with nothing more than a liberal arts degree and a real estate license doesn’t exactly mollify your chances for a job under strenuous economic times.
After a series of marketing and sales positions, I found myself working as the office manager to three lobbying firms who were all housed within one office space in Downtown LA. Essentially, I directly assisted four lobbyists with whom I directly credit my professional and even personal growth with. My tasks included handling each of their calendars, editing and (eventually) drafting contracts, invoicing clients, and managing the day-to-day operations of each of their firms. Sounds like grunt work, right?… Well for the record, it absolutely was grunt work. But in order to effectively execute the duties of my job, I was given access to each of their calendars, documents, and their networks. And thankfully, my bosses gave me the latitude to spend time during and even after office hours going through these assets like an open book. This helped me understand each of the firms’ macrocosms – made up of internal operations and structures in place, networks of affiliates, clients, and friends, and an economic structure that keeps each business running and burgeoning.
Eventually – and thanks to some tough love and empowering from James (who you’ll find out more about as you keep reading) – I adopted a sense of pride with my position and shifted my perspective – I was no longer just someone who managed an executive’s calendar; I was the gate-keeper to each of my bosses. And I got to choose who and when people could get time with my bosses. And I was no longer an office assistant; I was the heart of the entire office whose sole responsibility was to pump the necessary support needed to assist each of my bosses in executing each of their visions for their companies. After this shift in my perspective, I found my stride; I was meeting tons of people from each of their networks – a lot of them were people in elected positions and their high-level staffers as well as executives from a numerous other industries. I also finally began to see how people were maximizing opportunities that I (and most people for that matter) otherwise would not have realized unless I was surrounded by such a vast and unique network of people.
After close to two years, I joined one of these lobbying firms as a full-time associate: The Santa Maria Group. My boss, James Santa Maria – who also happens to be my uncle – took a chance on me and dropped me in the deep end of the pool – And I had to swim. Hard. I had to get smart on matters like legislative actions, City Council rules, and urban planning. And James was not easy on me just because we were related; in fact, he was just the opposite – Honestly, I’m grateful everyday to him for this. He knew I was capable; I just had to learn the art of perseverance. This was an incredibly trying time in my career where I sank into periods of internal uncertainty, wondering if I was even cut out for this business and wondering if I would ever find my stride again.
Soon I started to realize that everything I struggled so much to learn over the past few years equipped me with an invaluable set of skills… Managing an office with three different firms as well as managing the day-to-day necessities and calendars of four different executives taught me how to become operational and how to pay attention to the minute details that are significant yet often overlooked by most. As an Associate at the Santa Maria Group, I had to become skilled at knowing the answers that others did not. This meant also anticipating questions that current and future clients would ask. Sounds simple – but simple is rarely easy. This constant paradigm of thought forced me to think and live “outside the box”. And I also learned the difference between being “busy” versus being productive.
Eventually, I started applying my skills to other ventures. In 2017, I co-founded the Filipino American Heritage Movement with my friend Rayson Esquejo and we organized Eat Play Move, LA’s First Filipino Foodie Festival at the Eagle Rock Plaza. I learned so much through organizing an event like this. James used to always tell me, “It’s hard being the number one guy.” And never did such a lesson hit me so hard in the face than this one. I had to force myself to hone in on my operations skillset and weather countless sleepless nights to balance out my day career with this new venture. Suddenly, I couldn’t defer to anyone else but myself and Rayson. From constantly reconciling budgetary issues, directly coordinating the necessary City and County permits, adjusting profit margins, finding the most economical options for necessary items such as tents, tables, seating, to handling all vendor relations and choosing the right design elements for branding – all of this landed directly on my lap. In our first year, Eat Play Move saw close to 25k attendees – far exceeding our hopeful expectations of 2,500 attendees. We followed up the following year with a block party in the Arts District and are currently planning our third one as we speak (so stay tuned!).
In late 2018, I joined my friend Mike Suede on his podcast called the Lokel Show, which features the journeys of local small business owners, entrepreneurs, and artists, as a co-host. Although this started as a hobby for me, learning about other people’s journeys gave Mike and I insight into the needs of small business owners and creatives. Eventually, the Lokel Show grew into a digital marketing and media company that caters to small businesses and local entrepreneurs. And just this year, we launched our brick and mortar called Lokels Only – in which we have a commercial kitchen and retail/flex space for local chefs, entrepreneurs and creatives to help incubate their concepts to full-grown businesses.
This year, Rayson and I have also started a new company, called Filuency. Our goal is to connect Angelenos to Filipino culture through experiences. We have a few things in development so stay tuned! I also have another partnership in the works with some like-minded close friends who have events experience and operational know-how. Lots to stay tuned for! It’s definitely going to be a busy 2020, but I’m looking forward to it!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No road I have ever taken has been smooth. I’d say that the biggest hurdle I’ve experienced is my own self-doubt, which has affected my work product before and has probably caused me to miss out on opportunities. Here’s the thing: I have found myself at the other end of the roughest roads, and it has not always been success; so what I have discovered is that on the other side of a path filled with hurdles is not success, but is actually confidence. So it would be safe for me to say that I’m extremely grateful for all of the struggles that helped propel me to where I am today and am eager to push past the hurdles that will inevitably come up as I move forward in my journey. I try not to lean into the fear that comes with self-doubt and resign myself to what’s comfortable.
And in the midst of it all, I’ve found different ways to cope and balance out the stress that comes with it. Working out helps. A LOT. So does golf. And I try to carve out time with friends and family. Because at the end of the day, nothing I do really matters if I don’t have them to share the highs and the lows with.
Please tell us about The Santa Maria Group.
The Santa Maria Group is a full-fledged government relations and lobbying firm which specializes in real estate development, legislative and public affairs, as well as business consulting – founded by James Santa Maria over 16 years ago. When I joined James a little over eight years ago, we were a two-man show with a vision to expand as a company and into other enterprises and industries. Today, we have a full staff of associates and various consultants. And working with James has been such a fun ride since day one. He’s been my mentor who never has allowed me to settle with being comfortable, is constantly empowering me to pursue opportunities that I otherwise might pass up, and is always challenging me to exceed expectations. I’m proud everyday of our company and its achievements. And I love that my work here very rarely ever feels like “work.” The Santa Maria Group is not your typical lobbying firm; we are results-oriented and make it a standard to push the ball forward everyday. Essentially – we get shit done. We don’t believe in waiting for answers and we’re a no non-sense company. We pursue the solutions ourselves – and with alacrity to boot.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
That’s an easy one – Friday family dinners with my parents and older brother. We started doing this when my brother and I were still in elementary school and we never missed a Friday until after I graduated college and my brother joined the Air Force. My favorite memories are just sitting with my family eating dinner – usually sushi – and downloading on how our weeks had each gone. I love that my parents always took an interest in what my brother and I were up to, whether it was how my pokemon card collection was growing when I was a kid or what I wanted to be when I grew up (it changed pretty much every week). My parents also used this time to teach my brother and I about the importance of being together and the importance of pursuing your passions in life. My parents were extremely hard-working and very successful; yet, they always taught me to be humble and to be generous. I’d say that I’ve been truly blessed to have a really strong mentor and great people to work with who have each guided me throughout my journey, but my parents have always been my true northern stars who continue to guide me. They’re my rock, and they are the underlying fabric of how my entire story has come to be so far.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.linkedin.
com/in/laurendelgado-la ; http ://www.santamariagroup.com ; / https://www.thelokelshow. com/meet-the-la-team ; https:/ /lokelsonly.com/ ; https://filuency.com/ - Phone: 213-346-0400
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurendelgado_la/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lauren.Delgado.LA
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurendelgado-la
Image Credit:
Pierre Camarena, Kevin Le, Andrew Rose, Rayson Esquejo
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