00;00;00;00 - 00;00;26;01 Speaker 1 Cubs Allen and Casey Specialty present making the claim for DNI. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Cavs Allen and Casey Specialty is making the claim for DH in our podcast. My name is Slade Smith and I'm an employee benefits consultant within our benefits practice. I'm lucky to be a part of C. D in our committee, where we promote, celebrate and educate on diversity, equity and inclusivity within our firm.

00;00;26;04 - 00;00;49;08 Speaker 1 Today, we have the special privilege of speaking with Rogelio Hernandez, who works in our multinational practice. Before we get started, I want to lay the foundation that this is a safe space and we are learning together. And while we might not have it 100% right all the time, it's important and necessary to learn and grow together as we try to make our organization more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

00;00;49;10 - 00;01;11;05 Speaker 1 With that being said, let's get started as a quick bit of background. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th through October 15th here in the United States. Every year to recognize the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture and achievements for United States. Now, if you're good with it, let's dive in. Rogelio, how are you doing today?

00;01;11;06 - 00;01;12;26 Speaker 2 I'm doing great, Slade. How are you.

00;01;12;28 - 00;01;17;28 Speaker 1 Doing? Well, doing well. Thanks so much for hopping on. Are you ready to chat about Hispanic Heritage Month?

00;01;17;29 - 00;01;19;08 Speaker 2 Sure. Let's do it.

00;01;19;11 - 00;01;23;00 Speaker 1 Rubio Can you start out by telling me a little bit about yourself and your heritage?

00;01;23;07 - 00;01;49;07 Speaker 2 Sure. So I live in San Antonio, Texas. I was born and raised here. For the most part, I've lived here my entire life. There were short pockets where I lived away in different cities for work. But usually I have always come back to San Antonio and then I joined CAC about a year ago and I work remote, so I support all the practices, all our colleagues and all the various cities.

00;01;49;10 - 00;01;54;14 Speaker 2 So so it's worked out really nicely that I still get to be based here from from home in San Antonio.

00;01;54;20 - 00;01;59;02 Speaker 1 Awesome. And you're with multinational practice. Can you tell a little bit about what that looks like?

00;01;59;03 - 00;02;28;23 Speaker 2 Yes. So I am part of multinational. So any time that any of our clients have any international operations or international risk exposures, our colleagues can come to me as a resource and I can provide some guidance on program structure on coverage, on international regulations for the various countries where our clients have operations. And I will also work with our foreign broker partners in the various different countries.

00;02;28;23 - 00;02;36;25 Speaker 2 So if our clients are ever needing any assistance for any insurance placements in other countries, we can have them covered from that perspective.

00;02;36;28 - 00;02;40;07 Speaker 1 So you're saying you're the perfect person to talk about Hispanic heritage?

00;02;40;08 - 00;03;01;23 Speaker 2 I am. I am. It's a it's one that I really want to dive into my family. I am a third generation American through my mom's side of the family and second generation through my dad's side. My grandparents on my mom's side came to the US in the late sixties. A dad came to the US in the early eighties.

00;03;01;26 - 00;03;30;14 Speaker 2 My family, let's see, they are from a small village in Mexico, in northern Mexico, which is probably about a six hour driving distance from San Antonio. So it's a really it's pretty close by. And growing up, I think I was raised with a strong appreciation for for, you know, our culture or heritage. You know, I think there were a few different things that we did in order to celebrate that and to live it.

00;03;30;14 - 00;03;51;11 Speaker 2 And I think one of the biggest things that we would do was speak Spanish. So growing up, Spanish was my first language. It really wasn't until I went to elementary school that I learned how to speak English, and it was really important for at least my grandpa when when he came over to the US that all his kids retained the language of speaking Spanish.

00;03;51;13 - 00;04;11;02 Speaker 2 He knew we were all going to eventually learn English in school, so that was really important to him and I think that's something that I still carry to to this day, making sure that I continue sharpening it because, you know, there's different terminology depending on which region of Mexico you're and, you know, different dialects between the different countries and different things you can learn.

00;04;11;02 - 00;04;41;10 Speaker 2 So. So that's been an important thing. And I think that it's very different than many other Hispanics in the US because not everyone, not all Hispanics speak Spanish. And I think that also depends on when your family or when your grandparents descendants perhaps came to the US. If they came, perhaps, I don't know let's say you know pre 1940s there is a strong chance that the kids, the grandkids no longer speak Spanish.

00;04;41;17 - 00;04;42;24 Speaker 2 So it just really varies.

00;04;42;28 - 00;04;49;25 Speaker 1 And can you tell me a little bit about your grandparents? Have they shared any stories with you about their journey to America and what that look like?

00;04;49;26 - 00;05;12;19 Speaker 2 Yeah. So my grandpa, who's no longer living, he his schooling essentially ended in second grade. So that was the highest level of education that he received. He immigrated to the US, I believe he was about 30 or so when he came here and he was a farm worker. Don't know exactly what part of the country he was in, but he was traveling through various different states.

00;05;12;26 - 00;05;18;27 Speaker 2 Eventually, my grandma joined him as well, and eventually they decided to come back to and settle here in Texas.

00;05;19;03 - 00;05;39;10 Speaker 1 I love thinking about how hard your grandparents worked to build a future. And, you know, I've got four kids, my own. I go to work every day and try to work hard to set my kids up for success and future generations. So it's cool to hear your perspective looking back and hearing stories of your grandparents.

00;05;39;13 - 00;06;07;23 Speaker 2 Yeah, no, it's it's very special and it's something that I think all of us still carry, at least, you know, grandchildren, just children. The appreciation for for their efforts back in the day because he came he started a small business here in San Antonio was a tire and mechanic shop. He started in the 1970s, and he eventually expanded to the point where he had like 20 locations throughout the city, not all owned by himself, but he helped his siblings.

00;06;07;23 - 00;06;25;01 Speaker 2 He helped his nephews set up their own businesses and and help their families. So he was really big in the whole business space of being a small business owner. And that's where I think my interest in business first, I'm from.

00;06;25;03 - 00;07;02;13 Speaker 1 You talked about speaking Spanish, and I must admit that is not a specialty of mine. I struggle with my hours, my wife and me on that. But I've we've been fortunate to through my time with baseball, I got a chance to meet a lot of Hispanic speaking athletes, primarily from Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic. And a lot of them baseball was their chance to create a life for themselves, to potentially set their families up.

00;07;02;16 - 00;07;29;09 Speaker 1 And that's started at a young age for them because their parents pushed them to play baseball and to hopefully use baseball as a way to to propel them into a successful career. And through that, I was around a lot of Spanish speaking. And I always regret not spending more time on studying and learning that as a second language so that I could have made more connections with my athletes.

00;07;29;11 - 00;07;41;11 Speaker 1 Do you find yourself the Spanish being a more of a barrier or more of a connector for you professionally with what you do for work?

00;07;41;11 - 00;08;06;25 Speaker 2 I would say it's definitely a connector. And I'll say growing up, I think it was a bit challenging because, as I mentioned, not all Hispanics speak Spanish. And I have heard from older from older generations that grew up in San Antonio and throughout the US that there was a time period when speaking Spanish in school was prohibited. You can be physically disciplined if teachers heard the kids speaking in Spanish.

00;08;06;27 - 00;08;25;08 Speaker 2 So I think a lot because of that, a lot of parents and grandparents decided to no longer teach their kids how to speak Spanish because they wanted them to be fully assimilated into the American culture. Again, I think it kind of varies because of how I mentioned that my grandpa came in the late sixties. It was probably, you know, after this.

00;08;25;08 - 00;08;44;25 Speaker 2 So it was after the Civil Rights Act and things were changing by then. So I think we kind of came in after that whole period and that's why I was speaking Spanish, grew up speaking Spanish. But I'll tell you that my Spanish is not perfect. I actually tell people that I speak more of a Spanglish because it's a mix of English and Spanish words.

00;08;44;27 - 00;09;07;02 Speaker 2 And then even then there's some terminology that we use that aren't even actual Spanish words, but it's, you know, people here will understand what you're saying. But I definitely think it's helped build bridges with colleagues in other countries. So every day in my role, I'm interacting with partners that are either in Mexico, Germany, the UK, various different countries.

00;09;07;02 - 00;09;28;00 Speaker 2 But whenever it is one of the Latin American countries or Spain, you know, it never fails that I'll speak with them in Spanish. And I tell them I caveat it that my Spanish isn't perfect, but I think everyone appreciates it. And it's another thing because we speak, or at least I speak it the, you know, the daily regular Spanish.

00;09;28;00 - 00;09;42;29 Speaker 2 But then when it comes to talking about work in business, you're using a different legal terminology that you didn't grow up speaking. So that's another added barrier. But by now I've learned all of the important points or most of the important points so that we can at least get get the point across.

00;09;43;02 - 00;09;49;00 Speaker 1 Really. Is there one thing you'd want people to know about Hispanic heritage and what might that be?

00;09;49;02 - 00;10;12;03 Speaker 2 It's important to understand that not all Hispanics are born outside of the US. I think many times there's this perception that many Hispanic people might have been born in another country and immigrated to to the US. But but that's not the case. There's several Hispanics that were born here. I was born in the US. There's several, especially here in Texas.

00;10;12;03 - 00;10;32;00 Speaker 2 There's many families that have lived in Texas, even back when Texas was a part of Mexico and are, you know, have been here for generations. And I think that's something that sometimes gets missed. Many times when I travel outside of the country, people will ask where I'm from and I say, I'm from the US. And then I always get a follow up question.

00;10;32;00 - 00;10;47;27 Speaker 2 But like, where are you really from? And I say, Well, Texas. And then, you know, they're like, But where's your family from? And then, you know, you answer it and you say, you're from families from Mexico. But I think that's a big pet peeve because, one, you know, we now know that those sort of questions can be microaggressions.

00;10;48;00 - 00;11;03;28 Speaker 2 And there's probably a better way of phrasing the question than to just ask where you from. So I think that would be one of the things that I really want people to understand that that that there are American born Hispanics.

00;11;04;00 - 00;11;38;07 Speaker 1 I think that's invaluable for people to take the time to understand and educate ourselves. You know, I think about the and I think about us as a company trying to expand in this area. And I think what dynamic is to me is just the opportunity for anybody to have a seat at the table. And I think the more that we educate ourselves by listening, truly listening really gives us an opportunity to connect more with different backgrounds and races and ethnicities.

00;11;38;07 - 00;11;48;28 Speaker 1 And so I'm thankful for the opportunity to listen to you and for you to educate myself. So how would you connect Hispanic Heritage Month with the D?

00;11;48;28 - 00;12;19;01 Speaker 2 And I'd say that it ties back into to the importance of representation. I think the first time that I ever felt as an actual minority was when I entered the industry. And I say that because I grew up in San Antonio and the demographics here are about 60% Hispanic. So I never felt like a minority here. Even in college, I went to university here and the majority of my school is made up of predominantly, predominately Hispanics.

00;12;19;04 - 00;12;41;11 Speaker 2 And we even have a significant portion of foreign foreign students from other countries. And a lot of them are actually from central and South America. So many times like you're in the business school and you're hearing you still hear it to this day or students are speaking Spanish. So that's kind of how I was used to, you got used to going to school and growing up with with other Hispanics.

00;12;41;11 - 00;13;03;12 Speaker 2 And it wasn't until I went to an industry conference, I think my sophomore freshman year, that I really felt like a minority. And I think that was the first time that that it really hit me. And and I think it just comes back to representation and feeling like you can be yourself feeling comfortable and just being a part of an organization.

00;13;03;12 - 00;13;20;22 Speaker 2 Because at the end of the day, you know, we all have our own cultures, our own backgrounds, our own different heritage. Heritages is out. I don't know if that comes out properly, but our own, you know, our own unique backgrounds and and it just feels nice to be included.

00;13;20;24 - 00;13;45;04 Speaker 1 When you're saying all that. It reminded me of a word that I heard earlier, the word genuine. We were talking on ourselves team and how when we are genuine with our prospects and clients, how it comes across is a lot stronger relationship and my hope is for you and anybody at USC is the ability to be genuine in ourself.

00;13;45;07 - 00;14;10;27 Speaker 1 And I think in a lot of ways that's what our committee is hoping to establish here at CC, that everybody should have the chance to be genuine. We don't have to be somebody we're not, you know, we can truly stand in our own skin and be who we are and and have a sense of hope that we can be professional and successful and provide and all of that.

00;14;10;29 - 00;14;16;09 Speaker 1 So along those lines, can you tell me something about Casey that has allowed you to embrace your heritage and background?

00;14;16;16 - 00;14;51;16 Speaker 2 Yes. I mean, I would say tying it exactly to what you just spoke about, being genuine. I feel like I'm fully genuine here at at Casey. I recently actually spoke to a student who has a different back. His family comes from the Middle East. And he was asking me about my experience in the industry and one, he's aware that I'm Hispanic and two, he knows I'm gay, that I'm married, I have a husband and he had asked me the question if I feel like I have to code switch at work or if I have to mask who I am.

00;14;51;16 - 00;15;12;08 Speaker 2 And I said, no, you know, I was kind of it was just kind of scary to think of that, that I'd ever have to lie about who I am, lie about my personal life just so that I could, you know, feel like I need to fit in. And I know that that's a privilege because I know it's not always been that way, but but it made me glad and proud to reflect that.

00;15;12;08 - 00;15;35;15 Speaker 2 And so to reflect on the fact that I work at an organization where I can be my full, authentic self and not have to worry about those things. And and I think the fact that, you know, focusing on these different on recognizing the different heritage and identity mindset is important because it's not you know, it's not essentially just what is it where I'm going with this?

00;15;35;15 - 00;15;51;15 Speaker 2 It's not that they're paying lip service to, you know, these different initiatives, but rather it is important. It's important to the people that are part of those groups. And I think those are those are some good moves. On behalf of Casey, you.

00;15;51;15 - 00;16;25;00 Speaker 1 As we all have different challenges that we have to face and different obstacles and different situations, hearing things that you might face that I don't or might not, but knowing that Casey allows you to flourish, it makes me happy as an employee to know that you're able to fill confident about where you work. And it makes me excited more and more about Casey and you know, where we work because, you know, ultimately we spend more time here at work than we do with our family.

00;16;25;00 - 00;16;31;11 Speaker 1 And so we always want to work somewhere that we feel confident and feel like we can be genuine and be ourselves.

00;16;31;12 - 00;16;32;15 Speaker 2 I completely agree.

00;16;32;20 - 00;16;41;00 Speaker 1 So, Rogelio, I noticed that Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15th through October 15th. Do you have any insight as to why that is?

00;16;41;02 - 00;17;08;19 Speaker 2 Yes, it starts mid-month. And that is because September 15th marks the independence anniversary of five Latin American countries Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It is followed by Mexico's Independence Day on September 16th and Chili's on September 18th. And I believe that that this was started or at least expanded by the Reagan administration back in the eighties.

00;17;08;25 - 00;17;32;14 Speaker 1 So, Rogelio, I want first, I want to thank you so much for taking this time to educate me and our listeners. And and really, that's my main hope that everybody that listens to this podcast takes a chance to truly listen to the words that you've spoken and and get a chance to learn about Hispanic Heritage Month and how that has impacted us as America, Americans and our country.

00;17;32;16 - 00;17;56;03 Speaker 1 I just genuinely thank you for your time and thank you for who you are for working at CHC and the impact you make here. And I'm hopeful that everybody listening has a chance to listen and get to know you more and learn about Hispanic Heritage Month. So I appreciate it. Appreciate you. And for being genuine.

00;17;56;05 - 00;18;04;07 Speaker 1 This has been a Cobbs, Ellen and CC specialty presentation.