Submitted by: Erik Roldan, General Manager
My name is Erik Roldan and my family is from Colombia. I learned to speak Spanish when my grandparents came to live with us when I was 5. My grandmother did not speak any English so it forced me to learn Spanish at a young age in order to communicate with my grandmother. She provided a big Hispanic influence in my household, between cooking, listening to music, and always watching Spanish television.
On September 15, 2018, several TMX Finance® Family of Companies team members volunteered for the Latin American Association’s (LAA) Hispanic Heritage Night held at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, GA. It gave us a unique opportunity to learn about different exhibits from Aquarium employees, but also allowed us to help translate the exhibits to Hispanic families. To be able to help families where English is the second language was a pleasure and an honor.
Usually Hispanic families rely on their children, who are still in school and speak English, to translate during tours and exhibits. The staff at the Aquarium admitted they don’t have enough bilingual employees which meant we were able to give the kids in these families a break during their fun day at the Aquarium. The looks on the parents’ faces when they knew there were translators at the most popular exhibits was a joy to see.
Here in the Atlanta metro area, we hope to continue building our presence in the Hispanic community. Hopefully through our partnership with LAA, we’ll find different and creative ways to appeal to and help our Hispanic customers in the hopes that we will improve our Company’s image and gain new team members and customers.
