From September 15 through October 15, AEO is celebrating Latinx Heritage Month – a time to recognize the important contributions of U.S. citizens whose ancestors immigrated from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. Throughout the month, AEO is highlighting our Latinx associates by celebrating, sharing and learning about their traditions and cultures!
- Name: Alex
- Role: Associate Manager – Digital Production
- Latinx Heritage: Puerto Rican
Tell us about your role.
In my current role as Associate Manager of Digital Production, I oversee the coordination of Marketing and Promotional Digital Initiatives for the AE and Aerie website. This includes coordinating weekly website updates and changes, as well as larger projects for the Digital Roadmap. Basically, my team pulls together all of the necessary info from our cross-functional partners and then builds this content to produce our AE and Aerie website. We are also the last piece of the puzzle before pushing this content live to our customers!
Why do you love working at AEO?
One of the reasons I love working at AEO is all of the amazing people that I have met and friends that I have made over the years. I am so lucky to get to work every day with such an incredible, talented group of coworkers. Another reason why I love working at AEO is the fact that our organization is constantly giving back to not only our local community, but other organizations outside of Pittsburgh that are important to associates. I’m able to enhance and share my passion for volunteer and charity work with my coworkers.
What does Latinx Heritage Month mean to you?
It’s a time when our culture and traditions are able to be in the spotlight and receive recognition for the contributions we’ve made to the American society and culture. I think that a lot of people don’t realize how much of an impact the Hispanic and Latino community have made in their everyday lives – from food to music to art. It’s important to celebrate this and educate others.
We know you’re passionate about a particular organization in Puerto Rico – Save a Friend, PR. Why is this organization so special to you?
Save a Friend is an organization in Luquillo, PR whose goal is to reduce the amount of homeless dogs on the island. This past June, my friend Emily and I traveled to Luquillo, PR to volunteer with Save A Friend PR. Prior to our trip we spent time fundraising and collecting donations. We were able to gather items such as cleaning supplies for the shelter and other supplies like food, treats, shampoo and collars. The amount of items we gathered filled FOUR large suitcases! We were also able to raise $2,000 for the shelter.
Once we arrived in PR, we spent a week in Luquillo helping care for the dogs and fixing up the run down shelter – including power washing, weed whacking, walking and bathing dogs. Another reason why we traveled down was to bring puppies back to the US to be adopted in Pittsburgh. A few members of Save A Friend PR came across a mama dog, Sunnie, who was showing she recently had puppies. Sunnie led the team to her puppies that were in a ditch under a tree nearby – there were 10 puppies! Save A Friend PR took in Sunnie and her 10 puppies to care for and at the end of our trip, we traveled home with four of those puppies to be adopted in Pittsburgh. I ended up keeping two of those puppies! Their names are Bruce & Daisy.
What else makes the Puerto Rican culture unique?
I am proud to be a Latina because our culture is so rich and diverse! I feel so much pride and passion for our culture when cooking Puerto Rican food. My love for cooking and all the recipes I’ve learned over the years were passed on to me from multiple generations in our family. One of my favorite things about our culture is that I am constantly learning something new because there are so many incredible traditions and food recipes. Being able to share my culture with others is something that is extremely important to me and makes my heart full!
