By JUAN LONGORIA
VP of Customer Care, Enseo
Raised in rural San Benito, Juan Longoria, corporate vice president and two-time master’s graduate, reflects this Hispanic Heritage Month on what his path from San Benito taught him about the importance of visibility, mentorship, and helping young people see career possibilities beyond what they encounter every day. In this installment, Longoria brings the issue home to San Benito, where only about 14% of adults have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher, and shares why connecting young people with local mentors and professionals can help turn possibility into a tangible next step.
Growing up in rural San Benito, Texas, I was surrounded by family. My mother was one of 12 children, and many of us lived close enough that my childhood meant coming home from school to play outside with a dozen cousins.
What I was not surrounded by were examples of the careers I would eventually pursue. We had no vice presidents, directors, or corporate leaders in our family. As a kid, I never thought, “I want to be a vice president someday.” I didn’t think I couldn’t become one, either. It simply wasn’t something I could imagine.
As we recognize Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrate the accomplishments of Hispanic leaders across the country, I keep coming back to the importance of the next generation seeing those examples firsthand and understanding that they are within reach.
Young people can have enormous potential yet still struggle to envision opportunities they have never seen before. But that’s where the concept of visibility, which might otherwise seem vague, becomes a truly practical advantage.
Visibility expands what feels possible
My sister, brother, and I would become the first college graduates in our family. My sister pursued nursing. My brother served in the Army as a medic before continuing his education to pursue a career in healthcare. But before I understood where education could take me, my older siblings began widening my world in other ways.
They introduced me to experiences beyond the rural community where I grew up and, more importantly, showed me that new experiences were within reach if I was willing to work toward them. My first professional sports game and my first vacation outside of Texas both took place alongside my siblings, and I experienced firsthand what was possible if I was willing to work hard for it.
My path eventually took me from answering customer service calls to leadership roles at several major companies and, today, to an executive position. Education, mentorship and relationships all played roles along the way.
In San Benito, the need to make these pathways accessible is especially clear. 71.5% of local adults have completed high school, while only about 14% have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. When college and professional careers may feel distant from what students see every day, direct access to mentors and practical guidance can help turn possibility into a plan.
Turn representation into relationships
Seeing someone with a similar background succeed can be powerful. Meeting them can be transformative.
Young people need opportunities to ask questions that careers rarely address from the outside: How did you get started in a field you didn’t even know existed? How do you build the right skills when you don’t always know what you’re working toward? How did you build a network?
College may be the right next step for one student; another may pursue a skilled trade, entrepreneurship, or enter the workforce directly. The point is not to prescribe a single definition of success but to expand the number of pathways that feel attainable.
That philosophy increasingly guides my community work through REVJLO, the nonprofit my wife and I started. I want young people in South Texas to interact directly with professionals who look and sound like them, share similar last names, and can help demystify paths they may not encounter in their immediate circles.
Those connections matter because Cameron County is projected to add more than 20,000 jobs by 2030. Healthcare is among the county’s fastest-growing opportunity areas, along with retail trade and educational services. Students deserve opportunities to meet the people behind these booming local career paths and to understand the training and relationships that can guide them toward these pipelines.
Help young people take the next step
We often ask teenagers what they want to do five or 10 years from now, even though many adults could not confidently answer the same question. I certainly could not at their age.
Rather than expecting young people to map an entire career, we can help them identify the next step: explore a program, learn a skill, meet someone in a field that interests them, or begin building a professional network.
I experienced the value of continued learning firsthand when I returned to Western Governors University twice to earn two separate master’s degrees. I still approach my career with the belief that there is always another skill to develop or perspective to gain.
Hispanic Heritage Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate how far Hispanic leaders have come. But our stories become more powerful when they help others imagine where they might go. Our responsibility is not to tell young people what success should look like, but to help them see how many forms it can take and how they can begin to reach it.