Milestone | Patricia Pérez: Setting the Standard
HL | Culture and Influence
Milestone | Patricia Pérez: Setting the Standard
HL Media Network congratulates longtime communications executive, community advocate and 2017 Hispanic Lifestyle Latina of Influence Patricia Pérez as she begins a new chapter following nearly four decades with VPE Communications.
Photos and article by
Richard Sandoval
ome moments deserve to be recognized as milestones. Patricia Pérez’s retirement from VPE Communications is one of them.
For nearly four decades, Patricia built a career in public relations and communications connecting major corporations, public agencies and organizations with the U.S. Hispanic market. Just as importantly, she remained actively engaged with the community-based organizations and causes serving many of those same communities.
As Patricia begins her next chapter, we want to say something very simple:
Congratulations on a job well done. You have built a career to be proud of and thank you for your many years of service to our community.
A Career Built on Relationships
My memories of Patricia go back many years.
I remember crossing paths with her at numerous community events over the years. Her name would often appear on the boards of organizations and community-based initiatives, and there would be many more events, meetings and opportunities to watch Patricia and VPE at work.
Her professional career put her in the company of major brands and organizations. VPE’s client history has included organizations such as Disneyland, McDonald’s, AT&T and Farmers Insurance, along with numerous government agencies and community organizations.
That professional record speaks for itself.
But when I think about Patricia, some of the things I remember most didn’t happen from a stage or in front of a camera.
I remember the conversations.
Patricia was one of those people with whom you could have a quiet conversation and walk away with a new perspective.
She might share an insight, make a suggestion or point out something you hadn’t considered. These were valuable pieces of information coming from someone with years of experience who was willing to share some of what she had learned along the way.
There was never much fanfare surrounding those moments.
It was simply good advice.
And I appreciated it.
Serving the Market and the Community
Patricia’s career also represents an important chapter in the evolution of communications with the U.S. Hispanic market.
Through VPE, she helped bring stories, information and campaigns to the attention of audiences that historically had often been underserved or overlooked.
That work required more than delivering a message. It required understanding the communities those messages were intended to reach.
Patricia understood that distinction.
She wasn’t simply communicating to the community. She was active in the community.
Throughout her career, she contributed her time, experience and leadership to community-based organizations, civic efforts and causes. That involvement provided a perspective that couldn’t simply be learned by studying demographics or reading a marketing report.
She knew the people. She knew the organizations. She understood the marketplace and she understood the value of relationships.
Pictured among Hispanic Lifestyle’s 2017 Latinas of Influence is
Patricia Perez (is standing in the back row).
Documenting the Journey
For more than three decades, our cameras, microphones and pages have documented the people and organizations influencing our communities.
Patricia and VPE are part of that history.
VPE Communications was recognized through Hispanic Lifestyle’s Business: Surviving to Thriving series, which celebrated businesses demonstrating longevity, adaptability and the ability to grow through changing economic conditions and marketplaces.
In 2017, Hispanic Lifestyle recognized Patricia Pérez as a Latina of Influence, acknowledging her professional accomplishments, leadership and commitment to community.
That year, we also sat down with Patricia for an interview, giving her an opportunity to share some of her experiences and perspective in her own words.
Setting the Standard
There is another part of Patricia’s career worth recognizing.
She demonstrated that it was possible to operate at the highest levels of the communications industry, work with major corporate and institutional clients, and remain genuinely connected to the community.
That matters.
Influence isn’t simply about having access to important rooms. It’s also about what you bring into those rooms, the perspectives you represent and what you do with the opportunities you’ve earned.
Patricia helped set that standard.
Her retirement also represents another measure of professional success:
What she helped build continues.
VPE Communications now enters its next chapter under the leadership of longtime VPE professionals Maricela Cueva and Lorena Alamillo. Their opportunity is to build upon a foundation developed over nearly four decades while defining what comes next for the organization.
We look forward to documenting that journey.
A Milestone Worth Recognizing
We often talk about standing on the shoulders of the people who came before us.
People like Patricia helped create a foundation upon which others can continue to build.
They opened doors. They developed relationships. They demonstrated the importance and economic influence of the U.S. Hispanic market. They gave their time and experience to organizations and communities.
And sometimes, away from the cameras and microphones, they quietly shared what they had learned with someone else who could benefit from their experience.
The responsibility for those who follow isn’t simply to admire what was built.
It is to build upon it.
That’s how influence continues.
That’s how a legacy grows.
And that’s why Patricia Pérez’s retirement deserves to be recognized as a milestone.
Patricia, from all of us at HL Media Network, congratulations on a job well done.
Thank you for your service to our community, for the conversations and insights shared along the way, and for helping create a foundation upon which others can continue to build.
You have set a standard and built a career to be proud of.
We wish you much happiness and success in whatever comes next.
EDITOR NOTES
Culture & Influence is about more than documenting what is happening today. It is about preserving the stories of the people who helped create the opportunities we experience today and documenting those who will build upon them tomorrow.
Our history with Patricia Pérez and VPE Communications spans many years. We recognized their accomplishments, recorded their perspectives and watched their influence within the community.
Today, HL Media Network has the privilege of returning to that archive to recognize another milestone.
That is why we document.
Because today’s interview, photograph or conversation eventually becomes part of the record of who we were, who helped shape our communities and how the next generation moved the story forward.
What’s Next for VPE
As VPE Communications begins its next chapter under the leadership of Maricela Cueva and Lorena Alamillo, HL Media Network looks forward to continuing the conversation. In an upcoming Culture & Influence feature, we’ll introduce VPE’s new leadership and explore their vision for building upon the organization’s legacy and what’s next.
Video interview with VPE posted in 2014
