THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BRAND: MARISSA SOLIS

by Elsa Cavazos

MEXICAN-BORN Marissa Solis is the head of the Global Brand and Consumer Marketing for the National Football League. But her road to success was rooted in her early beginnings. Solis grew up in Harlingen, located in the Rio Grande Valley and her parents worked in restaurants. It was vital for her to give back to her Latino community, and the sentiment remained with her. Solis attended Georgetown, where initially, she wanted to become a foreign service ambassador. But one professor told her to make a name for herself and network. So far, it has worked for her.

Going to such a prestigious school had her attend class with classmates who came with more privilege. But Solis never felt intimidated. She just wanted to change the world.

"I was just a little girl from the Valley with nothing. I didn't find that challenging or intimidating. It just really gave me a lot of energy. I loved every minute of being in Georgetown, it opened the world to me," she said.

After graduating, Solis went on to work for Procter & Gamble. Her focus was Puerto Rico and Central America, and she learned how to problem solve, a skill that would become beneficial to her even today. She was only 20 when she started her job at the company.

"Being there on your own teaches you to be self-sufficient, to look at every challenge differently. And you just kind of go, overcome and keep going," Solis said of moving away from her family for the job.

Later on, she worked for a political firm in Austin. Solis realized when working for a Texas governor campaign it was difficult to be a Latina woman in a world of men.

"Nobody cared about what I thought or what I had to say because I had no power. That was a big moment in learning. It opened my eyes to many challenges that Latinos in this country face or, quite frankly, any minority. Women of color specifically face this challenge... we have so much to give. Yet, we're kept in the dark. We're obscure. People don't see us. People don't hear us," she said.

From that experience, it became her mission to create a community of women for her and for others to thrive and feel comfortable. Solis stressed you need passion and desire to stay motivated.

“If somebody said to me ‘you are not important or your contributions don’t matter’, that just fueled me more to succeed. Because I know my contributions do matter. And I know the contributions of my Latino community matter as well”

As years went by, she worked for companies such as Frito-Lay and PepsiCo, where her skills as a marketer sharpened. For Solis, the key to being a good marketer is to evoke emotions and feelings in others and appeal to people's human side.

IT OPENED MY EYES TO MANY CHALLENGES THAT LATINOS IN THIS COUNTRY FACE OR, QUITE FRANKLY, ANY MINORITY, SPECIFICALLY WOMEN BECAUSE WOMEN OF COLOR HAVE SO MUCH TO GIVE.

"You've got to tap into humanity's diverse nature and be authentic, telling real stories, not made up," she said.

"When we start to tell those stories and being open to learning and being vulnerable, everything completely changes because people see the authenticity. And they get inspired by that," Solis said.

Solis was not expecting it when the NFL came into her life. She received a call and got offered the job. Football had always been part of her life, so there was a lot of excitement to join. More than anything, Solis said she felt she could be a catalyst for more diversity and inclusion. ". I just had a sense that maybe I belong there to accelerate the embracing of diversity and engage with all fans of the sport.," Solis said. Among everything she has learned, she emphasized that being adaptable and open to change is what leads to success.

"You have to be a lifelong learner to succeed, especially in marketing, because things change so fast. You have to change along with the world around you," she said.