Bio.
Yurik Lozano combines his deep technical expertise in social media marketing with his writing, photography, and art direction skills to deliver high quality content that engages audiences online and moves them into action. As a marketing expert in B2C and B2B strategy, content creation, user experience design and storytelling, he specializes in presenting complex content in an easy-to-understand way so that audiences of all ages can act quickly on an organization’s goals.
Contact me: yurikllozano@gmail.com
Please scroll down to read my digestible life snippets.
My story in digestible life snippets
It’s not all about your accomplishments. You have come to the right place if you want to know me as a person who had a few stumbling blocks along the way. I’m going to drop the industry jargon and get to my core. Are you ready for this? Let’s get started!
I am a Cuban Immigrant.
Showing vulnerability does not come easily to me. Perhaps it stems from my parent’s constant desire to see their kids grow up to have opportunities. My family and I moved to the US from communist Cuba in 1997, and despite moving being one of their best decisions, anxiety and grief overcame them. Imagine being torn away from your family, with the uncertainty of never being able to see them again. My parents taught me not to be vulnerable, and I struggle with that often.
I have an MBA and a BA in Mass Communication—Advertising and PR.
I cried alongside my mom when I first received my acceptance letter to college, because I always felt that colleage was unreachable. Like many minority students in the US, going to college seems to be an unattainable dream. I cried because I felt like all of my hard work paid off. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication—Advertising and PR, I later pursued a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and graduated in 2017.
I grew up quickly and held enormous responsibility as a kid.
I was the main translator for my family. I had to grow up quickly. As a five-year-old, this builds up a lot of pressure. I remember going to the hospitals, parent-teacher conferences, immigration meetings and more with my parents and translating all the different terminologies within those topics. My family depended on me. I was always the middle man between the sender and the receiver. I had been exposed to many adult topics early on—perhaps some which children shouldn’t know about at such a young age.
I do my best to welcome ideas with an open mind.
Many US natives welcomed us with subconscious division. The division that says, “You should speak English, we’re in America.” This type of language destroys, not uplifts—and it happens often. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to show considerable amounts of empathy towards others and their backgrounds. I firmly believe diversity and multicultural work environments spark creativity.
I perfected my English by taking ESL classes.
Early on, I knew I sounded differently. Students would make fun of the way I spoke. I had a Spanish accent for much of my life, and I worked so hard to remove it that I did just that. Looking back, I am so proud of my little self and I would tell that boy, “you’re a rock star!” Now I speak fluent English and Spanish.
I’ve recently been asking myself questions I would never dare to— principally, who am I and what do I want out of life?
These types of questions are so grueling that even I shy away from them often. If COVID has made me rethink anything, it’s what do I want to accomplish on this earth, what value do others see in me, what makes me stand out amongst young professionals and what purpose do I serve? Even to this day I struggle with imposter syndrome and feelings of belonging, but one thing is for sure, I will always do my best and keep pushing through regardless of the hurdles.
I’ve felt a deep connection to my minority brothers and sisters in the last couple of months.
The pain and the feelings of imperfection are a constant reminder that I am a minority. Unfortunately, being called a minority meant I was different and less than the majority. Today I realize how wrong I was to think less of myself over the years. The BLM movement is ratifying workplace policies. As a member of BIPOC, I have hope and the strength to fight a system that has unfavored minorities throughout the years. Now I speak up against injustice and love the vibrant Hispanic community I come from and the stories I can tell about my culture.
My age does not define me.
How many times has someone unworthy gotten a job because of their age? I would bet a few. I’d like to one day live in a world without discrimination against gender, age, sexual orientation, race or any other prejudice. We all come from adversity and in adversity there is strength.