FiT Feature: Bianca Trinidad-Lamb
Name: Bianca Trinidad-Lamb
Location: San Francisco, CA
Age or Age Range: 33 years old
Title: Sr. Growth Marketing Manager
Company: Nextdoor (full time job); Filiflavors (business)
How long have you been in tech? 7 years
What made you decide to switch to a career in tech?
My family and I moved to the Bay Area in 2012 to provide my brother who is in the Autism spectrum a better life.
I had 3 jobs when I was starting out. It was tough so I really wanted to find a job wherein I could move up. I was able to secure a full time job at a bank but wasn’t really passionate about it.
Living in the Bay Area really inspired me to pursue tech because it’s innovative, you’re always learning and growing, and you get a firsthand experience in helping build companies that have a huge impact on people’s lives. I finally got the opportunity to join a FinTech company in 2015 as part of the operations team.
What advice do you have for people that want to get into growth marketing?
I was able move from Operations to Marketing, which was almost unheard of at my previous company. The 3 things I did were: networking, learning a skill, asked people to advocate for me.
My advice is to invest time in networking because the more you get your name out there the more people are going to think about you when an opportunity comes up. You should really take the time to talk to the people who are already doing Growth Marketing and the teams that they work with the most, this can be applied to any field you’re interested in getting into. Sometimes the idea of a particular job sounds like something that you’d like to do but there a lot of nuances that may actually not be aligned with your actual career goals.
The first point is a good way of understanding what’s needed for the role so you can start learning skills on the side while you’re trying to break into that field. Take some classes, read books, attend free events, etc. You won’t learn everything before you do the actual role but it demonstrates your willingness and enthusiasm to learn. Try to also ask for projects on the side that can help you get some skills that are related to what you’re pursuing.
The last piece is to ask for people you work with, your manager, people you’ve developed a relationship with who work in the field you’re pursuing to advocate for you. It’s easier to sell yourself when someone else is saying great things about you. It’s very important to ask for this because people won’t know what you want unless you make it known to them. Most people are actually willing to go out of their way to help out. Of course you can only ask for this if you’ve done points 1, 2, and you’re doing well at your current role.
What inspired you to open your own business, FiliFlavors?
Filiflavors was a pandemic baby that started as a passion project and an escape. I’ve always had grand ideas of building a business but this started with just wanting to send a fellow immigrant who is based in New York a pasalubong/Pinoy care package. I wanted to wrap nostalgia in beautiful packaging to remind folks that we can relive great memories of home through food.
The business ended up having a deeper mission. Our boxes have bridged the gap that the pandemic has brought. Folks from the Philippines sending loved ones a piece of home, kids sending their parents on the East coast some sinigang mix, pancit canton reaching the ends of Canada were some of the little stories that were huge for us. I mention all the time that you don’t know how much a piece of chocnut means to someone who misses home.
I really wanted to focus on the concept of “pasalubong” to give a nostalgic feel to those who have left the Philippines to pursue a life in the US, to also help connect younger generations to what their parents or grandparents grew up eating, it’s also way for people who are not familiar with Filipino food a taste of it.
A small part of our earnings benefit “Support for Families of Children with Disabilities” and “Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center” as a tribute to my brother. Both are nonprofits based in SF who support the special needs community and their families.
My dream and vision is for Filiflavors to be an instrument in providing representation and accessibility to Filipino food and culture while also providing support to thy Autism community.
Where do you see FiliFlavors in 5 years?
My vision is to be able to ship to multiple countries beyond the US and Canada in order to reach more Filipinos. I see us expanding the types of products that we sell in order to support more Filipino businesses. The last piece is to be able to employ those who have special needs.
Do you feel represented in Tech?
I didn’t really feel like I was represented in Tech for a long time. There weren’t much Filipinos at my previous company so I gravitated towards the Women’s Internal Network ERG instead so that I could somehow feel connected to other folks within the company. My current company though has more Filipinos and every time someone gets a shoutout or gets to speak in front of a large audience we celebrate each other. It feels great to feel like I could share my heritage at work with people who get it.
Do you feel supported by the Filipinx community?
I really haven’t been in touch with the Filipinx community since I moved to the US. The first few years was just primarily survival mode. I started reconnecting more when I started Filiflavors in 2020. I’m still discovering it, there are some differences from the culture and community back home but both are equally beautiful. So far the Filipinx community has been receptive of Filfilavors. So many people have reached out that they’re learning a lot from our social media. I’ve started creating relationships as well and it really feels good to know that our community is thriving in the US.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to break into tech?
I think aside from my advice in #7, you should also try to understand why you want to break into tech. Tech is not always as fancy as what everyone thinks of it. It’s a lot of work especially when you join a startup. You should also really try to see what skills you already have, it may not be exactly from a tech background but if you already have the “bones” to the skillset then you should showcase that and use it to your advantage in your resume, LinkedIn profile, and when you’re networking.
How can people reach you and for what?
You can reach out to me at bianca@filiflavors.com either to chat about business, tech, Marketing, or just life in general.
