When first embarking on a college career, most students will wonder if they will belong and how they will make friends on their college campus. 这就是发生的事情 Nubia Martinez-Caro '04 came to the 北科罗拉多大学 (UNC). 

Luckily, Martinez-Caro quickly fell in love with a group of people she would call 长久的朋友. 

Having received mail from the César Chávez Cultural Center welcoming her to UNC, she checked out the center on her first Saturday on campus. 不幸的是，她没有 意识到周末关门了. 一些姐妹会和兄弟会也出现了 to be hosting barbecues close by and invited her to stay. 这就是马丁内斯-卡罗 在学校里认识了她的第一批朋友. 

“I remember calling my mom and telling her ‘Mom, there’s people like me here,’” Martinez-Caro 回忆. “In my high school graduating class, there were onl大约四分钟r of us that were Latinos, in a class of 207 students.” 

Seeing an entire center dedicated to Hispanic and Latinx-identifying students and Lambda Theta Nu，姐妹会., a multicultural Greek sorority on campus, Martinez-Caro 觉得她真的属于博天堂官方. 

With a little trial and error, Martinez-Caro also found the right fit for her academic 追求. 

Enrolling as a Political Science major, Martinez-Caro quickly realized that it wasn’t 她的激情所在. In her first term, she took a political science course, but it didn’t speak to her like she thought it would despite having what she referred to as an amazing professor and studying topics she found interesting.  

After her first semester, she switched to Marketing. 她更喜欢她的新专业， but she still wasn’t sure where it would take her. 

Throughout her time studying in the Marketing department, the most valuable lesson Martinez-Caro learned came from her Sales and the Sales Process class.  

“The professor was amazing,” Martinez-Caro remembered. “他会告诉我们，‘你们是 总是在卖东西. You’re selling yourself and your skills, you’re selling 一个产品或者你在销售一项服务. 就是这样. 不管你在做什么，你都 卖这三样东西之一.’” 

这就是马丁内斯-卡罗喜欢营销的原因. 它适用于大多数情况. 这是 她是如何在金融行业找到自己的. 

While at UNC, Martinez-Caro was part of the President’s 领导 Program, and the father of one of the staff at the time was the regional president at Wells Fargo in 丹佛. He came to campus to give a talk that ended in a social hour where Martinez-Caro 跟他提过她对金融的兴趣. 他把助手的名片递给她，问道 她把她的简历寄给他们. 

Martinez-Caro included her Latin American 教育 Foundation (LAEF) scholarship on her resume, but little did she know that Wells Fargo partnered with LAEF to provide 实习. Before she knew it, she had landed herself an internship with Wells Fargo. 

今天, Martinez-Caro has been working at Wells Fargo for more than 20 years. 

Working as a trust team manager now, Martinez-Caro oversees a team of 11 advisors 从海岸到海岸. 他们为500万到1000万美元的客户提供咨询 estate planning and effective ways to manage their wealth. 

Living a life and pursuing a profession she never imagined before her time at UNC, Martinez-Caro chooses to regularly come back and educate the next generation of UNC 抓住每一个机会. 

Returning to participate in her sixth career conversation, Martinez-Caro will be a 在即将到来的校友职业小组的小组成员 9月. 26 featuring alumni of color in business and finance. 

“这是有意义的 for me to be able to give back,” she expressed. “这是有意义的 for me to be in a place where I can be helpful to other people.” 

When Martinez-Caro was a student, she didn’t know trust services existed. 她想要的 to be able to educate students on the life they can have pursuing finance, specifically serving as an example to students of color that there are paths for them. 

“I’m in a position now where I can provide those contacts and opportunities,” Martinez-Caro said, reflecting on her chance encounter with Wells Fargo when she was a student. “这是毫不费力. I get to show up and talk about what I do with students. 我得到了一些 great engagement; people ask really intelligent questions.” 

One piece of advice that Martinez-Caro would give to a student trying to break into the finance 行业 is to make contacts and build connections with people, not necessarily 在银行业.  

“It’s really about who you know rather than what you know,” Martinez-Caro advises, “Making those contacts, going to networking events and coming to the opportunities 博天堂官方为学生提供. 这真的很有价值.” 

Join Martinez-Caro at the alumni of color in business and finance panel Sept. 26日的 more advice and stories from her more than two decades of experience working in the 行业. All students are encouraged to tune in regardless of their chosen major 或者研究领域. 参观 校友就业页面 to learn about other similar career panels happening this fall. 

——塔姆辛·弗莱明写