OJO Spotlight: Sabrina Santos

Sabrina Santos is a Bilingual Concierge Supervisor at OJO , overseeing teams in Austin, Texas and Guadalajara, Mexico. She got her start in fashion out of college before moving to Austin and joining OJO where she saw her role grow out of a need to serve Spanish-speaking consumers on the platform. Read on to hear how Sabrina transitioned from runways to real estate, what she loves most about working with our team in Mexico, and what her Hispanic and Latina cultures mean to her.?

How did you get your start at OJO?

I was working in fashion in New York and was unfortunately furloughed when COVID hit. My boyfriend was living in Austin at the time so I traveled down to visit him and spend some time there. When I got the call that my job was being reinstated and I needed to return to New York, I couldn’t pull myself to leave my boyfriend and Austin behind. I made the decision to stay and called my boss to tell her I wasn’t going back to New York. Without a job, I scoured LinkedIn and found a concierge job at OJO that piqued my interest.

How did you get into your current role?

My current role at OJO grew organically out of a business need. I started at OJO as a concierge, which supports buyers, sellers, agents, and partners throughout the home journey by facilitating conversations, gathering insights, and suggesting other services as needed. A couple of months after joining OJO, we acquired Movoto and implemented their leads. The first day we implemented those leads, we found a lot of Spanish-speaking homebuyers who weren’t able to get support from our current CER or concierge teams. I was the only person on the team who spoke fluent Spanish so I was able to step in and help those consumers. As our need for more Spanish-speaking concierges grew, we hired our first bilingual concierge team. I began to spearhead an initiative to get everything translated into Spanish to better help those consumers as we built out our process in Spanish. We continued to expand our bilingual team, eventually creating a team in Guadalajara, Mexico. With the growth of those teams, I moved into a team lead position and eventually a supervisor, my current position.?

What is the work you do currently with our teams in Guadalajara??

I help keep alignment between the team in the U.S. and the team in Guadalajara by sharing communications and business initiatives. I am also responsible for new hire training and continuing education. Any time we have a new hire class, I travel down to Mexico to get them up to speed on our systems and processes and do any necessary training for other employees.?

What are our teams in Guadalajara responsible for??

The team in Guadalajara consists of Consumer Engagement Representatives (CERs) and concierges and they are responsible for everything when it comes to our Spanish-speaking consumers, including any and all post-referral follow-ups.?

What is the culture like of the team in Guadalajara??

They are the most boisterous, outgoing, caring people! They’re very friendly and always cracking jokes. We try to implement a lot of the team building and cultural things we do with our U.S. teams with the team down there. They’re a very close-knit team naturally and truly enjoy the work they do and who they get to work with. I learned Spanish by talking with my family so I was nervous the first time I went down there to train a class because I thought my Spanish wouldn’t be good enough. I left enamored by their work ethic and more confident in my own abilities. The last class I met was one of the most fun for me because I was more comfortable which helped me get to know them all on a more personal level. The stories I hear of people who work at OJO in Guadalajara are so special. They are grateful to work somewhere like OJO and are truly passionate about the work they do to help consumers on the homeownership journey.?

What is your favorite thing about working with our Spanish-speaking teams and consumers??

I love making a difference in the lives of Hispanic and Latin homeowners who might not be able to otherwise get help in their native language. It is easy to find support in English in America. For native Spanish speakers, that’s not the case. When you have a language barrier and receive support in your native language, it makes the biggest difference in a consumer’s experience. The impact that has on their lives is truly special.

How did you learn Spanish? Did you grow up speaking it at home??

My mom is from Spain and my dad is from Brazil so you would think we spoke Spanish at home all the time but my parents wanted their children to speak English. I am a first-generation American so that was important to them. I joke that my Spanish is household Spanish because I mainly learned it while helping my Dad read the mail and bills, speaking with my grandparents or cousins, and traveling.

How important is the Hispanic and Latinx culture to you?

Culture is so important to me, both my European and Latina cultures. Not only are my parents from Spain and Brazil, but my stepdad is from the Dominican Republic so I was fortunate to be raised in this incredible mix of cultures. My environment growing up was influential in not only my upbringing but how I carry myself as an adult, how I speak, and the places I travel. It was important for my parents that I grow up in America, but they didn’t want me to lose the values of where they came from. I joke that I’m my grandparents’ favorite grandkid because I kept up with the languages (English, Spanish, and Portuguese) and cultures.?

What’s your favorite thing about the Brazilian, Dominican, and Spanish cultures?

Brazilian - the language, the spices, and the music

Dominican - the people and their values

Spanish - the food and the music?

What are your favorite foods from each culture??

Brazil - pao de queijo (these little cheese breads)

Dominican - arroz con gundules (rice with pigeon peas)

Spanish - gambas al ajilo (shrimp with garlic and oil)

OJO Team Member Spotlight is a regular content series to celebrate the unique things that make our employees who they are.