Meet Linda Arroz | Author, Speaker, Advisor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Linda Arroz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Linda, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk can be terrifying. Risk requires evaluating what’s at stake, what one is willing to lose, and grasping the concepts of “what if?” What if it works out…what if it doesn’t? Risk has played a big role in my career trajectory and continues to do so.

Growing up I was told to get a good job with benefits, to climb the corporate ladder, and “better myself. So that’s what I did.

I got a late start on thinking about a career, but once I had a handle on what I really wanted to do, vs. what others had guided me to become, there was no looking back.

One of my first real jobs was working on an assembly line in a car factory. That job meant a lot to me as I had recently become a single mom. The work paid well but was tedious, and the hours were long. After a year of working six days a week, 12 hours a day, the company laid us off.

A fellow worker heard a plant in another state was hiring. I was curious. It didn’t take much convincing for me to hit the road. Arrangements were made for family to care for my child. I packed the essentials, hungry for adventure and drove all the way to Oklahoma, where I rented a small apartment above a garage. Every day I went to the plant in hopes of getting hired. It took a month, but finally I had a job. That’s just the beginning of that chapter, but it was the beginning of my understanding that risk could pay off.

Over time I was promoted. But several years into this demanding management position, I was miserable. The job required working seven days a week. I was tired and rarely saw my son. As the only female in the department, I experienced harassment every day. Finally, with much soul searching, I requested a demotion to a lower paying job title with no responsibility. I was able to craft a strategy to quit the company altogether, to pursue a career in a completely different field. I wanted out of blue-collar work. It was a long shot and a bold move. I was over 30 years old with a son. It took several years of commitment and more risk taking. Combining educational leaves, sick leave, and vacation time, with great financial investment, I managed to network myself into another world, the world of fashion. There were losses. My marriage didn’t survive the career transition, I had to sell a house and move to another California to fulfill these goals.

What I’ve learned is that risk can be exciting and positive. Recently a life coach gave me some great advice, she said no action is still taking action. Meaning if we don’t do something, if we don’t try to make something happen…nothing will happen. And that is how I’ve managed my career.

During the 90s I weathered an economic downturn and was laid off from a six-figure job where I was the marketing director of a prestigious apparel firm. I looked for work for about six months. Between lower salary offers and dress codes, I decided to repackage myself as a stylist. I spent the rest of the year, living off savings to build a portfolio. I apprenticed myself to costume designers to gain experience. It was 1995. One year out from being laid off, I was back in the game with a new career and a home office with a computer and the internet!

When things slowed down and I wasn’t getting as much freelance work, I teamed up with a public relations executive and we formed our own company. This was a terrific risk as we were self-funded. Some years were better than others.
One big risk I took in 2004, was probably the biggest risk of all, I went into partnership with a client, a Harvard MBA, and invested the bulk of my life savings into the big trend at that time, retail medicine in the form of a medical spa. They say never get into a business you don’t know anything about. But I was excited about the idea and never looked back.

The recession came along and took our customers and subsequently my business with it.

Back to the drawing board to figure out the next move. While seeking employment after being a business owner was tough, I started to blog. As luck would have it, a colleague shared one of my blog posts with a publisher. Miracles do happen. I couldn’t get a job, but I got a book deal. I was in debt, but I had an advance to live on.

These are several examples of how risk can work for you or against you depending on what your ultimate goals are. Not everyone is able to make the choices I’ve made.

Somehow, it’s all worked out. My business, Makeover Media, has always been there. Over time the services offered have shifted with the economy and contemporary needs. Public relations evolved to include social media, I learned new skills, and consulting evolved to coaching.

During COVID I returned to school. I took another risk and went back to school. I enrolled at the Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology to study Blockchain Technology. It was expensive. Another risk…spending savings. But I considered it an investment. So far it I haven’t broken into the tech world with a job at a venture capital start up, but I consult and coach others about tech, because right now, everyone can benefit from upskilling. AI, Blockchain, and spatial computing are not on the horizon, they are here. I truly believe that if I’m tech savvy, I will always be able to generate revenue.

The other thing about taking risks is that people ask me to help them. I often say yes, even if the assignment seems out of my wheelhouse. When you’ve been challenged in the workplace as much as I have, you acquire a sense of confidence. My curiosity is a driving force for risk. If I don’t know, I know who does.

What should our readers know about your business?
Makeover Media is the umbrella for a variety of services. Founded at the convergence of lifestyle and the tech revolution, I was a pioneer of the dot com era. The genesis began working with venture capital funded startups and tech visionaries who paved the way for the connected world we live in. Since then, Makeover Media has earned a reputation as a think tank. Strategic thinking and problem solving. What sets Makeover Media apart is the ability to reverse engineer the situation to ask the right questions to come up with a logical sequence of actions required to move the needle from A to Z. These steps generate a timeline, which provides insight into budgets.

I’m a cultural anthropologist, putting the past into perspective in order to manifest the future.

It’s really producing. If I called myself a producer, people would think of the movies. I’ve done festival press for films, but I’m not a producer, although I will be working on a colleague’s short film this year as a first-time producer.
As a consultant I provide insight, strategies, and solutions for artists, brands, entrepreneurs and their ideas, both large and small and help you navigate the multiple channel Universe.

Sometimes I’m a coach, guiding a client to the finish line, helping them evolve along the way.

I’ve had to remain nimble and maintain a keen awareness of the economic shifts and trends. To understand what people need most. Having low overhead with the home office has been essential. Continuing to learn new things gives me an edge. I start every day reading about everything. This also helps to make small talk with anyone and allows me to know a little about a lot, and to know a lot about a few subjects.

Reading and learning new things is a lost art. Everything has been reduced to a character limit or emojis. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy texting and responding with emojis too. But I enjoy reading everything from the Wall Street Journal, Popular Mechanics, Architectural Digest, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, BBC History. In fact, the 16th Century is my hobby! Being able to know the history of how things came to be in any given subject gives me a head start.

Right now I’m doing a lot of author coaching and book consulting. People want to tell their story, to write a book but don’t know where to get started. Or they started the book, but didn’t do an outline and they are overwhelmed because they are all over the place. Sorting these things out in a easy to digest manner, I help them eat the elephant one bite a time.

In addition, I provide a lot of strategy. People know their goals, but they don’t know how to get there. An example is a client with an award-winning documentary wanted to expand her distribution into other countries. I devised a social media strategy to get the attention of the right influencers, generating some high-profile media placements, which then paved the way for a series of screenings and lectures in that country!

It isn’t easy, it takes a lot of commitment and self-discipline to keep it all going. But the biggest lesson or piece of advice I have is to work through the fear, to stay curious, don’t be afraid to learn new things, to reach out to strangers and strike up conversations. Surprising things happen when you get out of your discomfort zone.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Favorite Spots in the City I live in Los Angeles. A world class city and all the problems that go with that. But it’s a city I love. When friends come to visit, I give them a world class tour. I start out each day with a different neighborhood. I take surface streets. This is a city that needs to be seen, and that won’t happen on the freeway.

An example itinerary looks like this. We start out along Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, a little enclave with a small-town feel. I can point out the iconic Warner Bros water tower, take a few side streets to see the studios with the murals of current and historical shows. Breakfast at the oldest remaining Bob’s Big Boy is a must. Part of a national chain, this location with a drive in for diners, was built in 1949 and is designated as a “point of historical interest” by the state of California. If we happened to be in this neighborhood on a Friday night, we’d see 50 or more classic cars in mint condition, proudly parked for exhibition by their owners. Jay Leno is known to pass through, driving one of his collectible cars.
As we continue, we might meander through the famous Forest Lawn cemetery if my guests are so inclined, many famous people like Michael Jackson, are buried there.

Riverside Drive goes right through the heart of Griffith Park, which is five times the size of Central Park in Manhattan, full of green meadows, shade trees, hiking and equestrian trails and other amusements Travel Town, with a miniature train people can ride on and popular with families.

Continuing Riverside Drive, we are parallel to the Los Angeles River, so along the way, we pop into Elysian Valley, aka Frog Town, to explore the several pocket parks along the bike path and stop into Spoke Cafe, one of the local businesses fronting the river with no street access.

After our coffee break and river path hike, we get back on Riverside Drive to enter Elysian Park, the oldest park in the city, and marvel magnificent rows of Canary Island Date Palms along “avenue of the palms” on Stadium Way. The entrance to Dodger Stadium will soon come into sight, with Major League Baseball’s only “googie” style stadium. Googie is a space age style of architecture unique to Southern California during the mid-20th century.

If it’s dusk or early evening, I’ll exit the park and head east on Sunset Blvd to drive up Everett Street. Slightly steep, Everett has a small, teardrop park at the top, surrounded by elegant homes built during the turn of the previous century. Exceptional views of downtown Los Angeles glitter at night, and on a clear day, Catalina Island has been known to make an appearance in the distance. This picturesque setting is a popular location for film and television productions.

Just a short distance down the street is the commanding Chinatown West Gate. Built in 1938, the traditional colorful and bright red Chinese design is made from camphor wood from China, with Chinese characters that translate to “cooperate to achieve.”

At the other end of Chinatown is a commanding four story high structure features twin dragons. These “gatekeepers” appear to be descending from the clouds, as they guard the entrance to this historic neighborhood. While we’re in Chinatown, we might stop for some of the best dim sum in the city, or stroll through Chinatown’s Central Plaza, known for its neon signs and festive Chinese lanterns, gift shops, and summer night “after dark” fun. For hardier fare, on the edge of this vibrant area is Philippe the Original restaurant. Open since 1908, their claim to fame is they invented the French dip sandwich.

The downtown area of Los Angeles is a grid of delight to be discovered. Just a few blocks away is Little Tokyo, one of only three Japan towns in the country. Bursting with anime and magna shops, the best sushi gems, and it’s only five blocks to cover, so we can cram this into our itinerary.

Right around the corner is the revived Arts District. Like many urban areas, this neighborhood has seen many changes since its origin as a vineyard that transitioned in the late 1800s into an industrial center with railroads and warehouses. Beginning in the 1970s artists began to reclaim these dilapidated spaces. Evolving over the last 50 years the Arts District is a thriving community full of art galleries, chic boutiques, restaurants, and the Angel City Brewery, which offers tours.

If there’s time, I always like to hit Bar Clara, the rooftop oasis of Hotel Per La in downtown Los Angeles. Encompassed by the city lights at night, the Mediterranean menu satisfies and the drink menu full of interesting choices.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There have been so many wonderful people who guided me along the way. It’s truly been a long and winding road, but the road has been yellow. I’ve been lucky to find smart, generous people. The University of Oklahoma took a chance on me, without a college degree, and encouraged me to write a syllabus based on a lecture I gave, and allowed me to teach a course I created called Networking for Success, based on my own career transition.

I can say without a doubt the evergreen guide, “What Color is Your Parachute” was the bible for anyone looking to make a change, and yes, it’s been around for many years. But it’s solid, providing a road map for self discovery.

A lot of my success is because I heard the entertainment executive, Bob Evans, say luck is preparedness meets opportunity.

The Spiegel Catalog signed me to a three year contract as the first plus size spokesmodel to represent a major brand, that was in 1989. I was 35 years old.
Hala Bahmet, a talented costumer designer (her recent work can be seen on the NBC hit “This is Us” TV series) gave me a job working on an independent movie and took the time to show me the ropes.

Most recently, two organizations deserve some credit. Greenlight Women, a group of dynamic and diverse women over 40 in media and entertainment, have given me support and a voice as a storyteller.

She Angels, co-founded by Cat Curry Williams, a force in the realm of helping women, has shown me what true altruism is. She Angels gives grants to women founded non-profits that support women and girls.

Website: lindaarroz.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindaarroz/

Twitter: @lindaarroz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaArrozAuthorSpeaker/

Other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Arroz

Image Credits
Photo of Linda Arroz wearing black top by Ken Blakey Photo of Linda Arroz in turquoise sweater – Linda Arroz