ORLANDO, Fla. — For many people, personal wins are born of life’s challenges. And for Gabriela Clark, a manager at The Grove Resort & Water Park Orlando in Winter Garden, her childhood experiences as a Hispanic immigrant helped shape the work ethic she now brings to recruiting and supporting others.
“I am grateful because all the challenges I’ve gone through in life have taught me how to see it from a different perspective… It’s a learning experience,” said Clark.
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Clark was almost 10 when she and her siblings joined their mother in Miami.
Her mother, she explained, worked at a supermarket and cleaned houses, sometimes barely making ends meet.
Clark said her mother would pick up the children early from school on early release days, take them to a park for lunch, then bring them along to clean clients’ homes until late in the evening.
“For us, it was something different. Totally different. The culture, the language. The people we left behind,” Clark said. “I know what it’s like to have your refrigerator empty. I know what it is to knock on doors and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got to feed my family.’”
Yet, Clark said the experiences she “resented” as a child helped build her character and shaped her work ethic, following the example set by her mother.
“I’ve never heard my mom complain. I’ve never heard my mom shed a tear,” Clark said. “I always say, ‘Mi mama es una dura.’ She’s the strongest person I’ve known.”
Clark later worked at a hotel front desk in Miami before, years later, finding a home at The Grove Resort & Water Park Orlando.
At the resort, she helps lead recruiting efforts and takes part in daily stand-up meetings where department heads share hiring updates, wins and challenges.
Clark said her work is rooted in connection and helping others grow.
“I see my fingerprints in them and it’s very rewarding and fulfilling,” Clark said. “Somebody saw something in me and they poured their knowledge and everything that they learned throughout the way. I want to pay it back to someone else.”
During Hispanic Heritage Month, Clark said she thinks about other Hispanics who helped create opportunities for others, herself included.
“Other Hispanic people that paved the way … it was for me to say, ‘OK, they did it, I can do it,’” Clark said. “It’s one thing I teach my son. We’re Hispanic people, things were not handed over to us. We had to work.”