Careers are constructed on a mixture of ability and luck. Monica Fernandez-Valiente, vice chairman of tax for LATAM, Canada, Caribbean and Spain at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), has benefited from each.
“I’ve had fortunate alternatives and coincidences that allowed me to maneuver from one nice firm to a different nice firm,” Fernandez-Valiente says. “Being genuine and constructing relationships have been key in my profession.”
Her present place at WBD is a direct results of a kind of relationships. A former boss and mentor from FedEx advisable her to a headhunter. That suggestion is one instance of how each significant connections and likelihood, alongside together with her distinctive ability set and expertise, have formed her profession.
Born and raised in Miami, Fernandez-Valiente, whose mother and father fled Fidel Castro’s communist regime, initially enrolled within the engineering program on the College of Miami. However she switched to accounting. “The truth that I discovered my accounting and tax programs attention-grabbing and thrilling instructed me I made the appropriate transfer,” says Fernandez-Valiente. She finally graduated from the College of Miami with a BA in accounting and a grasp’s in taxation.
With lower than a yr till commencement, Fernandez-Valiente attended a job honest the place she chatted with a KPMG consultant. That dialog led to a summer time internship, a job provide, and the beginning of her profession in tax.
Whereas at KPMG she was launched to FedEx as a shopper and intently collaborated with their LATAM tax workforce. Having constructed a powerful relationship with that workforce, when a tax function grew to become out there at FedEx, the corporate instantly supplied the bilingual Fernandez-Valiente the function.
After 5 years at FedEx, a headhunter referred to as about a chance at Royal Caribbean Worldwide, and she or he jumped at it. It was arduous leaving a boss who had turn into her mentor and her advocate (the identical one liable for her present function at WBD). However like every good mentor, “he needed to see me develop,” she says.
Royal Caribbean allowed Fernandez-Valiente to widen her taxation scope in a extra international function, work in her beloved Miami, and develop her profession. However after simply over a yr, she had turn into pregnant together with her first little one and determined she wanted one thing nearer to residence. “I believed, possibly this isn’t going to be conducive to having a household,” she says.
Luck intervened once more. Fernandez-Valiente acquired a name from a headhunter in search of a head of tax for Latin America on the Discovery Channel. “It was an thrilling alternative, first due to the nice model and in addition as a result of it felt considerably entrepreneurial. I used to be the primary head of LATAM tax for the corporate,” Fernandez-Valiente says.
“Being genuine and constructing relationships have been key in my profession.”
Monica Fernandez-Valiente
Though she was coming into her third trimester together with her first little one, the Discovery Channel supplied her the tax director, Latin America function. “It spoke volumes in regards to the firm that they had been hiring me, figuring out that in a few months I’d be occurring maternity go away. They had been trying on the larger image,” Fernandez-Valiente says.
After a number of years at Discovery, Fernandez-Valiente was promoted to VP of worldwide tax. Moreover, she had expanded her scope to incorporate Asia-Pacific. “I had my day job and my evening job due to the time zone variations,” she jokes, “however I gained a wealth of data.”
When Discovery merged with Warner Media in 2022, Fernandez-Valiente gave up the Asia-Pacific piece to concentrate on Latin America, Canada, and Spain, and to supervise a workforce of ten tax professionals unfold throughout the areas. “Because the merger, there’s so many issues occurring. We’re coping with what had been primarily 4 separate firms: the HBO enterprise, Turner enterprise, the Warner Brothers studios enterprise, and Discovery,” Fernandez-Valiente says.
Tasks Fernandez-Valiente and her workforce have been concerned in for the reason that merger embrace aligning working fashions, authorized entity restructuring, and making certain tax effectivity and compliance throughout the areas.
“For me, it’s been about making certain we’re taking constant and supported tax positions within the numerous native jurisdictions and making an attempt to simplify the construction as a lot as attainable whereas after all in search of alternatives to drive financial savings. We now have many entities throughout the areas on account of the merger, and it simply creates complexity,” Fernandez-Valiente says.
Fernandez-Valiente strongly believes that one of many benefits of being in tax at WBD is the important thing function they play in most of the firm’s initiatives, in addition to their sturdy partnership with EY. “We have to weigh in on one of the best ways to do issues from a tax effectivity standpoint and make sure that we’re being compliant throughout the globe,” Fernandez-Valiente says. “We’re not an afterthought; tax at all times has a seat on the desk.”
Fernandez-Valiente calls herself an genuine chief who’s clear together with her workforce, giving them “a number of autonomy as a result of I belief them,” she says. “I’m right here to set priorities, have interaction with the enterprise and assist my workforce.”
A couple of months in the past, Fernandez-Valiente was requested to share her experiences as a Latina in finance throughout a mentorship program. Initially, she hesitated. “I used to be teamed up with the CFO of CNN. We had about eight people in our cohort,” says Fernandez-Valiente. “Tax is a really particular factor. I used to be fearful I wasn’t going to have a number of steering or recommendation for them.”
But the expertise turned out to be invaluable. “It was a rewarding expertise. I discovered simply as a lot from the mentees as they discovered from me,” Fernandez-Valiente says.
“It spoke volumes in regards to the firm that they had been hiring me, figuring out that in a few months I’d be occurring maternity go away. They had been trying on the larger image.”
Monica Fernandez-Valiente
About navigating a always evolving enterprise surroundings, Fernandez-Valiente says it may well current some challenges, requiring adaptability and resilience. Nevertheless, staying genuine and empathetic whereas fostering sturdy relationships and belief has been key to her development as a pacesetter.
“These qualities haven’t solely helped me navigate change but in addition empowered me to steer with confidence and attempt to encourage these round me,” she says. “We work in an thrilling trade with an incredible product, so it makes it simple to wish to come to work and be the perfect model of your self day by day.”
