Irene Montes

Early life

Hello, my name is Irene Montes; I am a cancer that was born and raised in south central Los Angeles. Not only am I the only girl out of 3, but I am the middle child. Both my parents are from Honduras. My parents separated when I was 6, and I was raised by my mother. I lived in Los Angeles until I was 14, when a tragic fire destroyed my home, leaving us homeless. My mother saw an opportunity for us in Seattle, Washington, so we moved on to the next chapter of our life.

Career

I learned early in life to be hard working and dedicated; my mother gave me the example that you do what you have to do to provide and care for your family. I would sometimes help my mother with the work she brought home just to make ends meet. My first working experience was at an Indian restaurant in Seattle. I would always get in trouble because I was expected to wear conservative clothing; they would look at me side-eyed and make me put on a sweater in the heat. Eventually, I left and found out they changed their policy and started wearing a uniform. I went from the Indian restaurant to working at a Hispanic store where they sold ingredients, music, and clothing and was a movie rental. Then I worked the morning shift at McDonald's, where most employees were retired seniors. Hence, they intimidated me with their high expectations. Then I worked at the silver cloud inn, where they did not realize they hired me at 17 until my 18th birthday. At the silver cloud, I worked as a receptionist. I was promoted to work in the corporate office as a receptionist and accounts payable assistant. I absolutely loved my job; the owners were amazing. They would make great holiday parties, and in summer time they would take us golfing, and I would sometimes dog sit and be able to stay in their beautiful house right on the lake. Eventually, I moved to Los Angeles and got a bunch of accounting jobs until one day, I was working as a Temp for 2929 entertainment. When my time was about to end, I received an email about an internal HR assistant job. I asked my supervisor at the time if she thought I could apply even when it said internal, and I was a temp. She told me to apply and that she would talk to the HR team. I had no idea what an HR assistant did, so I did as much research as possible and got the interview. I was super excited when I found out I got the job. I fell in love with HR.