AAPI Heritage Month: RJ Mariani

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with RJ Mariani

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. This year, Legacy's AAPI Employee Resource Group is proud to share stories of leadership, resilience and identity in the workplace from a few members. This is just one of many stories.

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RJ Mariani was stressed and burned out with his job at an airline. He needed a change and his wife, who had previously worked at Legacy, suggested he look into joining the organization.

Her suggestion landed RJ at Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center where he’s a patient access representative. Almost four years into his new role and RJ is glad he listened to his wife.

“I love it here,” he said. 

RJ recently spoke with us about his Filipino heritage as we celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the national theme of a legacy of leadership and resilience. 

What traditions or values from your heritage do you carry with you in your work at Legacy Health?

My mom is Filipina, so I come from a Filipino background. My mom always instilled in me, and I learned through others, a sense of mabuhay. It’s like the Hawaiian aloha. It’s this sense that everyone is family, that you take care of each other. It’s the greeting you use. It helps me a lot in my day to day, bringing that in, greeting everyone like they’re family and treating people like I really know them. It helps with what I do at Legacy. 

What challenges have you faced navigating your identity in the workplace, and what helped you overcome them?

The biggest thing I get is that people think I’m Hispanic rather than Filipino. It becomes a challenge. Often times a Hispanic patient will walk up to me and start speaking Spanish without asking me if I speak Spanish. Tagalog, the Filipino language, is similar, so I could probably gather enough information from what they’re saying, but I couldn’t help them. 

This hasn’t happened just here. It’s occurred in all aspects of my life. When I worked at the airline, a new coworker started speaking in Spanish about a customer. I remember nodding at her as she spoke. I responded to her in English. She asked me why I wasn’t talking to her in Spanish, and I told her because I don’t speak the language.  

Can you share a moment when you had to show resilience in your career or life, and how your cultural background helped shape your response?

My mom grew up very poor. My grandparents lived with us when I was growing up. Her situation always taught me you had to persevere. You don’t give up and you don’t stop striving for what you want. 

I’m not naturally the kind of person who likes to stand up for themself, but throughout my career I’ve done it because of how I was raised and watching my mom fight for everything we’ve gotten.

It could be the worst day with lots of patients and Epic going down, but there are people counting on you and you need to keep moving. It’s worked well for me. There’s also a sense of humbleness that I got from her as well. She taught me that you’re not above anything or anyone. Sometimes patients will ask me things, and while that’s not my job, I don’t say no because I can still help.

How have you seen leadership within the AAPI community demonstrated in your own life or by others at Legacy?

My current manager, Melanie Santos, is Filipina, so it’s super cool to have someone share that heritage. We can talk about anything. I see our shared culture in how she leads with humility and thoughtfulness and treats everyone like a human being. That’s very Filipino. A lot of people from my culture are good at being able to help others and treat them with fairness. Melanie is a great example of what that means in the workplace. 

In what ways has your cultural identity shaped your leadership style or the way you navigate challenges?

There have been many times in my career when I thought I can’t do this anymore or didn’t feel appreciated or that I wasn’t doing enough, I remember that there’s a reason for you to be there or where you’re at and pushing forward. The scrappiness that I got from my mom has helped me to set goals and to keep my career trajectory.