by Saraí Jiménez

Born in Montebello, California, on August 1st 1972, Lisa Arrellanes has very fond memories of time that she spent with her grandparents, uncle, and mom in a house with fruit trees, apricot trees, plum trees, a fish pond, a basketball court, and a playhouse that her great-grandfather built for my grandmother. She was constantly surrounded by family members who lived nearby and always gathered together for holidays and birthdays.

Growing up, she had strong ties to her extended family and in college found new support groups. At Berkeley, she met inspiring people who helped her during her difficult process of coming out. “Meeting community and finding other Latinos and Latinas who were queer and were totally cool and comfortable and amazing people” helped her during the initial months of tension with her initially unsupportive mother. Some of her friends worked with queer rights issues and AIDS awareness. She herself partook in the burgeoning queer rights advocacy work of the late 80s by playing soccer and serving as a mentor for queer youth in a San Francisco youth program.

Her extensive work history has mostly taken place in the Bay Area, which included several sales jobs on commission. She also enjoyed being a part of a strong queer community and the vibrant social life scene. She loved the clubs where many Latina Lesbians and queer people from different generations gathered. She even deejayed in her spare time. Before returning to Southern California to work with a resport near Palm Springs, and made her next career move because she wanted to be closer to her family.

She currently works at Southern California Edison, the last place she ever thought she would end up, because several family members currently work or have worked there in the past. Her mom worked with Southern California Edison since Lisa was in elementary school and Lisa always felt proud of her mom. She remembers that “she would come in a business suit or business clothes, so I was pretty proud of what she mom did and [that] she was passionate about it.”

Just as she was proud of her mom growing up, her family and friends are proud of what she does now. Her work is very independent and there are opportunities for promotions, which her family is encouraging her to take advantage of. When reflecting on her job experiences, she said: “…for some reason, I’ve always had jobs that challenge me to be more outgoing and work with people and I think people see that as a strength of mine. To tell you the truth like I really sometimes really enjoy working quietly and being more analytical.” She is able to do a lot of this analytical work in her current position.

Lisa has put a lot of effort into her work but still strives for a balanced work and social life. Her extended family continues to be a nurturing community which she is very connected to. She also goes hiking and plays tennis in nearby Griffith Park. She has not taken many “risks” in her life, because the economic security that came from the jobs she had, was important to her. However she also reflects that:

Money comes and goes, I’ve definitely seen that. I’ve had times when I’ve done very well and I’ve had times when I’ve lost everything.