Whether she’s chasing down major media wins, championing DEI initiatives or bringing her competitive spirit to the beach volleyball court, Angie’s always finding new ways to connect. Read on to find out her favorite nickname, the childhood debate that showed her early knack for details and why you should always pass her the hot sauce.

Kate: What is your favorite nickname and how did you get it?

Angie: I go by “Angie” professionally and with many of my friends, but my favorite nickname is “Lena,” which is what my family calls me. It was my great grandmother’s name. 

Kate: Where do you consider “home”? What is special about it?

Angie: Although I live in Chicago now — and am making this my new home! — two other places come to mind when I think about this question. 

First, I would say Oakland, California, where I was born and raised. The Bay Area was such a special place to grow up — there’s so much culture, history and family there for me. I definitely see myself moving back to California at some point, too. West Coast, Best Coast! 

I also think of Mangilao, Guam, when I think of “home.” Guam is my motherland and is such a beautiful and special island. I grew up going back with my mom often, but before last year, it had been more than 10 years since I’d gone. And yet, it felt like no time had passed. The memories flooded back and I was overwhelmed by how much I felt at home again. It’s just the best! 

Kate: What non-work activities inspire you?

Angie: I really love to travel and feel so grateful that I have the opportunity to do so. Traveling is such a beautiful reminder of culture, community and our shared experiences as humans. 

Kate: If you had to include one ingredient in every meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

Angie: I love spicy food, so it’d probably be some type of hot sauce or pepper. If I’m at a restaurant, I’m always asking for chili oil, Cholula, Sriracha, etc.

Kate: What’s your favorite movie and/or book?

Angie: That’s such a hard question for me because I wouldn’t say I have just one favorite movie or book! Maybe a cop-out answer, but I’ll share my favorite of each from last year (2024) instead. 

My favorite movie was Challengers — I love Zendaya (also an Oakland native!) and really liked this movie’s soundtrack and the way conversations were filmed like watching a tennis match. I thought it was super creative! 

My favorite book I read last year was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I grew up playing video games with my brother and cousins, so this story felt really nostalgic for me. I also loved the author’s writing style — another super creative one. 

Kate: What’s one accomplishment from your childhood that you still brag about?

Angie: I don’t know if it’s something I still brag about, but a memory that has always stuck with me is from Kindergarten, when I was in my school’s little library with a classmate. We were looking at a book of maps and there was a photo of Alaska. My classmate was sure it said “Antarctica” (it didn’t) and I was sure it said “Alaska” (it did). We argued until the teacher confirmed that I was right. This was probably the beginning of me being a stickler for spelling and grammar — good practice for my career path. 

Kate: What’s something your colleagues don’t know about you?

Angie: My colleagues probably wouldn’t know that I was in a bowling league in Oakland for two years and that my team won the championship in our final season together! I love some healthy competition. I also just joined a beach volleyball league here in Chicago!

Kate: When you think about your time at Caliber, what career accomplishment or milestone makes you feel most proud?

Angie: A big win that comes to mind is landing a feature story in Forbes for my client, Green Check, last year. The team had been working with reporter Will Yakowicz for a while — many intro and catch-up conversations with the Green Check team over more than a year or so — and one Friday afternoon, I finally got the call: it was time. His editors wanted him to write a feature on Green Check! 

The catch? They wanted it the following week. 

So, as we do as PR pros working with the media on deadline, we hustled and brought the story to life in a matter of days. I worked closely with Will and the team to coordinate interviews with Green Check’s CEO, their partners and customers. The result was a stellar feature with the headline, Meet The Fintech Startup Powering The Cannabis Industry. You really can’t ask for better than that. It was definitely a career highlight and a reminder of how important relationship-building is — oftentimes, media relations is both a marathon and a sprint. 

Kate: You help lead our DEI committee. What inspired you to get involved, and how does that tie into the work you do every day?

Angie: As communications professionals, I believe we have a responsibility to make diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging integral to our work — both in the stories we tell and in how our industry operates. 

There’s a quote by Marian Wright Edelman that says, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” As a first-generation college graduate and a Pacific Islander woman, I had never even heard of public relations as a career path before my second semester at San Diego State University. First-gen college grads and Pacific Islanders are still widely underrepresented in our field (to the point where you can’t even find statistics for it). 

So, it was thanks to fantastic opportunities and mentors with similar backgrounds (shoutout to Nickie Peña, my first PR manager and still a wonderful mentor and friend) that I was able to actually see myself as a strategic comms professional and grow my career into what it is today. Even further, I was a founding committee member of the AAPI ERG at The Motley Fool, where I learned from one of the best in the biz, Rachel Williams, and gained experience in how to be a voice and leader in this impactful and necessary work. 

Ultimately, I hope to be a mentor and provide the same guidance and opportunities to young professionals that I received when I first entered this field — and continue to advocate for and do the work that makes our industry more diverse, equitable and inclusive. 

Kate: Name one thing that amazes you about fintech or innovation in financial services.

Angie: It amazes me how much fintech touches so many aspects of our daily lives. From paying a friend back for dinner to earning rewards on your rent payments to finding cheaper car insurance, we’re using fintech constantly. I really enjoy getting to work with the companies driving this kind of innovation — and getting a behind-the-scenes look at how this technology works. 

Kate: What’s your favorite Caliber perk?

Angie: Caliber’s remote work environment and unlimited PTO are my favorite perks. I recently moved to Chicago, so traveling back to the Bay Area to see my family has become a regular occurrence. Working remotely makes it really easy to do this, and our unlimited PTO policy allows me to take days off when I have special plans back in California (or when travelling elsewhere)! 

Kate: What’s your favorite thing about working at Caliber?

Angie: Definitely the people — both internally and our clients! One of the main reasons I returned to the agency world after working in-house was because I missed being surrounded by PR pros every day and having so many opportunities to learn from other experts in the field. Plus, my roster of clients is pretty fantastic. At Caliber, we get to work with really smart, collaborative and fun people across the board! 

Want to join Angie at Caliber? Check out our job postings page for open positions.

The Staff Spotlight Q&A series highlights Caliber team members for the stellar work they do each day and the important part we all play in the company. Read more Staff Spotlight Q&A posts to learn more about our top-tier team.