1 year at Monterey Bay Aquarium: What I’ve learned 

I remember the first time I visited Monterey, California (October 2023). I parked on Cannery Row, grabbed a coffee at Tidal Coffee, and reviewed my interview questions for a content creation role at Monterey Bay Aquarium. I looked out into the vast blue Monterey Bay and thought to myself, ‘I can’t believe I could potentially live in this paradise.’ 

I walked down Cannery Row to the Aquarium where my manager met me to walk me in. Excited yet nervous, I sped through as many exhibits as I could before my interview. I left in awe of the pulsing jellies and the playful otters and completely mesmerized by the peaceful swaying Kelp Forest Exhibit.

Kelp Forest Exhibit at Monterey Bay Aquarium

After my interview, I went straight to San Carlos Cathedral to pray. Although the cathedral was closed, I knelt before their outdoor grotto and prayed before Our Lady. 

“God, may your will be done.”

A month later, I had nailed one of my dream jobs, working in a creative capacity writing and creating content for ocean conservation. I’ll write another blog post soon on everything I did leading up to this opportunity. 

Grotto of the Virgin Mary

A grotto shrine to the Virgin Mary at San Carlos Cathedral

The marina at Fishermen’s Wharf

As a Senior Bilingual Content Creator at Monterey Bay Aquarium, I help create content for our owned channels at the Aquarium including our social media, web stories, email newsletter, and SMS, as well as write the occasional Spanish radio scripts for paid partnerships. 

From my first web story, A peek inside our food room, to being a part of fun and educational videos for Shrimp Week and Sea Otter Awareness Week, to celebrating 40 years since the Aquarium’s founding with my wonderful colleagues, it’s been an incredible year and I’m excited to continue growing and learning here.


I’ve had the opportunity to work under – BY FAR – the best management and leadership I’ve ever had in my professional career. I work with some of the most creative content creators on my team and participated in some pretty cool opportunities like seeing a rehabilitated sea otter released into Monterey Bay and collecting deep-sea animals with MBARI on the R/V Rachel Carson research vessel.

On MBARI’s R/V Rachel Carson

Deep-sea ROV on the back deck of a research vessel

Front deck of MBARI’s R/V Rachel Carson

Standing on the back deck in a shrimp costume

Dressed up in a shrimp costume for Shrimp Week

Another part of my role is to help co-lead our bilingual strategy for content and our Becoming fully bilingual strategic objective. The Aquarium has made significant strides in hiring more bilingual employees and becoming bilingual on the floor. With our fully bilingual exhibit, Into the Deep / En lo Profundo, and the occasional bilingual feeding or presentation, I’m super excited to help lead this commitment forward with our digital channels for our growing bilingual audience.

Here are 4 lessons I’ve learned after my first year at the Aquarium

Here are 4 lessons I’ve learned after my first year at the Aquarium: 

  1. You can do anything for a year - Before moving here and accepting this job, my heart was set on Costa Rica. I was more afraid to move to California than out of the country to my beautiful Costa Rica where I have citizenship, family, and my dreamy tropical weather. But I decided to say yes, jump on the wave, and I’m still riding it. As our Executive Director, Julie Packard, said, “I took leading the Aquarium one year at a time.” You can do anything for a year and, here’s to another one. 

  2. Pray before you go to work - Pray that God guides you in your conversations, in every interaction, and that you make an honest day’s work with commitment, honesty, quality, and integrity. You’d be amazed at how much lighter and peaceful you feel at the end of the day.

  3. Don’t get caught in the riptide of politics - In any work setting there will be differing views, difficult people, and tough conversations. People can be grumpy and sometimes say some hurtful things. Don’t take it personally, and don’t engage. In my opinion, the best way to move past as a collective is to show up with kind and courageous conversations, then move on and pray for them. 

  4. Bring joy and positivity into everything you do - Again with any job, there will always be something to complain about or get frustrated over. Instead, look at the situation through a joyful lens. Ask yourself, what can I learn from this? How can I use this experience to serve and be a better employee? How am I being called to step up in a positive way in this situation? 

Something I noticed immediately when I first started working here and continue to see every day as I run into new people on different projects, is the passion and commitment this team has for our work to inspire conversation of the ocean with people worldwide. It’s infectious and I feel proud to work for such an inspiring ocean organization. 

With big transitions happening internally and externally, I like to use moments like these to reflect on how I want to show up as a better human, what God is trying to teach me, and how He’s asking me to use my voice for good. 

Hopefully, this gave you a sneak peek into what it’s like being a bilingual content creator for a year at Monterey Bay Aquarium! Drop me a comment below and let me know if this resonated with you in your work journey.

crouching in front of Monterey Bay Aquarium sign

Posing with the Monterey Bay Aquarium logo

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