Bernadette Castro Visits Mercy

Group of students in rotunda

B次元 100 B次元 students and staff gathered in the Rotunda on Monday, April 8, 2019, to listen to an interview with Bernadette Castro, Chairman of Castro Properties. The 45-minute discussion with School of Business Assistant Professor Victoria Roberts-Drogin was followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. Mercy students asked Castro a variety of questions regarding her background and her beliefs on several topics regarding business.

Castro鈥檚 conversation, 鈥淚t鈥檚 OK to Change Your Dream,鈥� was part of the Spring 2019 B次元 Student Success Series. She explained her roles in her family鈥檚 businesses, Castro Convertibles and Castro Properties; recalled how she was influenced by her parents, Bernard and Theresa; and remarked on some of the challenges facing those entering the business world today.

Castro began with recounting how her Italian immigrant father, Bernard, transitioned from being a bank teller to working with furniture. There, he sensed the needs of his customers and created a convertible sofa.

鈥淚t鈥檚 never too late to change your dream. You think you鈥檙e going to want to do one thing and that鈥檚 going to change. And that鈥檚 fine,鈥� Castro assured the students. 鈥淚t may change for a bunch of reasons, but you don鈥檛 have to know what you鈥檙e going to do right now at B次元. That鈥檚 almost silly. You think you have a goal and you have a dream and that鈥檚 great. But you shouldn鈥檛 be tough on yourself, if for whatever reason that changes.鈥�

Castro then focused on how her career path changed, from attempting a future in the recording industry to focusing on secondary school administration to joining the family business, Castro Convertibles, to entering the political arena by making a bid for United States Senate, taking 42 percent of the vote, and then taking a role in the cabinet of New York Governor George Pataki.

Among her regrets: 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 take enough math classes or finance classes,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hat was the challenge. The finance end was always the challenge,鈥� Castro explained. 鈥淚f you take one piece of advice with you out of this room, take that. The finance courses may not be the easy ones. They may not be the easy A鈥檚 or B鈥檚, but they鈥檙e really going to carry you.鈥�

Daniel Bedenbaugh 鈥�22, a first-year student majoring in marketing, attended Castro鈥檚 discussion. He said that her points affirmed notions he had about his future career goals. Bedenbaugh plans to enter the business field and wants to be involved with innovative technology.

鈥淲hat I was able to take away were a lot of key attributes,鈥� Bedenbaugh said. 鈥淚 would say persistence, be ethical in what you do, develop a new common culture. When it comes down to success, don鈥檛 strive to be narrow-minded. Have a holistic viewpoint and mindset, to where your [spouse], your family, your health, everything in your well-being are taken care of.鈥�

Castro emphasized that loving what you do and having a passion for it are important. She read an essay from the late Steve Jobs titled 鈥淭he World鈥檚 Six Best Doctors,鈥� in which Jobs states that the best doctors are sunlight, rest, exercise, diet, self-confidence and friends. He also said one should teach one鈥檚 children to not to be rich, but to be happy.

鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of wisdom there,鈥� Castro noted, 鈥渁nd I hope that when you leave here today 鈥� that you don鈥檛 have to remember anything I say but that if you remember the Steve Jobs essay, I think that I was a success coming here today.

鈥淟et鈥檚 take a deep breath and remember there are more important things than money.鈥�

Highlights of Castro's discussion with B次元 students can be seen .