SBC president reaches her childhood dreams

As a girl growing up in San Antonio,

Texas, Sylvia Samano loved and admired

her mother and aunts. But it was her

father's lifestyle she wanted someday for

herself to work outside the home,

travel and achieve in the larger world.

Today as the new president of SBC

Nevada Bell, Samano is living the life

she dreamed about as a youngster.

Samano took the top Nevada job in

August after serving as vice president of

external affairs for SBC Pacific Bell in

the San Gabriel Valley, North Los

Angeles and the Ventura and Santa

Barbara counties region, where she was

responsible for 35 cities and 29 communities.

As president of SBC Nevada Bell,

she directs the company's regulatory, legislative,

governmental and external affairs

activities for the state.

Samano has worked for SBC for 25

years, but in the beginning, she thought

her tenure with the telephone company

would be only temporary. She had just

graduated from North Texas State

University with a degree in communications

when she took a marketing job

with Southwestern Bell in Houston, figuring

she'd do that until the "right" job

came along in television broadcasting.

She soon realized, though, that the right job was with the

telephone company, and step-by-step she began climbing to

more responsible positions, working in marketing, public relations

and external affairs.

"I liked the fact that I never felt stagnant," she says. There

was always something

new to learn,

and she enjoyed creating

strategy and

explaining complex

issues. She even got

broadcasting experience

as an anchor for an in-house SBC videotaped program.

Like most careers, though, hers did not shoot up in a

straight line. She plateued for a while in her 30s and finally

had to examine what she really wanted and decide how to go

after it.

"You need to be clear on what it is you want because if you

don't, life will identify it for you," she says. "You also have to

ask, 'How badly do I want it?'"

One of her toughest career choices was accepting the promotion

to vice president of external affairs in Southern

California. The job was the step up she had hoped to take, but

it meant leaving Texas, where she had lived her whole life.

"I'm one of those pragmatic

people, so I made a pro and

con list," she recalls. Only one

of the cons deeply troubled her

moving away from her

aging mother. "That gave me

great pause."

But then she remembered

how her mother once told her,

"You know if I had to live my

life over again, I'd like to live it

like you." Her mother, a

homemaker who raised seven

children, never had the chance

to travel or go to college or

rise in a career outside the

home. As hard as it was to

leave Texas, Samano says, "I

knew she'd want me to go."

As president of SBC

Nevada Bell, Samano has

plenty on her plate. She is at

the helm during one of the

toughest recessions ever to hit

the telecom industry. She also

is leading the company into

new territory as a competitor

on long-distance service. SBC

Nevada Bell won approval to

offer long-distance in April

after an intense three-year

application process.

Knowing that her team of

employees is counting on her

is a prime motivator and constant

source of inspiration.

"I'm not going to let myself

down, and I'm not going to let

them down."

Samano says taking this job

is one of the best choices she

has made. "I love what I do. I

like the challenge of it."

And she also enjoys the

Truckee Meadows

lifestyle especially

her 10-minute commute

to work. "In

comparison to L.A.,

there is no traffic.

The absence of that

stress is palpable."

Samano is a

member of the

Hispanic

Association of

Communications

Employees of SBC,

Economic

Development

Authority of

Western Nevada, the

Professional Women

of SBC, Nevada

Taxpayers

Association, KNPB

Channel 5, the

Hispanic Chamber

of Commerce of

Northern Nevada

Advisory Board and

the Northern

Nevada Network.

SBC has always

been a strong supporter

of the

Hispanic Chamber

of Commerce, and

Samano is carrying on that

tradition, says chamber president

and CEO Leslie Mix.

"I'm really delighted to

have someone of Sylvia's

caliber

to be representative of

Latinas in business in northern

Nevada," Mix says. "She is

very genuine, and she is highly

qualified for her position."