Not all who wander are lost; you may already be experiencing a lifechanging transformation without realizing it. Industry expert Nadia Camarena, CPP, Director of Global Payroll Operations at Netflix, shared her inspirational career transformation today during “The Future of Work and Pay” General Session at Payroll Congress.

Camarena started her payroll journey at 15 years old working for her best friend’s father at his payroll organization. She learned to crank checks and avoid the ink on carbon copy. From there, she worked and paid her way through school and training. 

But her career would unfortunately hit a hurdle.

Before becoming a global payroll expert, Camarena shared she had found herself at a crossroads in her career, which turned out to be the push she needed into global success. 

Her previous organization in California was moving, and they had asked her to train her own replacement in a week, informing her she wouldn’t be moving forward with them. Camarena was shocked, upset, and, at the time, without her Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) designation. But that's when she found a Craigslist job listing printed out and hidden under her keyboard. 

"It was for Netflix," she said. "I had never heard of Netflix." 

Now more than a decade later, Camarena has her CPP. She's organized a global payroll structure for Netflix, now in 200 countries and streaming in up to 30 languages. But it wasn’t always this way. 

"My transformation felt amazing," she said. "Netflix continued to expand. It just kept growing. I did, too."

Camarena lives by three words she has placed in her office as she juggles payroll across continents in time zones, which she hopes other global payroll pros can live by as well: Hustle, Grind, Success.

“Stop talking and put in the work,” she said. “There is no such thing as an overnight success.” 

Congress attendee Deborah Timberlake, CPP, said she was impressed with Nadia's journey and growth with Netflix and the steps she took toward personal and professional growth.

"This experience gave her a chance to constantly raise her skillset. It gave her an opportunity to grow," Timberlake said. "One of the things that I think is really important is for people to take the opportunities that are presented to them. That's how you grow your career. When they are looking for volunteers, raise your hand."