Vasti Amaro Hits a Hole-in-One in Golf and in Transportation
In these series of articles, *ProKel Mobility CEO, Kelly Gonzalez Jr., celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month by shining a light on the women and men who have influenced him in his career in transportation and beyond.
If you’re looking for a Latina trailblazer in transportation – look no further than the golf course. That’s where you’ll find Vasti Amaro, a 30-year veteran in the transit industry and President and CEO of Vasti Transport and Vasti Whole Person Life Coaching. An avid golfer, Amaro has a handicap of 24 meaning she can hit many a hole-in-one – and not just on the green!
As President and CEO of Vasti Transport, Amaro provides business development, executive coaching, and operations logistics consulting services. Previous clients included the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) and the Port Authority of Allegheny County. She performs assessments, develops strategic plans and recommendations, implements the plans, and trains staff. She recently expanded and has a new company — Vasti Whole Person Life Coach, providing executive and life coaching.
“I’ve known about her and admired her from afar. She was the Director of Business Development for a competitor for years. She has a great reputation in the public and private sectors in senior leadership roles. I admire her hard work and ingenuity. She’s one of the biggest reasons why ProKel Mobility has grown so much,” said Kelly Gonzalez Jr. President and CEO of ProKel Mobility, one of the fastest growing mobility solutions company in the US.
Humble Beginnings
Amaro considers herself a lifelong transit user riding the subways in New York City while growing up. When her family moved to Tampa, Florida, a bus driver suggested she apply for a job at the local transit agency. She applied and her first job in transit was on the frontline in the call center.
Amaro says her career in transportation has been exciting and rewarding with endless opportunities:
“I took advantage of the training and professional development. I love transportation for the people and being able to serve the community. Transportation is the key ingredient to social economics, education, health, and social activities. It’s something that’s at the core of my values.”
Amaro say she was bit by the transit bug and soon found that after 8 years in public transit—the private sector was calling. She worked for 13 years for companies including “the big three” – TransDev, First Transit, and Keolis. Her last position being Senior Vice President of Operations.
New Adventures
After working for 21 years in the public and private sector, Amaro got an inkling to try something new. “I’ve been helping all these organizations and agencies for years – it’s time I started to work for myself, said Amaro.
So she began her current venture into entrepreneurship with Vasti Transport which is a certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE). Now eight years in the entrepreneur game, she counts Gonzalez and ProKel Mobility as a client. She is a Strategic Advisor for the company and an executive coach to Gonzalez.
“When I started ProKel Mobility, I wanted to get someone proven, a C-Suite level coach and a mentor who could strategize and position the company to be in line with where the market is going. That’s why I brought her in to ProKel as a Strategic Advisor,” said Gonzalez. “Thanks to Vasti, ProKel doubled in size and strategically realigned its operations. As a new CEO, she pushed me to face challenges and helped me become better equipped to run the company.”
Entrepreneur Life
“As an entrepreneur I had to develop my own mission and vision statement. I had to be clear about what was going to be special about my services and my company,” said Amaro. And that is to lead people to leave a better future for the world.
She also added: “When you’re your own boss, you’re accountable to yourself. It takes a lot of discipline. It takes a lot of hours. You are it.”
Even though entrepreneurship can be challenging, Amaro refuses to let it consume her: “I’m very passionate about being a whole person, a healthy whole person in all aspects of your life, and remembering the career is a piece of the individual.”
Key Formula to Success
When asked about her experience as a Latina in the transportation industry, she offers what she calls her Key Formula to success:
- Never say no. “Whenever someone considered me for a role, I always said yes. I’m intrigued by the unknown, the need to solve problems, and the need to think outside the box.”
- Educate yourself. “Whenever there was something that I didn’t know – I went out and sought the answers.”
- Get involved. “I became engaged and active in industry organizations like WTS, COMTO and Latinos in Transit (LIT). They provided a community and network for me as I moved to different cities due to my career.”
Amaro also attributes her success to mentors and leaders that believed in her and walked alongside her, so she did not feel alone. Some of her mentors Bill McCloud, Alan Wulkans, Terry Gruver, and Flora Castillo.
Committed to the Game
While Amaro was athletic and played many sports, it took years before she was introduced to golf. A sport which has low representation for women and minorities and has historically discriminated against people or color. It wasn’t until she was a mid-manager that her manager insisted she join the company team.
“It was a significant part of my career. A lot of business is done on the golf course. It really expanded my network and my worth to my company,” she said.
Amaro’s commitment to the Latino community and other communities of color shines through with her involvement as an Advisory Board Member of Women of Color Golf (WOCG) and Girls On the Green Tee (GOTGT), non-profit organizations located in Tampa, Florida. The mission of WOCG and GOTGT is to increase diversity and inclusion in the sport of golf for women and girls through instruction, on-course play, mentoring, networking, special events, health, and career-related opportunities.
“In every part of society Diversity. Equity and Inclusion is important. Even in the game of golf, I’m critically thinking how we can impact that industry as well,” she said.
Amaro also credits LIT as part of her support network and is proud to have been a speaker at the organization’s inaugural conference.
“I think it’s so critical that LIT be recognized in the industry by COMTO, by APTA, by WTS,” she said. “I love to see the initiatives going on and the very specific goals and meaningful growth of Latinos in transportation.”
Hispanic Heritage Month
“The importance of Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrating and preserving our culture –our dance, our food, our community. We also must remember our trailblazers. For me those are my grandmothers from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic,” said Amaro. “Both were single mothers who persevered despite the odds. I am the third generation in the US reaping the rewards of their sacrifices.”
For Hispanic Heritage Month, Amaro was the first person Gonzalez thought to honor. “I’m celebrating her because she will be frozen in history as a Latina pioneer in the transportation industry. She led and opened door for people like me. When she made it to the top, she paid it forward. She is the Roberto Clemente of transportation,” said Gonzalez. “Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak. Bill Gates had Paul Allen. Kelly Gonzalez, Jr. has Vasti Amaro.”
*Kelly Gonzalez Jr. is the CEO of ProKel Mobility; one of the fastest growing mobility solutions company in the US. ProKel provides First Mile-Last Mile, Fixed-Route, Shuttle Bus, On-Demand Micro Transit, NEMT, and ADA ParaTransit services with government transit agencies and the private sector. We started in 2015 with one bus in Palm Beach. We now have over 70 vehicles in the South Florida market including offices in Georgia, Ohio, and Texas.
