‘No Dad, I’m Not a Lawyer,’ This TikToker Explains Why Latino Parents Don’t Get Your 9-to-5, and TBH, Same
A strikingly handsome guy on TikTok is going viral for his hilarious take on how corporate Latinos talk to their parents about their careers. The “joke” is the way many immigrant parents don’t really understand the careers of first and second-generation kids. The creator says that, for example, his parents assume he’s not doing any work because he’s doing zero hard labor. They tell their friends that he’s a lawyer who can give both immigration and divorce advice—when, in reality, he’s not even a lawyer.
The comments on the video are just as funny. One commenter says she’s a data analyst for a beer company, but her parents think she “makes beer.” Another says she’s a landscape architect, yet her family tells their friends she “drives a truck around the neighborhood,” cleaning yards. And there is nothing wrong with any of those jobs, but it’s just a different world.
Yet, there’s something more to these immigrant parent hijinks. They say something powerful about the cultural and generational divide between immigrant parents and first-generation kids navigating corporate America—many are the first in their families to graduate from college. They also remind us of just how far we’ve come in this country.
The generational divide
There are gaps and misunderstandings between every generation, and kids from all cultures say their parents don’t understand what they do for a living. This is particularly true for Latinos. Many Latino immigrants take blue-collar, hard-working jobs when they come to this country. For example, they make up almost 30% of construction sector jobs. Latinas alone take up over half of all maid and housekeeping positions.
Our parents took these jobs for several critical reasons: they provided them with an immediate salary to care for their families, or they required less formal education and English language skills. Alternatively, your parents may have arrived with degrees that aren’t recognized in the United States, meaning many have to start from scratch, no matter their education.
My parents, for example, studied architecture and music education in Chile, but their degrees were worthless here. At the time, they would have had to take additional university coursework and pay for licenses and certifications, which is usually very cost-prohibitive to newcomers. Most of our parents just needed money like, yesterday.
This means many immigrant parents—unless they worked in these sectors in their homeland—know very little about the American corporate, law, tech, marketing, or finance worlds.
Of course, there are exceptions, and your parents may have come from corporate careers in Latin America and made a smooth transition when they moved here, but those are the exceptions to the norm.
The disconnect happens when blue-collar kids go on to get a university degree, embark on a white-collar career, and climb the ranks of the corporate world. This is happening more and more, given first and second gens have the fastest growth in higher ed degrees than any other group in this country.
We’re entering the corporate world at record rates
There’s been a staggering 300% increase in Latinas with advanced degrees. There was a 200% growth in higher education for Latino men. Latino workers are now in more management careers, have faster salary increases, and Latinas are starting small businesses at record rates. Kids of all types of immigrants are actually twice as likely to become entrepreneurs. What’s more, Latinas in the C-Suite are becoming more and more common.
When some of these professionals go home for the holidays, they may find it hard to talk to their parents about work. Can you imagine trying to explain to your parents and the tias what you do daily in your job at Google Gemini?
Kids may also feel guilty; they don’t have to use their hands or do back-breaking labor outside. Instead, they can sit comfortably in their offices or work from home. They may even have abstract jobs that weren’t around when their parents were younger, like AI Ethicist, Brand Strategist, or Urban Planner or Founder.
When your parents think you’re the “Queen of the South”
Despite these misunderstandings, your parents mean well. They are proud of their kids, and that humorous take on your career just means that they love you. It’s that playful teasing Latino parents are known for. In fact, one TikTok commenter with a high-level job at a cannabis company describes her parents jokingly telling their friends that their daughter was “La Reina Del Sur.”
They’re proud of you because you are the reason they came to this country—to make a better life for you and your siblings and to give you options and opportunities for career growth that they never had in their homeland.
I sometimes like to wonder what we’ll think about our kids’ careers—the second, third, or fourth-gen kids. Will we be confused with their jobs as virtual world architects or climate adaptation specialists? Or will we be more in tune with their worlds, given that some of us were the first in our families to experience the corporate world?
With half a million likes, this TikTok video resonates deeply with Latinos navigating the balance between their cultural roots and the new worlds they’re shaping. It’s a powerful reminder that many of us share this journey – climbing the ladder, breaking barriers, and shattering glass ceilings. It’s more than a viral moment; it’s a reflection of our collective progress and a glimpse into a future where Latinos hold a significant share of corporate America. And our parents are damn proud.
Chilean-American Ann Dunning is the co-author of Radical Señora Era: Ancestral Latin American Secrets for a Happier, Healthier Life, now available for pre-order wherever books are sold. She’s also the co-founder of the Latina-owned Chilean rosehip brand Vamigas.
