Discovering Love in the Midst of a Pandemic THE MONTERO FAMILY

By Lori Berezin

Photography by Dana Fineman

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Amidst so many tales of heartache caused by the pandemic, it’s truly refreshing to hear one about finding love. Hailing from Peru and Bolivia respectively, Leslie ValentinoMontero and her husband, Herman Hugo Montero, each traveled more than 4,000 miles from their childhood homes in South America to discover each other and build a family during the height of the pandemic in the San Fernando Valley.

Although the two first met as business acquaintances eight years ago, it took five years and a quarantine for their relationship to become something deeper. Hugo reached out to Leslie just before the pandemic and they started dating. “Our coffee date turned into a dinner date, and we joked that if our relationship could survive quarantining together, we stood a good chance of making it work.” Hugo eventually proposed to Leslie during his birthday party, which was secretly an engagement party, going down on one knee while family members from across the globe looked on via Zoom. They married on a yacht a few months later. “Due to pandemic restrictions, we were limited to merely six guests,” notes Hugo. “We still enjoyed every minute of it.” Who says you can’t find love during a pandemic?

The couple currently resides in Woodland Hills with their adorable toddler, Max, who loves the outdoors, his mini-electric car and playhouse, and taking art/sensory classes. That may sound like a lot for a tot under two, but his jam-packed schedule fits in perfectly with his parents' own hectic lives juggling business, family, and fun in sunny Southern California.

After attending San Martin University with a major in International Business Administration, Leslie worked as manager for a prominent personal injury law firm in the San Fernando Valley. After 12 years in development, operations, management, and brand marketing, Leslie now runs her own business consulting firm, Valentino corporation, and works with a personal injury law firm. She is also completing her Juris Doctorate degree at California’s Monterey College of Law.

“When I was 26 years old, my aunt was a victim of medical malpractice,” explains Leslie. “I spent the next year looking for answers and reading everything about traumatic brain injury. I gained a great deal of empathy for people facing emotional and legal problems, which reaffirmed my calling to practice law.” continued on page 122