CURRENT EPISODES
Bonus Episode: How Journalist Naibe Reynoso Became the Creative Force Behind Con Todo Press
Caress has provided more than 2.5 million dollars to support and elevate founders in our communities. One of the alums of the Caress Dream Fund, Naibe Reynoso, is an Emmy award-winning journalist and founder of Con Todo Press, a bilingual children's book publishing company. Naibe shares how she applied her journalism skills to entrepreneurship, the realities of publishing, and how to find big money for your big idea. (Sponsored)
To learn more go to caress.com and contodopress.com
How Adriana Paz Learned that “Living” is Critical for Success
The prolific actress and star of Netflix’s musical crime comedy drama, Emilia Perez, shares her fears about being “too famous,” the risk/reward analysis of taking on a wildly ambitious project, and what she learned from sharing space (and the Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award!) with Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascón and Selena Gomez.
Why Olivia Troye, a Former Trump Administration Official, Is Voting for Kamala Harris
Raised in El Paso by a Mexican immigrant mother and a father who worked as a truck driver, this first gen college student started her career at the Republican National Committee. Then dual tragedies, the September 11, 2001 attacks and the sudden death of her father, changed everything. Olivia describes her career pivot to national security; her choice to work for Vice President Pence, her decision to leave and the fall out; and why she, a lifelong Republican, is now openly campaigning for Kamala Harris.
Nopalera's Sandra Velasquez on Why We Should Support Latina Risk Takers
At UnidosUS's annual conference in Las Vegas this year, LTL's Juleyka Lantigua moderated a keynote conversation with the founder of the award-winning beauty brand during the event's Latinas Luncheon. Sandra opened up about the creative transition from rock musician to lifestyle entrepreneur, the business acumen and personal evolution required to grow Nopalera, and the powerful ways our choices as Latina consumers can generate community wealth.
How Paola Mendoza’s Art is Lighting a Path Forward
For her newest YA book, Solis, Paola teamed up with co-author Abby Sher to tell the story of a near-future America where undocumented people are forced into labor camps in service of an autocratic regime, and the four courageous rebels who decide to start a revolution. Paola shares the process of co-creating, what she had to say "no" to in order to say "yes" to YA fiction, and reflections on her own quest for freedom.
Follow Paola on Instagram @paolamendoza . Find her new book Solis, here and her book tour dates here. If you enjoyed this episode, listen to her first episode on Latina to Latina, Paola Mendoza Teaches Us That Joy Is an Act of Resistance.
How Paola Ramos Became Insatiably Curious
The award-winning journalist delves into the reporting behind her new book, Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America; reflects on how being a Latina lesbian informs her storytelling; and shares what her grandfather’s life and death have taught her about the pursuit of individual freedom.
Follow Paola @paoramos on Instagram and find her new book here.
Why Jessica Hoppe Believes We Need More Stories of Addiction Recovery
She was in her early 30s when a stranger's intervention forced Jessica to confront her addiction. Recovery required Jessica to revisit early traumas, and contend with deeply ingrained ideas about achievement and self-worth. Now, the founder of @NuevaYorka is sharing her story in her highly anticipated memoir First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream.
Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicahoppeauthor and @NuevaYorka. Find her new book here.
Why Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez Chose to Celebrate Our Tías and Primas
In her new book, Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us, Prisca helps us understand the women in our lives: la loca, tu tía escándalosa, la prima perfecta and so many more. Prisca shares her own path from la prima perfecta to la loca, and her best advice for truly getting to know the women we love.
Follow Prisca on instagram @priscadorcas. Find her latest book here.
Why Social Media Star Vanessa Sirias Takes Social Media Breaks
When the pandemic hit, she lost her news job and doubled down on creating her own content. Now, as a creator and influencer with hundreds of thousands of social media followers, Vanessa explains how her early foray into YouTube (doing song covers in her high school bedroom!) prepared her for the “TikTok Boom of 2020,” a subsequent job offer from BuzzFeed, and what to do when the algorithm steals the joy of performing and creating.
Connect with Vanessa on instagram @vanessacsirias and TikTok at @vanessacsirias. If you liked this episode listen to Why Kat Stickler Doesn’t Have Vulnerability Hangovers and Mayan Lopez Knows That Art Imitates Life.
What Paula Ávila-Guillén Believes Reproductive Rights Advocates in the U.S. Can Learn from Movements to Expand Rights in Latin America
The Executive Director of The Women's Equality Center shares her insights on the efforts to end El Salvador’s total abortion ban, and Honduras’ total emergency contraception, as well as the movement to expand women’s rights in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. Paula shares how she came to see reproductive rights as central to civil rights, and how her own fertility journey shaped her advocacy.
Connect with Paula on Instagram @pauavilg. If you liked this episode listen to Why Zaena Zamora is Fighting for Our Reproductive Freedom and Why Jessica González-Rojas Champions Reproductive Justice.
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How Raquel Dominguez Develops Big Ideas Around Big Talent
She went from assistant to creative executive in just a few years, and now at OBB Media, she oversees content and strategy for Hailey Bieber, Kylie Jenner, Demi Lovato, and Kevin Hart. We talk about getting your foot in the door when you have no connections, learning by osmosis, and how to play it cool when you work with some of the biggest stars of your generation.
Follow Raquel on Instagram @raquellllly. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Marjorie Garcia Advocates for Recording Artists and How TikTok Star Tefi Pessoa Gets Paid to Be Herself.
How Natasha Alford’s Lived Experience Informs Her Political Analysis and Storytelling
The Grio’s VP of Digital Content and Senior Correspondent, and CNN political analyst joins Alicia to talk about blending memoir and cultural analysis in her new book, American Negra.
Follow Natasha on Instagram @natashasalford and learn more about her book American Negra here. If you liked this episode, listen to How Claudia Forestieri Made the Pivot from Journalism to Scripted Television and How O Magazine’s Arianna Davis Made It, on Her Own Terms.
How Ona Diaz-Santin Became the Hair Saint
The celebrity hair stylist, curl expert and owner of 5 Salon Spa shares how a fortuitous offer forced her to early up her ten year plan, the ways the pandemic tested her business and her faith, and the importance of never being “too good” to be of service.
Follow Ona on Instagram @_thehairsaint_. If you liked this episode, listen to Julissa Prado, the Million-Dollar Curl Whisperer and Why Beauty Entrepreneur Aisha Ceballos-Crump Stepped Out on Faith.
Why Marjorie Garcia Advocates for Recording Artists
The entertainment attorney behind J. Balvin, Juanes, Los Tigres del Norte, Carla Morrison and Snow the Product shares how she forewent a performing career of her own to advocate for others, what she’s learned about protecting artists’ rights, and the necessity of studying and understanding the entire entertainment industry.
Follow Marjorie on Instagram @pajareezy. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Doris Anahí Brings a 'Heart of Service' to Her Art and How Melania Luisa Marte Became a Word Weaver.
Why Cristina Tzintún Ramirez Wants Latinas to Be Less Humble and More Demanding
The civil rights leader behind Texas’ Workers Defense Project and Jolt, and now NextGen America, shares her insights on organizing and mobilizing young and Latino voters, the biggest mistake she made while running for the US Senate, and why she grew up believing that people were jealous of her Mexican identity.
Follow Cristina on Instagram @cristinanextgen. If you liked this episode, listen to How Monica Ramirez Embraced Solidarity to Build a Movement and Code for America’s Amanda Renteria Lost Some Battles, but Is Winning the Political War.
Why Myriam Gurba Doesn’t Believe That Confessional Art-Making is Inherently Cathartic
The author of Creep: Accusations and Confessions shares the familial roots of her irreverence, the surprising response to her viral critique of the book, American Dirt, and the work she did in the aftermath of an abusive relationship to make herself whole.
Find the book here. Follow Myriam on Instagram @alt_myriam_gurba666. If you liked this episode, listen to How Kali Fajardo-Anstine Fought to Tell Her Ancestors’ Stories or How History Inspires Cristina Garcia to Fill in the Gaps.
How Dalina Soto Became an Anti-Diet Dietician
She always thought she’d be a doctor, then a college class refocused her on the power of preventative health care. Now, as a registered and licensed dietician with more than 100K social media followers, Dalina is encouraging us to eat without guilt, embrace our culture, and question dietary absolutism. In this episode, Dalina walks us through the CHULA method, her trademarked approach to freeing ourselves from diet culture.
Find Dalina on Instagram @your.latina.nutritionist. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Radical Health CEO Ivelyse Andino Wants to Reimagine Health Care or How Karla Vasquez Reclaimed Salvadoran Food.
How Dr. Mariel Buqué Believes You Transform Intergenerational Pain Into Intergenerational Abundance
The Columbia University-trained, trauma informed psychologist and practitioner of holistic healing weaves together scientific research, best practices, and personal experience to help us unpack intergenerational trauma in the service of building a legacy of abundance. It’s all part of her new book, Break the Cycle: A Guide to Healing Intergenerational Trauma.
Find Dr Buqué's book here. Follow her on Instagram @dr.marielbuque. If you liked this episode, listen to our previous conversation with Dr. Buqué.
How Cindy Castro Is Setting the Standard for Responsible Fashion
The fashion designer behind Cindy Castro New York shares how her childhood in Ecuador, and the waste and labor practices she witnessed in her early years in the fashion industry shaped her commitment to building a responsible luxury women's ready to wear brand.
Follow Cindy on Instagram @cindycastro_nyc. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Cuyana’s Karla Gallardo Believes in Fewer, Better Things and Why Nicole Chavez Wants to Help You Cultivate Style Confidence.
Why Diana Flores Believes Flag Football Deserves a Professional League
The captain and quarterback of Mexico's National Flag Football Team shares her journey to winning gold at the 2022 World Games, how being a competitive athlete has shaped her relationship to her body (and to dating!), and how a professional league would change the sport she loves.
Follow Diana on Instagram @dianaflres33. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Alicia Bassuk Believes Leading Others Begins with Knowing and Leading Yourself and How Health Coach Massy Arias Found Her Real Strength.
How Allison Strong Built A Room of Her Own
The actress and singer-songwriter (and Alicia’s one-time babysitting charge!) shares the magic of growing up in a matriarchal home, the early negative feedback that nearly destroyed her spirit (and the advice that empowered her to keep going), and the action she took early in the pandemic that allowed her to survive and thrive as an artist.
Check out Allison’s album Brontë here. Follow Allison on Instagram @allisontstrong. If you liked this episode, listen to Encanto's Adassa is Guided By Her Why and Ana Villafañe is Still a Supernova.
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Why Babba Rivera Wants to be in Charge of the Concept and the Execution
She helped launch Uber in her native Sweden, then served as Away’s Director of Brand Marketing before opening her own marketing agency. There, she learned the limits of being a consultant (good ideas without good execution are meaningless), and decided to focus her efforts on something she could lead from beginning to end. Babba shares how her journey led her to found Ceremonia, a clean hair care line rooted in Latinx heritage, and the pitch that earned her a $10 million Series A.
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How Marcela Guerrero is Shaping the History and Genealogy of the Whitney
The DeMartini Family Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art shares how her career veered away from academia and into curation, the impact of exhibition choices on a museum’s collection, and the lessons she’s learned from Black curators who’ve come before her.
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Why Yvonne Castañeda Wants Latinas to Receive Culturally Competent Mental Health Care
How much of our relationship to food begins with our parents’ relationships to food? And how much of that is informed by their experiences of uncertainty and scarcity? Yvonne, a mental health clinician, explores the roots of our relationship to food, the connections between mental health and eating disorders, and offers a framework for talking about food, eating and well-being.
Check out Yvonne's latest book Pork Belly Tacos with a Side of Anxiety here!
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How Alejandra Campoverdi Traced Her Family’s Invisible Inheritances
She navigated her way from “wannabe chola” to first-gen college student to White House aide to President Obama. But those bullet-points fail to capture the messiness and pain that exist in making the leap from one to the other. In her new memoir, First Gen, Alejandra is naming everything from the “Invisible Inheritances” we each contend with, to the “Trailblazer Toll” we pay for breaking those cycles and becoming the first.
Find First Gen here. Follow Alejandra on Instagram @acampoverdi. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Aida Rodriguez Believes in Giving Grace and Julissa Natzely Arce Raya Wants You to Reclaim Your Identity.
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What Motivates Linda García to Build Wealth
The beloved financial educator explores the importance of identifying money wounds, challenges us to rethink "emergency" funds as a form of opportunity (you can hear our host hyperventilate!) and teaches us how to set a money intention. If you love the conversation, check out Linda's new book, "Wealth Warrior: 8 Steps for Communities of Color to Conquer the Stock Market."
Follow Linda on Instagram @luzwarrior.
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How Travel Empowered Nikki Vargas to Bring Her Life Into Alignment
A senior editor for Fodor's Travel and the author of the travel memoir, Call You When I Land, shares how globe-trotting saved her from committing to a life she knew was not for her, along with her hard-earned insights on learning from failure, and planning trips that foster introspection and growth.
Follow Nikki on Instagram @niknakvargas
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How Carmen Perez Became a Forward-Thinker
The President and CEO of The Gathering for Justice and Co-Chair of the Women’s March shares an alternate vision of a carceral society, describes the occasional “messiness” of organizing, and reflects on the life-changing loss that shapes her pursuit of justice and of joy.
Follow Carmen on Instagram @msladyjustice1.
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How Danyeli Rodriguez Del Orbe Learned She Was Not Meant to be a Martyr
The formerly undocumented Afro-Dominican poet, spoken word artist and cultural expression activist shares her decision to forgo law school in favor of a different form of advocacy, the importance of uplifting Black immigrant narratives, and the necessity of developing an identity independent of one’s family.
Follow Danyeli on Instagram @afrodominicanxthings.
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What Drives Marta Tellado to Advocate for a Fair and Just Marketplace
The President and CEO of Consumer Reports, and author of Buyer Aware: Harnessing Our Consumer Power for a Safe, Fair, and Transparent Marketplace, explains why digital rights is the next frontier of consumer protections, and shares her best advice for flexing your consumer power.
Follow Marta @MLTellado.
If you liked this episode, listen to Why Valarie De La Garza Calls Her Own Shots and Why Susan Gonzales Wants You to Understand Artificial Intelligence.
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Why Aida Rodriguez Believes in Giving Grace
The beloved comedian shares the pain of growing up without her father, the decision to reunite with him decades later, and the healing power of giving grace. It’s all part of her new memoir, Legitimate Kid.
Find Legitimate Kid here, and follow Aida on Instagram @funnyaida. If you liked this episode, listen to Mayan Lopez Knows That Art Imitates Life and Why Kat Stickler Doesn’t Have Vulnerability Hangovers.
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How Rebecca Alvarez Story Built a Sexual Wellness Brand
The Founder and CEO of Bloomi, a wellness brand focused on clean intimate care essentials, shares how her experience as a single mom inspired her entrepreneurship, the creative approaches she utilized to close a one million dollar funding gap, and the crossroads she finds herself at today.
Follow Rebecca on Instagram @rebeccaalvarezstory. If you liked this episode, listen to How Cece Meadows Built a Cosmetics Line as an Homage to Indigenous Beauty and How Nopalera CEO and Founder Sandra Velasquez's Luxury Bath and Body Care Line is Disrupting Eurocentric Standards.
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How Reyna Noriega’s Year of Responsibility Ushered In a Year of Rebirth
The Miami-born and based Cuban-Bahamian artist, designer and author shares her insights on the intricacies of brand partnerships, the power of introspection, and how she learned to manage the business of design without sacrificing her love of the craft.
Follow Reyna on Instagram @reynanoriega_. If you liked this episode, listen to How Illustrator Andrea Campos Is Using Art to Spread Positivity and Artist and Organizer Favianna Rodriguez Knows that Pleasure is Political.
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Why Vanessa Marín Believes Communication is the Key to Great Sex
The sex therapist and co-author of the New York Times Best-Seller Sex Talks: The 5 Conversations That Will Transform Your Love Life shares her best advice for talking about desire and pleasure, and fostering intimacy.
Follow Vanessa on Instagram @vanessaandxander. If you liked this episode, listen to How Maude CEO Éva Goicochea Plans to Revolutionize Sexual Wellness and LEVEL UP: Your Relationships Could Use a Refresh.
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How Lisa Guerrero Learned to Be Brave
The Inside Edition correspondent shares her path from cheerleader to actress and sportscaster, the “dream job” as a Monday Night Football sideline reporter that quickly turned to a “nightmare,” and how the surprising choice to appear on the cover of Playboy allowed her to reclaim her narrative and rebuild her career. It’s all part of her riveting memoir, Warrior: My Path to Being Brave.
Follow Lisa on Instagram @4lisaguerrero. If you liked this episode, listen to How Lori Montenegro is Holding the Powerful Accountable and Alicia Tells Us about Her Book, The Likeability Trap.
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Why Valarie De La Garza Calls Her Own Shots
The CEO of Fenton Communications, the largest public interest communications firm in the country, shares the key to successful social impact campaigns, the lessons that nonprofits can learn from consumer brands, and the questions she asks to decide if big opportunities are the right opportunities.
Follow Fenton on Instagram @fentonprogress. If you liked this episode, listen to How Patty Arvielo Built a Multi-Billion Dollar Mortgage Empire and How Candice Smith is Helping Other Founders Tell their Stories.
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How Cece Meadows Built a Cosmetics Line as an Homage to Indigenous Beauty
The CEO and founder of Prados Beauty leveraged her skills as a make-up artist and her experience as a cancer survivor to launch a beauty brand out of her daughter’s nursery. Cece shares how her company’s strategic partnership with Thirteen Lune and JCPenny brought Prados Beauty to profitability, and how her experiences of domestic abuse and homelessness have shaped her commitment to giving back.
If you liked this episode, listen to How Nopalera CEO and Founder Sandra Velasquez's Luxury Bath and Body Care Line is Disrupting Eurocentric Standards and How Flores Is Reclaiming the Borderlands Narrative.
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How Melania Luisa Marte Became a Word Weaver
The writer, musician and poet shares how her parents’ migration from the Dominican Republic to New York City, and her reverse migration from the United States to the DR informs her exploration of colorism, colonialism, and love. She has poured it all into her new collection of poems, Plantains and Our Becoming.
Find Melania on Instagram @melatocatierra and order her book here.
If you liked this episode, listen to Why Ada Limón Refuses to Perform Identity and How Writer Leslé Honoré Knows Poetry Changes Lives.
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How Johanna Rojas Vann Wove the Truth Into Fiction
She grew up listening to her mother’s stories of immigrating from Colombia to the United States, then decided to honor her mom by making those experiences central to her debut novel, An American Immigrant. Johanna shares the inner workings of her writing group, the importance of accountability partners, and the role faith plays in her creative process.
Follow Johanna on Instagram @johannarvann and find ways to order her book here.
If you liked this episode, listen to What Jennifer De Leon Had to Confront to Become the First Writer In Her Family and How Kali Fajardo-Anstine Fought to Tell Her Ancestors’ Stories.
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How Candice Smith is Helping Other Founders Tell their Stories
This serial entrepreneur built her firm, French Press Public Relations, after launching two start ups of her own. Candice shares her insights on how building a service-oriented ethos can take some of the ‘ick’ out of personal branding, the value of choosing which social media platforms to invest in, and the editing required to tell your brand’s story.
Follow Candice on IG @frenchpress.pr. If you liked this episode, listen to UNSTUCK: How PR Pro Lissette M. Rios Connects the Dots and How Ana Flores Is Helping Latinas Grow.
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Living Icon Esmeralda Santiago Asks Who We Are Without Our Memory
The acclaimed author joins Alicia to talk about her newest novel, Las Madres, how a stroke changed her writing and her life, and the cruelest feedback she has ever received.
Find ways to order Las Madres here.
If you liked this episode, listen to How Living Icon Sandra Cisneros Became a Woman Without Shame and Isabel Allende x Alicia Menendez LIVE at the 92Y.
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Why Kat Stickler Doesn’t Have Vulnerability Hangovers
The TikTok star’s funny impressions of her Venezuelan mom and her candid insights into motherhood and divorce have earned her more than nine million followers and counting. In this episode, Kat shares what happens behind the iPhone lens: how she learned to monetize her content, develop boundaries around followers’ feedback, and embrace the power of making others feel less alone.
Follow Kat on Instagram @katstickler. If you liked this episode, listen to How TikTok Star Tefi Pessoa Gets Paid to Be Herself and How Serena Kerrigan Became the Self-Professed Queen of Confidence.
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How History Inspires Cristina Garcia to Fill in the Gaps
The acclaimed novelist began her career in journalism before her first novel, Dreaming in Cuban, cemented her place in the American literary canon. Now, as Cristina prepares to release her eighth novel, Vanishing Maps, she shares her process for world-building, and her affirmation for anyone who believes they too have a story to tell.
Order Cristina's new book Vanishing Maps here. Follow her on Instagram @cristina_garcia_novelist.
If you liked this episode, listen to Why Angie Cruz Believes That Now is Always a Good Time to Start and How Living Icon Sandra Cisneros Became a Woman Without Shame.
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How Justina Machado Became Undeniable
The star of The Horror of Dolores Roach shares the ways her childhood in Chicago prepared her for the ups and downs of Hollywood, how the decision to focus on what was within her control reshaped her career, and why she encourages everyone to go to therapy.
Follow Justina on Instagram @justinamachado. If you liked this episode, listen to ODAAT’s Gloria Calderón Kellett Is a Boss in Any Room and Why Olga Merediz Is Ready to Let It All Hang Out.
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Why Susan Gonzales Wants You to Understand Artificial Intelligence
This thought leader spent more than 20 years in tech and community engagement before founding AI & You, a non-profit committed to educating marginalized communities about AI and emerging technologies. Susan shares everything from her personal digital best practices to the breast cancer diagnosis that forced her to grapple with her own arrogance, and the freedom she has found in choosing to be child-free.
Follow Susan on Twiter @isusangonzales. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Tech Visionary Irma Olguin Jr. Went Back to Her Farming Roots and How Patty Arvielo Built a Multi-Billion Dollar Mortgage Empire.
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How Serena Kerrigan Became the Self-Professed Queen of Confidence
The internet personality turned confidence coach and entrepreneur shares how she parlayed a brand into a business, and gets vulnerable about the limits of social media stardom and what happens when the real person and the online brand are no longer fully aligned.
Follow Serena on Instagram @serenakerrigan. If you liked this episode, listen to How Alisha Fernandez Miranda Became a 40 Year-Old Intern and What Medium Tatianna Morales Sees in Her Own Future.
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Isabel Allende x Alicia Menendez LIVE at the 92Y
On June 6, 2023, the iconic author and advocate joined our host on stage before a live audience at NYC's 92Y. Their conversation touched on everything from her new novel, The Wind Knows My Name, to her experiences of love and loss, and her reflections on love and sex in her eighties.
Find The Wind Knows My Name here. Follow Isabel on Instagram @allendeisabel. If you liked this episode, listen to How Living Icon Sandra Cisneros Became a Woman Without Shame and Why Olga Merediz Is Ready to Let It All Hang Out.
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Why Alicia Bassuk Believes Leading Others Begins with Knowing and Leading Yourself
This NBA and WNBA championship ring-holding leadership advisor shares the morning writing ritual that changed her life, an approach to interviewing potential job candidates that gets beyond canned responses, and her belief that information gathering is critical to effective management.
Find Alicia’s book here. And follow Alicia on Twitter @aliciabassuk. If you liked this episode, listen to Karla Monterroso is Interrogating the Language of Power and Daniela Pierre-Bravo Wants to Help You Navigate Being 'the Other' at Work.
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How Robyn Moreno Gets Rooted
This media-maven turned curandera shares her experience of self-transformation, the loss that defined her early life, and practices you can use to find yourself. It’s all part of her new book: Get Rooted: Reclaim Your Soul, Serenity, and Sisterhood Through the Healing Medicine of the Grandmothers.
Find ways to order Get Rooted here.
Robyn Moreno is on Instagram @robynnmoreno. If you liked this episode, listen to Mountaineer Silvia Vasquez-Lavado Knows the Highest Mountain is the One Within and Why Kat Armas Believes Your Abuela Has the Answers.
Why Bricia Lopez Wants You to Embrace the Art of Asada
As she was researching her new cookbook, Asada: The Art of Mexican Style Grilling, the LA restaurateur began to realize how men dominate the grill scene. Now, she’s trying to change that by giving others the tools and inspiration to master asada. Bricia explains the financial margins necessary to sustain a successful restaurant, and the pride and responsibility of being Oaxacan.
Discover the secret to incredible asada here. Follow Bricia on Instagram @bricialopez.
If you liked this episode, listen to Chef Ariel Fox is Expanding Our Understanding of 'Authentic' Cuisine and How Chef Grace Ramirez Found Her Place Outside of the Kitchen.
How Nopalera CEO and Founder Sandra Velasquez's Luxury Bath and Body Care Line is Disrupting Eurocentric Standards
The former Pistolera bandleader launched her business, Nopalera, with a bold mission: celebrate and elevate Latino culture...and disrupt an entire industry in the process. Sandra shares the two year journey from making products by hand in her Brooklyn home to closing out a $2.7 million oversubscribed seed funding round. Come for the insights on product development and distribution, stay for the real talk on leveling up.
Follow Sandra on Instagram @officialslv. If you liked this episode, listen to Chef Claudia Sandoval Wants You to Ask "Why Not Me?" and How Lory Martinez Rooted Her Business in Multicultural, Multilingual Audio Storytelling.
How Marta Segura Became LA's First Chief Heat Officer & Climate Emergency Mobilization Director
As a child growing up in San Jose, California, she wondered why her neighborhood was being sprayed with pesticides. The more questions she asked, the more she found herself drawn to environmental justice and community advocacy. Now, she is working to make sure that one of the biggest cities in the US is centering the most impacted communities in its climate change response.
Follow Marta on Twitter @Segura4Change. If you liked this episode, listen to How Estefanía Rebellón's Own Experience Seeking Asylum Informed Her Mission to Help Migrant Children and How Amanda Fernandez's Own Educational Challenges Inspired Latinos for Education.
How Carolina Saavedra Finds the Heart of the Story
The Showrunner for the new MSNBC/Peacock docuseries, Leguizamo Does America, pulls back the curtain on how a project goes from a four page pitch deck to a six episode television show, and shares how her family’s forced migration from Chile shapes her understanding of what it means to be American.
In this vibrant, music- and food-filled show, John Leguizamo travels across the U.S. to celebrate and explore the cultural contributions of Latinos. Leguizamo Does America airs through May 21st, Sundays at 10pm ET on MSNBC, and can be found streaming on Peacock.
If you liked this episode, listen to How Kate del Castillo Built (and Rebuilt) Her Life and ODAAT’s Gloria Calderón Kellett Is a Boss in Any Room.
How Julissa Prado's Dreams Grew with Her Success
This special episode of Latina to Latina is brought to you by Always.
The CEO and founder of Rizos Curls returns to Latina to Latina! In this engaging and emotional episode, Julissa shares how she broke her big dream (owning a business!) down into smaller, attainable goals; reflects on the unique pressure she navigates as a daughter of immigrants; and highlights the importance of “fun” in her continued success.
Rizos Curls is a clean, cruelty-free hair care brand designed specifically for creating defined, frizz-free curls. Julissa shares how she founded it in 2017 to create products that embrace and celebrate the beauty of curly hair, and how the brand has since ignited a movement across social media for curly haired individuals to embrace their natural hair. Growing up, Julissa struggled to find products that worked for her hair, so at 15, she had her first dream to start the hair care brand she wished she had. She attended UCLA for undergraduate and holds an MBA from Wake Forest University.
This May, Always is launching the Always Soñando National Scholarship to provide financial assistance and mentorship to 50 emerging Latina college students. Apply now at https://www.always.com/en-us/sonandoscholarship. Always believes that nothing should stop you from achieving your dreams – especially your period. That’s why Always Ultra Thin Day and Night pads provide up to 100% leak free protection, so you can focus on what really matters – going after your dreams.
What Jennifer De Leon Had to Confront to Become the First Writer In Her Family
The educator and author of the new YA novel, “Borderless,” shares the personal conversation that allowed her to break through as a writer, the unique considerations of writing about an immigrant experience that is not your own, and the dangers book bans pose to young readers.
Find ways to get "Borderless" here. And Jennifer De Leon is on Instagram @jdeleonwriter.
If you liked this episode, listen to Erika Sánchez is Finding Meaning in the Hurt and Why Angie Cruz Believes That Now is Always a Good Time to Start.
How Beatriz Acevedo is Changing the Face of Financial Technology
This serial entrepreneur reflects on the lessons she learned as the co-founder and president of mitú, and how she’s applying those lessons to her new role as the CEO and co-founder of the fintech company, SUMA Wealth. Beatriz pulls back the curtain on raising capital, learning how to execute her first acquisition, and her (refreshing!) ambivalence about the sacrifice required to build a business while raising twins.
Follow Beatriz on Instagram @beatrizacevedogreiff. If you liked this episode, listen to How Patty Arvielo Built a Multi-Billion Dollar Mortgage Empire and Chef Claudia Sandoval Wants You to Ask "Why Not Me?".
Why Gladis Molina Alt Wants Our Immigration System to Redefine What is in the Best Interest of Children
The new Executive Director of The Young Center reflects on her own childhood experience of fleeing El Salvador during its civil war, the unique challenges children face in deportation proceedings, and why she believes big policy change must be coupled with direct service.
Follow Gladis on Twitter @GladisMolinaAlt. If you liked this episode, listen to How Monica Ramirez Embraced Solidarity to Build a Movement and Monica Muñoz Martinez is Confronting Our Past to Change the Future.
How Chef Grace Ramirez Found Her Place Outside of the Kitchen
Culinary school helped hone her skills, but she still needed to figure out who she was as a chef. That journey led her to hunting, diving deep into the world of sustainability, and supporting communities in the aftermath of natural disasters. Grace opens up about the grief she experienced in the wake of divorce, and the life changing joy of nourishing others.
Follow Grace on Instagram @chefgraceramirez. If you liked this episode, listen to more of our interviews with chefs! Like: Chef Claudia Sandoval Wants You to Ask "Why Not Me?" and Chef Ariel Fox is Expanding Our Understanding of 'Authentic' Cuisine.
Stephanie Ramos Has Big “Go For It” Energy
She grew her career as a journalist while serving in the US Army. Now the ABC News Network Correspondent reflects on how 9/11 inspired her call to service, the ways her perspective as a veteran informs her story telling, and how she “goes for it” even in the face of fear.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram @thestephanieramos. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Lilia Luciano Prepares for Confidence, Not Perfection and Why Investigative Journalist Jean Guerrero is Leaning into the Power of Her Personal Experience.
How Lory Martinez Rooted Her Business in Multicultural, Multilingual Audio Storytelling
The CEO and founder of Ochenta Studios, a Paris-based podcast company, shares the skills that have allowed her to differentiate her business and her audio offerings, the trick to scripting hilarious audio comedy, and how the childhood experience of communicating with her abuela shaped her new Spotify fiction podcast, La Cabina Telefónica.
Listen here and on Spotify! Follow Lory on Instagram @_lorymartinez_. If you liked this episode, listen to How Grace Bastidas Built a Media Brand for Modern Families and Why Beauty Entrepreneur Aisha Ceballos-Crump Stepped Out on Faith.
What Grasie Mercedes Needed to Give Up to Level Up
The star of NBC’s Grand Crew built multiple careers as a style blogger, filmmaker and actor in tandem, but as she approached her 40th birthday, she knew it was time to make some hard choices. Grasie shares the mental shifts that set her up for professional success and what she, a serial monogamist, learned by being alone.
Follow Grasie on Instagram @grasiemercedes. If you liked this episode, listen to Mayan Lopez Knows That Art Imitates Life and How Melissa Fumero Learned That She Was Funny.
Why Nicole Chavez Wants to Help You Cultivate Style Confidence
She built an impressive career in television costuming before a friendship with a budding actress led her to celebrity styling. She had no idea what she was doing, but she figured it out. Nicole shares the vision and planning that goes into those red carpet looks, and how we can each simplify our style while still having fun!
Follow Nicole on Instagram @nicolechavezstyle. If you liked this episode listen to Cassandra Sethi Wants to Take Your Wardrobe to the Next Level and How Fashion Entrepreneur Camila Coelho Went from Working Retail to Building a Beauty Brand.
How Patty Arvielo Built a Multi-Billion Dollar Mortgage Empire
This first-generation Latina shares her journey from entry-level employee at a credit union to co-owner of New American Funding, the largest Latina-owned private mortgage company in the nation. Patty shares how leaving corporate America to become an entrepreneur enabled her to build wealth, and the (many) mistakes she has made once, but never again.
Follow Patty on Instagram @pattyarvielo. If you liked this episode, listen to How Carolyn Rodz Is Connecting Entrepreneurs with Opportunities and Why Rum Master Distiller Sylvia Santiago Will Never Quit.
How Going to Space Changed Katya Echazarreta
The electrical engineer and civilian astronaut shares her journey from community college, to NASA intern, to first Mexican-born woman in space.
Watch ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA in theaters.
If you liked this episode, listen to How NASA Engineer Diana Trujillo's Pursuit of a New Life Led Her to Space and How Amanda Fernandez's Own Educational Challenges Inspired Latinos for Education.
Why Zoila Darton Believes Community Is the Foundation of a Great Brand
This Panamanian-Jamaican-Jewish New Yorker spent the early part of her career in Latin music, before launching her own creative agency. Zoila reflects on how she secured her first clients, the three years she spent building Word Agency before she started making money, and the secrets to great brand campaigns.
Follow Zoila on Instagram @zoiladarton. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Doris Anahí Brings a 'Heart of Service' to Her Art and UNSTUCK: How PR Pro Lissette M. Rios Connects the Dots.
Cassandra Sethi Wants to Take Your Wardrobe to the Next Level
Her early success creating SoulCycle and Equinox’s retail businesses proved that she understood what consumers wanted. So when she decided to pivot to personal styling, she quickly identified what clients needed: a service that would help successful professionals cultivate a sense of style that aligned with their values and systematized their wardrobes. Now the CEO of that business, Next Level Wardrobe, Cassandra shares the observations that allowed her to re-imagine both brands' retail offerings, what it took to grow her client base, and her tips for building a closet that reflects who you are now.
Follow Cassandra on Instagram @nextlevelwardobe. If you liked this episode, listen to How Fashion Entrepreneur Camila Coelho Went from Working Retail to Building a Beauty Brand and Why Cuyana’s Karla Gallardo Believes in Fewer, Better Things.
How Alisha Fernandez Miranda Became a 40 Year-Old Intern
She had a life that was “objectively great” (big career, happy marriage, twins!) but still, she felt like she was “drowning.” So, Alisha devoted a year to chasing down the answer to her most burning question: What might have happened if her life had taken a different path? That year is now the subject of her new memoir, My What If Year, the story of the four internships (and the many misadventures) that got Alisha unstuck.
Follow Alisha on Instagram @alishfmiranda. If you liked this episode, listen to How Meg Medina Summoned the Courage to Write and UNSTUCK: Why Irene Quevedo Wants You to Take a Chance on Yourself.
Adrienne Bailon-Houghton Wouldn’t Change the Journey
Faith, family and hard work powered this megastar from her church choir to pop stardom to the set of The Real. But along that way, her faith was tested. Adrienne opens up about the growing pains of fame, the fertility journey that brought her to surrogacy, and her commitment to showing up authentically so that others can do the same.
Find Love For The Ages on Peacock TV. Follow Adrienne on Instagram @adriennebailon. If you loved this episode, listen to Eva Longoria Always Knew She'd Succeed and Encanto's Adassa is Guided By Her Why.
How Nina Terrero Groth Applies her Storytelling Skills to Reimagining the Future of Retail
This talented storyteller began her career in digital news at ABC, NBC and Entertainment Weekly, where her encyclopedic knowledge of entertainment and megawatt charm opened the door to on-air opportunities on platforms like The Today Show, The Wendy Williams Show and People NOW. Then, Nina made a big career jump into corporate communications at Target, where she then pivoted once again, taking on a role as Lead Pipeline Manager for Target Accelerators. Nina shares her best advice for aligning your values and your skills, and the work she’s doing to reimagine the future of retail.
Follow Nina on Instagram
Why Lilia Luciano Prepares for Confidence, Not Perfection
The journalist and podcast host reflects on her journey from Spanish-language television to the Today Show, to the local news job she almost turned down that would ultimately put her on the path to joining CBS News as a national correspondent and anchor. Lilia shares her approach to combating imposter syndrome, her relationship to preparation, and the value of learning every aspect of the craft.
Be sure to check Lilia out on CBS News and El Flow podcast. Follow Lilia on Instagram
How Melissa Fumero Learned That She Was Funny
The star of Netflix’s Blockbuster and Brooklyn-99 once doubted that she was built for comedy. Melissa shares how she grew her confidence, the experience that taught her that ease can lead to success, and the tradeoffs required to have a big career and a happy family.
Follow Melissa on Instagram
How Ambassador Julissa Reynoso Learned to Talk Less and Listen More
She has a resume like none other: law firm partner, White House Chief of Staff to First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, US Ambassador (twice!). Ambassador Reynoso joins the podcast from her current post in Spain and shares how she’s navigated a unique career between the public and private sectors, and the life-changing lesson she learned by watching Dr. Biden.
Photo Credit: Andria Lo
How Gabriela Garcia Took an Ax to Archetype
The breakout author shares how growing up the daughter of a Cuban mother and Mexican father, in a matriarchal family, informed her understanding of the US immigration system, and shaped the characters in her New York Times best-selling debut novel of “Of Women and Salt.”
How Mayra Guillen Learned to Be an Advocate
The disappearance and murder of Vanessa Guillen sparked a movement, one that was fueled by her family's unrelenting demands for answers and accountability. At the core of that family is Mayra Guillen, Vanessa's older sister. Mayra shares what her family's tragedy and call to advocacy has taught her about how power operates.
You can watch I Am Vanessa Guillen on Netflix.
Chef Claudia Sandoval Wants You to Ask "Why Not Me?"
This solo mom won the sixth season of MasterChef and parlayed that success into a catering business, a culinary consultancy, and multiple TV gigs, including her new Discovery+ show, Taste of the Border. Then, when the pandemic sidelined her plans for a brick and mortar, Chef Claudia found a way to rebuild. Now she wants her success to inspire others to ask, "Why not me?"
Follow Claudia on Instagram
Why Olga Merediz Is Ready to Let It All Hang Out
She was a working actress for more than 20 years before her portrayal of Abuela Claudia in In the Heights on Broadway catapulted her to new levels of success. Now, with the In the Heights' film adaptation under her belt, and a role on the new Netflix sitcom Blockbuster, Olga has more opportunities than she ever dreamed of.... at exactly the moment when she is considering doing less. Olga opens up about her complicated relationship with her own mother, the power of aging, and the necessity of telling her own stories.
Follow Olga on Instagram
How Illustrator Andrea Campos Is Using Art to Spread Positivity
After a decade in corporate, she made the leap from marketing to freelance artistry. Then, the pandemic hit. With little work available, Andrea poured herself into her craft and built an Instagram following among those hungry for a dose of positivity. Two years later, she is the illustrator on Jennifer Lopez and Jimmy Fallon's children's book, "Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure." Andrea shares her insights on how children's books go from concept to publication, and what it requires to be a one person start-up working alongside mega-celebrities.
Follow Andrea on Instagram
How Kate del Castillo Built (and Rebuilt) Her Life
The actress, producer and Reina del Sur star opens up about early fame, proving herself (again) in Hollywood, leaving an abusive marriage, and the lessons she learned from her infamous meeting with El Chapo.
Follow Kate on Instagram
Why Ada Limón Refuses to Perform Identity
The 24th U.S. Poet Laureate shares her journey from theater to marketing to poetry, the loss that inspired her to reimagine her life, and her refusal to allow others’ expectations to shape how she shows up in the world.
Follow Ada on Instagram
Mayan Lopez Knows That Art Imitates Life
Comedy and entertainment is the family business (her dad is comedian George Lopez), but it was a TikTok video that caught the eye of a Hollywood writer and inspired Mayan’s new NBC sitcom: Lopez vs. Lopez. Mayan gets candid about her complicated relationship with her father, and the combination of craft-honing and deep therapy that has prepared her for this moment.
Follow Mayan on Instagram
Why Siete Food's Veronica Garza Doesn't Think Your Big Idea Always Needs a Business Plan
The Founder and Chief Innovation Officer for Siete Foods went from making almond flour tortillas in her kitchen to helping lead the fastest growing Latin-focused brand in food and beverage at scale. Veronica shares her initial inspiration (spoiler alert: it didn't start with a business plan!), the exercise that reshaped their brand, and the company's recent decision to take a $90 million investment. Come for the exercise that helped Vero and her family reimagine the brand.
Find The Siete Table cookbook here and follow Veronica on Instagram
How Kali Fajardo-Anstine Fought to Tell Her Ancestors’ Stories
The best-selling author of “Woman of Light” and “Sabrina & Corina: Stories” shares how she subverts expectations (in real life and on the page!), the necessity of complicating racial hierarchy, and her commitment to writing Latinas back into the stories of the American West.
Follow Kali on Instagram
Why Doris Anahí Brings a 'Heart of Service' to Her Art
She began her music career as a talent manager, before making the big pivot to working as an artist herself. Now her journey through the industry as a first-generation daughter of immigrants from a mixed-status family is the focus of a Disney+ documentary, Mija. Doris shares the deep emotional process of following her calling, and how she chose to say no to security in order to bet big on herself.
Follow Doris on Instagram
How Estefanía Rebellón's Own Experience Seeking Asylum Informed Her Mission to Help Migrant Children
Forced to flee her native Colombia as a child, Estefanía Rebellón knows the pain of being displaced. Now, she's helping migrant children at the US-Mexico border by providing a mobile school program that offers full-time bilingual education. Estefanía dives into the complexity of her personal experience and how the challenges of building a non-profit shaped her "Yes We Can" ethos.
Follow Estefanía on Instagram
Why Angie Cruz Believes That Now is Always a Good Time to Start
The acclaimed author of "Dominicana" is back with a new novel, “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water” and reveals how she almost quit writing before either book was published. In this engaging conversation, Angie reflects on the importance of writers confronting their own bias, the necessity of complex and complete characters of color, and how to ward against the "disease of presumed incompetence."
Follow Angie on Instagram
Chef Ariel Fox is Expanding Our Understanding of 'Authentic' Cuisine
The VP for Dos Caminos and Del Friscos pulls back the curtain on what it takes to launch a restaurant, talks about the difference between competing on Hell's Kitchen as a newbie versus an established chef, and shares the personal change that inspired her new cookbook: Spice Kitchen: Healthy Latin and Caribbean Cuisine
Follow Ariel on Instagram
How Living Icon Sandra Cisneros Became a Woman Without Shame
In this intimate conversation, the iconic writer shares how she chose to treat her art as her life partner, the "wobbling and wavering" around her decision to not have children, and how she limits distractions in the service of deep work.
Follow Sandra on Instagram.
How Monica Ramirez Embraced Solidarity to Build a Movement
She spent her early career advocating on behalf of farmworker women. Then in 2017, as Hollywood reeled from revelations of sexual abuse and harassment, she wrote a statement of support that reshaped the #MeToo movement, and set the groundwork for the Times Up Initiative. Monica talks us through that choice, how she persevered through intense resistance, and gets candid about the personal cost of being a public face of a social movement.
Follow Monica on Instagram.
How Lisette Scott Launched Her Jewelry Business Inspired by her Family's Caribbean Roots
She studied fashion and worked for big clothing brands like Vince Camuto and DKNY, but when it was time to step out on her own, she went back to her passion from childhood -- jewelry. Now, the founder of Jam + Rico reveals how to start even when you don’t think you’re ready, and how to turn a loss of job security into an opportunity.
Follow Lisette on Instagram.
Why Jessica Castro Knows That Late is Better Than Never
She was 18 years-old when she began dancing, but her talent and commitment was so undeniable that she quickly made her way from the Alvin Ailey Dance Program to the Knicks City Dancers to sharing the stage with Beyonce, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez. Now the professional dancer and choreographer shares how to turbo-charge your start when others tell you you’re late to the game.
Follow Jessica on Instagram.
Daniela Pierre-Bravo Wants to Help You Navigate Being 'the Other' at Work
It’s an experience many of us share: working in industries and spaces where we are the first or the only. How do you harness the strength and power of your difference in the face of pressure to conform? That question is the focus of Daniela’s new book, The Other: How to Own Your Power at Work as a Woman of Color.
How Claudia Forestieri Made the Pivot from Journalism to Scripted Television
The creator and executive producer of Gordita Chronicles started her career as a producer and on-air reporter at Telemundo before making a big pivot into scripted television. In this conversation, she details the steps that move required, and the power of celebrating each small win.
How Lori Montenegro is Holding the Powerful Accountable
Noticias Telemundo’s Washington D.C. bureau chief shares her unlikely path from correspondent to newsroom leader, and one of the most influential journalists in Spanish-language television.
Follow Lori on Twitter.
How Amanda Fernandez's Own Educational Challenges Inspired Latinos for Education
The non-profit leader shares how her corporate experience prepared her to found and run her own organization, her insights on the occasional necessity of mission creep, and how advocating for her own son reshaped her understanding of what the future of education will require.
How Flores Is Reclaiming the Borderlands Narrative
The R&B singer’s new EP, The Lives They Left, is an homage to her indigenous roots, her childhood on the U.S.-Mexico border and the strength of women. Flores talks about the message behind the music, the importance of people with these lived experiences telling these stories, and the relationship of indigeneity to Latinidad.
Why Carmen Rita Wong Isn’t Afraid to Tell All
Questions about the identity of her biological father led the author on a deeper quest for answers about who she is and what motivated her mothers’ omissions. Carmen details the journey in her new memoir, Why Didn’t You Tell Me?
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Photo Credit: Adriana Diaz
How Attorney Melissa Gomez Nelson Stayed the Course
Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley, the daughter of migrant farmworkers, she knew she wanted to acquire skills to protect her family. That motivated her to fast track her way through college and law school, make partner at a big law firm, and now handle complex litigation as the Associate General Counsel at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Follow Melissa on Instagram.
Why Healthy Hood Chicago's Tanya Lozano Believes Wellness Requires Community
She grew up in a family of activists and led her first walk out as a high school student. Then she worked in city government and saw up close the need for community-based solutions. Now, motivated by Chicago's 20 year life expectancy gap, the non-profit founder and CEO is working to ensure that her community has what it needs to thrive.
How NewSchools’ Frances Messano Became a Provider of Dream Capital
As a kid growing up in Coney Island, luck played a big role in setting her life path. Now, as the president and incoming CEO of a nonprofit venture philanthropy fund, Frances is working to make sure that educational opportunity comes down to more than just luck.
Follow Frances on Twitter.
How Photojournalist Sarahbeth Maney Captured History
She made one of the most iconic photographs of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings. But it almost didn't happen. Sarahbeth shares how she jockeyed to get into the room, the payoff on her patience, and the way she gives agency to her subjects.
Follow Sarahbeth on Instagram.
Why Comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes is Questioning (Almost) Everything
What is it like to have incredible success at something other than your big dream? What happens when you stop trying to prove yourself to others? Or when you begin to interrogate the things you once took as absolutes? Those are just some of the big questions comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes tackles in her new book, Who Do I Think I Am? Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams.
Follow Anjelah on Instagram.
Why Investigative Journalist Jean Guerrero is Leaning into the Power of Her Personal Experience
The two time author has investigated everything from her father’s mental health to white nationalists in the White House. Now in her new role as an LA Times Opinion columnist, Jean’s examining both her own experiences and the limits of objectivity.
Photo Credit: Brooke Nipar
Social Impact Strategist Elsa Collins Wants You to Understand the Power of Your Influence
The serial co-founder (This is About Humanity, Poderistas, I Am a Voter) knows how to harness the power of celebrities for everything from political campaigns to direct service for migrant families, but she still believes that you are the most influential person in your own circle. Elsa shares how this ethos applies to everything from civic engagement to raising multiracial kids.
Follow Elsa on Instagram.
Karla Monterroso is Interrogating the Language of Power
A personal leadership crisis shaped her understanding of how power is built and distributed. Now the leadership coach, strategist, and racial equity advocate shares how others can navigate the unique demands of leaders of color, and the work necessary to eradicate anti-Blackness in Latino communities.
Photo Credit: Emily Assiran
Mountaineer Silvia Vasquez-Lavado Knows the Highest Mountain is the One Within
The adventurer, activist, and first openly gay woman to complete the Seven Summits shares the childhood trauma and self-destructive behavior that brought her to the world’s highest mountain.
Why Cuyana’s Karla Gallardo Believes in Fewer, Better Things
The CEO and co-founder of the global e-commerce company shares how her upbringing in Ecuador shaped her approach to consumption, the skills she cultivated before diving into entrepreneurship, and how you set boundaries when you’re both a hustler and your own boss.
Why Kat Armas Believes Your Abuela Has the Answers
As a seminary student, she began to question why she hadn’t been trained to recognize the importance of women in the Bible. Now her book, Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us About Wisdom, examines how our lives would be different if religion centered the stories of women’s sacred practice of survival.
Daisy Auger-Dominguez Knows What it Takes to Build an Inclusive Workplace
The Chief People Officer for VICE Media has spent her career building better workplaces. She’s perfected a model: reflect, visualize, act, and persist. Now she's put everything she's learned into her new book, Inclusion Revolution: The Essential Guide to Dismantling Racial Inequity in the Workplace.
Photo Credit: Aly Honore
Julissa Natzely Arce Raya Wants You to Reclaim Your Identity
As a kid growing up in Texas, she thought that fitting in would keep her safe. Then, as she rose through the Wall Street ranks while harboring a big secret, a life-changing loss made her question everything. In her new book, You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting Assimilation, Julissa shares her personal journey, explores the veiled history of U.S. Latinos, and makes a powerful case for reimagining what it means to belong.
Art Advisor Maria Brito Wants to Help You Harness Your Creativity
She's helped celebrities curate their personal art collections, and worked to make art more accessible to all. Now, the author of How Creativity Rules the World: The Art and Business of Turning Your Ideas into Gold shares her journey from burned out lawyer to art world disruptor, along with the actions and attitudes necessary to take your ideas to the next level.
Why Novelist Xochitl Gonzalez Isn't Done Being Ambitious
Could you just be done being ambitious?" That was the question the Brooklyn native asked herself before she "blew up" her comfortable New York life to move to Iowa, pursue her MFA, and complete what would become her New York Times Best-Selling novel, Olga Dies Dreaming.
Artist and Organizer Favianna Rodriguez Knows that Pleasure is Political
She started organizing at 15, dropped out of college to become an entrepreneur, and has been blazing her own path ever since. Favianna shares how she got clear about the things she was fighting for, and how she built a life that allows her to embrace pleasure and joy.
How Judge Esther Salas is Honoring Her Son’s Legacy
She made history as the first Latina to serve as a U.S. Magistrate Judge and a Federal District Judge for the District of New Jersey. Then, in 2020, a self-avowed anti-feminist violently targeted her family, injuring her husband and killing her son, Daniel. In this powerful episode, Judge Salas reflects on love, faith, grief, and her commitment to keeping her son's joyful memory alive.
Judge Salas talks in detail about the violence that was inflicted upon her family. Listen only if, and when, you are ready.
How Author Alexis Daria is Complicating Our Notions of Romance
The Bronx-native was juggling multiple jobs when she decided, at 30, that it was time to stop playing small. It paid off: her first romance novel was recognized with a prestigious RITA Award, and her newest solo project, A Lot Like Adios, is continuing to ask powerful questions about who gets to fall in love and what love really looks like.
Photo Credit: Sonya Sones
How Meg Medina Summoned the Courage to Write
"Who is she? What does she want? Why can't she have it?" Those are the questions the Newbery Medal-winning children's author asks about each of her young Latina protagonists. What Meg Medina wanted was to write professionally, but first, she had to get brave.
Illustrator Michelle Rial Wants You to Feel Better
The acclaimed designer took her experiences with chronic pain, an auto-immune disease, and the loss of her father, and poured them into her new hilarious and moving book, Maybe This Will Help: How to Feel Better When Things Stay the Same.
Photo Credit: Emilio Hernandez
Ana Villafañe is Still a Supernova
She got her big break playing Gloria Estefan in the musical hit On Your Feet. She cherished the role, but it also forced her to “erase Ana to sustain Gloria.” Now, with Chicago, her second Broadway show under her belt, and big projects on the horizon, Ana’s learning how to allow her art and her life to live side-by-side.
Monica Muñoz Martinez is Confronting Our Past to Change the Future
The MacArthur "Genius" Grant winner is a public historian who interrogates some of the darkest parts of American history, and argues that grappling with our past is vital to developing solutions that address racial injustice.
Follow Monica on Twitter.
How Peloton's Robin Arzón Found Her True Power
The litigator turned ultra-marathoner and fitness instructor shares the personal trauma that helped redirect her from law into fitness, her commitment to showing up fully present and fully committed, and why her new children's book, Strong Mama, is a call to reimagine self-care.
Photo Credit: Paola Trusendi
Julissa Calderon Is Helping Hollywood to Reimagine Latina Characters
Her hilarious BuzzFeed portrayals of Latina moms hooked us, and now, her magnetic energy keeps us glued to Netflix's Gentefied. Julissa reveals what she willingly risked to earn roles that welcome her fullest self.
Photo Credit: 2020 Getty Images
How Lauren Jauregui Learned to Listen to Her Own Voice
It took her years to get back to herself, but now the singer-songwriter who exploded onto the world stage as part of Fifth Harmony has her first solo EP, Prelude. And she's also on a mission to help others heal.
How Emeraude Toubia Uses Love as a Life Force
The star of Amazon's With Love, and Lifetime's Holiday in Santa Fe, opens up about how she sets a supportive tone on set, the experience of building her career alongside her equally talented husband (Prince Royce!) and what a loss taught her about the importance of cherishing life's smallest moments.
How Filmmaker Cristina Ibarra Cultivated a Junk Aesthetic
Growing up near the U.S.-Mexico border, she became obsessed with questions of belonging. Now, the newly-minted MacArthur Genius is using film to explore those same themes and shine light on stories that too often go untold.
Bonus Episode: An Inside Look at a New Report on Latinos from Nielsen
Stacie de Armas, Nielsen's Senior VP of Diverse Intelligence and Initiatives shares fascinating insights from Nielsen's new report, "Inclusion, Information and Intersection: The Truth about Connecting with U.S. Latinos." Plus, her thoughts on how Latinas can use the data to help others understand the power of our communities. (Sponsored)
America Ferrera Knows What Real Power Looks Like
The Hollywood A-lister reveals how she advocates for herself, maneuvers through complex power dynamics, and deflects the “Brown Discount.” She also shares all of the work that went into Season 2 of the smash hit, Gentefied, streaming on Netflix now!
How Queens' Star Nadine Velazquez is Making the Most of a Second Chance
By 30, the actress had reached most of her goals but still felt like she was living a life someone else had chosen for her. Nadine reveals what it was like to hit rock bottom, and the conversation with a Hollywood A-Lister that changed everything.
Why Beauty Entrepreneur Aisha Ceballos-Crump Stepped Out on Faith
The Founder and CEO of Honey Baby Naturals and Botanika Beauty paired engineering and marketing to pave her own path into beauty. Aisha gets candid about the reality TV experience that clarified her vision, and the financial risks she took to realize her dreams.
Follow Aisha on Instagram.
Vanessa Birnbaum Rosler’s Yoga Philosophy Ignited a Booming Business
The founder of All You Can Yoga reveals how she harnessed her love of the practice, marketing, and entrepreneurship to simplify the business of yoga, and bring it within everyone's reach.
What Sonia Manzano Knows Kids Need
As Sesame Street's iconic "Maria," the actress and Emmy-award winning writer harnessed the power of make-believe and imagination to connect with children. Sonia shares how creativity provided respite from her tumultuous childhood, and how problem-solving inspired her new PBS children's animated series, Alma's Way.
How Mildred Otero Learned to Negotiate
From Capitol Hill to the State Department to Leadership for Educational Equity, this education policy advocate offers wisdom on the art of compromise and the necessity of standing your ground.
Follow Mildred on Twitter.
Why Dr. Mariel Buqué Believes Healing Leads to Liberation
The Ivy League educated holistic psychologist is revolutionizing her field with Indigenous healing, curanderos, sound baths, and Reiki therapy. Dr. Buqué breaks down her work in mental wellness, and how we can use “micro moments” to connect with ourselves.
Why Kayla Rodriguez Graff is Bringing Honey to Wound Care
As co-founder and CEO of SweetBio, she’s harnessing the power of Manuka honey to heal advanced wounds and reimagine health outcomes. But early on, the biotech company nearly crumbled. Kayla describes the pivot that put them back on track, and the unique challenges of bringing health care products directly to consumers.
Who Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez Is Writing For
The Latina Rebels founder and author of For Brown Girls with Sharp Edges and Tender Hearts: A Love Letter to Women of Color, opens up about imposter syndrome, colorism, and why shaking off traditional roles was key to finding freedom.
Why Zaena Zamora is Fighting for Our Reproductive Freedom
The executive director of pro-choice Frontera Fund discusses the ramifications of the loss of abortion rights in Texas, and the challenges that lay ahead for the state and the the country. Zaena also gives Alicia insight into what it takes to keep abortion care at the forefront of the national healthcare movement.
How Curator E. Carmen Ramos is Representing Us in the Art World
As a teenager, she spent weekends in New York City museums. Today she’s big-time in her field. E. Carmen Ramos talks candidly about feeling unwelcome in her first museum job to challenging the art establishment to include more Latino artists in the country’s biggest art institutions.
Why Designer Jen Zeano Is Building a Queer Lifestyle Brand in South Texas
Jen, who is behind empowering T-shirt collections like the pink and red “Latina Power” line, started out hand-drawing on coffee mugs while working at a Best Buy. She speaks with Alicia about what it was like launching a design company from her living room, and how being in the Rio Grande Valley fuels her sense of community and inspires JZD’s colorful, mantra-infused tees.
UNSTUCK: Breathwork Coach Ana Lilia Teaches Us How to Center Ourselves
Ana Lilia fell in love with breathing practices and affirmations as part of her own healing journey. Then she shared those gifts with others. Now she shares how to clear your mind, control your anxiety and rewrite your story—one breath at a time.
UNSTUCK: What Media Mogul Nely Galán Can Teach Us About the Art of Reinvention
The television executive turned entrepreneur took a major detour—mid career—to go back to school. She shares how that decision changed her life, as well as her insights on how to find your true purpose.
UNSTUCK: How PR Pro Lissette M. Rios Connects the Dots
The founder of Chic Influence, a public relations firm, shares her tips for telling an individual or brand’s story so that others want to listen. Plus, the powerful exercise she relies on to gain clarity and make big moves.
UNSTUCK: Why Irene Quevedo Wants You to Take a Chance on Yourself
To kick off this four part series, professional coach and non-profit CEO, Irene Quevedo, shares the biggest obstacle her clients face when it comes to asserting what they really want, as well as the radical decision that transformed her life.
Follow Irene on Instagram. Follow Level Up Latina on Instagram.
Why Radical Health CEO Ivelyse Andino Wants to Reimagine Health Care
Ivelyse's personal experience of navigating the health care system inspired her to build a business that harnesses technology and intimate conversations to give individuals more control over their health. In this episode, she shares the power of taking up space and giving yourself permission to figure things out as you go.
What Activist Tania Rosario Méndez is Doing to Combat Femicide in Puerto Rico
The Executive Director of Taller Salud, a feminist organization in Puerto Rico, breaks down how the island's struggling economy and social systems fail survivors, what needs to change, and what we can each do to combat gender-based violence.
Follow Tania on Instagram. Follow Taller Salud on Instagram and Twitter.
How Carolyn Rodz Is Connecting Entrepreneurs with Opportunities
Her own leap from investment banking to entrepreneurship inspired Hello Alice, a free platform that helps businesses learn and grow. Carolyn shares her roadmaps for entrepreneurs, and the source of her own eternal optimism.
How TikTok Star Tefi Pessoa Gets Paid to Be Herself
She was a quirky kid who was obsessed with pop culture and learned the art of chisme from her abuela. It all prepared her to take our social media feeds by storm. Tefi shares her path from behind the scenes to the star of the show and the tricks she uses to make every performance “just a conversation.”
How Maude CEO Éva Goicochea Plans to Revolutionize Sexual Wellness
Growing up in New Mexico, she read books like Our Bodies, Ourselves, and understood the importance of destigmatizing sexuality. Now the entrepreneur shares how her modern sexual wellness company is reimagining an outdated industry.
Photo Credit: María Fernanda De la Torre Portillo
How Mysticism Fuels Natalia Lafourcade's Musical Process
The iconic Mexican folk singer didn’t know if she would keep working in music, so she lost herself in Canada and started paying attention to signs from the universe. In this episode, she shares how she found her way back home and the rituals she relies on to bring new projects to life.
How Netflix’s Carolina Garcia Picks Binge-Worthy Hits
She learned on the job as an assistant to one of the most powerful women in Hollywood, and spent nine years at Twentieth Century Fox before making the leap to Netflix. Now its director of original programing, she lets us in on what it takes to sell a big idea.
Follow Carolina on Instagram.
How NASA engineer Diana Trujillo's Pursuit of a New Life Led Her to Space
She grew tired of seeing the women in her family sacrifice their ambition for their men, so she vowed to build a life that wouldn't force her to choose. At 17, she immigrated to the US, learned English, and decided to study aerospace engineering. Now at NASA, Diana is at the forefront of missions that could tell us if there is life beyond our planet.
What In the Heights’ Melissa Barrera Learned by Playing an Iconic Character
Roller coaster auditions left no room for self-doubt, and filming was magical. But the release was pushed back a year amid the pandemic. The whole process taught Melissa to cultivate patience, underscored the need to constantly reintroduce yourself, and confirmed why diving deep into her own heartbreak was the only way to play Vanessa on her own terms.
Why Nathalie Huerta Founded the First Queer Gym in the Country
An athlete who loves the gym, she began presenting as more masculine and locker-room interactions became so stressful she stopped going. Then she took a $50 Target gift card and founded what would become The Queer Gym, the first LGBTQ gym in the nation.
For Sociologist Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve Getting Latinos to Care about Justice Reform Is Personal
Her cousin's incarceration punctuated the ten years she spent studying the largest criminal court in the country. So she decided it was time to act, not just observe. Now a Brown University professor, Nicole still grapples with how to make people care about police killings, generalized corruption in the system, and the biases within Latino communities that detract from real progress.
Follow Nicole on Twitter.
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How Showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez Stays in High Demand
Her life story is the stuff of movies. She was a goth kid in private school while her dad ran an underground gambling syndicate. A teacher suggested she write about it. And today she's the executive producer of USA's hit drama Queen of the South. The plot points connecting the two eras are filled with derailed projects, hard choices, and moments of euphoric triumph. In this lucid interview, Alicia gets every detail.
Photo Credit: Erin Patrice O’Brien
Why Loira Limbal Spotlights Invisible People in Her New Film
When she read about a 24-hour daycare center, the producer and director knew it would become the heart of her next verité film. Filmed over two years, “Through the Night” offers an emotionally searing portrait of the unpaid, often invisible work of motherhood and caregiving, and a masterclass on intimate storytelling.
Why Lilliana Vazquez Is on a Mission to End the Stigma of Infertility
The E! Host and style expert struggled with infertility for six years before becoming pregnant. Now, she's sharing her journey in the hopes of helping others feel less alone. Here, she reflects on the unique challenges Latinas run up against on their Advanced Reproductive Technology journeys, the loneliness of keeping her heartbreak a secret, and the life-changing power of surrender.
What Medium Tatianna Morales Sees in Her Own Future
Intuition is one thing. The ability to connect with the spirit world to help others is entirely another. And for Tatianna Morales a lifelong pursuit in understanding and channeling the wisdom in the occult has resulted in legions of fans, helped her find her purpose, and launched a lucrative business.
Why Tech Visionary Irma Olguin Jr. Went Back to Her Farming Roots
Growing up, Irma Olguin expected to join the next generation of farmworkers in her family. But the CEO of Bitwise Industries, which has turned California’s Central Valley into a thriving tech hub, says she experienced so much ‘serendipity in her life’ that she realized everything that lifted her out of poverty and struggle was possible for her home community. Someone just had to address the inequalities. The story of how she did it gave us goosebumps.
How Health Coach Massy Arias Found Her Real Strength
A decade ago, she began sharing her fitness trials and triumphs online after experiencing the dark side of the industry. Since then, she has motivated millions to find their motivation, strengthening techniques, and focus—and built a wellness empire that includes an app and the TRU Supplements line. In this episode, Massy gets candid about her recent divorce, and all the things we don’t see on Instagram.
Book Editor Michelle Herrera on Finding Your Voice By Not Fitting In
Growing up, she was so close to her family, it was unimaginable she’d ever even go away for college. But a curious mind and an adventurous heart freed her to “dream wild” and create her own “fantasy version of my life.”
How Neurosurgeon Dr. Analiz Rodriguez Made Her Own Way
Set on being a brain surgeon since childhood, and armed with “unwavering self-confidence” instilled in her by her mother, Analiz powered through college, medical school and a PhD program. Facing steep climbs and faith-testing challenges along the way. Now, the accomplished neurosurgeon and research scientist opens up about leading in the operating room, navigating bias as an Afro-Latina doctor, and relying on her faith to keep her steady.
Follow Dr. Analiz Rodriguez on Twitter.
How Karla Vasquez Reclaimed Salvadoran Food
When she learned that there were virtually no Salvadoran cookbooks in print in the United States, this food writer and cooking instructor made it her mission to capture the food and the spirits of the women of El Salvador.
Follow Karla on Instagram. Follow Salvi Soul on Twitter.
Photo Credit: Sam Gehrke
Why Our Friend Dessa Likes Picking Brains Apart
She's a rapper, a performer, a complete science geek, and now a podcast creator and host. And Deeply Human, her new show from the BBC, doesn't stray far from her ambitious curiosity and insatiable creative appetite. In short, it's all the things we've come to love about Dessa.
Follow Dessa on Twitter and Instagram. Listen to Deeply Human.
How Virgie Tovar Is Leading a Fat Revolution
She was researching fatness and wound up “onboarded” into fat activism. That set Virgie on her professional path, and radically changed the trajectory of her personal life. She breaks down the difference between “fat liberation” and “body positivity,” explores the parallels between her Mexican grandparents’ pursuit of the American Dream and her pursuit of thinness, and encourages us to imagine a world without diet culture.
Photo Credit: Lori Barra
Why Living Icon Isabel Allende Has Never Kept Secrets
She believes the secrets you keep make you vulnerable. And she is sharing plenty of them in her new book, The Soul of a Woman. Isabel joins Alicia from her cozy writing room in her attic for an intimate chat that touches on infidelity, maternal grief, and the process of becoming "a woman on her own terms."
How Writer Leslé Honoré Knows Poetry Changes Lives
Her poems have gone viral and reached millions. Now the writer behind "Brown Girl, Brown Girl" opens up about finding her way out of an abusive marriage, the decade where her kids became her poems, and the power of putting what you want into words.
How Jenny Lorenzo Became the Internet’s Favorite Cuban Abuela
A co-founder of BuzzFeed’s Pero Like, and an alum of MiTu, Jenny spent the early part of her career creating viral sketch videos for big media companies. Frustrated, she decided to break out on her own. In this hilarious conversation, she reveals what goes into creating her videos (she has a second bedroom dedicated to wigs and props!), gets real about the nitty-gritty of monetization, and dreams of producing a more nuanced portrayal of her hometown.
How Mend's Founder, Elle Huerta, Wants to Help You Beat Burnout
When the digital entrepreneur launched the self-care app, Mend, she was focused on helping users recover from the fallout of romantic breakups. Now she and her team are taking on a new challenge: professional burnout. Elle talks Alicia through the warning signs, the science of recovery, and the steps necessary to tackle what the World Health Organization calls an "occupational phenomenon."
Follow Elle on Twitter.
Why Rum Master Distiller Sylvia Santiago Will Never Quit
The chief distiller at Puerto Rico's Destilería Serrallés, maker of Don Q, is as committed to her craft as ever, but honest about the sacrifices she made along the way to mastering this male-dominated art form.
How Bomba Curls' Lulu Cordero Unfurled Her Natural Hair and Ambition
The entrepreneur, whose hair care line has already made it to Nordstrom shelves, traces her enterprising spirit to a childhood backpack candy business. And gets real about the cultural challenges and triumphs of loving your natural hair.
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Photo Credit: Taz Frase
LEVEL UP: How to Secure Your Financial Future Starting Today
Personal finance expert Ramona Ortega of My Money, My Future gives us some real talk about how to take control of your finances today so you can own your time, your money, and your life from now on. Plus essential advice for starting a business—and investing in yourself.
Follow Ramona on Twitter. Follow My Money, My Future on Twitter and Instagram.
LEVEL UP: Your Relationships Could Use a Refresh
Psychotherapist Genesis Games gets real about why it’s important to assess your relationships truthfully, so you can set healthy expectations and comfortable boundaries. Plus, how to navigate different kinds of relationships—with family, friends, and significant others.
LEVEL UP: This Life Coach Says Now's the Time to Level Up
To launch this special series, Alicia talks to experts about how each of us can step into our fullest potential in the new year. Life and business coach Wendy Amara explains how to lay out the action steps that will help you accomplish your goals, and shares personal stories about leveling up when she expanded her business - and when she had twins!
Photo Credit: Oneika Raymond
How O Magazine’s Arianna Davis Made It, on Her Own Terms
The digital director of Oprah Magazine talks to Alicia about the maverick moves that landed her jobs in journalism. And she discusses her new book, What Would Frida Do? and what the icon's “Viva la vida” mantra means to her.
Photo Credit: Justine Szeto
How Fashion Entrepreneur Camila Coelho Went from Working Retail to Building a Beauty Brand
The blogger and founder of Elaluz and the Camila Coelho Collection shares how a promise to her mother pushed her to work hard in a very competitive industry. And she gets real about using her massive platform to fight the stigma of people living with epilepsy—like her.
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Lavin
Why Reina Rebelde’s Founder, Regina Merson, Chose Herself Over Everything Else
The successful owner of makeup brand Reina Rebelde talks about how she chose to leave a high-profile law career to find her way back to herself. And how she convinced her family that starting a business was the right path for her.
Follow Regina on Instagram.
Powerhouse Marketer Ana Valdéz on Using Media to Create Change
The marketing and business consultant on realizing and harnessing the power that marketing and media have to influence people’s behavior. And how she drew on those skills to be authentically herself.
Follow Ana on Twitter.
How Olympic Gymnast Laurie Hernandez Regained Her Strength After Emotional Abuse
The gold medal athlete opens up about how she dealt with emotional and verbal abuse at the hands of coaches, the key role her mother played in advocating for her, and why leaving her beloved sport for a while was exactly what she needed.
Credit: Meredith Jenks
How Girls Night In Founder Alisha Ramos Started a Stay-at-Home Movement
Her weekly newsletter champions self-care and mental health, while being the heart of a thriving tech company. Alisha talks about how investing $20,000 in herself led to building a massive online community that brings people together in real life.
Why Dr. Julie Ramos Insists You Take Care of Your Health
She tells Alicia her Latina identity plays into every aspect of her medical career, from the big hoop earrings in her professional headshot, to her pragmatic approach to becoming a successful cardiologist. Hard to believe she almost flunked out of med school, and now practices at one of the country's leading hospitals. We stan a legend.
Let's Talk Latina Power in This Election
She Se Puede founders Jess Morales Rocketto and Stephanie Valencia get real about what’s at stake this election, including Covid recovery, the environment, and immigration policy. Stephanie reminds us there are lives on the line. Jess encourages us to think about how our choices affect others. And Alicia gets emotional about the power of the Latino vote.
Follow Jess on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Stephanie on Twitter and Instagram.
Code for America’s Amanda Renteria Lost Some Battles, but Is Winning the Political War
The former political aide says growing up in agricultural California deeply shaped her identity, especially as a Latina in powerful roles, including chief of staff in the U.S. Senate. Amanda offers candid moments from running for, and losing public office, twice. And why those experiences crystallized her mission to fight for the rest of us.
How Aimee Garcia Took Charge of Her Hollywood Career
The actor best known for playing a nerdy Latina on TV is becoming a power player behind the scenes, thanks in large part to starting a production company with her long-time collaborator. Aimee talks to Alicia about the road from being a novice writer to penning a comic series for Netflix, how she feeds her artist soul, and the privilege and responsibility of telling stories.
How Doula Adriana Lozada Guides Parents to Their Own Ideal Birth
After giving birth to her daughter changed her life, she left a thriving media career to support parents on their pre- and postnatal odysseys. Adriana shares practical wisdom and useful advice on Birthful, her popular podcast, where she talks to health experts and welcomes parents to share their personal birth stories. Ultimately, she wants her clients and all parents to trust their intuition and center their needs in the birthing process.
How Majo Molfino Helps You Break the Good-Girl Myth
The writer and life designer warns about five self-sabotaging tendencies that prevent us from connecting to our purpose and true strength. In this intimate conversation, she holds nothing back as she talks about how being the daughter of immigrants put pressure on her to be “a good girl.” And breaks down the frameworks that keep so many of us trapped in other people's notions of who we should be.
How Beauty Insider Tina Hedges Created LOLI, an Environmentally Sound Brand
A crisis in health and consciousness pushed her to rethink her life choices and her work in the beauty industry. And she has an epiphany that would fulfill her and put the wasteful beauty industry on notice: a zero waste, organic, food-grade beauty company. Tina talks to Alicia about the sacrifices in being self-funded, the work behind pitching and growing LOLI, and navigating the startup world as a woman of color.
Follow LOLI Beauty on Instagram.
Credit: Kevin Abosch
Why Pioneering Journalist Maria Hinojosa Put Herself in the Story
She worked for decades to make sure her voice and ideas were valued as much as those of non-Latinos in the newsroom. Then she founded her own media company to make sure. Now she has written a memoir, Once I Was You, about all of it. Maria, a veteran journalist used to asking the tough questions, opens up to Alicia about her groundbreaking career, the strain it put on her marriage and family, and the friends and mentors who carried her through.
Why Gianna Nino-Tapias Embodies Labor Rights, and Why Her Tweet from a Blueberry Field Hit a Nerve
The Stanford medical student has worked in fields alongside her mother since she was 14. And has become increasingly worried about working conditions for seasonal workers who pick our food, especially after COVID hit. She talks about how being an indigenous, Mixteca fieldworker born in the U.S. illustrates the economic distance between the farm and our dining tables, and why she's so determined to become a doctor to help her people heal.
Follow Gianna on Twitter.
How Philanthropic CEO Carmen Rojas Learned to Lead As Her Full Self
Raised by Nicaraguan and Venezuelan parents who immigrated to the U.S. in the middle of the Civil Rights and labor movements, she grew up determined to uphold the ideals of justice and equality. After being the first in her family to go to college, she set to work improving the lives of working people. In this expansive and intimate conversation with Alicia, Carmen, now the CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, opens up about her modest upbringing, how to strengthen philanthropy, and why she does not hide any part of herself in her new role.
How Therapist and Healer Christine Gutiérrez Came Back Home to Herself, and Wrote I Am Diosa
After a difficult breakup, Christine sought out deep healing from childhood abuse wounds and toxic people. Then, she became a therapist, trained in spiritual and shamanic practices, and was initiated in the priestess path. In her new book, I Am Diosa, she draws on wisdom from her own experience to help other women heal and tap into their worth.
Credit: Eran Levi
Why The Tax Collector’s Cinthya Carmona Defied Religion to Pursue Acting and Find Herself
Her independent spirit, strong will, and artistic ambition made her a rebel in a deeply religious family. But a supportive madrina found ways for her to hone her craft early on. Big sacrifices would follow, including being kicked out of her home. Cinthya speaks candidly with Alicia about her new film, choosing characters that defy Latino stereotypes, and the need to feel legitimate in your profession.
Follow Cinthya on Instagram.
Why Corporate America Couldn’t Change Carla Vernón at Her Core
Carla Vernón describes herself as “a very malleable piece of clay” with a sense of pride and self-awareness. She has used that singular strength to rise from associate to executive at General Mills. She reflects on her long tenure there, being among the first in her Afro-Panamanian family to venture into the business world, and setting and keeping her own standards as she gained success and status.
How Coco Illustrator Ana Ramírez González Extends Herself with Her Art
It’s hard to believe she didn’t begin drawing until she was 17. You’ve seen her work on Pixar’s Coco, her gorgeous Google Doodles, and her children’s book illustrations, most recently in Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea. Ana Ramírez Gonzálezvsits talks with Alicia about falling in love with her craft, moving from Mexico to the U.S. for art school, and forging an uncertain career path by following her heart, overcoming rejection, and drawing inspiration from Mexican culture.
Credit: Mara Corsino
How Buscabulla’s Raquel Berrios Wrote Her Way Back Home in Regresa
Raquel Berrios left Puerto Rico for New York City to find herself as an artist. There, she met her musical and life partner Luis Alfredo Del Valle, and they formed their experimental Latin pop duo. As their music careers grew, receiving attention from fans and record labels, they surprised friends and family by moving back to the island—to live and make music on their own terms.
Credit: Adrien Ordorica
How Sasha Merci and Dee Nasty Found Their Comedic Calling
They're funny and they know it. But they're also observant and really quick witted, which makes their brand of comedy a little bit underhanded and conspiratorial in a really appealing way. After honing their standup chops in live shows, and building faithful social media followings, they've launched a sketch show on Fuse TV, Like, Share, Dímelo—a natural next step in their ascension as Latina queens of comedy. But, as this shared interview reveals, it's not always smiles and laughs; they've seen each other through tragedies, dead-end jobs, and creative slumps. But they just keep laughing.
Follow Sasha on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Dee on Twitter and Instagram.
To Honor Vanessa Guillén, These Two Latina Veterans Are Telling Women Not To Enlist
Latina Veterans Lucy del Gaudio and Pam Campos-Palma are spearheading a campaign demanding justice after the disappearance and killing of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén. Their service experience includes misogyny, discrimination and sexual violence that many women, especially women of color, endure while serving. In this powerful conversation, they detail the repeated abuses and military sexual trauma that robbed them of the pride in serving their country, their sense of worth, and military careers they worked so hard to establish. (This episode contains graphic language about sexual trauma.)
Follow Lucy on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Pam on Twitter and Instagram.
How Documentarian Cristina Costantini Fed Her Soul While Making “Mucho, Mucho Amor”
For years Cristina covered detention centers and drug cartels as an investigative journalist. Without any film school training, she decided to take on visual stories about small worlds that tell us so much about human nature. Her latest, "Mucho, Mucho Amor," centers on the private life of renowned astrologer Walter Mercado—her childhood hero and a controversial iconoclast that changed primetime television forever.
Why Actress Selenis Leyva and Her Sister, Trans Activist Marizol Leyva, Are Closer Than Ever
Marizol's transition not only tested her determination to live life on her own terms, it also tested her lifelong bond to her sister Selenis. A failing marriage, an acting career on the rocks, and mental health woes did not allow Selenis to be there for her beloved sister as much as she would have liked. In their memoir, "My Sister: How One Sibling's Transition Changed Us Both," they recount the difficult decisions they each had to make to be whole and to love each other through unimaginable hurt.
Follow Selenis on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Marizol on Twitter and Instagram.
Happy 100th Episode Beloved Listeners!!
We did it!!!!! Together, dear listeners, you and our team reached 100 episodes today. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude and love. Thank you for showing up every week, for sharing the show, and for letting us know how much celebrating inspiring Latinas means to you. In this special episode, Alicia and Juleyka reflect on what it's meant to them to make the show, their favorite interviews, and the new goal they've set: reaching 1 million listens by January 1, 2021!! We also hear from some of you, the best part of it all.
Why TV Showrunner Ilana Peña Craves Complicated Girl Characters
Growing up, television writer Ilana Peña was a student of books, where, she says, "girls could be complicated." Now, as creator of Diary of a Future President on Disney+, Ilana brings that vision of girlhood to life. She tells Alicia about rising from assistant to writer’s assistant to writer to creator, how the early loss of her father taught her to use “grief as an engine,” and why being in charge forced her to stop saying “maybe.”
Follow Ilana on Instagram.
Two Latina Activists on Latinos' Place in Anti-Blackness
This week we pause to reckon with the national call for justice that followed the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and countless Black Americans in what's become an epidemic of sanctioned violence. Alicia talks to veteran community organizer Rosa Clemente and Marisa Franco, co-founder of Mijente, an action hub for social justice, about anti-Blackness in Latino cultures, the colonization of identity, and what we must each do right now to make lasting change possible.
Follow Rosa on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Marisa on Twitter and Instagram.
Credit: ABC / Nino Muñoz
Why Actress Lisa Vidal Believes “I’m here because this was supposed to happen.”
We've all been there. "Oh my God, can I do this?" And in those moments of intense doubt and fear, Lisa Vidal, the star of ABC's The Baker and the Beauty, says "That's when you have to really embrace your talent, and recognize who you are and say, 'Yes, I can do this. Yes, this belongs to me.'" We believe her. She has a four-decade Hollywood career, survived breast cancer, supported her son through addiction and recovery, and came through it all with the grace to "live one day at a time in gratitude." Get ready to be inspired.
How Rolling Stone’s Suzy Exposito Made History with Her Bad Bunny Cover Story
First, she planted the seed of the idea in his publicist’s mind. Then she began a relentless insider campaign to convince magazine editors that the megastar was cover worthy. Then she and the art director recruited the singer’s talented artist girlfriend to shoot it in their pandemic hideaway. The details of it all had Alicia on the edge of her seat.
Credit: Talya Zemach-Bersin
How Writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio Maintains Control of Her Narrative
As if setting out to write a book about the undocumented immigrant experience across the country wasn’t hard enough, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio set a much higher bar for The Undocumented Americans. “I promised everyone in the book, all of my subjects, that I would get Americans to care. And that's a promise that I couldn't guarantee that I could keep,” she tells Alicia in this searing conversation about not wanting to be a political tool, being among the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard University, and not thinking too much about herself to avoid “going into dark places.”
A Mother's Day Tribute to You, Your Mom, and All the Mamís
Alicia selects some of the beautiful moments when our brilliant guests recall a special moment with their moms, open up about the struggle to become a mother, and distill the wisdom and strength they learned from their mamás.
How Joanna Vargas Built a Beauty Empire with Her Hands
Echoing a sentiment shared by many successful children of immigrants, Joanna Vargas tells Alicia, “My parents did not send me to school so that I would work with my hands.” That understanding kept her from telling them about becoming an aesthetician. The irony of it all is that working with her hands to help celebrities like Rachel Weizs, Mindy Kaling, and Tatum O'Neal look and feel beautiful is precisely how she made a name for herself in the beauty business. Joanna talks about it all in this episode and her new book, Glow From Within.
Elisa Villanueva Beard’s Aha Moment as Teach for America's CEO
She started in a Teach for America classroom and today leads the organization as it sends a small army of new teachers into schools that need them most. Elisa opens up about her path to TFA: realizing how unprepared she was for college (but excelling anyway), recognizing the strength of her experiences as she tackled educational inequity, and stepping into the role of CEO.
Follow Elisa on Twitter.
Credit: Geraldine Cols Azocar/NBC News
How One Day at a Time's Isabella Gomez Found Her Strength
"And if I'm going to play a Latinx woman, she better be strong as hell," Isabella tells Alicia in this powerful conversation about being fully present and finding your power. "And she better have something to say. And she better be smart. And she better have all of these things that I know Latinx women to be." But even working on such a popular show is no guarantee. "I was no longer an actor, I was a Latinx actor," Isabella tells Alicia. "Because I got my part of my privilege taken away, I can see that shift clear as day." The conversation goes there and many other intimate places as she recounts her life from Colombia to Orlando to Los Angeles.
Credit: Bennett/Getty Images for Netflix
When Gentefied Co-Creator Linda Yvette Chávez Realized She Couldn’t Quit
"If you find yourself in an industry doing all the jobs around the job you really want to do, check in on that," Linda tells Alicia. "There's some sort of fear around you not doing the thing you really want to do." She would know. After years of working in film and digital creative, Linda decided to follow her true passion: writing. Within two years of making that commitment, she was pitching and selling a television series. And there's so much more to Linda's story--breaking with tradition, sacrificing something of great value, and working harder than she thought she could.
Political Power Player Cecilia Muñoz Reminds Us That We Are ‘More Than Ready’
She jokingly calls herself “a professional Latina,” but the reality is that Cecilia Muñoz has spent decades advocating on our behalf—from providing immigration services in Chicago to leading the National Council of La Raza to advising President Obama at the White House. Along the way, she learned some hard lessons and gave herself permission to take risks, elbow her way in, and harness her own power. In her new memoir, More Than Ready, she shares the wisdom she has collected and encourages us to step up in big ways.
Follow Cecilia on Twitter.
Credit: Diego Berruecos/Gatopardo
Why Author Valeria Luiselli’s Art Reflects Real Life
“I think it's really important to be transparent about the place from which you write and the way that place determines your relationship to that which you write about,” award-winning author of Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli tells Alicia in this provocative conversation about the meaning and limits of identity. Luiselli, a green card holder, fully recognizes she is “someone who has enormous privilege and therefore also enormous responsibility toward my community.” That sense of duty compelled her to volunteer as a court translator for Central American children who were being processed as asylum seekers during the Obama administration. And it continues to help her interrogate her place in the world as an artist.
Follow Valeria on Twitter.
How Ad Exec Nancy Reyes Became Undeniable
After Alicia’s conversation with advertising superstar Nancy Reyes, she wanted to make t-shirts that read, "I am undeniable." That’s how inspiring this trailblazer’s story is. From learning that “everything feels better when you earn it” to “dealing with a massive career failure” and making the decision to go from “good to great,” Nancy’s success is a testament to what happens when grit and tenacity meet opportunity.
Follow Nancy on Twitter.
How Artist Scherezade Garcia Came to Work and Exist on Her Own Terms
Listening to Scherezade Garcia talk about her art and her creative process is watching someone relive the many ways she has made herself free— from other’s scrutiny, from expectations, from the need to justify her very existence. Alicia visited Scherezade’s studio and spoke with her about the notion of selling the Caribbean as “paradise”, the business of being a working artist, and what it means to be home.
Photo Credit: Cesar Berrios
Why iLe’s New Album, Almadura, Is Both Departure and Evolution from Calle 13
iLe’s natural and inherited musical talents were nurtured between classic piano training and the hyper-political songs of Calle 13, Puerto Rico’s most influential group in the last few decades. Now the singer/songwriter takes center stage with her haunting and flaring album Almadura. She and Alicia revisit moments of inspiration and desperation—especially for her beloved PR’s political limbo—and pull threads from the vivid stories and powerful messages that elevate her music to anthem status.
Why DACA Trailblazer Cristina Jiménez Is Stepping Away
Cristina Jiménez knows how to agitate for change. The co-founder and Executive Director of United We Dream convinced President Obama to act on DACA. Now, as she prepares to step away from an organization she helped build, Cristina’s sharing what she’s learned: everything from her work on "decolonizing my understanding of myself" to warning against the perils of putting your ego ahead of the cause. She tells Alicia about her private conversations with the president and about the criticism she and her fellow organizers faced as they rallied millions to their cause by “defying all conventional wisdom.”
Storyteller Extraordinaire Martina Castro Has Her Own Exceptional Story
Her professional journey would make an awesome movie. From humble beginnings as an NPR intern to co-founding and producing Radio Ambulante—a powerhouse narrative journalism podcast in Spanish—to launching an international production company, Adonde Media, Martina has never stopped innovating. Today she is at the forefront of digital audio and in demand. But along the way she’s faced some real doubts, like bilingual imposter syndrome and the nagging fears that come from being a CEO.
Follow Martina on Twitter.
How Canticos Creator Susie Jaramillo Built an Inclusive Kids’ Brand
Susie Jaramillo created several lines of award-winning children’s books, animated series, and merchandise. And she made the first board book prototype by hand while easing her child into daycare. It’s no wonder when Alicia spoke to her, Susie was celebrating a $2-million seed round for her Encantos Media. She tells us what it takes to thrive as a creative in the corporate world, and build the confidence to grow from what you know.
Julissa Prado, the Million-Dollar Curl Whisperer
She had us at hello. Then we got to know her and walked away inspired. Founder Julissa Prado mixed her grandma’s herbal medicine legacy, a lot of sweat from relatives, $50K in life savings, and her uncompromising drive to grow Rizos Curls, a hair care line that reached $1 million in sales before it debuted at Target. But wait for it: before all that she earned an MBA, managed major brands for Nestlé, and became a licensed commercial truck driver.
How Nelini Stamp Sets Injustice Aflame
She calls herself a “fire-starter,” and has a long list of rabble-rousing moments to prove it. Before turning 18, she registered people to vote by pleading “Please register and vote for me! I can’t vote.” Later, she marched in an anti stop-and-frisk protest to the home of NYC’s mayor. But walking into the Working Families Party to volunteer for Obama changed the course of her life. That path led to joining Occupy Wall Street and spending three weeks camped out in the streets. Along the way, she co-founded Dream Defenders. Honestly, Nelini embodies the phrase “Power to the people.”
How Ana Flores Is Helping Latinas Grow
One of the original innovators in the personal blogging space, Ana Flores is not only an early adaptor but also a born innovator. She saw an opportunity in connecting brands to popular online personalities—today’s influencers—and ran with it. Her company brought in millions one year and filed for bankruptcy the next. Like a phoenix, Ana rose from the ashes to build the super successful We All Grow Latina.
Why Dessa Is So Much More Than an Indie Rapper
She says her music is driven by “connection, communion and lost.” But listening, really listening, to one of Dessa’s albums and then drilling down to a single song, leads you through a tunnel of convulsing rage, unanswered love, and philosophical rifts on your place in the world. She brings that intense presence of heart and mind to this revealing conversation.
Photo Credit: Jess Kornacki of Art of Her
Our EP, Juleyka, Demystifies How to Start a Podcast
Listeners often ask us about starting a podcast. In this episode, executive producer Juleyka Lantigua, gives a masterclass in the art and science of podcasting. From refining a concept, identifying your target audience, and understanding the mechanics of producing an episode, Juleyka offers useful insights about entering and standing out in the industry.
What Singer Aymée Nuviola Left Behind for Her Art
She's a recording artist. She played Celia Cruz on television. She toured around the world. She has had a career many can only dream of. But Aymée also sacrificed so much along the way. She left behind her home and family in Cuba. Crossed into the U.S. as an asylum seeker. And endured years of uncertainly as she pursued her calling to sing. Her voice still breaks as she recounts her trials and triumphs to Alicia in this episode—our first bilingual one.
Author Carmen Maria Machado on the Myth of a Queer Love Utopia
Her genre-bending new memoir, "In the Dream House," recounts an abusive lesbian relationship and implodes safe notions of intimacy. Carmen talks with Alicia about revisiting trauma, mourning for her former self, and the risks of complicating queer narratives.
Buy Carmen’s book here. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
How Annie Elainey Is Making the Future Accessible
This popular YouTuber is a bit of a provocateur. “How To Spot a Fake Disability” is among her most viewed and most subversive videos. Annie Elainey, the queer, disabled, intersectional advocate who created #TheFutureIsAccessible, is constantly challenging assumptions about disability and chronic illness.
Follow Annie on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to her YouTube channel!
Living Icon Dolores Huerta Is Still Fighting the Good Fight
The founding mother of the farmers' rights movement, Dolores Huerta is still traversing the country protesting, marching, and sometimes getting arrested. And she loves every minute of it. In this live episode, she recounts funny and alarming stories from her decades of fighting for the rights of workers, from the farm to the ballot box.
Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez Are Shaking Up the Cigar Industry
When a santera declared that it was time for Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez to work together, the twin sisters didn’t flinch. Today, they’re shaking up the cigar industry with their Miami-based brand, Tres Lindas Cubanas. With charisma and humor, the sisters tell Alicia about launching their business with only $500, harnessing the power of their Afro-Cuban roots in the cigar market, and why they're doing it all to honor their ancestors.
Follow Yvonne and Yvette on Twitter and Instagram, and check out Tres Lindas Cubanas!
Alicia Tells Us about Her Book, The Likeability Trap
At work, strong women are thought of as unlikeable. Warm women are rarely seen as leaders. And, the more successful a woman becomes, the less others like her — just because. Alicia takes a deep dive into these frustrating realities in her new book, “The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed As You Are.” Our executive producer, Juleyka Lantigua, joins her to look at the effects of internalizing these demands, the cultural challenges Latinas navigate, and how, together, we can battle these outdated expectations.
Buy a signed and dedicated copy of Alicia’s book here! And follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
What Happened After Zulema Arroyo Farley Stopped Denying Her Own Truth
After decades of keeping her psychic abilities hidden from her family and friends, Zulema Arroyo Farley found herself unable to deny that she could communicate with the spirit world. The decision to be public about it came with much criticism and pushback, but she knew to be her complete self she needed to not just accept this part of her, but share it with others. In this fascinating episode, she also tells Alicia about the rare cancer diagnosis that changed her life, her chance encounter with Adele, and her fight against sarcoma. She writes about it all in her new memoir, So Much More: A Poignant Memoir about Finding Love, Fighting Adversity, and Defining Life on My Own Terms.
How Jennifer Mercedes Made Herself an MVP in Sports Journalism
Fresh out of college, Jennifer Mercedes was offered the opportunity to produce and host her own baseball video series. She snatched it, and La Chica Deportes was born. Nine years in, she’s done it all: secured sponsorships, interviewed baseball greats, and brought fans closer to the athletes they love on and off the field. Here, she talks about what it’s like to be “the only woman on the field or the only girl in a clubhouse,” how she snags exclusive sideline interviews, and what her move to La Vida Baseball means for the type of sports stories she wants to tell.
Why Cristela Alonzo's Drive to Make It Is Deeply Personal, Part 2
Cristela Alonzo knows about starting at square one — and then doing it again and again. In the second part of our interview, she talks to Alicia about facing her make-or-break moment, how she “had to go live a life to have things to talk about,” and why she’s back with her new tour “My Affordable Care Act.” She writes about it all in her new memoir, “Music to My Years.”
Why Cristela Alonzo's Drive to Make It Is Deeply Personal, Part 1
As a latchkey kid growing up in San Juan, Texas, comedian Cristela Alonzo dreamed of leaving her border town and seeing the world. In this emotional two-part episode, she tells Alicia how her childhood aspirations made her the black sheep of her family, and how she needed to put those dreams on hold, first to care for her sister’s children, and then, her ailing mother. Through it all, music and television – from the Backstreet Boys to the Golden Girls – was her "connection to the outside world." She writes about it all in her funny and moving new book, “Music to My Years: A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up.”
Why Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Leads from the Heart
Fresh off a major legislative win with the passing of California’s AB-5, forcing gig-economy giants like Uber and Lyft to classify drivers as employees, Gonzalez tells Alicia, “I was so blessed by not knowing my own limitations.” The product of humble beginnings, she credits her hardworking mother and local Latina leaders--”daughters of farmworkers”-- for teaching her that leadership means “providing the path by which other people can lead.” She says for all of her accomplishments, it’s the things that aren’t on her resume — an unplanned pregnancy, her experience as a single mom, and struggles to achieve perfection —- that shaped her most.
Nicole Mejia Wants You to Love Yourself--All of You
She launched herself as an Instagram model. And then Nicole Mejia built an entire fitness brand, Fit and Thick, to empower women to embrace their natural shape and work to enhance it. Now, the fitness entrepreneur is rebranding her empire as LULY, and encouraging a different type of well-being: one that begins on the inside. Alicia gets her to go deep on acceptance as the starting point of transformation, resisting the urge to constantly change and evolve, and why self-love often means “making difficult decisions to honor your needs.”
What Photographer Ramona Rosales Really Sees from Behind the Lens
She’s a go-to celebrity photographer, known for her innovative use of color and light. From Janelle Monáe to Cardi B, America Ferrera to Bad Bunny, Ramona Rosales has captured your faves in ways that even surprised them. In this episode, she shares her tips for putting a subject at ease, managing big egos, and the delicate art of self-promotion.
Why DaniLeigh is Destined to Be a Music Mogul
People may call her “the next Rihanna,” but she’s only interested in being the first DaniLeigh. After starting out as background dancer for the likes of Pitbull, directing a music video for Prince, finding viral fame with Drake’s “In My Feelings” challenge, and writing music for J. Lo and Cardi B, she’s established herself as a serial hit-maker. Here, DaniLeigh opens up about overcoming insecurity to find her sound, surrounding herself with fellow hustlers, and why she’s laser focused on securing the bag.
How Linda Briceño Won Her Artistic Freedom
Linda Briceño’s career as a trumpeter, vocalist, and producer has allowed her to rub shoulders with the likes of Wynton Marsalis and Arturo Sandoval. It also earned her a Latin Grammy. But all of that success took more practice and hard work; it demanded Linda break with people who’d been instrumental in her professional growth, and to stand firm in her vision for herself as an artist.
How Gina Brillón Became a Comedy Junkie
“I was a comedy junkie at 14,” she admits. And now Gina Brillón is a rising comedy star, headlining tours with the likes of Gabriel Iglesias, premiering an HBO Latino special, “Easily Offended,” and hosting a comedy showcase. Gina tells us how comedy helped her process a toxic relationship, and how her #MeToo moments forced her to choose between her career and her dignity.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Is Not Done Fighting
In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz emerged as one of the most recognizable critics of the Trump administration’s response to the island’s recovery. She tells Alicia how the grit she demonstrated in those moments was a lifetime in the making, what it will take to fully rebuild the island, and why she is throwing her political weight behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid.
Why Jessica González-Rojas Champions Reproductive Justice
The executive director of the Latina Institute for Reproductive Health talks about how legislative restrictions on abortion impact our health and our communities. Jessica recalls how a trip to a clinic to get birth control became her first act of political activism, what it means to reframe the abortion debate as a matter of reproductive justice, and how Latinas, often perceived as either “virginal” or “hyper-sexualized,” actually view sexual health.
Gina Torres Brings All Her Fierceness to Pearson, and We Are Here for It
Gina Torres is everything we’ve ever wanted to be: brilliant, strong, stylish, and funny. And now, with Pearson, we get to watch her stride into her greatness. In this episode, she opens up about the real and very personal reason she left Suits, how she spearheaded the creation of Pearson, and why life at fifty is simply fabulous. (This is also our 50th episode!! See what we did there?)
Daniela Pierre-Bravo Teaches Us How to 'Earn It'
Daniela Pierre-Bravo has never met an obstacle more formidable than her will. Disqualified from college scholarships due to her legal status, she built a thriving local Mary Kay business to pay for it. Invited to an interview for an unpaid internship in NYC, she took an 18-hour overnight bus from Ohio and showed up the next morning. And nailed it. Now And now she's the coauthor of the new book, Earn It: A Career Guide for Women in Their Twenties and Beyond with MSNBC Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski. Buy it here. And follow Daniela on Twitter and Instagram.
MSNBC’s Mariana Atencio Reveals How to be ‘Perfectly You’
After experiencing violence and media censorship in her native Venezuela, Mariana Atencio embarked on her journalist career in the United States. An early opportunity at Univision gave her the chance to hone her skills before making the leap to English-language television. But soon a personal tragedy tested ethics, faith, and her place in the world. She put it all in her new book, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real. Buy it here. And follow Mariana on Twitter and Instagram.
What Vida’s Mishel Prada Has Learned about Identity
On Starz’s megahit Vida she plays a determined, smart and sensual woman. And Mishel Prada readily admits her character reflects part of who she is. She talks to Alicia about making it in showbiz as a Latina, growing up in a religious home, and refusing labels that limit with whom she can fall in love.
UN’s President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is Making Room for Women
Fun fact: This was the first time we had to check protocol before interviewing someone. And Alicia had to call the current head of the United Nations’ General Assembly Madame President. It was amazing! And María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés deserves that accolade and so much more for her decades-long career in international affairs and diplomacy. Only the fourth woman to preside over the assembly, she is steadfast in her belief that women should lead at every level--and she’s working from within to make it so at the UN.
How Pinnacle Founder & CEO Nina Vaca Became a Corporate Titan
This captain of industry comes from a family of self-starters that has always banded together--from her father’s travel agency to her billion-dollar company. Did we mention she owns 100% of it? But her story is also one of unthinkable tragedy and immeasurable sacrifice--from her and her family. Today, Nina is among the most respected CEOs in the country, an advisor to presidents, and a tireless champion of Latinos and immigrants everywhere.
Gia Morón Wants More of Us in the Weed Business
Legal weed is among the fastest growing industries right now. And thanks to women like Gia Morón, from Women Grow, more people will have a chance to enter the business. For her, opening doors to legal weed is about inclusion and the potential for some redemption in an industry whose legal ramifications have long maligned black and brown people in the country.
Photo Credit: Chillhouse
For Chillhouse’s Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton, Putting Yourself First is Essential
By the time she was 26, Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton had worked her way from cocktail waitress to being a partner in a bar. She’s now applying her experience in hospitality and natural flare for branding and marketing to grow her new venture, Chillhouse, a day spa that serves signature cocktails and fashionable coffee in spaces designed to help us slow down and relax. And Cyndi has an even bigger ambition: to turn Chillhouse into a global brand for modern self-care.
Photo Credit: Corey Torpey
Justice Democrats’ Alexandra Rojas Wants to Rewrite Politics
There’s no denying Latinas are making serious moves across the political map. But the real power players are not always in the spotlight. Alexandra Rojas is one Latina working to change the face of politics thanks to her role as executive director of Justice Democrats, which helped elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other history-making women to Congress. Rojas talks about her political awakening, how she stays centered amid the chaos, and why she believes the future of the country depends on electing a new wave of leaders.
Follow Alexandra on Twitter.
Univision’s Ilia Calderón is Grounded by the People She Covers
She came to Miami on vacation from her television job in Colombia and, while visiting Telemundo with a friend, walked herself into an opportunity of a lifetime. Then Ilia Calderón really went to work, leading the country’s premier Spanish-language news program on Univision and making headlines for her intrepid reporting and intelligent disaster coverage. She talks with Alicia about confronting a KKK leader, reporting on the family separation crisis as a mother, and navigating life as a hyphenated Latina.
Photo Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS
Life in Pieces’ Angelique Cabral First Sees It, Then Goes After It
Some of us daydream about what we want in our lives. Some of us pray about it. Actress Angelique Cabral writes it down as literally as she can and puts it where she can see it every day. Then she goes to work making it happen. Her beautiful home, her artistic development, and her hit CBS show all resulted from laser-focused manifestations. She breaks down how this practice has made her life fuller and her work more rewarding.
Dr. Laura Scott is Building a Self-Care Brand One Post at a Time
Becoming a doctor is a huge accomplishment unto itself, requiring years of study, sacrifice and discipline. But if you’re a smart, driven, black Latina it can often feel like a Herculean feat. Dermatologist Dr. Laura Scott and her close cohort of friends created a bond that strengthened and protected them as they navigated and excelled at Harvard University and beyond. Today, under her Instagram handle LauraLacquer, she has a large and growing audience that look to her for inspiration and a little bit of lacquer.
Photo Credit: Birchbox
How Birchbox CEO Katia Beauchamp Upended the Beauty Industry for Good
Knowing that “beauty is hard to sell on the internet,” this subscription box CEO still pursued a breakthrough company model that would eventually redefine beauty buying habits. But it was not a straight line from a business-school idea to a multi-million dollar annual revenue. Potential investors didn’t get it. Makeup purveyors didn’t see the vision. And customers had to be found. Katia tells Alicia the full riveting story.
Photo Credit: Melissa Alcantara
Fitness Entrepreneur Melissa Alcantara is Always in Beast Mode
Before you follow her on social media or try out her tailored fitness routine, there’s one thing you need to know about Melissa Alcantara: “I approach everything in beast mode.” And why shouldn’t she? She went from being in the worst shape of her life and feeling hopeless after years of yo-yo dieting to training her body and mind to achieve olympian fitness levels. And did we mention Kim Kardashian asked her to be her personal trainer. Melissa tells Alicia how she made it all happen by sheer will and determination.
Photo Credit: Vanessa Acosta
Novelist Lilliam Rivera Builds Worlds for All of Us
As a young reader, she didn’t realize people who looked and lived like her were missing from some of her favorite books. “It felt to me like I was reading science fiction in a lot of ways because it was so outside of my own childhood….And I was accepting of it like, okay, cool this is a different life,” Lilliam Rivera tells Alicia in this emotive episode. But her perspective quickly changed after reading award-winning Latino writers in college. She soon became so empowered she came to see herself as an author of books for young adult readers.
Buy Liliam’s book, Dealing in Dreams, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo Credit: Milan Gino
How HeyFranHey’s Francheska Medina Healed Herself
Her body was really sick and giving up on her--fast. Indifferent doctors recommended unthinkable treatments. But her natural instincts were pushing her in a different direction. In a way, by taking charge of her health, Fran Medina took her life into her own hands. She studied, she learned, she listened to people who knew more, and to her own body. Some years later, she’s crafted a lifestyle model that emphasizes physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Photo Credit: Ruben Chamorro
How Jess Morales Rocketto Became a Political Ninja
"What I'm trying to do is motivate people into their purpose." Easy, right? It is if you're Jess Morales Rocketto, a digital political organizer who helped orchestrate historic runs by Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams. Now she's mobilizing millions in the fight against family separation and the movement to bring the masses to the ballot.
Photo Credit: Nicole Hernandez Hammer
Why Climate Scientist Nicole Hernández Hammer Takes the Fight to the Streets
There's a direct connection between climate scientist Nicole Hernández Hammer’s childhood in rural Guatemala and her tireless work to teach the rest of us how to adjust our lives so we can preserve the planet for our grandchildren. And the life that unfolded between those two points is remarkable, including that time she stepped on Michelle Obama's foot.
Photo Credit: Lorena Garcia Group
Master Chef Lorena Garcia Says it Takes More than Sharp Knives
She handed her law degree to her mother to thank her, and quit an elite Miami law firm on her first day. Then she headed to culinary school--in France. Might be easy to say the rest is history, but that’s not the case with this Venezuelan powerhouse. From being told her accent would hold her back, to being discouraged from having her own television show, Lorena has never allowed other people’s limitations to hold her back. Now, as the head of a growing culinary empire, she looks back at the unconventional way she made it to the top.
Photo Credit: Jessie Horowitz
How Mend App Founder Elle Huerta Comforts Broken Hearts
After getting her heart broken, and finding zero advice that was actually useful, Elle Huerta decided to build her own “personal trainer for heartbreak.” Her app, Mend, guides users on how to handle and move on from a breakup, a divorce, the loss of a loved one, even being fired. She’s grown the company from a website she built after teaching herself to code to a category-defying digital platform on the leading edge of hand-held emotional assistance.
Photo Credit: Emma Pratte
In the Heights Playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes Writes So People Remember Us
She has written about Latinos in Washington Heights, about her close cousins and extended family, about what it means to be Latina. And now she’s writing about herself in her first memoir. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner is not only a gifted storyteller, she also masters the art of reflection. She talks about the intersections in her life that led her down this path: her santera mother, Jewish paternal family, love of music, and deep devotion to writing.
Gina Rodriguez Is Making Boss Moves
Gina Rodriguez will always be associated with her star-making and award-winning portrayal of the titular character on Jane the Virgin. And she's so grateful. But she's also ready to move from in front of the camera to behind it as a producer and director of shows and films that reflect the many ways of being Latina today. On this episode, she talks about the setbacks, the family support, and the toll of being an outspoken public figure.
Photo Credit: Michelle Poler
Michelle Poler Inspires Fearlessly
Growing up the descendant of Holocaust survivors, Michelle Poler says fear is practically in her DNA. And that being raised in Venezuela during turbulent times only made things worse. While in grad school in the US, she set out to conquer 100 fears and live a life free from worry. In the process, she has inspired thousands to face up to their greatest challenges.
Photo Credit: Camila Falquez for Teen Vogue
Cover Girl and Disability Activist Jillian Mercado Takes on Her Dreams
As a teen, Jillian Mercado hoarded fashion magazines. She idolized designers and always looked stylish at school. Never did she imagine she’d one day grace those magazine covers, tower over New York fashion central as a billboard in Times Square, or sit among VIPs at Fashion Week. Now she’s a barrier-breaking model and disability activist showing the rest of us just what is possible when you stay true to your calling, no matter what others think or say.
Photo Credit: Sharon More Yosef
Why Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Stephanie Beatriz Bends the Rules
Here’s the thing about Stephanie: she doesn’t fall for traditional messages. Growing up in Texas, blond contest queens reigned, but she understood there was more to beauty. Catholic church told her being bisexual was a sin, but she knew there was nothing wrong with her. Hollywood tried to convince her there’s only ever room for one Latina, but she flatly ignored them. And now she’s living her dreams as a television star, newlywed, and outspoken LGBTQ advocate.
Follow Stepanie on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo Credit: Iris Beilin
That Time Superstar Beauty Vlogger Iris Beilin Saved Her Own Life
With faith and hard work, Iris Beilin has gone from the MAC counter at the mall to makeup maven with a million YouTube subscribers. But her life hasn’t always been glamorous. Iris opens up about immigrating from Panama to the US, an eating disorder and addiction to diet pills that almost killed her, and what social media stardom really means when you “come from the struggle.”
Photo Credit: Latashá
How Artist Latashá is Mindshifting Music
Latashá tells Alicia, “I’m in the most found place I’ve ever been.” And her sense of self, her deep connection to her work, and her artistic genius seem to radiate in waves around her. “I’m practical magic,” she says at one point. And it’s easy to believe it. But the lyricist, singer and self-described “energy worker” also knows the music game so she calls it like she sees it: she’s clear that Cardi B’s realness beat out Nicki Minaj’s invented self, that women rappers are still held back by the industry, and that she won’t change who she is to be famous.
Photo Credit: Aimee Carrero
Actress Aimee Carrero Embraces Her Weird, and We Love Her for It
She says growing up Latina in Miami gave her the cojones to face life in Hollywood. Her career so far, including roles in Elena of Avalor, The Americans and Young & Hungry is ample proof of that. Aimee tells Alicia that being Latina also gave her the confidence to know that she deserves to be in the room. She opens up about wrestling with imposter syndrome, learning to say no, and the “big trap” of feeling like you’ve made it.
Photo Credit: Melissa Barrera
VIDA’s Melissa Barrera Embraces All Her Identities
The Mexican actress’ crossover has been years in the making. Raised in Monterrey, Melissa attended NYU, then found fame back home as a telenovela star. But even as she built a career in Mexico, Melissa knew that her future was in the States. She reveals why she almost passed on auditioning for VIDA, shares how her immigration status nearly cost her the role, and explores the tension between being a “good Mexican” and the demands of playing a self-assured, sexually-liberated Latina.
Photo Credit: Tanya Malott
Investor Nathalie Molina Niño Boldly Speaks Truth to Powerful Men
She launched her first startup at 20, and made lots of mistakes. Today, she runs Brava Investments, which only funds companies that have the potential to put money in the pockets of millions of women. Raised by an immigrant family with deep entrepreneurial roots, where money was always dinner conversation, Nathalie satisfied her “need for freedom” by launching companies that took on the abysmal state of venture capital investments in women of color, whom she calls “the single most entrepreneurial community in this country.” Oh, and she wrote a book about all of it: Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs. Her motto: “We cannot wait for people to give us what we’re entitled to. We have to build it ourselves.” We stan.
Buy Nathalie’s book, Leapfrog: The New Revolution for Entrepreneurs, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo Credit: Lilliana Vazquez
Fashion Entrepreneur Lilliana Vazquez: “Build Something for Yourself”
On The Today Show and while covering red carpet fashion for Access Hollywood, Lilliana Vazquez has become one of the most sought-after style experts. As a first-generation Latina growing up in Texas, she assumed she’d become “an accountant, a lawyer or a doctor.” Instead, with her blog, The Cheap Chica’s Guide to Style, as a foundation, she built a fashion brand at “the intersection of aspiration and accessibility.” With the recent launch of her online boutique, Tesoro Collective, Lilliana is parlaying her love of fashion, her knowledge of e-commerce and her media training into much more: a sense of security and independence she’s never had before. Tips for editing your closet and secrets to the perfect influencer photo paved the way for her blueprint to “build something that belongs to you.”
Photo Credit: Janel Martinez
Ain’t I Latina Founder Janel Martinez on Creating Space as a Black Latinx
This episode gets real quickly. Alicia talks to Janel Martinez, founder of Ain’t I Latina, about how forming her Afro-Latinx identity was an intentional act--often in defiance of the “resistance to black identity within the landscape of Latinidad.” From how blackness is erased from the foundations of our cultures, to “diaspora wars” that include “fighting over the colonizer’s language,” Janel does not hold back in her dismantling of myths and falsehoods Latinos tell ourselves about who we are. And she’s quick to tell white Latinos to check their privilege while being the top consumers of black Latinx culture.
Photo Credit: Elaine Melko
How Author Frances de Pontes Peebles Finds Power in Writing
The Brazilian-American author says she never had to claim her Latina identity because “it embraced me” as she grew up bilingual, bicultural, and multinational. On tour for her latest novel, The Air You Breathe, de Pontes Peebles tells Alicia about wrestling with the tension between needing time and space to create while meeting the demands of being a dedicated mother. She also recounts difficult scenes from her postpartum depression and how the act of telling someone saved her. Writing continues to save her, and she guards her gift ritualistically, including her tradition to “let the wall be empty for a while.”
Buy Frances’ book, The Air You Breathe, and follow her on Instagram.
Photo Credit: Maria Christina Gonzalez Noguera
Why Estée Lauder’s María Cristina González Noguera Isn’t Afraid to Leap
María Cristina González Noguera was an executive at Estée Lauder when she became First Lady Michelle Obama’s communications director. The devoted mother of a one year-old, her mother, and her husband, headed to DC where María Cristina committed herself to a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” She talks with Alicia about the people who inspire her, turning down a future in finance, and juggling life in the East Wing during one of the most popular presidencies in recent history.
Photo Credit: Carmen Rita Wong
Financial Expert Carmen Rita Wong: “Be Preoccupied about Our Money”
Let’s talk about money. The average Latina earns 54 cents for every dollar earned by white, non-Hispanic men. To earn what he earned one year, we have to work an extra 10 months into the next year--until November 1st. That’s recognized nationally as Latina Equal Pay Day. To mark this important date, Alicia wanted to have a bigger conversation with personal finance expert, author and podcast host Carmen Rita Wong about what drives the wage gap, the attitudes about money and self-worth that hold Latinas back, and what it takes to make real money moves. We’re proud to bring you this episode as a special collaboration with our friends at Phenomenal Woman.
Photo Credit: Blair Raughley/Invision for Netflix/AP Images
ODAAT’s Gloria Calderón Kellett Is a Boss in Any Room
Gloria Calderón Kellett runs the show. Literally. She’s the co-showrunner and executive producer of Netflix’s One Day at a Time, and with each season, she’s adding more credits to that list: writer, director and actor. She talks with Alicia about her rise through Hollywood’s writers’ rooms (How I Met Your Mother, Devious Maids, and Drunk History), and argues for letting good things be good. And reveals her plans to take her storytelling to the next level.
Photo Credit: Amara La Negra
Amara La Negra Outshines Any Spotlight
Singer and television personality Amara La Negra knew she was destined to be a star at five years old. And she started putting in the work then. From her first big break on Univision’s Sabado Gigante, to her scene-stealing role on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Miami, Amara’s larger-than-life personality catapulted her into the spotlight. She tells Alicia about how racism and colorism sometimes limit her career, why she can’t shake her “poor girl mentality” and reveals the real price of pursuing her dreams.
Photo Credit: Maria Elena Salinas
This is Why María Elena Salinas is a Legend
After decades of beaming into our homes from her perch on the anchor desk, María Elena Salinas is enjoying finally speaking for herself and pursuing her own ideas and work. She jokes that she didn’t want her legacy to be that “I worked at Univision and then I died,” but Alicia also gets her to open up about that lingering doubt we all feel, the hard choices of being a working mom, and the freedom that comes with stepping boldly into your destiny.
Photo Credit: Christy Haubegger.
How Christy Haubegger Became a Media Mastermind
As a child, Christy Haubegger knew what she wanted to be when she grew up: a boss. As the founder of the iconic Latina Magazine, a film producer, and now an agent at one of the most powerful talent agencies in Hollywood, Christy is more than a boss; she's a force to be reckoned with. Born to a Mexican-American mother, and then adopted and raised by non-Latino parents, Christy talks about her unique take on the shared struggle of existing between cultures. the merits of a white sense of entitlement, and why impact is more important than money or titles.
Photo Credit: Paola Mendoza
Paola Mendoza Teaches Us that Joy is an Act of Resistance
Artist and activist Paola Mendoza embodies today's political resistance. As Creative Director of the Women's March, her visionary work helped galvanize millions around the world, and continues with the "I Am a Child" campaign and efforts to stop the latest Supreme Court nominee. Paola was raised by a single mother, and, as a rebellious teen, found salvation in the arts. She talks with Alicia about gaining strength from her mother's difficult choices and why for her joy is an act of resistance.
Photo Credit: Heather Hazzan for Teen Vogue
Orange Is the New Black's Diane Guerrero is Fearless and She Knows It
A rising star in Orange is the New Black, Jane the Virgin, and Superior Donuts, Diane Guerrero embodies quintessential Latina powers. She's grounded in her strong family roots but still shaped by the trauma that ripped them apart when she was a teenager. Somehow she harnessed the loss and pain into unmatched self-determination and drive. She opens up in this intimate convo with Alicia.
Buy her book, In the Country We Love, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo Credit: US Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
Photo Credit: Daisy Auger-Dominguez
Photo Credit: Mandy Gonzalez
Photo Credit: Natalia Oberti-Noguera
Photo Credit: Cristela Alonzo
Photo Credit: ABC/Heidi Gutman
