On today's episode I had the great pleasure of having Annabel Garcia Torres. She is the creator and host of Latinx On The Rise and owner of On The Rise Media. She is my inspiration as a Latina creator and I had such an amazing time listening to her outside of her natural element.

Her madre's story begins in La Joya, Durango MX. Her journey continued on to Chicago where she worked various jobs from factory work to retail and ultimately owning her own store for quinceanera products. We discuss the distorted view of American saying immigrants steal jobs. The choices in jobs that immigrants are stealing can't definitely not be the same ones they are fighting for. She tells me an incredible story about the day her dad retired. The unknown resentment that sometimes comes with our parents field of work is usually never discussed. It not until we are faced with it that we truly see what our parents went through.

We dive into our individual stories on going to college. How our parents reacted to each scenario. We also discuss the growth that we saw in our parents as we pushed the boundaries of moving out to go to college. How did your parents react to you going away to college?

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On today's episode I have the great pleasure of having Valeria Aloe as a guest. She is the author of Uncolonized Latinas: Transforming Our Mindsets And Rising Together. Her journey begins in General Belgrano, Argentina. In this episode she discusses the journey of her immigration to the United States. Our conversation was so uplifting and full of promise for us all. She gives many nuggets of wisdom and her positive outlook in her journey is quite remarkable.

As she tells me her journey we cover holding on to our Latinidad in setting that are different from what we are use to. We discuss our safe spaces that remind us of home. For example, my safe space in Colorado was a Latino market down the street. from my apartment. I went there when I wanted to hear our language, our music, and smell the spices. Have you been in a different setting and yearned for your normal? Where was your special Latina safe space.

We both agree that the responsibility of being bilingual is hard work! We discuss our separate exhausting experiences being bilingual. Our brains are impressive but being a bilingual brain is incredibly impressive. Our conversation leads to to the expectations of being bilingual and the role it plays in our lives.


Valeria Aloe's book came out last week, January 12th and is now available on Amazon!!! Check it out. You can also follow Valeria Aloe @valeriaaloe_author

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On today's episode I had the great pleasure of speaking with Andrea Zeydelis she is the creator of Better Together and the creator of @officialpoderosa Instagram page. She is an amazing human who was so vibrant in her storytelling. Her hype is also so incredible!

Her madre is from Guadalajara, Mexico. As the oldest daughter of 12 she started working at a very early age. She picked up the craft of hairstyling which allowed for her family to live a comfortable life. Her contentious relationship with her father built her to know she wanted something different for herself. That life was found in a young Italian man that was studying in Guadalajara at the time.

I discuss how her story reminds me of Sandra Cisneros' short story Never Marry a Mexican. The conflict in the identity behind being a Mexican is always so unfortunate. Not only by other cultures but between us Mexicans as well. If you haven't had the opportunity to read that short story I advise you to do so as soon as possible. It captures an identity crisis that many of us Latina's face routinely. I will always praise this work by Cisneros.

In speaking of the identify crisis we face, Zeydelis confirms hers. She reflects on being from Long Island being half Mexican and half Italian. Where the population is mostly Italian and Irish, she was not Irish or considered fully Italian. So the struggle for her was even deeper than most of us usually face. Despite it all she thrived and recognized a valuable life lesson.

Throughout our discussion we ultimately unearth that nobody wants to eat a bland salad. Instead what makes a salad extraordinary is the array of items it contains. Listen and find out what this is all about.

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