Latina to Latina

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. Follow @latinatolatina on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to our Anniversary Special.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

Why are so many people trying their hands at sewing homemade masks? Making a mask not only helps the wearers feel safe, it helps the maker feel useful and part of a movement. We speak with members of an Atlanta-based volunteer group that’s been able to deliver more than 13,000 masks to their local hospital system, hear why a long-time sewist only started making masks in the past week, and even make a couple masks ourselves. Visit vpm.org/helpers for more information. Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

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.Follow Joanna @JVSkinCare on Twitter and @joannavargasnyc on IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Cyndi Ramirez-Fulton and Katia Beauchamp for more on the business of beauty.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

From the executive producer of Latina to Latina, welcome to How to Talk to Mamí and Papí About Anything! Juleyka Lantigua-Williams made the show because she and many of her friends who were born or raised in the US could use some help in communicating with their immigrant parents. "We’re sometimes torn between the way we choose to live our Americanized lives and the loyalty we feel to our parents’ ways," she says. Every week, she'll talk to adult children of immigrant parents facing a heavy situation from which the rest of us might learn something. She'll also talk to an expert with relevant experience, who can help us understand and move through the situation. 

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 @villanuevabeard on IG and Twitter. If you loved this episode, listen to Nina Vaca and Nancy Reyes for more on the power of education.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

"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.Follow Isabella @Isabella_Gomez on Twitter and @isabella.gomez on Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Aimee Carrero and Jackie Cruz for more on acting.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

"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.Follow Linda @lindayvette on Twitter and @lindayvettechavez on IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Cristela Alonzo, Ilana Peña, and Gloria Calderón Kellett for more on creating Latina narratives in Hollywood. Love the show? Show your love and become a Latina to Latina insider here!

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 @cecemunoz @WeAreUnidosUS and @NewAmerica. If you loved this episode, listen to host Alicia Menendez and Daniela Pierre Bravo for more on workplace advice. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

“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 @ValeriaLuiselli and IG @valeria.luiselli. If you loved this episode, listen to Frances de Pontes Peebles and Carmen Maria Machado for more on summoning the muse.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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 @reyesjimbo. If you loved this episode, listen to Daisy Auger-Dominguez and Carla Vernon for more on navigating corporate culture. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

Last night, the final two viable Democratic presidential hopefuls faced off in the eleventh primary debate, and faced questions from one of America's pre-eminent Latina journalists: Univision's Ilia Calderón. Alicia spoke with Ilia about the leap of faith she took to begin her career in the states, what she left behind, and what it means to make history. Follow Ilia @iliaCalderón on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to María Elena Salinas and Mariana Atencio for more on journalism.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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. Follow Scherezade on Twitter @scherezade_art and IG @scherezadegarcia. If you loved this episode, listen to Ramona Rosales and Susie Jaramillo for more on visual mediums. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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. Follow iLe on Twitter @ilevitable and IG @cabralu. If you loved this episode, listen to Dessa for more on music. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.”Follow Cristina on Twitter @CrisAlexJimenez and IG @crisalx. If you loved this episode, listen to Jess Morales-Rocketto and Paola Mendoza for more on advocacy. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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 @martinacastro and IG @entredosmares. If you loved the episode, listen to Juleyka Lantigua-Williams and Susie Jaramillo for more on building a community and a media empire. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Susie on @sujaramillo @canticosworld on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Martina Castro and Juleyka Lantigua-Williams.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Julissa on Twitter @julissa__prado and IG @julissa_prado; and follow Rizos Curls on IG @RizosCurls. If you loved this episode, listen to Nina Vaca and Nathalie Molina-Niño for more on entrepreneurship. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.”Follow Nelini on Twitter @NelStamp and IG @NelStamp @resistancerevivalchorus. If you loved this episode, listen to Alexandra Rojas and Jessica González-Rojas for more on progressive politics. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Ana @laflowers on Twitter and IG; and follow We All Grow Latina @weallgrowlatina on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Martina Castro and Juleyka Lantigua-Williams for more on building community and a media empire. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Dessa on Twitter @dessadarling and IG @dessa. If you loved this episode, listen to Latashá and iLe for more on music. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!