Latina to Latina

Listeners often ask us about starting a podcast. In this episode, executive producer Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, 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.Follow Juleyka @JuleykaLantigua on Twitter and IG; and follow Latina to Latina @latinatolatina on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Martina Castro and Susie Jaramillo for more on building community and a media empire. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

We're replaying this one to help you rev up for the new year!! Michelle Poler says being raised in Venezuela during turbulent times made her afraid of everything. 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 scores of people around the world to face up to their greatest challenges.Follow Michelle @michellepoler and Hello Fears @hellofears on Twitter and Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Mariana Atencio and Nicole Mejia for more on taking big risks. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

Gina Torres is everything we’ve ever wanted to be: brilliant, strong, stylish, and funny. 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.Follow Gina on Twitter @ginatorres and IG @iamginatorres; and Pearson on Twitter @PearsonUSA. If you loved this episode, listen to María Elena Salinas and Linda Briceño for more on owning your worth and knowing when it is time to step away. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Aymée @aymeenuviolaofficial on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez from Tres Lindas Cubanas for more on Afro-Cuban culture. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Carmen @carmenmachado on Twitter and IG. And buy her book, In the Dream House. If you loved this episode, listen to Valeria Luiselli and Quiara Alegría Hudes for more on summoning the muse.  Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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 @annieelainey on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to her YouTube channel! If you loved this episode, listen to Jillian Mercado and Natalia Oberti Noguera for more on the power of inclusivity and disruption. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Dolores @DoloresHuerta and @DoloresHuertaFD on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Lucy Del Gaudio and Pam Campos-Palma, Jess Morales-Rocketto and Cristina Jiménez for more on advocating for what you hold dear. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Katia on Twitter @katiawwb and IG @katiawb; and Birchbox @birchbox. If you loved this episode, listen to Elle Huerta and Nathalie Molina-Niño for more on founding and funding a business. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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 @TresLindasCigar and IG @treslindascubanascigars, and check out Tres Lindas Cubanas! If you loved this episode, listen to Aymée Nuviola for more on Afro-Cuban culture. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

At work, strong women are thought of as unlikeable. Warm women are rarely seen as leaders. 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-Williams, 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.Follow Alicia on Twitter @aliciamenendez and IG @aliciamenendezxo. And buy her book, The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed As You Are. If you loved this episode, listen to Cecilia Muñoz and Daniela Pierre-Bravo for more on workplace advice. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Zulema on Twitter @TheLatinaMedium and IG @zulemaarroyofarley. If you loved this episode, listen to Nicole Mejia and Angelique Cabral for more on trusting your intuition. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Jennifer on Twitter @chica_deportes and IG @lachicadeportes. If you loved this episode, listen to Martina Castro and Suzy Exposito for more on journalism and storytelling. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

On October 24, Feeling My Flo — the reported podcast where menstruation is an event that happens to all types of bodies — is back with a brand new season all about periods and the people who experience them.

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.Follow Cristela on Twitter and IG @Cristela9. And buy her book, Music to My Years: A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. If you loved this episode, listen to Gina Brillón, and Sasha Merci and Dee Nasty for more on comedy. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Cristela on Twitter and IG @Cristela9. And buy her book, Music to My Years: A Mixtape Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up. If you loved this episode, listen to Gina Brillón, and Sasha Merci and Dee Nasty for more on comedy. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow Lorena on Twitter @LorenaAD80 and IG @LorenaSGonzalez. If you loved this episode, listen to Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and Alexandra Rojas for more on progressive politics. Follow Lorena on Twitter @LorenaAD80 and IG @LorenaSGonzalez. If you loved this episode, listen to Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and Alexandra Rojas for more on progressive politics.

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.”Follow Nicole @nicole_mejia on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Fran Medina and Melissa Alcantara for more wellness and influencing. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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. Follow Ramona @ramonarosales on Twitter and IG. If you loved this episode, listen to Cristina Constantini, Susie Jaramillo, and Scherezade Garcia for more on the business of visual mediums. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

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.Follow DaniLeigh on Twitter @DaniLeigh and IG @iamdanileigh. If you loved this episode, listen to Linda Briceño, iLe and Dessa. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!

A rising star in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black as Maritza Ramos, Lina in Jane the Virgin, and Sofia in Superior Donuts, Diane Guerrero embodies quintessential Latina powers. She's grounded in her strong family roots but still shaped by the trauma that separated them apart when she was a teenager. She tells Alicia how she harnessed the loss and pain into unmatched self-determination and drive. Follow Diane on Twitter @dianeguerrero and IG @dianexguerrero. If you loved this episode, listen to Daniela Pierre-Bravo, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio and Cristina Jiménez on owning your own narrative. Show your love and become a Latina to Latina Patreon supporter!