alice + olivia reposted this
Thank you alice + olivia for the invitation to speak to your team in honor of #hispanicheritage month! Thank you Valerie Miller Williams for the introduction. I was proud to share my story as a “Pioneer of Change”. As a Latina entrepreneur, I didn’t start with business plan and funding. I started, like so many of us, because I was unsafe, and my female colleagues were unsafe. My talk today highlights 3 main themes of my journey— 1. Contrast can lead to clarity: I saw what I didn’t like, and began to build the opposite. There was no model or existing roadmap for me at the time. And, that’s ok. A lot happens when you stop complaining, and make things happen. Less on what you don’t want. More focus on what you DO want. 2. Being a Latina was, and is, my super power! It reminds me of kung fu panda. Po did not look like what a dragon warrior “was supposed” to look like. He did not understand for a long time how or why he was chosen. Just like Po, I didn’t look like any of the entrepreneurs I saw on the cover of magazines growing up. But when I leaned into my Latina indentity, the world opened up for me. 3. Check in w yourself: What do you want to do? Move into that direction with gusto to find more ease in your path. Too hard to think of what you want? Ok, who do you want to serve? My career has always found a way to serve underserved communities, even when I was unclear on what, I always knew “who”. Try it. Also—10/10 is world mental health day and the world is stressed out. Check on your friends. Play more. Rest. And find things that energize you! ❤️ What helped you become a pioneer of change? 🤔