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Speaker 1: Loka Tora Radio is a radiophonic novella.

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Speaker 2: Which is just a very extra way of saying a podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm diosa m.

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Speaker 2: And I am Mala.

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Speaker 1: Munos Lokatra Radio is yr Brima's favorite podcast, hosted by

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Speaker 1: us Mala and Viosa.

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Speaker 2: We're two ig friends turned podcast partners, breaking down pop culture, feminism,

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Speaker 2: sexual wellness, and offering fresh takes on trending topics through

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Speaker 2: nuanced interviews with up and coming LATINX creatives.

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Speaker 1: Known as Las Lokatas, Las Mammis of Myth and Bullshit

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Speaker 1: and Las Borgas Prosas. We were podcasting independently since twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 1: but joined iHeartMedia's Microtura network in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 2: This year, we're continuing to share stories from the LATINX community.

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Speaker 2: Barto el Mundo.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to season eight.

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Speaker 2: Are you listening?

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Speaker 1: O La La Loka Motives, Welcome to season eight of

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Speaker 1: loc at Radio. I'm Viosa and I'm Mala. You're tuning

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Speaker 1: in to Capitulo one seventy eight.

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Speaker 3: Last time on loc at Our Radio, we recapped our

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Speaker 3: trip to Peru and we talked about some local drama,

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Speaker 3: some local politics, some local podcasts.

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Speaker 2: Go ahead and tune.

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Speaker 3: In, subscribe to look at thought our radio, leave review

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Speaker 3: and share with a friend.

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Speaker 1: Mala, how are you doing today?

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Speaker 3: You know, I'm doing great. I'm doing spectacular. I'm doing fabulous.

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Speaker 3: I'm having a great time. How are you doing today?

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Speaker 1: I'm doing okay. I'm recalibrating, I'm adjusting. I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: get my life in order after being away for a

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks. Yes, and there's just always a lot

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Speaker 1: going on.

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Speaker 3: Totally, there's always a lot going on. I feel like

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Speaker 3: there's like a prolonged jet lag after the trip, because

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Speaker 3: I also feel like I'm still recovering.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think like I came back and just like

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Speaker 1: hit the ground running with like everything with life again.

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Speaker 1: And I know you so have you and so yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think I'm still recalibrating and still adjusting. And my

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Speaker 1: room is a mess. And while I was away, my

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Speaker 1: family cleaned out our family's garage and I have three

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Speaker 1: big cases boxes of Lokata stuff oh that I have

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Speaker 1: not told you about.

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Speaker 4: What is it?

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Speaker 1: But it's all our stuff from our early Loka days

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Speaker 1: when we would go to events and we would pop

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Speaker 1: up and we would table so we have like our tablecloths,

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Speaker 1: our roses, our candles, all of our little props. And

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Speaker 1: so they're like in big three storage boxes. And well,

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Speaker 1: while I was away, my mom put them in my

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Speaker 1: office because well where else do they go? So I

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Speaker 1: have to sort through them and decide, like what are

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Speaker 1: we keeping? What's for the archives? What can we donate

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Speaker 1: all that good stuff? So I will be sending you photos?

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Speaker 4: How exciting?

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Speaker 2: Yes for the archives.

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Speaker 3: Yes, for when there's an exhibition about us at the

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Speaker 3: Grammy Museum.

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Speaker 1: Yes, or the Smithsonian's Museum if it ever opens.

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Speaker 3: Yes, whoever decides to house our exhibition. First, we got

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Speaker 3: to keep that stuff in order.

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Speaker 1: I love the mala jump to Grammys. Why are you

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Speaker 1: making me sing always?

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know audio books win Grammys, don't they have?

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Speaker 3: Isn't there a podcast category now?

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Speaker 1: Because I think there might be?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, are Grammy Award winning podcast?

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Speaker 1: I need to get on it.

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Speaker 3: We better get on this Grammy train.

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Speaker 1: Speaking of receiving an award, I actually did receive an award.

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Speaker 1: You did supervisor Ilesalis's office for Hispanic Heritage month.

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Speaker 3: Tell us all about it because you were at like

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Speaker 3: a Who's Who. Yes, As far as Latinos in Los

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Speaker 3: Angeles for the award ceremony.

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Speaker 1: Yes, so I was nominated and received an award by

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Speaker 1: Ilsalsa's office. And I was in great company because the

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Speaker 1: lords certa surprise. She was there and she gave a speech.

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Speaker 1: She's shared a few words, also honoring Edward James almost

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Speaker 1: because he also received an award. And the award ceremony

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Speaker 1: was a little luncheon was October thirteenth, and that is

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Speaker 1: now officially Edward James almost day in La Wild.

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Speaker 3: Yes, And that was a Friday, the thirteenth.

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Speaker 1: It was, it was It was a spooky day.

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Speaker 4: It was great.

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Speaker 2: Look at that.

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Speaker 1: I know it was awesome because I never expected Edward

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Speaker 1: James almost to go up there and say free Palestine,

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Speaker 1: but he did. And because this was days after you know,

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Speaker 1: the crisis had been unfolding, and it's hard to go

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Speaker 1: anywhere or do anything and this not come up, or

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Speaker 1: this not be on your mind. There's so much happening

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Speaker 1: in the world right and so little did I know

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Speaker 1: that Edward James almost would be talking about peace and

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Speaker 1: love and hope and saying free Palestine.

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Speaker 2: Totally.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's good to hear, you know that he's

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Speaker 3: thinking in these terms, and he's still progressive and liberal

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Speaker 3: because you know, when they get older and they've been

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Speaker 3: around for a long time, sometimes they veer right. So yes,

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Speaker 3: it's cool when they veear left, you know, the Jane

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Speaker 3: Fondas of the world.

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Speaker 4: Yes, it's good to hear.

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Speaker 1: It's good to hear. And so that was exciting. And

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Speaker 1: my mom was there, my cousin was there, Fedanan though,

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Speaker 1: my partner was there, and it was just really nice

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Speaker 1: to receive the award and get some recognition from La

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Speaker 1: County since this I am not only born and bred here,

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Speaker 1: but this project is born and bred in La County,

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Speaker 1: La as well.

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Speaker 5: Well.

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Speaker 3: Much deserved, thanks girl, Yes, much deserved. You are You're

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Speaker 3: very official now, thank god, thank god, recognized by the county,

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Speaker 3: recognized alongside Edward James Almos.

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Speaker 1: It's very exciting and it was really exciting. Yeah, there

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Speaker 1: were some other incredible people there too as well, someone

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Speaker 1: from County Hospital that does incredible things, other people that

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Speaker 1: work in homeless services, other people in healthcare. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was it was wonderful. Definitely a good company, fabulous.

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Speaker 3: Well, I am so excited for you, so proud of you, girl,

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Speaker 3: And you know, they've got they've got good taste over there.

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Speaker 1: God.

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Speaker 3: And on today's episode, we actually have a very exciting

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Speaker 3: interview for you all. If you guys are on TikTok

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Speaker 3: at all, you probably have seen content from Persona the Shop.

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Speaker 1: I'm screaming because my way of learning about person of

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Speaker 1: the Shop was Instagram, not TikTok at all.

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Speaker 3: I saw them on TikTok because they have been putting

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Speaker 3: together really beautiful content that has just been performing beautifully.

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Speaker 3: Jasmine who is the founder in the talent behind Persona

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Speaker 3: the Shop. She also runs a market called mid City Medicado.

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Speaker 3: They're based in Mid City and we're really excited to

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Speaker 3: bring another fashion girly onto the pod to talk about

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Speaker 3: the brand, to talk about building the brand the Mid

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Speaker 3: City Mercado Persona and what her goals are for her

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Speaker 3: brand and for dressing all the girlies of La.

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Speaker 1: So we are so excited to have this fashion girly,

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Speaker 1: Jasmine founder with us today. Please introduce yourself.

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Speaker 5: Hello, look at the radio. I'm Jasmine Maldonado. I'm a

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Speaker 5: first and Mexican American born and raised in Los Angeles,

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Speaker 5: and I'm the founder of Persona this Shop. Many know

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Speaker 5: me because of the fact that my store is located

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Speaker 5: right next to my mom's restaurant. She opened her restaurant

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Speaker 5: when I was three years old, So I've had such

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Speaker 5: a beautiful history in that space, in that neighborhood, and

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Speaker 5: that's why I'm so proud to bring Midziti Mecado there

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Speaker 5: every month. I'm also the co founder of mid City Medicago,

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Speaker 5: a family operated pop up where we host over thirty

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Speaker 5: POC vendors and just create a beautiful celebration of our culture.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, that's a little bit about me.

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Speaker 1: I love that so much because that's actually our first

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Speaker 1: question for you. You come from an entrepreneurial family. You just

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Speaker 1: said your mom opened her restaurant when you were three

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Speaker 1: years old, So how did growing up in that ambienta

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Speaker 1: that environment influence you inspire you to create your own business,

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Speaker 1: and not only that, but a storefront, which is a

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Speaker 1: big undertaking.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, well it's crazy.

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Speaker 5: I mean, I can start all the way from the beginning,

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Speaker 5: because my mom's story is incredible and I hope one

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Speaker 5: day I can like have her say it and share

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Speaker 5: it with everyone. But from what I know, when I

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Speaker 5: was born into ninety seven, that winter was the winter

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Speaker 5: where my father left and my mom had seven kids.

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Speaker 5: I was a baby, so I was the last one

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Speaker 5: that winter that Christmas, and he left us with a

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Speaker 5: lunch truck. That was the only thing that like we

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Speaker 5: had in an eviction. Notice, my mom had to like

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Speaker 5: figure out where she was going to keep us. And

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Speaker 5: it was a whole struggle story that don't I can't

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Speaker 5: even begin to like understand how that even how she

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Speaker 5: was even able to make it out of that. But

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Speaker 5: what I do know is she can tell you a

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Speaker 5: bunch of stories about how as a newborn baby she

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Speaker 5: would have me the lunch truck. She would sell her

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Speaker 5: like the sas to be chickens, and she worked so hard,

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Speaker 5: so hard, and three years later she opened her first

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Speaker 5: restaurant on Adams and so. And this is a woman

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Speaker 5: that you know, barely knows English. She like she's a

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Speaker 5: single mom of seven. It's just it's unbelievable. And the

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Speaker 5: most beautiful thing too, is that like when she first

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Speaker 5: came to America, she she was sixteen years old, and

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Speaker 5: she prefirst shove was in a fabric store in Guadahara.

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Speaker 5: And when she came here she became like a sample

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Speaker 5: maker and in the factories in downtown and her she

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Speaker 5: always dreamed of being a fashion designer, and her life

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Speaker 5: kind of took a different, different path. And so now

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Speaker 5: to be able to, you know, twenty five years later,

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Speaker 5: to have my store, my clothing store next to her

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Speaker 5: and living out you know, these dreams that I know.

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Speaker 4: She would have wished she could have lived.

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Speaker 5: It just it really is like the the reason why

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Speaker 5: everything I feel like has come to fruition.

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Speaker 3: It sounds like even though your mom in the restaurant

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Speaker 3: business and she's a chef, it sounds like she also

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Speaker 3: had this foothold like in fashion and design. So I'm

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Speaker 3: really curious about when that fashion and design like spark

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Speaker 3: hit you.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: Well, since I was a little girl. I mean I

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Speaker 5: was always like a little spoiled brat and like I

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Speaker 5: loved I loved dressing up, and I think it really

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Speaker 5: like took a big role in my life. When I

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Speaker 5: was like fifteen, I went to New York for the

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Speaker 5: first time. That was my first encounter with boutiques, and

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Speaker 5: that's something that's like not really common in LA and

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Speaker 5: at least growing up here, I didn't really experience that.

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Speaker 4: So that's what really sparked, like.

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Speaker 5: Fashion in me, and at that time I was in

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Speaker 5: high school, I was really insecure. I felt like I,

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Speaker 5: you know, wasn't confident and so finding you know, an

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Speaker 5: outlet with clothing was something that I did find confidence

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Speaker 5: with and which made me want to pursue like going

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Speaker 5: to school for fashion. I went to the Fashion Institute

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Speaker 5: of Design and Merchandise in Downtown. I got an internships,

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Speaker 5: like multiple internships, had a career after I graduated. That

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Speaker 5: really propelled me into where I am now. Because I

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Speaker 5: gained so much experience in the wholestel industry, I was

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Speaker 5: able to work. I was basically the middle man between

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Speaker 5: the designers and the retailers, so I would connect them

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Speaker 5: and get collections into the stores. So that's how I

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Speaker 5: learned how like boutique owners manage a store, how they

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Speaker 5: order inventory. And one of the key elements that I

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Speaker 5: took from that job was the idea the fact that

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Speaker 5: I mean all these bootiques I would visit. I would

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Speaker 5: go on the road a lot, I would do a

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Speaker 5: lot of trade shows, and I would be inside these

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Speaker 5: stores and I would see an am Beyonce that like

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Speaker 5: was really catered two white women, and for me, being

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Speaker 5: a round girl, coming into a store to like prospecting

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Speaker 5: to sell them like collections. Like I always felt like

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Speaker 5: just I was the youngest brown girl in my industry,

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Speaker 5: it was so evident that there was a huge difference,

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Speaker 5: and I never felt I never felt like I belonged,

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Speaker 5: And so that kind of propelled me into building what

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Speaker 5: I have today with Persona. I like pride myself on

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Speaker 5: being able to create this experience for girls like me

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Speaker 5: in my neighborhood to come and treat themselves, to come

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Speaker 5: and and be catered to. And that's like, that's that's

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Speaker 5: what makes me like just keep going totally.

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Speaker 3: I feel like one of the ways that you do

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Speaker 3: that is you carry other Latina owned brands, like you

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Speaker 3: carry Belladonna, and we love Belladonna, and they've been around forever,

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Speaker 3: I think with a similar mission. So I'm curious, like

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Speaker 3: when you say, how how does Persona the shop, how

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Speaker 3: is it specifically curated for women of color?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I love to just like use like Belavonia,

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Speaker 5: I have worked with the hit them, these brands that

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Speaker 5: you know, amplify our voices and.

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Speaker 4: Our culture and just ultimately representation.

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Speaker 5: I love to really focus on that curation in my store,

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Speaker 5: but not just through that. I think, like you know,

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Speaker 5: regardless of like clothes that I pick, I think it's

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Speaker 5: also like the way that I release it.

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Speaker 4: Like I love to do.

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Speaker 5: Campaigns, I love to do storytelling, and the most important

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Speaker 5: thing to me is representation and making sure that I

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Speaker 5: highlight these beautiful women that when I was growing up,

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Speaker 5: I mean I didn't see we didn't have any beautiful

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Speaker 5: like brown Parasheltans or Britney spears, and that was like

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Speaker 5: all that I was obsessed with. So I think just

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Speaker 5: having that, having that image really like highlighted with Persona

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Speaker 5: is something that I think is a way that I

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Speaker 5: can cater to my to my community.

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Speaker 1: I love that because you know, I've shopped for look

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Speaker 1: at shoots, for events at Persona and you have a

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Speaker 1: really beautiful story of beautiful pieces. So how do you

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Speaker 1: decide what pieces you're going to carry?

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Speaker 3: M h.

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Speaker 5: It's it's really it's actually been like so much harder

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Speaker 5: now that I feel like my style has evolved two

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Speaker 5: years ago. When year ago, when I had the store,

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Speaker 5: I would just pick everything that I would want to wear,

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Speaker 5: and I the most important thing I like to pay

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Speaker 5: attention to is equality. The way things feel, the way

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Speaker 5: things the way I can imagine outfit being put together.

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Speaker 5: That's just like the main way that I can like

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Speaker 5: pick something for the stores, just can I actually style

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Speaker 5: this myself? And like a way that I put that

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Speaker 5: to the test is by doing like my stories, I

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Speaker 5: love to do tryons and style pieces, so that way

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Speaker 5: I can see, is this something that I would act

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Speaker 5: we Because if it's something I would actually wear, then

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Speaker 5: I would want to sell it and have it in

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Speaker 5: the store. So that's like what really is important to

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Speaker 5: me when I pick out items.

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Speaker 3: I've seen you really blow up on TikTok and persona

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Speaker 3: the shop and your content around the shop really do

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Speaker 3: numbers online. And I'm really curious about about your campaigns

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Speaker 3: and about your approach and how you have gotten the

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Speaker 3: word out about your store to the types of shoppers

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Speaker 3: who would want to go and shop there.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: So I mean in the beginning, in the very beginning,

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Speaker 5: like the way I propelled my business was taking advantage

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Speaker 5: of the fact that everyone was on Instagram and TikTok,

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Speaker 5: like during COVID. So that's when I launched. I launched

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Speaker 5: in June twenty twenty, which is like right in the

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Speaker 5: center of that year. Every single day I had like

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Speaker 5: an output of the day to share. I had, like

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Speaker 5: I would share with a coffee I'm drinking, like where

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Speaker 5: I got it from. I was just always there and

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Speaker 5: I kind of created like this relationship with my customers

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Speaker 5: and my viewers and they were engaged, and like that's

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Speaker 5: what really I feel like propelled my following. And then

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Speaker 5: with TikTok, I feel like I just think about like

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Speaker 5: what I would love to see in people. I always

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Speaker 5: try not to act like everything's perfect, like this was

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Speaker 5: so easy to do and I'm just over here like

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Speaker 5: just like yeah, this is me like just being great

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Speaker 5: at everything, but in reality it's like no, Like I've

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Speaker 5: suffered with mental health issues and I share it. I've

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Speaker 5: been all my stories crying before. Like I've just been

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Speaker 5: so like transparent and just so that way, like whoever

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Speaker 5: sees it can relate.

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Speaker 4: And can feel like they're not alone.

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Speaker 5: So I feel like that's one key way that I've

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Speaker 5: been able to grow my community is just by being relatable,

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Speaker 5: by being transparent, and by being just real and raw.

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Speaker 5: And then with campaigns and like with the drops that

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Speaker 5: I've done, I'm just really grateful for my amazing like

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Speaker 5: support system my fiance Brian, I was.

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Speaker 4: Gonna say, shout out Get a Rodeo.

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Speaker 5: He's been like a really amazing part in my life

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Speaker 5: to just like help me with the creative direction. And

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Speaker 5: we both help each other out with both of our brands,

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Speaker 5: So it's been helpful to have that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, what is that like being this fashion duo, fashion

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Speaker 1: couple y'all were on the road together, Like how do

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Speaker 1: y'all balance the romance, the love and the fashion.

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Speaker 5: I think we both just have so much love and

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Speaker 5: passion for what we're doing. Like, like I'm just as

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Speaker 5: passionate about Get a Rodeo asam about Persona, and he

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Speaker 5: feels the same way. So it's so beautiful to just

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Speaker 5: have like someone that we can just like pour into

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Speaker 5: and support. And we both understand how much love that

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Speaker 5: we have for our like what we're doing with our art,

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Speaker 5: Like we call it our art because like it's how

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Speaker 5: artists are, Like when they have like something they love

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Speaker 5: and they're passionate about, they like just do everything they

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Speaker 5: can in their power to do something every day with it.

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Speaker 5: And that's like the kind of relationship that we we

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Speaker 5: both understand that for each other and we both just

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Speaker 5: very supportive of it, and and it's fun. He's my

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Speaker 5: best friend and so that's what makes.

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Speaker 4: It really easy.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you guys are both killing it with your respective projects,

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Speaker 3: So I don't know how fun like this fashion power couple.

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Speaker 4: Thank you, it's really cool.

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Speaker 3: It's really great. Congratulations to both of you. And I

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Speaker 3: also love how you've taken your storefront and you've turned

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Speaker 3: it into a place for the community, Like it's not

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Speaker 3: just about shopping. You're hosting a lot of events, yeah,

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Speaker 3: out of your shop.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I take pride in that.

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Speaker 5: I mean, I feel like I didn't really get to

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Speaker 5: tell the story about how the whole shop came about.

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Speaker 5: So we had the restaurant in two thousand and I

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Speaker 5: was three years old. A couple years later, i Will

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Speaker 5: opened another restaurant Vermont and Adams, so in the same neighborhood.

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Speaker 5: And then a couple years later she opened at banquet

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Speaker 5: hall that was right next to the Atom's location where

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Speaker 5: my shop is now.

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Speaker 4: So it used to be a warehouse.

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Speaker 5: She convert it into a banquet hall so she can

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Speaker 5: rent it out. Freaking sanianaz and baptisms and all that.

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Speaker 5: And when COVID happened. That's when we had to cancel

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Speaker 5: all our events for the year. It was just empty.

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Speaker 5: It was just like collecting dust. A scary point in

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Speaker 5: my life where we were like having conversations about having

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Speaker 5: to give up the space, having to close it, and

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Speaker 5: I like thank God every day that I took that

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Speaker 5: leap of faith and started persona because like it started

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Speaker 5: with literally just one rack outside the shop I was

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Speaker 5: doing only like Instagram orders. I would do drop off

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Speaker 5: orders for any of the girls that placed orders on

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Speaker 5: the dms, and then I told him like, hey, like

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Speaker 5: why don't you just come pick it up at over

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Speaker 5: here at least by my mom's restaurant. I'm always here,

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Speaker 5: so just come pick it up. And I have a

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Speaker 5: rack outside with like new stuff that you can look at.

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Speaker 5: And every weekend there would just be more and more girls.

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Speaker 5: I would come and that's when I would get another

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Speaker 5: rock and then another rock, and like literally I would

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Speaker 5: just build a store up. I rack out of time,

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Speaker 5: and that's when I like slowly went into the store

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Speaker 5: and opened it up. And so for me reality like

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Speaker 5: it was just such a blessing to be gifted that

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Speaker 5: space because of all the sacrifice that my mom took

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Speaker 5: and it's so beautiful that I was able to make

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Speaker 5: something of it as well, because it was just sitting there, like,

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Speaker 5: you know, on the verge of just disappearing. And so

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Speaker 5: with that, with that said, like I didn't mention this.

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Speaker 5: My brother he actually retired my mom with the age

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Speaker 5: of nineteen. He took over the restaurants and he's been,

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Speaker 5: you know, a co founder of Mitstya Meticalo with me

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Speaker 5: because we both were on that same mentality that like

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Speaker 5: we you know, we're so blessed to have the space

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Speaker 5: and we should share it with others, like meeting, we're

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Speaker 5: all eating, and that's what, you know started the first

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00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:05,919
Speaker 5: pop up we had, we had space, we had a

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Speaker 5: whole parking lot, and we decided, like, hey, you have

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Speaker 5: a friend that has a clothing brand. I have a

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Speaker 5: friend that I was trying to make candles. Let's just

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Speaker 5: like bring it together and like do this little like

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Speaker 5: pop up. And that was in twenty twenty when like

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Speaker 5: that was all new, and I'm so grateful that we

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00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,520
Speaker 5: continue to stay consistent because now it's built something so beautiful.

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Speaker 5: And as far as like the events that I've done

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Speaker 5: with Persona, I just always reference like my inner child.

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Speaker 4: My inner child always craved friends.

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Speaker 5: I was always like alone and insecure and sad, and

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Speaker 5: like I always wanted friends. So I feel like I'm

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Speaker 5: healing my inner child by bringing a beautiful community of

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Speaker 5: girls together that just empower each other. Like at my events,

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Speaker 5: like girls come by themselves and they make friends, and

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Speaker 5: that's like the most beautiful part is just like seeing

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Speaker 5: that happen in real time. And yeah, I just I

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Speaker 5: love creating these experiences I would have longed for as

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Speaker 5: a child.

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Speaker 1: I love that because some of the events that you're

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Speaker 1: talking about is like your self care Sundays. Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: tell us more about that. That's such beautiful, such a

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Speaker 1: cute event because I see like moms or daughters go

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Speaker 1: with their moms, they take their moms out, So tell

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Speaker 1: us more about self care Sundays.

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Speaker 5: So yeah, self care Sundays are very special to me

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Speaker 5: because growing up, you know, in a business oriented family,

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Speaker 5: My mom she would just work all the time. I

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Speaker 5: never saw her take time off. I never saw her

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Speaker 5: treat herself and rest, and it kind of embedded this

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Speaker 5: idea and me that like rest was a luxury and

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Speaker 5: that you know me resting was just being lazy and

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Speaker 5: I had to just constantly be working. And I feel

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Speaker 5: like that's something that a lot of first gen can

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Speaker 5: relate to. And so with self care Sunday Bring using

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Speaker 5: my space to just bring in like a nail artist

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Speaker 5: and a suits and a setition to do facials, like

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Speaker 5: all these treatments and services. It was just so special

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00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:44,880
Speaker 5: to me to just make a space where we could

441
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:46,560
Speaker 5: just come and just get it all done, you know,

442
00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,480
Speaker 5: and like all in one roof. And I love that.

443
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,920
Speaker 5: The energy that's felt throughout too is that like you

444
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,840
Speaker 5: deserve it. You deserve this, and I think that's something

445
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,800
Speaker 5: that is hard for us sometimes to embrace, Like for

446
00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 5: me at least, like it's been hard for me to

447
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,359
Speaker 5: like accept the fact that like, no, I do deserve

448
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,159
Speaker 5: to go get my nose done. I do deserve to

449
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 5: go get my hair done. And just making that is

450
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 5: kind of like a symbol of like you deserve it

451
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:13,560
Speaker 5: is like what self Caresentiti is all about.

452
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 2: I love that fabulous.

453
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,199
Speaker 3: It sounds like a lot of fun, and you are

454
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,800
Speaker 3: using this space for really cool stuff, including kitten adoptions.

455
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know, that was so special. I love that.

456
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,080
Speaker 5: I wish I can do those kinds of things every month,

457
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,320
Speaker 5: but in reality, I'm such a small, small team, like

458
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 5: I can barely afford my assistant, which I thank god

459
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,639
Speaker 5: I have now because before I was doing everything on

460
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,199
Speaker 5: my own. I had like one cellessociit and it was

461
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:44,640
Speaker 5: just me running the website, running the Instagram, planning the events, and.

462
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:45,840
Speaker 4: It took a toll on me.

463
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,560
Speaker 5: Like face, I faced burnout, but not in the sense

464
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,359
Speaker 5: of like you know when they say, like like you

465
00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:54,000
Speaker 5: have to take a break, or life will make you

466
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:54,639
Speaker 5: take a break.

467
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:55,720
Speaker 4: That's what happened to me.

468
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,120
Speaker 5: In February, I had a medical emergency that was just

469
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 5: the most scariest thing I've ever had to experience in

470
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,119
Speaker 5: my life. And I'm just like even blessed to just

471
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,320
Speaker 5: even be here at this moment because there was a

472
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 5: very high possibility that I wasn't and that's it's been

473
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 5: really hard to like come out of that.

474
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 3: On on that, on that note of self starting and

475
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,360
Speaker 3: running things yourself, what advice do you have for young

476
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,360
Speaker 3: women who want to start a clothing brand, who want

477
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 3: to launch a business, who want to open up a store,

478
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,120
Speaker 3: given the experiences that you've already had doing.

479
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:33,399
Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean I've I've persona has been completely

480
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 5: self funded from the beginning, and I've been receiving so

481
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,719
Speaker 5: many blessings and opportunities that I could have never imagined,

482
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,480
Speaker 5: like little on me like being able to do these things.

483
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:46,879
Speaker 5: So I think, like with that said, for anyone that

484
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 5: is listening that does dream about doing, you know, making

485
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,239
Speaker 5: their visions come to life, you have to you have

486
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 5: to walk without fear, you have to walk in faith.

487
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,399
Speaker 5: You have to eliminate all doubt, all self doubt, and

488
00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,520
Speaker 5: you have to really believing yourself because you're the only

489
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,639
Speaker 5: one that's going to get you there, and you're the

490
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,879
Speaker 5: only one that can stop yourself. And you're limited to

491
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 5: your own expectations. So that's why it's important to dream,

492
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 5: dream big, and dream dream it like it's real, like

493
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:16,359
Speaker 5: it's gonna happen. I like always tell all my friends

494
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 5: and everyone that I want to like motivate is like

495
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,480
Speaker 5: think about where you were five years ago now, Like

496
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 5: would like literally visualize like who that person was, and

497
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 5: think about like where where you thought you would have

498
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,640
Speaker 5: been five years from now, Like could you have imagined

499
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:34,480
Speaker 5: being where you are now? Like being like sitting where

500
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 5: you are now, like and doing the things that you're doing,

501
00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:38,640
Speaker 5: Like I mean, and I say this to you too,

502
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 5: like like i've you guys started in twenty sixteen, Like

503
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 5: I don't know, that's.

504
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 3: How many years ago, a long time?

505
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,199
Speaker 4: Could you could you imagine like now being where you

506
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 4: are now?

507
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:50,919
Speaker 1: No, we talk about that all the time, you know.

508
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,719
Speaker 1: We when we started our project, we had no idea

509
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,359
Speaker 1: the heights it would go, where we would go. We

510
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 1: never imagined this would be our full time jobs, you know.

511
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,840
Speaker 1: So I definitely that it's such a powerful practice to

512
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,680
Speaker 1: look back at where you were and to really think,

513
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,119
Speaker 1: like I could not have imagined this beautiful life that

514
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 1: I have.

515
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, literally, So then that's when you do this.

516
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 5: Then you think about where you're going to be five

517
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,600
Speaker 5: years from now? Could you even imagine it? Because the thing,

518
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:18,520
Speaker 5: the real reality is it's going to be way better

519
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 5: than you can even imagine. And so that's like the

520
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 5: kind of energy that you have to walk with every

521
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,480
Speaker 5: day and have that carry you, having that ambition carry

522
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 5: you that that like, Wow, look at all that I've made,

523
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,240
Speaker 5: look at all that I've done with in these past

524
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 5: five years, and look at what I'm like, I can't

525
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 5: even see what I'm gonna incompte because it's to be

526
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:34,800
Speaker 5: way better than I can imagine.

527
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,639
Speaker 1: I absolutely, I mean, you've done some incredible things. Just

528
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: this last weekend alone, you hosted Becky G. Oh my god,

529
00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 1: you're mid City Mergalo. So tell us more about that

530
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 1: specific mid City Mergalo event in collaboration with Becky G.

531
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 1: It was incredible. Tell us more.

532
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,159
Speaker 4: I have chills just like actually like thinking about it

533
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 4: out loud.

534
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 5: I've been trying to process it. It happened two days

535
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 5: ago and it just felt so unreal.

536
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 4: It really did.

537
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,359
Speaker 5: I was able to give her a whole tour of

538
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:07,240
Speaker 5: the medical AO, tell her about my story, and I

539
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,200
Speaker 5: presented a certificate from the city to her, so I

540
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 5: was able to give a little speech, and then she

541
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,119
Speaker 5: was able to give a speech, and it was just

542
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 5: so like just unreal.

543
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:19,359
Speaker 4: She is such an amazing woman. I admire her so

544
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 4: much with everything that.

545
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,840
Speaker 5: She's doing for the community and really amplifying small creatives

546
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,119
Speaker 5: and small businesses. It's so admirable and she's such a

547
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 5: role model. And like I'm just grateful that like God

548
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 5: gave me the opportunity to even just share space because

549
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,959
Speaker 5: it's incredible, and like I hope one day I can

550
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:39,879
Speaker 5: also be as strong and powerful as she is and

551
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:41,120
Speaker 5: what impact she has.

552
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 4: And you know, Becky G.

553
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,920
Speaker 1: From what we've heard, we're fans. But what we've heard

554
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 1: is that, just as you said, she supports small businesses.

555
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,959
Speaker 1: So I'm curious, did she approach you because she watches

556
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:52,120
Speaker 1: people on her team.

557
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,399
Speaker 5: Know, yeah, I mean she has supported get a Rodeo

558
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 5: a lot, Like she's always wearing the brand. So that's

559
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 5: been like really really cool to see. And every time

560
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,760
Speaker 5: we see on Instagram, we're just like yelling, like like

561
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:01,639
Speaker 5: screaming at each.

562
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:02,880
Speaker 4: Other like, oh my god, this is amazing.

563
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, it really happened organically a lot of people from

564
00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,040
Speaker 5: her team have been to Minsity Metcago, so they felt

565
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 5: the energy and the ambiance and that's what really like

566
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 5: propelled the idea to do this. And someone from her

567
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,359
Speaker 5: team reached out to me and said like, hey, we

568
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 5: want to do something, and I went to when they

569
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 5: told me it was Becky G. I literally like started crying.

570
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 5: I was like, this is this is so unreal and

571
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:24,960
Speaker 5: amazing and yeah.

572
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 1: It's very cool, amazing, very exciting.

573
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,679
Speaker 3: Can you let our listeners know where they can follow

574
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 3: you where the shop is located. When is the next

575
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:36,440
Speaker 3: Mid City Meticago so they.

576
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:37,040
Speaker 4: Can check it out.

577
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 5: Yes, So you can follow me on Instagram and on

578
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 5: TikTok at Persona the Shop. On Instagram, there's a period

579
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 5: after Persona Persona Dot the Shop, and then on TikTok

580
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 5: it's Persona the Shop and then Mid City Mecago And

581
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:51,119
Speaker 5: I'm gonna plug in.

582
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 4: One more thing.

583
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah.

584
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 5: On November fourth, I'm throwing my first annual the Little

585
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 5: Smortphus Festival Bloc Party in partnership with the city, where

586
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 5: closing down five streets right in front of the store.

587
00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,359
Speaker 5: We're gonna have a stage with performers, a whole carnival.

588
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,119
Speaker 5: We're having like a Ferris Field, bumper cars, the Dragon

589
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:14,200
Speaker 5: boat ride, all free, all free for the community. We're

590
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:16,840
Speaker 5: having the parking lot where we host My City Meticado

591
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,320
Speaker 5: is gonna be converted into a cemetery and we're gonna

592
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,879
Speaker 5: build a huge community altar. We're having six featured artists

593
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 5: built installations. It's it's gonna be so magical and it's

594
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,040
Speaker 5: it's incredible. Like the way this all happened, I manifested

595
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 5: doing a block party when I was younger, and now

596
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 5: it's like really happening, and it's it's like almost.

597
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:36,920
Speaker 4: Two weeks away.

598
00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 5: So yeah, if you if you're listening to this, you

599
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 5: should come. I'm not sure when this is gonna get released,

600
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 5: but yeah.

601
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 1: It'll it'll be released before them.

602
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 5: So yesay, okay, yeah, come come to my city, Metcalo's

603
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 5: first ever the Other Little Smartles Festival block party on

604
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:52,400
Speaker 5: November fourth.

605
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 3: Amazing, amazing, congratulations, You're.

606
00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,239
Speaker 1: Doing incredible things for the city of La for Latina US,

607
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 1: for creative So thank you for coming on today and

608
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 1: telling us your story.

609
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's been great.

610
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,240
Speaker 5: It's such an honor and I'm so grateful and I

611
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 5: admire as well what you guys do with creating a

612
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 5: space for for people like me to share our story.

613
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 4: That's that's it's amazing. So thank you, thank you. We

614
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:17,440
Speaker 4: love it.

615
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,159
Speaker 3: We love it. We love it. We get to interview

616
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:21,800
Speaker 3: folks like you and it's a great time. Yeah.

617
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,520
Speaker 5: No, And it's a full circle moment because for me

618
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,800
Speaker 5: when I was younger, like I love listening to podcasts,

619
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,680
Speaker 5: I loved listening to like podcasts about like CEOs and founders,

620
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 5: but it was always just white women and there was

621
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,120
Speaker 5: never any Latino representation. And I still remember like looking

622
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 5: looking on like Spotify podcasts and then I found your

623
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 5: guys is and now listen to it, and I'm.

624
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:41,600
Speaker 4: Like, this is so cool. I love this. And so

625
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:43,959
Speaker 4: it's really a full circle moment to be here right now.

626
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 4: Thank you.

627
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 1: I love that we've really been podcasting for for a

628
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:47,680
Speaker 1: long time.

629
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,120
Speaker 4: Oh wow, you guys were the first to do it.

630
00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 4: It's amazing.

631
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 1: One of yeah, one of yeah. And it's nice, you

632
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,240
Speaker 1: know because I see you Jasmine, Like we're not that

633
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 1: much older than you, but you're you're definitely like kind

634
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,160
Speaker 1: of the new wave, right, Like there was a moment

635
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: where it's like it was our generation where we were

636
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: like the up and comers, right, and like now we

637
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,880
Speaker 1: see y'all, like all those folks that are in your

638
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 1: little circle from the from the block like doing it.

639
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,400
Speaker 1: And so it's really nice to be able to offer

640
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: this this podcast, our show for for the new the

641
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: new generation, like we're still the same age.

642
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:26,040
Speaker 2: But not really.

643
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 3: It's it's it's like, yeah, it's waves, it's waves. It's waves, waves,

644
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 3: and it's an archive, it's not audio archive. And so

645
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 3: we want to keep bringing in anybody and everybody who is.

646
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 4: Making a wave. Yeah, that's feeling. I love it this.

647
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,440
Speaker 3: This has been another episode of Look At Thought Our Radio.

648
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:44,200
Speaker 3: Thank you all for tuning in and thank you again

649
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 3: to Jasmine from Persona the Shop for stopping by.

650
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: Thank you, we'll catch you next time.

651
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,160
Speaker 2: Look At Thought Our Radio, a radio fanning novela, is

652
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 2: executive produced and hosted by Me, Mala Munos and Yosa fam.

653
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 1: Story editing by Me Theosa.

654
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:01,840
Speaker 2: Audio editing by Stephanie Franco.

655
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 1: Thank you to our locomotives, our listeners for all of

656
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 1: your support. BESI fos.

657
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 3: Look at Radio a radio phonic novela hosted by Mala

658
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,440
Speaker 3: Munjos and THEOSAF them

659
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:10,880
Speaker 4: Take us to your network