1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Look Radio, I'm Viosa and I'm a La. Look at 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: Ora Radio is a podcast dedicated to archiving our present 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: and shifting the culture forward. Today, we're skipping the chatter 4 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:19,279 Speaker 1: because we have an exclusive interview with Anna Flores. She's 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: a writer, entrepreneur founder. You might recognize Anna Flores from 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: the digital platform and community space We All Grow. This 7 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: has been a thriving space for Latina entrepreneurs and it 8 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: was somewhat shocking when Anna Floores announced recently that she 9 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:39,919 Speaker 1: sold the company. 10 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 2: We are really excited about this interview because this is 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 2: the first time that Anna is getting on a podcast 12 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 2: to talk about the decision to sell We All Grow, 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 2: how difficult that was, and how she's pivoting. This is 14 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: a really important conversation for any Latinas out there who 15 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 2: have a business, who want to go into business for 16 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 2: themselves and thinking about how you can have a mission 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 2: driven project while also surviving under capitalism. This interview has everything. 18 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 2: It's a lot of wisdom from Anna Flores from all 19 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 2: of her years of work, So you want to tune 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 2: into this conversation. 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 3: Hi am Anna Flores. I am a mom of a 22 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 3: teenage girl about to graduate. I am a daughter of 23 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 3: Salvadoran immigrants. Was born in Houston, Texas, grew up in 24 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 3: sad Bad, grew up by lingual, grew up by cultural, 25 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 3: and currently live in Idlewild. And I'm transitioning from my 26 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 3: stage of an entrepreneur to a writer and it feels 27 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 3: so good to finally allow myself to call myself that. 28 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: You know, if you're comfortable, I'd love to know more 29 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: about this transition that you're on and just the journey 30 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: of We All Grow, because as you know, look, I 31 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: thought our radio is an audio archive and would just 32 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: love to capture the journey that was We All Grow. 33 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I love that. First of all, I am so 34 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 3: grateful that We All Grow brought me to be in 35 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 3: circle with women like you. It was because of Wheel 36 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 3: Grow that I got to meet both of you, that 37 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 3: I got to meet Lokat that. I remember the first 38 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 3: time I met you. It was like at a pod 39 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 3: uh it was like a podcast Latino Podcasters. I beg 40 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 3: back then, but that's that festival. Yeah, and it was 41 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 3: like the beginning of podcast and I was like out 42 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 3: there doing my work. People don't know that would really 43 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 3: show up to places just to like scope out right 44 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 3: I was like, who am I Like, we're gonna get 45 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 3: podcasting into we all grow into the summit, Like who's 46 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 3: out there? Who are the Latinos doing this? And y'all 47 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 3: were there. You were like one of the first. So 48 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 3: congrats on your journey. And where do I even start? 49 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,799 Speaker 3: I mean, yes, like you said, it started. It started 50 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 3: out as a as an extension of a blog. I 51 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 3: was a mom blogger. I was one of the OG 52 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 3: mom bloggers back in two thousand and nine, which is 53 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 3: so funny because so many of us are finding ourselves 54 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 3: now in substack because it feels like the og blogging days. 55 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 3: But yeah, I had a blog called Spanglish Baby for 56 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 3: parents racing bi lingual and bicultural kids. I co wrote 57 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 3: it with a friend and it was just life changing 58 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 3: for me to find this medium right that now has 59 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 3: given so much to so many of us on the 60 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 3: positive side, and what it allowed me was to understand 61 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 3: that I wanted to dedicate my life to really in 62 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 3: an unconventional way. At that moment, I had always been 63 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 3: creating for the Latino community. Asked to be producer for 64 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 3: major industry, for major companies like when We See You 65 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 3: on MTV, et cetera. And finding this place where I 66 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 3: felt that our voices could be democratized just felt like 67 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 3: a world of infinite possibilities to me. But to do that, 68 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 3: we had to monetize, and very few of us were monetizing. 69 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 3: But I was figuring out how to monetize thanks to 70 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 3: the black and white mom bloggers. They were the ones 71 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 3: really opening the doors for me and saying like, hey, 72 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 3: come here, I'll teach you. I'll teach you and you 73 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 3: take this to the Latino community. So was I a 74 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 3: token Latina? Yes? Did I make the best use of that? Hell? Yes? 75 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 3: I was like, you give me permission, Like, not permission, 76 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 3: you open that door, I will crack it open and 77 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 3: I will bring all of us with us. And that's 78 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 3: what I did when I launched Latina Bloggers Connect, which 79 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 3: is now we all grow. But it really started as 80 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 3: a blogger network, so before influencer marketing even existed. It 81 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 3: was like even hard to call it. People didn't understand 82 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 3: we were doing. I was like, I'm connecting bloggers with brands, 83 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 3: and we were the first ones in the world to 84 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 3: connect Latina bloggers with brands. So obviously it grew really quickly. 85 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 3: I mean I was on my own for like the 86 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 3: first ten months, and I had no idea what I 87 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 3: had got myself into. And that's why I think I 88 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 3: went from being a writer to office sadden. I'm like 89 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 3: an entrepreneur and I'm having to learn all these marketing 90 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 3: terms and I anyway, it was crazy and from early 91 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 3: on like it just became really big. But at the 92 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 3: heart of everything was always a community. For me, it 93 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 3: was supporting each other and that's why eventually our mission 94 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 3: became our our slogan to say was to elevate the 95 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 3: voices and stories of latinas. But the very first original 96 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 3: motto was when one grows, we all grow, because that 97 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 3: was what was at the heart of what I was doing. 98 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 3: I was like, if I'm going to learn, I'm going 99 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 3: to teach my fellow bloggers as well. And if I'm 100 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 3: going to monetize, I'm going to help them monetize. And 101 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 3: that has always been the spirit that has carried us 102 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 3: throughout all of the pivots, throughout all of the changes, 103 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 3: because what happened was that being at the forefront of 104 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 3: the digital media space back then meant that we were 105 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 3: like one of the first on Instagram, the first to 106 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 3: start I remember like for brands like Nutrigena, loreal or 107 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 3: we were creating their first Instagram campaigns with influencers. I mean, 108 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 3: think of how crazy that was way back then and 109 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 3: how things have changed. But no matter you know, how 110 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 3: the landscape has evolved, we've always made sure that we're 111 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:07,800 Speaker 3: listening to where Latinas are and then joining them and 112 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,679 Speaker 3: their journey and seeing how we could support So whether 113 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 3: bloggers became an entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs and podcasters, podcasters and then 114 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 3: career professionals, everything, we were just like, we just wanted 115 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 3: to make sure that we're supporting all. So eventually it 116 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 3: became the amigahood because at the end of the day, 117 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 3: it's about the friendships that we're creating. That's what makes 118 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 3: us powerful, is how we're supporting each other no matter 119 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 3: how we're approaching life and our growth. So that's the 120 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 3: we All Grow story. And yes, we sold it at 121 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 3: the beginning of this year. It was a bit of 122 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 3: a fire. So if you know me, you know I'm 123 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 3: always gonna be honest and might be here like woo girl, 124 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,559 Speaker 3: I got millions for this. No, no, it was really 125 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 3: sad because we were a bit of not a bit 126 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 3: but not as victims, because I will you know, I 127 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 3: think it's important for all of us to recognize, recognize 128 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 3: where we can learn things right. But at the end 129 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 3: of the day, it was the Trump administration with the 130 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 3: DII executive orders coming in like rapid fire that pretty 131 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 3: much did us in. I was like, I cannot do 132 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 3: this anymore. We've sustained, right being in that mode of 133 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 3: constantly trying to get ahead because our business model was 134 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 3: very much being independent. We worked with brands, which was great. 135 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 3: It sustained us and we were like alchemists. We would 136 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 3: grab the brand's money and you know, transform it into 137 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 3: something beautiful for the community. But as you might, as 138 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 3: you know, it's getting harder to work with brands and 139 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,120 Speaker 3: also be in a mission driven community space, right and 140 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 3: and for me being trying to stay congruent with my 141 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 3: personal values and what I support and then having to 142 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 3: take brand money where maybe they didn't align with my 143 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 3: personal values. So that disalignment, that misalignment, that disconnect started 144 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 3: from me years ago. It was always there, but it 145 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 3: was just starting to grow more and I and it 146 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 3: was making it really hard to keep monetizing that in 147 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 3: that way. It was it was getting hard the last 148 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 3: year as well, because we made a decision to cancel 149 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 3: a new two day event because there was a big 150 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 3: hotel workers union strike happening in southern California. There was 151 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 3: like one hundred and sixty something hotels being affected, and 152 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 3: one of the top three hotels that they were targeting 153 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 3: was our lovely that new hotel Maya, which all had 154 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 3: been to a few years. And we found out six 155 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:51,119 Speaker 3: weeks before the event, the majority of the union workers, 156 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 3: of the workers in the union, our Latino women, our 157 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 3: hotel workers, we could not cross that picket line, no 158 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:02,839 Speaker 3: matter how much the financial pearl that actually put us in. 159 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 3: So we had to made the really difficult decision to 160 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 3: postpone it and then to mentally cancel it in communication 161 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 3: with the union and knowing at the end they did 162 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 3: send us a beautiful letter. I mean, it took almost 163 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,199 Speaker 3: ten months after the event for them to finally come 164 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 3: to the table and negotiate and be able to come 165 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 3: to an agreement, and they sent us a beautiful letter 166 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 3: telling us how much us canceling had actually been supportive. 167 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 3: And it's really difficult when you're like, yes, this is 168 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 3: the only way, this is what's congruent for me and 169 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 3: at the same time seeing how it was sinking our company. Yeah, 170 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 3: we had to refund a lot of money. We had 171 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 3: to for most of the year last year work only 172 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 3: on make goods, and we kept up a really good front. 173 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 3: But it was very difficult. As you know, I transitioned 174 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 3: from as co CEO I had Barton and Coco three 175 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 3: years ago. Because yes, the redcrumbs were there. I was 176 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,199 Speaker 3: already transitioning out and trying to do it in the 177 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 3: most graceful way and leaving the company in the most 178 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:12,079 Speaker 3: beautiful hands with Vanessa Santos. But unfortunately, you know it 179 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 3: it the being an election year, having had to cancel 180 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 3: that conference. Election years are always difficult, and then having 181 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,839 Speaker 3: the administration that we have the brands that you know, 182 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 3: we really depended on FROs. You've seen it either there 183 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,439 Speaker 3: being boycott it and we can't touch or they have 184 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 3: frozen everything to the point where one of our really 185 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 3: big clients, No, unfortunately had to tell us that we 186 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 3: needed to change our proposal so that it wouldn't focus 187 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 3: on Latinas. That's when I knew that we were done. 188 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for bringing this up, because this 189 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,719 Speaker 1: is so much much of like the unseen labor that 190 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,599 Speaker 1: goes into being a founder and entrepreneur and being this 191 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: like culture maker, this like community builder that you are, 192 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,839 Speaker 1: and so many Latinas and women have benefited from. We 193 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: all grow as a digital community and then as an 194 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: in person community, and clearly, like a lot of us 195 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. So 196 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: I really appreciate your vulnerability in sharing this so openly 197 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: with us, because it really puts so much into perspective 198 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,679 Speaker 1: with and you know, we feel it on our end, 199 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: you know, in terms of having to say no to 200 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 1: doing maybe certain brand collabs or ad reads because our 201 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 1: community is fierce and they know, like if there's a boycott, 202 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: if there is a brand that we should not be 203 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: supporting right now, they don't want us to support it. 204 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: And I'm sure though we all grow, community is the same. 205 00:11:55,200 --> 00:12:00,959 Speaker 3: Oh gosh, yes, absolutely. And I actually chosen to not 206 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 3: do to not record podcasts right now or like, I 207 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 3: just got an invitation to another LinkedIn live and I'm 208 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 3: pushing everything back because I'm focused on the manuscript, but 209 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 3: I really wanted to talk with you. I really felt 210 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 3: that this would be a good place to share a 211 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 3: little bit of the story that in. You know, I'm 212 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,319 Speaker 3: writing a book and i'll and I'm writing on my 213 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 3: sub stack, and I am being there. But I wanted 214 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 3: to bring a deeper perspective and a deeper nuance. I 215 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 3: know that the community, one of the most beautiful things, 216 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,240 Speaker 3: aside from all the women that it has brought to 217 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,680 Speaker 3: my life, was really seeing that the level of trust 218 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 3: that we have, we had created and that for me 219 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 3: is the most valuable currency that exists. 220 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 1: Right. 221 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 3: We were not going to break that trust, and thankfully 222 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 3: in fourteen years we never really were called out, canceled, 223 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 3: et cetera, which is a lot to say in this environment, right, 224 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,959 Speaker 3: and it was because we always moved with our entire 225 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,599 Speaker 3: as much as possible. But the sad part, and this 226 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:09,160 Speaker 3: is where I don't know what the answer is, but 227 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 3: maybe it's about starting the conversation, is how much are 228 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 3: we all dying in the sword? 229 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 2: Right? 230 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 3: Are we putting ourselves there? For example, I'm all for 231 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 3: boycotting Amazon and Target and all this, and then I 232 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 3: think about all my friends that have businesses that rely 233 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,839 Speaker 3: on us spending our dollars, and Target and Amazon that 234 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 3: have investors that they that are that have invested, have 235 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 3: betted in them, and they have taken really big risks 236 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 3: to have their products on these shelves, and removing their 237 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 3: products from the shelf is not like, oh, just stop 238 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 3: selling there. It's gonna cost them about a million dollars 239 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:54,959 Speaker 3: just to remove their products from the shelf. So who 240 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 3: wins and who loses? 241 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:59,559 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a I think a question that we've 242 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 2: asked internally along these lines, and I wonder if you 243 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 2: have reflections for our listeners about being mission driven, community 244 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 2: oriented and surviving capitalism. Can we do both at the 245 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:18,079 Speaker 2: same time? Does capitalism allow for it? And are the 246 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 2: boycotts of today of ultra mega multinational conglomerates like Amazon. 247 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 2: Is this the same type of boycott that I think 248 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 2: maybe many of us are thinking of, like the UfW 249 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 2: and boycotting table grapes. These are not the same types 250 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 2: of boycotts and they do not have the same types 251 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 2: of impact if we think like historically and labor movements. Right, 252 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 2: So I just lob that over to you your reflections. 253 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 3: Let's start with the easy conversations. First. It was my fault. 254 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 4: I let us hear. 255 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 3: You know, it's definitely I feel such a sensitive subject. 256 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 3: But I think, first of all, I am a very 257 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 3: positive person grounded in reality. We're not going to bring 258 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 3: down capitalism in our generation. We're not. So if we 259 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 3: continue trying to do the impossible, what's going to happen 260 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 3: is that we're going to exhaust ourselves. We're going to 261 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 3: continue to affect our mental health, our physical health, our 262 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 3: financial health. And that's exactly what they want. They need 263 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 3: to see as poor, they need to see us fighting 264 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 3: with each other, et cetera, because that's how you manipulate. 265 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 3: And instead, I think it's how do we, like you said, 266 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 3: exist in this reality while really understanding what the possibilities 267 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 3: are and how it can shift when we start supporting 268 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 3: each other for fucking real, because the reality is that 269 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 3: we don't. As Latinos. We put up a really great 270 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 3: front that we do, but we do not show up 271 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 3: when it matters. Can you say? 272 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: Can you say more about that? And I don't mean 273 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: to interject, but I would love for you to expand 274 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: on that this kind of Manian optics that Latinos are 275 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: very supporting each other, but maybe we're not. 276 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 3: I mean, we are, like you know, in maybe in 277 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,720 Speaker 3: small circles, right, like yes, you call me I'm going 278 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 3: to open a door for you, and it's sort and 279 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 3: that's just humanity and sisterhood as it is, right, there's 280 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 3: a negative the positive. It has to exist in those 281 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 3: both silos. So, but when I see the community as 282 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 3: a collective moving together, we have a really hard time 283 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 3: coming together for one objective. And I'm not even going 284 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 3: to get into politics, because that's a whole conversation, but 285 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 3: that's a reflection and the mirror of what happens that say, 286 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 3: we're talking about these boycotts or about consumer power. Again 287 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 3: and again, we keep seeing from the entertainment industry, our 288 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 3: movies come out, Are we gonna go and support them? No, 289 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 3: I'm an Argentinian and that Dominican movie doesn't speak to me. No, 290 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 3: I'm a Dominican in that Argentina movie doesn't speak to me. 291 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 3: Or you know, so why should I go? You don't 292 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 3: see that happening in the Asian community. You don't see 293 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 3: that happening in the black community. That's why you see 294 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 3: movies like Crazy, Ritation, like Boom. If y'all know, it's 295 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 3: because rich Asians came together to buy out theaters. That 296 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 3: same model has been trying to replicate in the Latino industry, 297 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 3: and we can't do it. Bring it down to the 298 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 3: consumer level. If you're saying I am going to boycott Target, Okay, 299 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 3: boycott Target, then turn around and go to bloom Me, 300 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 3: go to Ritel's curls, go to and buy directly from 301 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 3: their website like Transition, move it over. No, don't just boycott. 302 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 3: Understand what the implications are the whole new ones because 303 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 3: we stay in the fighting mentality and we think we're 304 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,640 Speaker 3: bringing down Bizz, so we're not fucking bringing him down. 305 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 3: That is a whole other level, right, But instead can 306 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 3: I support mm. 307 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: Hmm, yeah, yeah. And I think that unless you're in 308 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: like the product space. And I only know this because 309 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: I've heard from Rebecca blue Me, I've heard you Liisa, 310 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: but I'll talk about this. But if you're not in 311 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: the product space, like you don't know what it takes 312 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: to actually get your products sold at Target, you have 313 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,720 Speaker 1: like a guarantee that you're going to sell this out. 314 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: And if you don't sell it out, right. 315 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 3: So make you remove it and you have to pay 316 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 3: to remove it. Yes, And so as I've seen that, like, oh, 317 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 3: why don't you just take your product out like you 318 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:41,399 Speaker 3: should be boycotting him to It's. 319 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,159 Speaker 1: It's not that simple. Yeah, these are they think the 320 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:47,959 Speaker 1: nuances that may be a broader community that really has 321 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: no way of knowing because they're not in that space, 322 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,560 Speaker 1: right And so this is this is a good point 323 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: that you bring up. Okay, if you're going to boycott, 324 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: how are you investing then your dollars back into maybe 325 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: these brands that are at the targets or are at 326 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: Amazon mm hmm. 327 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 3: And And it's simple, you know, at the end of 328 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 3: the day, it's like it's it's really choosing who you're 329 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 3: going to be supporting with even with your likes or 330 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 3: comments or engagements your shares, as simple as that. Yes, 331 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 3: as simple as that, Like it really like how much 332 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 3: is it sh that? Does it help? Every time you 333 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 3: girls get a download? 334 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 1: Right? 335 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 3: Like do people truly understand how much that helps and 336 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 3: how supportive that is? Absolutely, I'm going to go and 337 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 3: download all your episodes around like I'm here, I'm like 338 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 3: be congrowing you download their episodes right now? 339 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 2: Thank you. I think it's it's easy to forget and 340 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 2: I'm sure you can speak to this with we all grow. 341 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 2: I think sometimes that our community maybe sees the figurehead 342 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 2: the face of the brand, the face of the company, 343 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 2: and thinks like, oh well, it's just dollars in your pocket. 344 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 2: But for every successful company or brand, there's a whole team. 345 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 2: There's a staff, there are folks getting paid, who have 346 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,639 Speaker 2: health insurance, who are able to save for retirement. And 347 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 2: when we're willy nilly like trying to shut folks down, 348 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 2: there's like a whole cascade of people whose livelihoods are 349 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 2: on the line. And I'm sure on your end you've 350 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 2: seen that yourself. 351 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 3: With we all grow Oh absolutely, you know. I'll tell 352 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 3: you even I think any conference organizer or artist manager 353 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 3: or artist you know, a musician or Etcaida, I can 354 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:30,639 Speaker 3: tell you that one of the biggest I think one 355 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 3: of the most hurtful, not hurtful, not hurtful personally, but 356 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 3: for the industry is people asking for tickets for free. 357 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 3: You wouldn't go and ask because we mentioned blue mey right, 358 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 3: like he give me your product for free, right, just 359 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 3: because why do you think that us putting together a 360 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 3: conference or an event and having to sell a ticket? 361 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 3: What do you think that a ticket, because it doesn't 362 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 3: feel tangible, is an actual money that we need to 363 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 3: recover to actually be able to put on a beautiful event, 364 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 3: a concert, a festival, et cetera. That's another way to 365 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 3: support they see. It feels very easy to do that. 366 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 3: Those were one of the things that was really hard 367 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 3: for us to manage because I think we really overdid 368 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,919 Speaker 3: it with the compying everybody because we went at all 369 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 3: of our friends there and et cetera. But at the 370 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,400 Speaker 3: end of the day, that the ticket is the revenue, 371 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 3: or or people complaining right when ticket prices had to 372 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 3: go up, when you're like everything has gone up, and 373 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 3: ticket prices have to go up, and that didn't even 374 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 3: go into our pockets, like you said, it went into 375 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,800 Speaker 3: actual payroll. I mean, I was so happy when we 376 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 3: were able to finally get the team on on health 377 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 3: insurance like it was the last four years. It was 378 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 3: so expensive to have people on benefits like it really was. 379 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 3: It really was a hard thing to do. And for 380 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 3: those of you that don't have businesses in California, things 381 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 3: really changed for us. When was the aby one bill, 382 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 3: I'm so bad to remember the names that was pasted. 383 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 3: I think like two thousand and nine, eighteen nineteen, where 384 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 3: we couldn't that was the Uber bill. They called it 385 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 3: the gig economy bill because we couldn't. We really can't. 386 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 3: It's really hard to have contractors full time. So we 387 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 3: had to put people in payroll. And guess what, payroll 388 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 3: is really expensive expensive. Yeah, and it's the right thing 389 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 3: to do at the end of the day. Like I'm 390 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 3: glad right now that we were on payroll because you know, 391 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 3: people could get an employment benefits now that the company 392 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 3: closed and we had to lay everybody off, et cetera. 393 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, those those are 394 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 3: all the news is in the reality of managing. And 395 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 3: again those of us that exist to elevate to be 396 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 3: to be very focused in our DEI and the right 397 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 3: communities DEI businesses that used to be called multi cultural. 398 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:55,400 Speaker 3: We're also existing with much smaller budgets, but we're put 399 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 3: and the same metrics, like we have to prom and 400 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 3: overperform for the for ten percent of the dollar, the 401 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:10,000 Speaker 3: same thing that a woman, a black, Latina, Indigenous woman 402 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 3: working in corporate is getting, what is it, fifty one 403 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 3: cents to the dollar. The same thing is for founders, 404 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:22,200 Speaker 3: for entrepreneurs we're also working with. It really is ten 405 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 3: percent of the overall marketing budgets go to what is 406 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 3: now called DEI and that ten percent of the of 407 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 3: a pie is divided between black, Hispanic, Latino, LGBTQ plus disabled. 408 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's it's it's tough, right, But the 409 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 3: expectations are the same from the community, from the viewers, 410 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 3: from the consumers, whatever it may be expecting us to 411 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 3: pan on the other side, from the funders, from the investors, 412 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 3: from the brand budgets, all of that were expected to 413 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 3: perform at the same level. 414 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere, Lokomotives. 415 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 4: We'll be right back, and we're back with more of 416 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 4: our episode. 417 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,400 Speaker 1: So I'd love to ask you about that transition from 418 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 1: we all Grow to now being a writer, like you said, 419 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: embracing this medium, this art form as a writer, and 420 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: what that journey's been like. 421 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 3: So I'm actually taking it back to where it all started. 422 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 3: It all started with my writing, and I want to say, 423 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 3: like five years into the blog and the company and 424 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 3: all that, I could not even write anymore. I could 425 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,880 Speaker 3: not write. But we're talking about an era where at 426 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 3: the beginning where I had spanklish Baby and Latina bloggers Connect, 427 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,120 Speaker 3: which became we all grow at the same time, both 428 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 3: thriving for a few years and a toddler at home, 429 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 3: a preschooler at home, so trying to maintain all of that, 430 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 3: was writing for the Disney blog, for all the brands. 431 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,399 Speaker 3: I mean, I was writing everywhere, making money, you know, 432 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 3: all these different revenue streams, until one would hit. Until 433 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 3: I saw that Latino Boggers Connect was the one that 434 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 3: was going, and it was one hundred percent of mine 435 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 3: at the time, and I had to like go a 436 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 3: spanklish baby, I mean spanklish baby when I let it go. 437 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 3: This was like two thousand and twelve elean. It had 438 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 3: over one hundred thousand members in the Facebook group because 439 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 3: that's what you did back then for one hundred thousand, 440 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 3: and we were getting over one hundred thousand unique views 441 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 3: a month, which is like unheard of now without advertisement 442 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 3: or anything. So it was on its peak when and 443 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 3: sometimes I'm like, maybe I should have just stayed there. 444 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 3: Did I make the right choice? But no, of course 445 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,440 Speaker 3: I made the right choice. But I feel now, I'm 446 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 3: I for years have really just been in this space 447 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 3: where I needed to create again. We all grow allowed 448 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 3: me to create a lot within a contained environment, And 449 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 3: now I understand, I mean, and I say now because 450 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,440 Speaker 3: back then, and we do this to ourselves a lot 451 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 3: when people, especially when people are telling you you're sitting 452 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 3: in a gold mine, you should be doing this, you 453 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 3: should be doing that, you should be growing this way, 454 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 3: you should be getting an investor, all that, and you're like, 455 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 3: is it me? Am I the one? You know, the 456 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 3: famous imposter syndrome? Like, am I the one that just 457 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 3: doesn't know it, doesn't have the skill set? Am I 458 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 3: just lazy? Am I just not good enough? 459 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:28,320 Speaker 1: Right? 460 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 3: Because I would go into these and trying to get okay, 461 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 3: let me go see if I get investors. And I 462 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:38,399 Speaker 3: would walk into these boardrooms with the white man not 463 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 3: understanding at all the heart of my mission, and I 464 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 3: was like, I know, if I give this up or 465 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 3: if I let them in, then this is going to 466 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 3: become a place to farm data for latinas. That's all 467 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 3: at the end of the day. Right. So I protected it, 468 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,399 Speaker 3: But that protecting it also meant that, you know, I 469 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 3: kept putting up this armor, in this armor, and when 470 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 3: you're a creative and you have an armor around your heart, 471 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 3: you can't create. 472 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 2: Yeah, It's all about vulnerability and opening up and sharing 473 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 2: the sacred parts of yourself that are not immediately obvious 474 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:20,880 Speaker 2: on the outside. But you can't always sell. 475 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: You have to share. 476 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:27,479 Speaker 3: M Yeah. Yeah, And that's really where I am right now. 477 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,639 Speaker 3: I'm in a place of I'm done with the hustle. 478 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 3: It came like the phrase just downloaded one day in 479 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,159 Speaker 3: a pool in Ohi, where I had sequestered myself for 480 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 3: two weeks after my first bout of COVID in twenty 481 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 3: twenty two and feeling incredibly burnt out. It hit me 482 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 3: in Wahaka on a girl's trip with some friends that 483 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 3: y'all know, and I wasn't able to enjoy the girls 484 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 3: trip because they hit me the day before and I 485 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 3: was alone in an Airbnb and Wahaka, and I was 486 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 3: literally down on my knees crying and being like what, Like, 487 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 3: I cannot do this anymore. And it's really difficult that 488 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 3: the thing that you love is a thing that you 489 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:19,840 Speaker 3: feel the most pressured from. And I started realizing that 490 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 3: I was entering like a grief stage of grieving the 491 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 3: what I felt was starting to disconnect from we all 492 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 3: grow with. At the end of the day, it was 493 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,360 Speaker 3: my creation. It was connected to me from the beginning, 494 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 3: and then to all these other women that joined me 495 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 3: as partners, team members, et cetera. At the end of 496 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 3: the day, it still had my umbilical court right of 497 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 3: creation and then also grieving my daughter. She was also 498 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 3: like both of my babies were teenagers, and I had 499 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 3: to understand that they didn't need me in the same 500 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 3: way anymore. That I had given them everything I knew 501 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 3: and understood and could from my own place of wisdom 502 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 3: at the moment where I failed, where I didn't where 503 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 3: you know, where I was able to show up for them, 504 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 3: but that they were ready to be on their own 505 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 3: as much as a teenager can write, but that's what 506 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 3: they need. And I was feeling the same from we 507 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 3: all grow that. It was like, I'm good, you can 508 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 3: let me go. And it kind of started there and 509 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 3: then I sequestered myself because I had had an agent 510 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 3: for years, an amazing agent. I've had Harper wanting to 511 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,280 Speaker 3: wanting me to have an agent to give them a 512 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,800 Speaker 3: proposal for years, and I just couldn't even like like 513 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 3: I couldn't even was like I don't even know what 514 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 3: to sell, because what to sell? What to write about? 515 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 3: Because it was a lot like they wanted me to 516 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 3: do a Latina manifesto or like a business book for 517 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 3: Latinas and I was like, that's not me, that's not me. 518 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 3: I know there's something in there. I hired a ghost writer. 519 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 3: It did not work because I was like, I know 520 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 3: how to write, I know how to put my essence 521 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 3: in there. I just need to have the space to 522 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 3: do that. And the feeling that I couldn't I didn't 523 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 3: even have the space to do that was hurting me. 524 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:21,440 Speaker 3: And that was like everything my heart was calling me 525 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 3: to do. And as I said questioned myself, those two weeks, 526 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 3: I was in silence, absolute silence. Sorry was twenty twenty three, 527 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 3: and because it was after the last summit that was 528 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 3: in twenty twenty two, because that summit was really hard 529 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 3: for me as well. And I think coming out of 530 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 3: that summit was when I said I just cannot be 531 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 3: expected to do this again. And I was like, I 532 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 3: don't think people understand the toll. It left me on 533 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,480 Speaker 3: a high and at the same time like I can't 534 00:30:55,560 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 3: do this again. So coming back a year later and 535 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 3: feeling that burnout and being there, I was like, this 536 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 3: book has to come to me. And it was being 537 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 3: in nature, being in silence, reading again, just like listening 538 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 3: to myself and it just came to me like it 539 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 3: just came like, I'm just done with the hustle. And 540 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 3: it was like a declaration for me. Right first you 541 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 3: have to acknowledge it and declare it, because I would 542 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 3: hear it before, but be like no, no, no, is 543 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 3: like you got to keep going. There's payroll to make, 544 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 3: there's you know, like no, no, no, you got to 545 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 3: keep going. And this time I was like, no, I'm done. 546 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,440 Speaker 3: And thankfully, you know, I had brought in Vanessa, I 547 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 3: had had I had a team, and and the company 548 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 3: was asking me like, we're ready to keep going, right, 549 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 3: So that was the start of it. And in those 550 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 3: two weeks also something magical happened that this opportunity to 551 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 3: come to Idlewild came up. It was like almost as 552 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 3: I declared it, then the perfect place for me to 553 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 3: be in to create that space came up. My daughter 554 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 3: got just got it into herself that she wanted to 555 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:11,719 Speaker 3: be more challenged as an actor in school and performing 556 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 3: arts school. And we found out about the school of 557 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 3: here a Idelwald Arts Academy. It's like the number one 558 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:22,760 Speaker 3: private school right now. It's a boarding school, and she applied. 559 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 3: She got an amazing merit scholarship, and I was like, Okay, 560 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 3: let's move up as a day student. And we moved up, 561 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,240 Speaker 3: and it was the best thing for her and the 562 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 3: best thing for me to just put some space into everything. 563 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 3: And this is where right now I'm birthing the book 564 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 3: which had to be put on pause the last three 565 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,280 Speaker 3: months because of all the unraveling with we all grow 566 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 3: and I was not going to write the book about 567 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,880 Speaker 3: the hustle from the Hustle, so here I am. I'm 568 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 3: really excited to launch it. What I'm doing on Substack 569 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 3: is just starting to build that community slowly as well, 570 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 3: and rethink in the way that I want to build community, 571 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:08,360 Speaker 3: rethink in the way that I want to continue showing 572 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 3: up and that I will no longer negotiate with my 573 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 3: creativity that comes first. And I think that's something that 574 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 3: my friend Diego Pettees jng Gueblo. Y'all have met him 575 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 3: a whale girl, and I think I've learned a lot 576 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 3: from him in that where I see his process as 577 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:30,120 Speaker 3: a writer where he will never negotiate meditation. He will 578 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 3: go on those forty five days him and his wife Sarah, 579 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 3: like twice a year. And now they're teachers too, and 580 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 3: the postum and retreats and that's what comes first, and 581 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 3: then the writing and then the everything else. And also 582 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,560 Speaker 3: seeing him grow this way into a New York Times 583 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 3: bestseller now launching his app on relationships and all this 584 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 3: and doing it on a pen name, not doing it 585 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 3: based on his personality, has faced his you know him, 586 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 3: and just the power of your words and your creativity 587 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 3: just feels a lot. It doesn't mean that it's light, 588 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:08,719 Speaker 3: because writing is in light, but it feels a lot 589 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 3: lighter for me at least, and the way that I 590 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 3: was doing it before. And that's what I'm looking for. 591 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,080 Speaker 3: There has to be a way of being able to 592 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 3: sustain ourselves and being able to go back to our 593 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:25,120 Speaker 3: creative selves, to being led from our hearts, to allow 594 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,040 Speaker 3: that vulnerability and that softness to be valuable and to 595 00:34:29,120 --> 00:34:32,600 Speaker 3: sustain us. And I don't know. I think I'm in 596 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 3: an experiment mode right now. I'll let you know if 597 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 3: my experiment works out or not. But it's been a 598 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 3: lot of unraveling to get here. 599 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 2: Incredible. Thank you for your vulnerability and for the level 600 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,000 Speaker 2: of detail that you've shared also with our listeners. I 601 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 2: know that on your journey. You've probably been very You've 602 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 2: probably made hard choices about what to share and what 603 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 2: not to share. And for those out there who are 604 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,640 Speaker 2: in the creative space, or who want to be in 605 00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,320 Speaker 2: the creative space, who have a business or want to 606 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 2: start a business, what. 607 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 3: Advice do you have? 608 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,920 Speaker 2: Because I think it can be easy to say, like 609 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:16,439 Speaker 2: things are terrible out there? Should I even start? Things 610 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,719 Speaker 2: are so hard even you know the conversation we're having 611 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:25,359 Speaker 2: right now. What about folks who maybe they still want 612 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 2: to launch something, they still want to participate in this space. 613 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:34,720 Speaker 3: What words do you have for those folks? The moment 614 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,000 Speaker 3: that you feel it, the moment that it is a need, 615 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 3: a desire that feels like a devotion that needs to 616 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:43,759 Speaker 3: be put up in the altar, no matter what has 617 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,239 Speaker 3: happened externally, that is the right moment for you. There's 618 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 3: never going to be a right moment. I launched English 619 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:56,440 Speaker 3: Baby thanks to the two thousand and eight recession. Like 620 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,560 Speaker 3: my ex husban husband at the time lost all of 621 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 3: his clients. Because remember, for those of us that lived 622 00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:08,120 Speaker 3: in La then, it wasn't only the recession, it was 623 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,680 Speaker 3: also the writer's strike. There was another writer's strike by then. 624 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 3: It was dead and I had just I was working 625 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,560 Speaker 3: in Mundos now and BCU New Medico had gone a 626 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 3: maternity leave. Decided that I was going to be a 627 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,239 Speaker 3: full time mom for at least a few years. He 628 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,680 Speaker 3: had an editing studio in Echo Park, was doing great, 629 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,080 Speaker 3: had amazing clients. It all died, like literally died. We 630 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:37,719 Speaker 3: were living on savings, getting borrowed money, et cetera. I 631 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 3: could not take a job because it was more expensive 632 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 3: to get care for my daughter than for me, and 633 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 3: there was no jobs. There was no jobs to be 634 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,160 Speaker 3: had in TV, which is all I knew, et cetera. 635 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 3: So it was really difficult. And it was because of 636 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 3: that need and that necessity that I feel that that 637 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,279 Speaker 3: drive and that push and that inspiration came. So if 638 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,839 Speaker 3: you're feeling that drive and that's push coming out right 639 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:08,160 Speaker 3: now from these difficult and desperate times, then that is 640 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,840 Speaker 3: your calling at this moment, And never negotiate with you're calling, 641 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:13,759 Speaker 3: and never negotiate with your creativity. 642 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:15,960 Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere, lokomotives. 643 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:23,360 Speaker 4: We'll be right back, and we're back with more of 644 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:24,200 Speaker 4: our episode. 645 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:31,520 Speaker 1: How do you know when to get off the ride? 646 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,160 Speaker 1: How do you know when to pivot? When to say 647 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:37,840 Speaker 1: it's okay, I can let it go here. And what 648 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,719 Speaker 1: would your advice be to someone who's maybe contemplating that 649 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: right now? 650 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:47,279 Speaker 3: It's really really hard. I mean, obviously I've been going 651 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,200 Speaker 3: on this ride for a few years, and even as 652 00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 3: I'm writing the book, it still tests me. And the 653 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,840 Speaker 3: one thing about this book is that it is written 654 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,839 Speaker 3: from a lived experience, from an embodied place. We hear 655 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 3: so much advice out there right now in all of 656 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 3: the social spaces right we have to question how much 657 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,960 Speaker 3: of that is coming from lived experience. We have to discern. 658 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 3: So what I would say is that it has to 659 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:18,400 Speaker 3: start with you declaring it. Going back to that, because 660 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:24,240 Speaker 3: there is something magical about allowing the uncertainty to guide 661 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,680 Speaker 3: us and to lead us not to be scared to 662 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,799 Speaker 3: be in a place that is uncertain, because we will 663 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,400 Speaker 3: feel the need. We will hear our hearts saying like 664 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 3: I need you to stop, which was told what it 665 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,080 Speaker 3: told me like literally came out of my during a 666 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,839 Speaker 3: plant medicine go too, I came out of my heart 667 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:47,719 Speaker 3: and was telling my heart was telling me like you 668 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 3: got to stop, And I'm like, what are we going 669 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:51,320 Speaker 3: to have a problem here? It's like it could be 670 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,920 Speaker 3: like if you don't listen to me, so like it 671 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 3: could turn into something physical. So it is creating first. 672 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:04,719 Speaker 3: Don't try to stop because that hurts. You can't just 673 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:09,280 Speaker 3: pull the brake. You have to start small and creating 674 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:14,760 Speaker 3: little spaces pauses in your life to truly contemplate, reflect 675 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:21,560 Speaker 3: and listen to yourself, to allow the external noise to 676 00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:25,879 Speaker 3: melt away. Which is the hardest part because everybody wants 677 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:29,080 Speaker 3: to give us advice about what to do and how 678 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,680 Speaker 3: to lead our lives, and most and many times that 679 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,240 Speaker 3: advice is how to grow, how to push, how to succeed, 680 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,600 Speaker 3: But how we even question if that's really the growth 681 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 3: that I want, the success that I want. Does that 682 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:47,520 Speaker 3: define me? So it has to start with just create 683 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,440 Speaker 3: the pause. What are those moments in your day that 684 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,840 Speaker 3: you can really just take for yourself five minutes? And 685 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:55,440 Speaker 3: I know we hear this a lot, but it is 686 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:58,960 Speaker 3: so important. Like it took a lot for me to 687 00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,000 Speaker 3: take those two weeks soft in OHI, and I took 688 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:06,080 Speaker 3: them because it was the first time in sixteen years, 689 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:09,400 Speaker 3: fifteen sixteen years that I had a whole month to 690 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:13,840 Speaker 3: myself because my daughter was in a camp a performing 691 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:15,800 Speaker 3: arts camp. So I was like, I, I'm going to 692 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 3: have that month in the summer. What am I going 693 00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:18,120 Speaker 3: to do with it? 694 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:20,920 Speaker 1: Like? 695 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:22,560 Speaker 3: What do I need the most? And it was like 696 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:26,480 Speaker 3: to listen to myself to understand what is it that 697 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:30,439 Speaker 3: I truly, truly want and to trust that what comes 698 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:36,360 Speaker 3: from that wisdom is the guidance that we'll give you 699 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:40,080 Speaker 3: the courage to take the next step. Just definitely don't 700 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:41,520 Speaker 3: put the break on right. 701 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,960 Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for that really beautiful answer. And 702 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,320 Speaker 1: I just going back to the book because this is 703 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: a manifesto for women who don't have the luxury to rest. 704 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:54,640 Speaker 1: So I want to ask you how you define rest 705 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:57,040 Speaker 1: and why are you defining it as a luxury? 706 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:03,600 Speaker 3: Ooh, because I think I feel and I hear it 707 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:07,200 Speaker 3: a lot the pushback every time we talk about rest. 708 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:11,600 Speaker 3: There's a beautiful book called Rest is Resistance. Y'all would 709 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:13,960 Speaker 3: love it. If the two of you have not read it, like, 710 00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:17,399 Speaker 3: please read it now. Tricia Hersey, I actually found out 711 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,000 Speaker 3: about the book after I had read in the proposal 712 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,920 Speaker 3: for Done with the Hustle and I realized just how 713 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:28,000 Speaker 3: online we are. Tricia is a beautiful black woman who 714 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 3: calls herself the nap bishop, So her whole existence right 715 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:38,360 Speaker 3: now is about she creates these nap churches and outings 716 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,399 Speaker 3: where she invites her community to come and sleep and nap, 717 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:47,440 Speaker 3: like just to come and nap, because we have to 718 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:52,520 Speaker 3: remove the guilt from the word rest and from napping 719 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 3: and from taking time for ourselves, because that is a 720 00:41:55,680 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 3: construct of capitalism and pay triarchy. Is what she's really 721 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:06,040 Speaker 3: good at advocating and preaching for in her book. And 722 00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:11,440 Speaker 3: that's really where my stand with the luxury is that 723 00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:14,319 Speaker 3: we think of it as a luxury because we've made 724 00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:18,000 Speaker 3: We've been made to think of it as a luxury 725 00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:22,280 Speaker 3: by design. So we have to start deconstructing that narrative. 726 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,920 Speaker 3: There's a lot of deconstructing and flipping the narrative that 727 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,040 Speaker 3: happens in my book right because I'm not coming with 728 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:30,960 Speaker 3: an answer. I'm not coming with the solution, because that 729 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:34,840 Speaker 3: we can only find that within ourselves. What I'm asking 730 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:38,719 Speaker 3: us is to imagine that there's a different possibility, that 731 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,799 Speaker 3: it's not this life, this metric of success. So one 732 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:43,480 Speaker 3: of the first things that I bring up is how 733 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:47,279 Speaker 3: can we redefine success for us? Like everybody kept telling 734 00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:49,040 Speaker 3: me you're sitting in a gold mine. Until one day 735 00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:51,200 Speaker 3: I said, I'm like, do I really want to excavate 736 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:55,400 Speaker 3: this gold mine? Because I kept pushing myself right to like, 737 00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:56,920 Speaker 3: when am I going to get to the freaking goal 738 00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,880 Speaker 3: mine that everybody's telling me is there? But the reality 739 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:01,960 Speaker 3: is that there's Is there a finish line for us? 740 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:04,359 Speaker 1: Right? 741 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 3: Damn? 742 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:10,960 Speaker 1: That's yeah, that's a great question. 743 00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:12,160 Speaker 3: That's a great question. 744 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:13,200 Speaker 2: That's a great question. 745 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:15,120 Speaker 3: And I don't know. 746 00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:18,719 Speaker 2: It's it comes back to this this other question of 747 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,760 Speaker 2: do I go get a job somewhere and I clock 748 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:23,920 Speaker 2: in and I clock out, and then I'm at that 749 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,560 Speaker 2: job and I think to myself, but could I be 750 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 2: doing this other thing? You know, could I be fulfilling 751 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:33,400 Speaker 2: my my dreams and the seed that's inside of me? 752 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:35,680 Speaker 2: Could I plant it and nurture it and grow it. 753 00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:38,560 Speaker 2: But then you do that and you go into business 754 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:40,319 Speaker 2: for yourself, and it's really really hard. 755 00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 3: It's so hard hard, and I, you know, and I 756 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:48,440 Speaker 3: also want to deconstruct that. And again, I understand the 757 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:52,799 Speaker 3: role I've played in bringing Latinus into entrepreneurship, but I'm 758 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:57,359 Speaker 3: also always I understand, right, and that's why I'm also 759 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:02,800 Speaker 3: being vulnerable with my story. I'm in debt. I'm in 760 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:06,799 Speaker 3: debt from my company even though I sold it, right, 761 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:11,480 Speaker 3: because we kept pushing trying to get to that I 762 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:16,400 Speaker 3: don't know finish line, that unicorn valuation, that whatever it 763 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:19,440 Speaker 3: may be that we were being told that existed until 764 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:23,239 Speaker 3: I had to say, like, Okay, maybe it does at 765 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,279 Speaker 3: least for the next four years. It's not there, and 766 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:27,719 Speaker 3: I don't have it in me to do it for 767 00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:33,440 Speaker 3: another four years, right yeah, or so again it is. 768 00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:35,880 Speaker 3: It is very much finding that answer within you, and 769 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:40,880 Speaker 3: and and I am deconstructing a lot about what is 770 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:45,120 Speaker 3: entrepreneurship for women and what is entrepreneurship for woman of color, bipop, 771 00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:49,959 Speaker 3: whatever term we want to use, like the global majority, Like, really, 772 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:53,880 Speaker 3: what is entrepreneurship for us? Because at the end of 773 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,960 Speaker 3: the day, when we enter the thing is that the 774 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:03,520 Speaker 3: entry barrier was lowered when the digital media and e 775 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:07,960 Speaker 3: commerce spaces made it accessible for us to launch a 776 00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:10,960 Speaker 3: media business a blog with ten dollars a month hosting, Right, 777 00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:12,960 Speaker 3: But that's all you wanted to do, That's how I started. 778 00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:17,720 Speaker 3: I had no investment. I wasn't even making a salary. 779 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:22,280 Speaker 3: It was just nap times E commerce makes it easy, 780 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:26,759 Speaker 3: Instagram makes it easy, TikTok makes it easy. Quo it 781 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,600 Speaker 3: was easier. It's not that easy anymore to market and 782 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:33,560 Speaker 3: to build community. So the entry, the bar was lowered 783 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,600 Speaker 3: right for us to come into these spaces. What's difficult 784 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:43,400 Speaker 3: is the growth, and we're seeing there is like a 785 00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:48,360 Speaker 3: glass ceiling in entrepreneurship for women in general, especially for 786 00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:51,640 Speaker 3: women of color. And I see it with my friends 787 00:45:51,680 --> 00:46:01,080 Speaker 3: who are have investors. It's a really difficult proposition to 788 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:03,839 Speaker 3: stay there as it is, We're only only one percent. 789 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:08,160 Speaker 3: We're getting investors, so where is like, where is that 790 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:12,280 Speaker 3: sealing for entrepreneurship. That's when it starts feeling really difficult. 791 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:15,320 Speaker 3: They're like, Okay, I'm gonna I don't I refuse to 792 00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:19,000 Speaker 3: get investors. So I had people thought of one of 793 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:21,000 Speaker 3: our partners. She was a partner, not an investor. She 794 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:24,040 Speaker 3: had bought in so we weren't being bankrolled by anybody 795 00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:26,800 Speaker 3: like we were in debt. And the first time I 796 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:32,239 Speaker 3: actually acquired the debt that I now have was in 797 00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:36,360 Speaker 3: twenty twenty because we had to cancel the conference we 798 00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:39,040 Speaker 3: All Grows summit in May and we had two hundred 799 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:44,800 Speaker 3: thousand dollars in tickets to refund. That was money I owed. 800 00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:49,960 Speaker 3: We owed the community that was four hundred something dollars 801 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:52,239 Speaker 3: that maybe you bought a ticket and you needed that 802 00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:54,360 Speaker 3: money for groceries during the middle in the middle of 803 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:58,320 Speaker 3: the pandemic. So I had to take the eideal the 804 00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:02,600 Speaker 3: COVID loan from the SBA. That was the first big 805 00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:08,080 Speaker 3: round of like loan in what ten years of the company, 806 00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:15,240 Speaker 3: And once we started getting into debt financing, it became 807 00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,919 Speaker 3: really hard, especially when your model is working with brand 808 00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:23,600 Speaker 3: budgets right that are so inconsistent and that fluctuate with 809 00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:31,080 Speaker 3: the social, economic, political environment. So I like, again, it's 810 00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:33,359 Speaker 3: just a lot of perspective for those out there who 811 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:37,960 Speaker 3: are consumers, who are viewers, who are members, who whatever 812 00:47:38,040 --> 00:47:41,680 Speaker 3: may be, to like really understand all of the nuances 813 00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:44,279 Speaker 3: and all of the sacrifices and risks that each one 814 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,640 Speaker 3: of us do every time we show up with our 815 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:51,360 Speaker 3: hat as entrepreneurs, and we have to show up with 816 00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:55,680 Speaker 3: like positive environment because otherwise, right, like you might affect 817 00:47:55,719 --> 00:47:56,440 Speaker 3: your own business. 818 00:47:57,880 --> 00:47:59,800 Speaker 1: Who it's challenging. 819 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:00,560 Speaker 3: It's challenging. 820 00:48:00,880 --> 00:48:03,600 Speaker 1: I appreciate this vulnerability because you know, we've been on 821 00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:08,400 Speaker 1: this entrepreneurship journey officially like four years now, but all 822 00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:11,759 Speaker 1: together almost a decade. And so you know, there's the 823 00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:15,719 Speaker 1: growing pains of it all and feeling like putting on 824 00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:18,160 Speaker 1: that brave face that things are going to get better, 825 00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:21,040 Speaker 1: things are going to be okay, and often they are, 826 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:23,560 Speaker 1: but it's the stress that it does take on you. 827 00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:26,520 Speaker 1: And luckily there's two of us. But yeah, I don't 828 00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:29,840 Speaker 1: think that this conversation has had enough, I think especially 829 00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:33,040 Speaker 1: for Latinas, because we're just like, we're happy to be here, 830 00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:35,400 Speaker 1: we're happy to be building, We're happy to be like, 831 00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:38,800 Speaker 1: you know, growing, but there's a lot of growing pains 832 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:42,800 Speaker 1: that happen in the shadows or happen privately. So I 833 00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:46,960 Speaker 1: really appreciate you being so vulnerable and transparent about the 834 00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:50,080 Speaker 1: journey that you've been on. I would love for you 835 00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:52,759 Speaker 1: to plug your substack, talk about it. How can folks 836 00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:55,279 Speaker 1: support it? How can people support the work that you're doing. 837 00:48:56,640 --> 00:48:59,640 Speaker 3: I love it in substack right now. It's again it 838 00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:02,600 Speaker 3: feels like going back to the blogging days where I'm 839 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:05,399 Speaker 3: just a space where I'm just speaking freely. I wasn't 840 00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:10,200 Speaker 3: feeling that in Instagram anymore, and I needed the long 841 00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:14,360 Speaker 3: form again, and so my substack is done with the Hustle. 842 00:49:14,920 --> 00:49:16,560 Speaker 3: You can just google done with the Hustle and you'll 843 00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:18,560 Speaker 3: find it, but it's done with the Hustle dot substack 844 00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:21,520 Speaker 3: dot com. You can also go to my website on 845 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:25,160 Speaker 3: a floris dot com. I am really excited. Can I 846 00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:29,000 Speaker 3: say this that I haven't been promoting it at all 847 00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:31,400 Speaker 3: because I'm so focused in the manuscript, But i do 848 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:35,960 Speaker 3: have a few clients that I'm advising, and they're Latinas 849 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:39,040 Speaker 3: that are building their own communities and their events, and 850 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:42,160 Speaker 3: I'm so excited to be supporting them on that journey. 851 00:49:42,239 --> 00:49:47,000 Speaker 3: Like I'm finding that I really love I've always loved 852 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:49,919 Speaker 3: supporting Latina's, but just really love being on the strategy side, 853 00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:53,480 Speaker 3: being able to help them see things and build things 854 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,319 Speaker 3: much quicker and support them on their journey while also 855 00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,839 Speaker 3: doing it in a really sustainable way that doesn't burn 856 00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:02,479 Speaker 3: them out. So Anna flotes dot com. You can also 857 00:50:02,560 --> 00:50:06,120 Speaker 3: find there how to work with me that that calls you. 858 00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:09,279 Speaker 3: But more than anything, substack is just a place where 859 00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:12,960 Speaker 3: I really want to build, continue building community, continue doing 860 00:50:13,040 --> 00:50:17,839 Speaker 3: it in a very sustainable way as well, and really 861 00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:21,280 Speaker 3: leading up to what hopefully will be my book publishing 862 00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:21,759 Speaker 3: next year. 863 00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:25,320 Speaker 1: Amazing, amazing. Thank you so much, Anna for joining us today. 864 00:50:25,640 --> 00:50:28,320 Speaker 1: This has been incredible. I really appreciate it. 865 00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:31,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, we've been learning from you for years now and 866 00:50:31,280 --> 00:50:33,680 Speaker 2: we continue to learn from you, honestly, So thank you 867 00:50:33,800 --> 00:50:36,200 Speaker 2: for sharing so much of yourself over the years and 868 00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:37,480 Speaker 2: still continuously. 869 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:40,920 Speaker 3: We appreciate you. Thank you for inviting me. Timing is 870 00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,879 Speaker 3: always divine, and I'm glad that we've had this conversation now, 871 00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:48,320 Speaker 3: and I admire and adore both of you, and I 872 00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:49,279 Speaker 3: want to see you thrive. 873 00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:53,400 Speaker 1: Thank you again to Anna Flotes for joining us today 874 00:50:53,840 --> 00:51:01,040 Speaker 1: and being so transparent, so vulnerable, especially on digital platforms, 875 00:51:01,120 --> 00:51:04,720 Speaker 1: it's really easy to share the wins, to celebrate the wins. 876 00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:08,719 Speaker 1: But what Anna Flotis mainly talked about today was a 877 00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:12,200 Speaker 1: lot of the really difficult moments, the challenges, a lot 878 00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:16,240 Speaker 1: of the unseen and hidden labor that goes into growing 879 00:51:16,560 --> 00:51:20,160 Speaker 1: a thriving business and also knowing what it's okay to 880 00:51:20,239 --> 00:51:20,719 Speaker 1: walk away. 881 00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:22,960 Speaker 2: And thank you all for listening, and. 882 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:26,600 Speaker 1: Thank you as always for supporting a Latina led podcast. 883 00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:29,800 Speaker 1: Look at Ora Radio, Subscribe and share with a friend. 884 00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:34,400 Speaker 1: As we learned from Anna, it's so important to celebrate 885 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:37,520 Speaker 1: and support your favorites. 886 00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:41,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, don't just bash the people you hate, support the 887 00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:44,040 Speaker 2: people you like. I think that's the big takeaway from 888 00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:45,239 Speaker 2: this conversation for me. 889 00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:48,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you again to all of you, Thank you 890 00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:50,399 Speaker 1: again to Anna, and we'll catch you next time. 891 00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:51,480 Speaker 3: Bets see it. 892 00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:55,439 Speaker 1: Thus, look at Our Radio is executive produced by ViOS 893 00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:57,160 Speaker 1: FM and Mala Munios. 894 00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:01,960 Speaker 2: Stephanie Franco is our producer Florry editing by Me viosa 895 00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:03,880 Speaker 2: creative direction by Me Mala. 896 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:07,040 Speaker 1: Look At Radio is a part of iHeartRadio's Michael Dura 897 00:52:07,120 --> 00:52:08,000 Speaker 1: podcast network. 898 00:52:08,280 --> 00:52:10,799 Speaker 2: You can listen to look At Radio on the iHeartRadio 899 00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:12,839 Speaker 2: app or wherever you get your podcasts. 900 00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:15,320 Speaker 1: Leave us a review and share with your prima or 901 00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:16,280 Speaker 1: share with your homegirl. 902 00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:18,920 Speaker 2: And thank you to our local motes, to our listeners 903 00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:20,480 Speaker 2: for tuning in each and every week. 904 00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:23,760 Speaker 1: Besitos Loca