empowerment Archives - Pura Vida Sometimes

Cornerstone, family, letter to my daughter

Letter to My Daughter: Keep Kicking Butt

November 5, 2018 No Comments

Letter to My Daugher - Keep Kicking Butt - Pura Vida Sometimes

Dear Warrior Princess, You’re another year older – a year full of surprises, fun, love, and sometimes challenges. You are cuddly, caring, and sweet, and also increasingly self-assured and terrifyingly independent. Like your mama, you don’t need validation from anyone else (including me!), and you don’t like being told what to do. Your personal strengths and inclinations won’t guarantee you an easy life, but we were made like this for a reason. They will call you bossy, and when you also have authority, they’ll call you aggressive – it comes with the skirt; but follow your heart, do what you […]

Career, Cornerstone, culture

Becoming Self Made: Latinas and Financial Freedom

February 13, 2018 No Comments

Growing up, most of my heroes in life, films, books, and TV were the rebels. I never liked the prescribed protagonist, most likely because she was nothing like me and I identified more with those on the periphery. As I got older and more self-aware, I realized none of my role models were Latinas. I grew up in a border town, but publicly, our successes were not celebrated. Fast forward to now, I’ve built a respectable career but I haven’t yet realized my full potential and I still need Latino heroes. There’s a particular set of challenges we face, and as I […]

Career, wellness

TEDWomen Takeways: Big Themes & Challenges

November 17, 2017 2 Comments

Pura Vida Sometimes - TEDWomen Takeaways

It’s been two weeks since I returned from New Orleans where I attended TEDWomen 2017, and aside from the hustle and bustle of life impeding a blog post, I had a lot to process. From Wednesday to Friday, attendees were immersed in talks about identity and race, criminalization of entire communities, forgiveness, reproductive justice, misogyny, assault… We’ve all watched TED talks, from technical to inspirational to heartbreaking. Eighteen minutes here, 15 minutes there. Try three days straight of pure thinking and feeling It’s a lot. And you leave not knowing what to with all this new information. TEDWomen is emotionally-charged, dealing with […]

Career

How Small Men Inspire Nasty Women

October 30, 2016 No Comments

There’s been a lot of buzz in the media lately about nasty women. It’s something I’ve spent at least two decades practicing, refining, and perfecting, in spite (and because) of lesser humans’ best efforts to keep me in my place. Being strong and true to yourself gives peace of mind, so if you’ll allow me, here are some tips on how to be a really nasty woman: Know thy enemy: Albert Einstein affirmed that “great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” Similarly, nasty women will always be judged by small men, and also embraced by the great ones. […]

culture, family, gender, Latino

Raising Strong & Happy Girls Who Win

July 20, 2016 No Comments

On a very typical Saturday morning, I was probably in junior high, my sister and I were watching cartoons in our pajamas having just woken up, easing into the joys of the weekend. My father who, by the looks of it, had been up and at it at least a couple of hours, busted through the door, stood inquisitively in front of us, waited a few seconds, and decisively said, “You guys look bored.” We sprung from the couch and shouted, “No, no, definitely not bored! No, Dad.” He turned around and went into his workshop as we scattered to […]