October 5, 2022 • 51 mins
Most of us got our scars from the monkey bars. She got hers from her pet jaguar. Actress, model, TV personality and social entrepreneur Eglantina Zingg is an agent of peace. We take-off from her childhood growing up in the Amazon, through the time she hijacked the Miss Venezuela pageant, to the moment she found her purpose in a soccer ball.
Featuring: Eglantina Zingg
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I gave you the same. Let's go to the mission one.
Trying to do that. Ready for a theme unch. We
(00:30):
are here with the mother fucking Eglantina Lamsona. Introduce yourself, baby,
Welcome grass. I am so happy to be in the
spaceship and our own world. But now it's your world.
(00:53):
Is my world to it's all our Are we sharing
the world? Yes, yes we are the world. We had
the children, so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, but I'm
so happy. Thank you, thank your girls. Congratulations. I love
what you're doing. Thank you, and thank you for having me.
I'm super delighted. So introduce yourself. Who are you? What
(01:14):
do you do? Men? Venezuelan um white female disclaimer, white
female human um that grew up in the middle of
the Amazon and Jungle came to Miami as I claimed
myself to be a Miami Founding member, back to study
marine biology and work with my brother in a construction
(01:37):
company that they have. So I was left out on
the trailer picking up the phone and saying, oh wait,
good mornings at home with said it, and but I
appreciate it because I learned a lot there and I
also learned that with the family business, it was not
going to be my my It wasn't my thing, no,
(01:58):
because they're always asking, you know, ask your brother, whatever
your brother says, and they will never take my opinion
in uh in consideration. So I needed economic freedom and
this cowboy boots always remember me about my economic freedom.
If my father is an explorer, but he is a
cowboy in his in his spirit, in his essence. And
(02:22):
he had about two pers of cowboy boots. And every
time I asked him for money to go buy food
at the school, he will make me clean his boots
equivalent to one dollar. And I was like, I'm tired
of cleaning boots of like, you know, Ford Models. That
(02:43):
offered me a contract for modeling, and I best. I
left my brother with an assistant and left in New
York City to try luck. And that was a whole
different story. But in the few months then I I
went around the world, did a lot of campaigns and
(03:04):
got a job at MTV. So you hosted, right, I
had hosted some awards, the first Venezuelan ever an MTV. Yeah,
and I had a daily show called a Way Whale
Way because in a pastrophe, right, it was going butter Wait,
(03:28):
it was because of your name, egg everything. Thank you
Tom Preston, Mr. Founder of MTV. Now he put the
name on the show just because of me. But no,
it was just a coincidence. But I don't think things
are a coincidence. In Mexico the time to chill, so
(03:50):
it was a simon for like four or five PM
that you had this, uh, this window to see Iglantina
was just Eglantina and Benetas with God amazing. But that
that voice of television. It's super different now that we
have podcasts and everybody's looking for a much more honesty
(04:11):
and conversation conversation. How old were you then? And they were, well, dide,
I was twenty years old. Wow, man rock star twenty
years old. And I worked in MTV almost ten years
until I was twenty seven and then I got fired.
You're fired after seven years? Everything I gave it given
(04:37):
to you guys, best years. No instead Project Runway if
we host the project in America Los Angeles, when and
in between when? But electing is give it to you
(05:00):
open not say like on Weinstein blah blah blah. What
have you opened up about? That? Is that something that
you've talked about? Mena not not really open up because
I say it to everybody, and I said it before
even the Me Too movement, and uh, what I love
(05:20):
is that I have my my values or my and
today I think I was like, you give so many
blow jobs or whatever to anybody? Might you know maybe
you're maybe you should have reconsidered. But nobody passed the
memo You're gonna have this meeting with this person. I'm
twenty three years old and this person tells me come
(05:42):
to up to my hotel and he's insinuating all this
dirty language, and I was like, dude, have you seen
yourself in a mirror? I don't do I don't do
that first. Basically, it's not even don't take it personal.
It's that you have reasons you're missing too, and you
have one extra cosa he had a guy that worked
(06:06):
with him that until today, I've never said this before,
but it's the biggest stalker that I had in my life.
It's obsessive and every week or every month, they said,
they sent me emails and some firstpond correspondence that it's
just nasty and horrible, but salo, So I called the
(06:30):
lawyer and you have to take into court and the
thing that I think is that they want to see
you in in a chord, fighting or losing or winning.
That's what they want. And yeah, so I became in
a social entrepreter. It is not because of that at all.
I had a a always and means for me, I
(06:52):
think growing on the growing up in the Amazons and
the values and the education that my parents taught me,
is you know, you serve you the satisfaction of giving
something back to the world. Leandre asked me the other day,
like nope, So like why You've always been a revel
and then you kind of change and I found my
(07:13):
purpose And when you find a purpose, then famous. Oh
she was famous because she worked in MTV, And I
was like, dude, I was famous my whole life because
I'm the only daughter in a family of two big
brothers and they love me and I feel the center
of attention always. But that has nothing to do like
(07:34):
with the idea or the concepts that we have of
what is the recognition or the respect that you will
have in life? Okay, I want to talk more about
you keep the Amazon, Amazon, you grow up in the Amazon.
Can we go back to that. What do you mean
by that? Why was your upbringing different that you have
a lot of tattoos, right, I ain't got no tattoos.
(07:54):
I have a bunch of scars from a jour a monkey.
That'll get into a Why why how did you go
out there? My father is a pilot and he's an explorer.
He loves nature and uh and my mother felt Malli
loved with my father. She's very much of a city girl.
But both of them. I don't know why he decided
(08:17):
to go to the middle of the Venezuelan Amazons. You know,
there's no cars, there's no rabers. You have to nic
I know forever. But he was a pilot, so you know,
he loved Africa. He got married, had two kids. He
couldn't go as aften, let's go to the Amazons. And
he was looking always. He had Alexander bon Humbolt as
his biggest hero, so he was always looking for natural
(08:40):
recipes and his things, like he was going to find
the Fountain of Youth and he said he found it
because he's eighty years old, and he said, I still
get it up. There you go. So my mom was
a co pilot the nine months I was in her belly.
I was born in Caracas. But then I was raised
in the middle of this on goals with only one
(09:02):
gift or one uh toy that was a soccer ball.
And my neighbors you have to go three hours up
in the canoe and there was no GPS. So he
will like fly or walk or walk and walk and walk.
And then we find this Genomami's tribes, the Javaranas Obama
is their fourteen different indigenous tribes in in the Amazon,
(09:25):
in the Venezuelan Amazon, much more all over and some
of them so there was not a pr that came
and say hey, listen, Mr Zing and his family are
coming to meet you. So when you see the casic
little little hockey, the latrioe lombre blancotoria, that doesn't come
(09:49):
usually in his throughout history, you see the results that
they're not the best results. And I was with my
little soccer ball and these kids did not speak the
same language, the not we're not dressed like me, did
not have the same costumes or traditions. But through that
soccer ball we forge and formed this really strong bonds
(10:10):
of collaboration of friendship. They taught me everything about the
jungle and about their traditions, and culture and the same thing.
It was an exchange and it's sharing of of knowledge
that until today I have in the biggest place in
my heart. It taught me one is that we're not
the center of the world. When you see that based
(10:32):
that vast nature and that jungle that eats used you know,
it's jungle. So you see how humanity that we think
that we're going to save the planet and we have
the sego and blah blah blah. The planet is going
to still be here. We need to start working and
saving ourselves and being more collaborative, more empathetic. The other
thing is that teamwork. Man. You see all these animals
(10:55):
and nobody's like taking anybody's space. Everybody has their own space,
Everything has collaboration, everything has a balance. And the third
one was the power of being a woman. As drinking
that water, you know how important it comes a lama
wonder woman in Polita. So that was a little bit
(11:18):
of my upbringing and and surrounded with love. My parents
are very, very loving, and they taught me not to
focus on the price of things, but on the value
of things, so that I kept always But you said
something that that you touched upon that I want to
go there. You said that the one toy that you
(11:38):
had was a soccer ball, and you are aside from
all the things that you are, you're a philanthropist and
you have this non for profit called Can you share
with us? Because I think it's incredible what you're doing
with that. A little bit about that, absolutely, I'll sure
a lot with you, and thank you for asking me. So,
as I said, my first it was a soccer ball,
(12:01):
and at a very young age, and understood the power
of the universal language, and not only about soccer, because
at that time, I don't think I realized it was
like soccer, but I just understood that we have as
humans much more, much more things in common that what
divides us at the end. We're all different. We have
(12:22):
different religion, culture, thoughts, but we have the same feelings,
the same dreams, the same challenges. So instead of dividing,
which is the typical easiest way divide and conquer, the
hardest thing is to bring people together, to people to
respect each other, to people to learn from each other.
(12:43):
And you know, you always learned if you're open to it.
And we have this politicians and society and rules. And
I grew up in the Amazons until I was twelve
years old. Then I went to school and I was
always in the principle's office because they kept telling me
I couldn't do this. I was free with the ma
cha they blah blah blah. And that's why I started
the organization. I had a show on MTV twenty five
(13:06):
million views of kids or young kids looking at you,
trying to adopt the music taste that you have, the
fashion this and my country was going through not zero
dialogue and a social discomposition that was bringing people into
the nastiest, most violent, and most miserable lowest points of
(13:27):
their lives. And I did not want to take part
on the opposition, neither on the on the other side,
I just want to be a part of the solution.
So it was inevitable for me to think on that
moment in the Amazons with my little soccer ball, I
was like, that's a catalyst. I remember that we didn't
speak the same night, which were so different, and we
got along and we've bonded as friends and until today.
(13:51):
Blah blah blah blah. So I sent about seventy letters
to Bunkie Moon, which was the U N Secretary General
at that moment. Seven the seventeen seventy was intense and
very intense. Bankymoon. They sent me to people from press
(14:12):
and I was like, I'm a DJ for MTV, and
it was like, well, our ambassadors are like Oscar winning,
Grammy winners, blah blah blah. But you seem very enthusiastic,
so let's have a meeting. Then we had a meeting
and I was expressing all the things I want to do.
And the United Nations is a beautiful thing. You know,
it was formed in Fundamento, where it established. It's always
(14:33):
good to remember that the humanity was about to be
wiped out, wiped out. Hitler had a whole idea of
what the race should be, so religion, this independent thinking
rights gone. But in any case, the United Nations have
(14:54):
a lot of politics and then diplomacy around and they
it's it's a huge institution. So to actually go to
tackle problems and solved in directly it becomes very frustrating
and I'm very impatient. So I was like, well, you're
not making any efforts for the Latin America. It's always
for the Middle East countries or for the African countries.
(15:16):
And he was like, you're driving me crazy. Just do
your thing aligned with us, and and let's see where
you do your first project. I recommend not to go
to your country for the first project. Go to the
hardest one in your region. Haiti has the most the
biggest challenges. So in two thousand and ten, I arrived
to Haiti in a January three and three days after
(15:39):
there was most devastating earthquake that you could ever imagine.
My whole team left, took the first plane. It's like,
by you, crazy person, stay here. And a photographer that
will never forget that came with us. It was documented
the whole thing. He stayed with you with me, and
you will see the humans in the most confused and
(16:04):
look at agony. And they were so misplaced and displaced
and confused, and violence started becoming. You know, people are desperate, stealing, killing,
and people around the world became a turn up to
help Haiti. And there was a whole campaigns and money
(16:24):
and medicine water which was very needed. But I will
never forget opening one of these soccer fields, the changing rooms,
and there was packed to the top of medicine and
heading us and vaccines or you know whatever. They we're giving.
But these people didn't know because that was not familiar
to them. And with my little soccer game, they was
(16:46):
familiar to them, something that they love and hey, did
they have religion? Soccer and capitos little like goats. It's
like the Indians say, treasure hows is one of the cabritos.
And they started connecting by themselves with the soccer match.
Oh you're fulanitos or you do conferatree, come work here
(17:09):
and they sent us the president Martelli, which was at
the moment the president in Haiti sends us started sending
people to the other smaller cities out of Porto Prince
so they didn't stay with all the debts and the
and the bodies and stuff. And that soccer match brought
them together and they started doing a chain of collaboration.
(17:30):
And then after that they we did a match with
for for Peace Day, which was just around the corner.
So after Haiti, it was my biggest challenge was going
to Venezuela. And then when I got to Venezuela. If
you know my country, have you been and I've been
to Venezuela. Okay, so arepas are Venezuelans not Colombians the oil.
(17:51):
And the biggest thing is that Miss Venezuela the beauty
Queen's page and Venezuela had they have won the big
all the Miss Universe. It's like the biggest institution. Everybody
stops to like see that in Auela to watch the
miss Miss Miss Venezuela, and I go to Peta, which
is a big famil and Caracas four million people that
(18:11):
live in unbearable conditions. Okay, the only opportunity is to
become a gangster or or or a drug leader or
something like that. And I asked because I wanted the
girls come play, and the trainer was like, no, girls
are complicated, typical thing. Girls didn't know how to manage
their emotions. They're complicated blas. Second other biggest challenge was
(18:37):
like girls that play soccer or lesbians or their tom
boys or you know, it's not a female sport. It's
not like really female oriented. And the third one was
the little girls. A hundred of them came, I don't
want to play football. I want to be a Miss Venezuela.
And I was like, okay, just by the measurements, you're
(18:58):
not gonna make it. So how what is what are
you gonna do with your life if that's your only
goal or your only you know, vision, because that's the
only thing that they think that you're going to be
recognized or accepted the power of reference. If you don't
see girls or women in positions, you will never dream
of being there. Who's going to be an engineer, who's
(19:18):
going to be a president? Who's going to be this?
Never super complic So I called my agent and I
was like, I need to host them Venezuela. He's like, oh,
are you kidding me? What you do is two weeks
from now, It's impossible. They gave me a part of
the show. It's a live show, and they gave me
the part of the women. The participants on the gowns
in Venezuela didn't even know. In any case, it's like
(19:45):
mismas and the teleprompter and your little ear thing. Yeah,
I pulled it off. I had a vision and and
I don't know where I have the gl really because
I went on and said miss Amazonada too, and I
(20:09):
went twenty five girls described them as warriors, as sports
person asa as well. They wanted to call me preson
live show. I have seven thousand people in the stadium
and it's a live show. They're just like trying to
move it, but they couldn't. After the show, obviously, there
was no after party for me. There was like Elvis,
leave the building because they're gonna call you. And I
(20:30):
thought it was gonna be the end of my career.
They keep saying, oh, you don't look Venezuela. How do
they look or you don't look less with how does
that stereotized? What do you mean by that? And they
just you know, like destroy my I was like, I
was like an ostrich tweek. Two weeks after, three girls
signed up and we formed the first female league of
(20:52):
soccer in Venezuela. That's where I called the whole team,
and that's where Goalleloa's really was born because at the
beginning was a soccer program for peace, but not specifically
for girls. And then we created a curriculum with the
party athletes, psychologists Columbia University, the School of Economics, Jeffrey
(21:13):
Sachs did a whole case study of how every girl
that passes through our program is not only going to
get a project of life and all the soft skills
that are going to help them to have a dignify
life and become their leaders in their own community, independently
of your circumstances, but will also contribute not only to
the SDGs of the Sustainable Development Goals number five, which
(21:34):
is gender equality and inclusion, but they will also contribute
to closing that poverty gap that we have because they're
going to make better decisions incentive and they have a
sense of belonging man and they have a community. Girls
usually do not have a authority. So that's why Girls
with Balls were was born. I wrote Girls with Balls
(22:11):
and the United Nations that have a youth committee and
they invited me to be a speaker, and with all
my thing that I have inside of me, I was like,
I wrote girls with Balls because they should have bold,
because we always have balls. And girls were not the
best friends of girls who always are taught by a
way or another to be a competition, so we don't
(22:32):
support each other as mandor like as we should as humanity.
So I was like, and then Jeffrey Sachs heard it
and Sacchi and Sacchi, which was incredible. It's an incredible
one of one of the biggest ad agencies in the world.
It was like, you cannot go around the world for
raising with girls with balls. I was like, I disagree, No,
(22:54):
don't google it. It's changing. But if you google that thing,
nobody will give you a penny. Okay. So in any way, um,
they created a branding and they put that flower to
be very feminine and very attractive and collodes and with
that we've been able to engage a lot of girls.
We have programs in six communities and we're working in
(23:17):
Colombia in Chucko, which is a very remote town in
the border of Colombia and Panama. They have a lot
of potential. They're beautiful. Girls there are trapped by Gerria, Paramila,
Attle Minory not go Trafica. So your only options are
those because otherwise how do you survive. You bring food
(23:37):
to the table. We're giving them an opportunity. And these
girls came just because the T shirt was pretty. They
started liking the thing. You know, I can't imitate that
accent because it's not Costanio in a different accent. And
and then about three months after I went there and
the girl goes like senor no or Rida media. And
(24:13):
then four months after, out of all the six programs,
they were chosen by Catar Foundation to go to the
Child's World Tournament Street Child World Cup, which is being
held in Doha in the frame of the World Cup.
FIFA two Colombia with a male team did not qualify
to go do that, and the girls are going to
(24:35):
represent Colombia in this incredible multi experience, multicultural experience. They're
going to be able to play with thirty six teams
from other parts of the world, travel for the first time.
They've never been on a plane. They're traveling for the
first time fourteen thousand kilometers to the world to a
place that is very different from everything in the middle
(24:57):
of the East of certain even different than and in
three thousand media as well last So they have not
only to play and they're gonna go be on the
field and they're being trained to you know, make the
best performance and hopefully they'll come back with the cup.
There's no there's no flights, so we have there's in Columbia,
(25:18):
there's a thing called the um Lambo Lancia Idea the
air Ambulance. So there are private plane owners that they
lend or they do the flights for free for organizations
that are going to be helped to communities that they
don't have access. So there's this incredible pilot, Bombo bomboa
(25:39):
my lawyer. He comes to Choko and obviously I go
with a knife with the taser, and he's super nervous
because you have all the cops looking at you. And
I was like and uh. And he flew as a
co pilot. On the way there and on the way
back we're also you know, excited, and the girls their
(26:01):
emotion and the news was like super a happy thing.
And on the on the flight, you have this ear pieces,
so you hear the conversation on the back and I
hear Ricardo saying he's gonna kill me, like telling the
coach no mina, Like the girls are super nervous. You
don't have to give them any stress. They don't have
(26:23):
to win. Just this is already already win already. When
I hear that when I was at the co pilot,
so I went to the plain like what they don't
want to what? I was like, what everybody? And I
was like, they don't need to what It was like,
(26:43):
I'm not saying that, but they don't need to win.
They don't want to. What I was like listening to
the parker, I'm not bringing ten girls, fifteen of them
all the way to cat I need to fundraise all
the money because for a small organization. I'm not a philanthropist.
I've never started this organizing philanthropist. I'm social entrepreneur. What
is that? Because philanthropists the definition is people that have
(27:04):
a lot of money and they make the private foundations.
So I am not that famous or that rich and
the famous people they do it so you can evade
taxes and or because you have the commitment to do it,
which is fantastic, but individual, which it's I make my
(27:24):
ends meet meet every every month and with my work
to be able to do that, it's a it's a
lot of fundraising a lot, and you get a hundred
doors closed. Because most people when they do charity, I
don't call it charity. I didn't because of solidarity. It's
very different when you have charities because you have pity
(27:45):
for other people and it's your ego. You feel like
I am giving them the poor people. They're not poor.
Poor is the state of mind, and you have it
with trillionaires. These girls are have the biggest delusion, even
though they were like the tournament. It's called street child
for kids that have no there in the streets, and
the girls in they told me today the review, They're like,
(28:08):
why are we going there? We're not in the streets.
Were not from the streets. I have a house. We're
not from the streets. And even though if it's it's
a place with a lot of challenges, their smile, they lousien,
the way that you know you can evolve, and the
(28:30):
sense of belonging. They're going to represent their country. I'm not.
It's not nothing a little detail. So it's not charity
and it's not a philanthropist. The philanthropists they give money
because they have money, so they give money. So social entrepreneur.
Social entrepreneur is when you start doing instead of having
revenue in your business, your revenue is measured by KPI.
(28:52):
So the impact that you do in I love, thank you, Wow, Okay,
it's it's it's so important because I think we're in
a great moment in life that we have the technology
that connects us that after COVID, I think every person
is looking much more for a purpose. But if as
a young person they tell you already, they're neglecting you
(29:14):
from the space of the field, from the space of
being a woman from like the minorities, or it's a
world like it's much easier not to there to dream
because you don't want to fail. So it's easier to
sit down and say, oh, the world's a piece of ship.
It's never going to change. You're not gonna do anything.
Humans are like that, societio. It's a miracle. Life is
(29:40):
a miracle out of this galaxy that we're on the ship,
the Milky Way. The planet Earth is the only one
that has life, is the only one that has the humans,
and we all come from Lucy or from whatever we believe.
It's not a real agent Lucy came, but it's the
only one that has a lot more life out there
and other galaxies. But well maybe okay, fine, listen, we're temporary.
(30:05):
Air of humanity. Is to think that we are the
center of this thing. Yes, we do think that we're
the center of the universe. We do, and for now
proven we have no life around in any other of
the planets in our Milky Way. But um, this moment
that we have, it's temporary, and we don't appreciate it.
(30:26):
We think that it's all about work, and it's all
about if fame and money and we have our priorities indoctrination.
You have such a I don't I use this word lightly,
and I hope you know that. But the privilege of
being raised where you were raised, because you're able to
(30:47):
look at this from this perspective versus a lot of
us were put in the machine since the way before
we can even form a sentence. I mean, I was
in school since I was like, I wasn't pretty care,
I was daycare. So those lessons that, especially in the
United States, like capitalism and all of these things teach
us of like work is taught to us as a priority.
(31:10):
But you're absolutely right it's not. But I have a
question for you. So, even though you went through all
the systematic upbringing and education, why are you so curious
what makes that sparkle wake up? Like? What what? What
woke up that sparkle on you? By asking? My mom?
Is not conventional? Okay, So I give a lot of
(31:32):
credit to I give a lot of credits of my yeah,
to my upbringing. Um, because she always is, she's her
own rebel. She always asked the question, you know, and
UM because she kind of had to a ford her
own way being a mom in eighteen and all of that,
she never really did things the conventional way. She always
(31:52):
had to ford her own path, and so I saw
that as the example growing up, and she encouraged me
to challenge the things I was taught at school. She
encouraged me to talent, to challenge the thoughts that other
people presented me. She never tried to form my way
of thinking. And so I'm lucky to say that I
grew up an environment that allowed me to develop my
(32:12):
own individual approach to things. But it's constantly evolving all
the time. But because that's the thing, people talk about reinvention,
and I don't think it's about reinventing. I think it's
about evolving, as you just said. And we all might
be victims of a system because they just want to
either it's religion or right said the politics. They want
to shape us for guide us and keep us with
(32:35):
like chickens with no head. But there is people that
not necessarily and have to grow up in the middle
of the jungle that have that curiosity. And I think
what you're doing with your conversation, what you do as
in yourself with your friends. I have the first time
being in the podcast, but I've spoken to you many times,
and you actually opened my mind in many other concepts
(32:55):
that I did not understand. And you know, as long
as you're open to learning, to finding, to having that
empathy to the curiosity, you will be able to evolve
and and change your points of view. I don't think
life is about blacks and white. It's a layers and
(33:17):
different kind of colors and different mathisis and we're so
different and variety of of everything. But at the same
time we have the same challenges. So let us all
work together, because that's why we promote football, why I
do football. No coincidence that the fifty five fortune woman.
(33:39):
I can never say it. I'm this legs like man.
They told me impossible, and I thought, I always read
I am possible. Legs start. Can you say that one
more time? They say impossible and I read I am possible.
So it's like joy Jem mentioned concept. Okay, you know, Intendia,
(34:04):
I'm open, and I asked her tell me teach me
because I don't understand. Then she is actually very eloquent
and very patient to be able to explain. I was like,
you know what, I hit walls though, I mean like
I do that that people don't want to dream because
they're afraid of failure. It's easier to sit down and
(34:25):
say everything ship you guys are bad. They are good
and d But when you give yourself the opportunity to
dream and to fail, to become a learning and a
growing part of your evolving or to tomento um, you
(34:51):
bring a whole other different things to And I think
what we promote through goodas what I do, other podcast
what I do, and every day that I see somebody
and I'm not always good, I like, can I ask
you a question? What do you feel has been your
biggest failure and what have you learned from it? Many
of them? Is there one that keeps you up at night? See?
(35:16):
I think I've lost a lot of opportunities, because opportunities
come to you in life at some point. But maybe
just sucking weinstein take a different level in this how
in in a whole different position. But maybe I wouldn't
have feeled as good as I feel with myself. So
(35:38):
at night nothing keeps me up. I snore and I
sleep second and my consciousness clean and clear, and I
do get white hair because I have the fundraise for
the girls that you're gonna go to Kata and people
just want to, you know, help the charities about the
kids with cancer, which they all need help, but what
(36:01):
about the population or potential that are healthy, that are
their stock with no opportunities. You're gonna leave them because
you're gonna fix the It's there's the pity that people have,
you know, the dog, the commercials of the dogs that
are like so when you see this strong girl, like
(36:22):
they're like, why do we want to sponsored girls in soccer?
That's like they get afraid. And you know the thing
with soccer and female soccer, which is a very important
point in the They don't mean how could we evolve
or the machiesmore, it's soccer. The first the first game
(36:44):
of soccer was played by girls in England while they
were in the war. And then FIFA was stop. The
first soccer match ever played was played in England with women.
And then FIFA established and then FIFA became ruled by
men and this FIFA has more member states than the
(37:07):
United Nations. Tai one did not exist to only every
four years that they put their shirt and go to
the world. It is the biggest and most popular sport
in the world. The world its chairs, it's passed it
with a bout of football soccer here, but better this,
(37:29):
This institution is so big and so powerful you can
never imagine. And if you even if you don't understand
the power of photo because you don't like it. Everybody
has an Instagram. The most followed account on Instagram is
not Miley Cyrus of the karaction is because it brings hope.
M you said something really true, which is that you
(38:07):
have to really take a step back and say, oh,
who do you trust? You know, having your faith in
somebody it's the biggest thing, whether it be in business,
in relationship, in life. You know, even today we were
talking about when or confionti confionti? What does that mean?
(38:27):
I like, I don't even trust my fucking shadow, the
on on the on my journey and my life. I've
had the closest people to be betrayed me treason. It's
super sad. I'm there with you, super super sad. I've
(38:48):
had my best friend trying to assume me. Yeah. But
trusting it's it's it's important because if not otherwise we're
not going to trust ourselves. And you need to trust
yourself first and trusting anybody else. So when your intuition
is telling you this person, So maybe they are useful
(39:10):
in that moment because you need them to play that part.
Everybody always keep your guards up or always keep your
eyes open. And unfortunately human beings as I don't even
think any other animal does that, but human beings do
that because you're the stird way for them to find
their success. So when when you're in a position like that,
(39:32):
everybody wants you, you know, to get to your mother
or to get to you, or to get to this,
or to get to your environment, or to get to
you and this, and they want me to get to
Ricky Martin or to get to this. You don't. Many
times I get people calling me to the Yankee. But again,
(39:54):
like I have to play Devil's advocate here because I
read King Nize struggle, and I recognize that some people,
I think that that's the best way. Some people really
will see somebody like Emily, will see somebody like you
as a window of opportunity, and they're like, if I
don't take my chance right now, my window is going
(40:15):
to close. And you know, in that moment they're misinformed
because Emily happens not to be a window of opportunity.
For anybody who just wants to jump in. However, she
does happen to be somebody who if she believes in
you and she loves you, she will support you the
way that we all are. But I tell her all
the time, I'm like, you don't forgive them because they
(40:36):
don't know better. They think that that's what they should
be doing, and they think that that's the way to
do it. And it's okay that you don't let them
into your soco, you set your boundary, you say you don't,
thank you very much, goodbye. I think that the thing
about trust that you were saying, Lantina, a lot of
us confuse trust um with expectation. So we think I
(40:58):
trust you, and so I trust that you're going to
do or show up the way that I expect you to.
And that's wrong because people have their own goals, dreams, ideas,
agenda does so trust is this is an icky thing,
and I think you said it perfectly because it's more
about us, more about understanding that we are not islands,
(41:21):
that we as humans are meant to live in communities,
were meant to extend our hands to each other and
help each other, and deciding you know who you let
into what areas of your life. But so long as
you're not doing that expecting them to show a certain way,
because that is not trust, it's just expectation, and people
will disappoint you. Expectation is a route for every heartache.
(41:46):
Ye what I under But but my point is that
you have to be able to have the Ferencier differentiates.
Yea perfectly exferentiate. So I grew up in a family
in Venezuela, are very well known, big entrepreneurs, big part
of society, and I didn't I didn't want to go
(42:08):
to a place to say that everybody will tell me, Oh,
you're the nephew of car you're the niece of You're
the daughter of Herman. So I went to Barcelona, Spain,
far away the book for modeling with a name that
nobody knew. Zing in Barcelona was not known. There was
(42:31):
no They didn't know Herman, they didn't know Carolina, didn't
know Margarita. Are you really the niece of Carlina? Oh wow,
look at that. I thought you were just like throwing
a name out there. But I didn't want to be
the daughter or the At that time, there was no
social media. You cannot get away from it. You cannot
(42:53):
get away from it at all. I had the opportunity
to be able to build myself with something nobody is like,
who the fund is, sing, nobody using. At least your
mother loves you and supports you, and your father as
well the relationship with you. But I think they're all
very loving and caring. Mine were daring and bitter. When
(43:19):
the pandemic happened, I had my first panic attack. I've
never had a panic attack in my life. And I
called my father, who is a very basic guy, and
he gave me the best advice, because follow your heart.
And everybody tells you a strategy and this, and you
have to have I think you have to have a plan.
(43:41):
You have to have a strategy. But if that strategy
doesn't have as hard, it doesn't work. That you you
stop being yourself because of a inheritance or because of
a family, or because you're gonna say at the end,
your parents will love you, and if they don't, their assholes,
(44:04):
and that you're not, you don't. You don't need anywhere,
You don't need to listen their mothers who drove their children. Okay,
just because they're your parents does send me anything and
friends you how many friends I do have a lot.
I appreciate friendship a lot and value and treasure. And
my friends are like my family. Better. We have older
(44:28):
friends at which I learned a lot, and some of
our acquaintances some are your dear friends. But but be
true to yourself and never stop daring to dream and
to doing. Or you know, when I said I was
going to do girls soccer as a foundation and in
(44:48):
vulnerable communities, my dad, who never agree would be working
in MTV, who actually disinherited me before I started model.
The guy was like, please do not do that. Stay
with a heap piece and MTV was like, girls soccer,
this is never gonna happen, and they're gonna kidnap. You
don't even call me, And now he called me. Last year,
(45:11):
I was driving with a friend of mine from Lisbon
to marid This guy called me randomly in December and
he says, hey, listen, you know I want to tell
you that I'm super proud of you. That I know
you've gone through a lot and then I've made your
life very hard. But you know, I'm very very proud
of you. And when you earned that respect, I wanted
(45:33):
like my little tear was coming here. My dad has
not been like you're that. My dad is an angel
and see, but you are amazing and find your way.
You are no no, no compliment, but for the people
who are listening, really give yourself a chance. There, yourself
(45:54):
to dream and if you fail, you learn. The second
soccer they say, you never you never lose, because either
you win or you learn. And that's what we're doing.
And we're here together. We're not leaving anybody behind, even
though either we're intimate friends or friends occasionally or acquaintances.
There's a community and there's a support and there's people
(46:16):
that are listening. And when I started the podcast, a
friend of mine told me he's not really a friend,
he's an acquaintance but a very smart guy. And he
was like, well, you know, now there's so many podcasts
out there like how you're gonna grab the attention? You
cannot wait until the twentieth episode. This has two episodes,
and I was like, what am I going to talk about?
(46:37):
What I'm gonna talk and this thing that I had
inside of me of how can it be true to
myself or how can I contribute to the conversation for
not just to be a So tell me about your
next records, tell me about your shoes. How can I
contribute really to humanity to be able to alive? Alleviate
that pressure that we have as a society to be able.
(46:58):
Everybody wants say, be included or you know, have that
social social path whatever. Men, be you and if you're
a rebel and people don't like you, and not everybody
has to like you. But honestly, it was the first policy.
And I was able to have the gods and one
day I had two classes of this whiskey and it's
(47:21):
a monologue. I don't have a script. And I was
able to to communicate and tell people have experiences of things,
and I'm super fucking honest men. And I think that
I don't want to negotiate that, But I also think
sometimes I I Dermonetta and to be an example or
(47:44):
role wonderful this young girls. I don't think I do
the best, but I'm trying on my way. I think
I think I failed. You asked me how many times
I failed? Where is That's amazing? That's what I'm saying.
Like we've had so many role models that have been
sold to us as these like emblems of perfection, never
(48:07):
a hair out of place, never nail undone, always saying
the right things, always doing the right things, always being
in a good mood. Always. I can bird the whole alphabet.
You can bird the whole alphabet, okay, exactly. So I
think that what we need are more role models like you,
people who are able to say, I am not perfect.
I have bad days. There are days where I'm not
(48:28):
proud of my behaviors. There are days that I am
but I am learning and I accept that I make mistakes.
Those are the role models that we need, because those
little girls are looking up at you and seeing opportunities
to be forgiving with themselves, to accept that they aren't perfect,
that they're not here to be perfect. They're here to
learn and to grow and to be humans. And humans
(48:49):
are so faulty, and that's okay, that's what that's what
we are, that's what we're learning from. But there are
things that you can actually you can get better. You
can't can't at it right. And in other words, and
put yourself in positions that are very uncomfortable or I
make people feel uncomfortable sometimes because I say the truth
and they don't want to hear. And when I see
(49:12):
people that don't feel comfortable and they give like this
statements of like words that are not that has no
meaning right there are diplomatic, they're just like a don't
even but I agree with you. I'm right there. And
then I lose it. But then when I lose it,
I lose right. When I lose it, I lose Thank you,
(49:35):
Thank you for coming, thank you for being brave, because
to people like you, to people like me, there's no
other way to be but just be ourselves. We don't
know how not to be the way that we are.
And I see that in you, and I see myself
when you speak. So I think that that takes a
lot of guts. I know that they may not seem
so because you're like, oh, this is the way that
(49:56):
I've always been. But it takes a lot of guts
to be able to say, you know, this is who
I am and choose you every time. I've learned a
lot in this conversation. You've been a very inspirational person
sitting in this room here with us today, and um,
I can't wait for people to hear what you have
to say. To keep freaking because because we need to
(50:19):
hear it. We need to hear it. I wish that
there was podcasts and people like you when I was
growing up. I am thrilled and honored with this invitation
speaking to you girls. See you since many years ago
or a few years ago, I met you and before that,
I've seen you. I admire you both in every aspect
and they love the girls girls have for each other.
(50:42):
Please nurture it, bring it up because you have been
an inspiration to me. But you are for me, the
representation and the reference for all these girls that we're
trying to give them a chance, an opportunity, and a
platform that they can excel their maximum potential girls girls
(51:03):
with in our own world. In the spaceship, I didn't
even have to buckle up. I think I've been flying floating.
I learned from you every day. I admire you. I
love you from one of my heart. We love me.
(51:26):
This is a Moonflower production in partnership with I Hearts
Michae will do that podcast network. For more podcasts, visit
the I Heart Radio app or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
I gave you the same. Let's go to the mission one.
Trying to do that. Ready for a theme unch. We
(00:30):
are here with the mother fucking Eglantina Lamsona. Introduce yourself, baby,
Welcome grass. I am so happy to be in the
spaceship and our own world. But now it's your world.
(00:53):
Is my world to it's all our Are we sharing
the world? Yes, yes we are the world. We had
the children, so sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, but I'm
so happy. Thank you, thank your girls. Congratulations. I love
what you're doing. Thank you, and thank you for having me.
I'm super delighted. So introduce yourself. Who are you? What
(01:14):
do you do? Men? Venezuelan um white female disclaimer, white
female human um that grew up in the middle of
the Amazon and Jungle came to Miami as I claimed
myself to be a Miami Founding member, back to study
marine biology and work with my brother in a construction
(01:37):
company that they have. So I was left out on
the trailer picking up the phone and saying, oh wait,
good mornings at home with said it, and but I
appreciate it because I learned a lot there and I
also learned that with the family business, it was not
going to be my my It wasn't my thing, no,
(01:58):
because they're always asking, you know, ask your brother, whatever
your brother says, and they will never take my opinion
in uh in consideration. So I needed economic freedom and
this cowboy boots always remember me about my economic freedom.
If my father is an explorer, but he is a
cowboy in his in his spirit, in his essence. And
(02:22):
he had about two pers of cowboy boots. And every
time I asked him for money to go buy food
at the school, he will make me clean his boots
equivalent to one dollar. And I was like, I'm tired
of cleaning boots of like, you know, Ford Models. That
(02:43):
offered me a contract for modeling, and I best. I
left my brother with an assistant and left in New
York City to try luck. And that was a whole
different story. But in the few months then I I
went around the world, did a lot of campaigns and
(03:04):
got a job at MTV. So you hosted, right, I
had hosted some awards, the first Venezuelan ever an MTV. Yeah,
and I had a daily show called a Way Whale
Way because in a pastrophe, right, it was going butter Wait,
(03:28):
it was because of your name, egg everything. Thank you
Tom Preston, Mr. Founder of MTV. Now he put the
name on the show just because of me. But no,
it was just a coincidence. But I don't think things
are a coincidence. In Mexico the time to chill, so
(03:50):
it was a simon for like four or five PM
that you had this, uh, this window to see Iglantina
was just Eglantina and Benetas with God amazing. But that
that voice of television. It's super different now that we
have podcasts and everybody's looking for a much more honesty
(04:11):
and conversation conversation. How old were you then? And they were, well, dide,
I was twenty years old. Wow, man rock star twenty
years old. And I worked in MTV almost ten years
until I was twenty seven and then I got fired.
You're fired after seven years? Everything I gave it given
(04:37):
to you guys, best years. No instead Project Runway if
we host the project in America Los Angeles, when and
in between when? But electing is give it to you
(05:00):
open not say like on Weinstein blah blah blah. What
have you opened up about? That? Is that something that
you've talked about? Mena not not really open up because
I say it to everybody, and I said it before
even the Me Too movement, and uh, what I love
(05:20):
is that I have my my values or my and
today I think I was like, you give so many
blow jobs or whatever to anybody? Might you know maybe
you're maybe you should have reconsidered. But nobody passed the
memo You're gonna have this meeting with this person. I'm
twenty three years old and this person tells me come
(05:42):
to up to my hotel and he's insinuating all this
dirty language, and I was like, dude, have you seen
yourself in a mirror? I don't do I don't do
that first. Basically, it's not even don't take it personal.
It's that you have reasons you're missing too, and you
have one extra cosa he had a guy that worked
(06:06):
with him that until today, I've never said this before,
but it's the biggest stalker that I had in my life.
It's obsessive and every week or every month, they said,
they sent me emails and some firstpond correspondence that it's
just nasty and horrible, but salo, So I called the
(06:30):
lawyer and you have to take into court and the
thing that I think is that they want to see
you in in a chord, fighting or losing or winning.
That's what they want. And yeah, so I became in
a social entrepreter. It is not because of that at all.
I had a a always and means for me, I
(06:52):
think growing on the growing up in the Amazons and
the values and the education that my parents taught me,
is you know, you serve you the satisfaction of giving
something back to the world. Leandre asked me the other day,
like nope, So like why You've always been a revel
and then you kind of change and I found my
(07:13):
purpose And when you find a purpose, then famous. Oh
she was famous because she worked in MTV, And I
was like, dude, I was famous my whole life because
I'm the only daughter in a family of two big
brothers and they love me and I feel the center
of attention always. But that has nothing to do like
(07:34):
with the idea or the concepts that we have of
what is the recognition or the respect that you will
have in life? Okay, I want to talk more about
you keep the Amazon, Amazon, you grow up in the Amazon.
Can we go back to that. What do you mean
by that? Why was your upbringing different that you have
a lot of tattoos, right, I ain't got no tattoos.
(07:54):
I have a bunch of scars from a jour a monkey.
That'll get into a Why why how did you go
out there? My father is a pilot and he's an explorer.
He loves nature and uh and my mother felt Malli
loved with my father. She's very much of a city girl.
But both of them. I don't know why he decided
(08:17):
to go to the middle of the Venezuelan Amazons. You know,
there's no cars, there's no rabers. You have to nic
I know forever. But he was a pilot, so you know,
he loved Africa. He got married, had two kids. He
couldn't go as aften, let's go to the Amazons. And
he was looking always. He had Alexander bon Humbolt as
his biggest hero, so he was always looking for natural
(08:40):
recipes and his things, like he was going to find
the Fountain of Youth and he said he found it
because he's eighty years old, and he said, I still
get it up. There you go. So my mom was
a co pilot the nine months I was in her belly.
I was born in Caracas. But then I was raised
in the middle of this on goals with only one
(09:02):
gift or one uh toy that was a soccer ball.
And my neighbors you have to go three hours up
in the canoe and there was no GPS. So he
will like fly or walk or walk and walk and walk.
And then we find this Genomami's tribes, the Javaranas Obama
is their fourteen different indigenous tribes in in the Amazon,
(09:25):
in the Venezuelan Amazon, much more all over and some
of them so there was not a pr that came
and say hey, listen, Mr Zing and his family are
coming to meet you. So when you see the casic
little little hockey, the latrioe lombre blancotoria, that doesn't come
(09:49):
usually in his throughout history, you see the results that
they're not the best results. And I was with my
little soccer ball and these kids did not speak the
same language, the not we're not dressed like me, did
not have the same costumes or traditions. But through that
soccer ball we forge and formed this really strong bonds
(10:10):
of collaboration of friendship. They taught me everything about the
jungle and about their traditions, and culture and the same thing.
It was an exchange and it's sharing of of knowledge
that until today I have in the biggest place in
my heart. It taught me one is that we're not
the center of the world. When you see that based
(10:32):
that vast nature and that jungle that eats used you know,
it's jungle. So you see how humanity that we think
that we're going to save the planet and we have
the sego and blah blah blah. The planet is going
to still be here. We need to start working and
saving ourselves and being more collaborative, more empathetic. The other
thing is that teamwork. Man. You see all these animals
(10:55):
and nobody's like taking anybody's space. Everybody has their own space,
Everything has collaboration, everything has a balance. And the third
one was the power of being a woman. As drinking
that water, you know how important it comes a lama
wonder woman in Polita. So that was a little bit
(11:18):
of my upbringing and and surrounded with love. My parents
are very, very loving, and they taught me not to
focus on the price of things, but on the value
of things, so that I kept always But you said
something that that you touched upon that I want to
go there. You said that the one toy that you
(11:38):
had was a soccer ball, and you are aside from
all the things that you are, you're a philanthropist and
you have this non for profit called Can you share
with us? Because I think it's incredible what you're doing
with that. A little bit about that, absolutely, I'll sure
a lot with you, and thank you for asking me. So,
as I said, my first it was a soccer ball,
(12:01):
and at a very young age, and understood the power
of the universal language, and not only about soccer, because
at that time, I don't think I realized it was
like soccer, but I just understood that we have as
humans much more, much more things in common that what
divides us at the end. We're all different. We have
(12:22):
different religion, culture, thoughts, but we have the same feelings,
the same dreams, the same challenges. So instead of dividing,
which is the typical easiest way divide and conquer, the
hardest thing is to bring people together, to people to
respect each other, to people to learn from each other.
(12:43):
And you know, you always learned if you're open to it.
And we have this politicians and society and rules. And
I grew up in the Amazons until I was twelve
years old. Then I went to school and I was
always in the principle's office because they kept telling me
I couldn't do this. I was free with the ma
cha they blah blah blah. And that's why I started
the organization. I had a show on MTV twenty five
(13:06):
million views of kids or young kids looking at you,
trying to adopt the music taste that you have, the
fashion this and my country was going through not zero
dialogue and a social discomposition that was bringing people into
the nastiest, most violent, and most miserable lowest points of
(13:27):
their lives. And I did not want to take part
on the opposition, neither on the on the other side,
I just want to be a part of the solution.
So it was inevitable for me to think on that
moment in the Amazons with my little soccer ball, I
was like, that's a catalyst. I remember that we didn't
speak the same night, which were so different, and we
got along and we've bonded as friends and until today.
(13:51):
Blah blah blah blah. So I sent about seventy letters
to Bunkie Moon, which was the U N Secretary General
at that moment. Seven the seventeen seventy was intense and
very intense. Bankymoon. They sent me to people from press
(14:12):
and I was like, I'm a DJ for MTV, and
it was like, well, our ambassadors are like Oscar winning,
Grammy winners, blah blah blah. But you seem very enthusiastic,
so let's have a meeting. Then we had a meeting
and I was expressing all the things I want to do.
And the United Nations is a beautiful thing. You know,
it was formed in Fundamento, where it established. It's always
(14:33):
good to remember that the humanity was about to be
wiped out, wiped out. Hitler had a whole idea of
what the race should be, so religion, this independent thinking
rights gone. But in any case, the United Nations have
(14:54):
a lot of politics and then diplomacy around and they
it's it's a huge institution. So to actually go to
tackle problems and solved in directly it becomes very frustrating
and I'm very impatient. So I was like, well, you're
not making any efforts for the Latin America. It's always
for the Middle East countries or for the African countries.
(15:16):
And he was like, you're driving me crazy. Just do
your thing aligned with us, and and let's see where
you do your first project. I recommend not to go
to your country for the first project. Go to the
hardest one in your region. Haiti has the most the
biggest challenges. So in two thousand and ten, I arrived
to Haiti in a January three and three days after
(15:39):
there was most devastating earthquake that you could ever imagine.
My whole team left, took the first plane. It's like,
by you, crazy person, stay here. And a photographer that
will never forget that came with us. It was documented
the whole thing. He stayed with you with me, and
you will see the humans in the most confused and
(16:04):
look at agony. And they were so misplaced and displaced
and confused, and violence started becoming. You know, people are desperate, stealing, killing,
and people around the world became a turn up to
help Haiti. And there was a whole campaigns and money
(16:24):
and medicine water which was very needed. But I will
never forget opening one of these soccer fields, the changing rooms,
and there was packed to the top of medicine and
heading us and vaccines or you know whatever. They we're giving.
But these people didn't know because that was not familiar
to them. And with my little soccer game, they was
(16:46):
familiar to them, something that they love and hey, did
they have religion? Soccer and capitos little like goats. It's
like the Indians say, treasure hows is one of the cabritos.
And they started connecting by themselves with the soccer match.
Oh you're fulanitos or you do conferatree, come work here
(17:09):
and they sent us the president Martelli, which was at
the moment the president in Haiti sends us started sending
people to the other smaller cities out of Porto Prince
so they didn't stay with all the debts and the
and the bodies and stuff. And that soccer match brought
them together and they started doing a chain of collaboration.
(17:30):
And then after that they we did a match with
for for Peace Day, which was just around the corner.
So after Haiti, it was my biggest challenge was going
to Venezuela. And then when I got to Venezuela. If
you know my country, have you been and I've been
to Venezuela. Okay, so arepas are Venezuelans not Colombians the oil.
(17:51):
And the biggest thing is that Miss Venezuela the beauty
Queen's page and Venezuela had they have won the big
all the Miss Universe. It's like the biggest institution. Everybody
stops to like see that in Auela to watch the
miss Miss Miss Venezuela, and I go to Peta, which
is a big famil and Caracas four million people that
(18:11):
live in unbearable conditions. Okay, the only opportunity is to
become a gangster or or or a drug leader or
something like that. And I asked because I wanted the
girls come play, and the trainer was like, no, girls
are complicated, typical thing. Girls didn't know how to manage
their emotions. They're complicated blas. Second other biggest challenge was
(18:37):
like girls that play soccer or lesbians or their tom
boys or you know, it's not a female sport. It's
not like really female oriented. And the third one was
the little girls. A hundred of them came, I don't
want to play football. I want to be a Miss Venezuela.
And I was like, okay, just by the measurements, you're
(18:58):
not gonna make it. So how what is what are
you gonna do with your life if that's your only
goal or your only you know, vision, because that's the
only thing that they think that you're going to be
recognized or accepted the power of reference. If you don't
see girls or women in positions, you will never dream
of being there. Who's going to be an engineer, who's
(19:18):
going to be a president? Who's going to be this?
Never super complic So I called my agent and I
was like, I need to host them Venezuela. He's like, oh,
are you kidding me? What you do is two weeks
from now, It's impossible. They gave me a part of
the show. It's a live show, and they gave me
the part of the women. The participants on the gowns
in Venezuela didn't even know. In any case, it's like
(19:45):
mismas and the teleprompter and your little ear thing. Yeah,
I pulled it off. I had a vision and and
I don't know where I have the gl really because
I went on and said miss Amazonada too, and I
(20:09):
went twenty five girls described them as warriors, as sports
person asa as well. They wanted to call me preson
live show. I have seven thousand people in the stadium
and it's a live show. They're just like trying to
move it, but they couldn't. After the show, obviously, there
was no after party for me. There was like Elvis,
leave the building because they're gonna call you. And I
(20:30):
thought it was gonna be the end of my career.
They keep saying, oh, you don't look Venezuela. How do
they look or you don't look less with how does
that stereotized? What do you mean by that? And they
just you know, like destroy my I was like, I
was like an ostrich tweek. Two weeks after, three girls
signed up and we formed the first female league of
(20:52):
soccer in Venezuela. That's where I called the whole team,
and that's where Goalleloa's really was born because at the
beginning was a soccer program for peace, but not specifically
for girls. And then we created a curriculum with the
party athletes, psychologists Columbia University, the School of Economics, Jeffrey
(21:13):
Sachs did a whole case study of how every girl
that passes through our program is not only going to
get a project of life and all the soft skills
that are going to help them to have a dignify
life and become their leaders in their own community, independently
of your circumstances, but will also contribute not only to
the SDGs of the Sustainable Development Goals number five, which
(21:34):
is gender equality and inclusion, but they will also contribute
to closing that poverty gap that we have because they're
going to make better decisions incentive and they have a
sense of belonging man and they have a community. Girls
usually do not have a authority. So that's why Girls
with Balls were was born. I wrote Girls with Balls
(22:11):
and the United Nations that have a youth committee and
they invited me to be a speaker, and with all
my thing that I have inside of me, I was like,
I wrote girls with Balls because they should have bold,
because we always have balls. And girls were not the
best friends of girls who always are taught by a
way or another to be a competition, so we don't
(22:32):
support each other as mandor like as we should as humanity.
So I was like, and then Jeffrey Sachs heard it
and Sacchi and Sacchi, which was incredible. It's an incredible
one of one of the biggest ad agencies in the world.
It was like, you cannot go around the world for
raising with girls with balls. I was like, I disagree, No,
(22:54):
don't google it. It's changing. But if you google that thing,
nobody will give you a penny. Okay. So in any way, um,
they created a branding and they put that flower to
be very feminine and very attractive and collodes and with
that we've been able to engage a lot of girls.
We have programs in six communities and we're working in
(23:17):
Colombia in Chucko, which is a very remote town in
the border of Colombia and Panama. They have a lot
of potential. They're beautiful. Girls there are trapped by Gerria, Paramila,
Attle Minory not go Trafica. So your only options are
those because otherwise how do you survive. You bring food
(23:37):
to the table. We're giving them an opportunity. And these
girls came just because the T shirt was pretty. They
started liking the thing. You know, I can't imitate that
accent because it's not Costanio in a different accent. And
and then about three months after I went there and
the girl goes like senor no or Rida media. And
(24:13):
then four months after, out of all the six programs,
they were chosen by Catar Foundation to go to the
Child's World Tournament Street Child World Cup, which is being
held in Doha in the frame of the World Cup.
FIFA two Colombia with a male team did not qualify
to go do that, and the girls are going to
(24:35):
represent Colombia in this incredible multi experience, multicultural experience. They're
going to be able to play with thirty six teams
from other parts of the world, travel for the first time.
They've never been on a plane. They're traveling for the
first time fourteen thousand kilometers to the world to a
place that is very different from everything in the middle
(24:57):
of the East of certain even different than and in
three thousand media as well last So they have not
only to play and they're gonna go be on the
field and they're being trained to you know, make the
best performance and hopefully they'll come back with the cup.
There's no there's no flights, so we have there's in Columbia,
(25:18):
there's a thing called the um Lambo Lancia Idea the
air Ambulance. So there are private plane owners that they
lend or they do the flights for free for organizations
that are going to be helped to communities that they
don't have access. So there's this incredible pilot, Bombo bomboa
(25:39):
my lawyer. He comes to Choko and obviously I go
with a knife with the taser, and he's super nervous
because you have all the cops looking at you. And
I was like and uh. And he flew as a
co pilot. On the way there and on the way
back we're also you know, excited, and the girls their
(26:01):
emotion and the news was like super a happy thing.
And on the on the flight, you have this ear pieces,
so you hear the conversation on the back and I
hear Ricardo saying he's gonna kill me, like telling the
coach no mina, Like the girls are super nervous. You
don't have to give them any stress. They don't have
(26:23):
to win. Just this is already already win already. When
I hear that when I was at the co pilot,
so I went to the plain like what they don't
want to what? I was like, what everybody? And I
was like, they don't need to what It was like,
(26:43):
I'm not saying that, but they don't need to win.
They don't want to. What I was like listening to
the parker, I'm not bringing ten girls, fifteen of them
all the way to cat I need to fundraise all
the money because for a small organization. I'm not a philanthropist.
I've never started this organizing philanthropist. I'm social entrepreneur. What
is that? Because philanthropists the definition is people that have
(27:04):
a lot of money and they make the private foundations.
So I am not that famous or that rich and
the famous people they do it so you can evade
taxes and or because you have the commitment to do it,
which is fantastic, but individual, which it's I make my
(27:24):
ends meet meet every every month and with my work
to be able to do that, it's a it's a
lot of fundraising a lot, and you get a hundred
doors closed. Because most people when they do charity, I
don't call it charity. I didn't because of solidarity. It's
very different when you have charities because you have pity
(27:45):
for other people and it's your ego. You feel like
I am giving them the poor people. They're not poor.
Poor is the state of mind, and you have it
with trillionaires. These girls are have the biggest delusion, even
though they were like the tournament. It's called street child
for kids that have no there in the streets, and
the girls in they told me today the review, They're like,
(28:08):
why are we going there? We're not in the streets.
Were not from the streets. I have a house. We're
not from the streets. And even though if it's it's
a place with a lot of challenges, their smile, they lousien,
the way that you know you can evolve, and the
(28:30):
sense of belonging. They're going to represent their country. I'm not.
It's not nothing a little detail. So it's not charity
and it's not a philanthropist. The philanthropists they give money
because they have money, so they give money. So social entrepreneur.
Social entrepreneur is when you start doing instead of having
revenue in your business, your revenue is measured by KPI.
(28:52):
So the impact that you do in I love, thank you, Wow, Okay,
it's it's it's so important because I think we're in
a great moment in life that we have the technology
that connects us that after COVID, I think every person
is looking much more for a purpose. But if as
a young person they tell you already, they're neglecting you
(29:14):
from the space of the field, from the space of
being a woman from like the minorities, or it's a
world like it's much easier not to there to dream
because you don't want to fail. So it's easier to
sit down and say, oh, the world's a piece of ship.
It's never going to change. You're not gonna do anything.
Humans are like that, societio. It's a miracle. Life is
(29:40):
a miracle out of this galaxy that we're on the ship,
the Milky Way. The planet Earth is the only one
that has life, is the only one that has the humans,
and we all come from Lucy or from whatever we believe.
It's not a real agent Lucy came, but it's the
only one that has a lot more life out there
and other galaxies. But well maybe okay, fine, listen, we're temporary.
(30:05):
Air of humanity. Is to think that we are the
center of this thing. Yes, we do think that we're
the center of the universe. We do, and for now
proven we have no life around in any other of
the planets in our Milky Way. But um, this moment
that we have, it's temporary, and we don't appreciate it.
(30:26):
We think that it's all about work, and it's all
about if fame and money and we have our priorities indoctrination.
You have such a I don't I use this word lightly,
and I hope you know that. But the privilege of
being raised where you were raised, because you're able to
(30:47):
look at this from this perspective versus a lot of
us were put in the machine since the way before
we can even form a sentence. I mean, I was
in school since I was like, I wasn't pretty care,
I was daycare. So those lessons that, especially in the
United States, like capitalism and all of these things teach
us of like work is taught to us as a priority.
(31:10):
But you're absolutely right it's not. But I have a
question for you. So, even though you went through all
the systematic upbringing and education, why are you so curious
what makes that sparkle wake up? Like? What what? What
woke up that sparkle on you? By asking? My mom?
Is not conventional? Okay, So I give a lot of
(31:32):
credit to I give a lot of credits of my yeah,
to my upbringing. Um, because she always is, she's her
own rebel. She always asked the question, you know, and
UM because she kind of had to a ford her
own way being a mom in eighteen and all of that,
she never really did things the conventional way. She always
(31:52):
had to ford her own path, and so I saw
that as the example growing up, and she encouraged me
to challenge the things I was taught at school. She
encouraged me to talent, to challenge the thoughts that other
people presented me. She never tried to form my way
of thinking. And so I'm lucky to say that I
grew up an environment that allowed me to develop my
(32:12):
own individual approach to things. But it's constantly evolving all
the time. But because that's the thing, people talk about reinvention,
and I don't think it's about reinventing. I think it's
about evolving, as you just said. And we all might
be victims of a system because they just want to
either it's religion or right said the politics. They want
to shape us for guide us and keep us with
(32:35):
like chickens with no head. But there is people that
not necessarily and have to grow up in the middle
of the jungle that have that curiosity. And I think
what you're doing with your conversation, what you do as
in yourself with your friends. I have the first time
being in the podcast, but I've spoken to you many times,
and you actually opened my mind in many other concepts
(32:55):
that I did not understand. And you know, as long
as you're open to learning, to finding, to having that
empathy to the curiosity, you will be able to evolve
and and change your points of view. I don't think
life is about blacks and white. It's a layers and
(33:17):
different kind of colors and different mathisis and we're so
different and variety of of everything. But at the same
time we have the same challenges. So let us all
work together, because that's why we promote football, why I
do football. No coincidence that the fifty five fortune woman.
(33:39):
I can never say it. I'm this legs like man.
They told me impossible, and I thought, I always read
I am possible. Legs start. Can you say that one
more time? They say impossible and I read I am possible.
So it's like joy Jem mentioned concept. Okay, you know, Intendia,
(34:04):
I'm open, and I asked her tell me teach me
because I don't understand. Then she is actually very eloquent
and very patient to be able to explain. I was like,
you know what, I hit walls though, I mean like
I do that that people don't want to dream because
they're afraid of failure. It's easier to sit down and
(34:25):
say everything ship you guys are bad. They are good
and d But when you give yourself the opportunity to
dream and to fail, to become a learning and a
growing part of your evolving or to tomento um, you
(34:51):
bring a whole other different things to And I think
what we promote through goodas what I do, other podcast
what I do, and every day that I see somebody
and I'm not always good, I like, can I ask
you a question? What do you feel has been your
biggest failure and what have you learned from it? Many
of them? Is there one that keeps you up at night? See?
(35:16):
I think I've lost a lot of opportunities, because opportunities
come to you in life at some point. But maybe
just sucking weinstein take a different level in this how
in in a whole different position. But maybe I wouldn't
have feeled as good as I feel with myself. So
(35:38):
at night nothing keeps me up. I snore and I
sleep second and my consciousness clean and clear, and I
do get white hair because I have the fundraise for
the girls that you're gonna go to Kata and people
just want to, you know, help the charities about the
kids with cancer, which they all need help, but what
(36:01):
about the population or potential that are healthy, that are
their stock with no opportunities. You're gonna leave them because
you're gonna fix the It's there's the pity that people have,
you know, the dog, the commercials of the dogs that
are like so when you see this strong girl, like
(36:22):
they're like, why do we want to sponsored girls in soccer?
That's like they get afraid. And you know the thing
with soccer and female soccer, which is a very important
point in the They don't mean how could we evolve
or the machiesmore, it's soccer. The first the first game
(36:44):
of soccer was played by girls in England while they
were in the war. And then FIFA was stop. The
first soccer match ever played was played in England with women.
And then FIFA established and then FIFA became ruled by
men and this FIFA has more member states than the
(37:07):
United Nations. Tai one did not exist to only every
four years that they put their shirt and go to
the world. It is the biggest and most popular sport
in the world. The world its chairs, it's passed it
with a bout of football soccer here, but better this,
(37:29):
This institution is so big and so powerful you can
never imagine. And if you even if you don't understand
the power of photo because you don't like it. Everybody
has an Instagram. The most followed account on Instagram is
not Miley Cyrus of the karaction is because it brings hope.
M you said something really true, which is that you
(38:07):
have to really take a step back and say, oh,
who do you trust? You know, having your faith in
somebody it's the biggest thing, whether it be in business,
in relationship, in life. You know, even today we were
talking about when or confionti confionti? What does that mean?
(38:27):
I like, I don't even trust my fucking shadow, the
on on the on my journey and my life. I've
had the closest people to be betrayed me treason. It's
super sad. I'm there with you, super super sad. I've
(38:48):
had my best friend trying to assume me. Yeah. But
trusting it's it's it's important because if not otherwise we're
not going to trust ourselves. And you need to trust
yourself first and trusting anybody else. So when your intuition
is telling you this person, So maybe they are useful
(39:10):
in that moment because you need them to play that part.
Everybody always keep your guards up or always keep your
eyes open. And unfortunately human beings as I don't even
think any other animal does that, but human beings do
that because you're the stird way for them to find
their success. So when when you're in a position like that,
(39:32):
everybody wants you, you know, to get to your mother
or to get to you, or to get to this,
or to get to your environment, or to get to
you and this, and they want me to get to
Ricky Martin or to get to this. You don't. Many
times I get people calling me to the Yankee. But again,
(39:54):
like I have to play Devil's advocate here because I
read King Nize struggle, and I recognize that some people,
I think that that's the best way. Some people really
will see somebody like Emily, will see somebody like you
as a window of opportunity, and they're like, if I
don't take my chance right now, my window is going
(40:15):
to close. And you know, in that moment they're misinformed
because Emily happens not to be a window of opportunity.
For anybody who just wants to jump in. However, she
does happen to be somebody who if she believes in
you and she loves you, she will support you the
way that we all are. But I tell her all
the time, I'm like, you don't forgive them because they
(40:36):
don't know better. They think that that's what they should
be doing, and they think that that's the way to
do it. And it's okay that you don't let them
into your soco, you set your boundary, you say you don't,
thank you very much, goodbye. I think that the thing
about trust that you were saying, Lantina, a lot of
us confuse trust um with expectation. So we think I
(40:58):
trust you, and so I trust that you're going to
do or show up the way that I expect you to.
And that's wrong because people have their own goals, dreams, ideas,
agenda does so trust is this is an icky thing,
and I think you said it perfectly because it's more
about us, more about understanding that we are not islands,
(41:21):
that we as humans are meant to live in communities,
were meant to extend our hands to each other and
help each other, and deciding you know who you let
into what areas of your life. But so long as
you're not doing that expecting them to show a certain way,
because that is not trust, it's just expectation, and people
will disappoint you. Expectation is a route for every heartache.
(41:46):
Ye what I under But but my point is that
you have to be able to have the Ferencier differentiates.
Yea perfectly exferentiate. So I grew up in a family
in Venezuela, are very well known, big entrepreneurs, big part
of society, and I didn't I didn't want to go
(42:08):
to a place to say that everybody will tell me, Oh,
you're the nephew of car you're the niece of You're
the daughter of Herman. So I went to Barcelona, Spain,
far away the book for modeling with a name that
nobody knew. Zing in Barcelona was not known. There was
(42:31):
no They didn't know Herman, they didn't know Carolina, didn't
know Margarita. Are you really the niece of Carlina? Oh wow,
look at that. I thought you were just like throwing
a name out there. But I didn't want to be
the daughter or the At that time, there was no
social media. You cannot get away from it. You cannot
(42:53):
get away from it at all. I had the opportunity
to be able to build myself with something nobody is like,
who the fund is, sing, nobody using. At least your
mother loves you and supports you, and your father as
well the relationship with you. But I think they're all
very loving and caring. Mine were daring and bitter. When
(43:19):
the pandemic happened, I had my first panic attack. I've
never had a panic attack in my life. And I
called my father, who is a very basic guy, and
he gave me the best advice, because follow your heart.
And everybody tells you a strategy and this, and you
have to have I think you have to have a plan.
(43:41):
You have to have a strategy. But if that strategy
doesn't have as hard, it doesn't work. That you you
stop being yourself because of a inheritance or because of
a family, or because you're gonna say at the end,
your parents will love you, and if they don't, their assholes,
(44:04):
and that you're not, you don't. You don't need anywhere,
You don't need to listen their mothers who drove their children. Okay,
just because they're your parents does send me anything and
friends you how many friends I do have a lot.
I appreciate friendship a lot and value and treasure. And
my friends are like my family. Better. We have older
(44:28):
friends at which I learned a lot, and some of
our acquaintances some are your dear friends. But but be
true to yourself and never stop daring to dream and
to doing. Or you know, when I said I was
going to do girls soccer as a foundation and in
(44:48):
vulnerable communities, my dad, who never agree would be working
in MTV, who actually disinherited me before I started model.
The guy was like, please do not do that. Stay
with a heap piece and MTV was like, girls soccer,
this is never gonna happen, and they're gonna kidnap. You
don't even call me, And now he called me. Last year,
(45:11):
I was driving with a friend of mine from Lisbon
to marid This guy called me randomly in December and
he says, hey, listen, you know I want to tell
you that I'm super proud of you. That I know
you've gone through a lot and then I've made your
life very hard. But you know, I'm very very proud
of you. And when you earned that respect, I wanted
(45:33):
like my little tear was coming here. My dad has
not been like you're that. My dad is an angel
and see, but you are amazing and find your way.
You are no no, no compliment, but for the people
who are listening, really give yourself a chance. There, yourself
(45:54):
to dream and if you fail, you learn. The second
soccer they say, you never you never lose, because either
you win or you learn. And that's what we're doing.
And we're here together. We're not leaving anybody behind, even
though either we're intimate friends or friends occasionally or acquaintances.
There's a community and there's a support and there's people
(46:16):
that are listening. And when I started the podcast, a
friend of mine told me he's not really a friend,
he's an acquaintance but a very smart guy. And he
was like, well, you know, now there's so many podcasts
out there like how you're gonna grab the attention? You
cannot wait until the twentieth episode. This has two episodes,
and I was like, what am I going to talk about?
(46:37):
What I'm gonna talk and this thing that I had
inside of me of how can it be true to
myself or how can I contribute to the conversation for
not just to be a So tell me about your
next records, tell me about your shoes. How can I
contribute really to humanity to be able to alive? Alleviate
that pressure that we have as a society to be able.
(46:58):
Everybody wants say, be included or you know, have that
social social path whatever. Men, be you and if you're
a rebel and people don't like you, and not everybody
has to like you. But honestly, it was the first policy.
And I was able to have the gods and one
day I had two classes of this whiskey and it's
(47:21):
a monologue. I don't have a script. And I was
able to to communicate and tell people have experiences of things,
and I'm super fucking honest men. And I think that
I don't want to negotiate that, But I also think
sometimes I I Dermonetta and to be an example or
(47:44):
role wonderful this young girls. I don't think I do
the best, but I'm trying on my way. I think
I think I failed. You asked me how many times
I failed? Where is That's amazing? That's what I'm saying.
Like we've had so many role models that have been
sold to us as these like emblems of perfection, never
(48:07):
a hair out of place, never nail undone, always saying
the right things, always doing the right things, always being
in a good mood. Always. I can bird the whole alphabet.
You can bird the whole alphabet, okay, exactly. So I
think that what we need are more role models like you,
people who are able to say, I am not perfect.
I have bad days. There are days where I'm not
(48:28):
proud of my behaviors. There are days that I am
but I am learning and I accept that I make mistakes.
Those are the role models that we need, because those
little girls are looking up at you and seeing opportunities
to be forgiving with themselves, to accept that they aren't perfect,
that they're not here to be perfect. They're here to
learn and to grow and to be humans. And humans
(48:49):
are so faulty, and that's okay, that's what that's what
we are, that's what we're learning from. But there are
things that you can actually you can get better. You
can't can't at it right. And in other words, and
put yourself in positions that are very uncomfortable or I
make people feel uncomfortable sometimes because I say the truth
and they don't want to hear. And when I see
(49:12):
people that don't feel comfortable and they give like this
statements of like words that are not that has no
meaning right there are diplomatic, they're just like a don't
even but I agree with you. I'm right there. And
then I lose it. But then when I lose it,
I lose right. When I lose it, I lose Thank you,
(49:35):
Thank you for coming, thank you for being brave, because
to people like you, to people like me, there's no
other way to be but just be ourselves. We don't
know how not to be the way that we are.
And I see that in you, and I see myself
when you speak. So I think that that takes a
lot of guts. I know that they may not seem
so because you're like, oh, this is the way that
(49:56):
I've always been. But it takes a lot of guts
to be able to say, you know, this is who
I am and choose you every time. I've learned a
lot in this conversation. You've been a very inspirational person
sitting in this room here with us today, and um,
I can't wait for people to hear what you have
to say. To keep freaking because because we need to
(50:19):
hear it. We need to hear it. I wish that
there was podcasts and people like you when I was
growing up. I am thrilled and honored with this invitation
speaking to you girls. See you since many years ago
or a few years ago, I met you and before that,
I've seen you. I admire you both in every aspect
and they love the girls girls have for each other.
(50:42):
Please nurture it, bring it up because you have been
an inspiration to me. But you are for me, the
representation and the reference for all these girls that we're
trying to give them a chance, an opportunity, and a
platform that they can excel their maximum potential girls girls
(51:03):
with in our own world. In the spaceship, I didn't
even have to buckle up. I think I've been flying floating.
I learned from you every day. I admire you. I
love you from one of my heart. We love me.
(51:26):
This is a Moonflower production in partnership with I Hearts
Michae will do that podcast network. For more podcasts, visit
the I Heart Radio app or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Gemeny Hernandez
Emily Estefan
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