May 27, 2026 • 44 mins
On this episode of Locatora Radio, Diosa and Mala welcome Brenda La Latina for a conversation about celebrating culture through fashion, landing major brand opportunities, and joining Latin Nation’s Peligrosa HQ.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Loki Hola la Loka Modees. You're listening to Locata Radio.
I'm Diosa and I'm Mala. Welcome to another capitulo.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Today we have a very special guest in studio. We're
talking to Brenda Lalatina about celebrating her culture through fashion,
the story behind her joining the cast of Belli Grosa
HQ on Latination, and how she's healing her inner child
after growing up undocumented in Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
This is Brenda la Latina and you're listening to Locatra Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We're so excited to have you on the show today.
It's an honor.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I just have to say that you have been killing
it over the course of the past few months, over
the course of the past year.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
I'm sure forever.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You've been killing it, but people are really starting to notice.
I mean, you are everywhere. You're on Latination, You're doing
campaigns with Adidas and Trustume. And I saw this really
beautiful video on Instagram of you and your son, and
I sent it to Viosa and I was like, we
have to have her on the show, Like who is she?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
She is blowing up, So congratulation.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Thank you, That's such a compliment because I feel like
that video is a testament of a little taste of
who I really am, you know. So for you guys
to have me on here to actually share my story
and who I am, I've never I've been asked, but
it's never been like where I can, like where I
have control, you know, yeah, how I tell my story.
So I really appreciate it. I'm honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Can you say more about that, about how that Adida's
campaign and that video really represents who you really are?
What is it about that video and all the visuals
and storyline that came together.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
So I feel like, first of all, shout out to
Adidas because they really let me have creative full creative control,
which is very rare in this industry. So they were like,
you can, you know, come up with your creative concept
and you know, pitch it to us and we'll go
from there. To keep it true to who you are,
don't change anything, make it about you. So I was like,
I can either go the rout of my mother, mother daughter,
(02:06):
where I can go mother son. So I was like, Oh,
let me share with the world a little bit about
who I really am. So I was like, we'll go
with this, and I was like, I feel like this
one was for my DOT dreamers, Like I really wanted
it to be for them, because I feel like we're
so overlooked and not really given many opportunities. It's very hard.
So I was like, how do I attach this to
(02:28):
me being an immigrant growing up here my entire life
because I didn't recently get my permanent residency until maybe
like four years ago, And also trying it to like
why we come here right because we're like the what
is it? The whole thing right now is like that
we're bad people, right, that we come here, we still jobs,
we do these bad things or whatever. So I was like,
(02:51):
how do I explain to the world that we're just
here trying to give the next generation of it or life,
you know, and explaining like that the jersey in the
game is more than just the game, you know, so
like for dreamers, like we know what it is to dream,
especially away from home, you know. So I just wanted
everyone to understand, like to be proud of where you
come from, to be proud to be an immigrant, to
(03:12):
be proud to be a dreamer, and to dare to dream,
you know, and like to kind of show like if
I could do it, you could do it too, Like
you don't necessarily have to, you know, have the privilege
of being born here to like make it like you
can make it.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
You just said so much in that statement.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
There's so much to unpack, so much to talk about.
So I want to go back to you. You were
on DAKA and when did you find out that you
were undocumented?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Came as a shock. I think my mom really tried
to protect me, and I love her for that, but
it was very sad because I was like, you know,
when you get to the age where you're able to
work in high school and I was like, you know,
we grew up really poor, so I was like I
never really got to get the best shoes, Like I
had to wear them all year around one parent. That's
all you get, you know. And I grew up before siblings,
so I was like, oh, I can finally work now.
(04:00):
Like we're all at the mall getting our at the
time paper applications because that's what it was, and everybody's
like calling their mom like, oh, like I don't know
my social so let me call my mom, Like, oh,
let me call my mom, and she's like oh miha
I almost you know, like I can't find that, and
I'm like, okay, like I'm just gonna get my when
I get home. Then I get home and like my
whole world was just turned upside down. She's like, you
(04:20):
don't have papers, you're not born here, you don't have
a social so I'm thinking, like I have plans to model,
to go to college, to like travel the world, like
everything just like hit and in that moment that like
my life is just not going to be what I
thought it was, you know. And she was very like,
you can't tell your friends, you can't tell anybody, like
(04:41):
they could deport us. So we're not even supposed to
be here, so you need to be very quiet about that,
you know. And I was just kind of like after that.
The next day I went to school, I thought like
do they know, Like, oh my god, they're looking at me,
like do they know I'm in legal? Do I look
at legal? And like at that time, it was like okay,
phrases like being called the wet bag of beanner, they
didn't care, Teachers didn't correct people getting called that was
(05:01):
like it was fine. It was like looked down upon
not being born here. So I was just very afraid
and very like depressed, and like everyone was talking about
college and I was faking it. Yeah, I can't wait
to apply to all these colleges too, like even though
I need, Like what am I gonna do? How am
I gonna work? That God didn't exist at the time,
so I'm like, how am I gonna make money? Like
(05:22):
to survive? Like it was just like so you know,
I had to do what I had to do for
some time after graduating, like under the table and going
to college wasn't easy for me because it was like
I tried, but we were charged as foreign foreigners, like
it's a foreigner student fee. It's so much more expensive.
So I just couldn't survive, and like go to college.
(05:43):
At the same time, we don't get financial aid, we
don't get benefits, we don't get any of that. And
we have a number called an I like an eating
it I N And that's kind of how we work,
like how we pay taxes, so we have to pay taxes,
but we can't work. So it's just like it was tough.
It was tough. It was hard.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Were there other students like you that you knew of?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
No? Because I think At the time, everything was like hush,
keep it under wraps. We just couldn't talk about it.
It was like, you know, the things in the Latin family,
like Latino households, like let's Coo, Sesson, Sablan certing. You know,
you keep sweep them under the rug. And I think
that's why as an adult, like coming out of that,
I feel like so prideful now, like I'm not like
gonna be ashamed to tell people like I'm an immigrant,
(06:26):
even when I get my paperwork, I'm an immigrant, like
I was not born here, like I'm from Mexico, even
though I was raised here my whole life, Like my
mom crossed off order with me at twenty two days old.
She wasn't even fully healed from having me trying to escape,
you know, seek asylum. So it was just like the
city raised me out from here.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You know, when did that switch happened for you? When
you went from I can't tell anyone. I'm afraid that
someone might find out to I'm proud to share that
I'm an immigrant, I was formally undocumented and I'm here,
but that he raised me, Like how did you get
from that point from the first point of being afraid
to being very proud.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
When we had our first black president, Barack Obama, that
was like wow, like for me brown black, Like to me,
it's like wow, like finally a president that gets said
that I feel seen. He introduced TAKA, he approved it,
we got it, and I finally felt a sense of hope,
of sense not of not being suicidal and like saying
(07:28):
like maybe I don't want to be here, you know there,
maybe there's hope. I got approved, finally got my permit
to work. I was like, yes, you know. But people
think that TAKA is like, oh, you get your permit
to work, It's all good, Like, no, you have anxiety
every two years is it going to go away? Are
they going to renew it? Are they going to take
it away? Are they going to not approve you? Like
(07:48):
they look for every little reason to like not grant
you that.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And it's very expensive and you have to file every
two years.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
You have to file every two years. Luck, there's nonprofit
organizations like Shirla and Goddessen who have helped me so much.
My entire step of the way. Gotta send a laid
so really is known for to help like a lot
of Central Americans seeking asylum and anything could be any
kind of you so that you need. So they had
a lot of waivers, thank god. So if you weren't,
(08:17):
like because it's like, how do you pay for something
when you can't work? You don't allow me to work,
but you want me to pay like two hundred, three
hundred and five hundre dollars for an application. So luckily
they were very helpful and like waiver fees and stuff
like that. But there are certain things that you just
kind of wait and you have to pay out of
pocket and you just have to buy the money and
then just be broke for two weeks.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So you and you talked about like the different types
of work that you did to survive. And clearly you're
a fashion girl. It goes without saying you're a fashion girl,
you're a beauty girl. Has that been part of your
like survival story and your hustle story.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, I feel like watching my mom growing up, like
doing hair for all the ninas in the apartment complexes,
like come over here, you're gonna help me, You're gonn
be My sister I was her assistant and I was
always there, like finishing the braid, finishing like the little
touches on the girls for like the graduations or whatever
they had. So she was like that girl for the apartment,
like you need your hair done, you call my mom,
(09:12):
you know. And I think with that, I was like
I want to do this, like I could do hair,
like this is my thing. So I hustled. I did
hair in my house. I showed up to people's houses
to do their hair however I could do it, and
then I ended up getting a job at the mall.
I don't know if you ever saw those girls being
like come let me get you here with the straightener,
like I sold you that straightener for sure, So like
I would be either hustling and then they're like, you know,
(09:34):
we can pay you cash, and I was like wait
what yes, like this is this is it? You know?
And I was like trying to go to cosmetology school
but it was so expensive, and I was like I'll
just do it this way, you know, and then I'll
do my house clients and then I'll do hair like that.
And I always knew like I want to do hair,
like this is what I want to do. This is
my path, and sadly, like when I got my work
(09:55):
from it, I still didn't half financially, I still couldn't
afford it. It wasn't like, oh my doga came through,
I can work now, everything's fine. I wasn't like that,
So I still had to face the reality that I
had to get a regular job. Work retail busts my
ass and just like the dreams had to.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Just go away until was there like a moment that
gave you, like your big break, your next step, your
breakthrough moment, because now you are you're in media and
you're in entertainment and still in fashion and doing brand.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Deals, like how did you cross that bridge?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So I was working in healthcare management. I finally got
like a job that you make your mom proud, right,
We're trying to lift for our parents, We're trying to
make them proud. And I was like healthcare manager, okay, cool,
like you know, like I'm doing this. But then the
pandemic hit, and I feel like all of us had
an epiphany during the pandemic, like life is too short,
kind of like to be like just nine to five clockwork.
(10:50):
Something just snapped. I knew I wasn't happy, and I
loved it in the beginning, like it's just too much.
I like had like a like a little breakdown and
I was like, I can't do this. And then when
I was having that breakdown, my husband calls and he's like,
we got your permit, like your permit came, like your
actual permanent residency. And I cried. I was like, there's
no way I got my permit. Like he send me
(11:12):
a photo. It's like it's not gonna feel real till
I touch it, you know. And I got home and
it was it, and I was like, that's it. I'm quitting.
I'm quitting. And he's like, you know what this like
you still have like you can still go back to
school and get financially because you never received it. And
I was like I know that. So I was like, okay,
I'm going back. I'm finishing my cosmetology hours. I'm getting
this license. I got my license. Then from there, I
(11:33):
started working in salons, house calls, sets, and I was like,
you know, maybe I'll just do like part time salon,
part time like content, you know, like did little hair
videos things like fashion with the hair and everything, and
then trusting me an Adidas almost at the same time,
We're like in my email and I'm like solo, I
don't know. I have a manager, I have an agent,
(11:54):
Like I'm doing this on my own, Like I'm just
like hit my email like we'll see what happens, you know,
like I manage myself. And I was like this can't
be real. And then Adidas was like my first like
thing was a brand trip, which is like I feel
like people get brand deals that then lead to a
brand trip. And I was like this, like is this
emo real? Like is this emol real? Like I just
couldn't believe it, And back to the motherland, back home,
(12:17):
like tell.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Us about the brand trip that you went on with it.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, that was a collaboration for running I do this
running with that Amano Komori, which her two brothers from me,
and I was like, there's no way like that they're
inviting me to this, Like me like I had imposter syndrome.
I was like I'm not good enough. I'm like I'm
not big enough. I don't have enough followers. Like but
I felt like that was a moment like that you
(12:39):
know I needed in the universe, was like rewarding me
for like quitting and you know, and then doing the
content and then eventually just things got like more like
more opportunities came and I was like, I feel like
I could do this whole time, Like I think I
can quit. My husband was like quit quit, Like he
was getting promotion after promotion, and he's more like a
blue collar worker, like I'm going to work. I like this.
(13:00):
I like corporate Like he like loves that side of working.
So I'm just like if I can afford it now,
Like we've built together to the point where he's like,
you follow your dreams, Like why not? You know? So
I quit And I was like I come into this
whole time. But Adidas and trusted me. I think we're
my big break and like and the fact that I'm
getting these brand deals to be myself is what made
(13:24):
me happy because they were like the first one, we're
trusting me. It was like we want you to speak
fully in Spanish the whole thing. And I was like, wow,
Like they're not making me water myself down, They're not
making me be a different version of myself. They want
me to be authentically me, like Spanish, throw it in
however you want, you know, stame with the monads. Kimori
like feel free to like, you know, talk about my
(13:45):
he go talk about where you're from, talk about like
it's just always been very nice to be able to
be creative on my own.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I love that and talk about what that means to
show up authentically as yourself, whether that's like through fashion
and style, speaking, repping like Metrek on where you're from.
How are you blending all of that together through not
only the brand deals but also just your content that
you create.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yes, so I feel like we do live in a
day and age or gen z right. They have a
different style, different taste. So I always try to make
it like how can I make them be like, oh,
this girl looks cool with her indigenous braids laced? You know,
how can I make it look you know, for them
to be like proud, to feel proud to you know,
rock their tren sauce, rock you know where they're from
(14:32):
without feeling like they can or they might be afraid
to be, you know, called something or so I try
to just blend today's time with you know, how I
grew up with my mom and my abulita from her
indigenous side, and just I like blend it all together.
If you see my outfits, you always see like a
little bit of Ancherta, a little bit of La a
(14:53):
little bit of like White's okay, and it's I just
mix it all together. And I feel like also growing
up poor makes you have to think outside the box.
Like you you're kind of forced to be, like, get
creative because you have to work with the very little
that you got. So I think that made me creative.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You've also created a signature style, right with the jerseys. Yes,
you touched upon that in the beginning, about the jerseys
and what that means to you and what that means
for an immigrant community, what that means for Latinos, right,
and you've embedded that into your personal style and it's
become your signature. Look, So can you talk more about
how you found that, how you decided like I'm going
(15:30):
to make this uniquely mine.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Because I feel like Mexico and like also Latino communities,
there's a lot of much cheese more around that where
it's like the game is not for a woman the stadium.
I've heard that all the time, speranamal ahead, and it's like, no,
it is like we can be at these games, like
I don't want this to be like a stigmatism where
women have to stay home and cook and we can't
be watching soccer games because who made that up? You know, like,
(15:54):
but how do we make it cute? How do we
make it ours? And then I have a homegirl from Texas,
a spicy head. She reworks the jerseys into these corsets,
and I was like this is insane, Like this is awesome.
But I kept seeing baseball and I was like, I
grew up playing at every sport because my mom was like,
I don't want you get into trouble. You're going to
be in sports all year round. But I was like,
I've never seen soccer, you know, so I was like,
(16:15):
let's do something with soccer, and like we would like
just come up with so many ideas together. I want
to do like the Mexico jersey from back in the
day with Aztec Prince before they brought it back this year.
And she was like, oh my god, I would be
so sick. And you know, we just come up with
ideas together. And I was like, wait, like these looks
are like and then I see people were creating them.
I'm like, wait, this is it. And then from there
(16:36):
the ball was just rolling and.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
She made you a corset made out of soccer balls.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Oh my god. Yes, I was like in my head
just sitting down one thing, and I was like, how
do I get how do I elevate the next look
and the next look. I'm always thinking like what's going
to be next? How do I make it different? You know?
I always want to look different. So I was like, wait,
like what did we took two of the tree on
the balls because that's the ball that the fief for
Old Cup is playing with. I'm like, oh my made
(17:01):
it's a corsette. And she's like, oh my god, Berna,
I don't like. She was even like what do we
do to when we get into a ballet on top?
Like I don't know. I'm like, I don't know. A girl,
I'm like, I'm gonna send YouTube balls and just figure
it out. I want a top. I'm like I want
a full top. And she was like okay, girl, She's
like I think I got it. I was like okay.
I'm like, don't tell me, like wait till I get there.
And then it came and I'm like, whoa, this looks insane,
(17:23):
like insane and she puts the ammonios and everything on
the trim like she makes it like ribbons. She'd still
attach us like our like Mexican heritage to it, which
I love.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, it's really fabulous. It looks great on you. I
loved it when I saw it on Instagram. And you're
you're wearing a corset jersey look today?
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Can you tell us about your studio look? Because you
look so cute.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
So I was like, I like to like play around
with corsets a lot, and sometimes I do want to
keep the jersey, so I'm like, I don't want to
rework it just yet. I feel like I work a
lot of my old jerseys that I'm like, Okay, I've
worn them enough, like let's rework them. But these are
so fresh, so I'm like, I don't know that I
still want to work. So I'm finding a way of
just popping a corsett over the actual jersey, which I
(18:05):
think it's like it gives just like a whole different
like vibe to it. I feel like it's very people
call it, but for me, it's very okay, you know,
like back in the day, very giving, very much that.
So I'm like, we're gonna pop a corset over this jersey,
snatch me up and put gold everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
And you're like creating your own silhouette with this yeah,
which is really it's really fun and really pretty.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yes, I feel like it makes it different. It just
makes it like is that a jersey, is it attached?
Is it together?
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Like you know different, don't go anywhere, locomotives, We'll be
right back. I want to ask you about like showing up,
like the way that you do with your style and
like the Mexico jerseys and if you ever feel you know,
(18:55):
nervous anxious about like dressing the way that you do.
And I'll give you an example. Well, I'm Beduana and
I'm Mexicana, and I have, you know, different jerseys, different
T shirts, And sometimes I'm like, okay, do I want
to deal with somebody telling me something today given the
current political climate, And that'll sometimes admittedly determine how I
dress if I'm gonna put it on. The other day,
(19:16):
my husband was pumping gas and when we were in
Mexico last year, we got these shirts to say it
gold for the Mexico and he was telling me that
he walked into the gas station, someone ended up following
him out and was like, it's not the Gulf of Mexico,
It's the Gulf of America. And my husband was like, no,
only here is it recognized as that in the US,
but that's not how it's recognized for the rest of
(19:37):
the world. And he was like trying to like, you know,
get this guy to go away. But the guy like
in Cstia and Cistia, right, And those are things that
I think about right now when I'm getting dressed, if
I'm going out, and so I'm wondering if the type
of climate that you're we're in like ever like deters
you are you just like, no, we're doing this.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah. No, I feel like maybe in high school that
was me, but not today. You know, now, more than
ever because of the climate, I'm going to show up
in red, green everything, you know, white, like you're going
to see and you're going to know I'm Mexican and
I'm going to wear it like I go drop off
my son. WI sure it's that said f Ice, you know,
like I go drop off my son with like Mexico
(20:18):
dripped everywhere. Like I feel like I, more than ever
now we should be showing up and you know Aransas,
our Mexico gear, however that may look for you are
traditional where you know, even if it's for gorgo or
however you know, wherever you're from. Like, I feel like
we should be showing up like that. It's a political statement.
I always tell people fashion is political, just like hair
(20:41):
is political. Everything is political. So you know, I feel
like you should be shopping political, you should be spending political,
you should be thinking political, you should be dating. Yes, political,
I tell people that all the time. So I'm just like, no,
I feel like, especially because of the climate, I think
some people are afraid, and rightfully so, because some of
them are not in a position where I am now
(21:02):
where I feel a little more secure, like I have
that extra security blanket where I can be like, no,
I'm gonna show up like this, whereas to before, I
never had any of what I have now. So I
was very much like that, like I don't want to
cause problems. I don't want to cause I'd rather just
not dressed like that. There was a moment in like
this entire career that I was kind of like, maybe
(21:24):
I'll just quit. Maybe I don't want to do this.
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Was this something that happened online? Yes, tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Because as much success and visibility as you had, increased
visibility often comes with increased criticism and negativity. So it
sounds like you had one of those experiences.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah, I definitely did, and it made me like kind
of question everything, and I was like, maybe this isn't
what I want to do because I've always experienced nothing
but support, love, appreciation, especially for my community, and that's
very like private and hidden. I don't we expose or
post those messages. I feel like they're just things that
(22:04):
like I want to keep close to my heart, and
like those messages to me make me like very emotional
and like, oh my god, this is why I'm doing it,
you know. But recently the full community posted me a
photo of me. Didn't ask me, I don't. It doesn't
really matter, you know, but no permission, just posted and
it said something liked Latina and then it quotes me
saying something like if you're going to show, you can't
(22:26):
yell f ice and the same sentence, go support the
Dodgers in the stadiums that you know, keep our people pressed.
Your buying tickets, you're funding the systems that oppressed our
people and keep us nice attention centers. And I had
no idea was on there. People were just started sending.
My friends were like, oh, my god, have you seen this?
Have you seen this? Have you seen the comments? And
I'm just like, first of all, don't send me any comments.
(22:48):
I'm like, because I don't do that. I don't do
hate comments, like I don't. I don't read stuff like that,
and I will block people. I'm a blocker. I'm a
certified blocker. I love blocking people. So I'm like, I'm
not about to sit here and argue with nobody. And
then I started getting death threats and I was like, okay,
this is more than just like hateful, like you know,
(23:08):
go back to your country. You're not even born here
type of stuff. If you don't like it, why are
you living here? Like I was just like, wow, okay,
like the fact that people are like threatening my life
and this is grown men that are fans of these sports,
you know, like keep sports out of politics, like okay,
like literally being like we're gonna kill you, We're gonna
find you, like it's just crazy stuff. And I was like,
(23:32):
oh my god, like this is insane that grown men
like are literally threatening like me, my life. And I
was like, maybe I don't want to do this. I
got depressed. I was sad at the comments they started
going in on my regular like post commons.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
It went to your regular page.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
My regular page, and I was like, so sad. I
was down for like a whole week, and I was
really kind of like just shining away, not posting, kind
of like so like sad about it. But then I
was like, no, like I'm not going to let this,
like I didn't work this hard to let like this
like issue just like ruin like everything I've worked for.
I'm gonna keep speaking up. I'm still speaking up about it.
(24:09):
I don't care. And I what I did is I
filtered my comments. So I'm like I didn't know that.
You know, I started learning along the way I can
filter what people hidden words stuff like that, So like
I filtered my comments, I bought any negativity like that,
and I just don't. I don't give into it anymore.
So that was a really low moment because I've never
(24:29):
been threatened like that before.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Like it's crazy, did you ever did you reach out
to the moderators of that page the food community?
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I didn't. Actually I never felt like I just never
never felt like what's the point, you know, Like it
just never felt like like anything like that I needed
to do. But I did you know post one message
just to kind of show people like this is the
kind of fans and this is the kind of messages
that I'm getting. Like the way that they were sending
me like it wasn't just like, oh, we're gonna tell you,
(24:59):
It was like, you know, the worst worst you could
use against the women. And that's when men started, Like
I felt really good because the men that I surround
myself with in my communities were like, that will never happen.
We're here, we love you, we stand with you. So
it was really nice to see a lot of men
being like we got your back, like don't worry, like
the community has you like that is never going to happen.
(25:21):
But it did question me, like coming out of my
house that week, like I'm gonna be seen? Am I
going to be recognized? It didn't feel good. It didn't
feel like it usually feels for when people are like ryda,
can we get a picture? Like cool? You know, it
just felt weird, even being taking my kids of school anything.
It just felt really weird that week. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
And I mean that page is like it's a Latino page.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah yeah, and uh so I wonder like how you
felt in that moment where so much of your outspokenness
and your fashion and your advocacy and the work that
you do is about empowerment for the Latino community, the
immigrant community, but then that very same com unity is
(26:01):
attacking you and threatening you and responding so negatively in writing.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Like what was that? It must have felt like whiplash,
Like what did that feel like for you?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
It just felt like kind of like a slap in
the face, like in a sense like using a woman
speaking up to be like, let's go in on her.
You know, how do you guys feel about Brenda, like
about what she said? Like it was just kind of
like you could have spun it a whole different way,
you know, like.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
It was there framing on the page correct, and.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
It's just like it was just it's just like it's
not even about like you're just upset because I'm holding
a marriort to your face and you don't like what
you see, Like that's it, Like I am, I'm an activist,
not a bully or a fighter. I don't go on
and curse people out and say anything. I just you know,
professionally go on there. And it's like think, think you
just got to think you cannot be like saying one
(26:50):
thing and showing up for communities and raising funds and
doing this for you know, oppressed peoples, and then the
next day you're like funding systems that are like keeping
us there. Like it just like stand on your business,
you know, Like that's all I'm saying, Like, don't show
up and like pretend to care and this and that
when like you don't, you really don't. You're over here
like you know, doing the opposite of where you're preaching.
(27:11):
That's all I'm saying, Like I'm not saying anything that. Obviously,
there's so many things in this world that's bad, right,
Like having a phone is bad, having this, Like there's
so many things we can't control, but the things that
we coun't we should try, right, like shopping control and
not go to a Dodger game, thank you, Like obviously,
So I just felt like, I don't know, it was
just kind of like weird because it's just like this
(27:33):
is what we do as Latinos. Sometimes I feel like
as soon as we can knock someone down, like you
see them having just a little bit of any kind
of like success, we knock each other down. We're we're
so bad at supporting each other. Sometimes it sucks as
much as people say, like Mexicans have so much pride
and we show up for each other. Yeah, we do.
But in the same token, Latinos are like our worst Thanes.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Don't go anywhere. Look, I'm will be right back.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
It seems though, like at a place.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Like Latination, they're doing something a little bit different and you.
I think I believe that your fashion and the way
that you like style yourself probably had a lot to
do with you being cast on that show, because every
time I see a clip of you, like you are
serving a fucking look and you're saying something like really quotable,
(28:31):
and like there was a very viral clip of you
that went around that I think was one of the
first that I saw that caught my attention. And I'm
just curious about like how you ended up on the show,
like how that happened, and how you're liking it, and
how you feel about about the space.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Oh my god, I'm obsessed with Latination. I just feel
like it's finally like the fruits of my labor, being
like spaces that I choose, finally choosing me back. I
put myself in rooms where it's community where it's everything
proud to be Latino, you know, like I feel like
you'll never see me everywhere because I don't want to
be in spaces that don't feel like community, you know.
(29:06):
I don't want to be in cloud chasing spaces. It's
like it's not Latino owned, POC owned, Like I have
no business like that's I want to always like amplify,
you know. So they reached out to me vi an
email for a casting and I was like, what is
this Like this sounds like so much fun, you know
like and I was like we like it wasn't like
too much given away in the email, but I was
like okay, like show up and casts, all right?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Cool?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
And then they send more details saying like you have
to be yourself, like this is not your typical casting.
We don't want you to be like professional, like we
want you to be unhinged, like think about talking to
your mom or your sister in a couch. So I
was like, oh, you guys want me to be myself.
I was like okay, and they're like as soon as
like and I'm thinking, I'm going in, it's going to
be like intimate like this, you know, nothing crazy. I
walk in this is like a full on like it
(29:49):
looks like a news anchor studio, you know, like a
huge stage one, stage two, stage three, like cut like go.
Like it felt like when I walked in like American Idol,
Like there was all these judges, you know, and they're like,
as soon as you walk in, you're casting start. So
I just walked in. I was like sassy, throwing my
hair everywhere, you know, and you know, they just asked
a bunch of questions and I answer them as myself.
I answer everything as myself. I'm not presenting anything else
(30:11):
other than who I am. So it feels so natural,
and I feel like being in a space like that
is so cool because they preach everything Latino Latino Latino.
Like the staff is all Latino, the cultures all Latino.
They're welcoming, they embrace you being like not having the
same opinion. I just feel like they're really doing the work.
(30:32):
And I've always wanted in my own head to create
a space like that, but I'm a one person. I'm
one person. I can only do so much. So to
be able to be in a space where in my
head I dreamed of having something like that for myself
and be a part of it. They're not just one thing.
They have Latin queer, they have Latin roots for Afro Latinas.
They have everything that in sports for both women and men.
(30:55):
They have you know this other one for rappers, like
people who are trying to sing or like you know,
have a break like through in the internet. Like, I
just feel like their umbrella is like expanding. They have
the latinos one which is us our show Belo Sas.
So it's just like they're just really like doing it,
you know, for every single they have gen z. They
have like everything everything. They're catering to everyone, and I
(31:16):
feel like it's so coo. I feel so proud and
so happy to be a proud of be a part
of something. So like just me, like I'm myself. I
show up as myself and they love me and they
like they're like yes, Like they're like they preach me
being me and that's so hard to find in this industry.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
So tell us how you got cast. You auditioned and
then what happened next?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
So I auditioned and then some of the questions were
a little crazy. But I was like, what were some
of the questions? They were just kind of like if
you find them out of your dreams, you know, he's
like the love of your life, like and you're like,
this is everything, money everything, millionaire, billionai or whatever. But
he like dated your he had, you know, relations with
your one of your best friends. Like would you proceed?
(32:00):
They're like, but you've already fallen in love, you know,
Like and I'm just like no, like what the hell?
Like no, They're like, oh, but like you've already fallen
in love this he's a billionaire, he's rich, he's the
man of your dreams. And other girls was like, oh,
it's fine, Like I think, you know, if you if
there's a conversation like with a friend and I'm like, no, girl,
I don't want anyone who has been in my friend
to be in me, Like I am, I'm a girl
(32:21):
code like I'm a girl's girl. I stand on that.
Like no, And everyone had different you so it was
like stuff like that that was like they were testing us,
you know, like or like what's the craziest thing you've
done with the next boyfriend, like you know, like a
red flag thing that you've done or like stuff like that.
I felt like it was cool because it wasn't just
crazy questions. It was also like what's your hot girl? Reset,
like what are you doing? Like I kickbox, I love
(32:42):
to kickbox, I love the digitsu, like that's my thing,
you know. So I felt like a flow of so
many things. And then they called me back for a
second casting and that's when we really sat down and
did mock like how the show would be. And I
just feel like the girls on us were we were
just flowing, like the conversation was not forced. It's never
forced even till this day. Everything it was just natural.
(33:03):
So I just felt like they saw that and they're
like okay, and then they got to pick the girls,
you know, and we all got the ones I got picked,
got picked, and I was like, wait, this is I
love seeing different basis, like I feel like usually when
people cast, we all like the same sadly, so it
was really cool to see for Latinas, Dominicans, Mexicans that
(33:23):
are born in Mexico not here, have Filipinas like just everything.
So that felt really cool.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
It feels like like a chiller like Battie's West.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Yeah girl, yes, no it really is. No it is,
because I was like, it's like giving that, but it's
also giving like how do we reset? We bring in
girls called like Brima for the day, you know, and
for me like, I'm like, I'm going to tap into
my community any moment I can. So like bringing in
photographers like the Liagorchez. I had her on and was like,
you know, giving her her praises and like who she is,
(33:56):
and it's like we certify you or like you certified
to be her body mind list some spicy questions after
knowing who you are, you know. So it's really cool
because I feel like you also get to amplify other
people while being there. Sure we have celebrities and influencers
that's really cool too that come on our show. But
I just feel like it's so different from what I've seen.
I feel like it's bringing trl podcast YouTube and like
(34:19):
mashing it all together.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
It's cute. It's really fun. I really I really love
the show.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
I love that's so cute.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
I love the name.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Yeah, and I love you on there oh yay.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I feel like you were you were made for this.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
I like always wanted my own thing, but again, like
I said, I was just like everything was imposter syndrome,
Like I can't do this by myself you know, like
this is crazy, but I love the way life turned out.
I just feel like it happened how it was supposed
to happen, because had I done it myself, I don't
know if it would have been successful. I don't know
if I would have found the right people, you know,
and I'm making friendships, so I think that's beautiful too.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
How did you work through that imposter syndrome of telling
yourself like I can't do this or maybe I shouldn't
be here. How did you work through that?
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Honestly, it's a lot of conversations about my mom and
my husband. You know, my mom always reminds me who
I am. I don't want to get emotional, but she's
always like, you know, all my wayshaddas. Every time they
find me out, I get very nervous. I get scared
because I'm still not fully documented. So it's very tough
for me because I'm like, you know, finding out that
I isn't airports now and like all this, Like I
(35:23):
know I have my permanent residency, but that does not
mean anything to me, Like I sty'll have trauma, like
that's never going to go away, and like I don't
think people see that they just see Brenda's on a
ran trip. This is so cool. Like I don't think
you guys understand like the panic attics that I have
leading to that. You know, My mom's like is like,
(35:44):
this is your this is going to be your life. Now,
You're going to be, you know, a star. You're going
to travel everywhere. So like you know, you're going to
be fine, Like no one's gonna take you from your land,
like you know, this is like what you were chosen
to do, so you're gonna be okay. And like you know,
she prays with me over the phone own and my
husband's constantly just reminded me of my worth. So he's like,
(36:06):
I like, you know, I know there's a quote that
says behind every successful man is like a woman. That's
my man for me. Like the behind my success is
my husband, Like that is like my everything, my manager,
my contractor. He will fight for more pay for me.
Like he does not play about me. So he's very
behind the scenes. But like I couldn't do it without
(36:26):
my husband and my mom. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
It takes a village, it does. It takes it takes
a crew, it does. Yeah, there's like really no such
thing as a one woman shows there's a whole crew
behind her, and it sounds like you have that, which
is incredible. So so earlier in the conversation you talked
about how being young and being undocumented and being very
quiet about it and keeping it to yourself and it
(36:53):
was kind of a secret. But now you're so public
and open and you wear your culture on your sleeve
and you are on latination and you're being flown out.
So how is the visibility now and the way you
wear your culture, how is that healing young Branda who
had to be in the shadows.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Basically, it's healing me a lot, honestly, like so much.
I don't think people understand like when they cast me
and when they give me these opportunities, how healing it
is for me, because it's like I never saw myself,
like like I thought, like my dreams are came and
gone after that conversation of me not having my social
you know, like it's never gonna happen for me. So
(37:34):
like every opportunity it's so different for someone like me
because it just it can never be compared to her generation,
you know, it just can't. Like everything is just like
an overwhelming emotion, gratefulness, humble, like just like so grateful
to you know, just like do what I do, and
like I feel like just being able to tell stories
(38:00):
and be a storyteller for like other people, like I
always hear like thank you for speaking up, thank you
for you know, not forgetting about us, thank you for
like well the use that you know it's already like
came and passed, like you continue to post resources, you
continue to like you know, I just feel like it's
healing me. And I even started an inner child healing
little segment. I've only done one, but like I want
(38:22):
to make it a little bit more frequent, where like
I get girls together and even guys, all walks of life, kids, anybody,
and we just like hear in our child together because
I feel like a lot of financial limitations led us
to like stop doing certain things. My mom couldn't afford
certain things. So it was like one of those things
where I was like, I always want to heal my
inner child. I always want to do hobbies that I
(38:43):
wish I could afford when I was smaller. How do
I do that with a group of women who want
to find like you know, sometimes they're alone, they're looking
to come make friends. They don't have that, you know.
So I started with Escape Meet. I was like, let's
do Escape me like it's Super Bowl or bleeding. Let's
start it off for the spring. First day of like,
let's get it. And I had an overwhelming around of
(39:03):
like excitement and I was like, wait, people really want
to come, like this is great? And I was like
some girls was like I want to come back. Don't
have skates a lot of thought in my DMS, and
I was like, well, I'm not gonna let that stop us,
Like how do I get sponsored? Like we got to
get these girls sponsored, We got to get some skates.
I reached out to all these skate brands and then
some of them were kind of like, oh rent them this.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
That's so.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
I was just waiting to see who would just sponsor
them fully. And then then Paula Skates, Like I wrote
up a nice email, nice pitch explaining what in our
child healing meant to our communities, how they would be
helping our girls, how financial limitations should not stop anybody
from you know, skating or doing anything they want, and
they were like, we love this so much. Have the
(39:43):
girls sign up on a Google doc form whatever they need,
we got you. And I was like, wow, like cut,
I couldn't believe it. And so many people showed up,
little girls showed up. I was like, oh my god,
my heart. You know, all walks of life. People came alone,
people made friends, people left for friendships, like first time skaters,
season skaters, na season skaters. It was just like really
(40:04):
beautiful with the Latin Nation was already with me. So
it was so cool because they're like, we're gonna come out,
we're going to cover it, and they came to support
me like they some of them weren't even covering. They
just showed up, you know, and it was just so beautiful.
All the girls were happy, fun. It was like Latinas
took over going to speech, like we were like dancing.
I don't know, we'll see it later in the segment
when that they felt it. It was so hilarious. We're all like,
(40:24):
you know, we're Latinas. We're like moving our hips, we're dancing.
Like all these white boys have never seen so many
Latinas in their life. They were like looking at us like,
oh my god, Like it was really fun.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Were you at the dance skate Plaza?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Kind of like by the boardwalk is where we finished,
and we just had our own little dj. DJ Jeff
he like showed up with his speaker and he was
like all the girls were just at the end, like
like a little celebration. We're all just dancing like Latino music,
like just vibing. It was so much fun and everyone
had positive feedback. Everyone was so happy and they're like,
we gotta do this again. But I want to change
(40:58):
it every month. I don't want it to just be skating,
you know. I want to be like, you know, what's
the next thing, like you know, for me, like for Gorgo,
my mom couldn't afford it after they took out the grant,
so I just never I never went back, and I
only started doing dance classes that were free, which were
not that So now as an adult, I'm actually taking
classes like behind the scenes on my own, and I'm like,
(41:21):
I can't wait to share it when I'm a little
more seasoned. But like stuff like that, like if I
want to hold a dance class where we all learn that,
or a cooking class for example, like for girls who
have that mother daughter like it's missing, they're either their
mother past or there's a strain or not like a relationship,
(41:41):
or they're just like they never got that growing up
because your mom was too busy surviving, she couldn't teach
you how to cook, you know. So we want to
do a cooking one for the girl. These for the
mother bonding type of stuff or just come if you
don't have a mom and like we'll show you. You know. So,
I have a lot of things in my head that
I'm like the segment I wanted to be very like,
how to what did Brenda need when she was little?
(42:02):
You know? How did I want to heal? So I
want to heal as an adult. But with all women,
I love it.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Brenda, you're doing incredible work and you're giving back and
I'm sure there's so much more that you're doing that,
Like you don't boast about and brag about, but I
think that what you're doing is incredible.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
And I'm so excited that you got to join us
here in the studio.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yes, I'm so happy. Thank you for having me. It
was an honor. So thank you for having me to
share my story authentically and like just tell it how
it is.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yeah, we're so happy you shared so much. Thank you
for feeling safe and connected to do that. Yeah, there's
just so much to chew on, right from the culture
pieces to growing up right an immigrant and now this
journey that you're on and connecting with your younger self too,
I think is really beautiful. And I love how you're
(42:50):
taking something so personal like healing your inner child, but
applying it because it's so resonant with the rest of
our community. We all have an inner child that needs
needs some healing.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
We do, and I feel like it's important to share that.
Like I can't do it by myself, I want to
do it with everybody. Why not especially during these times.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
That was Brenda la Latina. What an incredible story. I'm
so grateful that she came on lok at Dora and
shared her journey as a young woman, a young girl
figuring it out, learning about being undocumented, and then what
that meant for her future.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
She has an amazing personality, she has such a presence.
I'm really happy that she was able to join us
on the podcast, and I want to join one of
her future in her child meetups. Maybe we'll maybe we'll
do something with her in the future.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
Yes, girl, all right, thank you for listening to another
capitulo of radio. We'll catch you next time, Bessitos
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Log almlia
Loki Hola la Loka Modees. You're listening to Locata Radio.
I'm Diosa and I'm Mala. Welcome to another capitulo.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Today we have a very special guest in studio. We're
talking to Brenda Lalatina about celebrating her culture through fashion,
the story behind her joining the cast of Belli Grosa
HQ on Latination, and how she's healing her inner child
after growing up undocumented in Hollywood.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
This is Brenda la Latina and you're listening to Locatra Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We're so excited to have you on the show today.
It's an honor.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I just have to say that you have been killing
it over the course of the past few months, over
the course of the past year.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
I'm sure forever.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
You've been killing it, but people are really starting to notice.
I mean, you are everywhere. You're on Latination, You're doing
campaigns with Adidas and Trustume. And I saw this really
beautiful video on Instagram of you and your son, and
I sent it to Viosa and I was like, we
have to have her on the show, Like who is she?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
She is blowing up, So congratulation.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Thank you, That's such a compliment because I feel like
that video is a testament of a little taste of
who I really am, you know. So for you guys
to have me on here to actually share my story
and who I am, I've never I've been asked, but
it's never been like where I can, like where I
have control, you know, yeah, how I tell my story.
So I really appreciate it. I'm honored to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Can you say more about that, about how that Adida's
campaign and that video really represents who you really are?
What is it about that video and all the visuals
and storyline that came together.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
So I feel like, first of all, shout out to
Adidas because they really let me have creative full creative control,
which is very rare in this industry. So they were like,
you can, you know, come up with your creative concept
and you know, pitch it to us and we'll go
from there. To keep it true to who you are,
don't change anything, make it about you. So I was like,
I can either go the rout of my mother, mother daughter,
(02:06):
where I can go mother son. So I was like, Oh,
let me share with the world a little bit about
who I really am. So I was like, we'll go
with this, and I was like, I feel like this
one was for my DOT dreamers, Like I really wanted
it to be for them, because I feel like we're
so overlooked and not really given many opportunities. It's very hard.
So I was like, how do I attach this to
(02:28):
me being an immigrant growing up here my entire life
because I didn't recently get my permanent residency until maybe
like four years ago, And also trying it to like
why we come here right because we're like the what
is it? The whole thing right now is like that
we're bad people, right, that we come here, we still jobs,
we do these bad things or whatever. So I was like,
(02:51):
how do I explain to the world that we're just
here trying to give the next generation of it or life,
you know, and explaining like that the jersey in the
game is more than just the game, you know, so
like for dreamers, like we know what it is to dream,
especially away from home, you know. So I just wanted
everyone to understand, like to be proud of where you
come from, to be proud to be an immigrant, to
(03:12):
be proud to be a dreamer, and to dare to dream,
you know, and like to kind of show like if
I could do it, you could do it too, Like
you don't necessarily have to, you know, have the privilege
of being born here to like make it like you
can make it.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
You just said so much in that statement.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
There's so much to unpack, so much to talk about.
So I want to go back to you. You were
on DAKA and when did you find out that you
were undocumented?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Came as a shock. I think my mom really tried
to protect me, and I love her for that, but
it was very sad because I was like, you know,
when you get to the age where you're able to
work in high school and I was like, you know,
we grew up really poor, so I was like I
never really got to get the best shoes, Like I
had to wear them all year around one parent. That's
all you get, you know. And I grew up before siblings,
so I was like, oh, I can finally work now.
(04:00):
Like we're all at the mall getting our at the
time paper applications because that's what it was, and everybody's
like calling their mom like, oh, like I don't know
my social so let me call my mom, Like, oh,
let me call my mom, and she's like oh miha
I almost you know, like I can't find that, and
I'm like, okay, like I'm just gonna get my when
I get home. Then I get home and like my
whole world was just turned upside down. She's like, you
(04:20):
don't have papers, you're not born here, you don't have
a social so I'm thinking, like I have plans to model,
to go to college, to like travel the world, like
everything just like hit and in that moment that like
my life is just not going to be what I
thought it was, you know. And she was very like,
you can't tell your friends, you can't tell anybody, like
(04:41):
they could deport us. So we're not even supposed to
be here, so you need to be very quiet about that,
you know. And I was just kind of like after that.
The next day I went to school, I thought like
do they know, Like, oh my god, they're looking at me,
like do they know I'm in legal? Do I look
at legal? And like at that time, it was like okay,
phrases like being called the wet bag of beanner, they
didn't care, Teachers didn't correct people getting called that was
(05:01):
like it was fine. It was like looked down upon
not being born here. So I was just very afraid
and very like depressed, and like everyone was talking about
college and I was faking it. Yeah, I can't wait
to apply to all these colleges too, like even though
I need, Like what am I gonna do? How am
I gonna work? That God didn't exist at the time,
so I'm like, how am I gonna make money? Like
(05:22):
to survive? Like it was just like so you know,
I had to do what I had to do for
some time after graduating, like under the table and going
to college wasn't easy for me because it was like
I tried, but we were charged as foreign foreigners, like
it's a foreigner student fee. It's so much more expensive.
So I just couldn't survive, and like go to college.
(05:43):
At the same time, we don't get financial aid, we
don't get benefits, we don't get any of that. And
we have a number called an I like an eating
it I N And that's kind of how we work,
like how we pay taxes, so we have to pay taxes,
but we can't work. So it's just like it was tough.
It was tough. It was hard.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Were there other students like you that you knew of?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
No? Because I think At the time, everything was like hush,
keep it under wraps. We just couldn't talk about it.
It was like, you know, the things in the Latin family,
like Latino households, like let's Coo, Sesson, Sablan certing. You know,
you keep sweep them under the rug. And I think
that's why as an adult, like coming out of that,
I feel like so prideful now, like I'm not like
gonna be ashamed to tell people like I'm an immigrant,
(06:26):
even when I get my paperwork, I'm an immigrant, like
I was not born here, like I'm from Mexico, even
though I was raised here my whole life, Like my
mom crossed off order with me at twenty two days old.
She wasn't even fully healed from having me trying to escape,
you know, seek asylum. So it was just like the
city raised me out from here.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
You know, when did that switch happened for you? When
you went from I can't tell anyone. I'm afraid that
someone might find out to I'm proud to share that
I'm an immigrant, I was formally undocumented and I'm here,
but that he raised me, Like how did you get
from that point from the first point of being afraid
to being very proud.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
When we had our first black president, Barack Obama, that
was like wow, like for me brown black, Like to me,
it's like wow, like finally a president that gets said
that I feel seen. He introduced TAKA, he approved it,
we got it, and I finally felt a sense of hope,
of sense not of not being suicidal and like saying
(07:28):
like maybe I don't want to be here, you know there,
maybe there's hope. I got approved, finally got my permit
to work. I was like, yes, you know. But people
think that TAKA is like, oh, you get your permit
to work, It's all good, Like, no, you have anxiety
every two years is it going to go away? Are
they going to renew it? Are they going to take
it away? Are they going to not approve you? Like
(07:48):
they look for every little reason to like not grant
you that.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And it's very expensive and you have to file every
two years.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
You have to file every two years. Luck, there's nonprofit
organizations like Shirla and Goddessen who have helped me so much.
My entire step of the way. Gotta send a laid
so really is known for to help like a lot
of Central Americans seeking asylum and anything could be any
kind of you so that you need. So they had
a lot of waivers, thank god. So if you weren't,
(08:17):
like because it's like, how do you pay for something
when you can't work? You don't allow me to work,
but you want me to pay like two hundred, three
hundred and five hundre dollars for an application. So luckily
they were very helpful and like waiver fees and stuff
like that. But there are certain things that you just
kind of wait and you have to pay out of
pocket and you just have to buy the money and
then just be broke for two weeks.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So you and you talked about like the different types
of work that you did to survive. And clearly you're
a fashion girl. It goes without saying you're a fashion girl,
you're a beauty girl. Has that been part of your
like survival story and your hustle story.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, I feel like watching my mom growing up, like
doing hair for all the ninas in the apartment complexes,
like come over here, you're gonna help me, You're gonn
be My sister I was her assistant and I was
always there, like finishing the braid, finishing like the little
touches on the girls for like the graduations or whatever
they had. So she was like that girl for the apartment,
like you need your hair done, you call my mom,
(09:12):
you know. And I think with that, I was like
I want to do this, like I could do hair,
like this is my thing. So I hustled. I did
hair in my house. I showed up to people's houses
to do their hair however I could do it, and
then I ended up getting a job at the mall.
I don't know if you ever saw those girls being
like come let me get you here with the straightener,
like I sold you that straightener for sure, So like
I would be either hustling and then they're like, you know,
(09:34):
we can pay you cash, and I was like wait
what yes, like this is this is it? You know?
And I was like trying to go to cosmetology school
but it was so expensive, and I was like I'll
just do it this way, you know, and then I'll
do my house clients and then I'll do hair like that.
And I always knew like I want to do hair,
like this is what I want to do. This is
my path, and sadly, like when I got my work
(09:55):
from it, I still didn't half financially, I still couldn't
afford it. It wasn't like, oh my doga came through,
I can work now, everything's fine. I wasn't like that,
So I still had to face the reality that I
had to get a regular job. Work retail busts my
ass and just like the dreams had to.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Just go away until was there like a moment that
gave you, like your big break, your next step, your
breakthrough moment, because now you are you're in media and
you're in entertainment and still in fashion and doing brand.
Speaker 4 (10:27):
Deals, like how did you cross that bridge?
Speaker 3 (10:29):
So I was working in healthcare management. I finally got
like a job that you make your mom proud, right,
We're trying to lift for our parents, We're trying to
make them proud. And I was like healthcare manager, okay, cool,
like you know, like I'm doing this. But then the
pandemic hit, and I feel like all of us had
an epiphany during the pandemic, like life is too short,
kind of like to be like just nine to five clockwork.
(10:50):
Something just snapped. I knew I wasn't happy, and I
loved it in the beginning, like it's just too much.
I like had like a like a little breakdown and
I was like, I can't do this. And then when
I was having that breakdown, my husband calls and he's like,
we got your permit, like your permit came, like your
actual permanent residency. And I cried. I was like, there's
no way I got my permit. Like he send me
(11:12):
a photo. It's like it's not gonna feel real till
I touch it, you know. And I got home and
it was it, and I was like, that's it. I'm quitting.
I'm quitting. And he's like, you know what this like
you still have like you can still go back to
school and get financially because you never received it. And
I was like I know that. So I was like, okay,
I'm going back. I'm finishing my cosmetology hours. I'm getting
this license. I got my license. Then from there, I
(11:33):
started working in salons, house calls, sets, and I was like,
you know, maybe I'll just do like part time salon,
part time like content, you know, like did little hair
videos things like fashion with the hair and everything, and
then trusting me an Adidas almost at the same time,
We're like in my email and I'm like solo, I
don't know. I have a manager, I have an agent,
(11:54):
Like I'm doing this on my own, Like I'm just
like hit my email like we'll see what happens, you know,
like I manage myself. And I was like this can't
be real. And then Adidas was like my first like
thing was a brand trip, which is like I feel
like people get brand deals that then lead to a
brand trip. And I was like this, like is this
emo real? Like is this emol real? Like I just
couldn't believe it, And back to the motherland, back home,
(12:17):
like tell.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Us about the brand trip that you went on with it.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, that was a collaboration for running I do this
running with that Amano Komori, which her two brothers from me,
and I was like, there's no way like that they're
inviting me to this, Like me like I had imposter syndrome.
I was like I'm not good enough. I'm like I'm
not big enough. I don't have enough followers. Like but
I felt like that was a moment like that you
(12:39):
know I needed in the universe, was like rewarding me
for like quitting and you know, and then doing the
content and then eventually just things got like more like
more opportunities came and I was like, I feel like
I could do this whole time, Like I think I
can quit. My husband was like quit quit, Like he
was getting promotion after promotion, and he's more like a
blue collar worker, like I'm going to work. I like this.
(13:00):
I like corporate Like he like loves that side of working.
So I'm just like if I can afford it now,
Like we've built together to the point where he's like,
you follow your dreams, Like why not? You know? So
I quit And I was like I come into this
whole time. But Adidas and trusted me. I think we're
my big break and like and the fact that I'm
getting these brand deals to be myself is what made
(13:24):
me happy because they were like the first one, we're
trusting me. It was like we want you to speak
fully in Spanish the whole thing. And I was like, wow,
Like they're not making me water myself down, They're not
making me be a different version of myself. They want
me to be authentically me, like Spanish, throw it in
however you want, you know, stame with the monads. Kimori
like feel free to like, you know, talk about my
(13:45):
he go talk about where you're from, talk about like
it's just always been very nice to be able to
be creative on my own.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I love that and talk about what that means to
show up authentically as yourself, whether that's like through fashion
and style, speaking, repping like Metrek on where you're from.
How are you blending all of that together through not
only the brand deals but also just your content that
you create.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yes, so I feel like we do live in a
day and age or gen z right. They have a
different style, different taste. So I always try to make
it like how can I make them be like, oh,
this girl looks cool with her indigenous braids laced? You know,
how can I make it look you know, for them
to be like proud, to feel proud to you know,
rock their tren sauce, rock you know where they're from
(14:32):
without feeling like they can or they might be afraid
to be, you know, called something or so I try
to just blend today's time with you know, how I
grew up with my mom and my abulita from her
indigenous side, and just I like blend it all together.
If you see my outfits, you always see like a
little bit of Ancherta, a little bit of La a
(14:53):
little bit of like White's okay, and it's I just
mix it all together. And I feel like also growing
up poor makes you have to think outside the box.
Like you you're kind of forced to be, like, get
creative because you have to work with the very little
that you got. So I think that made me creative.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You've also created a signature style, right with the jerseys. Yes,
you touched upon that in the beginning, about the jerseys
and what that means to you and what that means
for an immigrant community, what that means for Latinos, right,
and you've embedded that into your personal style and it's
become your signature. Look, So can you talk more about
how you found that, how you decided like I'm going
(15:30):
to make this uniquely mine.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
Because I feel like Mexico and like also Latino communities,
there's a lot of much cheese more around that where
it's like the game is not for a woman the stadium.
I've heard that all the time, speranamal ahead, and it's like, no,
it is like we can be at these games, like
I don't want this to be like a stigmatism where
women have to stay home and cook and we can't
be watching soccer games because who made that up? You know, like,
(15:54):
but how do we make it cute? How do we
make it ours? And then I have a homegirl from Texas,
a spicy head. She reworks the jerseys into these corsets,
and I was like this is insane, Like this is awesome.
But I kept seeing baseball and I was like, I
grew up playing at every sport because my mom was like,
I don't want you get into trouble. You're going to
be in sports all year round. But I was like,
I've never seen soccer, you know, so I was like,
(16:15):
let's do something with soccer, and like we would like
just come up with so many ideas together. I want
to do like the Mexico jersey from back in the
day with Aztec Prince before they brought it back this year.
And she was like, oh my god, I would be
so sick. And you know, we just come up with
ideas together. And I was like, wait, like these looks
are like and then I see people were creating them.
I'm like, wait, this is it. And then from there
(16:36):
the ball was just rolling and.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
She made you a corset made out of soccer balls.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Oh my god. Yes, I was like in my head
just sitting down one thing, and I was like, how
do I get how do I elevate the next look
and the next look. I'm always thinking like what's going
to be next? How do I make it different? You know?
I always want to look different. So I was like, wait,
like what did we took two of the tree on
the balls because that's the ball that the fief for
Old Cup is playing with. I'm like, oh my made
(17:01):
it's a corsette. And she's like, oh my god, Berna,
I don't like. She was even like what do we
do to when we get into a ballet on top?
Like I don't know. I'm like, I don't know. A girl,
I'm like, I'm gonna send YouTube balls and just figure
it out. I want a top. I'm like I want
a full top. And she was like okay, girl, She's
like I think I got it. I was like okay.
I'm like, don't tell me, like wait till I get there.
And then it came and I'm like, whoa, this looks insane,
(17:23):
like insane and she puts the ammonios and everything on
the trim like she makes it like ribbons. She'd still
attach us like our like Mexican heritage to it, which
I love.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, it's really fabulous. It looks great on you. I
loved it when I saw it on Instagram. And you're
you're wearing a corset jersey look today?
Speaker 4 (17:40):
Can you tell us about your studio look? Because you
look so cute.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
So I was like, I like to like play around
with corsets a lot, and sometimes I do want to
keep the jersey, so I'm like, I don't want to
rework it just yet. I feel like I work a
lot of my old jerseys that I'm like, Okay, I've
worn them enough, like let's rework them. But these are
so fresh, so I'm like, I don't know that I
still want to work. So I'm finding a way of
just popping a corsett over the actual jersey, which I
(18:05):
think it's like it gives just like a whole different
like vibe to it. I feel like it's very people
call it, but for me, it's very okay, you know,
like back in the day, very giving, very much that.
So I'm like, we're gonna pop a corset over this jersey,
snatch me up and put gold everywhere.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
And you're like creating your own silhouette with this yeah,
which is really it's really fun and really pretty.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Yes, I feel like it makes it different. It just
makes it like is that a jersey, is it attached?
Is it together?
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Like you know different, don't go anywhere, locomotives, We'll be
right back. I want to ask you about like showing up,
like the way that you do with your style and
like the Mexico jerseys and if you ever feel you know,
(18:55):
nervous anxious about like dressing the way that you do.
And I'll give you an example. Well, I'm Beduana and
I'm Mexicana, and I have, you know, different jerseys, different
T shirts, And sometimes I'm like, okay, do I want
to deal with somebody telling me something today given the
current political climate, And that'll sometimes admittedly determine how I
dress if I'm gonna put it on. The other day,
(19:16):
my husband was pumping gas and when we were in
Mexico last year, we got these shirts to say it
gold for the Mexico and he was telling me that
he walked into the gas station, someone ended up following
him out and was like, it's not the Gulf of Mexico,
It's the Gulf of America. And my husband was like, no,
only here is it recognized as that in the US,
but that's not how it's recognized for the rest of
(19:37):
the world. And he was like trying to like, you know,
get this guy to go away. But the guy like
in Cstia and Cistia, right, And those are things that
I think about right now when I'm getting dressed, if
I'm going out, and so I'm wondering if the type
of climate that you're we're in like ever like deters
you are you just like, no, we're doing this.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah. No, I feel like maybe in high school that
was me, but not today. You know, now, more than
ever because of the climate, I'm going to show up
in red, green everything, you know, white, like you're going
to see and you're going to know I'm Mexican and
I'm going to wear it like I go drop off
my son. WI sure it's that said f Ice, you know,
like I go drop off my son with like Mexico
(20:18):
dripped everywhere. Like I feel like I, more than ever
now we should be showing up and you know Aransas,
our Mexico gear, however that may look for you are
traditional where you know, even if it's for gorgo or
however you know, wherever you're from. Like, I feel like
we should be showing up like that. It's a political statement.
I always tell people fashion is political, just like hair
(20:41):
is political. Everything is political. So you know, I feel
like you should be shopping political, you should be spending political,
you should be thinking political, you should be dating. Yes, political,
I tell people that all the time. So I'm just like, no,
I feel like, especially because of the climate, I think
some people are afraid, and rightfully so, because some of
them are not in a position where I am now
(21:02):
where I feel a little more secure, like I have
that extra security blanket where I can be like, no,
I'm gonna show up like this, whereas to before, I
never had any of what I have now. So I
was very much like that, like I don't want to
cause problems. I don't want to cause I'd rather just
not dressed like that. There was a moment in like
this entire career that I was kind of like, maybe
(21:24):
I'll just quit. Maybe I don't want to do this.
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Was this something that happened online? Yes, tell us about that.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
Because as much success and visibility as you had, increased
visibility often comes with increased criticism and negativity. So it
sounds like you had one of those experiences.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah, I definitely did, and it made me like kind
of question everything, and I was like, maybe this isn't
what I want to do because I've always experienced nothing
but support, love, appreciation, especially for my community, and that's
very like private and hidden. I don't we expose or
post those messages. I feel like they're just things that
(22:04):
like I want to keep close to my heart, and
like those messages to me make me like very emotional
and like, oh my god, this is why I'm doing it,
you know. But recently the full community posted me a
photo of me. Didn't ask me, I don't. It doesn't
really matter, you know, but no permission, just posted and
it said something liked Latina and then it quotes me
saying something like if you're going to show, you can't
(22:26):
yell f ice and the same sentence, go support the
Dodgers in the stadiums that you know, keep our people pressed.
Your buying tickets, you're funding the systems that oppressed our
people and keep us nice attention centers. And I had
no idea was on there. People were just started sending.
My friends were like, oh, my god, have you seen this?
Have you seen this? Have you seen the comments? And
I'm just like, first of all, don't send me any comments.
(22:48):
I'm like, because I don't do that. I don't do
hate comments, like I don't. I don't read stuff like that,
and I will block people. I'm a blocker. I'm a
certified blocker. I love blocking people. So I'm like, I'm
not about to sit here and argue with nobody. And
then I started getting death threats and I was like, okay,
this is more than just like hateful, like you know,
(23:08):
go back to your country. You're not even born here
type of stuff. If you don't like it, why are
you living here? Like I was just like, wow, okay,
like the fact that people are like threatening my life
and this is grown men that are fans of these sports,
you know, like keep sports out of politics, like okay,
like literally being like we're gonna kill you, We're gonna
find you, like it's just crazy stuff. And I was like,
(23:32):
oh my god, like this is insane that grown men
like are literally threatening like me, my life. And I
was like, maybe I don't want to do this. I
got depressed. I was sad at the comments they started
going in on my regular like post commons.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
It went to your regular page.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
My regular page, and I was like, so sad. I
was down for like a whole week, and I was
really kind of like just shining away, not posting, kind
of like so like sad about it. But then I
was like, no, like I'm not going to let this,
like I didn't work this hard to let like this
like issue just like ruin like everything I've worked for.
I'm gonna keep speaking up. I'm still speaking up about it.
(24:09):
I don't care. And I what I did is I
filtered my comments. So I'm like I didn't know that.
You know, I started learning along the way I can
filter what people hidden words stuff like that, So like
I filtered my comments, I bought any negativity like that,
and I just don't. I don't give into it anymore.
So that was a really low moment because I've never
(24:29):
been threatened like that before.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Like it's crazy, did you ever did you reach out
to the moderators of that page the food community?
Speaker 3 (24:38):
I didn't. Actually I never felt like I just never
never felt like what's the point, you know, Like it
just never felt like like anything like that I needed
to do. But I did you know post one message
just to kind of show people like this is the
kind of fans and this is the kind of messages
that I'm getting. Like the way that they were sending
me like it wasn't just like, oh, we're gonna tell you,
(24:59):
It was like, you know, the worst worst you could
use against the women. And that's when men started, Like
I felt really good because the men that I surround
myself with in my communities were like, that will never happen.
We're here, we love you, we stand with you. So
it was really nice to see a lot of men
being like we got your back, like don't worry, like
the community has you like that is never going to happen.
(25:21):
But it did question me, like coming out of my
house that week, like I'm gonna be seen? Am I
going to be recognized? It didn't feel good. It didn't
feel like it usually feels for when people are like ryda,
can we get a picture? Like cool? You know, it
just felt weird, even being taking my kids of school anything.
It just felt really weird that week. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
And I mean that page is like it's a Latino page.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Yeah yeah, and uh so I wonder like how you
felt in that moment where so much of your outspokenness
and your fashion and your advocacy and the work that
you do is about empowerment for the Latino community, the
immigrant community, but then that very same com unity is
(26:01):
attacking you and threatening you and responding so negatively in writing.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Like what was that? It must have felt like whiplash,
Like what did that feel like for you?
Speaker 3 (26:10):
It just felt like kind of like a slap in
the face, like in a sense like using a woman
speaking up to be like, let's go in on her.
You know, how do you guys feel about Brenda, like
about what she said? Like it was just kind of
like you could have spun it a whole different way,
you know, like.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
It was there framing on the page correct, and.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
It's just like it was just it's just like it's
not even about like you're just upset because I'm holding
a marriort to your face and you don't like what
you see, Like that's it, Like I am, I'm an activist,
not a bully or a fighter. I don't go on
and curse people out and say anything. I just you know,
professionally go on there. And it's like think, think you
just got to think you cannot be like saying one
(26:50):
thing and showing up for communities and raising funds and
doing this for you know, oppressed peoples, and then the
next day you're like funding systems that are like keeping
us there. Like it just like stand on your business,
you know, Like that's all I'm saying, Like, don't show
up and like pretend to care and this and that
when like you don't, you really don't. You're over here
like you know, doing the opposite of where you're preaching.
(27:11):
That's all I'm saying, Like I'm not saying anything that. Obviously,
there's so many things in this world that's bad, right,
Like having a phone is bad, having this, Like there's
so many things we can't control, but the things that
we coun't we should try, right, like shopping control and
not go to a Dodger game, thank you, Like obviously,
So I just felt like, I don't know, it was
just kind of like weird because it's just like this
(27:33):
is what we do as Latinos. Sometimes I feel like
as soon as we can knock someone down, like you
see them having just a little bit of any kind
of like success, we knock each other down. We're we're
so bad at supporting each other. Sometimes it sucks as
much as people say, like Mexicans have so much pride
and we show up for each other. Yeah, we do.
But in the same token, Latinos are like our worst Thanes.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Don't go anywhere. Look, I'm will be right back.
Speaker 4 (28:06):
It seems though, like at a place.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Like Latination, they're doing something a little bit different and you.
I think I believe that your fashion and the way
that you like style yourself probably had a lot to
do with you being cast on that show, because every
time I see a clip of you, like you are
serving a fucking look and you're saying something like really quotable,
(28:31):
and like there was a very viral clip of you
that went around that I think was one of the
first that I saw that caught my attention. And I'm
just curious about like how you ended up on the show,
like how that happened, and how you're liking it, and
how you feel about about the space.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Oh my god, I'm obsessed with Latination. I just feel
like it's finally like the fruits of my labor, being
like spaces that I choose, finally choosing me back. I
put myself in rooms where it's community where it's everything
proud to be Latino, you know, like I feel like
you'll never see me everywhere because I don't want to
be in spaces that don't feel like community, you know.
(29:06):
I don't want to be in cloud chasing spaces. It's
like it's not Latino owned, POC owned, Like I have
no business like that's I want to always like amplify,
you know. So they reached out to me vi an
email for a casting and I was like, what is
this Like this sounds like so much fun, you know
like and I was like we like it wasn't like
too much given away in the email, but I was
like okay, like show up and casts, all right?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Cool?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
And then they send more details saying like you have
to be yourself, like this is not your typical casting.
We don't want you to be like professional, like we
want you to be unhinged, like think about talking to
your mom or your sister in a couch. So I
was like, oh, you guys want me to be myself.
I was like okay, and they're like as soon as
like and I'm thinking, I'm going in, it's going to
be like intimate like this, you know, nothing crazy. I
walk in this is like a full on like it
(29:49):
looks like a news anchor studio, you know, like a
huge stage one, stage two, stage three, like cut like go.
Like it felt like when I walked in like American Idol,
Like there was all these judges, you know, and they're like,
as soon as you walk in, you're casting start. So
I just walked in. I was like sassy, throwing my
hair everywhere, you know, and you know, they just asked
a bunch of questions and I answer them as myself.
I answer everything as myself. I'm not presenting anything else
(30:11):
other than who I am. So it feels so natural,
and I feel like being in a space like that
is so cool because they preach everything Latino Latino Latino.
Like the staff is all Latino, the cultures all Latino.
They're welcoming, they embrace you being like not having the
same opinion. I just feel like they're really doing the work.
(30:32):
And I've always wanted in my own head to create
a space like that, but I'm a one person. I'm
one person. I can only do so much. So to
be able to be in a space where in my
head I dreamed of having something like that for myself
and be a part of it. They're not just one thing.
They have Latin queer, they have Latin roots for Afro Latinas.
They have everything that in sports for both women and men.
(30:55):
They have you know this other one for rappers, like
people who are trying to sing or like you know,
have a break like through in the internet. Like, I
just feel like their umbrella is like expanding. They have
the latinos one which is us our show Belo Sas.
So it's just like they're just really like doing it,
you know, for every single they have gen z. They
have like everything everything. They're catering to everyone, and I
(31:16):
feel like it's so coo. I feel so proud and
so happy to be a proud of be a part
of something. So like just me, like I'm myself. I
show up as myself and they love me and they
like they're like yes, Like they're like they preach me
being me and that's so hard to find in this industry.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
So tell us how you got cast. You auditioned and
then what happened next?
Speaker 3 (31:36):
So I auditioned and then some of the questions were
a little crazy. But I was like, what were some
of the questions? They were just kind of like if
you find them out of your dreams, you know, he's
like the love of your life, like and you're like,
this is everything, money everything, millionaire, billionai or whatever. But
he like dated your he had, you know, relations with
your one of your best friends. Like would you proceed?
(32:00):
They're like, but you've already fallen in love, you know,
Like and I'm just like no, like what the hell?
Like no, They're like, oh, but like you've already fallen
in love this he's a billionaire, he's rich, he's the
man of your dreams. And other girls was like, oh,
it's fine, Like I think, you know, if you if
there's a conversation like with a friend and I'm like, no, girl,
I don't want anyone who has been in my friend
to be in me, Like I am, I'm a girl
(32:21):
code like I'm a girl's girl. I stand on that.
Like no, And everyone had different you so it was
like stuff like that that was like they were testing us,
you know, like or like what's the craziest thing you've
done with the next boyfriend, like you know, like a
red flag thing that you've done or like stuff like that.
I felt like it was cool because it wasn't just
crazy questions. It was also like what's your hot girl? Reset,
like what are you doing? Like I kickbox, I love
(32:42):
to kickbox, I love the digitsu, like that's my thing,
you know. So I felt like a flow of so
many things. And then they called me back for a
second casting and that's when we really sat down and
did mock like how the show would be. And I
just feel like the girls on us were we were
just flowing, like the conversation was not forced. It's never
forced even till this day. Everything it was just natural.
(33:03):
So I just felt like they saw that and they're
like okay, and then they got to pick the girls,
you know, and we all got the ones I got picked,
got picked, and I was like, wait, this is I
love seeing different basis, like I feel like usually when
people cast, we all like the same sadly, so it
was really cool to see for Latinas, Dominicans, Mexicans that
(33:23):
are born in Mexico not here, have Filipinas like just everything.
So that felt really cool.
Speaker 4 (33:30):
It feels like like a chiller like Battie's West.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Yeah girl, yes, no it really is. No it is,
because I was like, it's like giving that, but it's
also giving like how do we reset? We bring in
girls called like Brima for the day, you know, and
for me like, I'm like, I'm going to tap into
my community any moment I can. So like bringing in
photographers like the Liagorchez. I had her on and was like,
you know, giving her her praises and like who she is,
(33:56):
and it's like we certify you or like you certified
to be her body mind list some spicy questions after
knowing who you are, you know. So it's really cool
because I feel like you also get to amplify other
people while being there. Sure we have celebrities and influencers
that's really cool too that come on our show. But
I just feel like it's so different from what I've seen.
I feel like it's bringing trl podcast YouTube and like
(34:19):
mashing it all together.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
It's cute. It's really fun. I really I really love
the show.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
I love that's so cute.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
I love the name.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Yeah, and I love you on there oh yay.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (34:29):
I feel like you were you were made for this.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
I like always wanted my own thing, but again, like
I said, I was just like everything was imposter syndrome,
Like I can't do this by myself you know, like
this is crazy, but I love the way life turned out.
I just feel like it happened how it was supposed
to happen, because had I done it myself, I don't
know if it would have been successful. I don't know
if I would have found the right people, you know,
and I'm making friendships, so I think that's beautiful too.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
How did you work through that imposter syndrome of telling
yourself like I can't do this or maybe I shouldn't
be here. How did you work through that?
Speaker 3 (35:00):
Honestly, it's a lot of conversations about my mom and
my husband. You know, my mom always reminds me who
I am. I don't want to get emotional, but she's
always like, you know, all my wayshaddas. Every time they
find me out, I get very nervous. I get scared
because I'm still not fully documented. So it's very tough
for me because I'm like, you know, finding out that
I isn't airports now and like all this, Like I
(35:23):
know I have my permanent residency, but that does not
mean anything to me, Like I sty'll have trauma, like
that's never going to go away, and like I don't
think people see that they just see Brenda's on a
ran trip. This is so cool. Like I don't think
you guys understand like the panic attics that I have
leading to that. You know, My mom's like is like,
(35:44):
this is your this is going to be your life. Now,
You're going to be, you know, a star. You're going
to travel everywhere. So like you know, you're going to
be fine, Like no one's gonna take you from your land,
like you know, this is like what you were chosen
to do, so you're gonna be okay. And like you know,
she prays with me over the phone own and my
husband's constantly just reminded me of my worth. So he's like,
(36:06):
I like, you know, I know there's a quote that
says behind every successful man is like a woman. That's
my man for me. Like the behind my success is
my husband, Like that is like my everything, my manager,
my contractor. He will fight for more pay for me.
Like he does not play about me. So he's very
behind the scenes. But like I couldn't do it without
(36:26):
my husband and my mom. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
It takes a village, it does. It takes it takes
a crew, it does. Yeah, there's like really no such
thing as a one woman shows there's a whole crew
behind her, and it sounds like you have that, which
is incredible. So so earlier in the conversation you talked
about how being young and being undocumented and being very
quiet about it and keeping it to yourself and it
(36:53):
was kind of a secret. But now you're so public
and open and you wear your culture on your sleeve
and you are on latination and you're being flown out.
So how is the visibility now and the way you
wear your culture, how is that healing young Branda who
had to be in the shadows.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Basically, it's healing me a lot, honestly, like so much.
I don't think people understand like when they cast me
and when they give me these opportunities, how healing it
is for me, because it's like I never saw myself,
like like I thought, like my dreams are came and
gone after that conversation of me not having my social
you know, like it's never gonna happen for me. So
(37:34):
like every opportunity it's so different for someone like me
because it just it can never be compared to her generation,
you know, it just can't. Like everything is just like
an overwhelming emotion, gratefulness, humble, like just like so grateful
to you know, just like do what I do, and
like I feel like just being able to tell stories
(38:00):
and be a storyteller for like other people, like I
always hear like thank you for speaking up, thank you
for you know, not forgetting about us, thank you for
like well the use that you know it's already like
came and passed, like you continue to post resources, you
continue to like you know, I just feel like it's
healing me. And I even started an inner child healing
little segment. I've only done one, but like I want
(38:22):
to make it a little bit more frequent, where like
I get girls together and even guys, all walks of life, kids, anybody,
and we just like hear in our child together because
I feel like a lot of financial limitations led us
to like stop doing certain things. My mom couldn't afford
certain things. So it was like one of those things
where I was like, I always want to heal my
inner child. I always want to do hobbies that I
(38:43):
wish I could afford when I was smaller. How do
I do that with a group of women who want
to find like you know, sometimes they're alone, they're looking
to come make friends. They don't have that, you know.
So I started with Escape Meet. I was like, let's
do Escape me like it's Super Bowl or bleeding. Let's
start it off for the spring. First day of like,
let's get it. And I had an overwhelming around of
(39:03):
like excitement and I was like, wait, people really want
to come, like this is great? And I was like
some girls was like I want to come back. Don't
have skates a lot of thought in my DMS, and
I was like, well, I'm not gonna let that stop us,
Like how do I get sponsored? Like we got to
get these girls sponsored, We got to get some skates.
I reached out to all these skate brands and then
some of them were kind of like, oh rent them this.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
That's so.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
I was just waiting to see who would just sponsor
them fully. And then then Paula Skates, Like I wrote
up a nice email, nice pitch explaining what in our
child healing meant to our communities, how they would be
helping our girls, how financial limitations should not stop anybody
from you know, skating or doing anything they want, and
they were like, we love this so much. Have the
(39:43):
girls sign up on a Google doc form whatever they need,
we got you. And I was like, wow, like cut,
I couldn't believe it. And so many people showed up,
little girls showed up. I was like, oh my god,
my heart. You know, all walks of life. People came alone,
people made friends, people left for friendships, like first time skaters,
season skaters, na season skaters. It was just like really
(40:04):
beautiful with the Latin Nation was already with me. So
it was so cool because they're like, we're gonna come out,
we're going to cover it, and they came to support
me like they some of them weren't even covering. They
just showed up, you know, and it was just so beautiful.
All the girls were happy, fun. It was like Latinas
took over going to speech, like we were like dancing.
I don't know, we'll see it later in the segment
when that they felt it. It was so hilarious. We're all like,
(40:24):
you know, we're Latinas. We're like moving our hips, we're dancing.
Like all these white boys have never seen so many
Latinas in their life. They were like looking at us like,
oh my god, Like it was really fun.
Speaker 4 (40:35):
Were you at the dance skate Plaza?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Kind of like by the boardwalk is where we finished,
and we just had our own little dj. DJ Jeff
he like showed up with his speaker and he was
like all the girls were just at the end, like
like a little celebration. We're all just dancing like Latino music,
like just vibing. It was so much fun and everyone
had positive feedback. Everyone was so happy and they're like,
we gotta do this again. But I want to change
(40:58):
it every month. I don't want it to just be skating,
you know. I want to be like, you know, what's
the next thing, like you know, for me, like for Gorgo,
my mom couldn't afford it after they took out the grant,
so I just never I never went back, and I
only started doing dance classes that were free, which were
not that So now as an adult, I'm actually taking
classes like behind the scenes on my own, and I'm like,
(41:21):
I can't wait to share it when I'm a little
more seasoned. But like stuff like that, like if I
want to hold a dance class where we all learn that,
or a cooking class for example, like for girls who
have that mother daughter like it's missing, they're either their
mother past or there's a strain or not like a relationship,
(41:41):
or they're just like they never got that growing up
because your mom was too busy surviving, she couldn't teach
you how to cook, you know. So we want to
do a cooking one for the girl. These for the
mother bonding type of stuff or just come if you
don't have a mom and like we'll show you. You know. So,
I have a lot of things in my head that
I'm like the segment I wanted to be very like,
how to what did Brenda need when she was little?
(42:02):
You know? How did I want to heal? So I
want to heal as an adult. But with all women,
I love it.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Brenda, you're doing incredible work and you're giving back and
I'm sure there's so much more that you're doing that,
Like you don't boast about and brag about, but I
think that what you're doing is incredible.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
And I'm so excited that you got to join us
here in the studio.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Yes, I'm so happy. Thank you for having me. It
was an honor. So thank you for having me to
share my story authentically and like just tell it how
it is.
Speaker 1 (42:29):
Yeah, we're so happy you shared so much. Thank you
for feeling safe and connected to do that. Yeah, there's
just so much to chew on, right from the culture
pieces to growing up right an immigrant and now this
journey that you're on and connecting with your younger self too,
I think is really beautiful. And I love how you're
(42:50):
taking something so personal like healing your inner child, but
applying it because it's so resonant with the rest of
our community. We all have an inner child that needs
needs some healing.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
We do, and I feel like it's important to share that.
Like I can't do it by myself, I want to
do it with everybody. Why not especially during these times.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
That was Brenda la Latina. What an incredible story. I'm
so grateful that she came on lok at Dora and
shared her journey as a young woman, a young girl
figuring it out, learning about being undocumented, and then what
that meant for her future.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
She has an amazing personality, she has such a presence.
I'm really happy that she was able to join us
on the podcast, and I want to join one of
her future in her child meetups. Maybe we'll maybe we'll
do something with her in the future.
Speaker 1 (43:40):
Yes, girl, all right, thank you for listening to another
capitulo of radio. We'll catch you next time, Bessitos
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Log almlia
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