Ep12: Never Latina Enough: Embracing Your Identity When You Feel In-Between

Have you ever felt like you’re floating between cultures—never fully accepted in either one? Like your Spanish isn’t “fluent enough,” your features aren’t “Latina enough,” and yet you don’t feel fully seen in Black spaces either?

In this powerful episode, Dr. Onaysia Martinez — Afro-Latina, physical therapist turned identity liberation coach — shares a deeply personal story about growing up between cultures and how she finally stopped trying to fit in by choosing to stand fully in her truth.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• What it means to carry duality in your identity as an Afro-Latina

• How to stop performing your culture and start embodying it

• Why your truth doesn’t need outside permission to be valid

• How to return to your roots to reclaim power and peace

If you’ve ever thought: 🔎 “I don’t feel Latina enough.” 🔎 “I don’t fully belong anywhere.” 🔎 “Where do I fit in?” Then girl — this episode is going to hit your spirit.

P.S. If you’re ready to stop seeking validation and start creating belonging from within, you need to be at my free live webinar How to Further Your Success as a Latina on April 30th at 6 PM EST. We’re unpacking identity, purpose, and the power of choosing your own damn path. Save your seat at www.luvugurl.com

Your Next Steps:

• Subscribe so you stay in tune with your growth journey

• Share this with the amiga who’s been questioning where she belongs

• Leave a review so this podcast reaches more first-gen cycle breakers just like you

Let’s Connect!

🌐 Website: www.LuvUGurl.com 📲 TikTok: @DrOnaysiaMartinez 📸 Instagram: @DrOnaysiaMartinez 💼 LinkedIn: Dr. Onaysia Martinez

 Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Embracing Dual Cultures 01:00 Exploring Latina Identity 01:39 Navigating Different Cultures 03:53 Understanding Afro-Latina Heritage 05:00 Embracing Your True Identity 06:32 Empowerment and Moving Forward 08:04 Taking Action and Living Boldly    

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You've always felt like you're not Latina enough.

(00:02):
You've always felt like you're not American enough because you've been growing up between two different cultures and it's hard, like it's not easy, but what matters most is who you feel you are deep down inside, and what identity that you choose to stand 10 toes down in.
Welcome to the Selfish Small Podcast, the podcast for high achieving Latinas who are ready to stop drifting by an autopilot and to start creating a life that actually excites them.

(00:32):
I'm your host, doc donation Martinez, and I teach women just like you how to step into their purpose boldly, unapologetically, and beyond the expectations of others.
You're here today because you've been feeling called to do something more with your life, and you're not exactly sure what that is.
Are you ready to figure it out together? Let's get into it. 7 00:00:51,770.797773655 --> 00:00:52,370.797773655 Hey girl. 8 00:00:52,370.797773655 --> 00:00:56,60.797773655 Hey, welcome back to the podcast. 9 00:00:56,510.797773655 --> 00:00:59,960.797773655 How you doing girl? I hope you're doing great. 10 00:01:00,360.797773655 --> 00:01:10,335.797773655 I wanna talk a little bit about what it means to really be Latina in this podcast episode today, and I'm not gonna lie. 11 00:01:11,265.797773655 --> 00:01:12,255.797773655 I'm not gonna hold back. 12 00:01:13,455.797773655 --> 00:01:30,105.797773655 This is something that I have not unpacked in real time, so I hope that you can enjoy the realness and the timing of this episode with everything going on with ICE and Trump. 13 00:01:30,165.797773655 --> 00:01:33,855.797773655 It is a topic that is worth talking about. 14 00:01:34,305.797773655 --> 00:01:39,825.797773655 So if you're down, lean in, turn the volume up, and let's get into it. 15 00:01:41,25.79777365 --> 00:01:45,945.79777365 I always felt like I was walking in between two different cultures growing up. 16 00:01:46,65.79777365 --> 00:01:53,985.79777365 Like I never felt that I truly fit in with the Latina group that was in my high school. 17 00:01:54,435.79777365 --> 00:01:57,525.79777365 I wasn't Latina enough, and I never fit in. 18 00:01:58,350.79777365 --> 00:01:59,340.79777365 They didn't look like me. 19 00:01:59,340.79777365 --> 00:02:24,111.91475479 I didn't look like them, like I never felt that I was able to communicate with them in my broken Spanish, and I was embarrassed and a little ashamed so as I was in high school, I gravitated more towards the black kids in school. 20 00:02:24,221.91475479 --> 00:02:26,471.91475479 I always felt more accepted. 21 00:02:26,471.91475479 --> 00:02:29,141.91475479 I felt more loved and welcomed. 22 00:02:29,411.91475479 --> 00:02:32,381.91475479 And at the time I didn't know that I was a black woman. 23 00:02:32,681.91475479 --> 00:02:37,361.91475479 I didn't know that I was Afro-Latina, like I didn't know any of this. 24 00:02:37,391.91475479 --> 00:02:41,501.91475479 I just knew that I was a Hispanic girl. 25 00:02:42,111.91475479 --> 00:02:49,691.91475479 This trend followed me into college where mainly majority of the kids in my college were black students. 26 00:02:50,171.91475479 --> 00:02:52,211.91475479 And so I was right in my element. 27 00:02:52,291.91475479 --> 00:02:54,511.91475479 That was one of the reasons why I went to that school. 28 00:02:54,511.91475479 --> 00:03:00,721.91475479 It's like 65% black, and so I thrived in that environment. 29 00:03:00,721.91475479 --> 00:03:02,941.91475479 I dove right into it. 30 00:03:03,61.91475479 --> 00:03:07,471.91475479 I was excited to be around people that truly accepted me for me. 31 00:03:07,971.91475479 --> 00:03:24,481.91475479 But then there was always this feeling that I felt, even though my friends love me so much, even though like obviously they welcome me with open arms, I never truly could understand their struggles. 32 00:03:25,276.91475479 --> 00:03:35,886.91475479 Of being a true, fully culturally defined black woman versus a descendant of a black woman, which I am. 33 00:03:36,786.91475479 --> 00:03:50,76.91475479 And, um, hodgepodge of multiple races, and just not being able to relate to certain, like references and things that you wouldn't really know unless you grew up in the thick of it. 34 00:03:50,226.91475479 --> 00:03:52,596.91475479 And girl, I didn't grow up in the thick of it. 35 00:03:52,626.91475479 --> 00:03:53,76.91475479 Okay. 36 00:03:54,276.91475479 --> 00:04:07,856.91475479 So I started to notice that, and then I got deeper down into where my people came from, right? So obviously, you know, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, they were colonized. 37 00:04:07,856.91475479 --> 00:04:09,746.91475479 They originally were. 38 00:04:10,206.91475479 --> 00:04:18,56.91475479 Taino native people and during the slave trade, the Spaniards, they brought over on ships. 39 00:04:18,491.91475479 --> 00:04:19,241.91475479 Africans. 40 00:04:19,541.91475479 --> 00:04:28,61.91475479 So the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans are a mix of Africans, native Taino people and vineyards. 41 00:04:28,751.91475479 --> 00:04:30,551.91475479 So we speak Spanish. 42 00:04:30,711.91475479 --> 00:04:44,991.91475479 Some of us may look more black, some of us may look more white, but we don't really have a race, and this is what causes us to have difficulties in the way in which we place our identity. 43 00:04:45,686.91475479 --> 00:04:51,866.91475479 It's like, am I black? Am I white? Am I Spanish? And maybe you don't speak the best Spanish. 44 00:04:51,866.91475479 --> 00:04:59,696.91475479 So that is like already automatically something that you have difficulty expressing that you are Spanish, that you are Hispanic. 45 00:05:00,146.91475479 --> 00:05:02,306.91475479 But I want you to know today that. 46 00:05:02,906.91475479 --> 00:05:10,106.91475479 Who you are, where you come from, who you identify as is entirely up to you. 47 00:05:10,766.91475479 --> 00:05:12,866.91475479 And it's in the history. 48 00:05:12,956.91475479 --> 00:05:19,286.91475479 So if people wanna push back on you, tell them to pick up a book or use a thing called Google. 49 00:05:20,486.91475479 --> 00:05:24,926.91475479 Listen, queen, your identity is not something that you put on. 50 00:05:25,106.91475479 --> 00:05:27,116.91475479 It's something that is your truth. 51 00:05:27,716.91475479 --> 00:05:29,116.91475479 And as. 52 00:05:29,506.91475479 --> 00:05:30,766.91475479 Descendants of immigrants. 53 00:05:30,846.91475479 --> 00:05:47,791.91475479 We have to do the deep dive to unravel and understand where is that we come from in order for us to embrace the parts of ourselves that don't really necessarily make sense right off the bat, and I know that you've always felt like you're not Latina enough. 54 00:05:48,91.91475479 --> 00:06:05,731.91475479 You've always felt like you're not American enough because you've been growing up between two different cultures and it's hard, like it's not easy, but what matters most is who you feel you are deep down inside, and what identity that you choose to stand 10 toes down in. 55 00:06:06,931.91475479 --> 00:06:08,941.91475479 You don't need to prove your culture. 56 00:06:09,91.91475479 --> 00:06:11,281.91475479 You don't need to prove that you belong. 57 00:06:11,371.91475479 --> 00:06:28,511.91475479 You don't need to take like a Spanish test to prove that you're Latina, like you are Latina because of the beautiful, amazing woman that came before you that were on these islands that raises you and lifts you up to become the amazing woman that you are today. 58 00:06:28,991.91475479 --> 00:06:31,811.91475479 You don't need somebody else to give you permission to be that. 59 00:06:32,141.91475479 --> 00:06:34,271.91475479 And yes, girl, we're in America now. 60 00:06:34,301.91475479 --> 00:06:39,281.91475479 And that if anything makes us even better because, hello, we have opportunity. 61 00:06:39,431.91475479 --> 00:06:43,781.91475479 We have, sovereignty we're redefining expectations. 62 00:06:44,361.91475479 --> 00:06:56,981.91475479 This is exactly what I dive deep into in my live webinar happening April 30th at 6:00 PM If you've been struggling to step further into your identity then you need to be at that webinar, girl. 63 00:06:57,161.91475479 --> 00:07:00,911.91475479 Make sure you sign up down on the show [e-mail] 64 00:07:00,911.91475479 --> 00:07:01,931.91475479 you girl.com, 65 00:07:02,201.91475479 --> 00:07:15,736.91475479 we're bringing that Latina flare with a side of liberty okay? So know that your sense of belonging that you've been seeking out your whole life starts within you. 66 00:07:16,236.91475479 --> 00:07:24,816.91475479 The moment that you stop seeking external validation and acceptance from other people is the moment that you finally get to come home to you. 67 00:07:26,16.91475479 --> 00:07:26,556.91475479 So. 68 00:07:27,456.91475479 --> 00:07:36,486.91475479 At the next meeting that you go to at the next conference that you're at, don't feel like you have to put on this persona in order for you to be good enough. 69 00:07:36,726.91475479 --> 00:07:38,256.91475479 You already are good enough. 70 00:07:38,496.91475479 --> 00:07:43,176.91475479 You already are exactly who God meant for you to be. 71 00:07:43,536.91475479 --> 00:07:52,566.91475479 You just need to bring out the inner you and do more of that instead of hiding and hovering in everyone else's shadow. 72 00:07:53,116.91475479 --> 00:07:55,486.91475479 Keep showing up as the best version of you. 73 00:07:56,56.91475479 --> 00:08:04,276.91475479 Keep showing the world who it is you are and give them the opportunity to see you of girl. 74 00:08:04,936.91475479 --> 00:08:05,386.91475479 Bye. 75 00:08:06,586.91475479 --> 00:08:11,296.91475479 If today's episode hit just a little bit extra today, don't just sit on the inspirational kick. 76 00:08:11,626.91475479 --> 00:08:13,336.91475479 It's time to take action now. 77 00:08:13,966.91475479 --> 00:08:21,76.91475479 The life you want is on the other side of the bold moves you haven't made yet, and that includes what you do after listening to this podcast. 78 00:08:21,706.91475479 --> 00:08:27,196.91475479 First, you're gonna make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and stay on track with building your dream life. 79 00:08:27,796.91475479 --> 00:08:33,376.91475479 Second, you're gonna share this with the fellow Latina who's been going through the same situation lately and could really benefit. 80 00:08:33,411.91475479 --> 00:08:34,581.91475479 From the chat we had today. 81 00:08:35,121.91475479 --> 00:08:40,701.91475479 Third, you're gonna stop waiting on the right time to step into your calling and get your life back. 82 00:08:41,361.91475479 --> 00:08:46,131.91475479 Scroll down to the show notes and hurry onto the wait list for the Path to Purpose Coaching Program. 83 00:08:46,131.91475479 --> 00:08:48,651.91475479 So when the doors open, you're the first to know. 84 00:08:49,371.91475479 --> 00:08:56,211.91475479 Until next time, we, and remember, you only have one life, so it's time to start living it a little more selfishly.