Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Caffeinated Chaos,where business deals happen
between diaper changes andfriendships are fueled by
caffeine.
I'm Whitney GaN, your host, andI'm here to talk all things
business parenthood, and ofcourse keeping up with the BFFs,
whether you're juggling theboardroom, the playroom, or just
here for some coffee fuel chaos.
We've got you covered.
Get ready for real talk, laughsand a whole lot of heart as we
(00:24):
dive into the beautiful messthat is entrepreneurship,
parenthood, and everything inbetween.
So let's embrace the chaostogether.
Ated, of course.
Our guest, Heather Reese, is apersonal injury lawyer in
Philadelphia, passionate aboutjustice, adopted from Peru.
She advocates for Latinas andinspires young women to pursue
(00:46):
their dreams alongside with herlegal career.
She's a model and activist usingher platform to promote
representation and equality inlaw and beyond.
Let's welcome Heather to thepodcast.
Welcome to the podcast, Heather.
How are you?
I'm good, how are you?
Good.
Let me start with this question.
So we are Caffe chaos, right?
(01:08):
So are you drinking anythingcaffeinated?
Because right now I am drinkinga coke.
Oh, I was just drinking a dietCoke.
Nice.
Okay, so we're on the samewavelength already.
So how are you doing?
How are you doing today?
I'm good, tired.
I'm moving.
Oh, wow.
A bit chaotic around here, but,I'm excited for a new adventure.
(01:29):
Nice.
Like, is it a far move?
No.
It's still in the same state, sonot too far.
Oh.
Nice.
Nice.
Okay.
Cool.
All right.
So Heather, let's tell myaudience a little bit about
yourself.
So how do you describe yourself?
So usually I just say that I ama content creator slash model.
And then I like weave in at theend that I'm also a lawyer.
(01:52):
Oh, you're just gonna slide thatright in?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So you would say that firstyou're a content creator then,
right?
Yeah, I mean, I would say thatlike first I feel like I I am a
content creator slash activistand then I would say I love
modeling.
And then the last thing I liketo say is that I'm a lawyer
'cause I don't really fit likethe stereotype of what people
(02:15):
think lawyers are.
So, and I always say like, Ithink being a lawyer is like the
least interesting thing aboutme.
Okay.
What would you say is the mostinteresting thing about you?
I guess I would say that I, youknow, I really, love myself and
I think self-confidence inwomen, in millennial women and
(02:35):
in plus size women is like aforeign concept a lot of the
time.
So I would say that isdefinitely to me, the most
interesting thing about me andI'm adopted, but also.
I like how, I, like how you saya bunch of things and then you
like throw in a little somethingat the end and you're just like,
oh, contact creation.
And I'm adopted and I'm like,wait, okay.
(02:56):
Where are we going next?
Because it's keeping me on mytoes.
Okay.
Let's start with, what kind ofcontent do you create and,
what's your audience?
So I showcase Latino, Latina andLatinx businesses on Instagram.
Mm-hmm.
So I work with, smallbusinesses, big businesses to
gain visibility for the Latinacommunity.
(03:16):
And that started about last yearduring Hispanic Heritage Month.
I made a thread, saying I wantedto like showcase businesses
'cause.
I am a lawyer and in the legalcommunity, Latinas only make up
2.5% of lawyers.
Wow.
And I said, well, that's likedefinitely not enough.
And then I said, well, whatother fields are we being
underrepresented in?
And I saw that we were underLatinas.
(03:37):
We're underrepresented in almostevery field.
And it's not that they're notthere, it's that visibility
isn't there for them.
Mm-hmm.
So it's not that they're not outthere making these products.
They are.
It's just that it's not thefirst thing you think of.
The first thing you think of islike insert a big box brand
name.
Right.
Right.
So I said, what can I do?
It's just like your everydayLatina to create visibility for
(03:58):
the community.
And I said, I can do, show, doso in, creating a series on
Instagram where I showcase them.
Awesome.
That's so cool because Iliterally just met another
podcaster.
And he is, his whole show too istalking about locals and their
community and their businessesand like their, basically just
(04:19):
the people themselves.
And he's from a very small townnext to ours and yeah, I think
that.
You two would probably beawesome to connect too.
I wish I remembered his name.
Listeners, when I look him up,I'll put it in the show notes
'cause I wanna shout out hispodcast too.
He does seasons instead of likeweekly episodes.
(04:41):
So right now he's in the offseason, which is why I can't
remember his name.
That's smart.
That's probably like reallyeasygoing.
I said I was only gonna, I saidI was gonna do'em once a month.
Mm-hmm.
And then I ended up doing themonce a week and now I think I do
them like twice a week.
'cause it really depends on howmany businesses I have.
Like.
Lined up.
Mm-hmm.
(05:01):
'cause like it really depends onhow many packages I have at my
house that I'm, that.
So, yeah, I mean, I, it really,it varies.
I think I'm gonna go back toonce a week'cause it is hard,
especially,'cause I do a lot ofspeaking engagements now.
Yeah.
And I'm doing a lot for them.
So I wanna do more of like, onthe go, like finding Latina.
Every time I travel I always,you know, go on threads and I
(05:24):
say like, need a Latina makeupartist in whatever city I'm
state I'm going in and I workwith Oh, that's awesome.
Work with them.
The same thing withphotographers.
So I think I'm gonna start doingmore businesses in those areas
too.
So wherever I travel, like I'mdoing, you know, on the go
showcasing so I can show them,'cause I have to be in that city
anyway.
(05:44):
Right.
I might as well showcase them aswell.
'cause I really try hard to beintentional with my money and
spending and where I'm puttingit.
And the same thing with like, myfiance.
I always say to him like, youknow, whenever we like go out
for like a birthday or aholiday, I am like, Hey, make
sure it's like a Latina ownedbusiness.
We just went to a Peruvianrestaurant for Valentine's Day.
Like I said, I try to be prettyintentional with the way that I,
(06:05):
use my money.
I know I'm giving it to.
Yeah, no, I completelyunderstand because, so we, me
and my husband, so I'm Filipinoand my husband is g Romanian
mixed.
And so we always try to doPacific Islander, Filipino food,
or like artists and that kind ofthing also, we work with, this
(06:25):
nonprofit in Watsonville, whichis the city next to mine, and
they feature, artists.
Latino and Latino, descent.
And so their whole thing ishelping those who are usually
underrepresented in the artistcommunity find work and
professional development.
Which is actually where I metthe podcaster, at one of the
(06:47):
events.
And so it's really nice to seethat people are.
You know, using this as theirpassion and advocating to, you
know, like you said, beintentional with where your
money is going and supporting,not the big name box all the
time.
You know?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And I was just trying to think,I was just like looking on my
Instagram really quickly.
(07:08):
'cause I think I partnered withone who is, um.
South Asian inspired.
So there's a company calledCultured Sense Company and they
do Latina inspired and SouthAsian inspired sense, with a
story behind each candle.
So they're really cool.
You struck that one.
Yeah, I do.
I love going, I don't know aboutyou, but I love going to like.
(07:31):
Random cities and then somebodyI'll like be like, oh, is there
a farmer's market or is therelike a popup market event
happening?
And I love a popup.
I love a popup.
I like find so many people thatI like vibe with.
And now I'm not, I'm likebusiness friends with and I'm
just like.
Let me add you, let me, supportyou, let me do this.
And then, but also theirproducts are so good, you know,
(07:57):
and you can definitely tell thedifference when something is
handmade by an artisan, youknow?
Absolutely.
And I also think like, you knowwhere your dollars are going.
And I think that's the biggerthing for me is that when I know
where.
Where I'm putting the money andI can see it in the families, I
can see it in the founder.
(08:17):
You know, to me that meanssomething, right?
Like I, I don't wanna give tobig box brands that don't give
a, you know, hoot about, youknow, the community.
There are some that do, and I'mnot saying they don't.
I mean, I also think being ableto buy small brand is somewhat
of a privilege because the stuffis a little bit more expensive
than, if you're going to buyfrom like a fast fashion company
(08:38):
or somewhere pretty cheap.
That's true.
But I also think, you know, youkind of gotta put your money
where your mouth is.
Either you care about doing itor you don't care about doing
it.
And, I think that's the strugglethat most people internalize,
right?
Is that they wanna care, but itis that extra money.
But then you're gonna have tospend money a little bit less
somewhere else, to be like, youknow, eco-conscious about it,
(09:00):
sustainable, just, ethical withthe way that, the items are
being made and beingmanufactured and such.
Yeah.
Yeah, totally.
And also along the lines of thattoo, is spending money within
your own community too, I'mputting my money into a small
business owner who may be anextra block away, you know?
(09:22):
So that kind of thing.
Absolutely.
I think supporting smallbusinesses is really great.
I know there was a huge push,like small business Saturday.
And I think that that's soimportant because small
businesses are the crux of what,a lot of, minority communities
are, are living off of.
And I think you need to, youknow, be conscious and you're
(09:42):
right, it is maybe an extrablock, but is it worth that
extra block?
I mean, for me, I think it is.
Yeah.
Cool.
And is this kind of what youradvocacy is a around or do you
have more of a different focusas well?
Yeah, I mean, I advocate forwomen's rights and I would say
that's a big portion of what Ido as well.
You know, I go to the women'smarches.
(10:03):
But I would say the, the, thepromoting big or small brands,
small businesses and bipocbusinesses is definitely the
huge crux of my, activism.
Yeah.
And I think also too, going backto your point where you are
saying that you're doing thesefeatures on your social media
too, and if somebody, you know,maybe an artisan is outta
(10:27):
someone's price range, but itcosts nothing to promote that
person.
If that's what you can do, thenthat's, you know, that helps
too.
So listeners like you don'thave, don't feel like we're
saying, like, you have to go buythis if you don't have the money
to do so.
There are free ways to support.
Local, you know, artisans,local, small businesses in your
(10:47):
area.
So absolutely it takes zeromoney to, like, comment, share
and engagement is huge for smallbusinesses.
Engagement is huge for creatorsas a whole.
Right, right.
So, I mean, even just liking,commenting, pushing, because you
never know which one of yourfriends is gonna see it.
Right.
You never know.
What that post could show to thenext person, and then maybe they
(11:10):
are in a position to be able toget it today and you're in a
position to be able to get itnext week or in a month or in a
year.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
You don't know that theconnections that you're helping
build along the way.
Right.
Like conversations can getstarted from that.
Right.
Oh, I remember seeing that onyour page.
You know, that actually happenedto me not that long ago.
I was at, I was speaking at aconference, a Latina.
Legal conference.
(11:31):
And in the gift bags there was,soap from this company called
Naked Bar Soap, which is aLatina owned soap company.
And I had promoted it.
I had, made a video about it,and the woman who was throwing
it, Kimberly, she's amazing.
She runs Latina legal minds.
She was like, oh, I saw it onyour page.
That's how I heard about it.
And I'm like, that's so great tosee.
You know, you get to see themovement moving forward and, you
(11:53):
know, I just think.
That's great for smallbusinesses, it's really great
'cause it's not, even if Ididn't buy something from them,
somebody else saw it because ofwhat I posted and then they were
able to buy something from it.
Right?
Yeah.
And I think that's equally asimportant and equally as
helpful.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Yeah, 100%.
(12:14):
Okay, so let's shift gears alittle bit.
Okay.
Because you mentioned it.
You are adopted.
We're just shifting like youshift So adopted from Per I'm
adopted.
From Per, also, yeah.
So, okay.
I mean, my mom is from thePhilippines and so she
(12:34):
constantly is just like, whatcan we do that's like Filipino
inspired or this, and wanting tobring her culture to me and my
siblings.
You know, growing up we learnedall the Filipino dances.
We tried to keep the heritagealive too.
Do you feel like you have aconnection to Peru still?
I don't know how young you werewhen you got adopted.
(12:56):
Yeah, so I was a few weeks old.
Okay.
Say for sure.
Yeah.
I, I think so.
I was raised, I was adopted by,my mom, she's Jewish, and my dad
who's like.
An agnostic hippie fromCalifornia.
Me and my sister and brotherwere all adopted.
We're adopted from different, mysister's also adopted from
improvement.
My brother's adopted fromHonduras, and our parents were
(13:16):
always super honest about usbeing adopted.
We had maps of our countries,when we were growing.
That's so awesome.
We had toys from our countries.
They had brought back, like,jewelry boxes that had little
trinkets from our countries.
You know, it was never a secret.
And I'm, and I think thatthat's, you know.
A beautiful thing, we alwaysknew where we came from.
I would say I didn't really,start connecting to with my
(13:39):
culture, as much and s about twoyears ago when I went through a
divorce.
Okay.
Because I think for me, when Iwas younger, I went to a Jewish
school, a private Jewish schoolfrom K through sixth grade.
Don't think there were anyLatinas there.
And when I went to publicschool, there wasn't, a lot of
Latinas that I knew or hung outwith, and I never really
identified as Latina.
(13:59):
Right.
Because the only experience andinteraction I'd ever had with
Latinas was that I wasn't Latinaenough.
'cause I didn't speak Spanishstraight.
'cause I was.
I was adopted and my mom, youknow, I went to a Jewish school
and I learned Hebrew and I neverlearned Spanish.
And I think I had always kindof, like teetered on two
different, like.
Two different like cultures,right?
(14:20):
I was never really white enoughfor white people.
And then I was never reallyLatina enough for Latina people.
But I think, you know, once I, Iwent through this massive shift
when I went through a divorce, Isaid, I'm gonna define myself.
I'm gonna choose how I definemyself moving forward, and I'm
gonna, and I was looking for acommunity.
I was looking for reallyanything to try to connect with.
And I think, what I had alwaysheard and what I had always
(14:43):
learned is that, the Latinacommunity is really, really,
really huge into protectingthemselves and each other.
And, family is super importantand, like, community is
important.
And I said, well, I really needto find something.
And, I searched for that, Ilooked for that.
And I met some amazing people,some other amazing other
Peruvians, amazing other Latinasin the community that really
(15:05):
embraced me.
And, it helped me on a journeyto be able to connect with my
culture.
And I think the series is areal, I.
Passion project and birth ofthat.
Right.
It was really my love story tomy culture and my love story to
my life to say like, here is megiving back in any capacity that
I can.
And it's also me falling back inlove with something that I never
(15:26):
really know.
I love that story.
Like that's such a, to thinkthat.
This is something that startedlike two years ago and seeing
how passionate you are when youtalk about it too, and how what
you've done in the past twoyears is so inspiring.
What would you say to somebodywho is maybe like you, like, you
(15:46):
know, started off disconnectedfrom their past, or their
culture and now they're startingthat journey like you had done
two years ago?
What would you say would be likea first step so that to ease
their way into it?
Yeah.
I mean, I would say like, acceptvulnerability and accept that
you're gonna have to bevulnerable in the people and the
ways that you communicate aboutyourself.
(16:07):
Right.
I had been in 30, I.
Therapy a majority of my life.
And I think what a great toolthat therapy teaches you is
being self-aware and also beingable to communicate and express
your emotions in a way that issomewhat digestible for the
people around you.
And I think for me, like I knewI needed to be vulnerable in
(16:27):
order to be able to.
Really connect and be embraced.
Mm-hmm.
And I said, this is somethingI'm willing to do because this
is something I truly care about.
I wanna learn about my culture,I wanna learn about my people.
I wanna learn about all of thethings that I've missed out on.
Yeah.
And I, I think that's what Iwould say, you know.
Be, be vulnerable and letyourself be vulnerable and then
(16:49):
go after every opportunity.
I never, I try to never say noto an opportunity and I try to
go after everything that I want.
And I think that's a big thingthat I always push people to do,
especially women, is if youwanna take it, because there's
nobody out here that's gonna beadvocating for you as hard as
you can advocate for yourself.
Yeah.
All of the opportunities thatI've gotten in the last two
(17:09):
years are ones that I've a, Ihave ones that I've put myself
out for, right.
The thread I had started to makethe, series was only last
September, right.
My life has completely changedsince Wow.
Last August, Hispanic heritagemonth, last August, September,
you know, and then, I went intomodeling and that was all from
threads too.
You know, I, I commented on athread of somebody looking for a
(17:30):
model.
My life changed from that, so Iwould say.
Put yourself out there and neverbe afraid and just kind of like
accept that vulnerability is apart of it.
And I think that's a toughjourney for some people, but
it's a beautiful journey ifyou're willing to do it.
That's like also just reallyadvice for anybody, no matter,
like if they wanted to like gofor a job that they've been
(17:51):
thinking about or you know,asking that person out, yeah.
I think you just, sometimes it'sjust taking a leap, I have to
ask because we briefly mentionedit.
You have a dog?
What kind of dog do you have?
I have a Chihuahua.
Aw.
Maybe he'll make an appearancelater.
He's tatted on my arm though, ifthat shows.
(18:12):
Aw.
So I did get him tattooed on myarm.
In like a moment of like amidlife crisis.
Okay.
But I mean, it was great.
I love him.
He's cute, but yeah, he's, he'soff running somewhere.
Is Colton kind of like the dogthat like runs the house?
Oh my God.
Yeah.
He runs everything.
Yeah.
My cousin had chihuahuas andthey ran the house.
(18:34):
Yeah.
I don't run anything.
I thought I did, and then I methim and I was like, what am I
doing?
And I got him right when I gotdivorced.
Right.
So I got him right when me andmy ex-husband, um, broke up.
And I remember I almostchickened out from getting it.
So I got it from an S-P-C-A-I,I'm a dog rescuer.
I believe in that.
Yeah.
And'cause God knows my family isreally big into rescuing dogs,
(18:55):
as well.
And, so I got him from a rescueand I remember I was looking at
all these other dogs and I wasactually almost chickening out
on getting from him.
'cause I was actually like kindof nervous'cause I'm like, oh,
there's this big shift.
I'm moving in with my sister.
You know what am I gonna do?
Like, what if he doesn't getalong with her dogs, blah, blah,
blah.
And then they handed me hispaperwork and he was born on the
day.
That my, my ex-husband broke upwith me, like left me.
(19:19):
Oh, wow.
And I was like, this has to be asign.
This has to be like, he was bornon this day.
And I don't even view that dayas a sad day anymore.
I view it as the day that mylife began.
Mm-hmm.
The rebirth of my life.
And, he was born that day, so Iwas like, no, no, no.
I have to get him.
I mean, he, it's a sign from Godthat he, was, meant for me to
get Yeah.
Def definitely a sign, becauseif I saw that too, I'd just be
(19:41):
like, yep, you're mine.
You're mine, right?
Just get, get in the car.
Let's go.
Right?
I was like, I was like, oh mygosh, what am I gonna do with
this little dog too?
I had also never had littledogs, like I had only ever had
like pit bull lab mixes.
Mm-hmm.
Um, and here I am with this liketiny chihuahua and I'm like.
What if he, like, what do I dowith him?
(20:02):
Like, does he like, I rememberIL woods him for a while and he
would come to work with littlein my purse.
And then he got big and then hewas like a terror and he was
just, my god, not willing to gointo the office anymore.
And he, like, my boss was soexcited to see him one time and
he went to like lunch and I waslike, oh, he pays our bills.
I was like, we're not going backto the office anymore.
(20:23):
Oh man.
I could just imagine like,because one, you're a lawyer and
you have a chihuahua and justnow I'm just like, imagine you
in all pink, you know?
Yeah, no, I do wear pink a lot,but yeah, no, I remember it was
a very Elle Woods moment.
I think I was wearing a blackdress though at the time, and I
have a black.
Base bag and he's like sittingin it.
And I have two base bags.
One is like his and one is mine.
(20:45):
Yeah.
Like the gorgeous croc one.
Um, it's like a, oh yeah.
So.
Heather, before you leave, Iwanna talk about something that
you said you believe incollaboration over competition.
Tell me, tell me more aboutthat.
Yeah, for sure.
So in the legal community, Iwould say, and I would say like
in the professional womencommunity, there is a lot of
(21:07):
competition that occurs.
Like I feel like there are somany people, women that are
competing with other women, andthat's simply not me.
I've never competed with anotherwoman.
In my mind, I don't think.
To be frank, I don't thinkanybody is competition.
Like the only person I'mcompeting against is the person
I was yesterday.
Right?
Right.
I'm always trying to be betterthan the person I was yesterday,
but I don't subscribe to thenarration that there is only one
(21:30):
seat at the table or thatthey're somebody else eating is
taking food out of my mouth orsomebody else Shining is making
me less.
Making me more dull.
And I think a lot of people, alot of women unfortunately, get
wrapped up in that.
Yeah.
For me, it's just, I've alwaysbelieved, like I said, in
collaboration over competition.
I promote other lawyers all thetime.
(21:51):
I wear other lawyers, merch.
I always tell them to send it tome, you know, I'm like, I'm
willing to ruin anyone.
'cause for me it's not, it's notgonna hurt me.
Right.
One, it would be doing adisservice to my clients if I
said I could take every singleclient in the world.
Right?
Right.
Clients need attention and theyneed my, you know, expertise and
everything, and I can't do thatfor every single person.
(22:13):
So.
Twofold.
I think it's a disservice.
One, that it wouldn't be greatfor my clients.
Two, it's not good for me.
Mm-hmm.
And I just think that's really amessage I try to send to young
women and just women as a whole,is that there are people that
are not competing with you.
Like there are people thatgenuinely want your success.
I genuinely wanna see womensucceed in any field.
I wanna see my communitysucceed.
(22:34):
And for me it's not aboutanything having to do with
competition.
When one of us wins, we all win.
Yeah.
And, really do just want, I'mwilling to light somebody else's
candle.
I've never been the type that'slike trying to blow out
everyone's candle around me.
So mine's the only lit one.
Mm-hmm.
But yeah, I mean, I thinkthat's, that's a huge thing that
I stand on and, I think I try totell other people to do the
(22:58):
same.
'cause it's important these daysthat, you know, women are
supporting other women.
Yeah, I've said it before on thepodcast where it's like a high
school teacher used to tell us,as you move forward, don't
forget to look and reach back.
You know?
'cause when we all go up theladder together, then we all
rise.
(23:18):
So it's absolutely.
You shouldn't be trying to kicksomeone off.
Yeah.
What's the point?
Like what, what does, what doeshurting somebody else do for me?
Nothing.
Right?
Nothing.
I try to leave the world andleave people and leave things in
situations better than I foundthem.
Think that's how I was raised.
I think that's how, you know,trauma and life make you right.
(23:38):
Like you go through situationsand you realize what's
important.
You realize, being a decenthuman is important and being
kind and genuinely wantingsuccess and happiness for other
people in no way harms you.
Yeah.
And really only makes you abetter person.
Awesome.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much forjoining us and like how can
(23:59):
people reach out to you if theywant to connect?
Yeah, for sure.
So I'm always looking for somemore, bipoc businesses.
So any bipoc business owners, nomatter how big or how small,
please reach out to me.
So the biggest platform to reachout to me is on Instagram.
My Instagram is.
At Heather Rxo xo and I do readall my dms.
(24:20):
So please reach out to me, viadm.
I would love to collaboratewith, anybody.
Awesome.
And listeners, we will be alsoputting all this information
down in the show notes as wellas Heather's bio so you can read
a little bit more.
And, yeah, thank you so much forjoining us today.
I really had fun meeting you andColton.
Even though Colton wants nothingto do with me, T wants nothing
(24:44):
to do with anyone.
Colton only wants his dad.
He like, I'm like your dad.
Like literally.
Hasn't been around for that longand like literally I've been
around since day one and it's socrazy.
You know, men forget where theygo.
He's like, he's like this.
You're old news.
Yeah.
He's like, you're old news.
And I'm like, what?
But yeah, no, featuring Coltonas well.
That's a wrap on another episodeof Caffeinated Chaos.
(25:06):
I hope you're leaving with alittle more clarity, a lot more
inspiration, and maybe even anextra shot of motivation.
If you love today's episode,don't forget to follow us.
Leave a review and share it witha friend who could use just a
little chaos at caffeine intheir life.
Until next time, keep embracingthe mess.
Chase your dreams and make magichappen.
(25:29):
One caffeinated, chaotic momentat a time.
I will see you all soon.
Bye now.