Have a Cup of Johanny
Where every "oops" is a gateway to "aha!" Join Johanny Ortega, the dynamic host of this one-woman show, as she takes you on a journey through the transformative power of self-reflection and learning from mistakes. In Have a Cup of Johanny Podcast, Johanny shares her personal experiences, from embarrassing moments to life-altering missteps, and shows you how to pivot and thrive through adversity. Each episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips for self-improvement and personal growth that you can apply in all aspects of your life. Whether you're looking to boost your resilience, enhance your communication skills, or simply find inspiration, this podcast is your go-to source for motivation and empowerment. Don't miss out on these inspiring and actionable episodes to help you turn every setback into a stepping stone to success!
Episodes
This weekend, self-doubt tried to take the wheel. While creating all the preorder goodies for The Ordinary Bruja, I caught myself thinking, “My creativity only goes as far as writing.”
My husband’s quick, “No, it doesn’t,” stopped me. He was right. I’ve taught myself Canva, Photoshop, Affinity Publisher, podcast editing, marketing copy—so much more than I gave myself credit for.
In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny,...
When I first found out I was pregnant, fear was the loudest emotion I felt. Not because I didn’t want my baby, but because I was terrified I’d mess it all up. Growing up in an unconventional household, raised by my grandmother after my parents’ divorce, I had no blueprint for what a “normal” family looked like. I doubted everything about myself as a soon-to-be single mom.
So I did what I always do when I’m scared: I we...
In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I open up about one of the hardest lessons I learned as a new writer: how self-doubt shaped the way I received my very first feedback.
Like many new writers, I just wanted people to love me and love my project. But instead of pausing and filtering through the feedback, I took it all to heart. I changed everything. And in the process, I lost the story I wanted to tell—and almost...
After a painful experience at a writer’s conference, I stopped writing for a whole year. Doubt crept in, and I convinced myself maybe I just wasn’t cut out to write fiction. But the thing about silencing something you love? It never really leaves you. It nags. It whispers. It refuses to let you go.
In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I share how that season of doubt led me to ask new questions: What about me? Wha...
By the time I was nearing retirement, I had climbed as far as I could in the Army. I no longer needed points, promotions, or another degree to advance. And that’s when the question hit me: What about me? What have I done for me?
In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I open up about how I finally admitted that nursing would never be my path, why business administration left me uninspired, and how I made the “selfish...
After dropping out of college the first time, I figured higher education just wasn’t for me. Then I joined the Army—and suddenly, there I was, back at it again. Only this time, the motivation was completely different. Providing for my son lit a fire under me. I went from “College? Again?” to “Let’s go. Earn the promotion. Get the paycheck. Buy the diapers.”
Back then, online education carried a heavy stigma, but I made...
In this first episode of my September series on higher education, I open up about the tug-of-war I felt as a teenager—caring for my grandmother while craving freedom, being accepted to UMass Amherst but landing at community college instead, and realizing I wasn’t ready the first time around.
This is a story about leaving and staying, guilt and grace, and the small seeds that stay with us—like the moment a professor tol...
Why is it that the thing we resist most… is usually the thing we need most?
In this episode, I reflect on Day 9 of my 75-Day Soft Challenge and the moment I almost hit pause, just because I was “off” from work. That tiny urge to delay revealed something much deeper: the way my brain associates postponement with protection.
Through years of journaling and self-observation, I’ve learned that my resistance often points to ...
Five comments in one day—just because I wore a mask.
In this episode, I share a fresh, real-time reflection on what happened when I returned to work after recovering from both COVID and the flu. Spoiler: it wasn’t the illness that hit hardest. It was the unsolicited opinions.
Why does someone else’s choice to take precautions trigger so much discomfort in others? Why do people feel entitled to comment on a boundary that...
Have you ever ignored the quiet signs your body was sending until it had to scream to get your attention?
In this raw and reflective episode, I share what getting hit with both COVID and the flu taught me about self-trust, resistance, and listening to the whispers before they become breakdowns. From tracking my symptoms to unlearning the lie that pushing through is strength, I open up about the ways we gaslight our own...
What if the key to moving forward was actually going back—to the routines, the rituals, the habits that once grounded you?
In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I share how 43 taught me the power of structure, and why “winging it” wasn’t the freedom I thought it was. From journaling to morning rituals, from tracking my water intake to honoring my body's needs, I relearned the importance of showing up for mysel...
What makes someone "deserving" of citizenship? A perfect GPA? Military service? Paying taxes and never making a mistake?
In this episode, we unpack the myth of the “Good Immigrant,” the notion that only exceptional, obedient, and productive immigrants are worthy of staying. We examine the origins of this narrative, its impact on our communities, and why it ultimately serves the interests of systems that profi...
“Why don’t they just do it the right way?”
That question often arises in conversations about immigration, and this episode breaks it down. Because the truth is: there is no single immigration “line,” just a maze of inconsistent rules, long wait times, and constantly shifting policies that leave millions in limbo.
From family visas that take decades to asylum systems that have been digitally lock...
Immigration detention is supposed to be civil not punishment.
But across the U.S., immigrants are being held in jail-like conditions under a patchwork of outdated and inconsistent standards, many without ever being charged with a crime.
In this episode, Joa pulls back the curtain on a system designed to look like bureaucracy but feel like incarceration. We explore how ICE contracts with private prisons and local jails,...
The phrase "anchor baby" slices through political discourse with cruel efficiency. You've heard it—perhaps on news channels, debate stages, or even from the mouths of those who share our heritage. It transforms a newborn child into a tactic, a weapon, a calculated move in some imagined immigration chess game.
But what if everything you've been told about birthright citizenship is fundament...
"They knew what they were doing" - five words that cloak inhumanity in the disguise of justice. Every time I hear this phrase used to dismiss the suffering of immigrants caught in our broken system, something inside me recoils. Not just because it's callous, but because it's incomplete.
Today's episode cuts through the rhetoric to expose one of the most persistent and harmful myths ab...
The smoke is already in your lungs, even if your house isn't on fire yet. This powerful metaphor frames our deep dive into disassociation—that subtle, pervasive mindset that whispers "if it's not happening to me, I don't care." While our brains naturally create psychological distance from suffering as a protective mechanism, this episode challenges us to recognize how this distancing doesn&apo...
The words we speak reveal the fears we carry. When fellow Latinos say "I did it the legal way" or "they're not like us," what's really happening beneath these statements? This raw, unflinching exploration of internalized anti-immigrant attitudes within Latino communities pulls back the curtain on our community's most uncomfortable truth: sometimes we become the very border patrol we ...
Words have the power to reshape how we see each other. They can strip away humanity or restore it, depending on how we wield them. This raw, urgent episode dives deep into how language becomes the first battleground where human dignity is won or lost.
When certain words keep appearing—invasion, flood, illegals, infestation—they aren't random choices. They're calculated terms designed to frame people...
Have you ever felt that sinking feeling of anxiety when things aren't going as planned? That's exactly what happened to me at Latina Fest, standing at my author table watching people walk by without glancing at my books. My stomach tightened as those insidious thoughts crept in: "Maybe I won't sell anything today. This was a waste of time."
But then something magical happened – a micr...
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