February 22, 2024 • 68 mins
In this episode of My Time with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo, we had the honor and privilege of interviewing multi-platinum-selling and Grammy nominated artist, Jaci Velasquez!
Jaci Velasquez has sold almost three million albums in the US, recorded three Platinum and three Gold albums, and recorded 16 singles that hit No. 1 plus six more that entered the top 10. She received a Latin Billboard Music Award in 2002 for her album "Mi Corazón", eight Dove Awards, including Best New Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as three Grammy nominations, and an American Music Award nomination in the category of "Favorite Latin Artist" in 2002.
In this special interview, we be talking with Jaci about her story, career and her role as a mom to a child with Autism.
Don’t miss this very special interview!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
was a moment where I remember just being kindof broken and still trying to figure out how
to do this whole thing. Because how am I goingto tell his little brother? I mean, his little
brother adores him and for him to ever see himas different, that's not what I want for a
(00:20):
little brother. So I was angry with God andthen there was one moment where I finally heard
God tell me. He just said, There are so manythings he told me, but he said just stop. I
picked you because I saw, I see something newyou just can't see in yourself and that is
(00:44):
strength.
Tony Hernandez Pumarejo, writer and author,professional and motivational speaker, TV presenter,
life coach, and international ambassador forautism and mental health. He is proud to invite
(01:13):
you to his podcast, My Time, with Tony HernandezPumarejo. you
Hi and welcome to this new episode of My Timewith Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. And this is your
host, Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. I'm truly honoredand privileged for you to either watch me or
(01:34):
listen to this new episode of My Time. Yoursupport is crucial and so if you haven't done
so, please subscribe to my podcast through allthe platforms. I truly and I'm very grateful
for your support. And today's episode is a specialone. Today I have the honor and privilege to
(01:55):
interview a person that in reality really doesn'tneed an introduction. And so the reason for
it is because the person I'm going to interviewtoday is very, it has a unique story and she
has had a tremendous impact throughout her careerand her life. And today I'm honored and privileged
(02:15):
to be interviewing the one and only Jackie Velasquez.Jackie Velasquez is a multi-platin selling
Grammy-nominating artist, a contemporary Christianand Latin pop singer and songwriter and also
an actress. Jackie Velasquez was born in Houston,Texas, is of Mexican descent. She grew up in
(02:37):
an evangelical church where her parents wereboth singers and pastors. Jackie Velasquez,
you know, throughout her career, she has soldalmost more than three especially recorded
3 platinum and 3 gold albums and recorded 16singles that hit number 1 plus 6 more that
entered the top 10. She has received differentawards like the Latin Billboard Music Award
(03:03):
in 2002 for her album Mi Corazón, 8 Dove Awards,including Best New Artist and Female Vocalist
of the Year as well as 3 Grammy nominations.and American Music Award nomination and the
category of Favorite Latin Artist in 2002. From2010 to 2016, Jackie Velasquez co-hosted the
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Family Friendly Morning Show, which was a syndicatedmorning radio program with Doc Deerfren. And
on December 17, 2006, Jackie Velasquez marriedNick Gonzalez in a private ceremony in Austin,
Texas, and her husband Nick Gonzalez is a memberof Salvador. a Christian group with whom she
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has been touring, and also together, they havetwo children, first born, Celan, in 2007, and
their second son, Seren, in 2009. So it is myhonor and privilege to be interviewing the
one and only Jackie Velazquez in this new episodeof My Time with Tony Hernandez-Pomorejo. Jackie,
(04:08):
thank you so much for coming into my podcast.I'm truly honored. Thank you so much for having
me. I appreciate your time and thank you forthat incredible introduction. If my kids were
here, they would just roll their eyes and go,oh, mom, please. Well, I've been a big fan
of your songs, Jackie, for many years. So forme, this is like a dream come true. If I look
(04:33):
at it that way. So for me, it is honor. I'mhonored to have you in my podcast. And so let's
start right off the bat. Jackie, I start withthis question with all my guests. Okay. And
the first thing I'm going to ask you is, canyou define the life of Jackie Velasquez in
(04:53):
just a few words? Oh.
A fun fairy tale.
There you go. That was afterwards. Was it afun fairy tale? Three? Yeah, that's good. Yes.
(05:16):
But it's a story, a fairy tale with purpose.Yes. A story with purpose. And to go into a
little bit about, you know, in terms of yourbackground, Jackie, can you please tell us
about your roots, your family, where you camefrom? Okay, well, my parents were pastors when
(05:36):
I was a little girl and they had a church inHouston, Texas. And then when I was nine years
old, I have older siblings and my older siblingswere already off in college and stuff. So when
I was nine years old, my dad got, he felt ledto go and evangelize. And my dad was also a
(05:58):
singer and is very accomplished. a singer withdifferent bands and stuff, the Galileans, the
Amigos, the Latinos. So just he had a backgroundin music. So when I was nine, when he got the
calling, he felt like he was needing to traveland go to different churches and become an
evangelist, which is basically an evangelistis like a pastor who travels from city to city
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to different churches and kind of gives thepastor of that church a break. They don't have
to teach that morning or that night. So he feltled to do that. Because I was the only kid
at home, they had to take me. So I traveledin the backseat of a car when I was nine years
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old from going from Houston to Dallas, Dallasto Albuquerque, New Mexico, from Albuquerque
to Grand Junction, Colorado, from Grand Junctionto Modesto, California, just from city to city
constantly. I was in the backseat of a HondaAccord, an 85 Honda Accord, and I would do
my schoolwork in the backseat because I hadto watch videotapes so I could keep up with
(07:10):
my schoolwork. So I was homeschooled from thetime I was nine, and we traveled a lot. We
made records, well, cassette tapes at the time,cassette tapes, which are antiques. My first
cassette tape came out when I was nine. Andwe sold those cassette tapes because I would
sing at the churches with my parents and I woulddo step outs and do my own songs and stuff.
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And it was like a musical ministry, if you will.So we recorded not just my stuff, but then
we would do cassette tapes as a trio, my mom,my dad and I. And so I think we did, I don't
know how many projects, but we would recordin English and in Spanish. And we... traveled
and sang at different churches around the country.But then when I was, oh goodness, when I was
(08:02):
12 or 13, we upgraded and got, because at thistime we didn't have a house, so we rented out
our house because we were always on the road.So when I was 13, we upgraded from the car,
the car to a motorhome. So I was so excited.It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I was
(08:26):
either 12 or 13. And then when that happened,we were still traveling. When I was 13, someone
called, I opened for a concert for a group calledPoint of Grace, which at the time was a brand
new artist in contemporary Christian music.So they had a record deal. And so when I went
to open a concert for them, they videotapedit, their road manager, and sent it back to
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Nashville. And so then... When I was, I thinkI was about 14, they, the record label came
out to Nash, I mean came out to Texas to hearme sing at an event. And they signed me to
a record deal when I was 14 and I moved to Nashville.I was either 14 or 15 and started making heavenly
(09:12):
place. Uno Garceles Diez making that first recordthat came out when I was 16. So at 96. So,
yeah, I've been traveling and singing sinceI was nine, but professionally, when I was,
I guess I actually started touring for thatrecord before the record even came out when
I was 15. So, yep, it was good times. Yeah,so you've been in this for a very long time.
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And Jackie, how do you, how do you felt, youknow, being so young and getting all the records
for music, you know, hits? you know, very young,how did you feel that when your music came
to mainstream at a young age, how was that processand how you were able to handle the pressures
that come, you know, in terms of being in theindustry, in the music industry at a young
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age? Well, thankfully, you know, some peoplemight call my mother a stage mom, but the truth
is I needed her because I was traveling on theroad with a bunch of, you know, like men, they're,
you know, bands and stuff and artists and Iwas a child. So, and I look at my, so I, just
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to say this, I have a 14 year old, I have twosons, I have a 16 and my 14 year old is about
to become 15 this month. So like I'm lookingat my kids, I was, I look at Soren, my youngest,
and I go, I was already touring at his age.I mean, I can't even imagine. him on the road
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with people and doing that. So it's, thankfully,I had a very strong family background. My faith,
I was singing because Jesus gave me a gift.So for me, it was like, give the gift back
to him and sing songs to him about him to leadpeople towards Jesus. So that's for me what,
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you know, what kept me grounded and kind of,it was in a, you know, I had a safe environment
because I was surrounded by fellow believersin God. So, I mean, there are so many facets
to it, but like when I said it was a fun fairytale, I say a fairy tale because so young and
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to, you know, achieve things like that, you'rekind of going, whoa, I feel like Cinderella.
What is happening? I mean, I'm just a littleMexican girl from Texas. um, who kind of, you
know, got homeschooled in the back seat of acar and not fancy. We, it was not fancy, trust
me. But, um, but you know, that's the thingabout when you are obedient to what God has
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for you in your life. I mean, he, it's not yourplans, it's his plans. So I was so undeserving.
They were far more better. I mean, they're farbetter singers than me, far more beautiful
people than me, but for some reason God. pickedme, so I feel like a princess. Definitely that
God gave you that purpose at an early age tohave that faith that was crucial because without
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faith, there's no life. Having faith in God,taking that leap of faith into the unknown
at a very young age was a part of the processin your life. And you were able to do so well.
your impact, you know, we shout more than Texas,more than the U.S. You reach internationally
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at a young age and the impact and the work thatyou do, that you have done in your career speaks
for itself. I mean, some people may say, I mean,say, you know, may wonder, OK, what is the
how was this process of making music? You know,sometimes if they're not very familiar with
the industry or the process, I don't know ifthis is something that you would like to go
(13:09):
over a little bit with our audience. Okay. Well,the process, you know, the thing is with each
artist, it's very different. So some artiststhey are, I was young, but so, so many artists,
they come in and they're songwriters first.So they write all their songs and then, you
know, the label hears their songs and, and theyset them up with the producer and the producer
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produces fine, you know, harvests the song ina different way than maybe the artist had originally
written it for. So every process is different.But for me personally, Um, I wrote a little
bit of my stuff, but I was always on the searchfor, for beautiful songs. So, um, that I felt
I could, um, I could, you know, not just sing,but I could. Bring to life in my own way, kind
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of a thing. So when I, when I would look fordifferent songs, I looked for different songs
that would, um, kind of accentuate the, um,my. my range or that I, or more than anything
that I felt like spoke to my heart, that I couldthen relate to other people and feel passionate
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about it and sing with, you know, abandonedkind of a thing. But, um, I would say that,
let me think for my, for me, my process wasfinding great songs. I had the same producer
for my English record, the same producer throughoutalmost my whole career. Um, almost. And then
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my Spanish, when I started recording in Spanishwhen I was 18, which was also that record was
called, was it called, was it Igarati? I, Iforget that sometimes because I should know
that, but it was because the label and everybodywas going back and forth all the time. So anyway,
so that was, um, that was with Sony discos.And so when we started recording in Spanish,
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some of the songs that I recorded in English,we translated into Spanish. And that was hard
because some of the stuff that you say in Englishdoesn't translate well to Spanish and it sounds
kind of just not good. Like I remember Flowerin the Rain. It didn't translate properly on
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my knees, didn't translate properly. So youkind of had to really... work through the whole
process. So each process is different for everyartist, but for me it was always about the
song, the producer, and just finding music thatcould, that touched my heart, that I could
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then take to others. Definitely. And a veryimportant question for you, Jackie, because
when you're listening both to your songs inEnglish and Spanish, listen to your
it's so difficult to translate it from Englishto Spanish because one, there's different factors,
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there's different Spanish. I mean, the Spanishfrom, for example, from Puerto Rico is not
the same from Cuba or from Mexico or from Venezuela.So there's different words and that complicates
matters. So, well, so what was what was interestingis finding the right people to translate because
they also kind of had to rewrite it as well.So we went with a Colombian person to the Spanish
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because it felt like that was the most, youknow, it could relate to the Cuban Spanish,
the Puerto Rican Spanish, the Spaniards. Butit was a very difficult situation to know how
to navigate. And especially when my first languagewas not Spanish, my first language was English.
So it wasn't until, I mean, I used to sing songsin Spanish on the road with my parents, but
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I didn't. My parents spoke Spanish when theydidn't want me to know what they were saying.
So fast forward when I started recording inSpanish, I remember thinking to myself, okay,
I'm going to have to learn Spanish because I'mgoing to have to do interviews because that's
a big thing for the Spanish market. So I rememberbeing in the bus and it was when I was making
(17:24):
the record, but I was on tour with for my, Ithink it was the Crystal Clear record or no.
It was the second record. It was for the JackieVelasquez. I felt self-titled the record. So
I was on tour and I remember I would lay inmy bunk with a Spanish to English dictionary.
And I would listen to Spanish records. And oneof the records I used to listen to was Luis
(17:48):
Miguel Romance. So I would listen to the song,because I loved the music, but I would translate.
the words, because I could sing the words, becauseit's music in Spanish, and that's easy. But
to understand what I was singing, so that Iwould translate it with my Spanish to English
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dictionary, to understand Fontana's Fountain,which is just a lot of campañas, I learned
all those crazy things because of those records.So fast forward, I'm immersing. I didn't have
time to go to school. to learn Spanish or tohave a tutor because I was on tour. It was
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intense. So I was a self-taught Spanish speaker.The first interview I ever did, the first interview
I ever did, I remember going, what? A labelcame to me and said, we have an interview,
this is the biggest show in South and CentralAmerica. So he doesn't do any Spanish, any
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English. This is my first interview? What? You'rethrowing me to the wolves? My first interview
was Sábado Gigante, Don Francisco. Yeah, I rememberthat, I see in that, I remember. Yes, it was
so scary. I remember I talked to him backstageand he told me in English, he goes, we do not
speak English on this show, only Spanish. AndI said...
(19:20):
Oh, okay. So if you look back at that interview,all my answers are, see? No, see? I didn't
know what to do with this. But the pressure,and of course, when you feel the pressure,
you can say, you can't really remember yourSpanish that you do know, because you're like
freaking out so nervous, and you just feel,I just remember being so frightened. And thankfully,
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I got to go back at one point and actually doan interview, a proper interview with him.
in Spanish, but it was a lot. So I'm a self-taughtSpanish speaker and people always go, but your
accent is good. I'm like, well, that's becauseI can sing it. I can fake it really well. But
(20:09):
my Spanish is pretty good now. And of coursenow I'm married. And so wouldn't you know,
I married the only Mexican that doesn't speakSpanish. That's ironic. I know. I speak more
Spanish than he does. And he's like second orthird generation Mexican American. No, second
generation Mexican American. And my kids arethird. And I just don't know what happened.
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Yeah. Well, can you forgive me the heads up?So, you know, if I have the chance to speak
with your husband, okay, I'm going to startpracticing you in Spanish. So... Please. Because
now I have no one to practice with practically.Yeah. And do you prefer to sing in English
or Spanish? Which do you enjoy the most? Oh,see, that is the right question. So there's,
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so obviously English is much easier for me,but when it comes to singing, there is something
that happens in Spanish for me, because I thinkif you were to A, B, my records in English
versus Spanish, the... Even though they mightbe the same songs, just different languages,
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I've always said that the Spanish just soundsdifferent. I even sing differently in Spanish
than I do in English. Because there's somethingso incredibly gorgeous about the language,
the way the words connect, the way that it bringsthe singer to life, if you will. So I love
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singing in Spanish, but like speaking in English,so I can sound kind of smart. I'm on the same
line. I think that's part of our Hispanic culture,that in Spanish is like more alive, more, you
know, more emotional. Look at me, Ron. I liketo listen to songs in English, you know, especially
God spoke Christian songs in English, but somethingis very special about in Spanish, listening
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to you, listening to artists like Jesus, AdrianRomero, like Marcus Wood and so many in Spanish.
I prefer that. And right now I'm trying to learna third language is Portuguese, which I'm trying
to start this. Oh, yes. That is so smart. Goodfor you. Yeah. I'm in the process. I'm in the
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beginning phase. So I'm trying to learn thatas my third language. And a lot of things similar
to Spanish when I learned Portuguese. So it'svery interesting. Very interesting indeed.
To the bang, to the boom. Yeah. And Jackie,not only as a singer, but also you were interested
in getting into acting. Why motivate you tobecome an actress? Well, it was kind of a natural
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progression. So my booking agent at the timewas William Moore's agency. And so they were
like,
I guess, I don't know. I don't know how it happenedor why it happened. It's just that I guess
it was kind of natural. It's like, well, you'redoing great in music, now let's try something
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different. So I was like, well, okay. So I rememberI went to Los Angeles and my agent at William
Moore's agency in California, she set me upon some auditions. So I remember I went to
my first audition. It was at the 20th CenturyFox Studios. And I was like, I remember walking
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down, you know, in the studios. and to the buildingwhere I was going to do my audition. And Mario
Lopez was walking like in the road and I waslike going, that's saved by the belt. Mario
Lopez is right there. That's so cool. So I wentto the audition, came back home, got the phone
call, you got the part. Like I got the part.What are you saying? This was for Chasing Poppy.
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So I was one of the three lead females. Um,alongside Sophia Vergara and, um, Rosalind
Sanchez and Eduardo Verasti. So I just was like,what is happening? I got my, my first audition,
got the part. So acting became kind of, um,it's going to sound weird because for some
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people it is their livelihood, but for me, itwas a hobby. It wasn't like, it wasn't like
music was for me, but it was something that,I mean, there's nothing more fun than playing
pretend. and I could pretend to be somethingI wasn't. So that was always fun for me. And
that's how I always viewed it. I'm getting toplay pretend. That's amazing. I mean, your
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experience, your career, singer and actresshas been amazing. My respect's for you, Jackie.
Thank you. For everything that you have done.And now we're gonna go to a topic, a cause
that unites us both. Yes. And that is autism.I don't know if you have the chance to read
(25:08):
a little bit about my story and my connectionwith autism. I was born by myself on the spectrum.
I'm an autistic person. You know, I went throughthe struggles. I was nonverbal to age three,
was born and raised, and I went through strugglesbeing nonverbal, struggle with social communication,
struggle with making friends and different challenges.My parents, just imagine that you went through.
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in this process as well, we're trying to findanswers as to see what was going on with me.
This was in the early 90s. In the early 90s,there was not a lot of information about autism.
Right. As we have, as there is today. But tothe ups and downs, I even wrote my book about
autism, which I have right over here. I wantit. You got it. I want to send you a copy,
(26:01):
a signed copy. Yes, please. Yes. And throughthe ups and downs, growing up as an autistic
person, I was able to overcome different challenges.Some people may say, oh, you look fine on the
outside. But the thing about autism is thatthere's a story and there's a process behind
the scenes. And my story is through therapies,through getting support, I was able to become
(26:26):
an independent person and graduate from college,now working full time and all that. And And
my mission, my daily life, my daily missionis to advocate for this community, to advocate
for, you know, with the parents, with the community,to educate society about the potential that
people with autism have in this world. And Iwanted to ask you, Jackie, you know, this is
(26:53):
a very important question. How did autism cameinto your life? What was the first time you
heard about autism? Okay, so the first time.I had heard about autism. I was living in England
at the time and I had this boyfriend who hehad a little brother who was, he was this,
(27:14):
this boyfriend I had, don't tell my husbandI had a boyfriend other than him. No worries.
So as everyone knows, so he had a bracelet onwith a puzzle piece and this, this boy that
I, that I liked at the time. And I was like,what is that for? He goes, Oh, it's for. autism.
It's my brother, a little brother has autism.I was like, what is that? I didn't know what
(27:39):
that was because I mean, this is, this was along time ago, but I, I mean, it was 2005,
but I really had never heard that. You know,I didn't, it was 2004, something like that.
I hadn't heard, I mean, I just didn't pay attentionto it. Okay. So, um, so I met his little brother
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and he was very quiet and I was like, Oh, okay.said he doesn't look like he has autism. So
didn't think about it again. So I got marriedin 2006.
We got married December 2006 to my husband,Nick, who's the lead singer for a band called
(28:21):
Salvador. So we got married 2006, November 2007.We had a baby. So we had a boy named Zealand.
I remember thinking to myself, what are we gonnaname him? I mean, Nick would throw out different
names and just different stuff. And he mentionedthe name Leland. I was like, no, not Leland.
(28:45):
And then he goes, how about Zealand? It's like,like New Zealand, Zealand. So I Googled it.
And I remember I, there was not a person tobe found with the name Zealand ever. So I was
like, this kid is going to be different. He'sgoing to be special. He's going to be one that
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is like the only one. So we named him Zeeland.So we got pregnant pretty quick after Zeeland
was born again with his brother Soren with anS. So the boys are 14 months apart, pretty
close in age. So as Zeeland was growing up...I remember he was just the easiest baby. So
(29:35):
easy. I mean, we could still like go to restaurantsand like, you know, have a nice dinner and
he would just lay in his carrier. I was like,I could have had 20 of him. Then his brother
was born. And it was like, oh my God. If hislittle brother had been born before him, we
would have just had one kid because he was acrazy type. terrible. He cried all the time.
(30:01):
So fast forward, the kids were about, well,let me see, Zeland was about two years old.
And so his little brother was, you know, sixmonths old, two, 24. So he was diagnosed when
he was, Zeland was diagnosed with autism atage two? No. So, because Zeland was We started
(30:29):
noticing when Zeeland was around too, that milestones,his little brother was hitting milestones much
quicker than Zeeland did. And Zeeland, he wouldtalk a little bit, but he just mostly babbled.
So he babbled. So instead of typically in thosesituations, I bury my head in sand. I'm like,
he'll be fine. Everything's fine. But it's mykid. So I'm like, his Zeeland was 24 months.
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And then... baby brother was 10 months. So Ijust every brother was hitting all the milestones
much quicker than Zealand ever did. And Zealandwas still babbling and stuff like that and
didn't really say too much. So I contacted peoplehere in Tennessee and they came to our home
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and they did a, they said they got him somedifferent therapies like speech therapy, occupational
therapy, just to They called it a pervasivedevelopmental delay. Well, to me, a delay is
he's just a little behind. He's gonna catchup. So he continued on with those therapies.
(31:39):
Every week he went to speech and occupationaltherapy till the time he started kindergarten.
So he was the first born, so the first one togo to kindergarten was a big deal. Oh my God,
my kids get school. So he went to a public schooland we actually moved to a county that had
like the best schooling and the best schoolsfor kids with delays. So yeah, we're like in
(32:05):
it to win it. This school provides differenttherapies. They provide speech therapy. They
provide occupational therapy. They even providemusic therapy. Yes, I'm not gonna have to pay
out of pocket anymore. The school does thatfor us. That's great. So. Time went on, little
brother starts kindergarten, now Zealand isin second grade. So we're talking to his pediatrician
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and talking to the school system and now it'stime for them to make a diagnosis because he
can't just stay on a pervasive developmentaldelay program because he did have an IEP, which
is individualized educational program. And sincekindergarten he did because of the therapies
and stuff, but. at the end of second grade,you have to give them a diagnosis. So now the
(32:53):
word autism had been thrown around, but we weren'tgoing with that because it was still a pervasive
developmental delay. Right? So now we're herein this meeting. Everyone's there. There's
people from the county. There's an autism specialist.There's a behavioral specialist. There's just
the principal, the people from different, justthe who's who. are in this meeting and they
(33:21):
sit us down and they go through their namesand what they do and all this stuff. And they
say, Mr. And Mrs. Gonzalez, because my husband'slast name is Gonzalez.
We have spoken, we have a pediatrician and he,you know, he's here, all that stuff.
(33:48):
We're art people, artistic people. No, he'sautistic. I was like, um.
Okay. Because I was okay with the delay, butI didn't know what to do with autism. So, I
(34:09):
remember in that meeting, I just broke downcrying, like just tears. Because what does
that mean? I mean, he, to me, is just Zealand.Like he's not anybody different. He is Zealand.
And the baby that I... had in my belly thatI had all these dreams for that I was, you
(34:32):
know, I could picture what his life would looklike. You're going to tell me that he's going
to have challenges forever? I don't want thatfor him. See, and I would like to put this
out there. Everyone's experience is different.Every person with autism is different. Everybody's
(34:52):
story and journey is different because there'sno one. person alike. It's wild. It's wild.
So I didn't know what to expect. So I just rememberI had to go through like a mourning period
of the dreams that I had for Zealand when Iwas pregnant with him and as he was growing
(35:17):
up to go, okay, so now he has a label and Whatdo I do with this? And how can I, how can we
make sure that he has every opportunity to succeedin life? And, yeah, and how do I do that? Because
(35:40):
they don't like write a book on, hey, becausethey can't write a book on it because each
person with autism is different. So my kid loveshats. Some kids that are autistic. don't love
hats, don't want you to touch their head. Imean, it just, they're all so different. So-
Yes, and also it's so different. And that'sone thing important for people in our society
(36:05):
to know that sure, there's three levels of autism,but each person with autism is different. You
know, it depends on, and what you mentionedis very important because we need to talk about
this. You know, parents going through, whenreceiving that news that their loved one has
been diagnosed with autism can create differentemotions. And what you guys went through, you
(36:28):
and your husband went through, was in that mourningperiod in which it's very common for parents
in the autism world to go through and readinga little bit about your story, Jackie, and
we understand that it was a very tough process,even because it was so tough that even your
faith was put into test. Can you go over thatwith us a little bit? Well, okay, so if you
(36:54):
can imagine, so here I am a parent and I'm mourningthese things for my child. I've been in music,
my husband's been in music, we've been singingto God our entire lives. Our whole life and
ministry is based on communication. So whenyou tell me that my son has autism and might
(37:19):
struggle to communicate for his entire life.when our whole lives have been based on communication.
I was very, very angry at God because I said,I have given my whole life, my whole childhood
to sing to you, for you, about you. And youcouldn't even be faithful for my child to not
(37:43):
have struggles, to not have challenges. Thisdoes not seem fair. And I was very upset with
God. I... I remember just being angry. So itwas at one point where I was just talking to
God and I was just angry with him. And you knowwhat was cool? See, even when I was angry with
(38:08):
him, he didn't like chastise me or even, hedidn't even say anything. He wasn't speaking
to me. It was just kind of nothing was happening.But It was, I don't know when it was, but there
was a moment where I remember just being justkind of broken and still trying to figure out
(38:30):
what, how to, how to do this whole thing. Becausehow am I going to tell his little brother?
I mean, his little brother adores him and forhim to ever see him as different, that's not
what I want for a little brother. So I was angrywith God. And then there was one moment where
I finally heard God tell me. He just said, thereare so many things he told me, but he said,
(38:57):
just stop. I picked you because I saw, I seesomething new. You just can't see in yourself
and that is strength. And, um, I didn't seethat in myself. I didn't see that I would be
a fighter. He said, stop complaining. Now getup and fight. Fight for your kid, advocate
(39:23):
for your kid. I picked you because you are strongerthan you know. And I'm going, okay. So I did,
I started fighting for my kid. I got new therapiesbrought into the school system because they
(39:43):
would benefit Zealand and if they could benefitZealand, they could maybe benefit other kids.
So started fighting for him. And honestly, kindof, I would recommend for any parent who is,
who has come to the new knowledge of these,you know, challenges for their children, to
(40:05):
get a group of people to get other moms, otherparents behind you, so you have some sort of
connection that you can talk through stuff,because if you don't have a support group,
When you have a kid with special needs, youfeel like an island, you feel alone. And you
(40:26):
should never feel alone because there are somany of us that have these incredible kids
that have some challenges in some ways and otherchallenges in other ways. Now once again, I
would like to say every experience is different.I have a very dear friend who her son is the
(40:46):
same age as my youngest son, and he's autistic.And he struggles with violence. Some kids are
aggressive. Every, every experience is different.My son is not aggressive, but he, and he does
hug me. He still struggles to communicate andis super random. But the thing about it is,
(41:08):
um, in fact, this was just this, this week,like we were talking about something at the
table and he's just so random and we've alljust start bust out laughing. Cause I'm like,
Zealand, we weren't even talking about that.What are you doing? And he can laugh at himself
and go, well, I don't know. That's just whatI was thinking. I'm like, okay, that's just
(41:28):
what you were thinking. Well, let's try to stayfocused. Let's stay what we're talking about.
But he's awesome. But I think the thing thatas parents we can do to help and to advocate
for our kids is not just advocate for them fordifferent therapies, but also Harvest the gifts
that they have because they do. Each autistickid has like a crazy cool gift. So harvest
(41:55):
that. Find it. It's, sometimes they're probablyharder to find depending on each person. But
like my son, he has perfect pitch. Perfect pitch.Now, he doesn't speak very eloquently. But
if you get him to sing, like... He can tune,he plays violin and he can tune his violin
(42:19):
by ear, just by ear. And that's crazy impossible.But that's the thing. Autism brings these other
things to life in the mind that we don't getto have as, you know, typical people. Um, you
know, I remember the day that I actually toldZealand, because we didn't tell him that he
(42:43):
was autistic, he's just Zealand. Um, and whenwe told him that Zealand, you have autism and
he goes, what? I go, you're at the time he had,it didn't have a low voice. I'm just doing
his voice now, but he didn't understand whatthat meant. I said, that means you're rare.
(43:05):
That means you're different. And he liked that.He loves being different and rare. I said,
it means you're rare because your mind doessomething different than my mind. I said, you
know how you can spin in circles really, reallyfast and then stand up and walk straight? I
said, I can't do that, but you can. And that'scool. And he has this gift where he does not
(43:30):
get scared. He doesn't have any fears. He can,no fear of heights, no fear of anything, which
is also scary as a parent, but it's pretty stinkingawesome. Like I wish I could do that. I have
fears of like, everything, but he doesn't. Sohe struggles in some ways, but then he is super
(43:50):
gifted in so many other ways that I just go,you amaze me. So sometimes like, um, there
have been people that have come into my lifethat have said, I'm going to pray for God to
heal Zealand. And I always say thank you forprayers. I love it. Thank you for praying for
(44:13):
my son. Please pray for my son. Pray that hecan have a full and successful life. But for
me, the concept, and my husband and I talkedabout this. Like if all of a sudden he woke
up one day and...
(44:35):
everything, all the pieces were like typical.He wouldn't be Zealand. I wouldn't know who
this person was. I-
I would mourn the loss of Zeeland again. AndI, so, you know, but with every person once
(45:02):
again, with every child with special needs,every journey is different. So for me, it would
be, I wouldn't know who he was if he wasn'tthis person. So, and I think he is pretty awesome.
He's random, but he's awesome. That was powerful,what you said, Jackie. And I agree with you
(45:27):
a thousand percent and more. I mean, your childwas born with a purpose. That's what God, you
know, when you were going through that struggle,that fighting, those challenges and that beginning
phase as to why this happening, what was thishappening, then God told you to have faith.
(45:47):
It comes to having faith. And to know that Godknows that your child has that purpose. Right
now, seeing how old is he right now? He is 16.So right now he's an adolescent, almost an
adult, almost a few years. I know. And you andyour husband have done a tremendous job talking
(46:11):
with him about autism to accept for who he isbecause of that purpose. Yeah, but sure, we
have. They may have some deficits in some areas,but he has some great abilities in other areas.
And that's what I talk about, you know, as anadvocate in society, to get educated about
autism, and to learn about the different storiesabout autism. You know, autism impacts not
(46:33):
only the person with a diagnosis, but also thefamilies. All the families, the parents, the
moms, the dads, live autism. And can focus onwhat can we do to help these human beings.
to achieve, to get the qualities, the services,the resources, and the supports, so that way
they can achieve the mission that all of uswant, which is a quality of life, better quality
(46:58):
of life. And that's what you've done. It's agreat example, especially for parents that
may be listening to this and are going throughtheir struggles right now to know to never
give up, to have faith, and to never give upin this process. Yeah. And so... So it's funny
to me when I told, well, when I did, when wetalked about the first time being autistic,
(47:22):
he said the same thing I did. He goes, artistic?I said, yeah, actually that makes total sense.
It is artistic as well. There was one time wherehe came home and then, and he told me, he goes,
(47:42):
mom, I don't understand some things sometimes.Sometimes I don't understand everything that's
happening. I said, baby, that's okay. Autism?I said, remember, you're autistic. And he goes,
yeah. He goes, well, I just wish I understoodeverything better. I said, oh, buddy. And I
gave him a hug and he just, he gets it. Andso much of the things, like sometimes, like
(48:11):
we'll be watching a movie and we'll all threebe crying. But Zealand will look at us and
be like...
And then his little brother, he's like, Zealand,stop looking at me. I was crying. And he's
like going, mom, tell Zealand, stop lookingat me. But Zealand is looking at his little
(48:31):
brother with like concern, like he doesn't wanthis little brother to cry, even though it's
like something we're all crying about in themovie. He gets very concerned and very protective
of baby brother. But you know, but the coolthing about it is, The younger brother, he
is, it's like God prepared. God prepared hisheart to be kind. But also, he, the little
(49:01):
brother, I guess because of having Zealand,he always looks out for the people that are
different or that have challenges and he befriendsthem because he's like, I guess it had to do
with his big brother. Now he could- They wantto kill each other most of the time at this
point. They're siblings. I mean, they're partof it. They're like, mom, see you later. You
(49:24):
know, back and forth, back and forth. I'm goingto jump off a cliff. But you know, they're
totally normal brothers. But there is somethingwith the birth order, even though he does have
some special needs, he is still the big brother.And he will tell him, son. you do what I'm
saying. I'm the big brother, not you. And it'shilarious because you're going, yeah, he is
(49:49):
the big brother. You better do what he saysbecause he can pummel you. He is huge. Wow.
And that's beautiful. That relationship. I wasgoing to ask you that question about how is
the sibling relationship between Seeland andSoren and you explain it very well. They have
that connection. That beautiful connection betweenboth of them. And as a family as a overall,
(50:13):
which is important to be up because again, familieslive autism, but that doesn't mean it's the
end of the world. I mean, it depends on howyou approach it and how you take action. And
that's something that I talk about with parents,action, education, action to be resourceful.
That was the word I was looking for, resourceful.And you guys have done a tremendous job. And
(50:36):
Jackie, and your story, your family story hasbeen, amazing to share. I know this is going
to be a blessing for so many families that aregoing to be watching and listening to this
episode of the podcast. Now, this is an importantquestion I was going to ask you. Autism mentor,
let's say around when Selin was born. Now today,in 2024, how has autism changed you as a person,
(51:08):
as a mother, wife? career, how has autism shapedyou today? That, that just gave me goosebumps
because yesterday, literally yesterday, I wastalking to a girlfriend of mine who her son
is on the spectrum and she's a part of my supportgroup and she's, she's a very dear friend and,
(51:29):
um, her son is autistic and we were talking,we were, went to go watch a movie and we were
talking to each other and I, and the guy whowent to go. um, scan our tickets for the film.
He was, um, he, you could tell that he was autistic,um, had some special needs. He had a little
(51:49):
bit of a speech impediment, kind of a speechthing. But you know, he was probably in his
like early thirties. So, so, you know, he kindof struggled with, you know, getting our, our
tickets to scan and stuff. And, um, and I lookedover at her and I told her, isn't it funny
how. I guess prior to having a child with specialneeds, I may not have noticed that or maybe
(52:14):
wouldn't have even really had the patience forit. I'm not sure. I don't know. But I said,
it's funny when you have a child with specialneeds, you get this like really kind of sixth
sense where it's like, huh, you can see it andit gives you so much empathy and patience for
(52:35):
people that have challenges. in a way that ifyou didn't have a child with special needs,
you may not have the same, you know, reaction.So like, for her, she was actually volunteering.
She was, and she totally concurred. She waslike, Oh my gosh. She goes, yes, it's like
before I may not have noticed. She goes, infact, and this is where it went to. In fact,
(52:58):
she goes, I was at the high school volunteering,you know, in the front office, because I try
to volunteer at my kid's school. as well, highschool and middle school, just so I can keep
an eye on what they're doing. People are like,hey, are you gonna make a record? Hey, are
you gonna start touring again? I'm like, I'mtrying to raise teenagers right now and their
(53:20):
boys, like, as soon as they're grown, I'll do,I'll get back to it, but I got it. I gotta
take care of this for now, right now. This isimportant. This is too important to focus on,
you know, to go, oh, let me go tour and make,you know, be, anyway. My kids are important.
So, um, yes. So I, um, so I volunteered at theschool, but she was telling me this was last
(53:45):
week. She was at the school volunteering. Andshe said that Zealand walked in cause he had
lost his violin the week prior. And this wasa Monday. So he walked in to the front office
and goes, excuse me, I need to, where is lostand found. I have lost my violin. And, um,
and the lady in the front office, not my friend,but the lady, she goes, uh, just go to the
(54:10):
orchestra room and they'll find it for you.And he goes.
And so my friend, Glenna, who has a son withautism as well, she looked over at him and
she goes, Hey, Zeeland. She goes, cause sheknows him. Hey, Zeeland, Hey, what you could
do is you could probably try, go to the bandroom, ask them there, then go to the orchestra,
(54:31):
go to the lost and found, which is in this roomout and then if you can't find in those places,
go to the orchestra room, talk to the teacherand, and maybe someone has turned it in for
you. Okay. And he goes, I'm okay. So, but, andthen as he walked away, the lady at the front
(54:52):
office told my friend, said, oh, I forgot thathe has special needs. She goes, thank you for
doing that. I just totally forgot. She was,you know, kind of passive with him because,
you know, he's 16. He's a sophomore in highschool. Just go figure it out, buddy. But he
(55:13):
needed the steps. He needed the steps. So hadshe not been in that situation and hadn't recognized
that he has some special needs, it's easy toforget. Because with autism, this is what I
always tell people, people with autism, theyhave an innocence and an angelic way to their
face that is different than typical people.It's like God gives them this gift to be more
(55:40):
beautiful than the rest of us. Because...
I don't know. It's like a beautiful gift thathe gives him. So it's hard to recognize when
someone has autism because it's not visible.It's a puzzle piece. So. Yeah, it's easy to
(56:01):
forget. And well said. And that's important.I mean, through, you know, autism has shaped
you as a person, has shaped your family's life,and again, God has given me that purpose and
to be able to provide the best support. foryour children, for both of your children, so
that way they can get the best life, you know,best quality of life. And your story, Jackie,
(56:25):
has been special, has been unique, and I'm trulyhonored and privileged as an autistic person
myself, an advocate, to be listening to thisstory, because education is the key to learn
about autism and be resourceful. That's thekey, and to never give up. I have one word
for autism in my case. I define autism as beingperseverance. And you need that. You need to
(56:53):
be persevered under the challenges, the dailychallenges of living in the autism world. And
your story has been unique, Jackie. And as wewrap up our interview, I just I want to ask
you this very important question before we goon what final message, what message do you
have for our society, you know, as a parent,as a singer, what message do you have for society
(57:21):
in regards to what more needs to be done forautism? Okay, so for parents, I think we need
to recognize, to have, not sympathy, but tohave an understanding, to have empathy, to
(57:42):
go, Everyone's different. Everyone is different.We're not all the same. And thank God we aren't.
But also for like parents to remember if theyhave a child with special needs,
God picked you. There was a reason. God onlychooses special people for special children.
(58:08):
So don't forget that God sees something in you,you can't see in yourself. Also, I think the
main thing is just to know that If God pickedyou, you have the hope to lean into him for
help, for guidance. Because sometimes I thinkto myself, I don't know what to do. And all
(58:31):
of a sudden, God will just kind of throw a personinto my world. I'm like, oh my goodness, thank
you, Lord. That is a great idea. I didn't knowwhat to do with this situation. So it's also
fight. Fight for your kid. Fight for awareness.Fight for, hey, let's... do something, people
need help. There are some families that don'thave the option or the opportunity for therapies,
(58:57):
for their children to succeed. Help them. Whatcan we do? You know, align yourself with different
organizations that do provide services for peopleor families that may need it. That's the, no,
definitely. And that's the most important thing.They need to be very active and it's a fight,
(59:21):
but there's a mission. And this is not somethingimpacts our community, one community, but impacts
our world, our society. The rate of autism continuesto increase year per year, and there will be
a higher need for services and supports, notonly for children with autism or autistic children,
but this is something that impacts the lifespanof their adults. And that's very important
(59:46):
for or world to know. Well, and I think aboutlike mental health too, like my youngest son,
I'm not sure he hasn't ever needed anything,but for some siblings and for some families,
they might need some therapy, like just to talkthrough how I feel like my little one, he hasn't
(01:00:07):
needed anything, but at some point he mightwanna go, man, I wish my brother would just
be a big brother that could teach me to do stuffinstead of me teaching him how to do stuff.
So, you know, those are all those things youhave to consider and it'd be awesome if the
world, if society could provide those thingsfor the challenges that not just the kid faces,
but the other kids, the siblings, the parents,you know, and in a healthy, you know, God in
(01:00:35):
a faith-like way. Definitely. And the one thingthat, and we talk about faith, this is very
important, you know, the faith-based, the churches.We need to step up more. I'm being honest.
I'm sure there's churches that have specialneeds programs, but unfortunately there are
others that don't have that support. I don'tknow what you thought about this. Well, so
(01:01:00):
what's cool is, you know, the smaller churchescan't have, they don't have that kind of stuff,
but the bigger churches, they do have like abuddy program. So they've got a buddy who,
you know, kind of shadows them. hangs with themand, you know, kind of shows on the ropes and
stuff, but keeps an eye. So thankfully, youknow, the churches we've been a part of do
have that kind of program, but the smaller churchesdon't. So I mean, I think that if parents are
(01:01:24):
involved in their church, if your church doesn'thave that kind of program, maybe be that program
within that church. Volunteer. Be that programwithin that church. Start it because people
need help.
And the church had to be, our leaders had tobe the leaders in our society to lead the way.
(01:01:45):
And that's an area that we definitely, we needto work more in my opinion. So Jackie, your
story has been, I'm truly honored to have interviewedyou. I still can't believe I'm interviewing
you, to be honest, the one Jackie Velasquez.But before we go, how can people can follow
you, you know, social media website? Now, weunderstand that you're raising your teenage
(01:02:08):
children. So there's no for the people listeningand watching it's going to be a little bit
of while until we get a record but how can peoplekeep uh keep in touch with you? Okay well um
on Facebook it's Jackie Velasquez official onInstagram it's just at Jackie Velasquez and
um that's kind of I mean I do post stuff butI am you know it's I try to I try to do as
(01:02:34):
much as I can but sometimes I am I find myselfliving a lot more and I forget sometimes to
post. So I try, but yes. And then there's mywebsite, JackieofAlaska.com. So yeah, I mean,
I'm still working on stuff. I just haven't putstuff out that would require me to travel because
(01:02:55):
I have to keep an eye on teenage boys becausethey can be terrible.
And I'm going to put all your links, Jackie,I'm going to pull it once this episode is published,
so that way people can reach out to you, especially,you know, if parents, families, would like
(01:03:18):
to reach out to you for any advice, becauseagain, support groups in autism is key. I talk
about this all the time, support groups withparents and siblings, grandparents, caretakers
is the key. Well, and I do one more thing. Idid forget to mention this because I'm not
even thinking about that stuff. I'm thinkingabout my kid. I did write a book on this story
(01:03:42):
and it's called When God Rescripts Your Life.And so it's funny because it's rescripts Zeeland
when he was younger and sometimes till thisday, he scripts a lot. So he'll hear something
on a movie, hear something on TV, and he saysit like it's his own language or words or his
(01:04:04):
statement. is sometimes he says it the besttimes possible. But so when God rescripts your
life, when your life that you thought you weregoing to live turns out much different than
you had planned, which is what I'm living. Andit's a great support for families with kids
with special needs. In fact, the forward andsome of the endorsements are written not by
(01:04:29):
just famous people, but by friends who have...children with special needs and just because
that's the reality, that's the real thing. Andso I have it in English and I have it in Spanish,
cuando Dios rescribe su historia and then whenGod prescripts your life. And definitely I'll
(01:04:49):
be more than happy to put it as well on thelink, on our link so that way people can look,
go ahead and buy the book as well. We'll takecare of that once this episode is published.
Jackie Velasquez, the one and only Jackie Velasquez,I'm truly honored and privileged to have you
here in my podcast. You're more than welcometo come back anytime. The very best for you,
(01:05:11):
for your husband, for your family. Much blessings,keep moving forward, and the very best for
you in your life. And again, thank you so muchfor having participated in an interview with
me in my podcast, My Time with Tony Hernandez-Pomaro.Truly appreciate it and truly honored. Thank
you, Tony. Thank you. Thank you. What a powerfuland inspirational story from Jackie Velasquez.
(01:05:39):
Her story, especially as a mom to a child withautism, is just a story of millions and millions
around the world that faces challenges in raisingtheir loved ones who is autistic around the
world. For her to explain the struggles, whatthey went through as a family. in the beginning
(01:06:01):
when she received the news, she and her husbandreceived the news that their child has been
diagnosed with autism and the struggles thatthey went through in accepting their child's
diagnosis and then be able to evolve and beable to provide them support through love and
care for their loved one to have the best qualityof life possible as an autistic human being.
(01:06:27):
And not to mention the fact. to have this openconversation with their son, Seelin, telling
him that he is autistic and to accept him forwho he is. The beauty and talking about the
challenges that we face in our autism communityis very important. And I felt the power, the
(01:06:48):
emotions of this interview. And I hopefully,especially if you're a parent and you're able
to get something from this interview. that willhelp you raising and supporting your child
with autism. If you're able to do that, thenthat will be fantastic. And I would have accomplished
my job. So I hope hopefully you have you lovethis interview. I like this interview with
(01:07:11):
Jackie Velasquez. Again, if you haven't also,please, please subscribe to my podcast. My
time with Tony Hernandez, Pumorejo, the podcast,bilingual podcast with purpose of this world.
Until next time. This is Tony Hernandez Pumarejoand this has been another episode of My Time
with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo. So I'm wishingeverybody that you have a wonderful day or
(01:07:34):
good evening or good morning from any part ofthe world. God bless you.
If you'd like to learn more about the work Tonydoes, subscribe to him on his social media
platforms Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter,which is now X, and his LinkedIn page. You
(01:07:57):
can also follow Tony on his website at TonyAlso, if you are interested in getting a copy
of his book, An Autism Unscripted Life, youcan purchase it on Amazon or any book-selling
platform. You can also obtain a copy throughhis website. So, until the next time you meet.
Thank you and have a wonderful day. Blessings.
was a moment where I remember just being kindof broken and still trying to figure out how
to do this whole thing. Because how am I goingto tell his little brother? I mean, his little
brother adores him and for him to ever see himas different, that's not what I want for a
(00:20):
little brother. So I was angry with God andthen there was one moment where I finally heard
God tell me. He just said, There are so manythings he told me, but he said just stop. I
picked you because I saw, I see something newyou just can't see in yourself and that is
(00:44):
strength.
Tony Hernandez Pumarejo, writer and author,professional and motivational speaker, TV presenter,
life coach, and international ambassador forautism and mental health. He is proud to invite
(01:13):
you to his podcast, My Time, with Tony HernandezPumarejo. you
Hi and welcome to this new episode of My Timewith Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. And this is your
host, Tony Hernandez-Pumarejo. I'm truly honoredand privileged for you to either watch me or
(01:34):
listen to this new episode of My Time. Yoursupport is crucial and so if you haven't done
so, please subscribe to my podcast through allthe platforms. I truly and I'm very grateful
for your support. And today's episode is a specialone. Today I have the honor and privilege to
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interview a person that in reality really doesn'tneed an introduction. And so the reason for
it is because the person I'm going to interviewtoday is very, it has a unique story and she
has had a tremendous impact throughout her careerand her life. And today I'm honored and privileged
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to be interviewing the one and only Jackie Velasquez.Jackie Velasquez is a multi-platin selling
Grammy-nominating artist, a contemporary Christianand Latin pop singer and songwriter and also
an actress. Jackie Velasquez was born in Houston,Texas, is of Mexican descent. She grew up in
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an evangelical church where her parents wereboth singers and pastors. Jackie Velasquez,
you know, throughout her career, she has soldalmost more than three especially recorded
3 platinum and 3 gold albums and recorded 16singles that hit number 1 plus 6 more that
entered the top 10. She has received differentawards like the Latin Billboard Music Award
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in 2002 for her album Mi Corazón, 8 Dove Awards,including Best New Artist and Female Vocalist
of the Year as well as 3 Grammy nominations.and American Music Award nomination and the
category of Favorite Latin Artist in 2002. From2010 to 2016, Jackie Velasquez co-hosted the
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Family Friendly Morning Show, which was a syndicatedmorning radio program with Doc Deerfren. And
on December 17, 2006, Jackie Velasquez marriedNick Gonzalez in a private ceremony in Austin,
Texas, and her husband Nick Gonzalez is a memberof Salvador. a Christian group with whom she
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has been touring, and also together, they havetwo children, first born, Celan, in 2007, and
their second son, Seren, in 2009. So it is myhonor and privilege to be interviewing the
one and only Jackie Velazquez in this new episodeof My Time with Tony Hernandez-Pomorejo. Jackie,
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thank you so much for coming into my podcast.I'm truly honored. Thank you so much for having
me. I appreciate your time and thank you forthat incredible introduction. If my kids were
here, they would just roll their eyes and go,oh, mom, please. Well, I've been a big fan
of your songs, Jackie, for many years. So forme, this is like a dream come true. If I look
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at it that way. So for me, it is honor. I'mhonored to have you in my podcast. And so let's
start right off the bat. Jackie, I start withthis question with all my guests. Okay. And
the first thing I'm going to ask you is, canyou define the life of Jackie Velasquez in
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just a few words? Oh.
A fun fairy tale.
There you go. That was afterwards. Was it afun fairy tale? Three? Yeah, that's good. Yes.
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But it's a story, a fairy tale with purpose.Yes. A story with purpose. And to go into a
little bit about, you know, in terms of yourbackground, Jackie, can you please tell us
about your roots, your family, where you camefrom? Okay, well, my parents were pastors when
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I was a little girl and they had a church inHouston, Texas. And then when I was nine years
old, I have older siblings and my older siblingswere already off in college and stuff. So when
I was nine years old, my dad got, he felt ledto go and evangelize. And my dad was also a
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singer and is very accomplished. a singer withdifferent bands and stuff, the Galileans, the
Amigos, the Latinos. So just he had a backgroundin music. So when I was nine, when he got the
calling, he felt like he was needing to traveland go to different churches and become an
evangelist, which is basically an evangelistis like a pastor who travels from city to city
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to different churches and kind of gives thepastor of that church a break. They don't have
to teach that morning or that night. So he feltled to do that. Because I was the only kid
at home, they had to take me. So I traveledin the backseat of a car when I was nine years
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old from going from Houston to Dallas, Dallasto Albuquerque, New Mexico, from Albuquerque
to Grand Junction, Colorado, from Grand Junctionto Modesto, California, just from city to city
constantly. I was in the backseat of a HondaAccord, an 85 Honda Accord, and I would do
my schoolwork in the backseat because I hadto watch videotapes so I could keep up with
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my schoolwork. So I was homeschooled from thetime I was nine, and we traveled a lot. We
made records, well, cassette tapes at the time,cassette tapes, which are antiques. My first
cassette tape came out when I was nine. Andwe sold those cassette tapes because I would
sing at the churches with my parents and I woulddo step outs and do my own songs and stuff.
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And it was like a musical ministry, if you will.So we recorded not just my stuff, but then
we would do cassette tapes as a trio, my mom,my dad and I. And so I think we did, I don't
know how many projects, but we would recordin English and in Spanish. And we... traveled
and sang at different churches around the country.But then when I was, oh goodness, when I was
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12 or 13, we upgraded and got, because at thistime we didn't have a house, so we rented out
our house because we were always on the road.So when I was 13, we upgraded from the car,
the car to a motorhome. So I was so excited.It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I was
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either 12 or 13. And then when that happened,we were still traveling. When I was 13, someone
called, I opened for a concert for a group calledPoint of Grace, which at the time was a brand
new artist in contemporary Christian music.So they had a record deal. And so when I went
to open a concert for them, they videotapedit, their road manager, and sent it back to
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Nashville. And so then... When I was, I thinkI was about 14, they, the record label came
out to Nash, I mean came out to Texas to hearme sing at an event. And they signed me to
a record deal when I was 14 and I moved to Nashville.I was either 14 or 15 and started making heavenly
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place. Uno Garceles Diez making that first recordthat came out when I was 16. So at 96. So,
yeah, I've been traveling and singing sinceI was nine, but professionally, when I was,
I guess I actually started touring for thatrecord before the record even came out when
I was 15. So, yep, it was good times. Yeah,so you've been in this for a very long time.
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And Jackie, how do you, how do you felt, youknow, being so young and getting all the records
for music, you know, hits? you know, very young,how did you feel that when your music came
to mainstream at a young age, how was that processand how you were able to handle the pressures
that come, you know, in terms of being in theindustry, in the music industry at a young
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age? Well, thankfully, you know, some peoplemight call my mother a stage mom, but the truth
is I needed her because I was traveling on theroad with a bunch of, you know, like men, they're,
you know, bands and stuff and artists and Iwas a child. So, and I look at my, so I, just
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to say this, I have a 14 year old, I have twosons, I have a 16 and my 14 year old is about
to become 15 this month. So like I'm lookingat my kids, I was, I look at Soren, my youngest,
and I go, I was already touring at his age.I mean, I can't even imagine. him on the road
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with people and doing that. So it's, thankfully,I had a very strong family background. My faith,
I was singing because Jesus gave me a gift.So for me, it was like, give the gift back
to him and sing songs to him about him to leadpeople towards Jesus. So that's for me what,
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you know, what kept me grounded and kind of,it was in a, you know, I had a safe environment
because I was surrounded by fellow believersin God. So, I mean, there are so many facets
to it, but like when I said it was a fun fairytale, I say a fairy tale because so young and
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to, you know, achieve things like that, you'rekind of going, whoa, I feel like Cinderella.
What is happening? I mean, I'm just a littleMexican girl from Texas. um, who kind of, you
know, got homeschooled in the back seat of acar and not fancy. We, it was not fancy, trust
me. But, um, but you know, that's the thingabout when you are obedient to what God has
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for you in your life. I mean, he, it's not yourplans, it's his plans. So I was so undeserving.
They were far more better. I mean, they're farbetter singers than me, far more beautiful
people than me, but for some reason God. pickedme, so I feel like a princess. Definitely that
God gave you that purpose at an early age tohave that faith that was crucial because without
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faith, there's no life. Having faith in God,taking that leap of faith into the unknown
at a very young age was a part of the processin your life. And you were able to do so well.
your impact, you know, we shout more than Texas,more than the U.S. You reach internationally
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at a young age and the impact and the work thatyou do, that you have done in your career speaks
for itself. I mean, some people may say, I mean,say, you know, may wonder, OK, what is the
how was this process of making music? You know,sometimes if they're not very familiar with
the industry or the process, I don't know ifthis is something that you would like to go
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over a little bit with our audience. Okay. Well,the process, you know, the thing is with each
artist, it's very different. So some artiststhey are, I was young, but so, so many artists,
they come in and they're songwriters first.So they write all their songs and then, you
know, the label hears their songs and, and theyset them up with the producer and the producer
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produces fine, you know, harvests the song ina different way than maybe the artist had originally
written it for. So every process is different.But for me personally, Um, I wrote a little
bit of my stuff, but I was always on the searchfor, for beautiful songs. So, um, that I felt
I could, um, I could, you know, not just sing,but I could. Bring to life in my own way, kind
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of a thing. So when I, when I would look fordifferent songs, I looked for different songs
that would, um, kind of accentuate the, um,my. my range or that I, or more than anything
that I felt like spoke to my heart, that I couldthen relate to other people and feel passionate
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about it and sing with, you know, abandonedkind of a thing. But, um, I would say that,
let me think for my, for me, my process wasfinding great songs. I had the same producer
for my English record, the same producer throughoutalmost my whole career. Um, almost. And then
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my Spanish, when I started recording in Spanishwhen I was 18, which was also that record was
called, was it called, was it Igarati? I, Iforget that sometimes because I should know
that, but it was because the label and everybodywas going back and forth all the time. So anyway,
so that was, um, that was with Sony discos.And so when we started recording in Spanish,
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some of the songs that I recorded in English,we translated into Spanish. And that was hard
because some of the stuff that you say in Englishdoesn't translate well to Spanish and it sounds
kind of just not good. Like I remember Flowerin the Rain. It didn't translate properly on
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my knees, didn't translate properly. So youkind of had to really... work through the whole
process. So each process is different for everyartist, but for me it was always about the
song, the producer, and just finding music thatcould, that touched my heart, that I could
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then take to others. Definitely. And a veryimportant question for you, Jackie, because
when you're listening both to your songs inEnglish and Spanish, listen to your
it's so difficult to translate it from Englishto Spanish because one, there's different factors,
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there's different Spanish. I mean, the Spanishfrom, for example, from Puerto Rico is not
the same from Cuba or from Mexico or from Venezuela.So there's different words and that complicates
matters. So, well, so what was what was interestingis finding the right people to translate because
they also kind of had to rewrite it as well.So we went with a Colombian person to the Spanish
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because it felt like that was the most, youknow, it could relate to the Cuban Spanish,
the Puerto Rican Spanish, the Spaniards. Butit was a very difficult situation to know how
to navigate. And especially when my first languagewas not Spanish, my first language was English.
So it wasn't until, I mean, I used to sing songsin Spanish on the road with my parents, but
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I didn't. My parents spoke Spanish when theydidn't want me to know what they were saying.
So fast forward when I started recording inSpanish, I remember thinking to myself, okay,
I'm going to have to learn Spanish because I'mgoing to have to do interviews because that's
a big thing for the Spanish market. So I rememberbeing in the bus and it was when I was making
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the record, but I was on tour with for my, Ithink it was the Crystal Clear record or no.
It was the second record. It was for the JackieVelasquez. I felt self-titled the record. So
I was on tour and I remember I would lay inmy bunk with a Spanish to English dictionary.
And I would listen to Spanish records. And oneof the records I used to listen to was Luis
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Miguel Romance. So I would listen to the song,because I loved the music, but I would translate.
the words, because I could sing the words, becauseit's music in Spanish, and that's easy. But
to understand what I was singing, so that Iwould translate it with my Spanish to English
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dictionary, to understand Fontana's Fountain,which is just a lot of campañas, I learned
all those crazy things because of those records.So fast forward, I'm immersing. I didn't have
time to go to school. to learn Spanish or tohave a tutor because I was on tour. It was
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intense. So I was a self-taught Spanish speaker.The first interview I ever did, the first interview
I ever did, I remember going, what? A labelcame to me and said, we have an interview,
this is the biggest show in South and CentralAmerica. So he doesn't do any Spanish, any
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English. This is my first interview? What? You'rethrowing me to the wolves? My first interview
was Sábado Gigante, Don Francisco. Yeah, I rememberthat, I see in that, I remember. Yes, it was
so scary. I remember I talked to him backstageand he told me in English, he goes, we do not
speak English on this show, only Spanish. AndI said...
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Oh, okay. So if you look back at that interview,all my answers are, see? No, see? I didn't
know what to do with this. But the pressure,and of course, when you feel the pressure,
you can say, you can't really remember yourSpanish that you do know, because you're like
freaking out so nervous, and you just feel,I just remember being so frightened. And thankfully,
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I got to go back at one point and actually doan interview, a proper interview with him.
in Spanish, but it was a lot. So I'm a self-taughtSpanish speaker and people always go, but your
accent is good. I'm like, well, that's becauseI can sing it. I can fake it really well. But
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my Spanish is pretty good now. And of coursenow I'm married. And so wouldn't you know,
I married the only Mexican that doesn't speakSpanish. That's ironic. I know. I speak more
Spanish than he does. And he's like second orthird generation Mexican American. No, second
generation Mexican American. And my kids arethird. And I just don't know what happened.
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Yeah. Well, can you forgive me the heads up?So, you know, if I have the chance to speak
with your husband, okay, I'm going to startpracticing you in Spanish. So... Please. Because
now I have no one to practice with practically.Yeah. And do you prefer to sing in English
or Spanish? Which do you enjoy the most? Oh,see, that is the right question. So there's,
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so obviously English is much easier for me,but when it comes to singing, there is something
that happens in Spanish for me, because I thinkif you were to A, B, my records in English
versus Spanish, the... Even though they mightbe the same songs, just different languages,
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I've always said that the Spanish just soundsdifferent. I even sing differently in Spanish
than I do in English. Because there's somethingso incredibly gorgeous about the language,
the way the words connect, the way that it bringsthe singer to life, if you will. So I love
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singing in Spanish, but like speaking in English,so I can sound kind of smart. I'm on the same
line. I think that's part of our Hispanic culture,that in Spanish is like more alive, more, you
know, more emotional. Look at me, Ron. I liketo listen to songs in English, you know, especially
God spoke Christian songs in English, but somethingis very special about in Spanish, listening
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to you, listening to artists like Jesus, AdrianRomero, like Marcus Wood and so many in Spanish.
I prefer that. And right now I'm trying to learna third language is Portuguese, which I'm trying
to start this. Oh, yes. That is so smart. Goodfor you. Yeah. I'm in the process. I'm in the
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beginning phase. So I'm trying to learn thatas my third language. And a lot of things similar
to Spanish when I learned Portuguese. So it'svery interesting. Very interesting indeed.
To the bang, to the boom. Yeah. And Jackie,not only as a singer, but also you were interested
in getting into acting. Why motivate you tobecome an actress? Well, it was kind of a natural
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progression. So my booking agent at the timewas William Moore's agency. And so they were
like,
I guess, I don't know. I don't know how it happenedor why it happened. It's just that I guess
it was kind of natural. It's like, well, you'redoing great in music, now let's try something
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different. So I was like, well, okay. So I rememberI went to Los Angeles and my agent at William
Moore's agency in California, she set me upon some auditions. So I remember I went to
my first audition. It was at the 20th CenturyFox Studios. And I was like, I remember walking
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down, you know, in the studios. and to the buildingwhere I was going to do my audition. And Mario
Lopez was walking like in the road and I waslike going, that's saved by the belt. Mario
Lopez is right there. That's so cool. So I wentto the audition, came back home, got the phone
call, you got the part. Like I got the part.What are you saying? This was for Chasing Poppy.
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So I was one of the three lead females. Um,alongside Sophia Vergara and, um, Rosalind
Sanchez and Eduardo Verasti. So I just was like,what is happening? I got my, my first audition,
got the part. So acting became kind of, um,it's going to sound weird because for some
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people it is their livelihood, but for me, itwas a hobby. It wasn't like, it wasn't like
music was for me, but it was something that,I mean, there's nothing more fun than playing
pretend. and I could pretend to be somethingI wasn't. So that was always fun for me. And
that's how I always viewed it. I'm getting toplay pretend. That's amazing. I mean, your
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experience, your career, singer and actresshas been amazing. My respect's for you, Jackie.
Thank you. For everything that you have done.And now we're gonna go to a topic, a cause
that unites us both. Yes. And that is autism.I don't know if you have the chance to read
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a little bit about my story and my connectionwith autism. I was born by myself on the spectrum.
I'm an autistic person. You know, I went throughthe struggles. I was nonverbal to age three,
was born and raised, and I went through strugglesbeing nonverbal, struggle with social communication,
struggle with making friends and different challenges.My parents, just imagine that you went through.
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in this process as well, we're trying to findanswers as to see what was going on with me.
This was in the early 90s. In the early 90s,there was not a lot of information about autism.
Right. As we have, as there is today. But tothe ups and downs, I even wrote my book about
autism, which I have right over here. I wantit. You got it. I want to send you a copy,
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a signed copy. Yes, please. Yes. And throughthe ups and downs, growing up as an autistic
person, I was able to overcome different challenges.Some people may say, oh, you look fine on the
outside. But the thing about autism is thatthere's a story and there's a process behind
the scenes. And my story is through therapies,through getting support, I was able to become
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an independent person and graduate from college,now working full time and all that. And And
my mission, my daily life, my daily missionis to advocate for this community, to advocate
for, you know, with the parents, with the community,to educate society about the potential that
people with autism have in this world. And Iwanted to ask you, Jackie, you know, this is
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a very important question. How did autism cameinto your life? What was the first time you
heard about autism? Okay, so the first time.I had heard about autism. I was living in England
at the time and I had this boyfriend who hehad a little brother who was, he was this,
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this boyfriend I had, don't tell my husbandI had a boyfriend other than him. No worries.
So as everyone knows, so he had a bracelet onwith a puzzle piece and this, this boy that
I, that I liked at the time. And I was like,what is that for? He goes, Oh, it's for. autism.
It's my brother, a little brother has autism.I was like, what is that? I didn't know what
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that was because I mean, this is, this was along time ago, but I, I mean, it was 2005,
but I really had never heard that. You know,I didn't, it was 2004, something like that.
I hadn't heard, I mean, I just didn't pay attentionto it. Okay. So, um, so I met his little brother
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and he was very quiet and I was like, Oh, okay.said he doesn't look like he has autism. So
didn't think about it again. So I got marriedin 2006.
We got married December 2006 to my husband,Nick, who's the lead singer for a band called
(28:21):
Salvador. So we got married 2006, November 2007.We had a baby. So we had a boy named Zealand.
I remember thinking to myself, what are we gonnaname him? I mean, Nick would throw out different
names and just different stuff. And he mentionedthe name Leland. I was like, no, not Leland.
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And then he goes, how about Zealand? It's like,like New Zealand, Zealand. So I Googled it.
And I remember I, there was not a person tobe found with the name Zealand ever. So I was
like, this kid is going to be different. He'sgoing to be special. He's going to be one that
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is like the only one. So we named him Zeeland.So we got pregnant pretty quick after Zeeland
was born again with his brother Soren with anS. So the boys are 14 months apart, pretty
close in age. So as Zeeland was growing up...I remember he was just the easiest baby. So
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easy. I mean, we could still like go to restaurantsand like, you know, have a nice dinner and
he would just lay in his carrier. I was like,I could have had 20 of him. Then his brother
was born. And it was like, oh my God. If hislittle brother had been born before him, we
would have just had one kid because he was acrazy type. terrible. He cried all the time.
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So fast forward, the kids were about, well,let me see, Zeland was about two years old.
And so his little brother was, you know, sixmonths old, two, 24. So he was diagnosed when
he was, Zeland was diagnosed with autism atage two? No. So, because Zeland was We started
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noticing when Zeeland was around too, that milestones,his little brother was hitting milestones much
quicker than Zeeland did. And Zeeland, he wouldtalk a little bit, but he just mostly babbled.
So he babbled. So instead of typically in thosesituations, I bury my head in sand. I'm like,
he'll be fine. Everything's fine. But it's mykid. So I'm like, his Zeeland was 24 months.
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And then... baby brother was 10 months. So Ijust every brother was hitting all the milestones
much quicker than Zealand ever did. And Zealandwas still babbling and stuff like that and
didn't really say too much. So I contacted peoplehere in Tennessee and they came to our home
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and they did a, they said they got him somedifferent therapies like speech therapy, occupational
therapy, just to They called it a pervasivedevelopmental delay. Well, to me, a delay is
he's just a little behind. He's gonna catchup. So he continued on with those therapies.
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Every week he went to speech and occupationaltherapy till the time he started kindergarten.
So he was the first born, so the first one togo to kindergarten was a big deal. Oh my God,
my kids get school. So he went to a public schooland we actually moved to a county that had
like the best schooling and the best schoolsfor kids with delays. So yeah, we're like in
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it to win it. This school provides differenttherapies. They provide speech therapy. They
provide occupational therapy. They even providemusic therapy. Yes, I'm not gonna have to pay
out of pocket anymore. The school does thatfor us. That's great. So. Time went on, little
brother starts kindergarten, now Zealand isin second grade. So we're talking to his pediatrician
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and talking to the school system and now it'stime for them to make a diagnosis because he
can't just stay on a pervasive developmentaldelay program because he did have an IEP, which
is individualized educational program. And sincekindergarten he did because of the therapies
and stuff, but. at the end of second grade,you have to give them a diagnosis. So now the
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word autism had been thrown around, but we weren'tgoing with that because it was still a pervasive
developmental delay. Right? So now we're herein this meeting. Everyone's there. There's
people from the county. There's an autism specialist.There's a behavioral specialist. There's just
the principal, the people from different, justthe who's who. are in this meeting and they
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sit us down and they go through their namesand what they do and all this stuff. And they
say, Mr. And Mrs. Gonzalez, because my husband'slast name is Gonzalez.
We have spoken, we have a pediatrician and he,you know, he's here, all that stuff.
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We're art people, artistic people. No, he'sautistic. I was like, um.
Okay. Because I was okay with the delay, butI didn't know what to do with autism. So, I
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remember in that meeting, I just broke downcrying, like just tears. Because what does
that mean? I mean, he, to me, is just Zealand.Like he's not anybody different. He is Zealand.
And the baby that I... had in my belly thatI had all these dreams for that I was, you
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know, I could picture what his life would looklike. You're going to tell me that he's going
to have challenges forever? I don't want thatfor him. See, and I would like to put this
out there. Everyone's experience is different.Every person with autism is different. Everybody's
(34:52):
story and journey is different because there'sno one. person alike. It's wild. It's wild.
So I didn't know what to expect. So I just rememberI had to go through like a mourning period
of the dreams that I had for Zealand when Iwas pregnant with him and as he was growing
(35:17):
up to go, okay, so now he has a label and Whatdo I do with this? And how can I, how can we
make sure that he has every opportunity to succeedin life? And, yeah, and how do I do that? Because
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they don't like write a book on, hey, becausethey can't write a book on it because each
person with autism is different. So my kid loveshats. Some kids that are autistic. don't love
hats, don't want you to touch their head. Imean, it just, they're all so different. So-
Yes, and also it's so different. And that'sone thing important for people in our society
(36:05):
to know that sure, there's three levels of autism,but each person with autism is different. You
know, it depends on, and what you mentionedis very important because we need to talk about
this. You know, parents going through, whenreceiving that news that their loved one has
been diagnosed with autism can create differentemotions. And what you guys went through, you
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and your husband went through, was in that mourningperiod in which it's very common for parents
in the autism world to go through and readinga little bit about your story, Jackie, and
we understand that it was a very tough process,even because it was so tough that even your
faith was put into test. Can you go over thatwith us a little bit? Well, okay, so if you
(36:54):
can imagine, so here I am a parent and I'm mourningthese things for my child. I've been in music,
my husband's been in music, we've been singingto God our entire lives. Our whole life and
ministry is based on communication. So whenyou tell me that my son has autism and might
(37:19):
struggle to communicate for his entire life.when our whole lives have been based on communication.
I was very, very angry at God because I said,I have given my whole life, my whole childhood
to sing to you, for you, about you. And youcouldn't even be faithful for my child to not
(37:43):
have struggles, to not have challenges. Thisdoes not seem fair. And I was very upset with
God. I... I remember just being angry. So itwas at one point where I was just talking to
God and I was just angry with him. And you knowwhat was cool? See, even when I was angry with
(38:08):
him, he didn't like chastise me or even, hedidn't even say anything. He wasn't speaking
to me. It was just kind of nothing was happening.But It was, I don't know when it was, but there
was a moment where I remember just being justkind of broken and still trying to figure out
(38:30):
what, how to, how to do this whole thing. Becausehow am I going to tell his little brother?
I mean, his little brother adores him and forhim to ever see him as different, that's not
what I want for a little brother. So I was angrywith God. And then there was one moment where
I finally heard God tell me. He just said, thereare so many things he told me, but he said,
(38:57):
just stop. I picked you because I saw, I seesomething new. You just can't see in yourself
and that is strength. And, um, I didn't seethat in myself. I didn't see that I would be
a fighter. He said, stop complaining. Now getup and fight. Fight for your kid, advocate
(39:23):
for your kid. I picked you because you are strongerthan you know. And I'm going, okay. So I did,
I started fighting for my kid. I got new therapiesbrought into the school system because they
(39:43):
would benefit Zealand and if they could benefitZealand, they could maybe benefit other kids.
So started fighting for him. And honestly, kindof, I would recommend for any parent who is,
who has come to the new knowledge of these,you know, challenges for their children, to
(40:05):
get a group of people to get other moms, otherparents behind you, so you have some sort of
connection that you can talk through stuff,because if you don't have a support group,
When you have a kid with special needs, youfeel like an island, you feel alone. And you
(40:26):
should never feel alone because there are somany of us that have these incredible kids
that have some challenges in some ways and otherchallenges in other ways. Now once again, I
would like to say every experience is different.I have a very dear friend who her son is the
(40:46):
same age as my youngest son, and he's autistic.And he struggles with violence. Some kids are
aggressive. Every, every experience is different.My son is not aggressive, but he, and he does
hug me. He still struggles to communicate andis super random. But the thing about it is,
(41:08):
um, in fact, this was just this, this week,like we were talking about something at the
table and he's just so random and we've alljust start bust out laughing. Cause I'm like,
Zealand, we weren't even talking about that.What are you doing? And he can laugh at himself
and go, well, I don't know. That's just whatI was thinking. I'm like, okay, that's just
(41:28):
what you were thinking. Well, let's try to stayfocused. Let's stay what we're talking about.
But he's awesome. But I think the thing thatas parents we can do to help and to advocate
for our kids is not just advocate for them fordifferent therapies, but also Harvest the gifts
that they have because they do. Each autistickid has like a crazy cool gift. So harvest
(41:55):
that. Find it. It's, sometimes they're probablyharder to find depending on each person. But
like my son, he has perfect pitch. Perfect pitch.Now, he doesn't speak very eloquently. But
if you get him to sing, like... He can tune,he plays violin and he can tune his violin
(42:19):
by ear, just by ear. And that's crazy impossible.But that's the thing. Autism brings these other
things to life in the mind that we don't getto have as, you know, typical people. Um, you
know, I remember the day that I actually toldZealand, because we didn't tell him that he
(42:43):
was autistic, he's just Zealand. Um, and whenwe told him that Zealand, you have autism and
he goes, what? I go, you're at the time he had,it didn't have a low voice. I'm just doing
his voice now, but he didn't understand whatthat meant. I said, that means you're rare.
(43:05):
That means you're different. And he liked that.He loves being different and rare. I said,
it means you're rare because your mind doessomething different than my mind. I said, you
know how you can spin in circles really, reallyfast and then stand up and walk straight? I
said, I can't do that, but you can. And that'scool. And he has this gift where he does not
(43:30):
get scared. He doesn't have any fears. He can,no fear of heights, no fear of anything, which
is also scary as a parent, but it's pretty stinkingawesome. Like I wish I could do that. I have
fears of like, everything, but he doesn't. Sohe struggles in some ways, but then he is super
(43:50):
gifted in so many other ways that I just go,you amaze me. So sometimes like, um, there
have been people that have come into my lifethat have said, I'm going to pray for God to
heal Zealand. And I always say thank you forprayers. I love it. Thank you for praying for
(44:13):
my son. Please pray for my son. Pray that hecan have a full and successful life. But for
me, the concept, and my husband and I talkedabout this. Like if all of a sudden he woke
up one day and...
(44:35):
everything, all the pieces were like typical.He wouldn't be Zealand. I wouldn't know who
this person was. I-
I would mourn the loss of Zeeland again. AndI, so, you know, but with every person once
(45:02):
again, with every child with special needs,every journey is different. So for me, it would
be, I wouldn't know who he was if he wasn'tthis person. So, and I think he is pretty awesome.
He's random, but he's awesome. That was powerful,what you said, Jackie. And I agree with you
(45:27):
a thousand percent and more. I mean, your childwas born with a purpose. That's what God, you
know, when you were going through that struggle,that fighting, those challenges and that beginning
phase as to why this happening, what was thishappening, then God told you to have faith.
(45:47):
It comes to having faith. And to know that Godknows that your child has that purpose. Right
now, seeing how old is he right now? He is 16.So right now he's an adolescent, almost an
adult, almost a few years. I know. And you andyour husband have done a tremendous job talking
(46:11):
with him about autism to accept for who he isbecause of that purpose. Yeah, but sure, we
have. They may have some deficits in some areas,but he has some great abilities in other areas.
And that's what I talk about, you know, as anadvocate in society, to get educated about
autism, and to learn about the different storiesabout autism. You know, autism impacts not
(46:33):
only the person with a diagnosis, but also thefamilies. All the families, the parents, the
moms, the dads, live autism. And can focus onwhat can we do to help these human beings.
to achieve, to get the qualities, the services,the resources, and the supports, so that way
they can achieve the mission that all of uswant, which is a quality of life, better quality
(46:58):
of life. And that's what you've done. It's agreat example, especially for parents that
may be listening to this and are going throughtheir struggles right now to know to never
give up, to have faith, and to never give upin this process. Yeah. And so... So it's funny
to me when I told, well, when I did, when wetalked about the first time being autistic,
(47:22):
he said the same thing I did. He goes, artistic?I said, yeah, actually that makes total sense.
It is artistic as well. There was one time wherehe came home and then, and he told me, he goes,
(47:42):
mom, I don't understand some things sometimes.Sometimes I don't understand everything that's
happening. I said, baby, that's okay. Autism?I said, remember, you're autistic. And he goes,
yeah. He goes, well, I just wish I understoodeverything better. I said, oh, buddy. And I
gave him a hug and he just, he gets it. Andso much of the things, like sometimes, like
(48:11):
we'll be watching a movie and we'll all threebe crying. But Zealand will look at us and
be like...
And then his little brother, he's like, Zealand,stop looking at me. I was crying. And he's
like going, mom, tell Zealand, stop lookingat me. But Zealand is looking at his little
(48:31):
brother with like concern, like he doesn't wanthis little brother to cry, even though it's
like something we're all crying about in themovie. He gets very concerned and very protective
of baby brother. But you know, but the coolthing about it is, The younger brother, he
is, it's like God prepared. God prepared hisheart to be kind. But also, he, the little
(49:01):
brother, I guess because of having Zealand,he always looks out for the people that are
different or that have challenges and he befriendsthem because he's like, I guess it had to do
with his big brother. Now he could- They wantto kill each other most of the time at this
point. They're siblings. I mean, they're partof it. They're like, mom, see you later. You
(49:24):
know, back and forth, back and forth. I'm goingto jump off a cliff. But you know, they're
totally normal brothers. But there is somethingwith the birth order, even though he does have
some special needs, he is still the big brother.And he will tell him, son. you do what I'm
saying. I'm the big brother, not you. And it'shilarious because you're going, yeah, he is
(49:49):
the big brother. You better do what he saysbecause he can pummel you. He is huge. Wow.
And that's beautiful. That relationship. I wasgoing to ask you that question about how is
the sibling relationship between Seeland andSoren and you explain it very well. They have
that connection. That beautiful connection betweenboth of them. And as a family as a overall,
(50:13):
which is important to be up because again, familieslive autism, but that doesn't mean it's the
end of the world. I mean, it depends on howyou approach it and how you take action. And
that's something that I talk about with parents,action, education, action to be resourceful.
That was the word I was looking for, resourceful.And you guys have done a tremendous job. And
(50:36):
Jackie, and your story, your family story hasbeen, amazing to share. I know this is going
to be a blessing for so many families that aregoing to be watching and listening to this
episode of the podcast. Now, this is an importantquestion I was going to ask you. Autism mentor,
let's say around when Selin was born. Now today,in 2024, how has autism changed you as a person,
(51:08):
as a mother, wife? career, how has autism shapedyou today? That, that just gave me goosebumps
because yesterday, literally yesterday, I wastalking to a girlfriend of mine who her son
is on the spectrum and she's a part of my supportgroup and she's, she's a very dear friend and,
(51:29):
um, her son is autistic and we were talking,we were, went to go watch a movie and we were
talking to each other and I, and the guy whowent to go. um, scan our tickets for the film.
He was, um, he, you could tell that he was autistic,um, had some special needs. He had a little
(51:49):
bit of a speech impediment, kind of a speechthing. But you know, he was probably in his
like early thirties. So, so, you know, he kindof struggled with, you know, getting our, our
tickets to scan and stuff. And, um, and I lookedover at her and I told her, isn't it funny
how. I guess prior to having a child with specialneeds, I may not have noticed that or maybe
(52:14):
wouldn't have even really had the patience forit. I'm not sure. I don't know. But I said,
it's funny when you have a child with specialneeds, you get this like really kind of sixth
sense where it's like, huh, you can see it andit gives you so much empathy and patience for
(52:35):
people that have challenges. in a way that ifyou didn't have a child with special needs,
you may not have the same, you know, reaction.So like, for her, she was actually volunteering.
She was, and she totally concurred. She waslike, Oh my gosh. She goes, yes, it's like
before I may not have noticed. She goes, infact, and this is where it went to. In fact,
(52:58):
she goes, I was at the high school volunteering,you know, in the front office, because I try
to volunteer at my kid's school. as well, highschool and middle school, just so I can keep
an eye on what they're doing. People are like,hey, are you gonna make a record? Hey, are
you gonna start touring again? I'm like, I'mtrying to raise teenagers right now and their
(53:20):
boys, like, as soon as they're grown, I'll do,I'll get back to it, but I got it. I gotta
take care of this for now, right now. This isimportant. This is too important to focus on,
you know, to go, oh, let me go tour and make,you know, be, anyway. My kids are important.
So, um, yes. So I, um, so I volunteered at theschool, but she was telling me this was last
(53:45):
week. She was at the school volunteering. Andshe said that Zealand walked in cause he had
lost his violin the week prior. And this wasa Monday. So he walked in to the front office
and goes, excuse me, I need to, where is lostand found. I have lost my violin. And, um,
and the lady in the front office, not my friend,but the lady, she goes, uh, just go to the
(54:10):
orchestra room and they'll find it for you.And he goes.
And so my friend, Glenna, who has a son withautism as well, she looked over at him and
she goes, Hey, Zeeland. She goes, cause sheknows him. Hey, Zeeland, Hey, what you could
do is you could probably try, go to the bandroom, ask them there, then go to the orchestra,
(54:31):
go to the lost and found, which is in this roomout and then if you can't find in those places,
go to the orchestra room, talk to the teacherand, and maybe someone has turned it in for
you. Okay. And he goes, I'm okay. So, but, andthen as he walked away, the lady at the front
(54:52):
office told my friend, said, oh, I forgot thathe has special needs. She goes, thank you for
doing that. I just totally forgot. She was,you know, kind of passive with him because,
you know, he's 16. He's a sophomore in highschool. Just go figure it out, buddy. But he
(55:13):
needed the steps. He needed the steps. So hadshe not been in that situation and hadn't recognized
that he has some special needs, it's easy toforget. Because with autism, this is what I
always tell people, people with autism, theyhave an innocence and an angelic way to their
face that is different than typical people.It's like God gives them this gift to be more
(55:40):
beautiful than the rest of us. Because...
I don't know. It's like a beautiful gift thathe gives him. So it's hard to recognize when
someone has autism because it's not visible.It's a puzzle piece. So. Yeah, it's easy to
(56:01):
forget. And well said. And that's important.I mean, through, you know, autism has shaped
you as a person, has shaped your family's life,and again, God has given me that purpose and
to be able to provide the best support. foryour children, for both of your children, so
that way they can get the best life, you know,best quality of life. And your story, Jackie,
(56:25):
has been special, has been unique, and I'm trulyhonored and privileged as an autistic person
myself, an advocate, to be listening to thisstory, because education is the key to learn
about autism and be resourceful. That's thekey, and to never give up. I have one word
for autism in my case. I define autism as beingperseverance. And you need that. You need to
(56:53):
be persevered under the challenges, the dailychallenges of living in the autism world. And
your story has been unique, Jackie. And as wewrap up our interview, I just I want to ask
you this very important question before we goon what final message, what message do you
have for our society, you know, as a parent,as a singer, what message do you have for society
(57:21):
in regards to what more needs to be done forautism? Okay, so for parents, I think we need
to recognize, to have, not sympathy, but tohave an understanding, to have empathy, to
(57:42):
go, Everyone's different. Everyone is different.We're not all the same. And thank God we aren't.
But also for like parents to remember if theyhave a child with special needs,
God picked you. There was a reason. God onlychooses special people for special children.
(58:08):
So don't forget that God sees something in you,you can't see in yourself. Also, I think the
main thing is just to know that If God pickedyou, you have the hope to lean into him for
help, for guidance. Because sometimes I thinkto myself, I don't know what to do. And all
(58:31):
of a sudden, God will just kind of throw a personinto my world. I'm like, oh my goodness, thank
you, Lord. That is a great idea. I didn't knowwhat to do with this situation. So it's also
fight. Fight for your kid. Fight for awareness.Fight for, hey, let's... do something, people
need help. There are some families that don'thave the option or the opportunity for therapies,
(58:57):
for their children to succeed. Help them. Whatcan we do? You know, align yourself with different
organizations that do provide services for peopleor families that may need it. That's the, no,
definitely. And that's the most important thing.They need to be very active and it's a fight,
(59:21):
but there's a mission. And this is not somethingimpacts our community, one community, but impacts
our world, our society. The rate of autism continuesto increase year per year, and there will be
a higher need for services and supports, notonly for children with autism or autistic children,
but this is something that impacts the lifespanof their adults. And that's very important
(59:46):
for or world to know. Well, and I think aboutlike mental health too, like my youngest son,
I'm not sure he hasn't ever needed anything,but for some siblings and for some families,
they might need some therapy, like just to talkthrough how I feel like my little one, he hasn't
(01:00:07):
needed anything, but at some point he mightwanna go, man, I wish my brother would just
be a big brother that could teach me to do stuffinstead of me teaching him how to do stuff.
So, you know, those are all those things youhave to consider and it'd be awesome if the
world, if society could provide those thingsfor the challenges that not just the kid faces,
but the other kids, the siblings, the parents,you know, and in a healthy, you know, God in
(01:00:35):
a faith-like way. Definitely. And the one thingthat, and we talk about faith, this is very
important, you know, the faith-based, the churches.We need to step up more. I'm being honest.
I'm sure there's churches that have specialneeds programs, but unfortunately there are
others that don't have that support. I don'tknow what you thought about this. Well, so
(01:01:00):
what's cool is, you know, the smaller churchescan't have, they don't have that kind of stuff,
but the bigger churches, they do have like abuddy program. So they've got a buddy who,
you know, kind of shadows them. hangs with themand, you know, kind of shows on the ropes and
stuff, but keeps an eye. So thankfully, youknow, the churches we've been a part of do
have that kind of program, but the smaller churchesdon't. So I mean, I think that if parents are
(01:01:24):
involved in their church, if your church doesn'thave that kind of program, maybe be that program
within that church. Volunteer. Be that programwithin that church. Start it because people
need help.
And the church had to be, our leaders had tobe the leaders in our society to lead the way.
(01:01:45):
And that's an area that we definitely, we needto work more in my opinion. So Jackie, your
story has been, I'm truly honored to have interviewedyou. I still can't believe I'm interviewing
you, to be honest, the one Jackie Velasquez.But before we go, how can people can follow
you, you know, social media website? Now, weunderstand that you're raising your teenage
(01:02:08):
children. So there's no for the people listeningand watching it's going to be a little bit
of while until we get a record but how can peoplekeep uh keep in touch with you? Okay well um
on Facebook it's Jackie Velasquez official onInstagram it's just at Jackie Velasquez and
um that's kind of I mean I do post stuff butI am you know it's I try to I try to do as
(01:02:34):
much as I can but sometimes I am I find myselfliving a lot more and I forget sometimes to
post. So I try, but yes. And then there's mywebsite, JackieofAlaska.com. So yeah, I mean,
I'm still working on stuff. I just haven't putstuff out that would require me to travel because
(01:02:55):
I have to keep an eye on teenage boys becausethey can be terrible.
And I'm going to put all your links, Jackie,I'm going to pull it once this episode is published,
so that way people can reach out to you, especially,you know, if parents, families, would like
(01:03:18):
to reach out to you for any advice, becauseagain, support groups in autism is key. I talk
about this all the time, support groups withparents and siblings, grandparents, caretakers
is the key. Well, and I do one more thing. Idid forget to mention this because I'm not
even thinking about that stuff. I'm thinkingabout my kid. I did write a book on this story
(01:03:42):
and it's called When God Rescripts Your Life.And so it's funny because it's rescripts Zeeland
when he was younger and sometimes till thisday, he scripts a lot. So he'll hear something
on a movie, hear something on TV, and he saysit like it's his own language or words or his
(01:04:04):
statement. is sometimes he says it the besttimes possible. But so when God rescripts your
life, when your life that you thought you weregoing to live turns out much different than
you had planned, which is what I'm living. Andit's a great support for families with kids
with special needs. In fact, the forward andsome of the endorsements are written not by
(01:04:29):
just famous people, but by friends who have...children with special needs and just because
that's the reality, that's the real thing. Andso I have it in English and I have it in Spanish,
cuando Dios rescribe su historia and then whenGod prescripts your life. And definitely I'll
(01:04:49):
be more than happy to put it as well on thelink, on our link so that way people can look,
go ahead and buy the book as well. We'll takecare of that once this episode is published.
Jackie Velasquez, the one and only Jackie Velasquez,I'm truly honored and privileged to have you
here in my podcast. You're more than welcometo come back anytime. The very best for you,
(01:05:11):
for your husband, for your family. Much blessings,keep moving forward, and the very best for
you in your life. And again, thank you so muchfor having participated in an interview with
me in my podcast, My Time with Tony Hernandez-Pomaro.Truly appreciate it and truly honored. Thank
you, Tony. Thank you. Thank you. What a powerfuland inspirational story from Jackie Velasquez.
(01:05:39):
Her story, especially as a mom to a child withautism, is just a story of millions and millions
around the world that faces challenges in raisingtheir loved ones who is autistic around the
world. For her to explain the struggles, whatthey went through as a family. in the beginning
(01:06:01):
when she received the news, she and her husbandreceived the news that their child has been
diagnosed with autism and the struggles thatthey went through in accepting their child's
diagnosis and then be able to evolve and beable to provide them support through love and
care for their loved one to have the best qualityof life possible as an autistic human being.
(01:06:27):
And not to mention the fact. to have this openconversation with their son, Seelin, telling
him that he is autistic and to accept him forwho he is. The beauty and talking about the
challenges that we face in our autism communityis very important. And I felt the power, the
(01:06:48):
emotions of this interview. And I hopefully,especially if you're a parent and you're able
to get something from this interview. that willhelp you raising and supporting your child
with autism. If you're able to do that, thenthat will be fantastic. And I would have accomplished
my job. So I hope hopefully you have you lovethis interview. I like this interview with
(01:07:11):
Jackie Velasquez. Again, if you haven't also,please, please subscribe to my podcast. My
time with Tony Hernandez, Pumorejo, the podcast,bilingual podcast with purpose of this world.
Until next time. This is Tony Hernandez Pumarejoand this has been another episode of My Time
with Tony Hernandez Pumarejo. So I'm wishingeverybody that you have a wonderful day or
(01:07:34):
good evening or good morning from any part ofthe world. God bless you.
If you'd like to learn more about the work Tonydoes, subscribe to him on his social media
platforms Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter,which is now X, and his LinkedIn page. You
(01:07:57):
can also follow Tony on his website at TonyAlso, if you are interested in getting a copy
of his book, An Autism Unscripted Life, youcan purchase it on Amazon or any book-selling
platform. You can also obtain a copy throughhis website. So, until the next time you meet.
Thank you and have a wonderful day. Blessings.
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