Moments with Martha - with Martha Nino

Jalyll Suarez talks to me about life in Cuba in the late 80s as a child under the Fidel Castro leadership, why his mother decided it was time to leave, his experience lost in the ocean for 6 days and his struggle as a gay young man and how he has come to peace with everything ... hint, its LOVE!

Teacher Anna Maria Magallon, a Central Valley Award Winning Teacher talks to me about what its like in the classroom. How kids in the most vulnerable places are affected by lack of reading, lack of guidance. How kids need role models urgently.

Many immigrant kids often believe they have only one path in their lives. I talked with Khoi Le; founder of ConvoyOP and master coder. He is also a Vietnamese immigrant. He goes deep into his experience as a young child in the U.S. how despite getting in trouble in school he become a developer guru. Us two troublemakers explored how immigrant children can create an abundant future in fields that are not the traditional path for foreigners and how similar their immigration stories can be, despite my Mexican heritage and Khoi being from the other side of the world. To contact Martha go to connectwithmartha@gmail.com

If you are a leader, an educator, person entering the work force or just curious about tech in general - this episode is for you. Did you ever wonder what it's like to speak to a pioneer you admire so much he leaves you giddy? You will hear this here. What you will also hear is how Ben (from the U.K.) struggled with fitting into school. How he speaks about the being a “hyper kid” but through his self-discovery and with his parents' support has been able to overcome and has been a leader in the tech and educator world for years. He also gives advice on what will make you stand out from others giving you fighting chance for that job!

Odalys's passion is to share the different sides of different Latinos from all over the world. It is this reason she began her amazing podcast Hell@ Latina! She sheds light and with her various amazing guests peels the onion of “latinidad” – we are NOT all the same. I have followed Odalys's journey and I've seen her come into her own. She openly speaks about her parent's immigrant story from Honduras. She speaks about how she felt like an outsider as kid from Honduran background in a primarily Mexican part of the world. How she was homeless and how even her beautiful name “Odalys” was hidden for many years. Through all of her life she has been observing, her heart taking note details of struggle and at a very young age makes sense of them. Her podcast helps all of us make sense of so much. Enjoy our talk and here is her podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vcyxUhQ2sg7DJGq1XR0LR?si=KV2Ru_UXRte4mfBNiNJp3A Peace and Love everyone.

Networking for Hustlers! Brett Murray and Mark Aceves both have worked with me in the past at different companies in the Silicon Valley - yet, here we are a couple decades later talking about it. How is it that we can still be part of each others network years later. Enjoy the chat, refelctions and know it boils down to simple things that last. Learn from the good, the bad.

Bronwyn blew my mind!!! She sat down with me and we talked about stories, how to nail an interview and how to bomb one too ;-o) We discuss how to tell a story, how to use them, we discuss "social currency", we talked about the impact of not feeling good enough. In this chat we talk about what people DON'T talk about but need to.

Fernando's family came to the U.S.A. from Costa Rica. He speaks to us about how not all immigrants come here in poverty. Some come here to redefine themselves and they are educated. He ended up in L.A. and later became a teacher….just like his abuela. As he speaks to me, I see him jump from one amazing thing to the next and each jump was a BRIDGE and sometimes he created the BRIDGE – even if the bridge came in the form of a blank sign up paper.

When I first heard Tanya's stories she was sitting attentive on a chair, looking straight into the camera during the pandemic in India. A light from across the world. I was mesmerized by her ability to draw me in. I kept listening to her stories...she took me there. I had to have her on my show! Enjoy the in's and outs of storytelling by friend, Business Storyteller & Story Coach Tanya (Mathur) Bhattacharya.

Reflecting on her experience as a child immigrant from Korea; what she went through, what it felt like to have a heavy responsibily with the most important people in her life - her family. She also gives us incredible tips on how to sell ourselves in an interview and why its so important to be authentically us during that interview. Enjoy!

Karen was a VP of Engineering at Adobe (The Photoshop company) and my amazing place of employment. She began the Adobe and Woman at Adobe network. She's since then been on a journey to teach others how to become better inclusive humans and better inclusive allies - one tip at time. She's an author, a speaker and a coach. Learn how to become less bias when hiring, more inclusive in meeting, more confident in you.

Isidro grew up in Silicon Valley (San Jose) before there was a Silicon Valley. He was an immigrant and came from Central Mexico alongside his family for a better life. His better life came in the form of a Taco Truck. He and his family endured racism - anyone with a badge was a threat. Listen to this episode to gain insights on what it was like to have a Taco Truck, working before school as a child, what is was like to be an unwanted "newbie" to the community, how with life he has looked back to connect the dots that have beautifully illustrated that those dots were needed to make him the proud son of TAQUERO.

Raul Ceja is a first generation professional in the Silicon Valley! His parents have humble jobs, his mother sells flowers out of her van and dad works the land but he did just fine, his brother as well and his sister ended up at Princeton. How.? You gotta listen. Enjoy this talk with my friend Raul.

Jason Levine has keynoted over and over - he is a sight to see on a stage. He mesmerizes audiences of close to 20 thousand all over the world and coaches executives on how to give impactful talks. So, when I found out I was going to get coaching from him, I was star struck and I wanted to learn everything. I had ZERO stage and speaking experience, so Jason had a lot of work to do and so did I. My story was personal. How do you tell a story ... well, find out by listening. You'd be surprised by some of the techniques we used to tell my story in an authentic way and one that made sense to me. Storytelling can be so healing. With the right coach...life-changing! This BUTTERFLY moment could not have been possible without the "from the heart" coaching of Jason. Thank you coach...thank you friend.

Rocio Perez is CEO of Inventiva Consulting, Inclusion and Diversity Thought Leader, Coach and so much more. At 12 she left her abusive home, she moved over a dozen times, she had a child at a young age but with hard work and perseverance …. UNSTOPPABLE!

- Born in Mexico - Smuggled into the U.S. as a baby (just like me) - Lived in a rough environment ....got out of it - Picked oranges at 4 - Had good guidance from school counselors - Using his voice for good wanting to grow the Latino percentage in the tech

A heartfelt conversation with Mark Aceves. He's been at top companies in the Silicon Valley and started without any experience, he just did it. Didn't know design - he taught himself. Didn't know web - he taught himself. He's currently at HP and doing his magic there. Friends, do not let the roadblocks in life stop you. Mark is proof that sometimes those roadblocks becomes stepping stones in life.

Surreal conversation with Ken Fong my first Silicon Valley tech believer. I knew ZERO about tech, but tech is like that, it's always changing so sometimes energy and desire make a difference too and knowing tech is just a technicality. Find out why he gave me a chance - so many valuable insights. Also, a very nice reminder to never forget where we come from, to just be yourself, be curious and get to know each other one level deeper.

Gonzalo was born in Venezuela and came to the U.S. as a 22 year old. His father wrote jingles for popular brands and was an Opera singer - he too sings Opera! He is advocate for better and is the host of his podcast @anchor.fm/InnoLatino. He and I could not come from more different backgrounds, but through our conversation we connected through our ups and downs of life. Enjoy my conversation with my friend, Gonzalo.

Martin has seen violence, he's seen death, he's paying for his own schooling and although he's still going to college....he is in tech at one of the largest companies in the world. Enjoy this "from the heart" conversation from an amazing human who at a very early age is realizing his voice and his story sometime is all we have and its enough.

Meet Carlos. His story inspired me! His father came back and forth from Mexico to the U.S. with legal documents to work. In the U.S. Carlos went to school, while his dad worked. When the agriculture season was over he would go back to Mexico and study there. Eventually, his father was "accidentally" hired in a tech company, paving the way for Carlos's amazing journey.

Mari came to the U.S. as a child in car with her sister pretending to be asleep. She was told to be silent. She picked plums for 1 cent each in the Silicon Valley as a child. She is now an award winning author, a leader, a care taker, mother.... a VOICE for those that say they can't . She even has a Ph.D. Listen to hear her amazing journey.

Patricia Villegas is a proud first generation professional. She a Social Worker and a Professional Coach too. Being a first gen means we do not have any guidance into anything professional growing up. Our perception on how things get done can be completely different into how it really is. Come join us to get some tips or/and or get some cool insights .... plus, we have a lot fun! With her lightness and joy she gives us specific advice on how to grow ourselves and our opportunities. Enjoy our chat!

Non stop laughter! A once shy kid turned speaker, yes - it is possible. Oscar Garcia is a first generation Mexican American and a 25+ year Silicon Valley professional. He's also the Founder of Aspira Consulting and a constant on social media. His message is simple - yes you can! I sit down with him to speak casually about his experiences. He provides advice that's amazing whether you're just starting or needing a boost of "Oscarness". This conversation was not planned and well... that's the beauty of this chat - its all from the heart. Enjoy! Peace and Love everyone.

Sarah is a First-Generation Chinese American student. At only 20, Sarah reminds us that listening to our inner voice, following our "North Star" can lead to amazing places and to amazing like-minded people all over the world. This Conversation ... my very first podcast "EPISODE 1" kicks off Moments with Martha - thank you Sarah for being brave and saying YES. Let's do this. Enjoy Sarah Wu!

One moment changed my life!   A short intro into how ONE opportunity opened up opportunities leading to this podcast. I went from a VOICELESS human to non-stop speaking and it all started with one chance.  Let's talk about the hard stuff in an easy way. If we do not use our VOICE it will be hard for others to know. *Let's give more opportunities.  *Let's own our true selves.  *Let's be comfortable with our own stories so that other can be comfortable with theirs. Enjoy this podcast EPISODE ZERO of Moments with Martha.                                                                             Peace and love everyone, Martha