The 1st Gen Collective

In this episode, we'll get to know my friend, Jose Loren.  A first gen Bronx native with a passion for community work and an amazing family story.   We talk about loss during covid, his passion to help others, and the importance of cultivating belonging in our LatinX Community.

Part 2: From him humble origins in Salinas, California, Benjamin, also known as Perez the Advisor, has taken everything he has learned as a First Gen and now as a new father, and is focused on cultivating a space for all LatinX folks to feel seen and heard.  Part 1 of this episode, we talk about his upbringing and his experience in college.

From him humble origins in Salinas, California, Benjamin, also known as Perez the Advisor, has taken everything he has learned as a First Gen and now as a new father, and is focused on cultivating a space for all LatinX folks to feel seen and heard.  Part 1 of this episode, we talk about his upbringing and his experience in college.  

I spend time on this episode with Odalys Garcia.  We celebrate our Honduras roots, talk about her upbringing in Southern California, and her passion project Hella Latin Podcast.  

In this episode, get to know Stephanie Cepero.  She is a First Gen Cuban and Miami native with an amazing story to share on her humble upbringings, her family's escape from Cuba to America, and how she has navigated her career into Fin Tech and beyond!

In this Season 2 premiere, I sit down with the legendary Doctora Hortencia who tells us her story of immigrating to the United States as a little girl, leaving her entire family behind in a small town in Mexico, and takes us into present day.  She is an accomplished Ph.D in Sociology and is a certified Health Coach.  She has a passion for dismantling toxic diet cultures within our LatinX communities and is determined to dismantle it from a social and racial justice framework and help us all heal our relationships with food.  We are so lucky to have her!

In the season 1 finale, we talk to Dr. Lisette Sanchez, a trailblazer in the mental health realms with a mission to destigmatize therapy and mental health in BIPOC communities. She is part of the 1st Gen Collective and brings us home in episode 8.  

Kris is a First Gen Haitian American.  He shares his story on adversity, resilience, pursuing his dream of playing for the NFL and how that almost cost him his life.  He shares his core values as a First Gen and what he did with his second chance of life!  His energy and joy is infectious!

Lindsey Romano is a third generation Japanese American. Her grandmother, Ruth Donohue, maiden name Kawahara was a member of the first gen collective or “nissei” in Japanese. Ruth was born in the US to Japanese immigrant parents and one night after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in WW2 when Ruth was just 12 years old, she and her family were forced by the US Government from their Portland Oregon suburb home and incarcerated hundreds of miles away in the middle of no where in southern Idaho for then next 2.5 years of her young life. Only allowed to bring one bag each, they left everything behind, including Ruth's beloved dog Pepper. Recently, Lindsey, along with her husband, two kids, and mom took a pilgrimage to southern Idaho to visit Minidoka Camp and today we shed light on this dark spot in American history and talk about what happened, why it happened, and ask can it happen again.

I interview Victoria Banuelos, LatinX author of First-Gen Next Gen, in this episode.Victoria is a 1st Gen of Mexican descent passionate about sharing the story of the First Gen LatinX experience in the United States.  So much so that she wrote a book to discuss this topic and share anecdotes for the up and coming young First Generation.

I meet the founders of The First Gen Podcast, husband and wife Mariela and David.Mariela is a 1st Gen from Bolivia and Daniel is a 1st Gen from Mexico.We talk about the genesis of our podcasts, why it's important for us to share these stories, what is a 1st gen, our love for the Spanish language and a variety of topics.

Diana, a Latina Children's book author, walks us through her journey of becoming an author, growing up 1st gen, and making a way when she didn't see a way for herself.   

Ashley Arcidiacono, known to her clients as Abogada Ashley, walks us through how she decided to make immigration law her career and her fight for the underdog, our undocumented community in the United States.  Grab a tissue or 2 for some of the stories she will share with us.  Ashley is the real deal and a great amiga to our LatinX and undocumented communities!

Rosa Rodriguez, a 1st gen girl from Queens, learned her work hustle from her mom.  She has overcome adversity on Wall Street breaking stereotypes as a Latina women, raising her daughter as a single mom, surviving domestic violence and later finding her soulmate.  Rosa is the real deal, and you will enjoy her story and appreciate her hustle in life.