Happy Friday everyone! This week I launched my NEW podcast Chingonas In Life!
What a week its been! On Tuesday, May 14th, I officially launched this new show in honor of my Tia Rosa's birthday. Tia Rosa was the OG Chingona, a woman ahead of her time in terms of independence and self-determination. She's the inspiration behind this show and I carry her with me through this project.
Turning 50 in December inspired me to redefine my goals and truly explore the activities that give me joy. Reaching this milestone gave me a new clarity about life and death, one I imagine any of you in this age range have experienced. As my husband James put it, we are at the age where we are truly making REAL plans for retirement. Holy shit! Before this year any conversation about retirement was whimsical, light, fleeting. Now it feels real, imminent, unavoidable.
Our children are older. Our youngest is 16, driving and very independent. Our oldest is graduating from college and our middle is graduating from high school. Of course, they still need us, but not in the same way they did as children. Our place in their lives as primary caretakers is transforming to primary cheerleaders. We're here to support and love them, but they are of the age where they must start taking their own action and being responsible for their own experiences.
And here I am, having played it safe all these years staying well within my comfort zone. And then you wake up and you realize the clock is ticking louder and louder every year. Do you keep playing it safe or do you jump off the cliff? This podcast is my jumping off a cliff. I actually never even thought of creating a podcast. I have always been in media through film and video and this was never a gaol. But here I am., and full disclosure, this is so much fun!
The vision behind this podcast came to me as I was reading stats about Latinas in the media. Even though are numbers are steadily growing in our communities, we lack proportionate representation. What's that about?
As a producer and writer, I am always meeting really amazing people. Lately, I've had the great fortune of meeting many immigrant families from Centra America and Mexico through a project I'm working on. Talking to these women moved me beyond words. These women are chingonas (bad asses)! What they have survived and lived through brought me to tears and also filled me with laughter. Their stories penetrated my soul and that's where this podcast was born.
Chingonas in Life will celebrate women by sharing stories of struggle and strength, love and heartache, of hope and resilience. By being vulnerable and honest, we will transform judgment into compassion. My dream is that we inspire women to release shame about life choices and really explore and understand why we accept roles we don't want.
The first episode was a conversation with my cousin Letty, Tia Rosa's daughter, to frame what we're doing. In this first episode Letty says we never were taught about self-love and we explore ideas of worthiness as Mexican-American women.
My why for this show is to celebrate Latinas in our communities that hold shit down and keep their families going. Even though a part of me is scared to put myself out there and be vulnerable, I am too old and too close to retirement to not share my truth. So here I go, daring to fall on my face. If I do fall on my face, at least I tried. No regrets - life really is too short!
Please, pretty please subscribe to my podcast. I need to have 100 subscribers before I can use cool podcast features on my platform. New episodes will be available every Wednesday. You can listen to Chingonas in Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart podcasts, Amazon Music, and Boomerang.
Cheers to a great weekend and to daring greatly!
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