Latina Leadership Lessons: Dream Big

One of the saddest things I’ve seen is the inability to really allow ourselves to dream! Dr. Ana Nogales spoke of this in her work with women that sometimes, even as little girls, their imaginations have been so stifled that they have forgotten how to dream.

However, if we learn to appreciate and see ourselves for who we truly are, then it gives us the ability to step into who
we are meant to be. Leslie said that every person is amazing and they often don’t see how amazing they really are!

Confidence is 60% of success! It all starts in the mind. Leslie quoted a study that showed that people can achieve incredible physical goals if they believe they can.

One of Leslie’s final comments was to have perseverance, even in spite of fear. If you take action, and go one step
at a time (with excellence!), you will get where you need to go!

Until next time – go forward in POWER!

Leslie Cordova

Leslie Cordova, MA, CSCS, is a fitness, movement integration, and athletic performance coach, specializing in training female youth and young adults.

She owns and operates Xceptional Athlete in the South Bay of CA. Xceptional Athlete focuses on personal & group training, biomechanical and postural analysis, motivational talks & programs, team-building events, and camps & clinics.

>> What has Leslie learned from her work with young women? What can we learn from her experiences?

Leslie has worked with hundreds of youth, high school, collegiate, and professional athletes; as well as everyday people who are committed to their fitness goals.

She has trained Heisman Trophy winners, All-Americans, and National Championship teams at Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. Leslie teaches people to be aware of the amazing athlete within them, maximizing their potential for life and sport.

>> How does Leslie motivate others, as well as herself?

Leslie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from The University of New Mexico. She continued her education earning a Master’s degree in Kinesiology: Sports Management from California State University Long Beach and a Master’s degree in Education from Loyola Marymount University. Leslie is currently working on her PhD in Sports Psychology from the University of San Diego Integrated Studies.

She is an instructor of Health and Physical Education at Los Angeles Harbor College. She has certifications as strength and conditioning specialist, a postural and biomechanical appraiser, and is a Level 3 Z-Health Trainer. Leslie is a member of IDEA Health and Fitness and IYCA (International Youth and Conditioning Association).

>> Leslie has had a variety of experiences in the health and sports field. How are these areas different? What kinds of special insights have all her education made her privy to?

Leslie has played numerous sports throughout her life, and played collegiate tennis at the University of New Mexico. Through her athletic experiences and education, she learned a lot about what works and what does not in coaching athletes. From her high school athletic experience, she decided she wanted to help other young athletes to achieve success.

>> I’ll be talking more with Leslie how she came to find her calling and her mission. What is the scope of that mission?

Leslie motivates athletes and lets them know they can achieve any goal they want if they are were willing to work for it. She believes that the inner strength of an athlete and their determination can allow them to do anything if they learn how to use the right tools to reach their goal. Leslie is committed to teaching the athletes how to use the tools inside them.

Leslie has coached at two major Division 1 Universities with some of the best athletes in the world. The freshman who came in to college and began the training program noticeably became stronger, faster, more athletic, and more confident. The athletes learn how to train hard to improve their chance at succeeding. They learn accountability, determination, work ethic, and perseverance; not to mention the physical benefits of all areas of training.

She empowers athletes to mature physically and mentally throughout their career. Leslie has worked with some of the best professionals in the business, including Coach Carlisle, who has won several National Championships while at Tennessee and USC; Coach Marotti, who recently won a National Championship in Football at Florida; Todd Durkin, 2005 ACE Personal Trainer of the Year, 2004 IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year, and owner of Fitness Quest 10, and Troll Subin, trainer of professional athletes and owner of the Yard Performance Center.

>> What has Leslie learned from her mentors, and what words of wisdom can she share with us?

Leslie is passionate about helping young athletes to reach their athletic goals through performance training. She empowers others with knowledge and access of proper training to make their athletic careers stronger.

Her mission in life is to help athletes gain confidence and love themselves through athletics, impacting their life and the world around them.

>> How can Leslie’s work inspire any and all of us to be a better performer and achieve our personal best?

She educates parents, coaches, and athletes on the importance of athletic performance training at an early age and throughout life. She trains her athletes and clients to be strong, powerful, fast, flexible, and balanced.

For more information: www.xplosivestrength.com

Latina Leadership Lessons: Taking Care of La Niña

As we grow up, we have to learn how to mesh who we were as a young girl with who we become as young women.

The little girl inside each of us still has her needs and we may learn to ignore them when she asks to have those needs met. The little girl inside us still has a sense of wonder, she has questions, needs nurturing and loves to play.

La niña feels at times vulnerable, and yet she is open to new experiences. And when those new experiences cause pain or discomfort, the little girl knows that and moves away from the negative sensation and towards something that makes her feel good.

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Latina Leadership Lessons : Growing Up, and Making Judgments About What’s Right and Wrong

As we grow, we receive certain messages about what kinds of behavior is acceptable and unacceptable and a set of values is assigned to each type of behavior.

Interestingly, we learn all sorts of things about the world around us before we are able to evaluate whether the judgments of those around us really make sense at all or are the judgments we ourselves want to have. It’s only later that we get to decide if we want to keep those judgments or not (and only if we are meticulous in our self-examination).

Alana Taylor gave us some interesting insights this week about things she was taught in her family setting that was very different from some of the other women we’ve talked to. Alana was told NOT to settle for the “safe bet,” to think outside the box and dream big!

But, on the other hand, sometimes we receive mixed messages that might not help us to grow and achieve our possibilities. For example, we might be told that you must always stay close to your family and that any move to separate yourself from your family – such as moving out of the same town where your family lives – is a betrayal. Wow! What a powerful message to receive – and hard to go against that kind of value judgment.

Of course, the ideal of family closeness can be very positive in a multitude of ways – and at the same time, if over-exaggerated, it can stifle growth and keep us from fulfilling our true potential.

Sometimes, we learn certain values before we even acquire verbal skills and are able to consciously attach meanings to words and actions. People tell us what things mean and we decide whether or not to accept their interpretation. Sometimes our interpretation is forced, even when we try to fight back.

Recall how Marcela Landres, Editorial Consultant, told us that she was only allowed to apply to colleges that were within subway distance from her family’s home. Luckily she lived in New York City! She ended up with a degree from Barnard, an incredibly prestigious institution…

On the other hand, Chicana postmodernist writer and Professor of English Norma Cantú didn’t even think about leaving her family home for quite some time after her high school graduation since she had to help take care of her family (of couse, because she was the oldest sibling) and it took a while for her to be able to complete her undergraduate degree, but then went on to get her Ph.D.! Dr. Cantú also spoke with us in the interview about the push-pull relationship with “coming home.”

Many of our guests have talked about different values they’ve held from their families and how difficult it can be, at times, to learn to hold only the ones that they truly believe.

Which of your values are so strongly influenced by your family members or others around you that you don’t even know if you believe it yourself – it’s just something you take for granted?

Mabel Katz, internationally acclaimed speaker, seminar leader and consultant, for example, encouraged us to turn some of our assumptions on their head and not blindly follow our beliefs without examining if they really work for us!

I always encourage self-reflection and analysis. It allows to more truly be who WE are. And Alana ended the interview with a wonderful thought, exemplified by our guests listed above: It’s never too early, and it’s never too late… Isn’t that beautiful?

Adelante, Mujer!

Alana Taylor

Alana Taylor is a self-made new media evangelist, consultant and freelance correspondent. Her interests range from digital media to television and magazines.

She is a tech blogger for Mashable.com, writes occasional guest posts for PBS.org and is double-majoring in Journalism and History at New York University.

>> What can she tell us about her wide variety of interests, and how does she do all she does and keep up with her studies?

Alana was born in San Diego, California on May 24, 1988. Both her parents are from Mexicali, Mexico (two hours south) and her family lived in Mexico until she was old enough to go to Kindergarten.

>> What did she enjoy about her early childhood and what were important influences?

At the age of 5, without any knowledge of the English language, Alana’s parents sent her to school in La Jolla, CA (a section of San Diego), where her family lived until she was in the 5th grade. After the 5th grade, because of her father’s job, the family moved to Amherst, New Hampshire and after the 7th grade they moved again, this time to Laredo, Texas where she spent the remainder of her teen years attending St. Augustine High School.

>> What did Alana gain from moving around a lot? What was difficult for her?

In high school, according to Alana, she “wasn’t very geeky at all.” She was very much a tomboy and loved sports (probably because of her beach/outdoors childhood in Cali). During high school she played volleyball, basketball, and softball and also ran track and cross country. She was extremely active.

>> How does her active lifestyle mesh with the internet and social media she does now?

At the time, Alana wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life but she knew that she was a very good writer and that she wanted to do something that was related to entertainment and media. What she didn’t realize was just how much she loved technology and how it played a big role in my life. It all started with her brother…

Ever since she could remember her older brother Robert, 22 (who recently graduated from UT Austin and is now pursuing an acting/directing career in California), was an expert on computers and video games. Because of him she was surrounded by technology and gadgets growing up, and although her family was never extremely well-off, her father thought it was important to have the latest technology around the house.

>> I’ll be discussing more with Alana how her family played a role in her introduction to technology…

Of all her friends, they were one of the first families with a computer and a cell phone. As a result, she always knew how to work with the internet and computers. To her it was second nature. She was always searching for and discovering new software and games that her girlfriends didn’t know about and, frankly, didn’t really care about. Says Alana, “In high school, the girls would persuade me to wear eyeliner and mascara while I would try to convince them to use Kazaa and Trillian.”

Alana has always been a big-picture kind of girl, and she placed a lot of emphasis on location because she “believe[s] your surroundings play a significant role in motivating and inspiring you to set high goals.” So when she was applying to college, she knew she wanted to be in LA, DC, or NYC. And when she was accepted to NYU, the decision had already been made.

>> What does she enjoy about being in New York City? Has it made her status as a social media and technology writer more possible?

At school I focused heavily on writing. She loved it. She decided to major in Journalism and to pursue a career in the media — becoming a magazine editor, freelance correspondent, news anchor, etc.

She had tried to keep up a blog her senior year of high school, but failed miserably. Her freshman year of college she forgot about blogging altogether and it wasn’t until her sophomore year that she started using Google Reader very heavily and subscribed to blogs that she found interesting. Eventually, she decided to start blogging again.

This time, she bought her name: AlanaTaylor.com, and decided to try to be more consistent and interesting. She started writing about journalism and entertainment, but as Facebook and Twitter became more and more popular… she realized she had a passion. She knew more about social media than many of my friends and she was slowly creating her personal brand.

>> What can Alana tell us about creating a “personal brand”? Why has this been so important?

Over the course of two months she was able to create a viral video with thousands of views, get written about on the popular tech social blog ValleyWag, create a small following of fans, gain hundreds of Twitter followers, and even get job offers. It was a very whirlwind experience — and still is.

Alana was quickly contacted by Mashable.com and asked if she wanted to blog for them (of course!). After that, she became an expert on social media by reviewing startups and interviewing CEOs.

Eventually, more job offers and freelance gigs followed — many which she had to sadly turn down because there are just not enough hours in the day when a full-time student.

She knows that a lot of her success (up until now) has been a direct result of wanting to create a personal brand for herself and not being afraid to use social networking to its full potential.

>> What other online strategies does Alana have to share with us?

Today, Alana is a blogger for Mashable.com, PBS.org and a freelance social media consultant for various companies. Between school, her jobs, homework and trying to go out every once in a while, she still somehow manage to keep up a personal blog at www.AlanaTaylor.com.

The twenty-year-old dreams of going to grad school, traveling the world, working for organizations like CNN, Wired, E! or Vanity Fair, and eventually becoming a CEO.

Latina Leadership Lessons: Play and Wonder

A characteristics of “La Niña” is her desire to play and her sense of wonder over everything she sees, hears, smells, touches and tastes. The child appreciates all and has insatiable curiosity and a desire to learn.

This sense of wonder and play is a marvelous thing – we love to view it in children, and I would encourage you to nurture this quality in yourself as well.

Recall when Elma Gonzalez, cell biologist and Professor Emeritus at UCLA told us about her exploring the physical world as a child. She told us her father encouraged that sense of play and wonder and asking questions. Hopefully, for each of us, when we were young our imaginations were encouraged — this was a time for dreaming big!

Sadly, though, sooner or later we are told (in verbal and non-verbal ways) to “grow up.” At this moment, being a “little girl” is no longer OK and she gets hidden away — but she doesn’t go away, she just gets pushed aside. We must figure out which parts of her to cherish and hold with tenderness and which need to be transformed.

I would suggest that the sense of play and wonder is one of those characteristics we really need to keep! Recall how Jamie Martinez Wood, author of 7 books, and an inspirational speaker and empowerment specialist, told us about how she was reminded as a girl that it was OK to color trees purple – by someone older than she was!

At this moment she realized that things didn’t always have to look the way they were “supposed” to and that versions of the world were flexible (interestingly, another
key point Dr. Gonzalez reminded us of was to remain flexible throughout our lives). And Jamie continues to write and speak about play and wonder in a myriad of ways.

How do you maintain a sense of play and wonder in your life, or do you get caught up in the everyday? If you need a reminder of what this looks like, find a very young child to spend some time with and you can see firsthand her openness, curiosity, and love of games.

Have a WONDERful week!

Latina Leadership Lessons: We Learn by Imitation

As very young children, we learn by imitation. So we do what others teach us to do. And we learn to treat others – and ourselves! – in the ways that we see others do so.

This was key to Gina Ravera, this week’s interviewee, as she shared with us her memories of how her grandfather was so tender, gentle and loving with her – she was cherished by him.

This formed a basis for how she has learned to treat herself and how she wants to encourage other young women to treat themselves, as well.

“Dare to Be Cherished and Adored” is the slogan for Gina’s Project Reina (www.ProjectReina.org), a group that encourages young African-American and Latina girls to cherish themselves and their bodies through the promotion and support of pro-wellness and HIV/AIDS education.

We’ve been talking about the stages of La Niña this month and as we reflect on what we have learned from others about how to treat ourselves, how are we likewise teaching others to treat us?

Gina talked not only about learning by imitation from how OTHERS treat you, but teaching those around you how to treat you because *they will follow your lead!*

And isn’t this even more powerful when we think about the examples we are setting for young women around us?

And lest you think I’m glossing over the issue of sex and sexuality – never fear! The entire month of February will be dedicated to these issues as well as those of intimate relationships.

For those of you who might get the cable channel FamilyNetTV, I will be interviewed on Monday, January 19th on the EveryDay with Marcus & Lisa daytime talk show. Feel free to tune in (or DVR it) and let me know what you think. I’ll be talking about the role of storytelling in our lives…

Latina Leadership Lessons: Approaching New Experiences Without Judgment

In my last blog post I asked you to pay more attention to when you’re comfortable and when you’re not – and what that means to you. Are you allowing people to cross certain boundaries of yours when perhaps you should make your discomfort known (even if only to acknowledge it to yourself) or, on the other hand, are you perhaps complaining “too much” – in a way that is hard for others to hear?

Knowing our own boundaries and guarding them for ourselves and for others who count on us is an important lesson. Sometimes just learning to pay attention to our own discomfort and figure out what it means is a big step! And then, once we’ve identified our discomfort and the source of it, learning how we can be absolutely true to ourselves without compromise is another important lesson.

So let’s talk about the next stage of development. After simply relaying the message about if we’re comfortable
or not, we next start learning by the physical responses we get from the things and people that are around us.

I have heard that as small babies we only have two fears: one is of falling, and the other is of loud noises.
Other than that, we are wide open to interpret the varied things that happen to us in a multitude of ways. This
means we come to things without pre-judging them and learn about them through direct experience – not what someone else tells us.

We start taking action and learning from the feedback we get. The feedback, at least initially, is mostly physical.
We smile at someone because we are smiled at and we see how the reaction pleases others.

Similarly, we touch things and taste things and learn by putting everything in our mouths, right? Thank
goodness we don’t have memories of that time in our life. Eeew!

But how often do we as adults come at new things completely open and new and learn to judge it solely from our own experience and not based on what others tell us? Josie Garza, Executive Director for the National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI), told us about her strong belief in reserving judgment, especially when working with children.

She gave us examples within her interview of why she feels that is so important and how, even when making value judgments, keeping those judgments separate from how we feel about people is another key factor. Recall how she was able to set boundaries with a key young person who was a staff member (and explain that certain behavior was unacceptable) while impressing upon him that as a person he was still important to her.

Reflect on how and when you make judgments too soon (I know I do that, from time to time!) and why it might be useful to hold off on those until gathering more information.

Until next time, take care of that little girl inside of you…

Gina Ravera

Gina Ravera was born Gina D. Ravarra in San Francisco, California. Her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is African American.

>> I’ll be talking to Gina about her growing up years and what were her early influences.

Ravera is an actress and a classically-trained dancer. Her career spans off-Broadway to television and major motion pictures. Her film credits, among many others, include THE GREAT DEBATERS opposite Denzel Washington, director George Tillman’s award-winning SOUL FOOD, KISS THE GIRLS with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd, Spike Lee’s GET ON THE BUS and Paul Verhoeven’s cult classic SHOWGIRLS.

Ravera has starred in popular television series’ including ER, THE CLOSER and TIME OF YOUR LIFE; and has been recurring or featured in numerous other series’ including BOSTON LEGAL, EVERWOOD, NYPD BLUE, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, FRASIER and MELROSE PLACE.

>> What has Gina learned over the course of her career and who has she enjoyed working with the most?

Ravera has starred in critically-acclaimed television movies that include THE TEMPTATIONS and THE SOUL OF THE GAME and she recently played the role of Jennifer Pryor in Showtime’s PRYOR OFFENSES, based on the life of the late Richard Pryor.

In 2008, Ravera was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series alongside the cast of THE CLOSER. In 2007, also for THE CLOSER, she was the nominee for a Vision Award for Best Actress in a Drama.

She also has garnered nominations for the Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress, the ALMA Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Made-for-Television Movie and a NAMIC Award.

>> Given all the awards and acclaim she’s received for her craft, what do these mean to her, and what kind of awards has she enjoyed the most?

Ravera is the founder of non-profit organization Project Reina (www.projectreina.org), a homegrown, non-profit organization, which was created to empower African-American and Latina girls, age 13 to 24, to cherish themselves and their bodies through the promotion and support of HIV/AIDS education. Its mission is to bridge the gap between the medical community and the female community hardest hit: young Black and Latina women. It is her personal mission to gain nationwide support for “Project Reina” and its ideas in hopes of protecting the health of young girls and women.

>> How did Gina come to found Project Reina and what can she tell us about the organization and its development?

Gina has performed and lived in New York City, but currently resides in Los Angeles.

Latina Leadership Lessons: Let Yourself Be Nurtured

When we are very young, we are completely vulnerable and helpless. We depend on others to take care of us and we are at their mercy. It’s interesting to me of all the women I’ve interviewed how many of them speak of taking care of others, of being the “responsible” one and learning how to defend and be the protector of or advocate for the family or of others less fortunate. Eva Plaza, former Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing, was one of the women who talked about being the advocate for her family while she was still very young. That was her role.

But how often do we truly allow ourselves to be taken care of? I don’t know about you, but although as women we may complain about not being taken care of well enough — or at all! — it at times is also very difficult for us to let go of our control of situations long enough to actually allow others to take care of us.

Part of being a leader is also learning to let go, to delegate and to build around you a team that is supportive and can help you and take care of you, too. For example, Diana Gomez, President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers said, “I don’t make myself successful; it’s the people you surround yourself with, the people you hire make you successful.” Diana went on to say that her staff takes care of her because she takes care of them. She’s learned to delegate in some important ways and it’s made it possible for her to accomplish some amazing things.

Several of the women talked about the importance of having supportive mates in their lives and how this made their work easier — and even possible! For example, Rita Jaramillo, Senior Liaison, Community Outreach, Office of Governance and Policy, for the National Education Association discussed how her husband’s support and help had made her career path so much easier and how much gratitude she had for his place in her life.

Other women spoke of the roles that friends and a strong network have made in their paths to success. Allowing someone to be there for them, to give them guidance and to open up and be vulnerable with has been important in many of the women’s lives. Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, Founder & President of Educational Achievement Services, Inc., for example, spoke of her circle of mentors that she could talk to about difficult career decisions.

The bottom line: No matter how responsible you are for other people, it is also important to let others take care of us at times. This release, this relaxing into the knowing that others will nurture and tend to you allows each of us to refresh, renew and come out of the difficult times with a better perspective.

So know that the “bebé” in each of us needs that coddling at times and prepare for that. It’s part of our past, and an important part of leadership going forward…

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