Welcome, beautiful souls, to the first episode of 2024, new season, on Dropping Gems Con Muchos Colores Podcast, celebrating the resilience, strength, and wisdom of Latina mothers. Hosted by yours truly Arely Lagunas, join me on this episode as I discuss the importance of rest, especially when venturing into new spaces in 2024, my special trip to Guerrero, Mexico to honor and celebrate my dear abuelitas anniversary this month of January. My personal connections to my birthplace, and the significance of my grandparents. My personal reflection of personal growth and development over the past years, marked by challenges, resilience, and significant progress since 2015-2016.

My gratitude for the collective journey of resilient Latina mothers in the past year of podcast guest episodes emphasizing the power of shared stories in fostering connection, understanding, and unity and community.

The upcoming months in the Droppping Gems Podcast entail more enriching conversations that amplify the strength of Latina mothers, focusing on holistic wellness in our motherhood journey. Including the importance of rest , celebrating wins, addressing challenges, and tapping into the wisdom shared by guests.

I am also happy to share our 1st quartely event of the year! In collaboration with De Mi Tierra products, for the month of February, in honor of self love and we are happy to host a facial workshop on February 10th in the Chicagoland area to encourage you momma to prioritize self-care and wellness.

I look forward to continue to to spotlights Latina motherhood voices, breaking barriers, and living bold dreams. I invite you to share your feedback,  leave a review, and suggestions for topics to explore in 2024. I'd love to hear which episode was your favorite last year! Send me a DM.

Cheers to a year of resilience, purpose, community, and holistic wellness. Until next time, take care, and keep dropping those gems!

Diana's life story is a testament to her unwavering resilience and determination. Born and raised in Chicago, she weathered a rocky childhood that included spells in foster care, living with family out of state, and even residing in homeless shelters with her mother and sisters. An astounding 11 different grammar schools marked her educational journey by the age of 10.

Around the age of 11, her family secured subsidized housing, providing more stability, though the home environment remained challenging. Diana cherished the moments of play with her sisters and friends in the neighborhood.

At a mere 17 years old, Diana became a single mother. Despite the odds stacked against her, she pursued her dreams and graduated from high school, becoming the first in her family to achieve this milestone.

Upon turning 18, Diana ventured out on her own, shouldering the responsibilities of work, rent, and continued education. She also embarked on a modeling career, primarily engaged in promotional work for brands like Nerf, Jose Cuervo, and AT&T. Collaborations with photographers added depth to her modeling journey.

As the years passed, she transitioned into nursing, embraced marriage, and celebrated the birth of her daughter. Yet, her personal struggles with depression and anxiety ignited a passion for mental health advocacy, which she channeled through her modeling platform. Diana's Instagram, known as "@the.model.nurse," transcended the realm of aesthetics, focusing on spreading joy and inspiration through her heartfelt captions.

In late 2022, Diana undertook the challenging process of divorce, prioritizing her mental well-being. She made the courageous decision to start anew, relinquishing everything she had worked for. In her lowest moments, Diana confronted a pivotal choice: to be a victim of circumstances or a survivor. Resolutely, she chose the path of the survivor.

This transformation led to the creation of "intend and inspire," her mental health platform, aimed at motivating others to heal from their traumas and lead intentional, peaceful lives. The platform is a valuable resource of mental health content with exciting developments in the works.

Recently, Diana rekindled her modeling career, securing gigs with brands like 'Optimum Nutrition' and 'Think! Nutrition Bars.' She's also been sought after for photography events as a model. With a bright future ahead, Diana is eager to continue this journey.

Diana's journey serves as a beacon of inspiration for all, a testament to the power of resilience and the pursuit of one's true self. The future holds much promise, and we eagerly anticipate what it has in store for her.

Join us in this insightful conversation about mental health advocacy, resilience, and the journey towards creating awareness and support for mental wellness. Diana is an dvocate for mental health and breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illnesses. She combines her health background as a nurse practiotioner, model, and mental health advocacy to promote modeling mental health events. Chicago join her upcoming next event on 12/9/23 to discuss.  Follow Diana at : Diana (@the.model.nurse)

• Battling Imposter Syndrome
• Overcoming Creative Blocks
• Comparing your journey to others
• How to break free from self-limiting thoughts.

Thrilled to have Noeli Serna in our podcast! Noeli is a corporate attorney and the founder of Serna Legal Services. Her law firm provides long-term contract and corporate legal services to established Illinois businesses looking to scale further.  She helps her clients mitigate the legal risks that come with business growth, including larger and more specialized contracts and transactions. She also speaks Spanish, so she proudly represents the Latine business community in their native Spanish language.  

I had the pleasure to meet Noeli in person and she truly is a wonderful genuine individual with a warm heart to help others and provide valuable resources!

In this episode we talk about her upbringings and the planted seed that inspired her to become a corporate attorney due to her exposure at her parents restaurant business.

We also talk about becoming a first time mom to a beautiful baby boy, mom guilt, her transition from maternity leave back to work. As well as the importance to ask for help and delegation during motherhood to feel more at peace and wellbeing. Noeli also shares wisdom and gems for aspiring latinas who want to pursue a legal career.

Thank you Noeli for being a truly wonderful podcast guest. Your insights and engaging conversation are much appreciated.

Melissa Llarena is an author, imagination coach, consultant, speaker, contributor to ForbesWomen articles that have garnered 4 million+ views, and the host of Unimaginable Wellness, the podcast for entrepreneurs, founders, and creators who are moms.

Featured guests include GaryVee and Beth Comstock. She holds a psychology degree from NYU, an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and a Transformational Coaching Academy certificate and is training to become a meditation practitioner.

In this episode we talk about her career journey working in a corporate setting as early as age 17 years old. Melissa had a curious mindset and decided to explore different options during her career. She decided to pursue unconventational paths that lead her to the creative field. Melissa became a mom and felt a calling to do something differently. She made a choice to carve her own path as a coach. Including living in Australia before the pandemic. During Covid, Melissa fully immersed herself into writing her book Fertile Imagination which is launching on October 31, 2023.  Dedicated to moms to go after what they really want.

Melissa lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three sons. Visit www.fertileideas.com for a 5-day imagination to impact challenge, quiz, and for more goodies for moms.

We are at the midpoint of the year and also my birthday month!

I took this opportunity to do a solo episode to share and spill the beans on personal goals and milestones I have reached. Symbolizing stretching my comfort zone, acquiring personal growth, relentless work, and placing my heart on my sleeve.

Frankly, this episode took me a couple of weeks to finalize between recording, editing, and production and sailing parenthood and work life with my 3 summer breakers. But I believe in a mantra that has helped me navigate my personal aspirations and motherhood: Our life comes in segments, we can have it all if we’re not trying to do it all at once. Taking action one day at a time. Consistency over perfection.

The experience and exposure as a proud immigrant, first gen Latina, WOC, and working mom allowed me to recalibrate obstacles into opportunities and scale! 

Last year, I had tremendous growth in my Career Coaching and HR Consulting journey but also on a personal level. I share in this episode my career journey of 16 years in Human Resources and 5 years in career coaching. Overcoming a lot of self-limiting beliefs and working relentlessly on mindset and systems to grow, scale and thrive. It was not an overnight achievement. What I value the most is the impact it has created.

What started as a vision with a lot of unknowns and fears but a warrior spirit to create a more fulfilling life and time freedom that matched my family priorities. Helping individuals go from “untapped potential” to being the driver of their career journey. Using every talent, skill and unique gift to build the life we all deserve.

This year in March, I launched Evolve HR Leadership & Consulting. I founded Evolve HR to cultivate a new landscape of workplace cultures that reflects the values and priorities of the new generation of leaders. Growing leadership capabilities transforming business into the employer of choice.

The world is contantly changing women leaders are more prominent than ever in redefining the workforce of tomorrow. I know this because once I found my voice I was able to rise to leadership roles where I directly impacted the culture of the company. I did this by leading with empathy and showing up a as a thought leader. Developing policies and programs that were applicable to working moms. I used by voice to create family friendly policies and make changes in topics that matter the most to us working moms.

I am driven by making an impact to make an equitable workplace for our future generations that includes my children and specifically daughters as data shows WOC, mothers have been severaly underrepresented and have faced systematic challenges to reach leadership roles and equitable pay.

Kia is a born-and-bred-Chicago-Puerto Rican who grew up in Humboldt Park/Logan Square neighborhoods. She is a single parent of two children (boys ages 8 and 10) and has worked in various pediatric settings across Chicagoland for the past 12 years. Currently, she is the mental and behavioral health specialist at Donohoe Pediatrics in Chicago’s north center neighborhood.

Kia is currently in the last stretch of her doctoral studies to obtain a Ph.D. in Child Development through Erikson Institute and Loyola University Chicago. Kia is also the daughter of two retired Chicago Public School teachers, a VERY proud boricua, with a passion for child life research on the impact of implicit bias and racism on child development outcomes. In this episode we discuss her journey growing up in a teaching enviroment, her career working with children during covid and racial injustice. As well as her motherhood journery and mom guilt. Kia also provides best practices to expose and normalize mental health symptoms and resources parents can look into.

Today, we have a very special guest, Linette, a Latina portrait Photographer and Creative Director who has an amazing story to share.

Linette graduated with a Bachelors in Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2012 and started her career in photography in 2014, quickly becoming a rising star in her industry.

Life took a drastic turn when she had to do a cross-country move with her family where she welcomed her second child a month later. As a mother of two, without a village, Linette slowly lost control of her purpose.

Through self-discovery, moving back home, and psychotherapy, Linette was able to find her footing again. Raising multicultural children, Linette's goal is to build community and empower women through photography to see and be the best version of themselves. Her journey has been both inspiring and uplifting, and we're excited to hear all about it.

Linette is also getting ready to launch her own podcast this year around self value within us and becoming a mental health ally to empower others to get the tools they need in their mental health journey.

So, let's get started and hear from Linette herself about her experiences as a mother, a photographer, and creative director. This is a conversation you don't want to miss!

Sherry J Ceniceros is the owner and founder of Bookkeeping by Design. After becoming a first  time parent and seeing the effects the pandemic had on Latino owned businesses, she decided to start her own bookkeeping business. She has been doing bookkeeping for 12 years and works with a variety of small businesses. Women owned business primarily. Sherry’s biggest motivation is her daughter, Xochitl. Making sure she is leading by example, that any dream you have in life is possible when you care enough and work smart. In her down time she enjoys drinking coffee, watching baseball and Survivor with her husband and taking her fur-baby Keema on long walks.

Sherry also recently opened up her first store front helping Latino owned business thrive with bookkeeping services.

Follow Sherry's journey @bookingbydesign