We had a great conversation with Argentinean-born author, Valeria Aloe. In her new book “Uncolonized Latinas: Transforming Our Mindsets and Rising Together”, she helps Latinas to embrace our individual and collective greatness, honor our stories and our ancestry; and become more aware of the limiting cultural narratives that have been plaguing us. As a Latina or an ally, learn to thrive in your career and life from a place of self-esteem, as you learn from the stories in her book of Latinas who figured out how to navigate the systems created by bias.

To receive your free chapter of Valeria's book, click here.

Connect with Valeria on Instagram and Facebook.

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Podcast Host: Jocelyn Loza, Founder of Latina Professionals of Chattanooga.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. To learn more about this full-service marketing agency and see what they can do for you, click here.

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For past episodes of Amiga Circle, please check out our episode achieve on our website, click here!

To support our mission, we welcome gifts of any size to support Latina women and girls in our community, click here.

With so many changes in our tax system due to covid, we decided to highlight the topic and discuss the basics of our tax system with local tax guru Vivian Barrera owner of Maya Professional Services.

She shares with us tips and resources on how to file individual and business taxes, covers the difference between deductions, credits, explains which one's better, and some common tax misconceptions that she's seen over the years. 

You can contact Vivian via email at [email protected], call her office at 423-899-1801 or you send a text message at 423-834-7181.

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Please rate and subscribe to our podcast.

Make sure to follow us on social media:

Podcast Host: Jocelyn Loza, Founder of Latina Professionals of Chattanooga and Host of Amiga Circle.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. To learn more about this full-service marketing agency and see what they can do for you, click here.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For past episodes of Amiga Circle, please check out our episode achieve on our website, click here!

With the holidays over and the new year right around the corner, we want to give you tips on how you can plan successful actionable goals to win for the new year. That’s why we reached out to our friend, life and business coach, Wendy Amara. She is a highly accomplished transformational Strategy coach, speaker, trainer, and best-selling author. It’s an honor to have her on our Amiga Circle podcast again.

If you loved this episode, listen to our motivational conversation with Wendy Amara, where she explains how to lay out the action steps that will help you accomplish your goals, and shares personal stories. Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency visit, www.hooplamarketingnow.com.

The economic status of women in Tennessee has made considerable advances in recent years however women of color still face inequities that often prevent them from reaching their full potential. Unfortunately, Tennessee still ranks in the worst third in the nation for both women’s Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity.

That’s why we had this conversation with three local Latinas from different industries, Arielle Garcia-Hayes, Nahomi Ortiz and Veronica Perro focused on awareness, advocacy, and structural change to build true equity for Latina women in Tennessee as we navigate inequality through the covid-19 crisis and beyond.

Let’s start by clarifying what is Latina Equal Pay Day, is the approximate day Latina’s must work into the new year to make what White non-Latino men make at the end of the previous year. Latinas nationally earn only .55 cents for every dollar earned by a white, non-Hispanic man and must work nearly 23 months to earn what white men earn in 12 months. That means it takes Latinas almost two years to earn what white men earn in one.

Many people assume that Latinas face a pay gap because they're concentrated in lower-paying roles. But even in the same job, Latinas are paid less than white men. For example, Latina nurses earn 28% less than white men nurses, on average. This hurts Latinas and their families, making Latinas, many of whom are single heads of households, at risk to experience poverty. 

For those listening, you can be an ally and advocate for us by talking about the many contributions we are making as a community and telling our stories.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency, www.hooplamarketingnow.com

Claudia Caballero is President & CEO of Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, a nonprofit that works to empower the Latino community through education, workforce development, youth, and family engagement, and resource referral services. During her five-year tenure at Centro Hispano she has increased the organization’s annual income tenfold and expanded its staff from one employee to over 30 full and part-time team members. Raised between Honduras and the United States, she is both bicultural and bilingual.

In 2021 Caballero was the first Latina to join KUB’s board. She is a member of Conexión Américas’ Mosaic Fellowship class of 2018, the 2019 class of Leadership Knoxville, and class VII of Leadership Tennessee. She is the recipient of the YWCA Emerging Leader Award, the Young Professionals of Knoxville Outstanding Young Professional Award, and was named to the 2019 Knox.biz list of 40 Under 40 and VIP Knoxville’s 2020 list of VIP Women. Caballero is currently pursuing her Executive MBA from Vanderbilt.

If you want to listen to other conversations, listen to our Conversation with Jeannette Ceja.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency, www.hooplamarketingnow.com

Born and raised in Texas, Sarah Marquez Berestecky is a third-generation Mexican-American/Chicana who grew up navigating the borderlands of living as a light-skinned Latina in the United States. Her engagement with Be the Bridge to Racial Unity inspired her to develop Anti-Racism and Cultural Competency Training (ARCC) after relocating to Chattanooga. Her anti-racist work is closely tied to her efforts as a nationally trained community organizer. As a self-declared introvert, you can find Sarah taking a break from people watching Netflix, reading a provocative book, or blasting Mariachi music in her house.

If you want to listen more on racism and our cultura, listen to our Conversation with Silvia Ramos.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency, www.hooplamarketingnow.com

In this episode, we talk to husband and wife entrepreneur duo Gisela and Luis Contreras, owners of The Local Juicery and Kitchen, Local Paletas, and Squeaky Clean, on how taking a leap in their relationship set the course on taking leaps in their businesses. They share their roadmap to their success and future business goals, and the source of inspiration that they find in each other, their family, and their community in Chattanooga.

If you loved this episode, listen to our motivational Conversation with Coach Jimmy Obleda.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency, www.hooplamarketingnow.com

In this episode, our conversation is more relaxed and personal as we talk to Dominique Brandt, originally from Miami, FL, and relocated to Chattanooga in 2013 to work in community engagement and development. She talks about her previous life, as she calls it, as a real estate paralegal, event planner and how she never stops looking for the next professional venture and life adventure thanks to her Dominican mom who played a huge influence in her life and taught her how to adjust to new circumstances.

If you loved this episode, listen to our Conversation with Coach Jimmy Obleda.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency, www.hooplamarketingnow.com

This is our first episode where we interview a Latino and not a Latina. We wanted to include the men in our lives and in our community who not only support Latinas but who were influenced by them. In this episode, we talk to the head coach of the Chattanooga Red Wolves of the USL League One Division, Jimmy Obleda, a New Yorker Uruguayan who later moved to California to pursue his soccer career and play professionally for 8 years in South America, Europe, and the United States. Jimmy’s success speaks for itself as he also holds degrees in child development, cross-cultural development, and Kinesiology. This extensive educational background creates a unique perspective on his coaching philosophy and style.

You can follow Jimmy on Instagram and Facebook. If you loved this episode, listen to our Conversation with Jeannette Ceja.

Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Hoopla Marketing Now. Learn more about this full-service marketing agency, www.hooplamarketingnow.com