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Immigrant Stories | The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants
Immigrant Stories | The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants episodes
- In the Middle of Grief I Moved to the US with Yara
Welcome to episode 40 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Yara Demarque. She is a finance advisor who immigrated from Brazil because her family wanted to fulfill her sister’s wish of living in the United States after she suddenly died from eating a burger! Not only is that tragic – Yara was also engaged when her family decided to move! What grief Yara went through at such a young age.
Yara starts her story by telling us how unstable her life was in the beginning; her family moved a lot, so she barely ever made friends. So, when people ask her if she misses Brazil, she really doesn’t because her family are all here now.
She didn’t even want to move to the United States in the first place, but once she arrived, she said, “I’m here; might as well make the best of it.”
Listen to her tremendous story of how, in the middle of grief, she changed her whole life and moved to a new country with her family.
Yara, you are incredible! Thank you for sharing your journey!
Thank you for being here.
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Yara:
Instagram: @yourfinancegirly
Website: https://www.newyorklife.com/agent/ldemarqueper
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify or YouTube.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please email me at [email protected].
Connect with Heidy
Do you or someone you know want to share their immigration story? Please message me on Instagram.
Want to start your own podcast? – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Also, as a gift for signing up for the podcast newsletter, I'll send you a checklist to get your podcast started and the list of equipment and tools I use!
Lastly, I volunteer with Bethany Christian Services for their refugee resettlement program. They have a wish list for basic things that families usually need when they arrive in the United States. If you'd like to donate items, the wish list is here.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
31 min - I Didn’t Know What a State Was - I Just Wanted to Get to America
Welcome to episode 39 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Ichko Jackson; she is a life coach who specializes in helping women find quality gentlemen to date. She’s been a certified coach since 2020.
Ichko is from Mongolia, and she moved to the United States in 2013. After her mom got into an accident, Ichko had to work, and she was able to save up enough money within a five-year span to move to the United States.
She came to attend graduate school here, and when the agency asked her what state she wanted to attend school in, she didn’t even know what a state was. All she knew was that she wanted to come to the United States. Ichko settled in Seattle, but it wasn’t anything like she imagined it would be because it rained a lot. Eventually, she moved to California.
I love that Ichko shares she intentionally didn’t hang out with the Mongolian community when she first arrived because she wanted to immerse herself in the American culture and learn English. Her thought was that if she hung out with other Mongolians, they wouldn’t speak English, which she needed to learn.
Lastly, Ichko shares how her journey of self-discovery led her to become a coach!
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Ichko:
Instagram: @ichkojackson
Twitter (X): @ichko_batmunkhHere are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify or YouTube.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please email me at [email protected].
Connect with Heidy
Do you or someone you know want to share their immigration story? Please message me on Instagram.
Want to start your own podcast? – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Also, as a gift for signing up for the podcast newsletter, I'll send you a checklist to get your podcast started and the list of equipment and tools I use!
Lastly, I volunteer with Bethany Christian Services for their refugee resettlement program. They have a wish list for basic things that families usually need when they arrive in the United States. If you'd like to donate items, the wish list is here.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
30 min - Coming as an International Student Was Faster
Welcome to episode 38 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Daniela Diaz; she is a social media manager. Dani helps small business owners with their presence on social media by creating content and helping them manage their accounts. We met at a networking event, and once she told me she was from Venezuela, I asked her if she would be interested in sharing her story.
Dani shares how she came to the United States as an international student. Her grandparents were born in the United States, so they were already US citizens; however, the process for them to sponsor her and get her residency was ten years. The faster way for her to come was as an international student.
Dani is very raw and honest about her struggles during her first two years living here. And she shares details of things she did to get by. Please listen to this story with an empathic and compassionate heart.
Lastly, we end the episode by talking about how she got into being a social media manager. Her aunt owns a jewelry business, and Dani helped her business achieve an online presence. As a result of that, she started to promote this service for herself, and it became her business!
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
P.S. The app I reference in the episode where you can share passwords with your team is called LastPass.
Connect with Dani:
Instagram: @danicreativemedia -
Website: https://portfoliodanicreativem.my.canva.site/orlando-marketing
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify or YouTube.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please email me at [email protected].
Follow me on Instagram
Do you or someone you know want to share their immigration story? Please message me on Instagram.
Want to start your own podcast? – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Also, as a gift for signing up for the podcast newsletter, I'll send you a checklist to get your podcast started and the list of equipment and tools I use!
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
33 min - Women of Welcome Director Bri Stensrud
Welcome to episode 37 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Bri Stensrud the director of Women of Welcome. And if you’ve listened to any of my episodes you know how much I mention this organization because of the work they are doing within the immigration space. So, being able to interview and get Bri on the show was such an honor for me!
Bri talks about how Women of Welcome got started and why. She also talks about her passion for this work and the work that Women of Welcome in the Southern Border.
Women of Welcome is a non-partisan Christian organization that is dedicated to sharing the whole truth and scriptures in understanding God’s heart for immigrants and refugees. Their mission states: We believe God calls us to a deep love for the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the forgotten. Together we’re on a journey to understand biblical hospitality in an authentic way.
They have videos and bible studies available as resources to help people understand what the Bible says about immigration, how we should approach the issue of immigration as Christ followers, and dive deeper into the word of God.
I’ve completed their Bible Study – What Does the Bible Say About
Immigration? And it was impactful and I feel like it was important for meto do because of the work I’m doing with this podcast, so I encourage you to go through it too! The first Bible Study that Women of Welcome published was Ruth and Noemi – which is still available on their website.Bri, thank you so much for your heart and the work you’re doing. Also, thank you so much for taking the time to share your work with my audience! God Bless you and this organization.
Thank you for being here!
With Love,
HeidyConnect with Bri:
Instagram: @bri.stenz
Instagram: @WomenofWelcome
Facebook Group: Women of Welcome
Facebook Page: Women of Welcome
Website: Womenofwelcome.com
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify or YouTube.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connect with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
If you want to start a podcast – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
45 min - Become an Immigration Specialist with DOJ Accreditation with Joanne McAfee
Welcome to episode 36 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s episode is a little different than usual because instead of speaking to an immigrant, I am speaking with someone who is an immigrant ally and works in the immigration space without being an immigration attorney.
Her name is Joanne McAfee and we connected through the Facebook group Women of Welcome! She had posted that she was partially accredited with the DOJ but was working on getting fully accredited, however, this was the first step. Joanne explained that she is able to service migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers while seeking full accreditation. This, of course, piqued my interest because I had never heard of this program before.
In today’s episode, Joanne explains the process of how she got into becoming accredited, what type of work she does, and the program she did with Villanova University.
I hope this episode is insightful if you are looking to serve in the immigration space without becoming an immigration attorney.
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
P.S. Here is the article that I referenced in this episode about the countries that take in the most refugees.
Connect with Joanne:
TikTok: @jojospeaks7Joanne's Bio:
Joanne McAfee Maldonado is a native Delawarean residing on the ceded lands of the Nanticoke (Nan-tee-coke) and Leni Lenape (Lenny Len ah pay) tribes. Joanne traveled to the El Paso/Juarez border in 2019 to find out for herself what was going on. She is married to a Mexican national and was perplexed by the news reports of family separation and the dismantling of the legal asylum system. She worked as an Ambassador for over a year with Women of Welcome but wanted to find a practical way to make an impact in immigrant services. With a new and more educated perspective, she sought out additional education with Villanova University's VIISTA program and became an DOJ Accredited Immigration Law Representative. Joanne continues to advocate for our foreign-born brothers and sisters by educating, raising awareness, and staying in touch with her local elected officials. She remains vigilant concerning the border by following several organizations that have boots on the ground.Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
- Share this episode with a friend.
- Subscribe on Spotify.
- Write a review.
- Sign up for the newsletter.
- Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connect with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
If you want to start a podcast – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
45 min - "I Thought I Was Going for a Few Months and Stayed for Six Years!" with Louie (English)
Welcome to episode 35 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Louie Bischoff from NRT Marketing. She tells us about her experience being overseas in Taiwan – falling in love and bringing her then fiancé over to the United States. Louie went through the whole process of getting her fiancé’s green card or permanent residency status.
The initial plan was to spend a few months with her friend in Taiwan and she ended up spending 6 years! In those six years, she learned the language, adapted to their culture, and lived with her fiancé’s family.
After living in Taiwan for six years, Louie and her partner decided to move to the United States. It was an important conversation and decision they made together weighing the options of where to raise a family and they picked the US.
Louie’s biggest shock while filing paperwork for obtaining permanent residency was the questioning of whether their relationship was legit. Her biggest hurdle was trying to translate the legal documents for her husband and him trying to understand concepts of what the question was trying to ask.
Listen to the rest of her experience!
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Louie:
LinkedIn: Louie Bischoff, MBA
Instagram: @Louie_Bischoff
TikTok: @Louie_Bischoff
Facebook: NRT Marketing
Website: Nrtmarketingsolutions.com
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connect with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
If you want to start a podcast – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Subscribe to The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants YouTube Channel!
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
34 min - "Gatito Inmeegrante" The Best Immigration Story Ever written by Alfredo (English) (South America)
Welcome to episode 34 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Alfredo Bravo De Rueda, writer of Gatito Inmeegrante screenplay, which he says is the best immigration story ever! He came to the United
States from South America at almost 40 years of age.Alfredo starts the show by sharing that his background is in economics but unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to work in his field. This is more common than not with immigrants. For example, I’ve worked at different doctor’s offices, and at least one medical assistant in each office I’ve worked in was either a doctor or a nurse in their home country and hadn’t been able to get licensed or certified in the United States.
His first culture shock was the language. Alfredo explains that he learned English back in his home country and he could read and write it, however, once he arrived in the States, he realized he had a hard time understanding people. Another common theme with my guests.
One thing I like that he mentioned during our talk was the resources that the US has, for example, the library. And I feel that the Latino community or immigrant community does not use the library as we should. I take my daughter all the time to check out books and I take my son to the story time and toddler time that they have available and I barely see Hispanic people there. And while I’m there, I see all the different classes and activities they have available for the community and I wish that more people would use them.
Do you use your local library? You can send me a message on Instagram with your response.
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Alfredo:
Twitter: @GatitoInmeegran
Alfredo’s Story Gatito Inmeegrante
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connect with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
If you want to start a podcast – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
And subscribe to The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants YouTube Channel - launching September 2023!
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
16 min - From Transylvania to Helping People Achieve Their American Dream with Edit (English)
Welcome to episode 33 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Edit Perez, a Real Estate Agent in Central Florida. She tells us today about her journey coming from Romania.
Edit shares that her parents didn’t tell her they were moving when they went on “vacation” to Hungary when she was 15. It wasn’t until they arrived in Austria that they broke the news to her. They had to spend a year in Austria before continuing their journey to the United States.
Once they arrived in Missouri, it was a whole new world. She didn’t speak much because she didn’t know English, so she didn’t make friends; she kept to herself. It wasn’t until she moved to California that she opened up and met her now husband.
Listen to her incredible journey of coming to the United States and how she eventually became a real estate agent. Now, she is helping people achieve their American Dream of homeownership!
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Edit:
Instagram: @lifestyle_realtor_editperez
TikTok: @editperezlifestyle
Facebook
Website: Realtoredit.com
Phone: 407-986-0868
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connect with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
If you want to start a podcast – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Have you signed up for the podcast's YouTube channel? It's launching September 2023! Sign up here.
https://www.youtube.com/@TheAmericanDreamInTheEyes
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
34 min - Be Femme Strong with DACA recipient Diana - (Mexico) (English)
Welcome to episode 32 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time!
Today’s guest is Diana, founder of Be Femme Strong. A women’s merch and apparel company that helps women feel bold and confident. And she is also a photographer. Diana shares her story of growing up undocumented in the United States. She is one of the 643,560 DACA recipients living in the United States.
If you’re unfamiliar with DACA – I’ll explain briefly. It is a temporary protection for deportation for undocumented young immigrants. It provides work permit, social security number, and driver’s license for those who qualify, but no path to legal status or citizenship. In order to qualify, recipients had to be younger than 31 on June 15th, 2012, came to the US when they were younger than 16 and lived in the US since 2007.
This temporary protection was issued via executive order by President Obama in 2012 after Congress did not pass the DREAM Act, which would provide legal status to undocumented children. Since 2012 there has been no path forward for these recipients to gain legal status and recipients must renew their application every two years and pay a fee of $495.
Diana grew up not knowing she was undocumented; she believes it was her parent’s way of trying to protect her. It wasn’t until she was 15 when all her friends were getting their permits and starting to drive that her parents told her why she wouldn’t be able to get her permit as well.
She quickly learned that going to college would be a challenge too but that didn’t stop her from studying hard, taking AP classes, and joining the dual-enrollment program in her high school to obtain college credits. Although, she didn’t finish college, she did open up her own business.
Listen to how her husband’s death motivated her to start her own business.
Thank you for being here!
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Diana:
Instagram: @diana.samantha + @befemmestrong
TikTok: @diana.samantha + @befemmestrong
Website: Befemmestrong.com
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connect with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
If you want to start a podcast – I want to be your coach! I can help you with a successful podcast launch in just 6 weeks. More information here.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
30 min - "Our Wealth Matters" with Maribel (Mexico) (Spanglish)Welcome to episode 31 of The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants Podcast. I am your host, Heidy De La Cruz, and I am on a mission to change the narrative of immigration one immigrant story at a time.
Today’s guest is Maribel from Our Wealth Matters. She has been featured in The New York Times and Next Advisor con Time. Maribel is an immigrant money coach! We connected on Instagram and she educates and coaches immigrants on finances and building wealth!
Maribel shares her story of growing up with immigrant parents – well really an undocumented mom since her dad was deported shortly after she was born. Her and her mom struggled after that to the point that they slept in their car and at friend’s houses from time to time.
Her mom eventually went back to work as a seamstress and her then boyfriend asked if that was what she was going to do all her life. That lit a fire in her to get her income tax preparer license at H&R Block and eventually start her own business.
We talked about her experience visiting Mexico for the first time and all the memories she made during that trip.
Maribel brings up a situation that happens quite frequently, especially to undocumented workers, is that some employers take advantage of their status by either paying them less than minimum wage or not paying them at all. Please know that if you are undocumented or know someone who is undocumented and are in this situation, they still have rights. On episode 8 – I talk an immigration attorney and he mention this as well. Please seek out, an immigration attorney if you or someone you know is in this situation.
The episode ends talking about personal finance and how Maribel’s upbringing was what motivated her to become financially literate and now she educates the immigration community on personal finance and how to build wealth.
And she provides 3 financial tips!!! So, make sure to listen until the end!
I hope you enjoy this episode and that you learn a tip or two or three ;) !
With Love, Heidy
Connect with Maribel:
Instagram: @OurWealthMatters
TikTok: @OurWealthMatters
Website: Ourwealthmatters.com
Here are a few ways you can support this podcast.
1. Share this episode with a friend.
2. Subscribe on Spotify or Apple podcast.
3. Write a review.
4. Sign up for the newsletter.
5. Donate money.
If you’d like to advertise your business or sponsor an episode, please send me an email at [email protected]
Connected with Heidy
If you or someone you know would like to share their immigration story, please message me on Instagram.
Stay up to date with new episode information sent to your email - sign up for the podcast newsletter here!
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
35 min
About Immigrant Stories | The American Dream in The Eyes of Immigrants
From the publisher's feed
Heidy De La Cruz hosts The American Dream in the Eyes of Immigrants. A 2x award-winning podcast about sharing the stories of immigrants and the immigrant experience, including their first memories of…
the US, the culture shocks they experienced, and their journey learning to navigate a whole new country. Join me, Heidy De La Cruz, in highlighting these stories that are often overlooked but deserve to be heard. I am on a mission to change the immigration narrative to a more compassionate and empathetic approach, like a Jesus approach.