You know you’re ready for more. You’ve built the experience, taken on bigger responsibilities, and know you could do the job.

But somehow, you’re still not getting the leadership role.

In this episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, Jessica Lynn Rojas sits down with Cindy J. Lone, executive neuroleadership coach and founder of Latinas at Work, to talk about what can get in the way when you’re ready for a promotion or leadership opportunity but still find yourself questioning your abilities, overworking, or trying to prove yourself.

As part of the Summer of Leadership series, Jessica and Cindy explore the connection between self-doubt, confidence, brain science, and career growth—and how the patterns that helped you succeed can sometimes keep you from stepping into the next level.

In this episode:

• Why “imposter syndrome” doesn't fully explain self-doubt
• How negativity bias affects confidence and decision-making
• Why working harder isn't always the path to a promotion
• How an evidence list can help you recognize your leadership
• Why over-functioning and people-pleasing can affect career growth
• How to build self-trust using facts instead of forced positivity
• Why rest and space can make you a better strategic leader
• How to identify what gives you energy and what drains it
• What to focus on when preparing for a leadership role
• Why “fake it till you make it” isn't the answer

If you've been thinking, “I know I'm capable of more. Why am I still not getting the opportunity?” this conversation will help you look at your career growth and leadership development differently.

🎁 Start with Paid & Promoted

Paid & Promoted is Jessica's free 5-day coaching experience for ambitious women of color who want to position themselves for their next promotion or leadership opportunity.

You'll learn how to recognize your leadership, document your accomplishments, communicate your value, and make your work more visible.

👉🏽 https://jessicalynnrojas.myflodesk.com/e84wuxmmh8

About Cindy J. Lone

Cindy J. Lone is an executive neuroleadership coach and founder of Latinas at Work with 20+ years of corporate experience across finance, operations, and strategy.

👉🏽 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinasatwork/
💬 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindylone/

Work With Jessica

Jessica Lynn Rojas is a career growth strategist, certified coach, and healthcare consultant helping ambitious women of color navigate promotions, leadership, visibility, career strategy, and higher pay.

👉🏽 Coaching: https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/scheduling

📩 Email community: https://www.jessicalynn-wellness.com/email-list

📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas

⭐ Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe, rate, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more ambitious women of color find the show and these conversations about career growth, leadership, and building a successful life without sacrificing yourself.

You’re qualified. You’re doing great work. You’ve taken on more responsibility and you know you’re capable of more.

So why does it still feel like someone else keeps getting the promotion?

In this episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, Jessica Lynn Rojas talks with Alison Hemmings, career strategist and former executive recruiter, about what really happens behind the scenes when companies decide who gets hired, promoted, and given bigger leadership opportunities.

After more than 10 years in executive recruiting, Alison saw firsthand that the most qualified person isn't always the person who gets the opportunity. Now she helps professionals land six-figure roles and make strategic career moves.

As part of Jessica's Summer of Leadership series, this conversation explores why women of color can work hard, build experience, and still feel overlooked for promotions and leadership roles.

Jessica and Alison talk about:

• Why hard work and qualifications aren't always enough to get promoted
• What hiring managers look for beyond your resume
• Why women of color can struggle with visibility and self-promotion
• The difference between visibility and relationships
• How your network influences career opportunities
• Why some leadership opportunities never make it to a job posting
• How cultural conditioning around humility can affect how you communicate your value
• What executive presence actually means
• Why documenting your accomplishments matters
• How to prepare for your next leadership opportunity before the position opens

If you've ever thought, “I'm doing everything right. Why am I still not getting promoted?” this conversation will help you think differently about your career strategy.

🎁 Paid & Promoted

A free 5-day experience for ambitious women of color who want to recognize the leadership they're already demonstrating and start using that evidence to prepare for what's next.

👉🏽 https://jessicalynnrojas.myflodesk.com/e84wuxmmh8

About Alison

Alison Hemmings is a career strategist and former executive recruiter with 10+ years of experience behind the scenes of hiring and promotion decisions.

https://www.alisonhemmings.com
https://linkedin.com/in/alisonhemmings

Work With Jessica

Jessica Lynn Rojas is a leadership and career coach for ambitious women of color in corporate who are ready for their next leadership role.

👉🏽 Coaching: https://jessicalynnrojas.com/scheduling
📩 Dear Ambitious WOC: https://www.jessicalynn-wellness.com/email-list
📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas/

⭐ Subscribe, rate, and review The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast to help more women of color navigate career growth and leadership on their own terms.

You nailed the interview.

Then spent hours replaying everything you said.

If you've ever overanalyzed an interview, performance review, promotion conversation, or leadership opportunity, this episode is for you.

In Part 4 of the Summer of Leadership series, Jessica Lynn Rojas shares what happened after interviewing for a leadership role at her company and why trusting yourself after the interview can be harder than preparing for it.

Because leadership isn't just about becoming qualified.

It's about trusting the leader you've already become.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why women of color often second-guess themselves after interviews

• How to stop replaying conversations you can't change

• Why self-doubt doesn't disappear with promotions

• Three questions that build leadership confidence while waiting for results

• How to trust your leadership evidence instead of your fear

If you're working toward a promotion, leadership role, or executive position, this episode will help you build confidence that lasts beyond the interview.

🎁 Join Paid & Promoted

Jessica's free 5-day coaching experience helps ambitious women of color become the obvious choice for leadership opportunities through career positioning, leadership visibility, executive presence, and documented impact.

Join here:

https://jessicalynnrojas.myflodesk.com/e84wuxmmh8

Work With Jessica

Jessica helps ambitious women of color position themselves as the obvious choice for leadership roles—without overworking or waiting to be recognized.

If you're preparing for your next promotion, leadership role, salary negotiation, or executive opportunity, 1:1 coaching helps you build the visibility, leadership strategy, executive presence, and confidence needed to move forward.

Book a coaching consultation:

https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/scheduling

📩 Join Dear Ambitious WOC: https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/email-list

📱 Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas

⭐ Follow, rate, and review the podcast to help more ambitious women of color build leadership careers on their own terms.

You may already have years of leadership evidence. You just might not be calling it leadership.

In Part 3 of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast's Summer of Leadership series, Jessica Lynn Rojas explores why ambitious women of color often dismiss their own leadership experience as “just doing their job.”

After preparing for leadership interviews, Jessica realized she was arguing with her own evidence. Every story came with the same response: “That’s just my job. That doesn’t count as leadership.”

But the leadership evidence was there.

In this episode, Jessica breaks down why women of color often normalize the skills that make us strong leaders—systems thinking, executive communication, influencing without authority, navigating ambiguity, managing up, building trust, and seeing what others miss.

She changed her approach to leadership interviews by asking:

“What does this teach someone about how I think?”

You'll learn:

• Why high-performing women of color dismiss their own leadership evidence
• The difference between describing what you did and showing how you think
• How to identify the “leadership read” inside your existing work
• How to build a Leadership Evidence Portfolio for interviews, performance reviews, promotion conversations, and career growth
• Why leadership positioning is built before a leadership opportunity opens

Jessica also walks through a real example from her own work: what looked like “fixing a workflow” was actually evidence of systems thinking, strategic prioritization, scope management, influencing without authority, and executive communication.

🎁 JOIN PAID & PROMOTED

Paid & Promoted is a free 5-day coaching experience for ambitious women of color in corporate ready to become the obvious choice for leadership opportunities.

Inside, you'll learn how to build visibility, communicate your value, and track your leadership evidence.

You'll create an Impact Tracker and Leadership Tracker to document your value and leadership moments for interviews, performance reviews, salary negotiations, and promotion conversations.

Join Paid & Promoted:
https://jessicalynnrojas.myflodesk.com/e84wuxmmh8

WORK WITH JESSICA

Jessica Lynn Rojas helps ambitious women of color in corporate become the obvious choice for leadership opportunities through strategic career coaching focused on leadership positioning, workplace visibility, executive presence, influence, authority, and career growth.

Book a 1:1 consult:
https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/scheduling

Join Dear Ambitious WOC:
https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/email-list

Follow Jessica:
https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas/

Subscribe, rate, and review The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast for practical strategies for career advancement, leadership development, and becoming the obvious choice for your next leadership role.

Most women of color think promotion season starts when the leadership position gets posted.

It doesn't.

By the time an interview is scheduled, leaders have already been watching. They've already experienced how you think, how you influence decisions, how you navigate difficult situations, and whether they can picture you leading long before a title is ever available.

In this episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, leadership and career coach Jessica Lynn Rojas takes listeners behind the scenes of her own leadership journey after two leadership opportunities unexpectedly opened within her company. She's sharing how she's positioning herself for leadership in real time while preparing for two internal leadership opportunities.

Because interviews don't make someone leadership material. They reveal who they've already been becoming.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why promotion season starts the day after your last promotion—not when a leadership role gets posted

• The difference between preparing for an interview and preparing for leadership

• Why women of color need different career strategies than simply working harder or waiting to be noticed

• How to build visibility, executive presence, influence, and authority before leadership opportunities open

• What Jessica learned after not getting a previous internal leadership role—and how it completely changed the way she approaches career growth

• How an Impact Tracker, Leadership Tracker, and Story Bank help you prepare for interviews, performance reviews, salary negotiations, and leadership opportunities

• Why positioning isn't something you say about yourself—it's something leaders experience from you over time

If you're a woman of color in corporate ready for your next leadership role and wondering why others seem to move ahead faster, this episode is for you.

Ready to stop waiting to be noticed and start intentionally positioning yourself for leadership?

Join Paid & Promoted: A Free 5-Day Coaching Experience for Women of Color Ready to Become the Obvious Choice for Leadership Opportunities.

You’ll learn:
• Why hard work alone is not a leadership strategy
• How to increase your visibility and communicate your value
• How to track your impact and leadership so you are prepared for promotion conversations

👉🏽 Join ⁠Paid & Promoted⁠ https://jessicalynnrojas.myflodesk.com/e84wuxmmh8

Work With Jessica

Jessica helps ambitious women of color get promoted, increase their visibility, and step into leadership without burnout or overproving.

Inside 1:1 coaching, we focus on:
• Leadership positioning
• Workplace visibility
• Communicating your value
• Career strategy for your next level

Book a 1:1 sales call: https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/scheduling

Join Dear Ambitious WOC: https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/email-list

Follow @jessicalynnrojas: https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas/⁠

⭐ Subscribe, rate, and review to help more women of color build leadership careers on their own terms.

You worked hard. You built your expertise. You became the person everyone trusts.

But if you’re still wondering why leadership opportunities are not coming your way, this episode is for you.

In this episode of the Summer of Leadership Series, Jessica Lynn Rojas shares why the strategies that helped many women of color succeed early in their careers are not always the strategies that help us move into leadership roles.

For many women of color, hard work was the path forward. It helped us prove ourselves, create opportunities, and succeed in spaces where we were often one of the few.

But leadership is not just about doing more.

Leadership opportunities are created when people see your impact, trust your judgment, and recognize you as someone ready for more responsibility.

In this episode, Jessica shares:
• Why high performers can still be overlooked for leadership roles
• The difference between working hard and positioning yourself for growth
• Why being reliable can sometimes keep you stuck in your current role
• How women of color can build visibility without changing who they are
• How to document your impact and leadership before opportunities appear
• How to become the obvious choice when leadership roles open up

This episode is for ambitious women of color in corporate who want career growth, leadership opportunities, and promotions without sacrificing their health to get there.

Join Paid & Promoted:

Ready to stop waiting to be noticed and start intentionally positioning yourself for leadership?

Join Paid & Promoted: A Free 5-Day Coaching Experience for Women of Color Ready to Become the Obvious Choice for Leadership Opportunities.

You’ll learn:
• Why hard work alone is not a leadership strategy
• How to increase your visibility and communicate your value
• How to track your impact and leadership so you are prepared for promotion conversations

👉🏽 Join ⁠Paid & Promoted⁠ https://jessicalynnrojas.myflodesk.com/e84wuxmmh8

Work With Jessica

Jessica helps ambitious women of color get promoted, increase their visibility, and step into leadership without burnout or overproving.

Inside 1:1 coaching, we focus on:
• Leadership positioning
• Workplace visibility
• Communicating your value
• Career strategy for your next level

Book a 1:1 sales call: https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/scheduling

Join Dear Ambitious WOC: https://www.jessicalynnrojas.com/email-list

Follow @jessicalynnrojas: https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas/⁠

⭐ Subscribe, rate, and review to help more women of color build leadership careers on their own terms.

In this episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, host Jessica Lynn Rojas sits down with Jenn Jamali, Money Coach and former tech recruiter at companies like Pinterest, Spotify, and Indeed, for a strategic conversation on career growth, job hopping, networking, and how women of color can use the “outside game” to increase income and get to leadership faster.

This conversation is especially for women of color in who are ready to stop waiting for promotions, stop under-earning for their level, and start positioning themselves for leadership roles and higher income by the end of this year or early next year.

Together, Jessica and Jenn break down what recruiters actually notice when reviewing your experience, why job changes can be a strategic wealth-building tool (not a red flag when done intentionally), and how networking and referrals often matter more than applying online when it comes to advancing your career.

They also unpack how first-gen women of color are often conditioned to stay loyal, overprove, and wait to be chosen—and what shifts when you start treating your career like a strategic system instead of a waiting game.

In this episode, we cover:

• What recruiters actually look for when hiring and promoting
• Why job hopping can accelerate income and leadership opportunities
• How women of color are over-conditioned to prioritize loyalty over leverage
• The role of networking and referrals in getting unblocked in your career
• How to position yourself so you’re seen as “next up” for leadership
• Why waiting for internal promotion cycles keeps women stuck
• How to use the next 6 months to land a promotion or new role
• Strategic career moves that increase income without burnout
• The difference between reactive job changes and intentional career design

About Jenn Jamali

Jenn Jamali is a Money Coach who helps women freelancers, consultants, and entrepreneurs with variable income stop overspending and start building lasting wealth.

👉🏽 Website

📱 Instagram

🔗 LinkedIn

🎧 Payday Club Podcast

Work With Jessica

If you’re a woman of color in corporate who is doing everything “right” but still feels overlooked, underpaid, or stuck waiting for your next promotion—this is where we shift that.

Inside 1:1 coaching, we focus on:

• Positioning your experience so recruiters and decision-makers see you as ready for the next level
• Building visibility so your work leads to opportunities (not just more work)
• Strengthening your authority in interviews, promotion conversations, and leadership spaces
• Creating a clear, strategic plan for your next role, promotion, or pay increase

👉🏽 Book a 1:1 sales call:
📩 Join Dear Ambitious WOC
📱 Follow @jessicalynnrojas

Subscribe, rate, and review to support more women of color building strategic careers, increasing income, and getting promoted without burnout.

In this bonus episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, host Jessica Lynn Rojas joins Cafecito and Rise (now Rise Differently Podcast) with Iris Canela, a life coach helping high-achieving women of color and Latinas stop over-proving and start living with more intention, presence, and self-trust.

Together, they explore burnout, anxiety, mental health, career pressure, and the hidden cost of tying your worth to achievement.

Jessica shares her experience as a first-generation Latina navigating panic attacks, depression, workplace stress, and the pressure to constantly prove herself in corporate consulting—and how she rebuilt her career around wellness, leadership, and sustainable success.

If you're a woman of color in corporate, healthcare, consulting, education, nonprofit, or another high-pressure career and you're exhausted from overworking, overperforming, and still feeling overlooked, this conversation is for you.

In This Episode:

• Burnout in women of color and why it isn't always caused by working long hours
• Anxiety, workplace stress, and mental health in high-achieving professionals
• The pressure to constantly prove yourself in corporate environments
• Cultural conditioning, productivity, and self-worth
• Being "the only one" in leadership and professional spaces
• Why slowing down can be a strategic career move
• Redefining success beyond titles, salary, and external validation
• Boundaries, saying no, and protecting your energy at work
• Practical ways to build a career that supports your life—not consumes it

About Iris Canela

Iris Canela is a life coach for high-achieving women of color and Latinas who are ready to stop over-proving and start living rooted in presence, intention, and truth.

📱 Instagram: @risingwithiris

Work With Jessica Lynn Rojas

If you're doing everything right but still feel stuck, overlooked, underpaid, or exhausted from carrying the weight of your career alone, this is where we change the strategy.

Inside 1:1 coaching, we focus on:

• Identifying what is draining your energy versus what is actually driving career growth
• Increasing your visibility so your work is recognized, credited, and rewarded
• Building leadership presence and authority in high-stakes conversations
• Creating a sustainable career strategy that leads to promotions, higher pay, and leadership opportunities without burnout

This is not about working harder.

It's about making sure your effort translates into the recognition, opportunities, and compensation you've already earned.

✨ Book a 1:1 Sales Call
📩 Join Dear Ambitious WOC
📱 Follow on instagram: @jessicalynnrojas

⭐ Subscribe, rate, and review to help more women of color build successful careers without sacrificing themselves in the process.

What if burnout isn't the problem—but the signal?

In this episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, Jessica Lynn Rojas and Evie Prete unpack burnout, career growth, self-worth, and the unique pressures women of color face at work.

Burnout doesn't always look like working 80-hour weeks. Sometimes it looks like anxiety, overproving, people-pleasing, carrying everyone's problems, or feeling disconnected from yourself while still performing at a high level.

Jessica and Evie share their personal burnout stories and discuss why women of color are especially vulnerable to burnout due to cultural conditioning, workplace bias, invisible labor, and the belief that worth must be earned through hard work.

Together, they explore how burnout impacts salary negotiations, leadership growth, career decisions, and the ability to advocate for yourself.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Signs of burnout women of color often miss
• Why high achievers burn out even when they're successful
• The connection between self-worth and overworking
• How burnout affects career growth and salary negotiations
• The hidden emotional labor women of color carry
• Why rest feels uncomfortable—and why it's necessary
• Setting boundaries without guilt
• Building a successful career without sacrificing yourself

Key Takeaway:

Burnout is often a sign you've been operating from survival mode instead of strategy. Sustainable success requires a different approach.

About Evie Prete

Evie Prete is a Latina Salary Negotiation Coach, Speaker, and Host of the Págame Podcast. She helps first-generation women of color negotiate higher salaries, advocate for themselves, and build careers rooted in self-worth. Her clients have secured over $1 million in salary increases.

Website
Instagram

Free Salary Negotiation Checklist

Self Worth Accelerator Waitlist

Previous Episode with Evie:
Págame: How to Negotiate Higher Pay Without the Burnout

Work With Jessica

If you're a woman of color who is overworking, constantly proving yourself, and still not seeing the pay, leadership opportunities, or recognition you deserve, I can help.

Inside 1:1 coaching, we focus on:
• Stopping the patterns that lead to burnout
• Increasing visibility and leadership presence
• Advocating for higher pay and promotions
• Creating sustainable career growth without sacrificing your health

Book a Sales Call
Join Dear Ambitious WOC

Instagram

Subscribe, rate, and review to help more women of color build careers that don't require burnout.

What if the reason you feel behind in your career and your money isn’t because you’re doing something wrong, but because of the money story you were never taught to question?

In this episode of The Ambitious Woman of Color Podcast, Jessica Lynn Rojas sits down with Andrea Ramos of Building Gen Wealth for a conversation at the intersection of money and career for first-gen women of color — where income growth, career decisions, and wealth building are all happening at the same time.

This episode is for the woman of color earning more than ever but still not feeling financially secure. The one second-guessing salary asks, investments, and whether she’s “ready” to ask for more.

Together, Jessica and Andrea break down how survival-based money beliefs show up at work — staying in roles too long, under-asking in negotiations, and playing it safe even when your income has changed.

Andrea shares her story of growing up as an immigrant daughter from Lima, Peru, raised on “always save,” until both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer just a month apart — forcing her to rethink financial security and leading her into investing and building Building Gen Wealth.

Jessica connects this to career patterns — underpricing, delaying asks, and staying in roles that don’t reflect your actual level.

In this episode, we cover:

• why first-gen women of color feel behind financially even when earning more

• the money story shaping career decisions

• survival mode vs wealth building

• salary negotiation + under-asking patterns

• saving vs building wealth

• using debt strategically

• visibility + authority and income growth

• how career impacts long-term wealth

About Andrea Ramos

Andrea Ramos is founder of Building Gen Wealth, helping first-gen women of color move beyond saving and start building wealth through investing and money strategy.

After immigrating from Peru as a child, a family health crisis reshaped her view of money and pushed her into investing and wealth building.

🌐 https://www.buildinggenwealth.com/
📱 https://www.instagram.com/building.gen.wealth/

Work With Jessica

If you’re a woman of color in corporate doing real work but your pay, title, and visibility aren’t matching it — this is the gap we fix.

Inside 1:1 coaching, clients get:

• paid at the level they’re already operating at

• seen as leadership instead of “the reliable one”

• moved into roles that match their level (promotion or external)

• recognized for their impact in decision-making rooms

This is not about doing more. It’s about your work finally being recognized and rewarded at the level it already is.

✨ Book a 1:1 sales call: https://www.jessicalynn-wellness.com/scheduling

📩 Join Dear Ambitious WOC https://www.jessicalynn-wellness.com/email-list

📱 Follow @jessicalynnrojas: https://www.instagram.com/jessicalynnrojas/

⭐ If this episode resonated, follow, subscribe, and leave a review — it helps more women of color find this work