Salvador Cicero is prominent attorney and community leader, who shares his personal and professional journey. Sal discusses his family’s diverse backgrounds, his upbringing in Mexico and the US, and the challenges he faced adapting to new environments. He emphasizes the importance of mindset, self-belief, and breaking through societal conditioning. Sal recounts his work in law, including significant contributions to human trafficking cases and leadership roles in the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. Our conversation highlights the impact of giving back, the value of education, and the power of representation and community support in achieving success. Listen in and tell us what you think! 

Jose Rico shares the truth of the journey of finding his way back home.  We talk a lot about healing and the process of staying true to yourself without giving up the culture, the language, and his love for el barrio.  He has helped people and many organizations navigate hard conversations about race, urban equality, and public policy. One of his dreams was to build a high school but instead, he became the Principal of the Little Village High Schools.

What are transformational relationships? We dive in and talk about building relationships that can help transform and reach your goals. One of those transformational relationships landed him one of the most interesting jobs of working with The Obamas and serving in the White House leading the Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

As the Director of the Truth Racial Healing and Transformation Greater Chicago, he has assisted in over 9,000 healing circles which have helped over 20,000 people come together to talk about loss, and grief, and share their stories and their hope. If you want to learn more please reach out to him. 

Laura Rodríguez Presa is a prominent and one of the youngest bilingual reporter based in Chicago, working for the Chicago Tribune. She focuses on in-depth storytelling about the Latino community and often collaborates with fellow journalists on investigative series—such as the acclaimed “Aging in the Shadows,” which highlights challenges faced by undocumented seniors in Illinois. 

She is an amazing and beautiful person whom I met while working with our new neighbors (immigrants) arriving from all over the world. She often covers stories of the most vulnerable, and many times, based on her own lived experiences. She tells her story from her childhood to her current accomplishments. I am proud to call her a friend and can't wait to see what the future holds for her! 

Nancy has been a force to be reckoned with in the arts and culture scene of Chicago and beyond! She shares her story of one of her amazing teachers and her first sponsor before we even used that word. She received her first opportunity to shine at The National Museum of Mexican Art formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Pilsen where she later became the Director of Education. She then found her new home at the Chicago History Museum where she helped tell the stories of nuestra gente among other things as the Vice President of Education and Engagement. She continued her journey in her new role as the Deputy Commissioner for Programming in the Department of Cultural Affairs.

She is embarking on her new journey to dig deeper into the stories of all Latine/x with the launch of Raices Chicago Story Coalition, it will collaborate with organizations and communities of Chicago to enhance the visibility and accessibility of these stories.

Listen in and to learn more about raices go to: https://linktr.ee/raiceschi

Jona is a friend and one of the most giving, courageous, and risk-takers we know. He is an immigrant and saw the potential and opportunity achievable in the United States through real estate. His abundance mindset has helped him create the life he always wanted and helps his clients see their full potential and the "ganas" to create wealth for themselves.  He dives in on how he has helped his clients not only buy one, two, or three but as many properties as possible as it allows people to live a better life, help their families build generational wealth and achieve the American dream!

Hear his story and get motivated to start your journey!

Nallely is truly inspiring, a go-gether always looking for new ideas and giving it 1000% to make it happen and see her ideas come to life.  We loved talking to her and getting to know her better. We talked about some qualities she has developed over the years like patience, bravery and courage, we can all become more patient, brave and courageous so listen in! 

I had the pleasure of tasting her new venture Drop Needle Cocktails and they are truly delicious. If you are in the Chicagoland area, ask for them at your local grocery store!

She reminded us to read to elevate our mindset but also don't forget to read what you love. Life is unpredictable but staying the course and being true to yourself is something that she advised and we are taking this to heart! 

Listen to our podcast and then go over and check out hers: corporate cafecito

At the young age of 17 years old Rodolfo started his culinary journey in his native Colombia which then took him to Miami, London, Philadelphia, and New York which then brought him sweet home Chicago. We dive into his journey to open Amaru, Bloom Plant Based Kitchen, Lil Amaru, and Don Bucio's Taqueria. All of his restaurants showcase his love for Latin America and a little piece of his history, his world travels, and his passion.  His food is delicious, bright, full of flavor, and a must-try for all Chicagoans and those who travel to our city.  As I tell my kids "be a risk taker" and try some of his Vegan food at Bloom. 

We learned many things from recording this episode  but  something that resonated with me was that the harder the journey the sweeter the "recompensa"

Listen in and then run to one or all of his restaurants! 

Architect, Author and Advocate, Alicia Ponce is the founder and principal of APMonarch. Since 2007, Alicia’s expertise and passion for sustainability have supported many clients in designing radically better projects. Her reputation for resilient and eco-conscious architecture secured APMonarch’s role as the Sustainability Architect and direct protégé to Santiago Calatrava and his firm’s design proposal for the 2019 O’Hare International Airport Global Terminal. The international competition drew 1,200 teams and five were selected for the final presentation.

Alicia has a bigger purpose and her passion for advocating and lifting other Latinas led her to start her own nonprofit Arquitina.org  which led her to write her story about her purposeful journey to architecture, entrepreneurship, and connection with nature and help others do the same in  Latinas in Architecture Books volumes 1 and 2 

Listen to her and learn more at https://www.arquitina.org

Margarita Quiñones Peña came to this country as a 4-year-old to Chicago. She was one of the few young women in her engineering school which took her almost 6 years to graduate since financial aid is not available to dreamers but she didn't let her stop her from achieving her dreams. 

She quickly learned that she needed to look for mentors, take it to the next level, and find sponsors to help her achieve her goals and guide her to achieve her big audacious goals. 
Who are you mentoring? Who are you sponsoring by lifting them when they are not in the room? 

Our past shouldn't define our future and she shared her story in her new book Homecoming (find it on Amazon) and support her cause to help families arriving in this country.  The Latinas Sweat Project is one of her other projects that help promote healthy lifestyles through yoga, and meditation. 

She is a success story that motivates us to continue to do the good work of helping others! 

I hope you love her story as much as we did and please connect with her on all social media platforms. 

Lyanne tells stories about what’s next in the world of technology, business, and entrepreneurship. She has reported via emerging platforms in English and Spanish, worked on audience engagement, strategy, and execution, and enjoys taking stories from start to completion.  We were blown away by her passion and her dedication to elevating Latinx voices.

We talked about supporters, mentors, and sponsors, the difference between them, and how we need all three in life and business. 

At Google, she leads content for social media across Developer Relations programs, tools, and initiatives.
At Nasdaq, she hosted live segments spotlighting entrepreneurs and thought leaders, booked, and produced live video content, and for Nasdaq's first podcast: Adelante!

Check out her weekly newsletter and podcast on Apple and Spotify all about it called Moneda Moves: monedamoves.substack.com

Her pieces have appeared in CNBC, Business Insider, NBC Latino, Distintas Latitudes, and Latino Rebels and  she's available for freelance assignments: [email protected]