The Level Up Latina Podcast

Today, LUL's favorite Mexican-American Chef, Marcela Valladolid, is on the show. Esta mujer ha hecho de todo; she has been the host and guest of several cooking shows, has written cookbooks, and has been an entrepreneur with her business, Casa Marcela. She also connected with women worldwide during the pandemic with her live virtual cooking classes. Marcela and her sister, Karina, created a community of women who brought our Mexican culture, music, and good vibes to a kitchen near you.

Chef Marcela became a household name in the U.S. with her second show, Mexican Made Easy, on Food Network. Over the years, she has written cookbooks, such as Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor and Casa Marcela: Recipes and Food Stories of My Life in the Californias.

She has also been part of numerous culinary shows, such as The Kitchen, Best Baker in America, and The American Baking Competition. She was on The Apprentice with Martha Stewart and starred in Selena + Chef with Selena Gomez. This is an episode you do not want to miss if you need support, inspiration, and to feel seen in this world! We promise... you'll fall in love with Chef Marcela as we have and possibly master a new recipe or two!

It's our monthly random show full of everything you'd expect... conversations on food, travel, and holidays, plus much-needed girl time & college reunions. We discuss delicious meals, fun times reconnecting with each other in person, and memories of Halloween movies and the fall season. Listen to this one to laugh and be in a great mood among AMIGAS!

Per usual, the women of LUL talk about what it's like to transition in all seasons of life as mommas, travelers, amigas and so much more! Tune in to hear how we did with our annual vision board plan and what more we hope to achieve!

Earlier this month, LUL hosted its third annual Breakthrough Brunch and it was a hit. From the location to the panelists, great conversation to amazing giveaways, and interactive activities... this was one of our favorite brunches yet! Don't miss this recap which is sure to bring you the best moments from our day filled with inspiration and networking. We share gems from our panelists including wisdom, vulnerability, and practical tips to reach personal and professional success!

We completely failed last week!!! We were together, as we love to be, but rarely get to enjoy, and decided to record 3 shows. We got to it and loved them... one about aging and the other about our heroes becoming evil.

We laughed and thrived during our rarely 'recorded-in-the-same-room' episodes. We decided to break late for dinner, we returned to our final show to find out we were recording on MUTE for the entire first 90 minutes!

OH MY... lesson freaking learned. Join us for this candid show to hear about the aftermath of this big ol' failure and to experience the labor of love and 'we-can-do-it-no-matter-what' vibes this podcast, and us women, continue to share!

Networking these days is way more than exchanging biz cards with strangers at awkward events. While it's not always easy to do there are some fun ways to make networking easier and put yourself out there. In this episode, we give practical tips on why it's necessary to mix and mingle and how to embrace it once and for all. We also spend time exploring how you can combine networking with pleasure/travel! This one is sure to inspire you! Plus, you're in luck, because our networking signature event is this Sat., 10/12 in sunny SoCal. We have only a few spots left. Get your tickets at leveluplatina.com/events! You'll be so GLAD you did! Brunch includes raffle prices, free headshots, yummy brunch with open sangria and mimosa bar, as well as an inspiring panel of incredibly successful and talented entrepreneurs!!! 

If you know LUL, you know we TRAVEL! We are not only casual vacationers... but travel experts! Traveling on the cheap or splurging for nomad memories, this episode is full of great money-saving advice!

We have done it all... from studies abroad, to sabbaticals, and entire summers immersed in new cultures. Now, we've even got 1/3 of us having moved her son across the country for college; so with all that, we've learned A LOT! In this episode, we share our travel hacks from college 20 years ago to today... there's so much to learn about seeing the world on your terms with young kids, solo, and even while collecting credit card perks and loyalty rewards! Travel enthusiasts new and old MUST listen to this one, you'll be so glad you did! 

It's our first random show for the fall so of course we chatted about all things end of summer like wrapping up vacations and kicking-off football season. We talk about everything from now being "those" tias at quinceañeras, to Spanglish that is anything but, & what it's like to feel like we are entering a new era of adulting! Don't miss it!

In this show, the women of LUL shared tales of grief in traditional and non-traditional forms and they made space for all of it! What the episode sadly missed we will tell you about here to round out a very heartfelt podcast...

Coach Vero shared how soon she's returning to the workforce and how being home with her kids for 6 years has been a true blessing. Now that blessing is something she is beginning to deeply grieve as she prepares to return to work leaving behind her most important role yet as a stay-at-home mom! Fighting through many tears, Vero shared so candidly about how much she will miss this time in her children's lives. She's ready for the next chapter in her career, but the whole transition also includes sadness as this part of her motherhood journey ends! 

This story led to Coach Irene sharing in the episode how she's managing non-traditional grief as she approaches the realities of soon becoming an empty-nester and Coach Cecy so beautifully shared how she continues to mourn the loss of her beautiful mother!

Be warned you won't hear much from Coach Vero throughout his one as she cried her way through, but you WILL feel all her love and her co-hosts' love to as they continue to show up for each other on the show, and in real life, as they navigate milestones, loss, and the sadness that comes with life changing! 

Sometimes we see the Instagram posts and think those people are having a blast on their vacation! We see the couples, the families, the milestones and the FOMO really kicks in. But, have you ever thought about all the stories you don't hear? Not every vacation is what it seems on social media. Today we talk about 3 unique trips that were unexpected and what we learned from it all. For some of us, we'd go so far as to call them vacations from hell because at least one boyfriend got dumped right after their trip with our co-host!

There are great pieces of advice throughout this show. so don't miss it!

On this, the last random show, of our summer series we discuss our crazy adventures in childrearing. It's been a fun summer bringing you short episodes on life whether it was chatting about sending kids to college, accountability partners, divorce, career transitions, self-care, or raising babies, we've tackled a lot, and wow are we so glad we did! We were happy to have you along for our summer ride! Enjoy this last show with rapid-fire thoughts on a topic that makes us think about our own first-gen. Latina childhoods, our journeys as mommas, and more.