Vida with Val

Corrie Phares Staniszewski, M.A. CCC-SLP is a speech pathologist who started her career as an assistant in schools and then worked her way to owning her own practice. This episode covers time management & productivity tips, the realities of starting your own business/practice, and how to set expectations with your clients. Corrie is also a Yoga Instructor, gardener, and she loves to travel. She takes us through the mental and physical health benefits yoga can provide, gardening tips, and her favorite travel stories. 

After retiring from her position as a Special Education Director, Shelley Swedlaw pursued an unexpected path down Training Search and Rescue Dogs. She found that building trust with her students - whether they are children or animals, creates the best learning environment. In this episode, Shelley covers how to build trust with your students, the importance of bettering your current self for your future self, and not allowing your age to define you. 

Alyssa Mendez is a serial entrepreneur in the making. In this episode, Alyssa takes us through her journey with acne and how it led to the creation of her brand - Bare Skin Bare Beauty. You’ll hear how her clean, affordable, high-quality products have transformed her customers’ skin and how her mission to normalize acne through meaningful conversation has spread confidence to her followers on social media. We also cover the challenges small business owners face and strategies to overcome those challenges. If you are thinking about starting your own business or side hustle, this is the episode for you. 

Bare Skin Bare Beauty Website: https://www.shopbareskinbarebeauty.com/

Vida with Val Website: https://www.vidawithval.com/

Vida with Val Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vidawithval/

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Val goes solo on this episode! Listen in as she dives into your questions, shares strategies on how to to effectively set goals, and touches on the basics to lead a healthier life. 

Andrew Cobos is the owner and lead attorney of Cobos Law Firm. Andrew has taken a lot of risks throughout his career to pursue his passion for his work and his clients. In this episode, he covers the consequences and rewards of taking risks, how making his clients his number one priority leads to a successful business, and the importance of hiring the right team. We also touch on branding, balancing home/work life, and paragliding - yeah, you read that right! This episode will push you to take risks to pursue your passions and equip you with tools to improve your productivity and company culture.

Dr. Tera Torres is the lead of a new program at The University of St. Thomas. Throughout her career, she saw a gap in the education system, young adults without a voice, and parents with hopelessness. All of these things led her to create change - ultimately fulfilling her purpose of making the world a better place for others to live in. In this episode, Dr. Torres dives into self-awareness, owning yourself, and creating space for others to thrive. Oh yeah! If that wasn't enough, she's also a mom to four boys, a yoga and group fitness instructor (she teaches 17 classes a week OMG), and a vegan. This episode will definitely drive you to be an agent of change and encourage you to grab the torch and lead in the direction your life is taking you. 

Mary Joe, the owner of Maria Jose Photography, shares all her business tips and tricks on this episode. She covers how to grow your clientele, how to stay original with your content, and how to manage your life & business when going through multiple life changes. MJ is one of my best friends and she definitely brings her kind, authentic self to the table during this conversation.

Destiny Muniz started Orenda Crafted - her creative outlet, in September 2020. She began to share the handmade, personalized gifts she was creating on her Instagram account. Within two months, she went from five orders to one hundred. As her small business was growing rapidly, Destiny had to learn how to grow with it - quickly learning what it takes to build a successful small business. In this episode, Destiny shares the valuable tools and lessons she used to turn her side hustle into a profitable business. She covers how to utilize Etsy, an e-commerce site, to its full potential and how to leverage your business on social media. 

In March of 2020, Lucas Arcizo was in the UK studying Piano Performance with hopes of continuing his education. When COVID hit, he had to press pause on his dreams, adapt to change, and create a new path for himself. On this episode, Lucas shares how he adapted to change and created better habits for himself. 

Jaclyn Ramirez is a nutritionist, aesthetician, make-up artist, and my go-to guru for all things holistic health. Listen in as she shares her steps to changing eating habits, skincare tips, and wellness hacks. This episode reveals the ingredients in your food and products that you need to stay away from and the ingredients you should gravitate towards. You'll also get helpful tips on how to make sustainable lifestyle changes that will bring you one step closer to living a better, healthier life.