I am joined today by Margarita Quiñones Peña. Margarita is the author of “Homecoming: El Viaje a Mi Hogar,” a story through a migrant child's eyes. She is also the founder of the Latina Sweat Project whose mission is to make Yoga accessible to all. The Latina Sweat Project offers free and donation-based community programming, a 200-hour Yoga teacher training certification cohort, as community-led health and wellness is at the forefront of everything they do. 

Tune in to learn more about her journey!

Follow The Latina Sweat Project

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/latinasweatproject/

Website: https://www.thelatinasweatproject.com/

Book: Homecoming: El Viaje A Mi Hogar

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Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas. 

I saw this post on an Instagram reel with the video text saying, “Why I won’t be doing markets as a small business in 2025.”

Yes, all their reasons are valid, but I mostly disagree! As a product-based business owner myself who has been doing vendor markets since the Spring of 2021, if you were to ask me if vendor markets are worth it, I would say YES….and no and here’s why!

I have participated in pop-ups and markets, small and festival style large. I have had my fair share of disappointing markets and even some that I did not expect to be as good as they were. When you're starting off, a lot of it will be trial and error to see what works best for your business. In this episode, here are some things I want to discuss regarding vendor markets that product-based businesses should keep in mind when trying to identify the most beneficial event for their business:

If you are a product-based business ready to give up on vendor markets or wondering if markets are right for your business, tune in as I share my thoughts & insights based on my experience!

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Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas.

On today's episode I wanted to formally introduce The Mamis Club series of the podcast. The Mami's Club is for all madres—whether you're an entrepreneur, building a career, or a stay-at-home mom—let’s talk about navigating the beautiful chaos of motherhood. I want this to be a safe space for real conversations about the struggles, wins, and everyday realities of trying to balance it all. Culturally and beyond, so much about motherhood goes unspoken—but here, I want to be able to share our journeys, support one another, and remind every madre out there: you are not alone.

I thought, let me kick it off this series with my own experience so far. I gave birth to my son on July 30th, 2024. That was the day I was inaugurated into The Mami's Club. It was also one of the scariest, dramatic and most chaotic days of life, but it also brought me the most important person in my life. I wanted to share my journey for anyone who can relate and to feel like they're not alone in their experience. I think that's what I appreciate about my generation of mothers and younger, is that we are talking about our pregnancy journeys, birthing experiences and even challenges as mother's. 

I didn't know that my fairly laid back and smooth sailing pregnancy would lead to a HELLP syndrome diagnosis, emergency c-section and a NICU stay, but that is all a part of my story now. Trigger warning for any Mami's who have experienced anything similar or just had a very different experience than they imagined. Talking about my journey helps, so I feel like sharing this very vulnerable time in my life is helping me heal. 

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Join The Club & Order The Mami's Club Apparel & Accessories: https://werkmija.com/collections/the-mamis-club-collection

Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas.

I decided to welcome myself back to the podcast from a very long break since last summer, when I was pregnant and dove into motherhood two months earlier than expected. The Mami life has been crazy and even crazier trying to navigate motherhood and entrepreneurship. However, slowly, but surely, I am figuring it out. 

Since I love to share my personal entrepreneurship journey on the podcast, I thought I would share how I am doing things differently now as a mom. As well as, I want to talk with other moms on the podcast who are also entrepreneurs, navigating their careers or stay-at-home moms now and hear how they are doing it.

As women, our life can take a drastic change once you become a mother, so I wanted to introduce The Mami's Club series on the podcast. Where we can talk about navigating the beautiful chaos that is motherhood. Join me in the next episode as I kick it off with my journey into motherhood!

If you wanted to dive deeper into some of the topics I mentioned or had even more questions in general, head over to @werkmija on instagram to comment on this episode post! 

Follow Werk Mija:

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TikTok: @werkmija

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/werkmija

Website: https://www.werkmija.com

Join The Club & Order The Mami's Club Apparel & Accessories: https://werkmija.com/collections/the-mamis-club-collection

Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas.

I am joined today by Jackie Rodriguez and Wendy Ramirez, The Jefas of Spanish Sin Pena, a program created to empower our community to feel confident speaking Spanish! Wendy Ramirez is the founder of Spanish Sin Pena & has 20+ yrs of experience teaching. She earned a JD from Loyola Law School LA & a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science & Spanish from the University of California at Berkeley. Wendy's family is from El Salvador & Mexico, she is a proud native of East LA. Jackie Rodriguez is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Spanish Sin Pena. Her family is from Mexico & she was born and raised in Santa Ana, CA. Wendy & Jackie met when they were both living in D.C.

Tune in to learn more about their journey!

Follow Spanish Sin Pena

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spanishsinpena/

Website: https://spanishsinpena.teachable.com/

Follow Werk Mija:

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TikTok: @werkmija

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Website: https://www.werkmija.com

Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas. 

Today I am joined by Laura Santoyo. Laura is the owner of Date Nite Beaute, a cosmetics and accessories brand that inspires date night looks. With a passion for the beauty industry for 25 years, Laura was a makeup artist for almost a decade in her 30’s helping to put herself through college while working 2 other jobs. Due to COVID, she now works with the manufacturers to curate her own brand of makeup. Date Nite Beaute has received celebrity purchases and Laura is a national sponsor with USOA beauty pageants, as well as featured on WGN DayTime Chicago. Now 4 years later, with a lot of tears and sweat, Laura has opened her own cosmetics & accessories storefront located in Berwyn, IL. Tune in to learn more about her journey! Follow Date Nite Beaute: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/datenitebeaute/ Website: https://datenitebeaute.com/ Follow Werk Mija: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/werkmija/  TikTok: @werkmija Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/werkmija Website: https://www.werkmija.com Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas. 

Today I am joined by Elena Flores. Elena is the owner of Sew Bonita, a gift shop located in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was born and raised in Eagle Pass, Texas on the border of Texas and Mexico. Sew Bonita reflects her upbringing with a little bit of Tex-Mex, a little bit of Mexico and a little bit of US. Follow Sew Bonita Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sewbonita/ Website: https://sewbonita.com/ Follow Werk Mija: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/werkmija/  TikTok: @werkmija Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/werkmija Website: https://www.werkmija.com Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas.   

Today I am back with another solo episode! This one is for the entrepreneurs who were debating either dipping their toe into their own physical storefront or even jumping all the way into a traditional commercial space. I had an opportunity to be part of an incubator program in 2023 called the Berwyn Shops where you get to test out the waters at a more affordable and feasible price before jumping in fully to a traditional space. Even for my friends who maybe currently have just opened up their own physical shop, whether full blown on your own, a current Berwyn Shops business or you are a business with a shop at the Batavia boardwalks which is not too far and I know a concept mirrored by the Berwyn Shops, I hope you can take something from this very chatty chismosa talk to make your time with a physical storefront a successful one!

Let’s talk things to consider when opening up a physical storefront like what is your budget for set up? How are you showcasing your brand physically? What do your store displays look like? How are you going to market a physical location to continuously drive traffic? Multiple streams of revenue to sustain this additional overhead cost? Can you even afford this additional overhead cost?

Tune in to hear about my own personal experience plus take notes on some tips and strategies you can implement to improve your own business or to add to your future plan!

If you wanted to dive deeper into some of the topics I mentioned or had even more questions in general, head over to @werkmija on instagram to comment on this episode post! We can make this a multiple part series with some Q&A and expand to other topics!

Follow Werk Mija:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/werkmija/ 

TikTok: @werkmija

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/werkmija

Website: https://www.werkmija.com

Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas. 

Today I am joined by Vanessa Avalos. Vanessa is the founder and owner of Luna y Cielo Play Cafe, a bilingual Spanish playroom supporting parents raising bilingual kids. She is a 2nd gen Mexican American who grew up struggling with her identity because she didn't know Spanish. But she and her twin both separately fought to reclaim their culture and language. Her father also made sure to instill pride in her culture and her mom took her to folklorico classes keeping her rooted in her culture.  

Tune in to learn more about Vanessa's journey!

Follow Luna Y Cielo Play Cafe

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunaycieloplay/

Website: https://www.lunaycieloplaycafe.com/

Follow Werk Mija:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/werkmija/ 

TikTok: @werkmija

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/werkmija

Website: https://www.werkmija.com

Buy Me Cafecito (CLICK HERE): Allow me to continue creating content for our comunidad. Your contribution will allow The Werk Mija Podcast to invest in equipment for production and allow us to hire support to help us continue creating content and a safe space in media for Latinas.