Say it Sister...
Lucy and Karen, two 40-somethings, are always chatting about life, and all that it has to throw at them, and now want to share their raw, honest conversations with you. Their journey of self-discovery and healing is something many of us can relate to. We all possess a unique power within us, but life’s trials often knock us off course. They have the tools, the courage to speak up and simply say it as it is, so you might feel seen, and understood and gain practical tools and techniques for self-discovery and personal growth during the changes we experience.
Say it Sister...
Embracing Sistershood and Breaking Barriers: Patricia Corsi
The episode explores the transformative power and necessity of women's support within sisterhood. Patricia Corsi shares her inspiring journey of creating Good Latinas for Good, emphasising the importance of mentorship, community, and women's empowerment while breaking down barriers and changing societal narratives.
• Personal stories of connection and transformation
• Recognising the unique challenges faced by Latin women
• The significance of fostering supportive environments
• Challenging competitive narratives among women
• The role of mentorship in empowering through shared experiences
• Addressing the stigma surrounding motherhood and career
• Commitment to emotional intelligence and holistic growth
• Conversations about navigating the corporate landscape
• Encouragement for women to uplift each other
• Advocacy for open dialogues about women's experiences
https://goodlatinasforgood.com/about/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciacorsi/
Hello and welcome to the Say it Sister podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm Lucy and I'm Karen, and we're thrilled to have you here. Our paths crossed years ago on a shared journey of self-discovery, and what we found was an unshakable bond and a mutual desire to help others heal and live their very best lives.
Speaker 1:For years, we've had open, honest and courageous conversations, discussions that challenged us, lifted us and sometimes even brought us to tears. We want to share those conversations with you. We believe that by letting you into our world, you might find the courage to use your voice and say what really needs to be said in your own life.
Speaker 2:Whether you're a woman seeking empowerment, a self-improvement enthusiast or someone who craves thought-provoking dialogue, join us, as we promise to bring you real, unfiltered conversations that encourage self-reflection and growth.
Speaker 1:So join us as we explore, question and grow together. It's time to say say it, sister, hey, hey, hey. Everyone, we are back and in this episode we are saying that sisters need to support other sisters and be each other's biggest supporters. And we have a guest today who is doing just that. Patricia Corsi believes in supporting women so much that she got straight into action and founded a not-for-profit called Good Latinas for Good, supporting 100,000 Latin origin women to take their steps to professional empowerment by using the powerful connections and experiences of the founders themselves and mentors. Let me tell you you'd feel blessed to have Patricia as your own mentor.
Speaker 1:She has built some of the world's biggest brands and, born in Brazil, she has lived and worked in the UK, the Netherlands, mexico and now in Switzerland. She is named the top 50 most influential CMOs in the world by Forbes and WFA Marketeer of the Year Hall of Fame and WFA Marketeer of the Year Hall of Fame, aw Brand Genius and Campaign Magazine's Top 100 Honorees. I'm impressed and honoured that she is here with us today and before we meet her, I say good morning to Karen. How are you and why don't you tell us a little bit about how you met Patricia?
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, it was a life-changing experience for me and it was going back quite a while, 2017. I flew to Mexico and I met Patricia and just something just shifted. I don't know, I can't really put it into words, but I think it was a meeting of hearts, a meeting of minds, and we just had a great connection. But I also remember how much we laughed and there was like this air of celebration and you know, there was a celebratory energy between us that I just remember sort of. You know, we did a retreat it was a leadership retreat and at the end we were celebrating and we were dancing and, you know, know, laughing, and I love that.
Speaker 2:You know, when women come together, we can do really deep, important work and, at the same time, we can celebrate and we can lift each other up and we can have laughter and joy.
Speaker 2:And there's something different about women when they work together in the space where there's no threat, where it's respectful and there's a genuine engagement. It truly, truly is, is inspiring. And so Patricia literally has changed my life, because meeting her was, you know, a point in my journey when I'd been doing a lot of work with women in women's circles, and then I met Patricia and she was this very corporate, very heart-centered woman doing amazing work in the world on a corporate platform globally, and she just took me in. She took me into her world. We worked together and then she introduced me to other amazing women and then we worked together and it's grown from there and so I can put her down as one of the people who has shifted something for me in my business, in in my life and in the way that I view the feminine as something that is sensitive and powerful. So thank you, patricia, and welcome, to Say it, sister.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God, what to say after that intro. Thank you so much for saying that, and I've also remember, with a lot of good feelings in my heart, when we met in a place in Mexico where, believe it or not, we got snowed in. We couldn't leave and if we tell this to people, people normally don't we had to be rescued by helicopters because it got to a point where we didn't have food or toilet paper. So it was, it was a bit crazy, but it was Karen and I and I think 10 or 12 men, um, and it was an interesting. It was not the first time in my life where I was the only the only woman in in the executive team, but I think it was the one where I felt the most. And Karen also appeared in my life in a moment where she brought her wisdom and her heart. Her heart is bigger than herself and it was. It was really also very important to me as well, and and I. It's interesting how, when we meet other women, that helps us, uh, and lift us up, how it's a wonderful experience, and often we see women doing the opposite. Um, and and and this is the thing that I've I, I put my heart and my mind into it, because sometimes I think women just they were not used to it.
Speaker 3:I come on a generation that there was when there was one up there, when there was one because there was often there was none.
Speaker 3:I have a sense because I really don't want to judge, I want to try to put myself on other people's shoes and I think they thought there is only one space, so I have to keep that and no one else can come.
Speaker 3:So if there was another woman coming up so I need to push her down because there is just one space. When it's actually I don't think it's like that, but I think we were raised to think like that and I think we were raised to be more intellectual and more competitive in other manners than men and I think when we move to the working space, I don't think this serves us that well and there are many things that we can do in our generation to help that. I think keeping women in sports when they're younger I think helps this collective understanding and this team spirit and this trust. But, yes, I think the more we have women lifting us up, like Karen did to me and I was happy to hear that I had a small impact for her, I think the better we are going to be. It's a better experience in life, and I think this is what we take when we live this life right.
Speaker 1:I've got to say that I've spoken about this in previous episodes, but growing up I was always taught that, you know, girls were bitches and they couldn't be trusted, and it's a lie that has kept us in competition and separated from one another. And yet my lived experience and especially as I've got older and got wiser is that actually I've only ever really thrived when I've had women supporting women, or I have been supporting other women. So I'm glad you spoke to that and that kind of leads us beautifully into the work that you're doing now with Good Latinas for Good. You know, creating this platform like you have. So I guess my first question is what's it all about and what was the need that you felt that you needed to respond to?
Speaker 3:Well, look, I think we come from the same generation and I think we have a job to do to not perpetuate some of those things, right? So I think this is one of the things that, yeah, I would say, shame on me if I don't do anything about it. And, honestly, I had this project on Good Latinas for Good for a long time and, honestly, I had this project on Good Latinas for Good for a long time and interesting, I went to a very transformational program on a company called Mobius. That is called Discovery and it's all about how you discover yourself to be the best leader that you can be, and for me, it was a transformational moment. And when I got back home, I remember it was, you know, one week in Portugal. I came back home and I started thinking what am I going to do differently with this experience? And I went to to.
Speaker 3:I have so many little books with ideas and things like this, and I went to some of this book and said why this is not coming to life. The need is there. I have so many people asking me for advice in LinkedIn and sending me notes and introducing, asking me to introduce people and connect. And the response was because I was always thinking about how do I do this myself? And I never have time. And, and it was, it was a click that I said, oh my God, I'm, I'm going, I'm going about this all wrong. So I've sent a message to 13 women that I knew, um, and I said, look, I'm thinking about this, um, and, and it was 13 latin women, right? So I was always the idea first pop in my mind when, a long time ago, I was in the female quotient event and there was there the gender gap, payment gap, and Latina was the worst one there was. I think it was 50 cents to a dollar. So I see a lot of work happening to help to bridge the gap with Black women, with white women, with even Asian women, but I haven't seen anything to help Latin women, which are the worst in the worst position. And I said, okay, so that was the trigger at that point. Right? So what is holding us back? And, being from a Latin origin I'm Brazilian, as you have mentioned at the beginning I remember all the things that we had to face and I remember all the issues.
Speaker 3:I you know, karen, when I was in Mexico, I had two women from my team, two young professionals from my team that they came to me and said well, I just want to tell you that I'm resigning because I'm thinking about getting pregnant. And I said what why? Well, you know, because it's not possible to be a mom and to be wife and to work. And I said where did you get this? She said look around. You are the first woman in 136 years. So it was, it was, and, by the way, this lady continues in the job. She has two babies now, and so there are a lot of those stories that we need to help, and only women and other women that do not have kids that are judged. And there are women that are married that are judged. There are women that are not married that are judged. There are so many reasons to judge.
Speaker 3:So I sent this note to these 12 women. I said look, I'm thinking about this. I would be honored if you would join me, and we have just a couple of principles Everything that we do is for free and we don't judge if you can't have time to help more. Everyone does what they can do, and so I've sent 13 emails. I got 12 positive response and this is how we kick off, and it's one year and a half, we have now supported almost 5 000 women, um, and everything we do is for free.
Speaker 3:We do it our in our free time, um, we have, uh people that support us, uh, you know, giving mentoring classes to the mentors, um, but it's fantastic to see People think that we are helping them and I think we are. From what we hear from them, I think they have no idea on how much they help us. The energy that I get after every single session and the energy that I see, by the way, because the other thing we do is every month, we have a call with this 12 women and and not all the time we have the 12, because everyone is super busy in different time zones but every time we are together and people say this is my moment of mental health for myself, and when you hear those things, then I said, okay, I'm check, I'm doing something good, I'm happy, but this is how it came about and this is how you're going. But it's, yeah, it's, it's a labor of love, more than anything.
Speaker 2:I love it because you're talking about positive triggers as well and the idea of you know. When we think about triggers, we often think about oh, something is triggering me and it's a negative. But this idea of you know something can come from that is. You know it's a negative to start with. It starts off this trigger point, but actually the trigger point can be totally positive if we face into it, if we consider how we can move through it and if we decide how we can, you know, bring people with us.
Speaker 2:You've created something so incredibly beautiful from a challenging, tough narrative that has you know, once we have these narratives, it becomes a reality. You know people around us, we watch what's going on around us, we look at society, we look at culture and we think, well, it's not possible for them. Therefore, it's not possible for me. And the story that you shared I do remember you saying to me when you were working in Mexico how people women were saying to you well, you're the first one here, you're the first one that's made, you're the first woman that's made it onto the board, and the pressure that came with that to some people to think, wow, I have to do a good job here because I am leading the way for other women to come and join me. You know, and you did a fantastic job there and you always do a fantastic job, and I've watched your career and I've seen how you've stepped into leadership from a women's feminine place, but also from a very purposeful seat, and how you, you know, look at the challenges and then you respond and you create something really beautiful from you know, it's like the lotus fire, the lotus flower that sits on top of the murky, dirty, stagnant water, and that's what I see you doing when you take these roles. But there's also a lot of pressure for you to, you know, to do it right, to take people with you, to not shut the door. So I love what you've created because you've taken all of that and you've put it into the fire. And then you've taken all of that and you put it into the fire and then you've created something that is so robust but not alone and with you know these other women that are you know, your, your allies that are, you know on on board with you and then how you get something back. So I just needed to sort of turn it into a bit and just like to double underline it so that the women listening and the men listening can go. That's what the feminine does, that's what leadership is when it's purposeful. And I know your thing is all about for good, and you know it's even in the title of your charity and you know we.
Speaker 2:This is the positive side of feminine empowerment for me and this idea of you know the stigmas and the taboos that we face as women, for us to do our own inner work, to say, well, is that possible for me? What do I truly believe? Because I do believe there is a narrative out there that when women come together, it's dangerous, that women together can't be trusted, and so, obviously, the idea being that, well, just give them one seat, let's separate them from each other. I feel like this is something that's so sinister and you, we're starting to see it more outwardly now.
Speaker 2:I think there was a lot of microaggressions before in terms of how women have been treated in the workplace and in society, so it was like the little small things, but now we're living in a world where this is spilling out in a much more visceral and vocal way, where we're seeing, um, you know, an increase in violence, that kind of thing. So this form of aggression towards women and the feminine. I think it comes from a fear of the power of women, and when you bring women together and you connect them together, this power just gets increased and it becomes more and more powerful. But it can also be very gentle, and I think this is a story that we also need to educate so that we can break the chains and the idea that women need to be separate from each other.
Speaker 3:What's your view on that? Yeah, so when we are together, we are up to no good. Yeah, so when we are together, we are up to no good. But let me start with reflecting back on something that Lucy said.
Speaker 3:I think, when and I, you know, I really do the best that I can to start any thought from a non-judgmental place, you know, because I think this is one thing that I think as a woman, I think we tend to do a lot. So Lucy was talking about, you know, when I start working with other women, I saw the power in it and some women never had that opportunity. So I think, creating those connections, creating this network and that's why women are, you know, we hear a lot of data talking about how women are not as good as networking because they're doing other stuff, but they don't understand that that same network can help them do the rest of the stuff better, more effective, with a more fulfilling approach. With a more fulfilling approach. With that said, I had some bad experience with women and sometimes it felt like they were the worst enemy, you know, and because it's all about having good people around you, right? So goodness doesn't have gender, right, so you can have whatever is your preferred way of identifying yourself, but goodness is goodness and I have had the chance to meet and the people that made the biggest impact in my life were men professionally why they were the only one up there but also the good ones. I had something in my life that put me in the path of the good ones, and the good ones saw something good in me and I worked back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I deliver back on that, but I remember the first time I had on an executive committee a colleague that was a woman. It was very late on my career, was already very senior. She was very horrible. She was the person on the corners making comments about my accent, you know, judging the clothes or judging things. So it was, and when you see that, honestly, the first thought that I had, I said why, why she was doing that. It would be so good to have a partner, right To have someone that has similar experience so we can help to better serve the people that our products are for. But she was very insecure. So when I, when I got to that point that it was her problem, not mine, it it was good. So this was the first thing I said okay, it's her problem, not mine. So I will continue to do things that I've I think are the right things.
Speaker 3:But then I start reflecting on sometimes other women will play out poorly and if I had intimacy, friendship, with them, I would approach them and say is this really you speaking, or is this insecure part of you speaking? Because what is coming across is not productive, is not good, and I know you're better than that. And when you start having these conversations in a way that but it has to be with people that trust that you want the best for them I thought it was really good, because then I start also having these conversations with myself. When I was starting, you know, sometimes when the stress is too high, when you are tired, you know the judgmental part on you find space to grow, and then you're thinking, thinking, am I being this person? Because this is the other thing sometimes, when you and Karen, you were talking about this, when you see, when you come from bad experience, you can use that to propel you to do good, but you can also use that to be clear on what you don't want to be, what you don't want to, what is the inspiration that you don't want to give to people? Right. And one thing for me that I pride myself is I love being a connector. So one of the things that I do a lot is connecting people for their growth, and with Good Latinas we do that. But also, you know, sometimes I give you one example right on how this play I've I don't know it was, I think five years ago or so I got an award.
Speaker 3:I got an award, um, and then, um, I saw another, uh, another lady, actually two ladies in different places of the world, and I said I think you should apply for that. I think you're absolutely going to nail and you're going to win it, and etc. Etc. Etc. Um, and then, of course, they won, of course, but they had no idea that that existed. Like, I didn't right, but nobody, you know, it came to me because I was reading something, but there was no other woman that came to me and said by the way, I think you would be great for that, right. So I said I'm not going to be that person, because I know person in the network that could have done that job. And I said I'm going to be the opposite, I'm going to be the person who is going to spread it out. So they both got it.
Speaker 3:Then the next year I recommended someone else. She got it as well. And I'm saying, okay, these are all women that they're brilliant, but they are, you know, in they. They are not as good as I am in networking, so I'm lending them my superpower because they are lending me some other stuff, right, very good. So fast forward. What happens is one of these ladies, when she was doing the and this was the third one before she there was an interview process with CEOs and et cetera. Very good, she got the award and then the CEO who interviewed her for the award hired her for a job.
Speaker 2:Wow, it does work, doesn't it? You know, when we get elevated, whether that's, you know, I think it's just so important when somebody says something like I think you should go for this, there's like that kind of you know someone seeing you and you feel like, oh, do you think? And I feel like it's that self esteem place of going, oh, okay, maybe then I should, and we go do it. And I feel like, as women, it's so important to find those women who need that boost, but also that part within ourselves to say hold on a minute, I can do this, I am good enough. And for us to step up because, again, again, I think we get very, very good at doing the work, getting the job done. You know, we've got our heads down and there's just something about actually pulling ourselves back and, you know, looking up and looking around us and stepping into our power and knowing that we are worthy and good enough. And sometimes it takes another person to sort of point that out to us. Um, nothing wrong with that, by the way. I think we all need a little boost.
Speaker 2:But it's working this two way, because I feel like we, when we get into the stories and we get into the stories we tell ourselves. You know, the ego is very powerful and that voice is a loud voice and there's always going to be, you know, a villain and a victim and a hero in the stories that we tell ourselves. And that's the space of the ego and the saboteur. I think what's really important for us is to go hold on. Is this a saboteur story that I'm telling myself? Am I making somebody a villain in this situation? Do I need to be the hero or am I making myself the villain and just to work through these different areas within ourselves so that we can get clear on who we are and what we want, and we can also get quite clean within ourselves and fight for, like you say, fight for the good, fight, for the rightful movement, as opposed to being destructive towards each other.
Speaker 2:And you know, because if we've been destructive towards each other, we're also being destructive towards ourselves. We're also being destructive as leaders in the space, and that's what I'm hearing you talk about of, actually, you know, wanting to do better, wanting to do good, but also being willing to do your own inner work so that you can be that force of change and force of good in the world. So thank you for shining that light, because it is something that I don't think gets talked about very often. We might say, oh, that person's got a big ego, um, but the place that they're coming from can be from a very sort of insecure place. So the storytelling is important, you know, and to have those open conversations. Anything you want to say on that, lucy?
Speaker 1:Yeah, as you were both talking, it came to me about how I would show up in my corporate career. And I don't have this anymore now that I've been out of the corporate career for about 12 odd years and I had to really dial up my. It was like my masculine energy to be around this world and survive, I guess, in this world and to be taken seriously, and it meant that I was completely out of balance and almost like not myself, and how that would show up in me would be I guess it's like the gossip, you know because I wasn't able to address the conflict that I was having with whoever it was, I would end up expressing it in a really negative way and, yes, it was me being judgy at times, but it was my way of just like trying to be the victim in my own story or trying to make them out to be the villain, and I would hate myself for it. Afterwards, as soon as I'd done this verbal spurge of everything that coming out, I would feel really crap about myself. And then, you know, give myself a good talking to and then try and then do all of these bids for repair of everything that I've just done, and that was like the cycle that I was in, because I was completely out of balance with that masculine, feminine energy within me.
Speaker 1:I was just trying to survive and I was in my 20s and I think I was still quite immature holding such senior roles, but I had no woman. There were lots of women around me, but they were cold and frosty, which is why I think I had to develop this self. I had no woman looking out for me. There were no sisters there, um offering me support or advice, and even when I went to my leader at the time, um to get a mentor, um, he couldn't find one. There was no senior female leader who would mentor me, and I had to. I had a man who, again, was just mentoring me through his view of the world. Um, so that's what came up for me, uh, so, thank you, it's unlocked a few memories for me. So I guess my next lead into that is trying to understand about how you've managed to balance your masculine feminine energy in your careers and this is to both of you, I guess. Really. So, for the listeners out there, you know, what advice have you got for them, patricia start?
Speaker 3:off with. This is interesting because I've I was raised amongst men and my father only had brothers. His mother died very young. I only had cousins, and so I was raised almost to be a little bit of a tractor.
Speaker 3:So when it came to to the corporate world, which started in the 90s, it felt felt at place, right. So my challenge was how do I feel vulnerable to bring the feminine part of me that is so important for the type of work that I do? But this was more of a personal journey and you know steps that I had to take. Like you, lucy, I had a lot of, yeah, the women that I look around. They were either trying to mimic men in their gesture clothing you know habits and I didn't feel, I didn't feel connected to them. When my son was born, then this, this was a transformation in my life, because then I'm not only you know. Then you bring your motherly side to the office and the other thing you need to learn is how do you balance that? You know you just have one kid at home. People in the office are not your child, are not your children. So this was an interesting balance, right, because we tend to when we overdo, it's not good as well when we nurture too much. So I think the balance for me that really worked was this blend of being direct and pragmatic, with honest care, and I've always tell people if I'm giving you the feedback, if you think this being tough, trust that it comes from a good place when I stop giving the feedbacks because I don't care anymore, right? So when I'm giving the feedbacks because I care, because I'm committed, I'm seeing something that I don't think you are seeing, or maybe you are, but you need someone to bring it in a different perspective to you. But this is one of the ways. The second way was really in the way we start creating an environment for people to thrive, and I'm going to give a couple of examples from my past lives.
Speaker 3:So there was one that I mentioned is that you know when women think that they cannot have children. I kept telling them. They came every single time, and I had a lot of teams that were majority women, and this is something that happens a lot in the marketing area. Every single time, one had to say they're pregnant. They were nervous and I was delighted. It's a life coming. When you hire a woman, you know that if they want, most of the time, if nature allows them, they will have babies, so we hire them in regardless of that. So this was one thing that is still to this date.
Speaker 3:This date, women I see women feeling uncomfortable to tell their bosses that they are having a baby and how this is going to impact their careers. The other thing that I felt was when you the the balancing act of how people see your career development when you have children and your motherly side with your professional side, a lot of people think that this do not go together and I find this very interesting British interesting for the listeners that do not understand that this means not interesting odds for the listeners that do not understand that this means not interesting odds that if you look at the data, the data doesn't say that this is really the thing that the data is telling them. So I find that in this territory, the more we look at the data in this territory, the more we look at the data, the more we can take really well-taught actions towards either changing what is happening in the workplace or improving or stopping some activities. Again, until to this date, there are companies out there that have to this date, there are companies out there that have. You know, coming back from maternity policies that are really not really thought through, or when people have to take care they don't have kids, but they are taking care of their elderly parents.
Speaker 3:Sometimes they lock in in one thing right, so okay, so women, so women, they will have babies.
Speaker 3:And they forget, you know, and that's when we get into lots of territories that I love, because these are the feminine part that we need to bring, but some of it's come with pain as well.
Speaker 3:It's all the part of you know period, you know pains and menopause and all of this which is a big unknown for everyone. But I think, if you start with the right intent and you set your mind to say what am I doing here? To help people to thrive and to help people to be successful and having more fulfilling lives which, by the way, it's to the whole interest of the corporate world, because they will do better work I think the more we do that, I think the more we are going to have better you know better culture, better you know climate in the workspace. I don't know if I answer your question, lucy, but this is what it came to me when you were talking about this and the feminine and the masculine part of it. I think a lot of work has happened, but I think there is still a lot of work to come, still.
Speaker 2:And is this life stage? You know? Know, women go through phases and life stages and experiences in a different way because of our bodies and predominantly it's because of our bodies and our biology, and we can't, you know, I think we've tried to ignore that in the past. Now there's a bigger movement where we're like hold on a minute. We are the generation of women that are starting to say, actually we are not the same in some ways. You know, biologically we're not the same. We have more challenges. You know we have children. It doesn't mean that we don't want to be in the workplace. We still want to be contributing, we still want to be purposeful. But it is different and I feel like we're having the right types of conversations now because through these conversations we can actually look at what's needed. But I think before there wasn't really the space for open conversation.
Speaker 1:We just continued or we pushed through, or women left the workplace you know what, every time I went through one of these life phases whether it was becoming a mother, whether it was that maternity leave, whether it was, you know, the menopause, all of those things every time I came back. I came back better, because I, as a human, had grown. I had so much more empathy, um, for different people in different circumstances, um, I'd had time to stop and reflect. And so why wouldn't you want people you know, support people through those processes? Because, honestly, I do truly believe that we all come back better for that.
Speaker 2:I remember having that conversation with you, patricia, when I, when I was pregnant, and I said to you you know, I don't know what I'm going to do because I'm self-employed, you know, there is nobody who's going to pay. Be paying me if I'm not working. I'm not, I'm not making money. Um, you know, and I was delighted to be pregnant, I'd wanted it for so long. So it was just this, like you know, and there was a part of me that knew it would be absolutely fine and that I would find ways because I'm creative and I'm resourceful. Um, and I remember you saying to me don't worry about it, it will be fine, it will be fine, you will find ways. And you said to me and I will, you. And it was really powerful because I was like, like inside, I had this sense it would be okay, but I also had the fear.
Speaker 2:I didn't know what was on the other side and I didn't know how it was going to be. And then I had you giving me positive, you know encouragement, which really helped me and I came back a different person, as a coach. I came back so much deeper, so much wiser with I can't even put it into words, I wish I could put this into words but I can't. But it was like you know, I could sort of be like breastfeeding Catalina and then I would show up, you know, half an hour later I'm on a call with a client and I just could not believe the presence I had inside me. It was like something had been awakened and I was able to sort of hold space differently.
Speaker 2:And it's really grown from there and the level of empathy and understanding I have now for the feminine and for women and menopause is another one where I go I'm so grateful that I'm having these experiences in my body, in my life, and then I can come and be with other women and hold the space for their experiences. I wouldn't change it, I wouldn't change it for anything. So this is just a beautiful thing to talk about, because I think we often get told of the negative, of the you know, yeah, the negative side of things, and actually, when we can talk about it from what's really going on for us and how it's helped us and how it shaped us, and then how we can talk about it from what's really going on for us and how it's helped us and how it shaped us, and then how we can take other women on a journey, that for me, is a full circle moment.
Speaker 3:But there is something that is it's the good and the bad of marketing Right. So I will get a little bit technical. It's everything that is bad sticks more Right. It's like Vel, velcro things that are good, they go by like teflon, they, they slide out. And when, when, when people are giving examples of anything related to the topics we are talking about, they always use the bad examples. They always use the.
Speaker 3:You know that person came back and she was a mess. That person is taking care of their parents and you know she's never on time. There is very few focus on the ones that are doing really well. And to your points, I have one thing that I've learned with motherhood is to be extremely effective. So my time now it's so valuable. And saying no, you learn to say no. So there's some things that are just a moment in time that is just, you know, a moment in time that is just brilliant.
Speaker 3:But again, I there's so many other experiences and and I just want to make a point, because when the name of the podcast is, say, it's sister. So I want to talk, uh, to some sisters that do not have kids for their choice, or sometimes they couldn't, it was not their choice and I feel a lot of prejudice towards them as well. You know, and hearing things in the office like the cat lady it is not said in a good way, right, said in a good way, right. And so I think stop looking people through those lenses, right, and looking people through the lenses of what's the good work that they're doing from a leadership point of view, from, you know, team building and people development point of view, performance point of view, and stop this ridiculous judgment. And again, and that's why Say Sister is so good for that, because I do not see other men doing this to themselves If they're single, well, there is a good adjective for that. If they have divorced, there is a good adjective for that. If women divorce, there must be a mess. If men divorce, they are going to their best years.
Speaker 3:It's crazy, it's completely unacceptable that we don't stop that narrative, and by stop that narrative I mean that we don't talk about it anymore. So I have someone that I deeply love that sometimes she calls herself the cat lady and I said don't do that. Don't do that, because there is a stigma that comes behind it. That is not you. You're an animal lover for sure. You're someone that has a higher purpose to help beings that cannot help themselves, for sure, but don't put yourself, don't lock yourself in a box, the same way that I've never liked being locked in a box of the Latina.
Speaker 3:And one funny thing well, funny, funny to not say said when I was doing the, because in the Good Latinas for Good, I'm also the art designer using AI, because I'm really bad at it. Every time that I prompt something like give me a Latina thing, it always comes like a sexy thing, you know, with cleavage, with big hair, with short skirt, and then I put non-sexualized Latina and then what they do? They put glasses on her. So this is to say this is a non. This doesn't have AI, doesn't have feelings, so it just shoots out what the data tells you. So the data tells us that we have decades of things to change. And how do we change that? We change little by little, but we change by not repeating the same things that happened in the past and really focusing on the things that matter.
Speaker 3:You know, if there is someone that you know we also need to do our job, that is, start talking openly about things.
Speaker 3:So I've been very open about I had two miscarriages and nobody talks about it and it's a horrible period for the couple, for anyone that had it.
Speaker 3:You don't need to do it alone, right, but some of those things in the office you feel like a failure. You feel like, oh, the thing that I was designed to do by whatever is the force that you believe in, I'm not capable of doing. So you feel like a failure, and having someone that can bring you back it's very helpful, because sometimes you know and, karen, you were talking about it, you know it, but having someone that you trust and love telling you that it makes a world of a difference. I have another wonderful friend of mine, spanish friend of mine that she keeps telling me. She says we know stuff. What you're telling me I know, but you tell it so good, and she does the same to me. So I think there is, even if you know, I think this knowledge of knowing someone cares enough deeply about you to stop everything that they're doing, to come and and be with you and be there.
Speaker 1:I think this is, um, what part of our quest is, with the work that Karen and I do together, um and it is just saying it out loud uh, speaking those taboos, sharing that wisdom, because what we've learned is every time we do it, we have a positive impact, and so let's almost like, say it for 2025. And I wish we could talk for longer, but it's time to wrap up. What would you like to say, karen?
Speaker 2:I feel like we've covered so many issues today that are really, really important issues, and thank you for being so open and for bringing those issues back onto the table with us, because we talk a lot about things like miscarriage and menopause and we share these experiences and I know it helps so many women because you know, it's about being that safe place.
Speaker 2:It's about being a harbour for these conversations. I feel like I can hear it in my throat. There's a lot of movement going on in my body as things are starting to sort of lift up and out, and it's sort of like here at the moment and I feel like there's so much more that I want to say and, at the same time, to know that what we've talked about is enough and that this will touch people in different ways. I want to say thank you for your time and your space and your storytelling and for everything that you do and bring. I know you, but I know that people are going to get a lot from today's conversation and here's to doing it differently in 2025, and let's start with our voices.
Speaker 3:Thank you, patricia thank you both for the work that you do and for having me here. I had lots of fun and it's great to start 2025 doing this, sharing our stories, and if they can benefit one person, it's one person enough, so I'm I'm happy with it, thank you.
Speaker 1:So thanks for listening and we can't wait to welcome you next time.
Speaker 2:Until then, use your voice journal, speak or sing out loud. However you do it, we hope you join us in saying it's a star.