Episode 173
Valeria Aloe, Author of Uncolonized Latinas
In today’s episode, we chat with Valeria Aloe, the author of Uncolonized Latinas; Transforming Our Mindsets And Rising Together. Valeria possesses over 20 years of experience in finance, marketing, and business development, she is also a trainer and public speaker.
Valeria was born in Argentina and after getting her Business degree, she came to the US to get her Masters from Dartmouth University. Her grandmothers are her biggest inspiration because of the sacrifices they made.
According to Valeria, the Latin American countries and Hispanic culture holds limiting beliefs about who they are and what achievements they can get when they go to the US. The thesis of the book is for Latinos to become more aware of limiting cultural beliefs that hold them back, and then letting them go.
In her book, Valeria mentions systemic biases and the best way to overcome them is by working on yourself. Not waiting for the system to change, to become responsible for overcoming those limiting beliefs, not being afraid to speak up and ask for what you need to succeed.
Once you have identified your limiting beliefs, and have started working on yourself, you must take assertive action which involves two steps:
- Learning to create your own brand, to bring your full self to the table. This is about finding your value, understanding what you bring to the table, knowing, knowing what makes you, YOU, and looking to the unique skillset and the values that have to offer.
- Creating and finding Allyship. Latinas need to do more by going out there and connecting with allies, and asking for what they need, whether it's asking for sponsorship, getting mentorship, learning from others, observing what works for those who are non-Latino, navigating the system by learning and expanding your network outside of the Hispanic community.
Valeria’s book writing process was new for her, having corporate background which had taught her to think sequentially but when she started writing her book, the creation process was messy and uncomfortable. She learned that she had to sit and be open to receiving information without trying to put it into categories. Her publishing company gave her a lot of support by giving writing workshops, coaching from other writers.
In conclusion, the advice she would give to creatives is to pay attention to your instincts. Don't try to silence the intuition that you have, follow the intuition in that messy process. It will guide you to the path that is important for people.
As for the allies, offer Latinas help, be willing to lend a hand, to offer guidance, since they don't speak up and ask for what we need.
To other Latina women, her message is to believe in themselves, to realize the power they have individually and collectively as a community, and not be afraid to bring their full selves to the world because what they have to offer is needed. It matters. It makes a difference.
You can connect with Valeria on
LinkedIn: Valeria Aloe
Book: Uncolonized Latinas
Copyright 2024 Mark Stinson
Transcript
auto generated transcript
Mark (:Welcome back friends to our podcast. And today we're going to gain creative inspiration and unlock our creativity to overcome our limiting mindsets, you know, through the stories of some very interesting stories and experiences of immigrant Latinas. My guest is author, Valeria Aloe. Valerie is so good to have you on the program.
Valeria (:Thank you so much for having me, Mark
Mark (:And Valeria's new book is called Uncolonized Latinas, and the subtitle is transforming our mindsets and rising together. Valeria couldn't help but notice this title, this Uncolonized Latinas, it's such a word you've chosen. What were your thoughts behind this word?
Valeria (:You know I've been in the US for 20 years. I'm from Argentina. So I'm an immigrant, even though I've been here for 20 years. Okay. Half of my life, a long time. And I noticed throughout this time through my own personal experiences and that of hundreds of Latinas, I worked with, that we come from a culture, Hispanic culture, Latin American countries with limiting beliefs about who we are and what's possible for us to achieve in the US. So we have not yet tapped into our real power. And based on that, the premise of the book is becoming more aware of those limiting cultural beliefs that hold us back, like feeling unworthy, feeling inferior, feeling that we bring to the table doesn't matter, or will not make a difference. Feeling that speaking up will not move the needle. So the book is about uncolonizing, all those limiting beliefs and letting go of them.
Mark (:Very good. Well, as you said, born in Argentina got graduated. High school, got your BA business and then came to the US to go to Dartmouth for your MBA. Yeah. One of the things I was fascinated by was the dedication. You dedicated the book to those who have paved the way for you a lot of your education and then coming to the US was paved by those who came before you and your family. Particularly you, you call out your grandmother's Berta and Elena, well, how did they inspire you?
Valeria (:They inspired me because I was the first one in my family to have opportunities they didn't have. So I understand what they had to sacrifice. I understand because I grew with that. You know, they had dreams too, and they didn't have the space, the resources, the opportunities to make those dreams a reality in a way they have limited possibilities. And that help me value really deeply, what I received in this life, the opportunities the doors are open. That's how they pave the way by allowing me to really embrace and be thankful in a good way. And by being thankful, I say sometimes in my culture, we are just thankful and we don't go for more. I'm thankful for what I have now. What I mean here is I'm thankful for the opportunities that opened up for me because they taught me to go after them because I could, and they could not because of the circumstances.
Mark (:Well, you raise a good point that I wanted to ask you about because while your book is very motivational and you do say, we need to overcome certain limiting beliefs, you also speak to systemic biases that still exist. And do, you know, put up roadblocks to Latinas that need to be overcome. What, is your sense of the sort of lingering systemic biases that we need to address?
Valeria (:So systemic biases are real it exists. We know that it's been getting better in a way that we are all more aware of our own unconscious biases. We all have unconscious biases. The system itself is changing, creating new opportunities for diverse women. However, where the book comes from is you have to do the work yourself. Don't wait for the system to change, become responsible for overcoming those limiting beliefs and the world around you will change because you will step up in your power. You will not be afraid to speak up and ask for what you need to succeed. You know, these behaviors today are not very frequent to Latinas. We have a hard time asking for what we need and going out there and stepping up and having visibility and asking for sponsors and mentors for our careers. So in essence is what can I do as a Latina to self-empower. I'm not going to wait around for the system to change. I'm going to start affecting change by starting with me. That's the promise of the book.
Mark (:Well, and there are some action steps that you recommend towards the end of the book, like building your network, like building your personal brand what are things like that? How do they help? In other words, you're talking about, Hey, you need to come out, and ask for what you need. How does a network and how does a personal brand help support that?
Valeria (:That's extremely important. So once you identify and start overcoming those inner voices that have been holding you back, it is time to take assertive action. And as you mentioned, Mark, there are two pillars of assertive action. One is to learn, to create your own brand, to bring your full self people to say, bring your full self to the table. What does that really mean? Right? How do I build my personal brand? And how do I bring my unique voice without having to change who I am? Because when you try to change who you are, it sounds fake. So it's about finding your value, understanding what you bring to the table, I recommend even taking notes right down. What makes you, you, and looking to the unique skillset and the values that you bring to the table do not be afraid to touch your own horn, to dedicate part of your calendar daily, to talk about your successes to others.
Valeria (:That's important to build your career and part of building your brand. So the culture of silence that we come from is not effective when you want to pass your career in the US. It's about putting yourself out there in an assertive way. And the second pillar, which is what we're doing here is allyship, right? You are now being my ally. You're creating the space for me to bring these diverse stories, my unique journey, the journey of other Latinas. So that's what we to do more as Latinas to go out there and connect with allies and to essentially ask for what we need, ask for that sponsorship, that mentorship learn from others, observe what works for those who are non-Latinos. How does the system work? How can I facilitate my own journey, navigating the system by learning and expanding my network outside of the Hispanic community.
Mark (:I'm so glad you brought up this word ally, because it's been mentioned to me by others. And sometimes I don't feel like an ally, but maybe you can help define the word a little bit better, cuz clearly I'm the baby boomer, white male, in the room. And then it's easy to sort of take the blame or feel now I'm the victim as much as anybody else or feel guilt for maybe past acts. But now you think just giving a or turning on the microphone in a podcast and letting you tell your story, is that how some way an ally?
Valeria (:Yes. I would say allyship has many layers. Just being curious and trying to understand what diverse women, diverse groups go through and feel that's allyship. And I will give you a data point. I love data when I did a pre-sale campaign for my book, 70% of books were purchased by allies. So I wrote a book for Latinas and 70% of the books were for allies. And then I asked why and I have African American men and women, white men and women. And I said, why are you buying a book that is written for Latinas? And the response was that I want to learn how to help Latina succeed from the insight. I want to understand the mindset. I want to understand the culture. And some people also say, listen, I target the Hispanic market for my work. It helps me to understand the mindset of my consumer. So being an ally starts with being curious and opening the space for conversation. Like we're doing a casual conversation, right? That we are learning from each other and what we do that's allyship. And it goes all the way to providing support, providing guidance, providing, you know, from your expertise and your journey sharing with me, what works for you. That's also allyship. And even speaking about my work to others, that's very powerful. So what we're doing here, that's very helpful is allying.
Mark (:Yes. Well, I think that brings us to maybe talking a little bit about the craftsmanship and your creative process in writing and publishing the book. A lot of people would hear our conversation and say, this is all very good. And it's about mindset and positive thinking and so forth and principle, good, good principles. But I looked at the back and there are 15 pages of references. And you said you like data. It's like, this is not a feel-good book. Only it's highly researched and highly referenced. How did that contribute to your creative process in, putting the book together?
Valeria (:Thank you for asking such a great question because I have to say, I learned I'm coming from a corporate career before I opened my own business, doing training for Latinas and writing the book now actually for multiracial women and incorporate, I was trying to think very sequentially, You know, even though I was in brand management back then and in innovation, I was trained to think sequentially and I found out when I wrote the book, it got very messy and it got very uncomfortable. The creation process is messy. The creation process is uncomfortable because you don't know where you will find it until you get there.
Mark (:Good point. So you can't write the end of the book.
Valeria (:Exactly, exactly. So I interviewed 55 Latinas and I also went through 80 reports, research reports, and data and articles. So the interviews with Latinas brought a lot of emotions to the surface. There was a lot of emotion when I created that space for them to share their stories. These are untold stories. And many times there is trauma in the story of an immigrant in the story of a child of an immigrant. So it led me on that journey that I was not expecting. And I had to sit in my chair and be open to receiving that information without my mind, trying to put that in categories. It's like, I need to allow myself to be comfortable in this trauma, in this sharing from deep experiences in childhood. And then the research part, it was an information overload numbers and data. And at some point, I had to find the system to put that in chapters. But in the beginning, I had to allow myself to be, it was like a big bang of information. And then that started to settle. I started to identify the key themes, but it that messy and uncomfortable in the beginning.
Mark (:And what about your process in working with the publisher? New degree press put your book out. What was that experience like in the kind of back and forth and the logistics of finally getting the book and print,
Valeria (:That was an amazing journey. As a community-driven, publishing experience. And they held my hand throughout the full process. I still remember when professor Coster, essentially gave us weekly workshops to learn how to write. He showed this slide on the screen with thoughts all over the slide. It says this is how to write a book. We look in the beginning, I know talking about the messy part. So that gave me confidence that I was where I was feeling that confusion. And where do I go? You know, where is this going? I was on the right track. That was allowed. It was okay to feel that it was all over the place in a way. And then they held my, and throughout the full editing process, I received coaching from many experts, even authors who have gone through the process. So it's been a very valuable journey cuz they felt supported, you know, Latinas make up for less than 4%, three to 4% of all authors. We're a minority. I had no Latina author to talk to us. So I found the blessing of being part of a community, a very diverse community, all going through the same process.
Mark (:That's so good. Well, let's look to creative call to action. Now I like to sort of anchor and land on. So as a creative person who might be listening to our show, what can we do? And let's break that down. Maybe into three parts. What, what would be the encouraging step that you would give people on their creative journey? Like they're, in the messy phase, what would you say to them?
Valeria (:Yeah. Pay attention to your instincts, your intuition. I could say pay attention to intuition. If the intuition is saying trauma, trauma, trauma, that was my personal experience showing up all the time. And I said I don't want to talk about trauma. Guess what it continues to show up. I, allow that. Don't try to silence the intuition that you have, follow the intuition in that messy process. It will guide you to the path that is important for people.
Mark (:So good. And what about allies? What is the action step that we could take immediately? We, close out our podcast pro platform and we say, okay, I'm ready to take action. What should an ally be thinking
Valeria (:For an ally? I would say, because Latinas may not tend to ask for help. It's very important that allies know that it is okay to offer help. Latinas, we come from a culture of silence and we were told to put our head heads down and do the work because somebody will notice if we do the hard work, guess what? It doesn't work. That's not the way the system works. So
Mark (:Yes, my work will speak for itself. Yes,
Valeria (:Yes, exactly. So for allies to really be aware that Latinas may not speak up and ask for what we need and be willing to lend a hand, to offer guidance, that's extremely important.
Mark (:And then maybe the third thing would be to your fellow Latina sisters. What, what would your call to action be for them?
Valeria (:I want my Latina sisters to believe in themselves to realize the power we have individually and collectively as a community and not be afraid to bring their full selves to the world because what they have to offer is needed. It matters. It makes a difference. So for those Latina sisters who have self-doubts, I want the message to be yes, you can. In the same way that I could. Yes, you can.
Mark (:Terrific. Well, before we close Valeria, I wanna make sure that people know how to connect with you and follow your work and learn more about you. Because certainly, we've been talking about networking and building personal brands. So people are gonna wanna know about you, where can we find you?
Valeria (:Excellent. So I'm very active on Instagram, Valeria Aloe underscore author,(Valeriaaloe_author) and they can also visit my website uncolonizedlatinas.com, where there is a lot of information about the book and a link to all my consulting work that I have done in the last years for, creating training and professional development programs for multiracial women.
Mark (:Well, I wanted to make sure we end on this question of, sort of what's next and what's ahead. You do have a great consulting business, this conscious abundance that really incorporates everything we've been talking about. Doesn't it?
Valeria (:Yes. Yes. So the next step to me right now is to expand the platform, to continue serving more women of color, to meet them where they are, and to bring them the tools they need to continue succeeding. And, part of that is not just the soft skills that people talk about. The self-empowerment negotiation skills. No, we also need safe spaces to have conversations and really express how we feel and what we are going through and realize we are not the only ones. So that's my, vision now is to expand the platform into different spaces, corporations, academia, to support those who are first-generation into those spaces like myself and who may find that they don't belong there. That there's no one around them who can support them. I want them to know that help is on their way. You are not alone.
Mark (:There you go. That's very reassuring and encouraging. Thank you. Well, my guest has been Valeria Aloe. Valeria thanks so much for coming on the show and sharing your story.
Valeria (:Thank you so much, Mark. And thank you for being an amazing alley.
Mark (:Well, I appreciate that.
Valeria (:Really value you
Mark (:I'm gonna try to let that in and leverage that more in the coming days. Thank you.
Mark (:Thank you.
Mark (:As I said, listeners, my guest Valeria Aloe, be sure to check out her book, uncolonized, Latinas, transforming our mindsets and rising together. And I think that's really been her call to action is for us to get together, come together across cultures, across creative stages and processes and get our work and get our voice out into the world. And that's really the point of our podcast. So come back again for our next episode, we'll continue our around-the-world journeys, talking with creative practitioners about how they get inspired and how they, or organize their work. And most of all, how they gain the confidence and the connections to launch their work out into the world. And that's what it's all about with unlocking your world of creativity. I'm Mark Stinson and we'll see you next time.
