Unsolicited Advice from a Nobody

Two letters. One syllable. Almost fifty years to figure out how to use it. NO. For most of my life, I’ve been the person who says yes. Yes, I’ll help. Yes, I’ll take care of it. Yes, of course I have time! Spoiler alert: I didn’t always have the time. From childhood expectations and questionable decisions to career ambitions, motherhood, and learning to let go of things I genuinely love, this epis...

What happens when something you love doing quietly becomes a much bigger part of your life? For me, it started long before Zumba. It started with a ten-year-old girl dancing alone in a dark living room, imagining a huge stage filled with people who somehow knew exactly the same choreography she did. Years later, I walked into a Zumba class in the U.S., discovered Melissa, fought my way to the fron...

Have you ever looked at your life and thought… wait, where the hell did I go? I started writing this episode in the middle of the night in Corfu, surrounded by beautiful beaches, my children, friends and everything that should have made me happy — except I wasn’t. Somewhere between moving countries, motherhood, family, responsibilities, aging, perimenopause (or, as I prefer to call her, peri meni...

What if rejection isn’t something to fear… but something to understand? In this episode, I look back at the moments in my life that began with a simple “no.” A doll I never got as a little girl. Friends I thought didn’t want me around. Jobs I didn’t get. Relationships that didn’t work. Comments that shook my confidence. For years, I saw these moments as setbacks. Looking back, I see something very...

Do I believe in soulmates? Not exactly. In this deeply personal episode of Unsolicited Advice from a Nobody (UAFAN) , I share my journey through first kisses, first love, heartbreak, betrayal, marriage, divorce, unforgettable dates, and everything in between. This isn’t a list of relationships. It’s a collection of lessons. Looking back, I realized that every person who crossed my path taught me s...

Friendship means something different to everyone, but when I look back at my life, I realize I remember it through people more than anything else. In this episode, I take you through the friendships that shaped different versions of me — from childhood memories in Ambato, Ecuador, to teenage years without social media, folded notes passed during class, the famous “Tontódromo,” modeling, moving to...

This episode wasn’t planned. It was necessary. In this deeply personal episode, I talk about the emotional cost of constantly trying to become “something” while balancing motherhood, ambition, dreams, responsibilities, creativity, exhaustion, and the invisible pressure to keep functioning no matter what. Late at night, while everyone sleeps, I reflect on identity, self-doubt, childhood dreams, Zum...

I’ve never told this story before. Not to friends. Not publicly. But today, someone used that moment against me… and I realized it was time to finally say it out loud. This is the story of the night I went to jail. Not the version people assume. Not the version that gets remembered. But what it actually felt like… from the inside. A normal Tuesday night. Two glasses of wine. A moment that changed...

Every time I travel, I discover something about myself…sometimes something new, and sometimes something I didn’t even realize I had forgotten. In this episode of Unsolicited Advice from a Nobody , I share personal travel stories — from childhood road trips in Ecuador, to moving countries, traveling for love, and unforgettable moments with friends across the world. This is not about destinations. I...

Where are you from? Sounds like a simple question… until it’s not. In this episode of Unsolicited Advice from a Nobody , I take you through my journey from Ecuador to the United States, Greece, and Germany — navigating identity, culture, language, and what it really means to belong. Growing up in a vibrant Latin culture, adapting to life as an immigrant, building a multicultural community, and now...

I waited 39 years to become a mother , so by the time my first baby arrived I thought I was prepared. I had done the research, listened to everyone’s advice, and filled my house with every baby gadget the internet recommended. Then my son was born… and suddenly everything I thought I knew about motherhood stopped working. In this episode of Unsolicited Advice from a Nobody , I talk about late moth...

In this episode of Unsolicited Advice from a Nobody , I go back before moving forward. Before the independence. Before the questionable decisions. Before the “educational life experiences.” I was the fourth child. Actually, the fifth. The last girl in a house that had already lived through all the “firsts.” And when you’re not the first, you learn something different. You learn to adapt. You learn...

There was a time I left my house at 11pm in high heels. Now I wake up at 6am in sneakers packing snack boxes. In this deeply personal episode of Unsolicited Advice , I share my journey from a vibrant single life in Atlanta — filled with house parties, international friendships, and Dinner with a Passport — to becoming a 39-year-old new mom in Germany navigating expat life, late motherhood, identit...

Every time someone asks me “So… what do you do?” I pause. Not because I haven’t worked — but because the answer depends on which version of me you’re asking about. In this episode, I talk about my career journey — or better said, my detours. From early jobs and corporate roles to moving countries, starting over, feeling behind, and learning that a career doesn’t always follow a straight line. This...

Have you ever changed countries, jobs, or lives… and suddenly felt like you had to start over as a completely different version of yourself? In this episode, I talk about what happens when familiarity disappears, confidence wobbles, and you realize you’re rebuilding more than just a routine. This isn’t a how-to. It’s a reflection on identity, starting from zero, and the quiet strength it takes to...

Ever get hit with a random memory and instantly want to relocate? Same. In this episode, I’m taking you through my personal Cringe Chronicles: a very public pool mishap, a first-date product misunderstanding, a spicy-food “confidence flex” gone wrong, a workplace spelling disaster, and a German sauna moment that taught me humility. We’ll laugh, we’ll cringe, and we’ll remember: embarrassment is ju...

If you still cringe about something you did 20 years ago, this one’s for you. In this episode, I talk about some of my most unforgettable “first times”: my first day of kindergarten surrounded by crying kids while I was just happy about toy day, my first crush (ft. my sister pulling my pants down in public ), my first kiss, my very questionable “first love”, my first breakup, and even my first day...

In this very first episode of Unnecessary Advice from a Nobody , I finally answer the question: Who am I, and why on earth am I giving advice? I’m Sonia – a 40-something mom, expat, overthinker, Zumba addict and professional collector of life experiences. I’ve been a cashier, receptionist, sales assistant, secretary, marketing consultant, wife, ex-wife, girlfriend, friend who gives “just one more...