The First Gen Coach: Career Development for Latinas and First Gen Professionals

Money anxiety is a beast. In this episode, I talk through 5 steps you can implement to manage money anxiety while in your job search. I share my experience growing up low-income and continuing to earn a low salary even after I got my master’s degree, and how that led to making an “investment” decision out of desperation and lack of financial literacy. I talk about the lows that come with trying to...

There is a wrong way to apply to jobs that takes forever and gets very little results, and there is a right way to apply to jobs that is much because it focuses your time on activities that will actually move the needle in your job search. This episode explains that 5-step process you can use to apply to jobs faster, without editing four resume for the ATS every single time.  Referenced Episodes: ...

In this episode I share the two crucial steps you need to take in order to get a six figure job. I debunk some myths about six-figure jobs, talk about money mindset, and share exactly what you need to do to get a six-figure job with the skills you already have. No additional schooling or tech bootcamp needed!  Resources and Links How to Land a High-Paying Job: thefirstgencoach.com/freetraining   P...

In this episode, I talk about how I more than doubled my salary in 10 months by job hopping from higher ed to healthcare to tech, and how I have balanced my career along with growing a coaching business. I talk about some extremely low moments in the past couple of years, including being disrespected and laughed at when I brought up a salary increase, and the time when a job offer for $135,000/yea...

This episode is as raw and transparent as it gets. I share how I went from making less than $20k a year for the first ten years of my career, to being on track to making $200k a year by early next year.  I walk you through everything from my first minimum wage job at the mall as an undocumented worker, to my most emotionally draining job as a tutor for students in the foster system, to the moment...

This episode is an open letter to every Black and Brown woman who has experienced career injustices. Being exploited and betrayed in the workplace can and should make us angry, and I am here to tell you it is not only safe to express that anger, but absolutely necessary. Because rage is part of the healing process.  Don’t miss out on:  WHY it’s okay and necessary to feel and express your anger and...

This episode answers one of the most common questions I have gotten since I started a business: what’s it like having a podcast. In one word: HARD! But this is where today’s guest, Podcast Relaunch Strategist Kristin Quiroz Bayona, comes in. Kristin shares her insight on why podcasting is such a powerful and intimate form of media, and talks about why we need more BIPOC + historically excluded voi...

This episode is all about increasing your confidence during salary negotiations by advocating for yourself right now, regardless of how long you’ve been at your job. I share examples of how I have advocated for myself at different points in my career and how that gave me the self-advocacy muscles needed to negotiate my salary. I also share how my client was able to negotiate her salary to the very...

Grad school can take a toll on mental and physical health, particularly for women of color. Yet there is no denying that it can also play a role in advancing economic mobility. That’s why this episode is all about the good, the bad, and the ugly of graduate school, and what First-Gen BIPOC students, especially First Gen Low Income BIPOC students, need to know if they are thinking about it. My gues...

Learn How to Land a High-Paying Job in Six Months through this free workshop series! Register for FREE here: www.thefirstgencoach.com/register   In this episode, I chat with Maideli Garcia, a financial educator and former teacher who transitioned to the tech sector by leveraging her transferable skills. Maideli shares how she knew it was time to transition careers, the steps she took to get there,...

Learn How to Land a High-Paying Job in Six Months through this free workshop series! Register for FREE here: www.thefirstgencoach.com/register   Today’s episode is all about the nervous system, what it is, and how learning to understand it and listen to its wisdom can help you increase your salary. I talk with Yuritzy Gomez Serrano (she/her/ella), a licensed therapist and somatic coach. Yuri share...

South Florida! Join me on Friday, April 26th for a moderated discussion with Giovanna González-Chávez, aka Gigi The First Gen Mentor, author of Cultura & Cash! This is the LAST stop in her book tour! If you’re in the area, you definitely want to be there! Register for FREE here . __ Today’s episode is another Financial Literacy Month conversation, this time with Money Coach Aqura Nicholson. Earnin...

Exciting Announcement! I will be leading a salary negotiation workshop during the Riqueza Reimagined Virtual Summit on April 26th! Join my mailing list and stay tuned for a chance to win one FREE VIP Ticket ! Today’s episode is the second installment in my Financial Literacy Month series. Today’s guest is Lizbet Barajas of @LizbetTalksMoney. In this conversation, we talked about everything from pa...

This episode is a behind the scenes look at the struggles and insecurities I experienced when I more than doubled my salary in 10 months. I talk about the risk that I took in accepting a short-term contract position and how I was able to use that contract as an opportunity to break into and learn more about the tech sector.  With Financial Literacy Month kicking off this week, I wanted to acknowle...

In this Career Spotlight episode, Laura Valdes, founder of Valdes Language Services, shares her career journey and insight as a skilled linguist and owner of a language services agency. Laura, whose love for languages and bridging communication gaps was influenced by her Colombian heritage and Pakistani stepfather, breaks down the distinction between informal language services and the professional...

In this episode, Leslie Lew, founder of Reclaiming Your Courage, discusses trauma-informed self-defense and the intersection of self-defense and the workplace. Leslie emphasizes the importance of building psychological safety within yourself and the need for consent in self-defense practices. Leslie advocates for assertiveness without aggression and shares her experiences and insights on standing...

This episode is all about the ways you could be betraying yourself in your career. So much of what we are taught about the workplace and how we “should” show up at work is actually just self-betrayal. Listen for three specific things to watch out for that may be a sign you’re betraying yourself in your career.  Resources and Links Private 1:1 Coaching: https://calendly.com/thefirstgencoach/discove...

Job interviews set the stage for the type of working relationship you will have if you decide to accept the position. That’s why advocating for yourself, even from the very beginning of that working relationship, is extremely important. In this episode, I go over ten ways that you can advocate for yourself during the job interview process.  Plus, I share a story of a time I broke my own job interv...

This episode is a conversation with attorney turned professor turned life coach Asha Wilkerson. Asha talks about working in Big Law, starting her own law practice, pivoting into academia, and then walking away from it when it was no longer fulfilling.  Asha shares how she created her own paths and followed her own models of success multiple times throughout her career and life. She talks about the...

This episode is all about the job offer funnel! This is a framework I developed while studying the marketing a sales funnel that takes customers from aware of a product to a loyal customer. In your job search, you are similarly moving random strangers from aware of you and your skills, to loyal managers that are incentivizing you to stay on their team. There are seven steps to this funnel. In this...

Job interviews don’t always come after you apply to a job. Sometimes, you may be having a casual conversation, but your story and the way you speak are so captivating, that the person you’re speaking starts thinking about ways they could bring you on to their team. THAT is how you can turn a casual conversation into a job interview. In this episode, I share examples of how to do this. I also talk...

This episode is a conversation with Latina Leadership Coach Alejandra Thompson. We talked all things leadership, integrity, personal and career values, and community-building. We each shared our journey into becoming career coaches, what we learned along the way, and why it is so important for first gens and Latinas to invest in themselves and make bold commitments to their goals! We also talked a...

Your next job is going to come from a person, not a job board. This is gonna require you to ask for help and to lean on others as you seek your next job opportunity. But this is something that can feel very, very dangerous if you have interpersonal wounds.  In this episode, I talk about why asking for help can feel so dangerous and how to trust yourself that you CAN find people who are safe and wh...

This episode is a conversation with my client Demi Rafuls , who was able to increase her salary by 40% after working together inside private 1:1 coaching. We talked about her experience working with me after having completed her master's degree, and how it was the missing piece that she needed for her career advancement. Much more remarkable than the job offer and career clarity Demi achieved thro...

Listen to Part 1 here - Episode 74: What to Do Before a Job Interview .  In this episode, I talk about what to DO during a job interview, not just what to say. Remember, interviews are a two-way conversation. You can and should be interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you. You also have the freedom to express yourself authentically and to let them know your interview style. Liste...