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

In this episode, I talk about how to hack your resume with ChatGPT to get more job interviews. I start by grounding you in the knowledge that a single document could never encapsulate the amazing, expanding, outstanding person that you are. With that being said, the state of the job market is going to require self-advocacy and innovation, and that is where ChatGPT comes in. Listen for: An easy to...

In this episode, I describe why and how you need to change your approach to work. I talked about boundaries, communication, selfie energy & flaunting your achievements, keeping receipts to ask for a raise, leaning in to a mentor, and advocating for yourself at work. This is what job hopping is truly about. Because job hopping is not simply the action of switching jobs every 12-24 months. It's abou...

Your cultural foods are not the enemy! That is one of the biggest takeaways from this episode with Food and Holistic Heath Coach Naihomy Jerez. We chatted about the politics of food and wellness, how to reject racists diet culture and reclaim the cultural foods that have been vilified, and what small steps each of us can take to live a life rooted in wellness. In addition to Naihomy being a phenom...

I am serving up some tough love in this episode and asking you to do some deep self reflection. I know you care about your community and that you care about your family, whether biological or chosen. But do you think highly of them? Or do you think that you, and you alone, have the responsibility to solve all their problems? Because if you think that the people you care about are helpless without...

Are there similarities between Corporate America and Survivor? Absolutely! That is what this week's guest, Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt, runner up on Survivor 44, shares in this episode. We talked about her experience moving to the US by herself at the age of 23, how she has built community over and over again, and why she believes that there are so many similarities between succeeding on Survivor and...

This episode is all about asking the right questions during the job interview process. I break down the different stages of a typical job interview process, and give you sample questions you should be asking at each stage. Asking the right questions will help you stand out as a candidate because it shows you did your research and are invested in the role. More importantly, asking the right questio...

My sister is a guest on this episode! Kelly Moreno, also known as ⁠@BookGalKelly on TikTok⁠ , talks about her journey as a working parent and content creator. After taking a four-year hiatus from her career to focus on her two kids, Kelly returned to the workforce but found herself deeply unfulfilled. She talks about the very important question that helped her leave that initial job and pivot in h...

Is it a "good job" or is simply a way to control the workforce? In this episode, I break down the myth of the "good jobs" because what is usually referred to as a good job (family-sustaining wages, retirement benefits, paid leave, etc.) is actually just the bare minimum. I explain what a vesting schedule is and how employers use it to coerce employees into staying in places where they are not valu...

Your job affects your mental health! I've said this many times over the last few years, and in this episode, first generation Latina therapist Daisy Gómez expands on how those effects show up and what you can do about it. Daisy, who is a licensed mental health therapist from Chicago, found her own well-being impacted by the heavy toll of direct service work, so she pivoted and found a way to use h...

If you want to get a new job in the next six months, you need to take action now. If you want to job hop your way to six figures, you need to start your next job with your exit strategy in mind. Both of these goals can be reached with the three steps to job hopping that I detail in this episode. I talked about why each step is important, when to move on to the next step, and how to keep job hoppin...

Today’s guest is Pegleess Barrios, a first gen Latina in Tech based in Ottawa. Pegleess has done some very cool things in her career! She founded the Latine Employee Resource Group (ERG) at Shopify while being in a junior role within the company, she is the co-founder of Latinas in Tech Canada chapter, and she built meaningful relationships that led to advancing in her career. But it wasn’t an eas...

When WOC make more money, they help their communities. It's as simple as that. The cishet white capitalist patriarchy has lied to you and made you believe that the only way to help your community is to be self-sacrificial and work a low-paying job. That's is straight up BS! Releasing that BS, aka unlearning the lies society has taught you, is the first step in job hopping your way to a six figure...

Mayra Garcia lost her home in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. As she puts it, "I got into a mess financially." But she didn't let that stop her. Within a few years, Mayra had turned her finances around, became a certified financial advisor, and now dedicates her time to educating the Latine community on personal finances. All while juggling a career, parenthood, and her many identities...

Have you ever met someone and just known you two are gonna vibe? That's what today's podcast episode is like with Charly Stoever. In this candid, unfiltered conversation full of joy and laughter, Charly and I rage against the cishet white capitalist machine. Also known as, we talk about the why it is imperative for first gen people of color to destigmatize the desire to build wealth. Charly shares...

What if you could "bare minimum" your way to millionaire status? When today's guest, Cat Oliva, shared that, I knew I had to dig deeper. In this episode, financial wellness coach Cat Oliva shares the investment steps we can all take to become millionaires, without scrimping and saving every single penny or making decisions that are not aligned with your values. We also talked about the power of co...

From my first job at the mall making $7.25 an hour to my current job at a publicly traded tech company, I have always followed the same three steps in order to reach my career goals. In this episode, I describe each of the three steps in detail and explain why the are the key to achieving your goals, regardless of how many years of experience you have. I also give concrete examples of: What settin...

When a Latina makes up her mind to achieve a goal, there is no obstacle big enough to deter her. In this episode, I talk to First Gen Guatemalan immigrant Nathalia Segoviano, also known as Mom Money Boss. Nathalia is a part-time money coach who was able to pay off over $40,000 of combined student loan and credit card debt as the breadwinner and sole income earner in her household while also workin...

Is guilt holding you back in your career and in your life? What if you could release that guilt, embrace what brings you joy, and that was the key to creating the life you really want? In this episode, I talk about the different ways that guilt shows up in your career and how it is keeping you from reaching your goals. Whether you realize it or not, we have been conditioned to put the needs of oth...

This is your sign to become your own best advocate in your career! In this episode, I talk about why self-advocacy is important, what it means to be your own best advocate, and how you can self-advocate your way to career success. You will also get three very specific ways you can begin self-advocating today, and learn how to leverage any career opportunity that comes your way.  Are you ready to t...

In this episode of The First Gen Coach Podcast, I talk about the biggest red flag in a job description and what to look for instead. I also teach you how to decode a job description by scanning for four major components. Lastly, after you learn how to avoid the biggest red flags, I talk about the specific actions companies take when they are inclusive, healthy places to work. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMEN...

In this episode of The First Gen Coach Podcast, I talk about the career development cycle. The career development cycle is made up of three stages: exploring possibilities, actively applying, and continuous development. These stages are similar no matter where you are in your career. We all go through them, from the most junior recent grad to the most senior CEO. Tune in to learn how you can make...

In this episode of The First Gen Coach Podcast, I talk about lowering the stakes in your job search, and why that will actually help you advance your career. I share a deeply personal story about the ways in which my job search was harming my mental health, and the decision I made to lower the stakes. Now, I teach this method to all my clients, and it's helped them secure jobs, create boundaries,...

In episode 33 of The First Gen Coach Podcast, I interviewed my coaching client Caroline. Caroline is a first generation Mexican American from the Central Valley in California. She shared her experience working together 1:1 and talks about the value of having both a better job search strategy and doing the mindset work. Through working together, Caroline was able to leave a toxic job, navigate comp...

In this episode of The First Gen Coach Podcast, host Carla Santamaria interviews Suzy Cintron, a first generation professional who is working as a recruiter in a large financial services firm. Suzy shares her story about growing up low-income, attending a predominantly white institution, and the power of finding her community. We also discussed: Leaving the social services sector, navigating caree...

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work together? In episode 31 of The First Gen Coach, I interview my client Nancy. Nancy is a first generation professional based out of Austin, Texas. She shared what led her to seek career coaching, what her biggest takeaways were, and how she’s seen improvements both in her life and her career after working together. Plus: Why career coaching is beneficia...