-
Working in the time of COVID
First, I have to preface this by saying–this is bonkers. This is bonkers!! Like some days I still can’t believe we’re living in the midst of a pandemic with such little control. It’s a bit much. As I shared with folks on insta, I’m working from home because I’m “high risk” because of my asthma. Asthma that was just diagnosed this past fall so being able to navigate that on top of a demanding, high stress job while everything seems to be The Worst is a lot. But at the same time I know I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to work from home and not deal with the fears…
-
Side Bar: What is even going on?
Ok like how is it only barely March and we’ve experienced being on the brink of war and now a pandemic, like 2020 are you ok?! I mean it is my bday month, so I guess things have to start looking up, but the darkest timeline is going haywire. Anyway, I’m sure everyone is as confused/concerned about everything as I am. One of the silver linings is that I have gotten real serious about reducing waste. I’ve started experimenting with a lot of plant based recipes (though I don’t think I’ll ever get on soy/tofu train because the texture seems yuck to me), but that has been fun and while…
-
Be Strategic, Be, Be Strategic: Key Steps to Take When Job Searching
I recently shared on instagram about the worst job interview I ever had (and how traumatized I am still from it). Without ~naming names~ the position was for a summer counselor role for pre-law students. I was excited for the opportunity to get to be around other Latinx interested in law, but quickly during the interview I realized I was not going to be selected. The interviewer kept pushing back against each answer, making me rephrase or offer up another example; often interrupting saying my answer wasn’t good enough. At the end of interview, I felt like my experience as a Latina weren’t valid and I felt like shit. It…
-
Holy Grail Products
I mentioned before that I always wear makeup if I’m stepping out of the house. I’m sure there is plenty to flesh out there as to why I feel the need to do this but instead of getting introspective it’s much more fun to share my fave products! Putting on a full face is super easy for me because I’ve been able to find key items that take away questioning (i.e what type of mascara should I use today?) and give me the results I like. Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Supercharged Complex Synchronized Recovery. A mouthful of a name but all I know it is as the…
-
Sidebar: So this is Adulting…
Wow, January was ridiculously long, was it not? I mean was it just last month we feared entering a serious war? What is this life even? One thing I’ve done to keep myself semi-sane is to keep focused just on local news. I know it’s a little bit like head in the sand mentality, which isn’t great, but I just can’t consume all this news all the time. Plus, local news is really pertinent to my job so it helps two-fold… Speaking of work, I made it to the six month mark! I can say that I finally, truly feel steady about what I’m doing and have found a rhythm…
-
The Danger in Being the First
Wow, so I didn’t think I would write anything substantial about the American Dirt publishing industry scandal but like always Latino USA came through and inspired me. To bring ppl up to speed, American Dirt was written by a White woman and given a seven figure (!) advance by a publishing industry that then turned around and spent even more money to promote it. They landed promos with Latina influencers, a spot on Oprah’s book club, and blurb by the Chicana literary icon, Sandra Cisneros. The book, while fiction, seemed to be steeped in stereotypes and an obvious lack of knowledge of what it means to be Mexican. When a…
-
Getting That Polished Look: Simple Ways to Increase Executive Presence
We have talked about executive presence before (many times before!) but as a quick reminder, Executive Presence, is a theory that in business/work, people respond to you depending on your executive presence, which is really how you’re perceived based on how you look, speak, and act. There is a whole lot to dissect in that simple statement, especially if you include how race and gender play into all of this. But in the day to day, as you are establishing your own career, executive presence does play a role in your daily work and I wanted to discuss how the first part of EP (how you look) is something that…
-
Sidebar: 2020 Vision, lessons for the new year
It’s still early enough in 2020 to share the vision and plan for the new year, right? Just asking because the new cycle moves fast & we’re basically on the brink of god knows what but trying to not live in terror, you know the vibezzz. #hidethepainharold 2019 was such a year of growth for me and I want to share some lessons I learned (some the hard way!) and hopes for the new year. One. Have the courage to change. Easier said than done! But 2019 was when I realized that if I wanted to grow in my career I needed to seek new challenges. It would have been…
-
Why Can’t I Shake This? Beating Imposter Syndrome Once and For All
Hi, my name is Nubia and it’s been 0 days since I last felt insecure about my professional capacity. Ok, maybe it’s been more than 0 days, but the reality is that experiencing imposter syndrome is a frequent occurrence and beating it means really working to recognize when it’s happening and then working hard to dismiss it when it occurs. Imposter syndrome is a feeling that you are not capable of doing what you’ve been tasked to do and that at any moment people will discover that you are a fraud. Often we attribute our successes to luck rather than skills and diminish our accomplishments lest others point out just…
-
A (1/2) Decade of Latinas Uprising
It’s kind of exciting that we’re entering a new decade right? I think because I’m working on census 2020 stuff all the time at my new job that I’m very aware of this decennial time frame and how much changes in ten years. But this time around, I am a little more relaxed than times past where I had a set timeline of accomplishments and milestones I wanted to work towards. In 2010, my only goal was to graduate law school, pass the bar, and find a full time job as an attorney. I can say that decade really delivered. Not only did I become a lawyer, I laid a…