Latest / The Lawtino™ / Dream Beyond Your Circumstances

Transcript

Dream Beyond Your Circumstances · The Lawtino™

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Latino Podcast, where we amplify the voices of Latino professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders coming together to educate, inspire, and connect across one of the most dynamic binational regions in the world.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Bicultural, premium, powerful.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: Hey Sean Gomez, welcome to the latest episode of the Latino Podcast.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: We're here today, a special edition of podcasts celebrando Latinas here at the Gay Lord in Sula Vista, California.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we have a number of very impressive Latinas joining us today.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this episode is brought to you as always by Gomez Trial Attorneys.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: We are bi-national with offices both in the United States and Mexico.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: Bicultural, we deliver the highest level of legal services in both English and Spanish languages, and best in class.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: We do believe we're the best lawyers at what we do.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: I'm joined as always by my co-host David Arriguin, who runs our California, Mexico Corridor Practice.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, was previously a guest on this podcast.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Before he worked with us, now he's a lawyer with the firm.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so be careful, you might end up at Gomez Trial Attorney.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: So why don't you go ahead and introduce our uh next impressive guest who I will say uh was in Sacramento last night.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: We're in San Diego, giving a talk until all hours of the night and made it up and down here.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: You look fabulous too.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, John.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: We're excited.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, last week we were in uh Washington, D.C.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: at the Gaylord.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: Uh now we're at the Gaylord in Chile Vista.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_03: So it's exciting that we keep uh the podcast going remote, uh especially in this uh special edition.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm uh you know proud to have uh Erika Alfaro here today.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: We were just chatting before the podcast, and I kept running into her like uh TV interviews, but we never actually said had a conversation.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: So now I'm excited because I can finally hear her story.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_03: We did a little background check on you, the whole story, but we want to hear from you.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh San Diego State um alumni.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: Go Astics.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_03: So basically, you know, I'm also on Aztecs, so thank you for that.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Erika, welcome.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: We want to start by hearing like your story.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_03: I know you had a viral thing happening right after college.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: We want to hear all about that.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, David, thank you so much for this interview.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Erica Alfaro.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: I am the proud daughter of migrant farm workers.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Many people know me because of the picture that went viral, but what a lot of people don't know about me is that my career as a keynote speaker started three years before my pictures went viral.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: I my goal was to represent my community, to show other underrepresented students that it was possible to dream big, and I knew that in order to do that, I had to face my fear of public speaking.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: But never did it cross my mind that I was going to become an international keynote.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: I come from humble beginnings.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Both of my parents are farm workers, they don't know how to read or write, but they always told us of the importance of getting an education, and that is the reason why I took the graduation picture in the fields, that picture that a lot of people recognize.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_03: So, how did that become viral?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: Because I I read about it, even I was talking to John, he's like, I knew about it.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he knew about it.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, of course.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: So that means that it really resonated with people.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like, how did that idea come about?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, a week before my graduation ceremony, I wanted to surprise my mother.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: I put my cap and gown, I walked into her room and I told her, Mamita, lo logramos.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then she started crying.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: She started saying, Mija, all those hours working in the fields, all those sacrifices were worth it.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: And as she was saying then, this image of me standing in the fields with my parents came into my mind.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so I reached out to a photographer, we took the pictures, and when I posted the picture on my social media, at that time I only had 89 followers, and so the picture received 3,000 likes within hours.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh my gosh, my picture went viral.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started reaching out to the media, and in reality, my picture went viral through the media.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: At first, it was through a local news channel, and then I was on CNN and all over the news around the world.
• 4:16
  unknown: Yes.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing story.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: Now we gotta we gotta definitely show that picture right in the post-production so everyone knows what we're talking about.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, your your story reminds me a little bit.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm sure, did you see the the news coverage of the young lady going to Stanford whose dad uh got deported recently?
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that did you ever talk to her?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Did she reach out to you or anything?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't had the opportunity to talk to her, but I've been I've been very aware of those stories.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: It has it's happening a lot in our community.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Many graduates, many um people in my community that are suffering the same situation.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so so you started this career of yours even before you graduated from San Diego State?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, when I started my career, I I didn't know that keyno speakers could get paid.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: When I started speaking, I was hoping that one of my professors will give me the opportunity to just share my story in one of the classrooms.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: I started sending emails, no one responded.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I hope one day I get the opportunity to share my story.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So when I received the first invitation and they asked me, What are your speaking fees?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Oh no, no, no, I don't charge anything.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: This is my passion.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Free of charge?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, No, we pay keynote speakers.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's the first time I found out that you can pay to share your story.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_03: What was your first invitation?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: The first invitation was with Maricosta Community College, and I have spoken now to corporations like McDonald's, Disneyland, and many others.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so when you said, look, here's a story that I want to share, what was the story that you wanted to share with people?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe you could share a mini version of it here.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yes, of course.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: I was a high school dropout, a teenage mom, I lived domestic violence.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I struggled so much in school that I thought that school was not for me.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: And one I said that if I ever make it, if I ever get my master's degree, I want to go back to school, to schools, and tell other students that you can succeed despite adversity.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: That was the story that I wanted to share.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I was always praying and saying, if everything I went through was for a reason, I want to make a difference in just one person's life.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Just one.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I will pray for that almost on a daily basis, but never did it crossed my mind that I was going to be on CNN and my story was going to be shared with millions of people.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's that's amazing.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, like for us, like we we like to be mentors, we like to give back to the community.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like when you tell these students or these I guess are your uh speaking engagements to reach out, like what's the percentage of people that actually reach out?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's very interesting because when I go to conferences, especially when I go to speak to the Latina or the Latino community, a lot of people approach me for the picture, and only one out of thousands of people asked me for a phone number or ask me a question of what will you do in my situation?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: People usually don't ask for advice, uh they just want to take the picture and that's it.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like people gotta follow up.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's some good advice for our listeners out there.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: If there's someone that motivates you or inspires you, you meet them.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, just don't take a picture, throw it up on Instagram.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: Take advantage of that expertise and relationship.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's very important.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: And for that reason, I I recently started a mentorship program to increase the percentage of Latina authors and Latina Kino speakers because less than 7% of authors in the US are Hispanic.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And now I brought a group of 50, 5-0 Latinas.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: They're all in blue.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Everything, everyone that you see in blue.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, so that's you.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's me, yes.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_03: So I saw that for for for our our listeners, like I saw the ads, I saw all of the uh uh fannies like celebrando Latinos Instagram posts, and it was all about the authors.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: So what are we looking for?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're wearing blue, they're wearing blue, like anyone wearing blue or something.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and almost anyone that you spot, like they're saying hi.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them didn't get the memo, but almost like and uh for example okay, all right, super cool.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're all we're we're all in the middle.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, perfect.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone is wearing blue, amazing, yes, yeah.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: Great work, and so are you are you part of our group and now I'm part of it, okay?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: You're your history.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be an author too.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you're still here in San Diego, no?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm here in San Diego.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: I live in Oceanside, California.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: Is that where you grew up?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in Tijuana, Mexico.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: So I was born in Fresno, California.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: She didn't go to Instituto.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: We always bring that up.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's it's interesting because I was born in Fresno, California, but when I was four years old, my mother was deported.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, and I came back to the US when I was 13 years old.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I came back to the US, I didn't know how to speak English.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I grew up in a community where all my friends were undocumented.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's it's like, where am I from?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up in Tijuana.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: I live now in San Diego County, but I was born in Fresno and my parents are from Oaxaca, Mexico.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: You were trying to find your Oaxaca.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: You were trying to find like your identity.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so no, I'm off for 100%.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Talk to us.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um, was I I don't mean to pry, but was your mom ever able to come back?
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: My mom is now here in the US.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: We came back as soon as she obtained her residence.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wow.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that was when I was 13 years old.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I see, okay.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: So my my parents, both of them, decided to come back to the US so that we could get an education because they didn't have that opportunity, they didn't know how to read or write.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: They never went to school, and that was their dream for for us.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: They thought that the highest level of education was high school.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh wow, so they would tell us my dream is for you to get a high school diploma and be in an office and not work like us.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: I I always ask this question like, does your, you know, the whole binational background, growing up in Tijuana, your operating, do you feel like that actually shaped who you are now?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yes.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Something that I I I think it's one of my biggest advantages when you grow in a very low-income community, you're not afraid of risking it all.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because what is the worst that can happen?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I can survive on tortillas with sal.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be fine.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I'm not scared of trying or going for my after my dreams because I'll rather fail than live the rest of my life wondering what could have happened.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: And my upbringing helps a lot because I'm not afraid of starting from zero.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: I will never start from zero anyway.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: I will always start from experience.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Go on, no regrets.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm trying to think of you know your story, and it's kind of remarkable because okay, your parents come back up here to give you an education, and then you drop out of high school, they must not have been very happy with your work.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: I gave her headaches.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um I became a teen mom and I dropped out of high school because I thought that school was not for me.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I always struggle academically.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was barely a C student, and my brother was the smart one.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've always said, Oh, I don't care about school.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I used to think when I was a teenager.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: But now there's three murals of me.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: One of them is in San Diego State University with both of my parents.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I tell mom, I know that I gave you headaches, but now you're everywhere.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_03: Where but I'm curious about where the mural is at.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like I go to San Diego State pretty often for Aztec games.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_03: Where is it?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's in the EOPS Center.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: By the EOPS Center.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: And also in a national city in front of the Chamber of Commerce.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: That one I've seen.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and there's another one in San Francisco, Anjo Island Museum.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, big shot, big shot.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so for people that don't know, because I talked to a lot of people who come from different backgrounds, so the EOPS is the Extended Opportunity Program Services.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: It helped me a lot coming from like Tijuana, and it offers like monetary uh uh uh support of some of the students, different counselors.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: So that's great that they did that.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: So what like there came a point, I imagine, where you said, hey, I'm gonna turn this around.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm gonna go back, get my degree, go to college.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_02: What was that moment?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: The turning point was when I was living in that abusive relationship.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: One night, my child's father forced me and my baby to sleep outside the house.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: And in the midst of despair, a memory came to my mind, and that was of a summer when my mother took me to work with her in the tomato fields.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember this memory of my mom saying, if you want a better life, you need to get an education.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that is when I promised my nine-month baby Luisito, he was in my arms, and I said, Mama's going back to school, I'll get a high school diploma, and I'll make you proud.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: That was the moment that I decided to go back.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: But college was never in my plans.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was not until I met Mr.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Lee, my high school teacher, who said, Erica, you can go to college.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: I believe in you.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: Promise me that you will do it.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Okay, Mr.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Lee, I promise.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: But my dream was to work for 99 cents as a cashier.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I that was my dream.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: I never got to because they already closed 99 cents.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: But I thought that that was uh a very big goal that it was hard to attain because no one around me got a formal education, no one in my family.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: I am the first woman in my family that knows how to read and write.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, something that we see in common with a lot of our guests.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like they had that one influential person that basically pushed them a little bit.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, they believed in them, and that's why like you're here now, right?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that is true.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be here if it was not because of the mentors, the teachers, the counselors that crossed my path.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: And now you could be that person for thousands, you know, because your platform.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: What are you excited about in the next year?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: What are you gonna be doing?
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm always excited about how far can I get?
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: If I keep trying my best, if I keep doing my best, how far can I get?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm always excited about the future because I know that on a daily basis I'm constructing it.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing something, ideas come and I act.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm excited about starting my PhD program, my doctorate, and I'm excited about growing as a career in my career as a keynote speaker and also my business harvesting dreams, a mentorship program.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow, soon uh Dr.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_03: Erika Alfaro.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, and then I know you're speaking, doctor, yeah.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I know like today you're speaking about El Poder de tu historia.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, tell us a little bit about that.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_03: I know like that's in like 30 minutes.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's in 30 minutes.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: El Poder de tu Historia is a workshop where I will encourage other Latinas to write their books or share their stories because their stories have the power to help others.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the workshop is about taking them into a journey where they can see the entire process, the beginning, the middle, and the end, but they will learn it from other authors.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: I will have seven panelists for each section and they will learn it from other authors, not from me.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be the MC of that workshop, but with the intention to teach something.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, it's amazing.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: Just getting people engaged.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I love what you stand for, I love what you're doing.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for being such a great role model for so many.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure both men and women struggling and saying, look, you know, it's too late for me, but you turned it around.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you now.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now, uh, if you could write in the sky words for anyone to see, a message for everyone forever, what words would you write in the sky?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: It would be dream big.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Dream big.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: Dream big.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: You know, where we we can only rise as far as our dreams, and if our dreams are big, then there's no there's no ceiling.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, exactly.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like that's what this country actually offers.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know, like you cop your, you can do whatever you want.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: And that's good that you're basically getting that message out.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: Now, if people want to find you, how do they get in contact with you?
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think that the best way will be to Google my name because all the social media handles and my website will appear.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: And Google her name, you'll see the famous photograph, you'll be able to track her down.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but thank you for spending time with us.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, look forward to seeing you through the day.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you and in the future.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, thank you.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: So that this concludes this episode of the Latino podcast.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be signing off.