Latest / The Elsa Kurt Show / No Excuses with Veronica Ventura

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No Excuses with Veronica Ventura · The Elsa Kurt Show

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Our guest today is Veronica Ventura, an entrepreneur, mother, and now author of Working for Her, Puerto Rican Entrepreneur, Making It With No Excuse.
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Veronica's story is really one of starting over, more than once.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: She's faced heartbreak, financial struggles, infertility, single motherhood, difficult relationships, and plenty of moments when it would have been very easy to say, well, this is just the hand I was dealt.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Instead, she kept building.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Her story is rooted in faith, family, perseverance, and a belief that where you begin does not have to determine where you end up.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Let's welcome Veronica to the show.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: Veronica, it is so nice to meet you.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining me today on the show.
0:44
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
0:47
SPEAKER_01: So, um, you know, listening to your bio and and hearing a little bit of your story beforehand, of course, um, made me feel like you are kind of a kindred spirit.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: And I have a lot of feelings that um so many other women will be able to relate and to so many aspects of your story because as I listen, I'm like, yep, been there, done that.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: So um, but what a lot of people don't necessarily get to say about their story is you know how they came out of the struggle and and how they persevered.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: So I think your story is gonna be really, really impactful.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: So um, I thank you again for for sharing it with us today.
1:28
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
1:29
SPEAKER_02: That was my goal to begin with, to to impact other women and and anybody for that matter.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: So um I want to start with the subtitle because making it with no excuse tells me a lot about uh about you before I even before anybody even opens the book.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: It gives it gives that strong idea of like listen, we don't make excuses here with this.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: We do the things.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about that.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: I grew up with both of my parents telling me if I if I would tell them, no, I I couldn't do the laundry because the dog was there, it was like, uh-uh, go do the laundry.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: There's no excuse in this house.
2:09
SPEAKER_02: So since I was a little girl, my parents would tell me no excuses, no excuses, you gotta do what you have to do.
2:14
SPEAKER_02: And that was the bottom line.
2:16
SPEAKER_02: And I grew up with that.
2:17
SPEAKER_02: And here I am today, no excuses.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: No, no matter what hurdle I come across, there was always the light at the end of the tunnel, and I had to get to it.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you see so much more, or maybe because we're, you know, we're older and we notice it and we didn't notice it when we were kids, but we see so much more now of seemingly people making excuses for not trying even.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: I was gonna say succeeding, but not even trying.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, I can't because this, I can't because that.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, what a valuable message to be putting out for I like you said, anyone, anyone who needs that that little nudge.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: So I know your parents instilled that in you.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: Did you kind of rebel against that or it was just right there?
3:06
SPEAKER_02: It was just easy for me to just all right, well, we gotta do what we gotta do, and then it grows with you.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: It's a second nature, and you just go with that.
3:16
SPEAKER_02: I didn't really need to learn how to do that, I just do it.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: It's in me.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: I love that for me.
3:22
SPEAKER_01: It's in yeah, yeah, it's just in your DNA to do that, right?
3:27
SPEAKER_02: When I say I want something, I will do anything illegally that I can to get to where I need to get.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: And get what I mean.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: What's the difference in your mind between acknowledging that something you know genuinely unfair happened to you and allowing it to become an excuse?
3:49
SPEAKER_01: Like what's the where's the line there that people struggle with, you think?
3:54
SPEAKER_02: I think a lot a lot of people play the victim card.
3:57
SPEAKER_02: Why me?
3:58
SPEAKER_02: Poor me, what why did this happen to me?
4:01
SPEAKER_02: Rather than I am a firm believer that God puts the good and the bad in our path to learn from those hurls that we that we come through.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: It's how you navigate.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: And God has put so many tools on the table for me.
4:16
SPEAKER_02: It's up to me to grab them and and go with it.
4:19
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I don't think I've ever had the the guilt, oh, but poor me, why did this happen to me?
4:25
SPEAKER_02: On the contrary, I believe that it happened to me because the next step was a um a shadow of what happened in the past.
4:34
SPEAKER_02: Like that's that's the back.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: Now we just go forward.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's like the the bad things that happen kind of prepare you absolutely more than the good things, right?
4:44
SPEAKER_01: Like every it's so easy to be happy and productive and all the things when life is good, but you know, who are you when when the chips are down, right?
4:52
SPEAKER_01: When everything's going against you.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: I I think they're like the the greatest test of your your fortitude and and you know just what you're made of, right?
5:01
SPEAKER_02: Correct.
5:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there was my dad used to tell me in order to appreciate the sunrise and the sun and the beautiful Florida weather, you do have to experience the the hurricanes and the the bad weather.
5:16
SPEAKER_02: You have to because it's what builds your your um what's the word?
5:24
SPEAKER_01: Your character.
5:25
SPEAKER_02: Your character, she said.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: Did we say it at the same time?
5:28
SPEAKER_01: My husband.
5:32
SPEAKER_01: All right, so now tell me.
5:33
SPEAKER_01: So because we have we have another thing in common here partially.
5:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, you were born in Puerto Rico and you have a Cuban dad.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: I have a Cuban dad as well.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: So yes, there is there is that connection there.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: Um, and your mom was born in New York.
5:47
SPEAKER_01: So, what did that combination of cultures and personalities look like in your home growing up?
5:53
SPEAKER_02: Fun.
5:54
unknown: Fun.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: Beyond that, the food, all kinds of food was in our in our table.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: It will, it's a lot of different cultures in one household.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: And when you see it from the outside, you're like, wow, these people are wild.
6:08
SPEAKER_02: But when you live it, you feel like this is life.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: I have the Cuban side, and you eat their the Cuban food, and you have the Puerto Rican side, and that's where I was born, and I have La Sangre in me.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: And um, we live that life, and you just combine the culture and you just roll with it, and it's fun, it's it's great.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: Beyond food, the the people you you get to know different people, and those are your people in the background, and it was it's just nice knowing different rules, different cultures, different, everything from both ends.
6:47
SPEAKER_02: So it's fun.
6:49
SPEAKER_01: You have such a a beautiful perspective on your upbringing and and the differences and and the you know, potential culture clashes, even maybe.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: Um did you always see it that way?
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Like were there things about your upbringing that you maybe didn't appreciate when you were a kid, but you understand more now, or was it just your life?
7:13
SPEAKER_02: I think a little bit of everything.
7:15
SPEAKER_02: Uh I think the older I am I got, and and then having children, the more I appreciated what my parents did um getting out of Puerto Rico because of financial situations and family was here.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: And and at first, you're like, oh, you're moving us from from our home to now this, and then the parents got divorced, and it was like all these little things happened.
7:40
SPEAKER_02: I was not mad at it, I didn't understand it.
7:44
SPEAKER_02: Now, as an older person dealing with life, then you you start to think, okay, that's why my parents did this, and that's why I'm here today, because they were able to provide that for us, and they were able to teach us and guide us how to get away from whatever is not meant to be in our in our agenda.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:05
SPEAKER_02: So I think it's a little bit of a little bit of I never regretted my parents for anything.
8:10
SPEAKER_02: That was not a thing.
8:11
SPEAKER_02: You I never regretted them, I never regretted what they've done.
8:14
SPEAKER_02: It was just we didn't know.
8:16
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't the unknown.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I I always say that when I was growing up, I thought we were I thought we were rich.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: Um I what I didn't factor in is we lived in a 900 square foot apartment at, you know, and I I I didn't know because I had everything that I needed in life, right?
8:38
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't until I got older that I looked back and I said, Oh, okay, all right.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: I I see that I see that that wasn't what I thought it was.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: Um for me, and it sounds like for you, it kind of makes you appreciate your your parents even more, right?
8:54
SPEAKER_01: And especially when you go through your own struggles, you can actually relate to them as human beings and not just parents.
9:01
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
9:04
SPEAKER_02: I um I I've dealt with a lot of things in in my in my past, which is if in the book.
9:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, and I have my husband hold my hand, I have my children hold my hand, I have my siblings, but nothing beats going to your parents and be like, mommy, papi, this is what's going on, this is what happened to me.
9:25
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, okay, get out of it.
9:27
SPEAKER_02: How are we gonna get out of it?
9:28
SPEAKER_02: What are we gonna do?
9:30
SPEAKER_02: You're not gonna sit and wallow in your in your sorrows and feelings, and right, you're going to get out of it.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: And how are we gonna do that?
9:39
SPEAKER_02: So you need a little, I know that what they're saying is genuine rather than being told, hey, this is what you have to say to her, you know.
9:49
SPEAKER_02: So you tell my my kids this is what's going on, and they're like, but mommy, you're gonna be perfect and you're gonna be good.
9:55
SPEAKER_02: And yes, yes, you need that.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: But at the end of the day, you need that parent to kind of push you.
10:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and nobody can do it like a parent, right?
10:03
SPEAKER_01: Nobody else can do it in the way that they can, and it's it's it's just different when it comes from from them.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like oh genuine, yeah, yes, yeah, because you know that they have your best interest at heart, right?
10:15
SPEAKER_01: Like that's not nothing about it is selfish, it's just you know, listen, I I know what's best for you.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: Like any parent does, right?
10:23
SPEAKER_01: Like we do know better.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: And we and we know as parents now, we always know better.
10:29
SPEAKER_02: I feel that way.
10:31
SPEAKER_01: My daughter disagrees, but of course, of course, that's okay.
10:35
SPEAKER_01: She'll agree with you eventually.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: One of these days, yes.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: You mentioned, you know, the struggles.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: You talked about that briefly.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and of course, your story includes, as we heard in the beginning, includes heartbreak and uh financial struggles and infertility, difficult relationships, and uh also single motherhood.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: And and I said before we came on air, we were talking, and I and I said, you know, all of that is so relatable, not only to myself, but to other women.
11:07
SPEAKER_01: And there are people, you know, of course, women going through all of that right now.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, tell me a little bit about how that inspired you to share your own story.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, when you go through, and and I'm not playing the victim card, I'm just simply stating facts.
11:28
SPEAKER_02: When you go through the things that I have gone through, when I had my miscarriage, when I was in the abusive relationship with a narcissist, when I worked for a psychiatrist that took it took a toll on me because of my mental hug.
11:42
SPEAKER_02: When you go leaving Puerto Rico, coming here, they they stole our things.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: And when you go through so many things, at the end, you kind of have to laugh about it.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: You're like, what's next?
11:53
SPEAKER_02: What is next?
11:54
SPEAKER_02: You know?
11:55
SPEAKER_02: Um, I've actually been very, very blessed.
11:58
SPEAKER_02: I have a beautiful family, a beautiful home, a beautiful husband.
12:02
SPEAKER_02: My I've been just so blessed, and I don't know if it's because everything that has happened, I don't I don't take it for granted.
12:09
SPEAKER_03: I learned from it.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: I learned everything from that.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna be in a relationship that it's ever gonna do that to me again.
12:16
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm not gonna work for somebody ever again that's going to be abusive.
12:21
SPEAKER_02: I'm not going to put my kids in jeopardy, things like that.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: Like you just you have to learn from it.
12:28
SPEAKER_02: And I hope to God that whoever reads this book or whoever is struggling, dealing with the same thing understands that everything is gonna be okay as long as you don't stop.
12:40
SPEAKER_02: As long as you don't give up and you just what is your next move?
12:43
SPEAKER_02: And I hope that's I that's that's the point that I'm trying to get.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: Everybody's gonna go through something, it's how you handle it.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's so true.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, talk to me about becoming a mother after after those stroke, right?
13:00
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm gonna cry.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh did uh did becoming a mom change the way you approached, I mean, success for one, but uh everything.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: I would say, I mean, I would actually encompass that into did it change the way you saw everything?
13:17
SPEAKER_02: I don't know who I was before my kids.
13:19
SPEAKER_02: I don't remember who that was.
13:21
SPEAKER_02: Every every step that I take is for my kids, every breath I take is for my kids.
13:26
SPEAKER_02: I'm sick, I don't have the time because I I have to be there for my kids.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: I it's yeah, you're you become a fighter.
13:35
SPEAKER_02: That's true.
13:35
SPEAKER_02: You become a fighter.
13:36
SPEAKER_02: So the second that I first of all, when I had Madison, the doctor was able to put the baby on my chest and I made out with her, I'm like, oh my god, without the blood and everything.
13:46
SPEAKER_02: I don't remember anything before that.
13:49
SPEAKER_02: All I know is that from that moment on, everything I did was for them.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: The pretty, the ugly, everything is for them.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, your whole perspective on the universe changes because they become the universe, right?
14:03
SPEAKER_01: They just everything, your whole purpose in life becomes crystal clear, doesn't it?
14:09
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
14:11
SPEAKER_02: Every little thing that you do.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: Tell me about the title, Working for Her.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: Who who is her in that?
14:20
SPEAKER_02: So I was working for the psychiatrist, and I'm not gonna obviously for legal purposes, I won't I won't mention names.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: Um but she try to take me down.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: She um she showed her ugly colors.
14:34
SPEAKER_02: She was a bad person who genuinely was jealous of uh people's uh growth.
14:41
SPEAKER_02: Everything and everything was about her, and it just when you read the book, it talks about little incidents that she tried to take me down with her, and that was the final of the straw.
14:54
SPEAKER_02: The things that she would do was like, you could try, you could try to take me down, but look what I have.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: I have my family, I have I have my wealth, I have my my everything.
15:05
SPEAKER_02: I have my my business is growing, and obviously my business growth was it's intimidating to her.
15:12
SPEAKER_02: She tried to take me down and take away a lot of what I have, and no, nope, not gonna happen.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: No, so she scared me.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: It isn't there, you know.
15:24
SPEAKER_02: That's my bread and butter.
15:25
SPEAKER_02: And how what am I gonna do now with my kids?
15:27
SPEAKER_02: I felt like I disappointed them once I stopped working with her.
15:31
SPEAKER_02: It was it was heartbreaking only because I don't want to show my children failure, even though I didn't fail.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: On the contrary, I learned that what happened was growth.
15:43
SPEAKER_02: I grew from that.
15:44
SPEAKER_02: I grew from that.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: I wrote my book, I have my business open, I'm there for my children.
15:49
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm here at home.
15:50
SPEAKER_02: Anybody who needs anything.
15:52
SPEAKER_02: So they saw that okay, you got rid of that toxicness, that toxic life, and now you're giving us a healthier upbringing.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: It was it it sounds like it was one of those moments that really showed you exactly what you're made of.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: Such a um, such a great and valuable lesson to share with others that may be in a similar you know type of situation, whether it's a relationship or um or or a work environment, any of those things.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: Um talk to me a little bit about your faith because faith is woven through your whole story, right?
16:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I'm I'm always interested in people's faith journeys.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about that if you would.
16:38
SPEAKER_02: I have a joke with my my family and my best friend that I'm God's favorite.
16:44
SPEAKER_02: God's favorite because I have been so so blessed that I don't know what I did to deserve such beauty.
16:51
SPEAKER_02: Um I I'm gonna cry.
16:55
SPEAKER_02: I I take my my religion very personal.
16:58
SPEAKER_02: I like, I like, um, I like that I'm Catholic.
17:02
SPEAKER_02: I got married in a Catholic church.
17:04
SPEAKER_02: I talk to God all day, every day.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: I don't feel like anybody has to push me to have faith.
17:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, he I always say he slaps me in the face when I feel like this cannot get any worse.
17:17
SPEAKER_02: He slaps me in the face with that happened because this is happening.
17:21
SPEAKER_02: It's a strong belief.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: It's a strong belief.
17:24
SPEAKER_02: I I feel like I physically feel him like pushing me to the right path.
17:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, he he's very important.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: It's such a beautiful thing to witness as an observer to see somebody who just is is full of the love of God because it really shines through in everything that you do.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: And and I think that is the essence of real joy.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: Like you can have all of the chaos in the world going on, everything can be going wrong, and yet you still have joy because you know the Lord, right?
17:57
SPEAKER_01: And it's I what a what a gift and what a beautiful thing to share because um, you know, we can talk about what we think of God all day long, but it's really what we present to others in ourselves, right?
18:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, talk to me a little bit about the the book writing process for you.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: This was your first book, yes?
18:20
SPEAKER_02: It's it's my first book.
18:21
SPEAKER_02: The second one is in the making.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: It's a little my second one is a little different.
18:26
SPEAKER_02: Um it was it was so easy for me to write.
18:30
SPEAKER_02: It was just I wouldn't sleep and I would write little notes on the side and I would just type, type, type, and I'll send my mom, hey, what do you think of this?
18:38
SPEAKER_02: What do you think of that?
18:38
SPEAKER_02: And she'll send back, like, you wrote this wrong, you misspelled this, and you fixed that.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: And it was a lot of team effort.
18:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, but it was so easy for me because I genuinely loved what I wrote.
18:49
SPEAKER_02: I I genuinely loved every single thing that I wrote.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: That's beautiful.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: When did you know that you wanted to write this book?
18:59
SPEAKER_02: Right after I left uh working for her.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: Um right after.
19:04
SPEAKER_02: It was probably minutes after I was like.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
19:09
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: It's you like it, it's like it just all of your power came to you, right?
19:15
SPEAKER_02: It just I have so much knowledge on everything that I, you know, that I've gone through.
19:21
SPEAKER_02: Um, so many memories, not knowledge, a lot of memories, a lot of information that I just put all in the book and and made it happen.
19:30
SPEAKER_02: I want whatever I've gone through, which is really nothing.
19:33
SPEAKER_02: I I really haven't gone through any trauma.
19:36
SPEAKER_02: Um, but the whatever I have gone through, I want people to know that you're gonna go through that and it's okay, and that's normal.
19:42
SPEAKER_02: And there's people that are gonna have worse things going on in their life, and it's okay, it's normal.
19:47
SPEAKER_02: It's just how you approach the end.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: It sounds like you you have a really beautiful way of seeing the blessings through the struggles, and I think that's uh an incredible gift to have because a lot of people, a lot of people only see the struggle and they don't see the blessings.
20:10
SPEAKER_01: Were you were always like this?
20:11
SPEAKER_01: Did you always see the blessings through the the struggles?
20:14
SPEAKER_01: Mom, did I?
20:16
SPEAKER_02: Yes, she says yes, yeah, she says yes, and I tell my kids all the time, I never want to hear that's not fair, or why me?
20:26
SPEAKER_02: That those words are not they're not a vocabulary word in this house.
20:30
SPEAKER_02: It's life is fair.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: It's just how are you going to continue?
20:35
SPEAKER_02: How are you gonna catch the tools to help you fix it?
20:38
SPEAKER_01: Talk to me a little bit about your I let's see if I can stumble over the word.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: I know the word entrepreneurial ship.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: Talk to me a little bit.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing that that actually came out.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm just I'm gonna I'm gonna take the win on that one.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: But tell me about that.
20:56
SPEAKER_02: That for me was easy, extremely easy.
20:59
SPEAKER_02: Since I I mean, my I went to high school, it was a magnet program, and I was in business administration.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, I started college, but I didn't finish through business administration.
21:10
SPEAKER_02: I've always wanted to own.
21:12
SPEAKER_02: I had a flan company, like, oh, I'm gonna sell flans.
21:16
SPEAKER_02: And and we always try to open a coffee shop, and there were so many little things that I try to do um to open a business of my own.
21:27
SPEAKER_02: It was always a calling for me.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: I find it a walk in the park.
21:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then the what came about this business, a candle business that I have, um, is actually because I became a um a health coach, a certified health coach.
21:42
SPEAKER_02: And it's very hard to find help for adolescent um that's holistic.
21:48
SPEAKER_02: So my kids needed it.
21:50
SPEAKER_02: So I decided to become a health coach.
21:52
SPEAKER_02: And from that transition, it became all right, now we're gonna find hobbies that are holistic, and you're not gonna Medicate yourself right now.
22:01
SPEAKER_02: You're too young.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: So let's start doing little things here and there.
22:05
SPEAKER_02: And then my daughter got my kit, my first kit of um the candle making, and she made her own candle.
22:14
SPEAKER_02: And like me, because she's meaning me, made her candle and sold it to my mother.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: And my mom bought it.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: And that idea was like light bulb, because we love candles, always have.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: And it evolved.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: It was so easy because number one, they nace, I don't know how to say that.
22:34
SPEAKER_02: You're born with that passion.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: You're born with that passion.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, so once my daughter was involved, my husband, my mom, my dad, everybody, we just hands on deck.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: I'm talking, my brother built shelves, my husband was moving around things, he wasn't getting paid, he still had to work.
22:51
SPEAKER_02: My mom was in and out helping.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: It was so easy to transition because of number one, it was it's in me.
23:00
SPEAKER_02: Number two, the army that I have behind me.
23:03
SPEAKER_02: I have a village that helped in any situation, whether it was taking care of the animals, whether it was helping with the children, whether it was just every everything had some everybody had something to do.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
23:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes, so it was easy.
23:20
SPEAKER_02: It was easy.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's incredible.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: What would you say to somebody who isn't as fortunate as you to have that army behind you and having that natural inner strength and determination?
23:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, how how can somebody get that?
23:42
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna go back to the word tenase.
23:44
SPEAKER_02: You have to be born to want it.
23:45
SPEAKER_02: And if you if you want it, you will find a solution.
23:49
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you won't have the the family that I have to help me, but there's tools, there's people, there's loans.
23:57
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I'm I am deep, deep in in debt with the loans, okay?
24:02
SPEAKER_02: To start up that business, and every ounce or every penny is worth it.
24:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, so there's just tools out there.
24:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:11
SPEAKER_02: If you want, if you want it, you are fortunate because you that all you need is just that little drive, and then you're gonna start one step at a time.
24:20
SPEAKER_02: Get a loan, get get a babysitter if you have a child.
24:23
SPEAKER_02: Um or yeah, just never give up, never, never give up, and and know that God has every every step of the way, God is with you.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: It goes right back to the no excuses, right?
24:35
SPEAKER_01: No excuses.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: Because the resources exist, like especially in this day and age, when you have like the internet at your fingertips and you know, all of these things, right?
24:44
SPEAKER_01: So any any question you don't know the answer to, you can actually find the answer to, you know, especially now with AI, you just go for it.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have that when I was so yes, yeah, it would have made life a lot easier back.
25:01
SPEAKER_02: Now you have to take a picture of paperwork and you're like, answer my questions, and they're like, number one, here's the answer.
25:06
SPEAKER_02: Number two.
25:07
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, where was that when I was applying for my LLC?
25:10
SPEAKER_02: You know?
25:10
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, it's so true.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, it's yeah, it with the with the invention of AI, they do say it has the you know, potential or the ability to make more millionaires now than we could ever have even imagined before it existed.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's it's an incredible, incredible tool.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: So like I say, it goes right back to your no excuses.
25:33
SPEAKER_01: There are no excuses.
25:35
SPEAKER_01: And and you're and you're a testament to that.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: You're living proof.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: You had, you know, incredible obstacles um that that you know told you essentially you can't do this or it's not gonna work.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: And and you basically said, watch me.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: Which is like my you know, one of my favorite things.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: Like, tell me I can't, please watch me.
25:56
SPEAKER_02: Or try to take it from me, or try to take it from me, and then the Puerto Rican side of me comes out.
26:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: You mentioned you have a daughter, so I would imagine that she is also an inspiration to you to to keep doing that, to keep persevering, to keep pushing, to keep, you know, succeeding really, and whatever that means for you personally, like it means something different for everyone.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: But um, what a wonderful thing for your daughter to witness that you know, her mom does not give up.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: She doesn't take no for the answer, you know.
26:30
SPEAKER_01: And it's that's wonderful.
26:32
SPEAKER_02: And they tell their friends, I have a son as well, and they tell their friends, they're like, Don't play with my mom because when she says something, she's gonna do it.
26:39
SPEAKER_02: So if you're gonna get in trouble with her, you're on your own because they they know that I everything that I do, I I take seriously, and and they know that I don't break promises.
26:50
SPEAKER_02: And and whatever I do is to let them know that this is the way you have to be growing up always.
26:56
SPEAKER_02: And and I want my daughter to see that I'm not gonna stop.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: I want my son to know that I will not give up.
27:04
SPEAKER_02: So my second book will come out soon, and I want them to know it's that's just book one and that's book two, and maybe there'll be three and four, but I will not stop until I know that I'm done.
27:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
27:17
SPEAKER_02: That's what I want them to do.
27:19
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely wonderful.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: What a wonderful example you're providing for them.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: That's beautiful.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: Um there anything that you almost didn't include in the book for whatever reason.
27:35
SPEAKER_02: Almost, yes, a lot of family secrets and infidelities and yeah, little things here and there.
27:44
SPEAKER_02: I almost, but at the end of the day, it's all coming out.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: It's all there.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: It's all coming out.
27:54
SPEAKER_02: Either you are bitter about it or you run with the punches and you enjoy it, you know.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: But I I think that's really valuable to to anyone because you know, we all every family has their secrets, you know, everybody does, and and I, you know, uh putting putting them I don't know, under the light, I think takes their power away, you know, because secrets obviously they they eat people up inside, and and then there's I think there's like a this catharsis when it's released, and you're like, oh, I don't have to hide anymore.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: Like it's just out there and and it didn't kill me, you know, I didn't die.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
28:29
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
28:29
SPEAKER_02: I tell my kids if you hold secrets, if you hold all these little secrets, your chest is going to hurt so much.
28:36
SPEAKER_02: Talk to me about it.
28:37
SPEAKER_02: That's it's if it's bigger than you and I, then we'll do it together.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: But if it's bigger than you, then I I'll handle it.
28:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, so that's really big here too.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: Tell me a little bit about um people's in in your life, of course, their reactions to the book.
28:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, were they surprised by parts of it?
28:56
SPEAKER_01: Like, were they like, I didn't know you were even going through any of that?
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Were there Yes?
29:00
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
29:01
SPEAKER_02: I have a couple of family members that were like far far family members because close family members, I'm an open book.
29:09
SPEAKER_02: So uh they're like, I never knew you you struggled with the ex.
29:14
SPEAKER_02: I never knew that you had a miscarriage.
29:16
SPEAKER_02: Um, I didn't know that your boss at the time was was giving you that anxiety and that mental health, trying to take away from me my my my um my growth.
29:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of people were like, I didn't know this.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: I did not know.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh.
29:36
SPEAKER_01: Now you know.
29:37
SPEAKER_02: Now you know, now you know, now you know, and I I I held nothing back.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: The only backward names, that's it.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
29:45
SPEAKER_01: I think that's really brave.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: I I think that's one of the hardest things to do, to to truly put yourself out there for the world to scrutinize, to look at, to question, to you know, wonder about all of those things.
29:59
SPEAKER_01: And then especially if you are so used to showing the world the the strong side of you to show the vulnerabilities, I think takes a lot of courage.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: So I commend you for doing that.
30:10
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
30:11
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: You are so welcome.
30:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, what would what would today's Veronica say to the younger girl in Puerto Rico?
30:19
SPEAKER_01: If you could sit down beside her and and just talk with her for five minutes, what would you say to her?
30:27
SPEAKER_02: Spend more time with my grandmother.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah.
30:32
SPEAKER_02: Visit her more.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: You got me on that one.
30:35
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
30:36
SPEAKER_01: You got me on that one.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
30:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because I I think I I've lived a very blessed life.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: My parents never made us feel like they were struggling financially or or emotionally or any of that.
30:51
SPEAKER_02: We were like you say, we lived in a a little house, but we we missed nothing at all.
30:56
SPEAKER_02: Um, so I don't think that looking back, I would say, oh, I wish you did this different and I wish you did that different.
31:04
SPEAKER_02: I don't because it got me to where I am today.
31:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:06
SPEAKER_02: Um, the only thing I would say is spend more time with my grandmother.
31:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
31:11
SPEAKER_01: I think that's so relatable too.
31:14
SPEAKER_01: You know, we all have that person in our life that, you know, if we could just get that five more minutes with them, that one more conversation with them that would be worth all the money in the world, right?
31:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
31:27
SPEAKER_02: I I pray to dream a bar just to share my dreams.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: I love that for you.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: I love that you had someone in your life like that that means that much.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: That's a it's a blessing in itself, right?
31:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: Let's and we don't even have to imagine.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: We know that right now, somebody watching us in this video, in this uh interview, is feeling stuck and they're struggling.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's uh money or relationship, um, they're going through single motherhood or a dream that they've put off, whatever it is, they're listening to your story and thinking that's wonderful for her, but I don't know how to get from where I am to where I want to be.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: What's the first thing you would tell them to do?
32:16
SPEAKER_02: Be comfortable in your lane.
32:19
SPEAKER_02: You have to stay in your lane, obviously.
32:21
SPEAKER_02: And if you derailed, you're gonna be a lot more stressed out.
32:25
SPEAKER_02: Um, so stay in your lane and find in your lane what works for you and what what you can grab to help you.
32:32
SPEAKER_02: It's obviously if you if you if you don't have the means, let's say, to open the business.
32:40
SPEAKER_02: If you stay in your lane, get a loan, but don't get a high loan, get a smaller loan.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: Um, look for grants that that I know the county offers for business owners.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, stay in your lane, don't give up.
32:53
SPEAKER_02: Learn what is right for you.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: Not everybody lives the same.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Not we don't all have the same means, the same struggle, the same finances, the same health issues.
33:04
SPEAKER_02: So stay in your lane, grab what you can without giving up.
33:09
SPEAKER_02: And if this fails, go to the next one.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: And if that fails, continue.
33:14
SPEAKER_02: And one day you will have everything that you want.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: That's uh that's such valuable advice.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: And I love the way that you put that because you know, people will watch like you know, self-help gurus and all of these people, and they're all telling them like step by step, do this, do this, do this, and you will you will achieve exactly what I've achieved.
33:36
SPEAKER_01: You can do it too.
33:37
SPEAKER_01: And it's unrealistic for every reason that you just said, everybody's life experience is different, everybody's needs are different.
33:44
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's, you know, so following the exact steps that you followed or that I followed may not work for them.
33:51
SPEAKER_01: So I love, I love that phrase, you know, stay in your lane, not you know, and be in somebody else's lane doing exactly what they do.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: You can take like a framework, right?
34:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, a model, the perseverance, the determination, you know, the the no excuses uh mindset, you know, all of those things are are definite like takeaways.
34:11
SPEAKER_01: But like you said, stay in in your lane, not in somebody else's.
34:16
SPEAKER_02: I used to have I used to have these friends that they had more money than I did, but they we were always hanging out and having a good time.
34:23
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I want that.
34:25
SPEAKER_02: I want to have a nice car, I want to dress nicer, but I'm not gonna bloom and deals, I'm gonna Ross, I'm not gonna buy Alexis, but I'll buy a Chevy.
34:34
SPEAKER_02: So as long as I stay in my lane and know where I need to be, eventually I'll get to where uh eventually we'll get that that BMW, you know, as long as I work for it.
34:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
34:46
SPEAKER_02: Stay in your lane.
34:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: I love your work ethic.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: I love your willingness to be vulnerable and open um with the world, essentially, to say, listen, here's, you know, here's who I am, here's what um I experienced, and here's what I learned from it, and you know, and how I came out on the other side of everything.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: So I I think that's wonderful.
35:08
SPEAKER_01: And I'm excited for you for the next book.
35:11
SPEAKER_01: Is that gonna be um is that gonna be nonfiction or fiction?
35:15
SPEAKER_01: Can you give us a little deciding on that?
35:18
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
35:19
SPEAKER_02: It's a little fight, not feisty, it's spicy.
35:22
SPEAKER_02: A little spicy.
35:24
SPEAKER_02: That's what I'll give you.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're looking forward to that.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, can you tell everyone where they can find your book?
35:31
SPEAKER_01: And if you're doing, I don't know if you're doing any book events, um, but if you are, feel free to let everybody know where that's gonna be.
35:37
SPEAKER_02: We're working on the book events.
35:39
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to get um Barnes and Noble to have us um do a book reading and a book signing.
35:44
SPEAKER_02: So we're waiting, you know, we're working on that one.
35:47
SPEAKER_02: But you can definitely find my book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, there's a lot of different book uh platforms that I'd have never even in my life have heard of.
35:59
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, there's so many.
36:00
SPEAKER_02: There's so many.
36:00
SPEAKER_02: There's so many.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: But if you put my name, the actual Veronica Ventura, uh, working for her, it pops up right away and it's available in paperback and it's available hardcover and um audiobook.
36:14
SPEAKER_01: Beautiful, outstanding.
36:16
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so so much for sharing your story with me today.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you so much, and I'm I'm very excited for you to see what is next for you because I think it's gonna be pretty wonderful.
36:27
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
36:28
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
36:30
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
36:30
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
36:31
SPEAKER_02: My mom says she absolutely loved the interview.
36:34
SPEAKER_01: Oh tell her I said thank you very much.
36:39
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
36:40
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for having me.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: You are so welcome.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Take care.
36:44
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: You've got a story worth sharing.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time to tell it well.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: Whether you're an author, entrepreneur, influencer, or podcast guest, stepping in front of the camera or microphone can feel overwhelming.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: On the other side of the mic is your practical, encouraging guide to becoming a confident, authentic, and engaging interviewee.
37:03
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37:12
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