Hella Latin@

Hella Latin@ is a platform for Latinos to tell their story and share their experiences of navigating identity and culture as a first gen and/or immigrant.

The three pillars that make up Hella Latin@ are representation, vulnerability and celebration. Representation: there's a mosaic of accents, backgrounds and cultures that make up Latinidad, and it's time to represent that mosaic — one story at a time. Vulnerability: each guest keeps it real on how they break cycles, blaze new trails, and embrace identity as a superpower through it all. Celebration: there are many stories about our people y cultura but rarely are we the authors of it. In this podcast, we put a spotlight on who we are, where we come from, and where we're going.

So, go grab your cafecito and get ready to laugh, learn, and be inspired by nuestra gente.

Society & Culture
76
Understanding Identity, Something You Can’t Google
Ricardo Horna was born in Lima, Peru, raised in Tampa, Florida, and is currently based in Los Angeles, CA. He has been at Google for 5 years and is currently on the YouTube Recruiting team, charged with ensuring a diverse and representative workforce...
60 min
77
Hope, Hard Work, and Helping Hands
As his Zepeda for Senate campaign stated, Jaime's story is a story of hope, hard work & helping hands. Jaime Raul Zepeda grew up in Mexico in a working-class neighborhood. Jaime saw vicious inequality there. Mercedes parked in front of women starving...
54 min
78
How I Linked [IN] to my identity
This episode is FULL of laughs, story, and inspiration. In this episode, Colin talks about feeling "like a white kid with a last name Espinales" his whole life to then being embraced by LinkedIn's Latino ERG, and digging into his Ecuadorian culture t...
70 min
79
¿Como Puedes? Porque Soy Mujer
Fernanda Kelly's successful 20-year career as an actress and television presenter in the US Hispanic market earned her two Emmy awards and three Telly awards for her work as the host of the critically acclaimed show, LAnzate on Univision network.In ...
60 min
80
The Nuyorican Experience
Nestor Melendez is a proud Nuyorican/Boricua, born and raised in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Knights podcast co-host is part jack-of-all-trades, part philosophizer, part rebel, and a professional educator who is focused on having conversations that remind...
78 min
81
Tragos: A Game Para Latinos
Carolina Acosta is Colombian-Dominican mujeron from Queens who created and is now CEO of Tragos, the party game for Latinos by Latinos. She was recently included in Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2021 for the creation of this game. And it all started af...
72 min
82
A New Breed of Latinos
Gabriel Lomeli is a first-generation Mexican-American from Stockton, California and let me tell y'all, he spills so much wisdom in this episode. He talks about designing your own path toward success, and moving from travieso mistakes and heartbreak t...
93 min
83
Korean, Catracha y Americana
One narrative often overlooked in the community is the Asian-Latino experience. Lucky to have Ha Na Teresa Park, mi querida Catracha, on Hella Latin@ to share her experience of being both Korean and Hondureña. In this episode, Ha Na Teresa shares her...
53 min
84
La Mujer Behind the Brand
Eliana Murillo is the founder and CEO of Eliment and Company, her mission is to amplify and invest in diverse small businesses, startups and content creators. Eliana previously spent 10 years at Google, where she founded the multicultural marketing t...
76 min
85
The Hood Raised Me
Nadia Elhawary is both Egyptian and Guatemalan but the hood raised her and her city Pasadena feels like home more than any country. She's a storyteller passing on this wisdom given by her ancestors and her purpose is loving on her people and loving h...
49 min
86
Imposter Syndrome From a Human Level
Brian Ovalles, a Black Latino from Washington Heights, talks about navigating spaces where he was culturally, racially and socio-economically different than his peers. From an early age, he felt like he was always having an away game yet he took ever...
56 min
87
Inner City to Corporate America
“If you want to go up in the company, you have to stop fraternizing with people in the mail room.” In this episode, Yuridia Peña, a Dominican woman from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, talks about her young dreams of working on 5th Avenue and becoming the ...
55 min
88
Black Beans: An Afro-Chicano Story
Choosey is an Afro-Chicano hip hop artist who grew up in National City and Chula Vista, California. His debut studio album Black Beans (2019), produced by Exile, represented his Afro-Chicano heritage and conveyed themes of ethnic identity, gentrifica...
59 min
89
La Belleza Cuesta
Elizabeth Molina is a Dominican-Peruvian Latina, model, beauty mentor, influencer, TedX speaker and founder of the Molina Glow. Elizabeth's personal story of survival led her to her current work in helping others redefine their why surrounding beauty...
60 min
90
Do Your Thing and Do it Well
Arabela Espinoza is a Mexican-American creative photographer based in San Jose, CA. When not enjoying an iced vanilla latte or a craft cocktail, you can find her working full-time at Weekend Creative, a creative photography agency that she co-founded...
52 min
91
From a Grass Shack to Silicon Valley
Martha Nino was born in Mexico and immigrated to the USA undocumented as a child. She grew up in the Bay Area and watched Silicon Valley grow into what it is today. She's a 25-year tech pro and just recently celebrated her 15-year anniversary as a Sr...
63 min
92
Part Three: What's Your Story? Guided Experienc...
Welcome to the third out of four RisOn guided experiences! This month, you'll have an opportunity to explore and communicate your own story in depth. This week we'll focus on breakthrough. Let's use visualization to reconnect to your forgotten life e...
15 min
93
Part Two: What's Your Story? Guided Experience ...
Welcome to the second out of four RisOn guided experiences! This month, you'll have an opportunity to explore and communicate your own story in depth. This week we'll focus on discernment. Let's get on a deeper level to discern what you're still hidi...
14 min
94
Latinos in Hollywood
How many times have you scrolled through Netflix and saw stereotypical Latino movies and leads? Narcos, Latin lovers, funny sidekick and don't get me started on stereotypical Latina narratives. Folks like Edwin Porres Jr. are out here changing the ga...
54 min
95
Part One: What's Your Story? Guided Experience ...
Welcome to the first of four RisOn guided experiences! This month, you'll have an opportunity to explore and communicate your own story in depth. This week we'll focus on awareness. What's your story? Who are you and what brought you to this moment t...
11 min
96
Is My Story Valid Enough?
Erika Barraza is a first-generation Salvadorean Latina and Bay Area native working in LA as an actress, director, and using her platform and creative work to make a positive impact in the world. She just co-directed three 360/VR films for Lenovo. Her...
81 min
97
RisOn x Hella Latin@: Telling Your Story
In this episode, I sat down with mis amigos Chris Gueits and Jon Hermida, co-founders of RisOn, to tell you all about our new collaboration. AKA, our gift to you!  We took our partnership to the next level and created this interactive and powerful ...
7 min
98
A Three-Time Refugee
Jessica Artiles es una jefa completa, born in Cuba and raised in Hialeah, Miami. Jessica is the Founder and Chief Design Officer at Darte Design, where she translates her background in mechanical engineering, public policy, design, entrepreneurship, ...
62 min
99
Caribbean Meets South Asia
Maya Joshi is a first-generation American of Caribbean and South Asian heritage, originally from New Jersey but raised in San Diego at the age of 10. In this episode, she talks about navigating her Indian and Dominican cultures while also learning wh...
74 min
100
Del Pueblo al U.S. Embassy
Karen Vasquez O'Donnell was born and raised in El Salvador, and moved to the United States at 13 years old with her family. In this episode, she talks about her childhood living in a rural pueblito in El Salvador to her first U.S. embassy visit to na...
62 min