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Hola.

I'm Melanie Mendez Gonzalez, your host for Salud!

The show that celebrates South Texas Latina leaders.

We've just concluded season four, and it's been a fantastic season.

We've talked with civic leaders, a judge, a chef, two sisters creating a beauty empire, and women who've decided to lead from right where they are.

On this best of Salud episode We will share the stories of local Latinas leading in tech, boxing, civics and performing.

Eva Morales Campbell is a voice, and on camera actor whose talent is not only performing, but being bilingual.

Based in Boerne, she shares how she rose to the top of a very competitive field.

My name is Eva Campbell Morales.

I'm a voice talent and translator.

I do copywriting and proofreading.

Basically, what I do is I'm a language.

Bridge is the way I explain what I do, between English and Spanish.

And I help people communicate.

I always wanted to be a performer.

My mom was a singer and a composer and an actress.

And my dad, was a linguist.

And I knew that I wanted to be a performer.

And so I focused, studies early on in drama, in public speaking.

I grew up in a bilingual household.

My mom's from Mexico, my dad's from Illinois.

But because I grew up bilingual, I just.

I was there at a time when there was a real void in the Latino market for voice talent and I had lots of practice, lots of, background in drama and theater.

And so I started doing little roles.

My first line in a commercial was, In Spanish, Harris County.

Estar creciendo mucho mucho trafico.

Somos impulso economico de Texas.

I was hyper focused, and interested and, and knowledgeable about language in ways that other people weren't.

We at home around the dinner table, we talked about the nuances of language, of of translation, of pronunciation, of how does this sound get made?

So I was very much a language nerd, and it helped me a lot.

I eventually ended up starting starting my own business and doing things your way, believing in yourself, trusting your instinct.

Not always, but more often than not, is the way to go.

Open the door when opportunity knocks.

Hello?

What are you doing?

Just sitting there.

A lot of times behind that door will be an amazing mentor or amazing opportunity that would lead you to something else.

The single biggest challenge is lack of a college education.

And it was twofold because you know that the story you tell yourself is more powerful than the story people tell you.

And so I would say, I've been so blessed that I have been able to excel and gain the trust through performance of giants in the industry and, well, in, in San Antonio and in production.

I've been able to earn their trust and respect through my product.

But not having that, it's kind of like The Wizard of Oz with the Scarecrow not having that piece of paper.

Has you know, throughout my career made me feel a little bit, tentative about, you know, how do I present what I have to offer?

All I have is my proof of of the work that I do.

I don't have a piece of paper that says, oh, yeah, she can do it.

So that, in my mind, was was a, a challenge.

And it was in some cases, initially trying to gain a foothold, a little bit of a challenge.

But I've been very, very blessed that that I worked with some wonderful people who who grade product over paper.

My advice would be, be relentless.

And you must fight that challenge of not believing in yourself.

I have heard people say, you know, what are your challenges as a Latina?

Hi, My name is Eva Morales.

And, I say this because I am Mexican.

I know I don't look it.

My superpower is being a Latina, but the fact that I'm bilingual, that I learned my language, my culture, the nuances of both languages and cultures to this day, that serves me well because even with AI taking over translation, AI doesn’t understand nuance of language.

You know, I frequently hear being Latino as this this separate set with separate rules.

And the only thing I would say to anybody, Latino, Latina, Don’t ever see that as a limitation.

You know, if you are a Latino Latina, you're in school.

You're trying to get start in the business, recognize what a superpower that is.

Up next.

She was the first Latina to be elected to a city council for a major Texas city.

Maria Berriozábal represented San Antonio's west side from 1981 until 1991.

She's a true trailblazer who paved the way for many young women.

I served in public office in San Antonio, Texas.

My name is Maria Antonietta Berriozábal and I am a longtime community activist.

My journey to becoming the first Latina elected to the San Antonio City Council in 1981 starts with my ancestors, with knowing the history of my ancestors and being from a community that is very active.

This is 1980, and Henry Cisneros decided not to run for mayor.

So I decided, with the help of many friends and family, to launch my campaign, just because I believed that we needed to be responsible for electing our own and not have outsiders come and represent us.

I was raised in a family that was very aware of our surroundings.

My father taught us to be good analyst of the world around us.

What's happening?

Who's doing what?

I saw class differences.

I saw social differences.

I saw financial differences.

And I became very interested in what's happening, what was happening around me.

I was born in a community that was, given less, educationally.

Financially.

It is like I grew up in, in a world where you are thought of to be less, I mean, that made me, like, say, no.

I mean, everybody's the same.

God made us all his children.

And I'm not less than anybody.

And my daddy used to say, you're not less than anybody, but you're not more than anybody else.

So it's just an ethic at home.

I don't think it's something I discovered.

As an adult, it's like an ethic of service.

An ethic of being honest, an ethic of, being part of a community.

And one very proud of being a Mexican American girl.

Very proud of my Mexicano-ness And that's because my parents were proud of their culture and the music and the traditions and the the fiestas and the food.

And I was just a proud Latina.

When I think about reaching a certain milestone, for example, getting elected to City council, actually being the first Latina to run for mayor, I didn't win, but I won't.

But I had a really good campaign.

All along the way there are obstacles.

There are obstacles today.

Of opportunity, people who are going to help you of having money, of, being a woman.

Things happened in 1980 and in my campaign that would never happen today.

You know, people actually printed things about, a woman running that they would never prints a day.

I ran, for city council with, I think, four opponents, four men.

And, I got into a runoff with one, one man, and they had money to buy ads and stuff.

We didn't have that much money, but this, gentleman bought an ad that compared me and him, the opponent, this this, I did this.

My opponent went to a private school.

I went to Lanier high school.

The opponent married an outsider.

I married my childhood sweetheart.

My opponent doesn't have children, so she's not gonna know how to deal with issues of children.

That would never happen today.

We paved the way.

As far as, mentors, I had women, business women who took time to include me, to show me, to embrace me in the community.

One of them was Luz Escamilla.

She's the woman who founded the Mexican American Business and Professional Women's Club in 1972.

And that was my first opportunity at Leadership.

Us with the gray hair What are we going to leave behind to our children?

I think we have an obligation, those of us who have something to share, to give to young people and and have them run with it, you know that every young person you see, if you got to be councilwoman, man, you can be mayor, you can be senator, you can be, the owner of your own business.

And we have the eyes to see.

And sometimes young people don't have the eyes to see what they have.

So it's our obligation to to tell them what we see and the hope that they are to us.

I'm 83 years old, proudly.

And along the way to be told that you're open doors or that you're a trailblazer.

First you don't think of it when you're doing it.

You're just doing what you need to be doing.

You're doing something that's difficult to do.

But then when kind of in your last years, people start telling you that, you kind of say, wow, I mean, that's that's good.

That's a good thing I did.

And to acknowledge the, the other trailblazers who are my my amigas, my friends, my comadres, and that we women who are now in our 80s, late 70s and 80s, particularly as Latinas are a generation that opened up doors for the younger women.

And that makes me very proud.

Maria was right about politics.

It's tough, but even tougher is being a champ in the world of boxing.

San Antonio based Rianna Rios is currently the bantamweight world boxing international champion, ranked number one in the US.

This strong Latina is proof that fighting the good fight pays off.

This is the WBA World Boxing Association international champion title.

So I won this back in June.

I fought a 8 round bout against Maria Romero from Spain and DC.

Stay on the right side.

Okay.

We went eight rounds.

I won by unanimous decision.

My first of many.

It was a great night.

My name is Rianna Rios.

I’m a professional boxer, currently 8 And 0, and the WBA international boxing champion.

I started boxing at the age of ten.

My father boxed, so I grew up in the gym.

I was about 2 or 3 hitting, the speed bag and the punching bag just watching.

I fell in love with the sport, but he didn't want me to box.

Just because of everything that comes with boxing.

But I nagged him until he finally gave in and allowed me to get in the ring and try it for the first time.

And I sparred once.

Then in love with.

Been boxing since.

I love it, I enjoy it.

Most people think it's brutal.

I mean, you're getting punched in the face for a living, but it's more of a sport.

Like it's more of a sweet science to me than a sport and everything that comes with boxing.

So the things you inherit from competing and training and things like that such as discipline, determination, like you build all these qualities within yourself and it kind of helps outside of the ring as well.

So it kind of shapes me into the person I am today.

Boxing actually got me into the military, so my military career started because of boxing.

I was able to join the Army's World class athlete program as a boxer straight out of high school.

The pathway to being an Olympic was set for me.

All I had to do is enlist active duty, go to basic training, advanced individual training.

And then I was shipped to Colorado Springs for, my time in service.

So for, 2013 up until 2017, I believe I was training for the Olympics.

That's what I did.

Sleep, eat, drink, boxing.

I qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials.

Competed.

Unfortunately, I fell short and took 4th.

We shot for the 2020 Olympics.

I was ranked number one in the country.

I was on team USA.

I competed at the world Championships for team USA.

I was set to be the Olympian, but right before they left the trials, I decided I was done boxing.

I wanted to focus on my family and school and hang up the gloves.

So I made a quick decision to stop boxing for and only lasted a couple of months.

Really.

I missed the sport so much.

That's all I was thinking about was boxing, but I didn't want to do the amateur thing anymore, so I decided to turn professional.

2019 I made my, pro debut.

Been doing it since.

If I'm not in the gym, I'm studying for school or, doing things for the community and things like that.

So I'm trying to set a good example, not just in here on the physical aspect of boxing, but on the outside as well, and and becoming a good person for the community.

I've taken a lot of risks growing up, a lot of sacrifices.

You know, there was things I couldn't do as a kid because I was so focused and disciplined and dedicated to the sport itself, you know?

So I, I miss my high school prom.

I missed all the, the parties and the get together with my friends and things like that.

But those sacrifices were were needed to become the person and put me in the position I'm in today.

So taking risks was everything.

There's nothing we can't do as women.

Nothing.

There may be some barriers, some bumps in the road you hit, you know?

But following your dreams, doing what you what you set your mind to won't be easy.

Nothing in life that's that's worth it will be easy.

Keep pushing, keep driving.

Set your goals.

Follow through with it.

It.

It makes all the difference in the world.

Don't believe in naysayers.

If you want to do something, do it.

Women are leading in every aspect of business these days.

As primo San Antonio journalist Jessie Degollado shows us technology is one of those areas and Cat Dizon shares ideas on leading in tech and business.

I'm joined today by Cat Dizon, a Latina woman with a can do spirit.

Cat, you not only serve as the chair of the board of directors of the Business Incubator at Geekdom, you also chair the board of directors of Girls, Inc. of San Antonio, a nonprofit that has been a guiding hand for thousands of young women.

And you are the co-founder and chief operating officer of Active Capital, your own venture capital firm.

Your impressive resume also includes when you were at Rackspace as its director of corporate strategy and development.

So you've done that and so much more in your amazing career.

So I have to wonder, did you have any idea when you were getting started that you would be at this point in your life?

No, not at all.

My initial plans when I was growing up, as a little girl was to become an attorney and to be, a trial lawyer.

And then life happened as I was getting into the University of UTSA, going through, putting myself through college, I took on a job and got really good at not only understanding business, but running businesses at the early age of 20.

And it completely changed the trajectory of my career.

Understanding business like you do is a rare gift, but certainly it takes nerve and courage and also financial knowhow, especially to do what you do in the field of venture capital.

So what advice do you have for women who may not have that level of financial literacy?

If they want to get started, how can they get that financial literacy that they'll need?

There's a lot of resources out in our community that offer financial literacy to anyone who's interested in learning.

They come through either through the community colleges.

There are resources downtown that are available through launch S.A., through Geekdom.

Organizations that I work very closely with because I understand you can have a business, but if you don't know how to grow it and don't understand the way, the money ins and outs can actually grow and make it successful, you won't ever really see your full potential.

So I encourage anyone, whether you're just coming into the to the college age or you're leaving a very seasoned career that you want to start something new, but just need to understand how the business should be working.

That's going to be very, telling, depending on where you are understanding the financials.

But what about the women who may be doubting themselves?

I don't know if I can do this or who may not have the courage to move forward.

What can you tell them?

I encourage very positive self-talk because you will meet people that will try to talk you out of doing something new or doing something very risky.

So if you have that internal talk with yourself to say, look, everybody else can do it, I can do it too.

Or maybe nobody's doing it.

Maybe it takes somebody like me that really just will count and bet on themselves and get started.

A lot of it is just getting started.

Every time I meet with women that think about starting a business or think about launching a product, I just do it and figure out the rest later.

If you really have the passion and you really have the drive and the discipline to keep it going and you're serious, show everyone how serious you are and take the first step and then take the next one.

Already, when you look back, you'll realize how far you've come just by taking those small initial steps forward.

Well, as you mentioned earlier, life happens.

We all know that.

So how is it possible for women who are also wives and mothers to still keep their eye on the prize?

I think a lot of women try to figure out, is it fair to balance life?

How do you do that?

You really don't balance life.

You prioritize the best you can.

You do make sacrifices on one side or the other, but if you have goals and you're reaching goals and you have family as a priority, and you make sure that that is still a healthy unit day in and day out, it all grows together and it won't ever be perfect.

But you can make a really happy life if you understand your priorities.

Talk to me about how you motivate yourself as you see that mountain of responsibilities that you have.

It's growing and growing.

Have you ever been in that kind of situation?

I do, but also it's all about your the way you look at it, your perspective.

I'm a very positive person.

I used to have really grueling and tough jobs where things were usually daily, fires or, you know, problems or just challenges.

And today I'm in a position and I've built my career to to now every call is a potential it's opportunity.

It's something that I can actually solve which I've spun and could I could look at it fires.

I put.

So instead of it being looking at it like a wall of of problems or a wall of work, I take it piece by piece of how do I make this win?

How does this look and and get to a level of success?

How do I start something new to maybe become more efficient in other things?

So I turn it with the positivity or my outlook to make it seem like, hey, I can get through anything.

And I've proven that 26 years of just doing a lot of different work in industry, nothing scares me.

Nothing surprises me.

I just look at his work and I turn it into something positive to move through.

So to conclude, may I ask what is the biggest life lesson that you've learned throughout your career and your life up to now?

The biggest life lesson was I didn't look for mentoring early on in my career.

I started in the workforce at age 20, and I felt like I had to have all the answers.

I had to know exactly what we were doing, how we were going to do it, strategy for it, how we were going to win.

And I made a lot of missteps, and I never thought I could reach out for help.

One, because when you're at the top, there's really nobody around you to ask for help.

And if you do, it's a almost felt as if you're you're weak about, you know, a part of your career that you just don't want to be as a as the leader.

And slowly I learned, gosh, there are people that know so much more than me.

They've been there, they've done that.

And had I just asked earlier on, I still not trade this life in this career for anything, but I feel like I would have learned a lot faster.

There's so much more beyond what you know today and you won't know it unless you ask.

And the help was there.

I just never really reached out for.

Take it from Cat Dizon.

Certainly whose hard earned path has led to your success.

Thank you so much for joining us, and thank you for joining us here on Salud.

Thank you Jessie.

These are just a few of the amazing women we featured on this season of salad.

Check out the full episodes from every show on klrn.org under the originals tab.

Until next time, I'm Melanie Mendez Gonzalez.

Nos vemos.

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