Jessica Cuevas, is the Founder and Creator of Viva la Mami, LLC, is a podcaster, coach, and community builder. Once Jessica became a mom in 2021, she noticed that there was a lack of representation of Latinas in the motherhood space. She created this platform after seeing negative stereotypes of the Latina mom online and on social media. Coming fro…

Meet Luz Canino-Baker is the founder and President of Latinas On The Plaza, a non-profit organization that helps girls and women of color, with a strong target for Latina women, find their power so that they can be strong and confident at work, at home, and in the communities they serve. Luz is also a international certified coach and author. Her f…

Meet Liz Khalifa, a 36-year-old Puerto Rican woman hailing from the bustling streets of Chicago. By day, Liz wears two hats: she's a makeup artist and a patient care coordinator at ReJenerate Aesthetic Studio in Bucktown. Liz's journey into makeup artistry began during her youth, sparked by a desire to explore her own sense of beauty. What started …

Welcome, beautiful souls, to the first episode of 2024, new season, on Dropping Gems Con Muchos Colores Podcast, celebrating the resilience, strength, and wisdom of Latina mothers. Hosted by yours truly Arely Lagunas, join me on this episode as I discuss the importance of rest, especially when venturing into new spaces in 2024, my special trip to G…

Diana's life story is a testament to her unwavering resilience and determination. Born and raised in Chicago, she weathered a rocky childhood that included spells in foster care, living with family out of state, and even residing in homeless shelters with her mother and sisters. An astounding 11 different grammar schools marked her educational jour…

Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Dr. Leslie Sanchez, with roots in Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage, holds a Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate Degree in Nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her original plan was a degree in Business and Ecommerce and found her calling as a Certified Nurse Midwife. Boasting over seventeen years of e…

Thrilled to have Noeli Serna in our podcast! Noeli is a corporate attorney and the founder of Serna Legal Services. Her law firm provides long-term contract and corporate legal services to established Illinois businesses looking to scale further. She helps her clients mitigate the legal risks that come with business growth, including larger and mor…

Melissa Llarena is an author, imagination coach, consultant, speaker, contributor to ForbesWomen articles that have garnered 4 million+ views, and the host of Unimaginable Wellness, the podcast for entrepreneurs, founders, and creators who are moms. Featured guests include GaryVee and Beth Comstock. She holds a psychology degree from NYU, an MBA fr…

We are at the midpoint of the year and also my birthday month! I took this opportunity to do a solo episode to share and spill the beans on personal goals and milestones I have reached. Symbolizing stretching my comfort zone, acquiring personal growth, relentless work, and placing my heart on my sleeve. Frankly, this episode took me a couple of wee…

Kia is a born-and-bred-Chicago-Puerto Rican who grew up in Humboldt Park/Logan Square neighborhoods. She is a single parent of two children (boys ages 8 and 10) and has worked in various pediatric settings across Chicagoland for the past 12 years. Currently, she is the mental and behavioral health specialist at Donohoe Pediatrics in Chicago’s north…

Jenise Rodriguez is the Esthetician and Owner of Sanar Aesthetics. Proudly born and raised in Chicago - Humboldt Park, Boricua mother of one, skin care bruja, and creator of Sanar Skin Oil Blend No.1, Jenise has built a highly successful spa. She is booked out for 3-4 months at a time. Recently featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, Jenise is committed…

Today, we have a very special guest, Linette, a Latina portrait Photographer and Creative Director who has an amazing story to share. Linette graduated with a Bachelors in Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 2012 and started her career in photography in 2014, quickly becoming a rising star in her industry. Life took a…

Sherry J Ceniceros is the owner and founder of Bookkeeping by Design. After becoming a first time parent and seeing the effects the pandemic had on Latino owned businesses, she decided to start her own bookkeeping business. She has been doing bookkeeping for 12 years and works with a variety of small businesses. Women owned business primarily. Sher…

Luzy King is an award-winning entrepreneur, Certified Trauma of Money Wealth Coach, contributing author, Community Leader, and Founder of Say Hola Wealth. Luzy is on a mission to destigmatize the idea of wanting more money to help women build a legacy through stock market investing and entrepreneurship. As a first-gen investor from humble beginning…

Welcome new month! May this month bring you joy and abundance of oppportunities! I’m back 🙌🏽 from a 4 month hiatus. I decided to take a pause after reaching our 6th month podcast milestone in April of this year. Dropping Gems Con Muchos Colores Podcast was lauched last year in September of 2021. I wanted to honor my body and mind cues and embrace t…

Anna Calix is a biracial Latina single mom from Honduras living in the Chicagoland area. Her parenting journey began with a beautiful pregnancy that unfortunately turned into tragedy when Liam was stillborn on his due date. Her rainbow baby, Rio, was born 18 months later. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in pre-medicine, biology, and communication stu…

Christine is a Decision Making & Accountability Life Coach and the creator of Life’s Risk Management. A blog site to help keep feel calm, confident & competent to tackle all that life throws our way. Christine is from Mexican and Guatemalan decent. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania and recently moved to Florida with her family 2 boys (age 2 &…

Araceli Fernandez, a Mexican American Latina mom from Chicago, IL. Araceli is a Medical Coder in Health Information Management. She holds a Registered Medical Assistant Certification. Araceli shares her journey parenting her 3 children 2 boys and 1 girl ages 14, 12, and 7 and becoming a mom at age 17. As well as debunking some of the myths of young…

Joining our Dropping Gems Con Muchos Colores Podcast community is Leslie Buch Leslie is a Certified Montessori Guide And Early Childhood Educator. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Child and Family Studies and a Certification in Child Life. Leslie is also a first-time mom to a beautiful baby girl! In this episode, Leslie shares with us her motherhoo…

Audrey Robles is a Confidence Coach, Confidence Booster helping women through faith, fitness and mindset. Audrey's confidence journey began after she had 2 boys back to back and began to be more cognizant of taking care of herself. Audrey started to work out at home as an outlet and joined a community where she found herself thriving in this enviro…

Dr. Hortencia Jimenez was born in Nayarit, Mexico in la Sierra Madre and raised in the agriculture community of Watsonville CA. At a young age, she was separated from her mother and came with her grandma and aunt to the U.S. Dr. Jimenez spent her childhood years working in the fields and learned the ethic of hard work and perseverance. She holds a …

Former math teacher, Rita-Soledad Fernandez, now personal Finance Educator, shares with us her financial journey. Her Financial Literacy journey started while she was on sick leave from work by reading books and watching YouTube videos which gave her the information to create wealth. Some of Soledad's major achievements were: paying off over $23K i…

In this episode we chat with Jessica about emotional health and balancing motherhood with work while maintaining our overall wellness. She reveals how she started her journey in the psychology field and her creative outlet as a Jewelry Designer & Founder for Coco + Peach Jewelry insprred by her daughters names and background (Ecuador & Colombia) We…

Welcome to Dropping Gems!By Arely Lagunas

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