The One About Knowing Better, Wanting Different

I always start this podcast with a reflection — about myself, my life. Someone once taught me that if you want people to share, the best way is to start by sharing yourself. So, let me take you back 6 years ago, just two months after those contractions we talked about in our very first episode.

[If you haven't heard it yet, I invite you to go back and click play on that one.]

So, picture this: January 2020. My son Matias is two months old. I'm a first-time mom, raised in Mexico with the firm belief that mothers work, women work, everyone works. And there I was — a brand-new, "slightly" control-freak mom, desperate to go back to work to keep searching for answers… even if I didn't have a clear set of questions.

And then — surprise! — the company I was working for went bankrupt. So yes, while breastfeeding, my team and I became the first ones to be let go into a chaotic labor market, full of uncertainty. Remember COVID era? Well, right at the beginning.

I was lost as hell. No idea what to do, where to start. Some of you know this about me, but I'm a Mexican living in the Netherlands — so imagine: new baby, no job, small Dutch-speaking town, far from home, doubting my professional skills, unsure how to convey my value, insecure about where to invest my time and energy. A real challenge.

But life is wise. In those chaotic days, my beloved, ultra-clever husband said to me, "Why don't you study something that certifies what you already know and gives you a bit of methodology? It'll boost your confidence." And honestly? That was exactly what I needed. It was my first step toward reinventing myself.

Let's be real, sometimes "reinventing yourself" feels less like Beyoncé's Lemonade moment and more like me Googling: "Can I put 'professional diaper changer' on LinkedIn?" Messy, uncomfortable, and definitely not what I had pictured. But those pivots, big or small, are what today's episode is all about: knowing better, wanting different, and daring to try.