¿Quién Tú Eres?

Latest Episodes:

Styling for the Stars with Oscar Montes de Oca Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Most people think professionalism is about fitting in, but what if it’s actually the reason we feel disconnected from ourselves? This podcast explores the tension between who we are and who we feel pressured to be at work, in relationships, and in everyday life.

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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Celebrity fashion stylist and Creative Director Oscar Montes de Oca has made a name for himself in the styling world for his chic, timeless, conceptual, and body-flattering styling. A native New Yorker, he has more than 12 years of experience, which includes extensive work in the international and Latin markets. He has worked on numerous editorial, TV, ad campaigns, videos, and films, and his styling has been featured in some of the world's top publications. Oscar has enjoyed styling numerous celebrities who have graced the best-dressed list.

This week Oscar tells our host, Pabel Martinez, all about his journey to becoming a celebrity fashion stylist and creative Director. As someone who was raised in “the Southernmost Part of the Bronx” and had to build his own career from the ground up, Oscar has had a long journey to success. He’s had to break stereotypes in every job he’s worked and prove himself over and over again, just to get a seat at the table. But in the last few years, Oscar has felt as if he’s met his own expectations. Tune in to hear how Oscar kept his head up in such a polarizing industry.

Follow Oscar:

Website: https://www.oscarmontesdeoca.com/

Instagram: @omontesdeoca

Post-production for this episode was provided by CCST, a podcast production company.

Designing an Authentic Life with Barney Abramson Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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Barney Abramson’s creative journey began in the Dominican Republic staying indoors and drawing his favorite 80s cartoons all day long. That creative passion grew into a fruitful career and he went on to become an award-winning designer. In addition to his day job, Barney consults as a creative director, strategist, and manager. He helps businesses and individuals with their creative problems. When he’s not designing, he’s writing about his experiences as an Afro-Latino creative in corporate America. He uses social media to connect, mentor, teach, and inspire the next generation of designers.

This week, Barney discusses his life after immigrating to the US as a child, attempting to assimilate into mostly white neighborhoods, and how that affected his confidence as a young professional. Barney admits that he would take on a Funny Guy persona to seem more palatable to his white coworkers. However, even though he was accepted as the funny guy, he still felt a distance between himself and his peers. It wasn’t until he started undoing past traumas that he became more comfortable in his own skin - even at work.

Follow Barney:

Website: www.barneyabramson.com

Instagram - @barneyabramson01

Move Different with joMi Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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joMi is an independent artist, songwriter, and poet from Northern California. He burst onto the music scene in late 2017 with the release of his mixtape, "Behind The Curtain.” His music is a fusion of acid hip-hop jazz-inspired beats with socially conscious lyrics that offer a glimpse into the struggles faced by minorities.

Due to his rough childhood, joMi has had to fight for everything he has, which includes his career in construction management. However, not one to be caught slipping, joMi promotes his music under his stage name. This way he can create music about his upbringing and validate his own experiences without being found out by his company or coworkers. This week joMi dives deep into his personal life and explains how he maintains a balance between his career in construction and his passion for music.

Follow joMi:

Instagram: jomidlr

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@OfficialjoMi

Post-production for this episode was provided by CCST, a podcast production company.

Invest in Yourself with Jonathan Mentor Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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“You’re never gonna get a job if you're an entrepreneur.”

That’s what this week’s guest said on the podcast and I have to admit, I was shocked. That’s a very bold statement. But I was even more shocked when I realized that he was right.

We’ve seen it too many times. We are told to quiet our voices and make ourselves smaller. Even if we know what we’re talking about and we are the best person on the team, some people will do anything they can to keep us in “our place.”

So what happens when you become bigger than your job?

That’s the question that we tackle on this week's episode of the ¿Quién Tú Eres? podcast. And this week’s guest is none other than the incredible Jonathan J. Mentor.

Jonathan J. Mentor is a revenue growth expert that provokes the economic growth and visibility of disadvantaged humans in B2B tech. He is proud to be a Latinx, Black, Queer father. He is the Founder & CEO of Successment, a revenue growth partner for diverse tech startups where he developed BOOM®, a 4-step growth process that uncomplicates RevOps Science®. His inspiration for Successment is his commitment to the success of disadvantaged humans. Success + Commitment = Successment.

When he went from being a cashier to a corporate broker, the culture shock was overwhelming. However, Jonathan was able to listen and learn from his peers. His ability to adapt and excel at his work made him way bigger than career as a broker. He very quickly became LinkedIn famous and started moonlighting on his own.

And even though Jonathan was earning the company millions of dollars in revenue, his co-workers felt threatened by his success outside of his corporate job. In the end, they offered him a severance package and told him it was his last day. From there he decided to invest in himself and start his own business. This was the birth of Successment.

This week we talk about

How Jonathan was able to excel at his career without a degree
How he was able to battle imposter syndrome during his time as a broker
Why Jonathan works with the clients that he does
Why he now refuses to code switch or hide his tattoos during meetings

Self Confidence with Vanessa Correa Jun 13, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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Vanessa Correa recently took the role of Vice President and DEI Marketing Strategy Lead at JPMorgan Chase & Co. after five years at Freddie Mac, where she was the marketing lead for equitable housing initiatives handling content strategy, brand development, paid media, and marketing events. Vanessa hails from The Bronx, was born to two Puerto Ricans, and is a quintessential 80s baby.

This week on the podcast, Vanessa shares how her upbringing shaped her self-confidence as an adult. Her childhood prepared her to stand her ground and enforce her boundaries the first time they’re breached. Which happened a lot, considering how often people in majority white spaces felt entitled to her intelligence.

Listen to Vanessa’s episode to hear how she let her haters know that her middle fingers still work.

Post-production for this episode was provided by CCST, a podcast production company.

Paradox with Adam Gabornitz Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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This week's guest is Adam Gabornitz, who currently serves as a Senior Director of Diversity & Inclusion for a large insurance and wealth management company that's headquartered in Milwaukee, WI.

His role includes creating and driving execution of D&I talent attraction and retention strategies, and consulting across the enterprise to retain, develop and advance diverse talent. Adam has over 17 years of experience in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, tech, workforce development, talent acquisition and talent development.

Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and currently serves on the board of Impact in Milwaukee. He was a 2020 recipient of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 award.

A few mantras he lives by:

Give more than you take

Say yes more than you say no

Leave things better than you found it

Look good, feel good, do good

Recipe for Success with Eddy Hiraldo May 30, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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Eddy Hiraldo is an experienced strategist, creative, and storyteller seasoned with 1 cup of the Bronx, NY; a 1/2 cup of Florida; and 3 tbsp of both Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico respectively. He’s a recent alumn of ONE School Atlanta (2022) and both the AAF’s Most Promising Multicultural Student program (2018) and the 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Intern Program (2017). Currently he works as a Social Strategist at Wieden+Kennedy NY and spends most of his time being a student of internet culture. When he’s not, he’s a creative strategist for 14th and Market and the Brand Manager for Black Visionaries™.

Self Discovery with Pabel & Odalys May 23, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so we discussed Mental Health & Emotional Intelligence and the impact it's had on our careers.
More specifically, we discussed:
- Different ways to think about mental health/ therapy.
- Have you ever tried talking to yourself? Pabel started live journaling and having self conversations
- The study of "human design"; energy management
- Are Personality Tests helpful for self awareness? What best helped describe you; how often do you get to know yourself. What tests have best described you?
- What’s the "weirdest" thing that you’ve done, in your mental health journey
- Lack of emotional intelligence within teams and managers.
- Trauma dumping

Típico with Nancy Pineda May 16, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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Nancy is a first generation Dominican-American Latina, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.

She started her career in the corporate financial industry in 2003 after interning at American Express while in high school and later getting hired as an executive assistant. In her 20 years at American Express, she held different roles including business analyst, chief of staff, business strategy manager and project manager. In 2021, she transitioned to JP Morgan Chase & Co. where she is currently a Project Manager in the Corporate Investment Banking organization.

Aside from her day job, Nancy freelances for her best friend’s interior design business, Lucia Genao Interiors, where she provides strategic and operational support. Then, during install period, you’ll find her rolling up her sleeves building furniture and fluffing pillows!

Nancy earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and her MBA in managerial analytics from Mercy College in New York City, graduating summa cum laude in both fields. She was part of the Delta Mu Delta society, graduating with honors.

In her personal time, you can find Nancy trying out new eats, at the gym powerlifting, or dancing merengue, merengue típico and bachata with her friends and family. She has a heart for mentoring and has partnered with various business resource groups to mentor junior professionals and MBA students. She also volunteers for external organizations, such as Junior Achievement of New York, to teach financial literacy to low-income elementary schools in the Bronx.

Agua Bonita with Kayla Castañeda May 09, 2023

Show notes

Through candid conversations, we unpack how different environments shape our behavior, how limiting beliefs form, and what it looks like to actually understand yourself beyond the roles you play.

Tools like ⁠⁠⁠Plurawl⁠⁠⁠ can help you break down your thoughts and understand what’s driving them → https://plurawl.com/

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This week's guest is Kayla Castañeda, who is the founder of Agua Bonita. Here's a quick bio...in Kayla's own words...

Much like the aguas frescas we make, my family history starts in Mexico and settles in the fruit fields of the Central Valley of California. My ancestors immigrated to the states pursuing the opportunity for a better life and following the migrant farm work as field workers, which led us here – where we grow 60% of the nation’s produce!

Growing up here, my grandpa would bring us home super ripe fruit from the fields that he couldn’t just stand to let go to waste. This fruit would be sprinkled with chile powder or made into aguas frescas for the whole family to enjoy.

When I lost my job mid-pandemic, I took it as “when life gives you lemons, make aguas frescas.” I decided to create something that is reflective of my culture, my family, and my grandpa’s teachings of never letting food go to waste (and not too much sugar – he was diabetic), and Agua Bonita was born. We’ve carried on the tradition of taking real fruit from the fields and creating a delicious drink to share with everyone, from our home to your hands.

Resources & Links

1) Agua Bonita website

2) Quick video highlighting the unfortunate business practices from Coca-cola. It's an experience that's highlighted towards the end of the episode.

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