Chats with Yvonne (2025)

30/07/2025

My sister said “your marathon was 2 days ago why are you still posting about it?” 😅

I so understand that lol but it’s all I can think about right now. I seriously cannot believe that I did it. Not because I didn’t believe in myself, but because the pain I was experiencing made me believe that eventually my body would give up on me.

She didn’t. She kept going. One foot in front of the other. Step by step. And, she got me there. This body & mind that I so often doubt & am rude to, got me there.

Though I try to avoid making my running journey my entire personality, it truly has transformed everything about me & my perspective on the world.

Because of running, I believe in me & and I believe in us. We can navigate the pain, give room to shamelessly express emotion, cheer for our loved ones & strangers in the same breath, and engage in deep reflection about our individual impact towards making this a world where everyone who wants to, can run, express, & live freely.

To run where I once walked as a little girl, meant more to me than I can articulate.

I ❤️ you, SF. Thank you for loving me back.

23/07/2025

I spent years writing & curating newsletters for the companies I worked for and now I get to write one for my own; for us. 💙

If you’d like regular public speaking tips, cultura-centered insights, behind-the-scenes speaking moments, reflections of being in the spotlight as an introvert, and to stay updated on events & product launches, I’d love for you to consider subscribing to my newsletter.

The first edition will go live soon!

🔗 Subscribe using the link in bio.

19/07/2025

First speaking engagement as an official part of the 30’s club. 🎤

My speech: Using my voice in a world that’s always been loud: reflection, storytelling, & slowing down as tools for mastering the art of public speaking.

The (even more) fun part: Because I believe in cultivating a space for everyone to practice their public speaking, I know how empowering ( & nerve racking) it can be to hold a mic & say something out loud, and I love sharing the stage with y’all, I facilitated a hands-on (mic-on) experience where everyone practiced their art of public speaking through my framework:

💭 Reflect
🔗 Connect
🎤 Share

My hope is to not only leave my audience inspired to continue engaging in the art of public speaking, but to do it in a way that aligns with their truest essence. ✨

May the rest of my 30’s be dedicated to doing what I love & helping you, your team, and our community grow as speakers. 💙

17/07/2025

I just finished putting together the official guest guide and media kit for my Speaker Spotlight series on my podcast and I’m so excited!!

To everyone that submitted their form, thank you for being patient while I created a better guest experience. You should’ve gotten an email.

To those that may be interested in learning more, I’ll drop this here.

Working on editing the first episode in this new format. 💙

Head to my website for a look at your full guest experience. 🎤✨

10/07/2025

Just wrapped up a virtual public speaking workshop where community members:

🎤 Identified their signature topic
🎤 Created speaker bios
🎤 Drafted their one pagers

We shared our ideas as they came to us and really worked through it together.

The intention is to truly do it in community.

To share our thought process & normalize our experiences, our moments of self doubt, and have community (& tools) right there to help shape our speaker journey.

We become better speakers, in community. 💙

From tonight: A speaker was told to check me out and before they reached out, they wanted to get a feel for what it’s like to work with me. After tonight, they said “You’re my people”. 🥹

If you’d like to attend upcoming workshops, they’re a great way to understand my style of facilitating AND get meaningful work done towards growth in your public speaking journey.

These workshops are designed with you in mind and anyone can join! Btw, no. You don’t have to be “Latina” to join, we simply use our cultura as a lens for how we approach the art, but the outcomes are for everyone. ✨

See you at the next one? 🤓

30/06/2025

🗣️ I’ll be one of the hand-selected Take Charge Coaches at this year’s Lean In Latinas’ Take Charge Conference 2025 and I’d love for you to join me!

Take Charge is designed to empower Latinas and allies with the tools, strategies, and community support to lead with confidence. This one-day conference brings together an amazing network of leaders for a day filled with:

🎤 Inspiring keynote speeches
🎤 Workshops on career strategy, leadership, & mindset
🎤 Panels on entrepreneurship, navigating workplace dynamics, & more
🎤 Networking with purpose and connecting with inspiring Latina professionals and allies

Take Charge Conference 2025
🗓️ August 15, 2025 8am - 5pm
📍LinkedIn HQ, Mountain View, CA

Use code LILSECRET for 25% off general admission:
https://TakeChargeConference.com

29/05/2025

We’re at 284 subscribers on Youtube!! Thank you all so much!! 🎉💙

If you haven’t yet, I’d love to invite you to subscribe. 🫶🏼

Every 50 subscriber milestone, I’ll do something fun to celebrate. It could be a video challenge (like delivering a 1-minute speech on the fly about a topic y’all choose), community Q&A, bts vlogs, or even reacting to your favorite speeches. Anything goes!

The next milestone is at 300! What should we do? 👀

28/05/2025

I’d love to introduce you to the if you’re not already familiar with them. 💛

The Multicultural Institute (MI) is home to many day laborers, domestic workers, immigrant communities, and their families.

MI envisions and is actively creating a community in which immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, are embraced and valued in the communities in which they live and work.

Their programs cover:

• Economic Development (job placement, housing, worker advocacy)

• Vocational & Skills Development (GED, Entrepreneurship, computer basics)

• Immigration & Health Services (Naturalization course, legal clinics, health awareness)

• Learning opportunities (youth writing festival, mentorship, parent & tutor trainings)

And honestly, so much more! MI is truly creating a home away from home for many families in the Bay Area.

As a Board member, I have the honor to invite you all to our annual fundraiser meant to help MI deepen their impact and continue meeting the moment to provide immigrant families the tools and opportunity they need to thrive.

Follow to learn more about our fundraising event and I hope you’ll join us on June 18th for a celebration of love, community impact, & community. 🧡

Feel free to reach out to ask questions or learn about sponsorship opportunities!

20/05/2025

💬 Why does it feel embarrassing to admit (out loud) that we don’t know something? Or that we have room to grow?

In this episode, we chat about one particular barrier that might stop many of us from growing: fear of appearing incompetent. From the pressure to “already know” to the embarrassment of asking questions, we explore why learning out loud feels uncomfortable for many adults and where embarrassment comes from.

I share adult learning theories to make sense of some of your submissions on ‘learning’, pose reflections to encourage us to face our ego in learning as adults, and ground us in our human experience to help normalize learning at every level, even when you’re the expert in the room.

🎙️ Tune in on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. 💙

01/04/2025

Hola, everybody!

As our community of speakers continues to grow, I thought it was time for a re-introduction to share a bit about my speaking journey and road to becoming a paid speaker of 11+ years, communications professional, & now business owner (that last title still makes me a little nervous sometimes; way more than going on stage and speaking to thousands of people 😅).

I started public speaking in high school. My first ever keynote was to a live audience of 1,500. To say I was nervous is an understatement, but as a First Gen Latina who was paving her path, it was an opportunity I didn’t think I could pass up. I didn’t know it at the time, but that moment would shape everything. I ended up touring the U.S., speaking at education conferences about project-based learning.

Later, building a fulfilling career in tech, working in communications, social impact and learning & development. Through it all, public speaking was my “side hustle.”

As I grew in my career, I knew I had mastered the skill of speaking, but there was still something missing. Bringing my truest self to the art. I didn’t see my lived experience, or that of my community, represented on stage and like many of us, I had been conditioned to dilute certain parts of myself. I thought I needed to “sound more like them” to be a great speaker.

Growing confident in my skill guided me to this understanding: my cultura is deeply rooted in storytelling. That’s public speaking. That’s truly where my technique comes from & how I create an experience my audience can be immersed in.

That’s why I do this work. My goal is to center all of us in our unique essence, to give you the techniques to grow as a speaker, and to do it with cultura.

Public speaking is for you. And you can do it a tu manera.

Thank you so much for being here. I can’t wait to cheer you on as you take the stage. 🎤🧡

19/03/2025

I’m hosting a virtual workshop today at 6pm PT!

We’re redefining what makes you an “expert”, sharing our knowledge through stories, and crafting & publishing a LinkedIn post together.

You’ll get:
• A Speaker, con Cultura Bingo card to help you establish you show up
• A Speaker Portfolio Checklist
• A ready-to-publish LinkedIn post
• And connect with other speakers!

$32 to register + the replay.

🔗 in bio

18/03/2025

✨ STORYTELLING LIKE OUR ABUELITAS
A Storytelling Mini Retreat

📅 Date: March 30th
📍 Location: Ramona, CA (I promise it’s worth the drive!)
⏰ Time: 11:30am - 2:30pm

If we take time to nurture and hold our stories, we’ll realize those before us taught us how to be incredible speakers. It’s in all of us.

This space is meant to give us a break from being “always on” and intimately gather with community to reflect, create, and share stories.

🧡 What to Expect:
- Storytelling exercises
- A co-created safe space to share & connect
- Moments of deep reflection
- Time to yourself in the beautiful outdoor landscape traditionally the ancestral land of the Kumeyaay Nation (also known as Diegueño)
- A small gift from me to you

🌿 What to bring:
- Comfortable clothes (wear what makes you feel comfortably in your essence)
- A journal and pen
- Your favorite mug (I will also have some available for you to choose from)
- A picture or collection of pictures from your childhood and favorite moments

🎟️ Limited spots available. And if cost is a barrier, please reach out & let’s make it work. Please don’t let this be the reason you don’t attend.

Chats with Yvonne