- [Presenter] Funding for this episode of Que Pasa NJ, with Carlos Medina, has been provided by, Horizon Blue Cross, blue shield of New Jersey, PSE and G, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Hackensack Meridian Health, the Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative 825, ROI-NJ business magazine, Lyft ride share services, and more.

- Welcome, familia, to another episode of Que Pasa.

This month, we have very entertaining, diverse storytellers, (upbeat instrumental music) including, Assemblywoman, Yvonne Lopez, Sam Delgado, Commissioner on the Cannabis Control Commission, entrepreneur, Lilia Rios, and singer, Isabel Gonzalez.

And don't forget, ladies and gentlemen, to ask, Que Pasa?

(upbeat instrumental music) And our first guest today is Assemblywoman, Yvonne Lopez.

Welcome to Que Pasa, Assemblywoman.

- Thank you, Carlos, thank you for having me.

- So how long have you been in the legislature for the state of New Jersey?

- So I just completed my two terms.

- [Carlos] Okay.

- Which is two years, and I'm on my third term now.

- What are some priorities that you and the Hispanic caucus, which you're a member of, tell me some of the priorities for this year and next year.

- You know, let me start off by sharing some background with you.

- [Carlos] Sure.

- Okay, so I was in banking, corporate banking for 20 years.

- [Carlos] Okay.

- And so I was VP of community relations and philanthropy.

I covered New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

And I left in '07.

I went to work for Trinitas Health Foundation as a fundraiser.

I raised about $2 million for the core facility.

And then I received a phone call from the mayor of Perth Amboy, Wilda Diaz, and the chairman, Judge Rodriguez from PRAHD, asked if I would be interested in coming to work for PRAHD because they had just, they had just terminated the entire leadership team there.

And I gave that some thought, and I said, okay, I'll do that.

But I had to stay at Trinitas for four additional months to reconcile.

- Tell our viewers what PRAHD stands for, and a little bit about PRAHD.

- Yeah, so Puerto Rican Association for Human Development.

- Okay.

- We are a strong 80 staff member organization.

We were operating about 12 different programs at the time.

And we served the entire Middlesex county.

We had a preschool, before school, after school programming, summer camp, senior services, HIV center.

It just goes on, and on, and on.

And, so, you know, when I came to PRAHD, I decided to move back to Perth Amboy, 'cause that's, part of that was that I had to be there like 12 hour days.

And I would work like every Sunday for about three years.

And, after I was there, I don't know, for five years, someone approached me about running for the assembly, for the state of New Jersey.

And I had to give that a lot of thought, because I knew that, I always tell people that if you do this the right way, it's a full-time job.

So I decided to run, and decided to become a consultant for PRAHD, where we were hiring a new CEO.

And, I was elected into office in 2017.

I was sworn in, in January of 2018.

And that's where my journey started.

And I don't think a lot of people know that I have been a consummate public servant for 30 years.

And I'm not sure many people recognize that.

And so, yeah, so this is my fifth year in the assembly, right now I'm serving as the Assembly Housing Chair, for the state of New Jersey.

- Excellent.

- I also serve on Financial Institutions and Insurance, and also Transportation, as a member.

- Tell me a little bit of your family's journey from Puerto Rico to this area in New Jersey.

- Yeah, yes.

So, my mom migrated here in 1951, she was 12 years old.

- Okay.

- And my dad also came here in the late 50s, yes.

He was in the army.

They got married.

My mom got married at the age of 18, he was, I think 23.

And, they had three children, then, you know, they got divorced a couple years later.

So my mom remarried again and they had another child.

And my father was like a real estate person in Perth Amboy.

Like, he would flip homes, right.

(laughs) So he would buy a home, renovate it, live there two years, we would move again.

So he bought probably seven, eight, nine homes in Perth Amboy, and he did well, he did well, you know, he owned a little lounge area here in Perth Amboy, as well.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and that's our story, yeah.

- So your dad was an entrepreneur.

- He was an entrepreneur, yeah he owned bars, he owned little lounge places.

- [Carlos] Excellent.

- He was a real estate guy, yeah.

Yeah.

- So tell me now in the legislature, some of your, what are some of your priorities, some of the passions that you're able to work on?

- Yeah, I would tell you that over the last, like four years I've introduced, I've authored like almost 300 pieces of legislation.

- [Carlos] Wow.

- And 30 of those pieces of legislation have been enacted into law, which is amazing.

- [Carlos] Yes.

- I mean, not a lot of, you know, legislators have had that opportunity, but their common sense legislation, as well too.

I will share with you that, in 2018, as soon as I was sworn in, like two months later, three months later, I think you remember the Paramus.

- [Carlos] Yes, the seat seatbelt incident.

- Yeah, seatbelt incident, the bus crash that killed a little girl and a teacher.

So even though that wasn't in my district, I immediately submitted legislation, mandating that all school buses have a shoulder lap strap, three point seatbelt system.

And that May, so I got sworn in, in January, that May, we were in Paramus with the governor, huge bus behind him.

And it was very emotional for me, but it was something that I was very passionate about, 'cause here, I am a mom, and I don't, I never wanted to see my daughter get involved in a bus crash like that, and pass away.

And I was really proud of that moment, and that was like, four months later, you know?

Yeah.

- As you should be.

So that was the first piece of legislation that you had passed, amazing.

- That was the first piece of legislation that was enacted into law, correct.

- That's great.

- Yeah.

- Tell me what you will tell our Latina viewers, who see you as a role model, as you are a great role model for the Latinas in the state, who are starting businesses, at a greater pace than many folks.

- You know, I would tell you that another piece of legislation that I authored was the census, right.

I was very passionate about the census.

In 2010, our census numbers were not good.

And what I wanted to do, just with like with Senator Poe and the entire Latino caucus in the county, I wanted to make sure that we had good numbers, that we were putting that message out, that we were actively going door to door, sending out materials, PBS, all that stuff.

So what I did was, the governor had a $2 million budget for the census, I said, no, I'm sorry, we need a $9 million budget.

So he did, he agreed to a $9 million budget.

And I'm really proud that I was a complete count commissioner, at the state level.

- [Carlos] Sure.

- And also on the county level.

So we were delivering that message everywhere.

And we did really well.

So today our numbers have increased, we're at 1.7 million with the Latino population, here in New Jersey.

And 21% of our population is Latino here in New Jersey.

And it was 13%, in 2010.

- Amazing.

Yeah, it was very thorough and a lot of good reporting, which is crucial for a state to be able to operate, to have numbers, data.

- Yeah.

And let me tell you, even on a county level and on a local level, we were really putting that message out.

We were sending out mailers, we were making phone calls.

We were knocking on doors, I mean, it was to the very end of the census, we worked really hard to ensure that that Latino vote was there, and guess what, we did great.

- Thank you for joining us Assemblywoman.

- [Yvonne] Oh, thank you.

- And keep doing the good work that you're doing.

- Thank you, thank you so much, Carlos.

Thank you.

- And up next, we have Sam Delgado, who's a Commissioner on The Cannabis Commission.

(upbeat instrumental music) Welcome back.

And our next guest is Sam Delgado.

Welcome to Que Pasa, Sam.

- Hey, thank you for having me here.

- Sam Delgado, retired from Verizon in 2019.

- 2019, yeah.

- Over 20 years doing good things there.

- 21 years.

- 21.

Tell me some of the things you did at Verizon.

- Yeah, so the last 13 years at Verizon, Carlos, I think you know, I was a VP for external affairs, so, you know, my team and I, we managed all the municipal and county government relationships that Verizon has from Mahwah down to Cape may.

- Amazing, amazing.

- So, it was interesting, it was a good career, good career.

And then I went home and planted a nice garden in the backyard.

(laughs) - And then you got a call from Trenton asking you to do some more service.

- Yeah.

I got a call.

I got a call, and, you know, I decided to answer the call and now I'm regulating cannabis.

- Amazing.

How many months have you been there thus far?

- Well, I started, my first day was April 12th, 2021.

- [Carlos] Oh, wow.

Okay.

- So it's been a little bit over a year, right?

- The recent roll out of the recreational was a success from the reports I've read, with the volume and the revenue.

- Yeah.

Yeah, it's been a success now we have, you know, this past Wednesday the market opened up for additional six, so, places, and now we have 16 dispensaries throughout the States for recreational cannabis sale.

So we're going slowly, but surely, it's evolving - again, I used the word evolving, but it's true, we evolve and we move, and the marketplace is gonna determine, you know, how many dispensaries are gonna be open, and the state's gonna regulate them.

And, you know, again, hopefully we'll do the right thing by folks, so.

- Now, again, thank you for your service, Marine Corps veteran.

- I appreciate it.

I appreciate it.

- And you also have a passion project.

I know many years ago you gave me a CD of the 65th infantry, The Borinqueneers.

- [Sam] True.

Yeah.

- Which was a completely Puerto Rican unit that served in the military.

Tell me a little bit about The Borinqueneers, and your role in helping them get a congressional medal of honor, and also a recent project that you're working on.

- The Borinqueneers is Puerto Rico's 65th infantry regimen, is the only Hispanic segregated unit in US army history, okay.

And, I had uncles that were in it, and they fought in both World War II, and the Korean War, and the Korean War is really where the 65th made their mark.

They weren't recognized, the documentary took, oh geez, about eight years, eight or nine years to create.

The documentary premiered at the Newark museum.

So there's a big, you know, there's a real big Jersey connection to the documentary.

But my project, and I'm glad you asked me, my project is we have a six, I live in Perth Amboy, my passion right now is there's a six acre park, that's a former scrapyard.

That's being remediated by the New Jersey department of environmental protection in Perth Amboy.

And the mayor's asked me to help 'em develop that park.

And, my vision is to have a veteran's monument at the park.

The park's been named The Borinqueneer park, right, honoring the 65th infantry regimen.

- Tell our viewers, and I'll put it on the screen, the website in case somebody wants to contribute, or get the word out about the project.

- Sure, the website that we have, we have a whole infrastructure set up, and we have a website www.bpealliance.org.

- Well, Sam, thanks for joining us on Que Pasa, and keep doing all the good work that you're doing here for the state of New Jersey.

- Well, Carlos, thank you for having me here, I'm checking off my bucket list.

(laughs) - And up next we have Lilia Rios, owner of La Providencia.

(upbeat instrumental music) Welcome back.

Up next we have Lilia Rios, from La Providencia.

- Yay.

- [Carlos] Welcome to Que Pasa.

- Thank you for having me today.

- So you're a board member at to stay wide Hispanic chamber.

- [Lilia] Yes, I am.

- Co-founder of La Providencia.

- [Lilia] Yes.

- And you also have a resort in Cancun, Mexico, called Nuuku.

- Co-founder of Nuuku, yeah.

- [Carlos] Nuuku.

- Yes, recently showcased by Travel and Leisure.

- Travel and Leisure magazine, wow.

- Yes, we made to travel and leisure.

- Now born in Mexico.

What part of Mexico?

- Guadalajara, Mexico.

- [Carlos] Guadalajara.

- Yeah, the south of Jalisco state.

And born and raised there.

And I moved when I was 22 years old.

I finished my law degree, in Mexico, University of Guadalajara.

- Excellent.

- And then I moved to the US to, you know, as an entrepreneur, to begin this amazing journey that we've been part for 17 years.

- Excellent.

Tell me about La Providencia, I know you do Mexican artwork, Mexican products that you bring from Mexico, that you curate.

- [Lilia] Yes.

- And you sell to restaurants.

Who else do you sell to, supermarkets?

- Supermarkets, yes, in most of households now.

- [Carlos] Okay.

- We recently opened a retail store, which is located in Passaic, and that store is open to the public, so everybody's welcome to come and get some gadgets and, you know, authentic, ethnic, Mexican decorations.

- What's your hottest seller, is it still the pinata?

- The pinata, yes, it's one of the best sellers.

And also the molcajetes, you know, the stone, it's a piece of stone, with maybe sometimes piggy face.

It's probably more than 500 years old.

- Okay.

- It's a utensil that old Mexicans know how to use it.

But since couple years ago, we have experienced that Americans love to do guacamole there.

So now it's trending.

- [Carlos] Excellent.

- And we are, you know, we're the supplier, so, here we are.

- That's great.

So tell me about, I know the Chamber and other organizations that you work for, tell me about that giving back part of your business and what you do personally, you like to give back.

- What we are contributing to our country it's by allowing our suppliers to become self-employed and then maintain the amazing culture and roots, and heritage.

So they can preserve authenticity of the products made in Mexico, and made by all the heart and soul of the artesians who create it.

- You also cover food products.

I know I saw you on a shelf next to Goya.

- [Lilia] Ah, yeah.

- With with your bean products.

- We have beans.

Yes.

During the pandemic, we realized that our products were mostly decorations, and kitchenware, cleaning supplies, party supplies, but nobody were doing, or nobody were doing any parties, no gatherings.

So we were not selling our stuff.

And we realized that we needed a different category to add to our products, and we came up with this beautiful idea to create the grocery line.

So we came up with beans, canned beans, and we have a vegetable oil, and seasonings, and we're adding more products every single day.

And we are proud to say that everything that we supply, it's made in Mexico.

And we also care about the health of our consumers, because when you compare our products against the competition, you're gonna see that our products are naturally made.

So, you know, we're always providing an extra to our consumers.

- Now, the last storm that hit you also had some damage to your facility and warehouse.

- [Lilia] We still don't know, we probably lost something like 70 or 80% of our inventory.

- [Carlos] Wow.

- We lost everything, and it was so fast, it happened just a couple hours.

We spent 40 days cleaning up the warehouse.

We had to move out from there.

It was hard times, but, you know, but we're fighters.

- [Carlos] You're fighters.

- We're fighters.

- Tell us what advice do you give young entrepreneurs, young Latinas, who are starting businesses at such a rapid pace.

- Actually this morning, I just posted something.

You know, part of the team, La Providencia team, is working today in Mexico City, in handicraft places in Mexico, and, in order for you to grow, like in the kind of business that we do, you have to put a lot of efforts, a lot of sacrifices, and a lot of love and passion for what you do.

And that's what we do every single day.

This is not a matter that you build business, and then you, you know, step out and then you just let it run.

Being an entrepreneur and being a small business is like fighting every single day for your dreams, because your dreams are not gonna become true unless you work hard for it.

- Great, thanks for joining us.

Keep fighting and keep doing great things.

- Thank you, thank you for, it was so nice to be here.

Thank you, Carlos.

I wish you all the success.

- Thank you, Lilia.

And up next, we have singer, Isabel Gonzales.

(upbeat instrumental music) Welcome back, now we have singer, Isabel Gonzalez.

Welcome to Que Pasa, Isabel.

- Hi, thank you for having me.

- Teaneck, New Jersey native, born and raised.

- Yes.

Yes.

I was actually born in New York, but yeah, Teaneck has been my home, ever since I can remember.

And I love it here, so.

- Tell me about this new girl band that you've been recruited to be part of.

- Well, so my girl band is called the Good News Girls, and it's a group of an amazing four girls and we're all so talented, and so like, just beautiful in our own way.

And I love working with them, but, we've been working really hard for the past year and a half, and we have a lot of things in the works, you know, and I'm really excited to put it out there for everyone to see, and talk about it, and get it out there.

- Tell us about the hard work, 'cause I know with Instagram and social media, everybody thinks being a singer is a glamorous life.

- [Isabel] Yeah, yeah.

- But it's a lot of long hours, a lot of auditioning.

- [Isabel] I agree, I agree.

- Performing, practicing.

- For us, it doesn't feel like work, for us, we're just like, we're here to have a great time, you know?

- [Carlos] Okay.

- But yeah, we're in the studio constantly just working, and brainstorming off of each other, and coming up with ideas and, you know, the social media part of it, that's also fun as well, you know, taking pictures, like.

- [Carlos] Sure.

- And getting dressed up like, who doesn't love to do that.

So yeah.

- I saw a pretty cool video your mom shared with me, of you as Ariel.

(laughs) - Oh my God.

- How old were you during that play that you did?

- I was eight.

- [Carlos] Eight years old.

- I was eight years old, yeah.

I was really young.

I actually, that was like my first lead role in my music, in like the school musicals.

And it was really exciting for me, 'cause it was something new.

Like this is when I first had started doing musicals and like putting myself out there, and performing on stage.

And it was honestly like, the most amazing show I've ever done.

'Cause I was like, I'm so small.

And like I had to compete and audition against like, eighth graders in my school, and I was like, I'm just a fourth grader, and I got it.

So I was really proud of myself, and it was definitely a turning point in like for myself, for believing in me and like knowing like, okay, like I can do this and I'm actually good, you know, like, I was proving something to myself.

- So you went from red hair to green skin.

- [Isabel] Oh, yeah.

- Tell me about Wicked Junior.

- Okay well, Wicked Junior was an amazing production.

It took lots of work.

There was a lot of rewriting in the script.

A lot of memorizing, no, now you have to forget it, and memorize a whole new part of the script.

Like it was a lot, and at the time I was only 13, turning 14.

- [Carlos] Okay.

- I was young, it was a lot for me, but honestly it was probably one of the best shows I've ever done, like, that show is gonna stay with me for the rest of my life.

And being Elphaba was like the most amazing role anyone I think could ever play, in like a musical career.

And it was really big, and like seeing Stephen Schwartz come to my show, like that was incredible.

And, I think one of my favorite parts of the show was, it was the day that I had to train to do my makeup before the show.

And like I had everyone sitting in front of me, and the lady was like, telling me like, how to do the makeup 'cause I ended up doing it on my own, like for the rest of the show.

And I think that was my favorite part, 'cause it was so fun, I was like, oh my God, I'm green.

(Carlos laughing) Yeah.

- I know you've done some TV appearances, such as HBO.

Tell me a little bit more about what projects you've worked on.

- Yeah, so I've done New Amsterdam on HBO, High Maintenance, there's also a show that I did called Alternatino, those are really fun shows.

High Maintenance was my first speaking role, like on screen, and, it was a little weird for me, 'cause I had to curse in front of my mom.

- Okay.

- When I was doing the audition.

So, that was a little, I was like, oh, like, mom can you like, close your ears?

(Carlos laughing) 'Cause it was so like, awkward, but, it was a fun time.

Like I got to use water guns, so it was cool, yeah.

- [Carlos] That sounds fun.

Alternatino, I actually, I met like, some cool girls on that set, and we were wearing like, pretty dresses.

It was a long work day.

It was like a really long work day.

But yeah, it's super fun, and I really do like acting.

- Tell me the process of working with Nickelodeon, was this an audition process?

- Yes.

For getting into this position that I am in now was incredibly long.

It took about a year and a half.

I was 14 when I first auditioned, and I didn't get the gig until I was 16.

- [Carlos] Wow.

- I maybe auditioned seven times.

Like, it was a very long process.

I sent in multiple self tapes.

I went into the New York office multiple times.

Everyone that we worked with, everyone that I've met, like along the way of the process of getting it was really amazing, they were all so sweet.

Everyone that we've worked with so far, has been incredibly awesome.

And I love our team, so yeah.

- Excellent.

Now you've also done some award show, did you do a Kid Choice Award?

- Oh yeah, so we did do the Kids Choice Awards.

We've attended it twice.

- [Carlos] Okay.

- The first time it was during more of the midst of the pandemic, and that's when we performed actually.

We did the medley with a few other artists on the Nickelodeon platform, and it was really cool.

It was awesome.

It was like our first appearance on Nickelodeon, as a group together.

The Kids Choice Awards is the second award show that we went to this year.

It was really cool we got to attend with some stuff under our belt, like our Christmas EP and everything, so, it was pretty cool meeting all the other Nickelodeon, like, cast members and everything.

- Any advice for other young, talented Latinas that are pursuing a career in music, or acting.

- Honestly like, it's so cliche to say this, and like, I know when I hear people say this, I'm like, you're just saying that, but like, really just go for it.

You know, like follow your dreams and like, really pursue it, if you have that passion, you can definitely do it.

'Cause look at me, like, when I was seven years old, I didn't think I was gonna be in this position that I am now, and it's really been a blessing and I'm incredibly blessed.

But, and honestly just lean into your support group.

Like, everyone that is around you, they want what's best for you, like, and honestly your family, just lean into them, and just go for what you want.

Like, if you want it, you can have it, it's very possible.

- Excellent.

Best of luck, we'll have you back on when you're celebrating your platinum record?

- (laughs) Thank you.

Yes, hopefully.

- Thanks, Isabel.

(upbeat instrumental music) Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap.

Thank you for joining me on another great adventure, telling diverse stories, from diverse individuals.

And don't forget to ask, Que Pasa?

- Funding for this episode of Que Pasa NJ, with Carlos Medina, has been provided by, Horizon Blue Cross, blue shield of New Jersey, PSE and G, The New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Hackensack Meridian Health, the Engineer's Labor Employer Cooperative 825, ROI, NJ business magazine, Lyft ride share services, and more.

This has been a production of the Modesto Educational Foundation.

(upbeat instrumental music)