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Hola!

Welcome to salute celebrating South Texas Latino leaders.

I'm your host, Melanie Mendez Gonzalez, and I'm so glad you're here with us on this episode.

We're going to meet three incredible women who shine one on stage, one in the courtroom and one in the spotlight of mentoring.

Salud starts now.

When we think about comedy, we think of the joy it brings us.

Comedian Michelle Cantu can certainly make us laugh, but she does so much more with her comedy.

She speaks out against stereotypes, champions women and reminds us that sometimes not taking ourselves too seriously is part of the path to success.

All right.

I just finished performing at the front row in Columbus.

Columbus?

Where you at?

My name is Michelle Cantu and I am a stand up comedian and HR professional known as The Corporate Chingona.

But what does it mean to be a corporate Chingona?

Do you know what that means?

It means I don't have to wear pantyhose to work anymore, sir.

A few of your viewers may think chingona is a bad word but most of your viewers know Chingon as I am a confident, strong woman.

I own every room that I walk in.

She is a bad mother.

Shut your mouth.

Is that.

That is it.

I'm going to.

She's a confident boss.

And I teach women through stand up, through corporate talks, through my experience just how to be chingona in every walk of life.

Walked in.

I was being groped.

You, I know, but they're like, hey.

Here comes the Barbacoa Barbie.

I am a proud West Side girl.

I grew up in Edgewood I-s-d, and I made really good grades.

And so I got into Health Careers High School because everybody wants to know.

Michelle, where did you graduate?

Who knew that I would end up being a stand up comedian and then fortune 100 hr professional at the same time.

My leadership style is raised in comedy, and I have found that I reach people through laughter.

So I actually just worked with an amazing new group called Soy Latina, where I delivered a public speaking and comedy workshop to the girls.

And you know how hard it is to make teenagers laugh.

Not I mean, obviously they laugh at you, but laugh with you.

And so just teaching them how to speak professionally and so that they can be leaders in their own right.

And I do that through that comedy lens.

How ya’ll doing locas?

I love standup, I grew up on standup, so I come from a blended family.

I was raised by a Latina mom and a black dad.

And so I remember when my parents got together, what came into the house with my stepdad, Tyrone, were all of his Def Comedy Jam tapes.

So I grew up watching standup.

And the other thing, too, is I don't see a ton of Latina comedians.

I don't see a ton of representation from San Antonio.

I don't hear about people who talk about how they grew up.

I remember thinking, okay, where are the Latina comedians?

And where are the Latina comedians who are gordita, like, chunky like me?

Where are the Latina comedians who are wives, who are mothers, who work full time, and who are involved in a community?

So it's so important to have representation in stand up.

And a lot of us have a lot of pain that we need to be able to laugh at.

And so that I saw that there was not anyone who was telling my story.

And I knew I needed to tell it.

The challenges that I face being a mom, like I.

There are nights where I can't go to an open mic and wait in line for hours for five minutes of stage time, because I have to make sure that I pick up my kids from school, or I have to make dinner, or I'm getting off of work late.

I'm raising three of my own Latinas.

My own Chingon is in training.

It's comedy is not an even playing field for a woman or a mother or a wife.

Like there are so many challenges that we have to overcome just to get on stage.

Being a Latina comedian, if you're going to do it, you have to sign up knowing you're a trailblazer.

There is.

There are not a lot of people here who are opening doors for you.

You have to build the door and knock it down yourself Guess what department I Work for HR My mother has been an HR professional for over 30 years.

And so my first HR job was interning at Bud Co.

So I've even my HR experience has been unconventional.

Teaching guys how to lift beer kegs safely.

But it's important for me in the air space and taking those skills, those people skills, those leadership skills and to bring that back to the community.

What we're going to do is I'm going to show you guys the résumé edition I have posted on LinkedIn, free resumé workshops.

I go through resume writing.

I talk to people about how to negotiate their salary, and a lot of us are even asking for raises.

A lot of us aren't even opening our mouths to ask the questions.

We're leaving money on the table.

So many of us think that our work is just going to show for ourselves, so we don't know how to package ourself in an interview or how to package ourselves on paper.

And I have found that by delivering those messages and workshops and doing it through a comedy lens, people are really starting to take control of their careers and becoming chingon is in their communities.

I'm going to tell people, okay, Michelle can do the corporate thing going to.

She has evolved.

I have learned over time and with amazing mentors, mentors like April Monterrosa from live From the South Side who have told me, Michelle, you have an amazing corporate brand.

You don't have to be two separate people because on stage I felt free.

I can be that corporate professional, but I can also be that lady on stage who just lets it loose.

And I'm very physical on stage, like right now.

I'm very still on this bar still.

But if you've seen the things that I have done as a comedian on this bar stool, it's like Cirque du Soleil.

I'm all over the place.

Of course, I'm all over.

The best advice I've ever gotten is to just show up to be in that space.

I remember the first time somebody said, okay, Michelle, you got to do an open mic.

You got to try to do five minutes.

You think five minutes so fast.

If you've never done stand up and being in front of a room of people you don't know and telling your jokes that you think, oh, well, I told this joke in front of my Tia and she laughed.

I so hard that she couldn't breathe.

And then I tell it in front of someone that's never seen me, and them staring at you like, what are you talking about?

But you show up, you show up and you try and you fail.

And people who aren't afraid to fail, they are more successful because they've already overcome that challenge.

Advice that I never took was that you can't be a true stand up and be a good mom and have a happy marriage, and be successful in your career.

I've had people tell me, Michelle, if you really want to do stand up and you want to be successful at it, you have to quit one of those things.

Or if you keep going, like how you're going, one of those things will suffer.

Wasn't even so much advice.

It was almost like a threat.

And I will tell you, since I've started doing stand up, I have performed all over the country.

I performed at the Latino Comedy Festival in Chicago.

I have graced the same stages as Robin Williams and Richard Pryor.

I've headlined theaters right here in my hometown, here at this Woodlawn Theater.

I've headlined this theater.

I do not listen to anybody who says that you can't do this or you can't do that.

So many women have fought so hard for every opportunity, for every minute of stage time.

And the advice that I give them and the advice that I give in the work that I do is, ladies, please don't close the door.

If somebody is closing a door on you, please go build a new door.

Open the door.

If the table's too small, build a bigger table.

Find another table.

Don't let scarcity mindset stop you from helping others.

Y'all have been amazing.

Have a good night.

You have to be fearless and you have to know.

Even on my show, I say it's not right versus left.

It's right versus wrong.

You have to be willing to go into the battle and lead with honor.

And I don't ask people not to do anything that would.

Challenges early in her life.

Never stop.

Judge Erica Pena, she faced loss.

She didn't get into law school.

The first time around.

But this proud Latina proves with grit and determination you can achieve your dreams.

My name is Eric Pena and I am the judge of County Court at Law number 11 in Bexar County, Texas.

I was sworn in in January 1st, 2023.

So as the judge of County Court 11, I'm the presiding judge over the court.

We hear class A and class B criminal offenses.

And so my daily schedule is I'll run a morning docket where I hear the cases I am.

I see attorneys and take different plea bargains.

We could possibly go to trial.

So there's there's a lot to cover.

I'm born and raised in San Antonio, so I went to John Jay High School, graduated from John J.

High School, and when I was in high school, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do.

But I knew I wanted to go to college.

That wasn't something that anyone in my family had done before, and that was important to me.

I started college at University of Texas at San Antonio, and I was a young bride, and so I completed about a year at UTSA, and we lived in Guam for a few years.

And there they offered the military an opportunity to go to college through the University of Maryland, a global campus.

And so I went there and I ended up graduating from there, and I went to law school here at Saint Mary's.

As as I graduated from college, I worked, a few different jobs, but really, I landed at Catholic Charities, and it was there where I was inspired to go to law school.

My mother passed away when I was young.

She passed away when I was just about, just a few weeks shy of nine years old.

You know, my father is still alive and well and a very big part of my life.

And, although they never went to college, I mean, just the hardest working people.

I mean, my dad, who just retired, was a scratch baker all of his life.

My mom, you know, she work after she had my brother, you know, she went back, graduated high school.

And so she was she was always hustling my best leadership qualities.

I think the first one would be, patience.

If you're going to be a leader, you're you're leading other people, and you need to be able to, hear ideas, hear criticisms, hear ideas that are different from your ideas, accept them and consider them, too.

I think just being motivated, being determined, and not being swayed or by by failures.

Right.

And kind of going back to the drawing board.

Okay.

That didn't work.

Now, what are we going to do?

I did not get into law school the first time I applied, and so I remember getting that rejection letter from Saint Mary's.

And, you know, I was a little cocky, right?

I didn't get the best score, the score that I wanted to have on the outset.

And I thought, man, that it'll probably do.

I've got a good GPA for undergrad, I've got good recommendation letters.

Let's apply.

Well, and I get that rejection letter about a month or two later and wow, that really kind of just stopped me in my tracks.

And I, I remember thinking like, you know, well, can I do this right?

Nobody, nobody has blazed this trail for me, right?

I didn't have anyone who had experienced that.

That I could talk to.

And so I felt embarrassed, like I remember opening that letter and I didn't tell my husband right away.

And I waited until finally I could say, you know, hey, I didn't get in.

So that was it was definitely a failure where I it really has, defined a big part of my story.

When I decided to file to run for county court 11, three days later, I had my second son.

So, I had I had gone back and forth on on the decision, to file and I was nine months pregnant.

And so I made the decision, had my son and started campaigning.

And then a month before I was elected, I had my third child.

So I was pregnant twice during the campaign.

So it made it more interesting what I, what I tell people all the way from elementary school students to the law school students, would, set a goal, make a plan.

And I'm like that.

That sounds so simple.

And saying it that way is.

But the path is not always this simple.

This plan might not be streamlined, it might have a few bumps and so when you're setting that goal, make sure that's what you want.

That's what you're passionate about, and nothing is going to get you off track from there.

And surround yourself with people.

People who are going to support you don't don't shy away from people who you feel like are smarter than you, right?

Seek those people out.

Simplified it.

Set a goal.

Make a plan.

I think about being young and being told, control the controllables right?

Because sometimes I think being driven and being so motivated, sometimes it can be a double edged sword.

But that and that advice to me comes back to patience.

You you don't try not to work yourself up about things that you cannot control, and focus on the things that you can control and the things that you can do, for yourself and for others.

So let me ask you this.

Have you ever been given advice that you didn't take?

Oh, yeah.

For sure.

What was it?

Write it down.

Oh, gosh.

I've driven some people crazy because I didn't write it down.

And, you know, if you don't write it down and you've got a million things going on, which we all do.

Sometimes things fall through.

You know, it's so funny you say that.

I still write things down even when you have a phone.

Even when you have a phone, I still write it down.

I still stick to that.

Yeah that's great.

And it's advice that everybody should take.

I agree.

When we want to see change, whether in our life or in our community, sometimes we just have to take the lead.

Lisa Coleman heads up the organization Soy Latina, which mentors young Latinas with the goal of creating future leaders who will make positive changes in their communities.

She shares how that works with our Jesse Degollado Hi Jesse.

Hi Lisa So glad to have you here.

Please for having me seat.

I know that you've been doing some amazing work finding mentors for young Latinas so we have a better understanding.

What does it mean to be a mentor?

What kind of commitment?

What kind of responsibility is that?

And is it beyond being a role model.

So we can clarify what that means to me, being a mentor means just being involved in someone's life, getting to know them, understanding them, giving them the opportunity to get to know you and your journey.

So most of the women in our program have their own stories to tell their own journeys, and so they share that with the younger generation and help guide them along their path.

Thank God you have the program that you do have, especially on the south side.

You're working with these young women who are the sky's the limit for many of them.

But for those who are not part of a program, how do you go about finding a mentor?

And for that matter, how do you know you found the right mentor?

So I would say, look within your circle, there's, reach out to your teachers, people that you interact with, your church, even family members can be mentors.

I think that there's a misconception that a mentor has to be someone that you don't know.

It can be someone that you already know, someone that you admire.

I often tell, how my mentors impact my life, and typically what I did to find a mentor was someone that I admired, someone that was doing something that was new, that I was interested in, and I asked them if they would mentor me.

So I think just speaking out, when you run across someone that you're interested in, that you find, intriguing in some kind of way, or they're something that you want to learn from them.

Don't be shy.

Reach out and ask.

Doesn't hurt.

No it doesn't.

Now let's talk to those potential mentors so that they understand.

What does this involve?

Because I'm sure you've heard it many times.

I'd love to be a mentor, but I just don't have the time.

And time is always the biggest factor, right?

Especially when you're talking about people that are busy.

So think about it as just another friend, someone else.

Don't look at it as an obligation.

I think that's the first thing.

People tend to look at mentorship as an obligation of some sort.

The relationships come organically.

Once you start taking an interest in someone and just having brief conversations with them.

I think like any other friendship or any other relationship they develop on their own.

So don't set a high expectation.

Just leave yourself open to getting to know someone.

And if they've reached out to you and asked you to mentor them, find out why they're interested in you.

That would be the first step.

And also, why did you choose me and what is it that you hope to get as a result?

Yes, I think that that would be helpful as well.

Now for these mentors.

They're wondering, okay, how much time does this involve?

Because in your program, your program has it figured out because you don't have to spend several hours with them.

You don't even have to take them out to dinner if you can't or are unable to.

Your program really has it down.

Tell us about that.

Well, I think that speaks to the new generation.

They have it down.

They have several forms of communication.

A lot of times when we think about mentorship, we definitely think it's one on one in person, and we hope that it grows to that.

But initially, you can mentor someone with a telephone call, a zoom meeting, an email and a text.

Believe it or not, you are able to mentor someone, with attacks, especially with the new generation.

They share a lot via text.

So once you establish that connection and that rapport, I think that the relationships naturally grow and develop.

And even if they start as a text, they typically end up with in-person, interactions.

But what if this young person isn't sure what career path they're going to follow?

Would you recommend that they find different mentors?

Maybe that could help them decide which direction they will take?

What do you recommend work here?

I am, I'm 54 years old and I'm still trying to find my way in life.

Right.

And, if you look at my past history, I've changed over time.

We evolve and we change who we are.

So as young people, when we ask them all the time, what do you want to be when you grow up?

That's such a loaded question.

You're just trying to figure out who you are day by day.

So again, find someone that you find interesting.

Maybe it's not necessarily the same career path, but as long as you have an interest in that person or it can be a simple interest, you both like art.

You're both runners.

Just whatever commonalities you have, try to build on that.

It doesn't necessarily have to be centered around careers that can come as time goes on.

So if you find someone who you think you'd love to have as a mentor, you still have to pick up the phone or you still have to pick up the phone.

Now you just pick up the phone before, but anyway, or you email them or whatever, but they can be nervous and they say, I don't know if I can.

I don't know if I, but what if they hang up on me?

Or what if, what if, what if how can you help them overcome that initial anxiety about making that first contact?

Find someone you're comfortable with and have them reach out.

Ask your mom to reach out to them.

Ask someone else.

Ask someone that you're comfortable with, someone from school, a teacher, whomever.

I met this person, I'm really interested in them.

I would love them to mentor me.

Believe it or not, that a Latina was created is I had someone from the school reach out to me to let me know that there were a couple of girls that were interested in having me mentor them.

That developed into this.

Mentorship is more than just advice.

Or is it the different kind of advice that you can give?

It encompasses so much.

It's advice.

It's sharing your own past experiences.

It's assisting them with where they want to go.

So it may be a new experience for the mentor as well.

Maybe they're going down a path with their mentee that they themselves have never traveled, but also the important thing is having a network, right?

If you don't have the answer, being able to reach back to your friends collectively, or whoever you surround yourself with and say, hey, my mentor, my mentee is trying to accomplish this.

Do you have any advice?

I mean, this is unfamiliar to me.

Do you have any advice that I could share with them?

So it's all about shared experiences.

And I think that's what makes it, successful.

Well, certainly we know that the student, the young person is going to get a lot from the mentors.

They expect a lot, and they're probably going to get even more than they expected.

But what does the mentor get out of this experience and does it of benefit personally?

Professionally?

Both, I would imagine I think about anytime that we are giving of ourselves, I think that we're always rewarded as well.

So there's that personal reward.

Also, believe it or not, there's a lot that you can learn from these young girls.

I mean, there's a lot of technology that I've learned from them.

There's a lot of thoughts and ideas that they bring to the table.

I'm constantly amazed by who they are.

It's another person and it's another perspective.

So we can always learn it.

The learning goes both ways.

We can learn from them and they can also certainly learn from us.

That's wonderful.

Thank you so much for sharing your story.

Yes, thank you Jessie I try to take those challenges to actually motivate me and to kind of give me that energy that I needed to prove people wrong.

Those people that had misconceptions about teen moms not being able to make it in life.

I wanted to do everything I could to prove them wrong, and to help my daughter to see me as a role model and to help uplift others through my story.

What a great half hour of Latina leaders here on Salud.

Thank you for spending time with us, and we'll see you again next week to celebrate even more Latina leaders on Salud, I'm Melanie Mendez Gonzalez.

Nos vemos.

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