Be A Mirror with Catalina Peña

We are highlighting a previous episode of the ¿Quién Tú Eres? podcast, where we explore the conflict we often face between "professionalism" & being our authentic selves.

Catalina Peña is an Entrepreneur & Mindful Career Coach with a successful business that has helped people secure over $150K in salary increases. And as an Afro-Colombian woman, she loves to inspire others to make their dreams come true as their authentic selves.

These are some of the episode highlights:

"I want to encourage people to be themselves. You're not for everyone and you're not meant to be. That's the secret." -Catalina Peña

Sometimes, we may choose not to share much information about ourselves and hide certain aspects of ourselves. And while this may come from our fears of being judged, people do not know that. People can misinterpret us as being “closed off”. This, in turn, can hurt our opportunities for advancement in work because we all know that one of the ways you can do this is by building good relationships.

In the end, we may not always be well-received, and that is alright. We are not meant to be everyone’s cup of tea. We want to work with those who can see the value in who we truly are.

"My white co-workers held a meeting for me to talk about how my hair was not professional." -Catalina Peña

Catalina didn’t always have her natural hair. For job interviews, she would straighten it. And when she decided to wear natural hair for work, she was called into a meeting about “professionalism” and was told that her hair was not “professional”.

When we face such situations, we have to decide what is best for us. That is, whether we are willing to change something about ourselves to stay at that job or if we will go somewhere else where we can be our authentic selves.

"To be my most authentic self is to be the biggest mirror that I can to other people." -Catalina Peña

We are all mirrors to each other, and we are all helping each other grow. When we see someone else that looks like us in leadership positions being themselves, we get inspired because we know we are not alone. We know we can go through it and make it.

By living as our most authentic selves, we inspire others to be their authentic selves as well. We become mirrors that show what is possible for others, regardless of how they look, sound, or where they come from.

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Catalina shows up as her authentic Afro-Latina self, and so can you! Listen to the episode to learn more about her journey:

Listen to this episode to learn more about her journey: Spotify & Apple Podcasts

Work with Catalina to make your dreams come true as your authentic self: Website & Instagram.

Have a story to share? Let us know here for an opportunity to be featured in the podcast!