Cultural Chameleon with Sasha Paulino

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.

In this episode, we have an insightful conversation with Sasha Paulino, a proud New Yorker, and Dominicana. Sasha began her career as a first-grade head teacher at Saints Peter and Paul School in the South Bronx. Later, she received the opportunity to join the Strategic Marketing Team at McGraw-Hill Higher Education. And today, she is part of the Facebook family as the Executive Assistant within the Global Client & Category Team, where she has been for the past four years.

In this conversation, we go into how Sasha dealt with authenticity growing up in New York and later on in her career life, and how introspection and therapy have played a crucial role in her life journey.

These are some of the episode highlights:

“Who you think you are might be who you have been conditioned to be.” -Sasha Paulino

Having such a mix of cultures, interests, and experiences growing up, Sasha was like a chameleon, bringing out different aspects of herself depending on the group.

As Sasha got older and eventually opened up to therapy, she realized that the person we think we are is often a conditioned product of our traumas and past experiences.

She also realized that finding ourselves requires us to understand what has shaped us and caused us to hide certain aspects of ourselves. And that the work lies in reframing the beliefs that prevent us from embodying our authenticity.

“People can be cruel without sometimes meaning to. Sometimes when you say something... that can stay with them their whole lives.” -Sasha Paulino

There are moments when people can be intentionally mean or act in a way that does not make us feel safe or supported, just like there are times when people can say something hurtful or cruel without meaning to.

Regardless of the intention, these things can stay with us for the rest of our lives and change how we show up in the world, especially if we cannot turn things around to a different perspective or if we have unhealed wounds from our past.

“You don't see that goofy person until you know me on a personal level. My colleagues don't really see that version of me.” -Sasha Paulino

Sasha tells us how being a goofy person is part of her essence. She loves to laugh and make people laugh, yet this has been an aspect of herself that she would not be open to showing at work to her colleagues because she didn’t think it aligned with professionalism.

The good thing is that when she started to work at Facebook, she felt it was a space where she could be more comfortable. And it was then when she began to gradually give herself the permission to be the version of herself that brought her and others joy.

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Sasha has been peeling the layers of conditioning to become her most authentic self! Listen to this episode to learn more:

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

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