261 - On Following Your Path with Laura Tejeda

Jun 26

261 - On Following Your Path with Laura Tejeda

Listeners, we're back this week with Laura Tejeda.

Laura Tejeda is a lifelong East LA resident. She has a Masters Degree in Higher Education and works with college students, particularly in Equity & Social Justice based education. Laura is also a freelance writer for L.A. TACO and she is the founder of Instagram-based page @hungryineastlos which began in 2016 in efforts to challenge gentrification in East LA and raise awareness and support to family-owned & people of color owned businesses. Laura is host of LA TACO LIVE where she explores LA Culture, news, politics, lifestyle, and FOOD, with dynamic guests!

During this episode we talked about:

5:44 - Being 2nd gen on his dad’s side
17:38 - Her education journey
19:14 - Going to college not knowing what’s gonna come from it
22:56 - Ivy League - do I belong here?
24:30 - Representation
32:49 - Her mentor and going grad school
37:03 - Creativity
39:45 - Welcoming things in life
45:21 - On Inspiration
52:02 - Mental Health

Hello everyone. This is Pam de Cafe con Pam, the bilingual podcast that features Latine and people of the global majority who break barriers, change lives and make this world a better place. Welcome to episode 261 of Cafe con Pam. Today, I have a conversation with Laura Tejeda.
Laura is a lifelong East LA resident. She has a Masters Degree in Higher Education and works with college students, particularly in Equity & Social Justice based education. Laura is also a freelance writer for L.A. TACO and she is the founder of Instagram-based page @hungryineastlos which began in 2016 in efforts to challenge gentrification in East LA and raise awareness and support to family-owned & people of color owned businesses. Laura is host of LA TACO LIVE where she explores LA Culture, news, politics, lifestyle, and FOOD, with dynamic guests.

Manis, this conversation with Laura was super fun. If you didn't know, I was a guest at LA Taco live and I actually drove to LA to do the interview, which was so much fun. Of course, they fed me tacos and, you know, with my food sensitivities, like I ended up with the super playing taco. Shout out to the team at LA taco Live because they were like, no, this and not that, and no that. Yeah, no, no, nomás like simple. So I so appreciate the team and Laura of course, because I had such a great time. It was awesome. And so of course I had to bring Laura to Cafe con Pam so I could ask the questions because it's always fun to be on the other side. Pero también I was like, wait, you ask me questions, I wanna ask you questions. It was super fun to have her on and she is a dynamic, she is fun, she is just awesome. Like, I really hope that you enjoy our conversation because we, like, we took a deep dive into, of course her story, pero también we talked about our dreams and our goals and how we actually have similar goals and how we we're both like, Hey, I hope you get it. And she was like, I hope you get it too, because when we do, I mean, like we're gonna call each other and be like, look, this is how you do it. That's super powerful. And I think it's something that I would love to see more from us doing it. Porque si no, no crecemos.

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***
I had a lot of fun with my conversation with Laura and I really hope you enjoyed as much as I did. Y bueno ya, sin más, here it is my conversation with Laura Tejeda.

***
Pam: Laura, welcome to Cafe con Pam. How are you?

Laura: Gracias, I'm doing great. I am in the spirit of unwinding after a very busy work schedule. Things have slowed down, so I feel good.

Pam: And this is an unusual kind of recording day, cuz I normally record on Thursdays and today's Friday. So it's end of my week. And I'm excited to for the weekend, looking forward to the weekend.

Laura: Yes, it's gonna be a good one. I feel it. It's a nice weather outside. Calorcito.

Pam: I know, let's declare it. So the first question that we always ask is what is your heritage?

Laura: I am Mexican American, so I identify as Chicana, Chicane. My dad was born in east LA. My mom was born in Mexicali. So I'm like not first generation, I'm more of half generation, I guess you can say.

Pam: You're first generation on one side and second on the other.

Laura: Yep.

Pam: How was that?

Laura: It's cool. I enjoy it, especially because my dad has provided a lot of context for me on understanding, like where I grew up. Yeah. It's been really beautiful. My dad's parents are from a small town in Jalisco that I can never pronounce. I wouldn't even be able to say it right now. I have to look it up on my phone and his mom is from--

Pam: Now I wanna know.

Laura: I know, right? It's like something with I and an X, I dunno where the heck--

Pam: Ixtapalapa, I don't know?

Laura: Something like that. But I never, I've never gotten a chance to see or meet a lot of my grandpa's side of the family that isn't in the US.

Pam: Huh?

Laura: I know.

Pam: So your dad grew up in LA?

Laura: In east LA.

Pam: In east LA.

Laura: Actually in the house that I live in now.

Pam: No way! That's awesome.

Laura: Yeah. My grandpa, he migrated and worked in the work that he did when I, when he passed away at the time that I knew him, he was like a manager at a [inaudible] furniture, which is on 1st street now, it's now a place called Macia's Closeout, in East LA. But throughout his life, he took on a lot of roles, but essentially he bought a whole block in east LA. And so, it's all Tejeda on that block.

Pam: Yes. I'm here for that.

Laura: Yeah. So different people live there growing up. And then when he passed away, the, the land was divided amongst the children. And so my dad's my landlord now, on one of those houses.

Pam: What a beautiful legacy though!
Laura: Yeah, definitely. Generational wealth.

Pam: Generational wealth that it's finest and he bought the block back. So talk about like, getting that land back.

Laura: Right.

Pam: I love this.

Laura: I know. I love it for him. I'm like, I wonder what the prices were back then. I'm like, Lord!

Pam: Imagínate!

Laura: To be there and be able to purchase that much land. Right. I'm sure he had his struggles too, but--

Pam: I mean, I'm sure it was, it was like, probably not as ridiculous as California prices are today, but still at the time, like an effort, you know?

Laura: Yeah. Still hustle. Right. I regret that he's not alive to ask him about those things cuz he passed away when I was about 16. So I wasn't interested in that. You know, like I wasn't interested in knowing a lot of that.

Pam: So what stories does your dad tell you?

Laura: Yeah, like he provides the context. So I'm a food writer. And a person who Instagram is about food. I feel weird saying blogger, but I guess Instagram blogging. Right?

Pam: Right.

Laura: I document food in different ways. And a lot of the reasons why I started the page was because it was so beautiful for me to hear that my dad say he went to certain places and got certain meals. And sometimes it a regañada, sometimes it was like, when I was young, your grandpa took me to first street burgers and only let me get this or only took me here and only let me get that. And other times it was, Ooh, we got these burritos de queso con salsa verde from Al & Bea's since I was a kid. Right. Like all these places, so it's kind of like him remembering all these places he's been to. Lucas Burritos also on 1st street, on 3rd street. Yeah, his context in that way. And then also places that used to be, this place is recently burned down, but it was a 99 cent store and it has the aesthetic of a theater it's called Unique Dollar, like unique as what we used to call it. It recently burned down. Oh, before that it was actually a theater.

Pam: Oh my gosh.

Laura: So my dad talks about how he would ride his bike and like go to that theater and watch all like the latest movies for like 25 cents or something ridiculous like that. So that context, and for me to see how different it is now, right? This, um, department store also called La Primera, 1st Street Store. I used to love-- my mom used to go and pay the bills there. I forgot which bill. But in person, and it smelled like popcorn cuz they had a popcorn machine, and now it's a charter school.

Pam: Wow!

Laura: So like hearing about what 1st Street Store meant to them and then going to 1st Street Store as a kid. And then now seeing that it's a whole ass charter high school, it's wild.

Pam: Right. Oh my gosh. So, it's super fun to have kind of like both perspectives because now, on the other side, your mom, it's an immigrant.

Laura: Yep.

Pam: How did they meet?

Laura: It's such a beautiful story. I'm like, they're gonna steal the show. A mí me encanta el amor, by the way. So I love telling the story and I love asking people how they met their partners, because then I like them to ask, how about you or how about your family?

Pam: Right.

Laura: My mom was on a trip to Los Angeles with a passport, in Mexico for a cousin's wedding. My dad had a mentor at the time that he met at church. He was a lot older than him, but he used to like take him around and have him under his wing. So, it was like his, his older brother unofficially. He has older brothers, but another unofficial older brother. And I guess that man was dating my mom's cousin, another cousin that-- not the one getting married.

Pam: Not the one that was getting--

Laura: Another prima. And so she was going on a date with my dad's friend and then my dad, she was like, oh, like, can I bring a friend? And my dad's friend was like, oh yeah, like, I guess I'll bring Guillermo, so she won't be the third wheel. Like I'll bring someone for her, her age, essentially. And my mom was like, A mí me valía madre, like, yo fui de acompañar, she said they went to Santa Monica pier, so...

Pam: Like a cute.

Laura: Right. That guy picked up my dad with a girlfriend in the, in the front seat. And then my dad said he was lifting weights. He was 16.

Pam: He was lifting weights?

Laura: He was lifting weights. He's like, I didn't care about your mom. Like I just knew I was gonna be there to keep her company because I didn't want her to be the third wheel, and his friend didn't want it to be awkward, I guess. I'm like, y'all could have just kicked it the three of y'all. But that's not how fate is, right? So my dad said he was lifting weights. [inaudible] he heard the que le pitaron, que salgara, and he said he just put on whatever and he got into the car and he laid eyes on my mom and was like, this is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, at 16.

Pam: Aw.

Laura: He had a little girlfriend that he like had her name was Virginia.

Pam: What a twist!

Laura: I know, in East LA Virginia, Virginia from East La, if you're still there and you dated Guillermo Tejeda at 16, sorry, my dad did you dirty, girl. You could have been my mom. But yeah, he's like, I, I laid eyes on her and was like, she's the one. And I guess they went and did their little date. And then on the way back, they got a flat tire.

Pam: Oh.

Laura: And so while the older couple was figuring it out, they stood in the backseat and I guess, at first, she said, my dad tried talking English to her. My mom still to this day speaks very broken English. She understands it, but she speaks it very broken and she's like, No hablo English, she always makes a joke, like no English. And my dad speaks perfect Spanish. And so he started talking to her and I guess he kissed her and she always says it was at the edge of her lip. It wasn't like a kiss on the lips. It was right here. Like, aquí me besó.

Pam: It was a tease.

Laura: It was a, it was a tease. And that's how I knew she liked it, but she acts like she doesn't. I'm like you remember the detail. And he apparently tried kissing her and she was shook by it and like disrespected, but she liked it. And that's how it started. I guess they like lost touch a little bit. And then he found her again through the phone book. He remembered like the family member's names.

Pam: No way!

Laura: And my tía [inaudible], he went to her house. He knocked, he's like, I remember it was Lopez, esto que lo otro. Went and knocked on my mom's sister-in-law's door and said, Hey, I met Norma, we lost touch. I, I lost this whatever and found her number. And then she drive. She was from Mexicali. She crossed the border to Calexico to talk to him on the payphone.

Pam: A ver, espérate. The wedding happened, se regresó a México, like she went back to Mexico.

Laura: She was like, whatever. I think she said she was dating un fulano or something.

Pam: También tenía novio?

Laura: My dad said he broke up with Virginia. That was a Friday. He said he went to school on Monday and said, or I don't know if they went to the same school, if my dad was in high school yet. Cause my dad went to an all boys high school. But he said, I broke up with Virginia the next day or the very chance I could.

Pam: Dang, Virginia.

Laura: I know, pobrecita.

Pam: Sorry. ¿Cómo se llama tu mamá?

Laura: Norma. Norma stole my dad's heart.

Pam: Norma came through.

Laura: Yeah, it's beautiful.

Pam: Yes! Wait, so how long did, did it pass until they reconnected?

Laura: I think they stayed connected by phone and they would send each other letters.

Pam: O sea, imagínate.

Laura: But then my dad started visiting, My dad had a little Impala that he like, I don't know. I should ask him more about how he got the Impala. But it was his like, baby.

Pam: But he was 16?

Laura: Yeah. Like I think, I don't know where, how he acquired it. There's so much that I don't know that I'm just accepted about my family's history. Which now reminds me, I'm gonna text him. I love texting him randomly. He's like, where'd you get this from? But yeah. I'll answer your question.

Pam: Pam me preguntó. Everyone listening now.

Laura: I know! It always makes me laugh because he would go and visit my mom. And she says que se enojaba because he would go and kick it with my tío Fili, my mom's brother. They were like really close. But that every time he rolled up, they would hear the car.
I don't know what the heck kind of noise my dad's Impala would make.

Pam: I mean, Impalas are loud, no?

Laura: But they'd be like, ahí viene el Americano, ahí viene el cholo, el cholo americano. And my dad was not a cholo, but he was like brown with his dope as Ray Bans. Yes, si, imagine riding down on an Impala like--

Pam: Tenía pinta. He looked like one.

Laura: Exactly. And he would roll up on the street in Mexicali and everyone knew each other in my mom's block. So, ahí viene el novio de Norma, el novio de Norma! And he would visit her. And then when she turned 19, she went to his prom. My dad went to an all boy school here in Montebello back then it was an all boy school. She went to his prom, he took her to grad night. He paid for her to take the Greyhound down. This is my favorite, I love the pictures. And then he like surprised her with a dress. And she said it was like Vans, like a pair of Vans, but they had Hawaiian flowers on them. Like it was like a Hawaiian type. She's like, nunca se me va a olvidar, she was so excited that he had bought her like this pair of Vans that were cool, this outfit, so that she can go to grad night with him. Like just a wild like romance, like, wow.

Pam: Yeah. And for those listening who have no context of California where Mexicali is, it's what like a three, four hour?

Laura: Four, depending on how fast you drive, it could be three, could be five depending on traffic and all that.

Pam: So it's about between three and five hour like distance. From LA to the border is two hours.

Laura: Y un poquito más.

Pam: Ajá, un cacho más.

Laura: Paso de Tijuana, Tecate.

Pam: Right.

Laura: Yeah.

Pam: And then Mexicali. So, for the ones listening that have no context about distances, this is like a long distance like effort.

Laura: Yep. And my dad would come see my mom more because she didn't have a car like he did. It was a very different context.

Pam: For sure.

Laura: But then all the family started migrating. So that one sister-in-law, um, that was my mom's brother's wife, is my mom's brother's wife. They had migrated, everyone was starting to come. And my grandmother and my mom were the last ones left and mi amá, que es mi abuelita, I call her amá, she passed away in 2009, pero era mi amá. She was like, I have no desire. Like...

Pam: A qué voy.

Laura: A qué voy. Then since everyone else had come, she slowly was like, okay, well, my children are over there. So my dad helped them migrate. Like, he just went in 19 and he moved them and they came with a passport and just stayed, now they're citizens. Or my grandma became a citizen too, my mom did too, I'm like in case. And anyone tries running up on my mama.

Pam: Right, just you know, everything's legal now. Everything's legal.

Laura: Yeah. She got citizenship in 2001. And my grandmother did, I, I can't remember what year either, but they both received citizenship, but.

Pam: Wow!

Laura: Yeah. Wild. So she moved over here and then she lived in Bell.

Pam: So they met at 16. And then did they get married?

Laura: Yeah, they didn't get married until the, she was 28.

Pam: What?

Laura: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was it. What's-- I wanna do the math now. She was born in 63 and then they got married in 1987. So what's that? 25, 26, maybe 26. I'm lying. She, they had me when she was 28.

Pam: I mean, 10 years though.

Laura: Yeah.

Pam: So they were 10 years together.

Laura: She said that that was very uncommon. Like all the siblings were married with children at like early twenties.

Pam: For sure.

Laura: My grandmother would always tell her, like you-- yo te quiero ver así, yo te quiero ver así, like when she'd see babies with strollers and she'd be like, mami, no, yo no quiero eso todavía. And then yeah, they were living it up. My dad was a part of all kinds of party crews or like friends with people who were DJs and party crews. She's like, I used to watch white girls do cocaine in all these like venues that I see, like are still there that are just different. She's like me asustaba tanto, entraba a los baños and they'd be like these, imagine the eighties, like all these like white girls are crazy. Like she was just kicking it with her man. And like, they would just be doing mad coke in the restroom and that wasn't her lifestyle.

Pam: Right.

Laura: So it was, it's really cool to hear her too. She also said when she migrated, it was such a big deal for her to eat a breakfast sandwich from Jack in the box. She's like se me hacía tan rico, eso no lo teníamos allá, like the extreme ultimate croissant. She's like, that shit was like, wow, And it's just like, now she knows.

Pam: Right!

Laura: Yeah. Now she's like eso se me hacía lo máximo. Un sandwich de Jack in the box. And now in Calexico, it's all turned up with Jack in the box and all that. Right. But it wasn't like that back then.

Pam: Wow.

Laura: Yeah. It's a beautiful story. I love it.

Pam: For sure. No, this is awesome. Thank you for sharing all of it. And when your parents listen, thank you for.

Laura: I know, she's gonna be like ay, Isabel.

Pam: Sharing all our [inaudible], but it's so cool.

Laura: No, she likes it. On Instagram I called her out once and we did this whole [inaudible] Snapchat. She like told the story in her words, like in English and it sounded so funny cuz she's like, he kissed me right here, right here.

Pam: It wasn't even a full kiss.

Laura: The edge of her mouth, she always says, no me besó completo, aquí.

Pam: Entonces, okay, back to your story. Thank for sharing all that.

Laura: Yeah, of course.

Pam: Born and raised in LA. Have you left?

Laura: Yes, I've lived in New York City.

Pam: Mm. How fun!
Laura: Yeah, I went to graduate school. It was only for a quick 9, 10 months. Yeah. Right after getting my bachelor's degree, I had a mentor who encouraged me to apply to higher education programs. And I thought I was gonna go to law school and I applied to nine of them and I got wait listed at one. And the only education program I applied to was at Columbia's. Columbia University's teachers college. And I just did it for my mentor. I was like, I'm not about to-- one, I'm not about to get into an Ivy league school. Like I didn't believe in it for myself. And then two, I'm not about to move to New York, you know? And he's like, well, just do it for me. Like, I I'm gonna live vicariously through you. I think you'd be great for this. So then I left to study abroad. I was in quarters back then because I was gonna graduate early. And I was like, I wanna graduate early, like extend my time because I wanna graduate in the four years I plan to, so I studied abroad in Rome.

Pam: Oh, have fun.

Laura: I know, I was applying to schools in the fall of 2011, left to Rome in January of 2012, had interviews throughout and all that, started getting rejection letters. And then like around time, like March, I got a rejection to all the law schools, wait listed at one, and then accepted to Columbia's Teachers College. And my family was like, you're not gonna take a year off. You're gonna go to New York. And I was like, what? So I was living in Italy for about four months, came back for the summer and then left to New York for grad school and then came back. And I've been back since then.

Pam: What happened when you received that notice from Columbia University?

Laura: It was exciting. My dreams weren't necessarily ruined for law school because it was something that I did because it was like a goal, but not one that I had really fully fleshed out. If that makes sense. Like when you go to college and you're I'm gonna go to college, but I don't know what's gonna come from it. I was like, yeah, law school, but I didn't think about everything that came with. I think I just was like, I'm gonna be an immigration attorney and I'm gonna support people who are on the verge of getting deported. That was my goal. But it all worked out. I didn't know higher education was a career. Like I was a student coordinator within a cultural center, which now is the role that I'm in now, professionally. And I was like programming events about social justice as a career. Like, I didn't know, like outside of the classroom, right. Education career. And so my mentor really opened my eyes up to that. So when I got wait listed, I was like, well, I guess we'll have to go back to the drawing board. And then I got into Columbia. I called, I don't remember. I think it was 3:00 AM in the US. And I called my parents and I was like, I got in, and my parents started crying. It was just like the whole thing. It was exciting for them. One, because I got into grad school and then two was like, oh shit, she's leaving to New York. Like for them, it wasn't a question I hadn't even decided if I wanted to. And my dad was like, why would you take a year off? Like, why would you take a year off to think about it when you have this opportunity?

Pam: Did he go to college?

Laura: Yes, he did. But he went to college throughout my time growing up and it was paid through his employment. So he got his BA when I was eight years old and his master's when I was 16.

Pam: Wow.

Laura: Yeah. So it was really cool to see him live through that too.

Pam: Did your mom?

Laura: No, my mom didn't. She was going to school to become a secretary at Mexicali before she migrated. And she's taken some computer courses here and there, but she never went to university.

Pam: Do you have siblings?

Laura: I do. I have one older brother.

Pam: Oh, you're the baby.

Laura: I'm the baby.

Pam: Interesting. And they were just like open your wings and fly.

Laura: Yeah. My parents were like, don't be dumb. You better go.

Pam: Nice.

Laura: Even when I left to, um, Italy, I think my mom was like nervous, but she's like, tu vete, ve, haz lo que tienes que hacer. But when she dropped me off in New York, she was bawling her eyes out.

Pam: Of course, más que Rome?

Laura: Yeah. Roma was kind of like, oh, she's gonna be back. But I think for New York, maybe she thought that I would like leave forever, like get used to it there, but I'm an East LA grow through and through. Los Angeles is like, I loved, loved New York. It was so fast. I had an expedited program or a celebrated program, so I could have done it in two years part-time, but I did it in one year full-time and it came and went. So I kind of regret not doing, not regret, but I kind of wish I would've done two years, but at the same time, I got an internship that paid for housing.

Pam: Nice.

Laura: A Jewish school, acabada de [inaudible] like completely, not only was I throwing myself out of my comfort zone by being in a new city, but then in an institution where I had, I knew nothing about the culture except for locks. Bagels. Like, literally I was like, I know nothing, besides your fashion, and the foods you eat, and that's just ignorant, you know, like that's all I knew about Jewish communities.

Pam: Right. Right. Well, and, and it, it happens.

Laura: Yeah. Así pasa. I used to play La Mona [inaudible] y Los Tigres del Norte in my office.

Pam: In the Jewish school?

Laura: Yeah. They would walk by, they told me they' like, be your authentic self. Like my supervisor wasn't Jewish either, but he was in higher education and they're like, we love your personality. And like the resident directors that I worked with would tell me, we're weird people, about Jewish people. And I was like, well, you can't generalize. Right. [inaudible] that social justice, like--

Pam: Right, right.

Laura: But then the students would like, look at me like they would actually stare and I wouldn't take it personal. I'm like, oh, I know I'm different.

Pam: Right. Está loca, no? So you get the notice that you get accepted. And you go to New York city. It's very different from LA.

Laura: Yeah.

Pam: And you were only there for a year. And I'm, I'm thinking it's still enough of a shock from like California vibes to New York city life.

Laura: Definitely. I think it was a shock for a lot of different reasons, too. It was like imposter syndrome in the classroom. I think I've always been confident, but I just thought Ivy league, like, do I belong here? Right. Which now is something that I'm like, wow, dismantle that shit, a la madre, like what? I had to be in group projects with people who couldn't even like write. So I'm like, and I'm worried about being in this institution. Like I need to check myself, but it still existed throughout my entire time there because you kind of in studying higher education, we learned like so much about whether like the highest degree the father earns affects the degree that children do. Right. And for me it was like, oh, it makes sense. My dad did. Right. The mother's education doesn't really have an effect on that. According to studies.

Pam: Wow. I had not heard that.

Laura: Yeah. And all like the learning that I had done, a lot of that came up a lot, came up when it came to, I always challenge retention theories because, a lot of like Eurocentric retention theories said that the students had to completely immerse themselves into like school life and forget their communities. And I'm like this doesn't apply to the students of color. Right. So. There was so much that I was learning, but also processing because I would also learn about my experience in the classroom. And I was like, I didn't wanna tokenize myself and be like, Ugh. But when I would read about it, I'm like, this's bullshit. You know, like, or this might be correct, but to hear other people come from such different walks of life to comment on it, it was like really, really interesting. There's this meme that's going around that says A tu teoría le falta calle. Or something. Have you seen that? And I'm like, this was me all throughout grad school, like, okay, this is a cute theory, but--

Pam: Have you been in them streets?

Laura: Yeah. Like, have you lived it? Like all these people I theoretically talking and like educated. Right. And that's one of my favorite things to do is I don't wanna take away from the importance of me being there, at that Ivy league institution. I'm in debt because of it. And I want if other younger brown children don't think they can do it, I wanna be here to represent and show 'em that they can.
But I also want them to step into those roles and challenge this idea that they have to be a certain way, or that that's the best opportunity for us. Right. Like how I'm proud of myself. And if I have to flaunt my like wings and like white men try to like assert themselves on me and try to like, you know, for whatever reason me quieren hacer menos, I'll be like, excuse me, speaking from my experience, you know, like, I'll do it if I need to, but I won't ever do it to put myself ahead or like to make it seem as though they gave me anything. I'm like, baby, what did Columbia get from Laura Tejeda?

Pam: Right.

Laura: I mean, obviously it looks great on a resume and I am appreciative of it. But yeah, I feel like we put so much emphasis on thinking that these places make us when for a lot of, a lot of people of color, we make the places and we bring so much, our lived experience brings so much that can tell of any book to fuck off or any theory to fuck off. You know.

Pam: I realize that for me, when I was invited to be in to a photo shoot to be in the catalog for the college. Because I didn't go to, I, I went to a Division 2 College because I didn't know better. And like, even then I had just come from Mexico city and I didn't, like, I went into Missouri. And so there literally was no, there were like two brown people and one worked, was like the janitor, you know, like it was like, so like not people like us.

Laura: Yeah.

Pam: And so I had a lot of those feelings of like, do I belong here? Like from every sense of the way, to do I deserve to be here to all the things. And then I was, I think I was a junior or something. That's when I was invited to be in the catalog. And my mentor was like, oh, it's nice that they have some tokens to kind of like, you know, put in their, in their banners to say "we have some diversity". So to your point, like we do make those institutions.

Laura: Yeah. Or they try to use the very little they have, right? To try to show others. I learned so much information that also upset me. Like, it's funny that it's an Ivy league. So I do say like our program did challenge a lot of the barriers that marginalized students face when going to school. But one of the things I also learned was enrollment officers in certain institutions do this thing where they admit a certain number of diversity students, right. Students that fall within the lines of diversity, like students of color, different experience, international students, they meet the quota of admitting the good amount. And this was back in like the beginning, like 2012. Right? So it's been years. I'm sure data has changed. I'm sure programs are now examining other data, but they would admit them, but not provide them any financial aid. So then they would wash their hands clean of any of the responsibility of supporting these students.
So like, just reading about those things also made me realize how, like, when we say, do we belong here? We very much do when it comes to our experiences, but these institutions do not welcome us. Right. These institutions do not make us feel that. Right. And we see it when we read about that this is happening, right? It's like, Harvard says, we admitted them. We can't control if they come here or not, but are we providing them in actually making it through these doors and not just making it through the doors, cause that's not what it is either. Right? It's like also, how do we go beyond that and make sure that they stay and that they graduate and that they also contribute to this. Right? So that's my number one, like philosophy as an educator. I'm like, my students must be so over it or over me, hear me say it. I get on my soapbox. Like when what's her face from Full House was convicted of, uh, getting her children into USC. When she like bribed all kinds of people. I was like not, um, Becky out here, like y'all deserve to be here. You all and also deserve to be here and also deserve to share yourselves in the classroom. It's not just about you getting information. I mean, obviously in engineering, that's different and all that, but tell your story, you know, like tell your story and cuz that matters.

Pam: For sure.

Laura: Speak from your experience, not just from the book because that matters.

Pam: So many things. Okay. Let's take a quick coffee break.

Laura: Okay.

***
Pam: Laura, do you drink coffee?

Laura: I do, I love cafecito so much.

Pam: What's your favorite way of drinking?

Laura: Do you know the Beastie Boys?

Pam: I mean, yeah.

Laura: Do you know that line that says, I like my sugar with coffee and cream. Literally growing up, growing up, mi amá, I started drinking coffee at like age two, probably. I don't know if like, I feel like a lot of, I, I relate to a lot of people when I share that.

Pam: Yeah.

Laura: But mi abuelita, she used to make me huevos con chorizo, in like a little taquito. That was like my breakfast with her and, en una servilleta, and then she would make me, obviously she knew like kids can't drink coffee. So it was like a lot of powdered creamer. It had to be powdered. A lot of sugar and then like just enough coffee to make it brown. And I would like bond with her. I was like, I am like my grandma, like I am drinking coffee like her. I felt like an adult. Now, as I get older, obviously I don't like it that sweet. I actually hate super sweet coffee, but it has to be milky and it has to be just perfectly sweet.

Pam: Okay.

Laura: And I'm not, I'm not a coffee snob and I'm not like disrespecting coffee snobs, pero me vale, I think the worst, like the bottom of like the barrel for me is like hotel coffee. I feel like they never make it right.

Pam: No.

Laura: But I just, I feel like McDonald's coffee hits sometimes.

Pam: Yeah?

Laura: Like my mom's full [inaudible]

Pam: My mome loves McDonald's coffee.

Laura: My mom does too!

Pam: I don't understand.

Laura: It hits.

Pam: It does?

Laura: I'm like, listen, it's doing the trick, but I also can get bougie with the, the blue bottle here and there. I've never tried Stumptown, but I heard people really like that, but yeah, me vale.

Pam: Maybe next time I go to LA, we go to a coffee shop.

Laura: Yes, that'd be fun. Get a panecito.

Pam: Si! Do you have a favorite coffee shop in LA?

Laura: Right now, so I'm indecisive all the time, but right now also to give a plug to, uh, people of color owned business, family-owned small business, it's Picaresca Café on Soto. It's really close to the Sears tower and I know they've been open, they just celebrated their anniversary a couple of months ago. So they've been open for a year and some change. They make this ginger rose latte.

Pam: Oof.

Laura: Or they make one called El Pino latte as in 02[?] , the famous Pino in East LA. And that's made with Rosemary syrup. No matter where I go, I'm always like less sweet, like however sweet you make it just less sweet. Cause I do get empalagada fast, but it is just the first time I went because I'm indecisive. I said, I'll take a small of both. And I enjoyed both of them. I was like, oh my God, this is so freaking good.

Pam: You did not get both!

Laura: I did. I was like, it's a Saturday morning. Payday was yesterday and I'm a support job[?] .

Pam: I must start doing that.

Laura: I was like, I can't make it up. Ginger rose or El Pino, like both of them. And they're both amazing.

Pam: And did you have to get 'em less sweet?

Laura: Yeah, I got them less sweet. Yeah, the ginger rose was still a little sweet, but it was good. It was really good. And I always ask people I'm like, is it really sweet? I'm like, I'm gonna be honest. I don't like that. Sweet, like [inaudible]. We got you. We'll make it less sweet.

Pam: Nice.

Laura: But the folks at Picaresca are really dope too.

Pam: All right. A shout to Picaresca. Do you drink coffee every day?

Laura: I do. And unfortunately, I'm so ashamed to say Starbucks is so convenient because it's right there. And lately I started back on my, like, watching my, like what I'm eating a little bit more because I've just been walling out and I just don't haven't been feeling well.
So I've been using a little bit of sugar free creamer. A ver si se lo echo, but I've just been getting cold brew, just real boring. It's the bottom of the barrel, but I'm like, it's right here.

Pam: And it's hot in LA.

Laura: It's hot. It's always ice though. I rarely do hot coffee. Me gusta frío.

Pam: Okay.

Laura: At nighttime I'll, I'll fuck[?] with a nice cafecito calentito.

Pam: En la noche? We talked about it that you're like "no me hace nada", and I'm like, no.

Laura: Oh yeah. Yeah. It does not affect me.

Pam: That's intense.

Laura: Yeah. If it's like an espresso or like, if I know, like I'm doing this, like I'll, I feel like that maybe it's a placebo effect for me at this point, but if it's warm and it's nighttime.

Pam: Te pone a dormir?

Laura: And I have a little piece of bread, I'm like, Ooh, this is a little nighttime snack right before sleeping. It warms my soul.

Pam: Good for you. I admire the people that can drink coffee at night. I can't even drink it past, like noon.

Laura: It must have been all those years of staying up too late with it that made me numb to it or something.

Pam: Right. I know. I started of drinking coffee in college, but let's get back to the show.

***
Pam: So you talk about this mentor and how, because of this mentor, you went to grad school. So how did he kind of like uncover and why education?

Laura: I think he was seeing how much I was thriving in my position as a student program coordinator at a Chicano Latino student resource center, everyone on one, we had, he intentionally had a section for goals, personal or professional and academic. And so in my professional, he would always ask, how are your applications going? He also was the one that encouraged me to study abroad. He's like, why not do it? Look into it. You got this. It was just like giving me the nugget. And I would like pick it up and be like, okay, I can do it. Right. Like he, he represented that for me. And so professional, when I was applying to schools, I think he must have seen me and been like, does she really wanna go to law school? And so he just started like, validating me really and telling me, like, you're really great at this role. Did you know you can do this full time? Did you know this could be a career as well? Like you could be in my shoes, right? You could be a mentor to others. You can support in the development, identity development, social justice development, all of that. And social justice education. You can provide and be that for others. And I was just like, what? Like, I don't have to be a teacher. I never wanted to be a teacher. I knew immediately. I was like, I don't know if I have the patience for it. And so I feel like I can teach, but I don't know if I could ever do a whole curriculum. I don't know if people are always like, you'd be a great teacher. And I'm like, I don't know I feel like I'd be a standup comic more than an actual educator. Like I'm like, I have an audience.

Pam: To me, it's grading.

Laura: Yeah. That nunca me emocionó. Like the thought of, the prospect of teaching. Anytime I said education, they're like oh so, you're a professor? I'm like, no, not a profesora. I, I could profess, but not on classroom.

Pam: But no, great. Okay. So it was really from him seeing you like be you in, in a student environment.

Laura: Yep. And I loved it. Loved what I did.

Pam: And so you went to the program. Did you know what it, like, what was gonna happen on the other side?

Laura: Never.

Pam: Like once I finished the program, I'm going to become "blah".

Laura: Never. I was like, I'm going to go back to work at a university and work in a Chicano Latino space.

Pam: That's it?

Laura: Yeah. It's kind of like, it was full circle for me, probably thinking, but I went to a nonprofit immediately afterwards. And I worked with, um, students who were receiving full tuition scholarships to top tier universities around the nation. So I was serving pretty much as a, as a mentor. We trained them for eight months before they would leave to school, we would recruit them for the scholarship.
It was a really, really cool opportunity to, to travel. I would go to Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Wisconsin, at least three to four times a year, and then visit these students from the a LA USD system. It was really, really cool, but I had no idea what it would open for me, or even just the ways in which it would push me to be more of a social justice educator, even a consultant. Like I support different organizations as a consultant when it comes to equity work. Right. So, yeah, I had no idea. I was just like, this is gonna be it for me. I like doing it as a student. I'm gonna like doing it professionally.

Pam: Do you wanna be a lawyer now?

Laura: I still think about how cool it would be to go and become a paralegal.

Pam: Why not an attorney?

Laura: I just don't know if my heart's in it for that debt, and that stress. At this age. I'm like, is it worth the stress and the debt? I don't know.

Pam: I know.

Laura: But in working in grassroots offices, the reason why I applied to law school is I was also working at an office as an intern. Before I left to study abroad. Right before I left, I think I had, I don't remember how many months, maybe three or four months at the office. And they were grassroots. So they had me doing, filling out asylum applications, going to prisons and getting declarations from people. To like support them and to stop the deportation essentially. And so that groundwork is what I really enjoyed and that's why I'm like, I could be a paralegal. So maybe one day, cuz you know, this generation, generation I'm a part of, I feel like we jump around, like we just do everything and I love it for us. So yeah, I do. I do sometimes still think about how cool that would be.

Pam: What do you do now?

Laura: So I am an assistant director of a, of a cultural center.

Pam: Full circle.

Laura: Full circle. I, I came back as a coordinator of that same space. I used to be a student and then I got promoted to assistant director like three years ago.

Pam: How fun.

Laura: So now I'm, I'm I'm getting to that point where I'm like what's next Laura? Qué sigue, qué sigue?

Pam: Y qué sigue?

Laura: Creativity. I'm able to be creative here, but this whole time working in education, I found there's a creative monster inside of me that I'm like, I wanna do something. I wanna do something. So I started a Instagram page called Hungry in East Los in 2016. And for me, that was a way to connect to my community. I wasn't even thinking about it creatively. I was like, I'm gonna post pictures of these burritos that have been in east LA since the 960s. And I'm gonna give people of color owned, family owned, long time businesses a shout out. As a way to combat gentrification and like corporations in the community and all that, right. It was for fun. It has since then developed into me getting an opportunity to become a writer for LA Taco. Someone saw my comment on an Instagram page, checking someone for saying all lives matter and like very, very nicely. I shouldn't say checking, calling people into a conversation about why the term all lives matter is detrimental to many movements and can affect people negatively. And they're like, Hey, you wanna write a piece about this? Right. The editor of LA taco Javier Cabral. It was actually Eric Galindo who saw my comment, who is also a creator from Southeast LA. He's like, I saw your comment and I shared it, right. Just community supporting each other. Like, Hey, I saw this, I think we should reach out to her to write. And I was like an article I have never, like, I am an academic writer. I was an English major for my bachelor's degree. Like, I can write you a beautiful piece, like a paper with like maybe some resources, but not an article. And so they're like, don't worry, we'll walk you through it. It happened in 2020 since then I've just become, uh, I I've written for them. And then they asked if I wanted to be a host of a quick little episode for Vans Channel 66 where we were interviewing a community food member, a community chef, essentially. the Chori man from San Pedro area. And I was like, hell yeah, I'm down. Did that. They're like, wow. Like you really have fun. We love you. Like, do you wanna host episode one of this series we have for Whiteclaw called Hanging With Taqueros? And I was like, hell yeah, I wanna host it. I was like, what do I do? They're like you just ask questions to taqueros, and ask them about themselves. And they're like, yeah, you'll do episode one. And then we're gonna try to get other folks from different cities to represent like all of LA. Episode one comes around, I don't know what they needed me to do, but they said be yourself and ask these questions and we're gonna make it a three minute video for YouTube. Got you. Had so much fun. They kept me on for the entire series. We actually have one more episode to film. We've just been all so busy. Yeah. And then we started LA Taco Live with the goal to pretty much make the stories come alive, which you were a beautiful guest on. Right?

Pam: Yes.

Laura: Interviewing beautiful people from the community to talk about all the work that's done so much, all the resources, so much talent that's available in our community. And so, yeah, that has really opened my eyes to wanting to be more on camera, work more creatively with people. I cannot call myself a producer, but I wanna learn more in these levels because I'm so appreciative of the validation that I've received and the affirmation. And I'm like, I need to welcome this in my life more. So, yeah, that's next for me, whatever it is. I just, I just submitted a self tape audition for America Ferrera's directing Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

Pam: Yes!

Laura: For Lorena. I'm like, listen, she's a high school senior. It's a stretch. But...

Pam: I, I saw that and I was like, I don't think I can pass as a high school senior.

Laura: Yeah.

Pam: But you never know. I hope you get it.

Laura: Thank you. Yeah. I'm wishing-- the best thing that I'm wishing for that they're like, maybe not for Lorena, but for someone else. And if they say for Lorena, I, sign me up.

Pam: I mean, you could be.

Laura: Yeah. I, I wanna just manifest all of it.

Pam: Yes. And I mean, look, the young people now teenagers look like people in their twenties, so...

Laura: Right. And all these people who, I don't know if you like what shows you watch, but a guilty pleasure of mine is Gilmore Girls. A mess. I love Gilmore Girls. I literally watched that on the background. I could be doing anything, put Gilmore Girls on for noise and old girl, Alexis Bidell, she was in her thirties playing a high school character.

Pam: What?

Laura: And then her best friend too was in her mid thirties. They're all playing like freshman and sophomores, junior seniors. And I'm like, if they could do it...

Pam: Ahí está.

Laura: They could do it.

Pam: The role is yours.

Laura: Give me a little bit of concealer and we'll be good.

Pam: Yeah. You're in LA and so is it's the land of entertainment and you're so good at it.

Laura: Thank you.

Pam: Is that where you wanna go next?

Laura: I think so.

Pam: Yeah?

Laura: I say, I think so cause I'm a scaredy cat. If my friends listen to us, they're gonna be like, why'd you say you think so? You know you want it. Yes. I do want to be, I don't know, to what capacity. I'm also interested in working behind the scenes because all of it fascinates me. I am indebted to Karen Lopez, which is a producer of LA Taco Live.

Pam: Shout out to Karen.

Laura: Karen is literally such an amazing person. She supports me and everything and has helped me grow so much. And I know there's so much more to grow. Right. But yeah, she's the one that's kind of like do it. She calls herself my Chris Jenner. She's like, let's do it, girl. Let's do this. And she helped me do my self tape audition with my homey Chaz. So I have a really, really beautiful support system. My best friend's a lawyer. And she's like, I'll be your lawyer. Like, they're just like, just dale, dale, I'm just terrified because I'm like benefits and security.

Pam: I mean, go to Mexico for the doctor.

Laura: Right? Yeah, I just--

Pam: Don't listen to me, listeners. Insurance is important in the US. It sucks, but it is important.

Laura: It's wild. It's wild how much people without insurance are affected and it pisses me off, but.

Pam: You know, actually I was talking to a friend this morning and she was telling me that she was reading -shout out to Charisse- reading the book from Viola.

Laura: Oh, I heard it's good.

Pam: And I don't know if she learned it from that book or elsewhere, but she talked that 95% of actors are unemployed. When she told me this, I was like, oh my gosh, it makes so much sense because she was like, actors spend more time unemployed than they spend acting.

Laura: Yeah. That terrifies me.

Pam: And this is why, you know, when you go to LA people are like, oh, I'm an actor and an Uber driver and a server and like, blah, blah, blah. Because there's a ladder in between--

Laura: Yeah.

Pam: That happens. And this is not to like at all to deter your like--

Laura: No, no, no, no.

Pam: I believe that you can absolutely make it happen and make it happen sustainable and it feels good.

Laura: Thank you!

Pam: And you get your insurance and all the things and all the [inaudible]

Laura: Yeah. Thank you. But yeah, that's very real. I think about that. I commend people who put their heart and soul, especially people who move out of their cities and states to come to Los Angeles. We were talking about that earlier, um, with my coworkers about how funny it is people to glorify Hollywood, and then you actually see Hollywood in your life.

Pam: Right?

Laura: Maybe what, where,

Pam: You're like--

Laura: Las ratas o qué? But yeah, like I, I think about that often, I think about how I, lucky I am to have security in this role, which I very much love. I love students. I love working with students, but then I also think about like, what does it look like to take this leap? Every sign that I've got. I got my tarot cards read. I got, I just get different. I, the other day I dream something and I always look up my dreams if I remember them, and everything says change is coming. Be welcome to embracing change. And I'm just like, does it mean this? And at the same time, it's like, I'm ready to embrace it, but I'm terrified.

Pam: That's good!

Laura: I joke. And I say, listen, I'm not above working as a bartender or a coffee shop tender, or like, you know, like, uh, what is it called a barista, but yeah, it's, it's wild. When you think about artists, right? Like they create their craft and have success, but there is a lot of downtime.

Pam: So if time, money and resources were not an issue, what would you?

Laura: I would be Cristina, the talk show host.

Pam: Cristina!

Laura: Obviously not her, but, I would love to be a talk show host or a host of any sort. Also Ted Allen from Chopped.

Pam: Yo no sé quién es Ted Allen from Chopped.

Laura: Chopped the show on food network. He's like the host that like just welcomes the show and explains the show. Like, I don't know, just.

Pam: I love this.

Laura: Or like the next Anthony Bourdain, but the hood one where I don't wanna be elitist and I didn't have culinary training, but I know me and I wanna talk about my experience with you all, you know, those are the three that stand out.
Pam: I love this.
Laura: Can you tell I thought about it?
Pam: No, I mean, I think it's important. It's important to, to like declare it.
Laura: Yeah.
Pam: I have a vision that I've written. Maybe I'm thinking about like doing an episode where I read it out loud. Like I do an episode where I share my vision and invite people to write their vision. And in my vision is a talk show because I wanna do, you know, I wanna do it.
Laura: I could see you doing that too.
Pam: Las dos, you know, we each have our own talk show, there's room.
Laura: Yes. There is. There's room for all of us.
Pam: There's plenty.
Laura: And that's what inspires me. Like, do you, like when you look around the community in Los Angeles and all of the beautiful people, also making space for us, or letting us know, like the people who are podcasting, like you like the TV writers who started with similar stories to like, to me, right. Like, I didn't know I was gonna do this and now I'm interested in it. Like, there's so many people making that step and doing it, that it kind of like pushes me to also know that I could do it too. So I'm grateful to them too. Like just everyone I follow on Twitter, I'm like, next thing you know, it's like, well, I'm releasing a TV show on HBO Max. I'm like, holy shit. And you're from my neighborhood or from around my neighborhood. It's so inspiring. Like we're living in such an exciting time right now.
Pam: And I, 100% agree with you with the sentiment of like uplifting each other. Because like you telling me that you wanna talk, I'm like, yes, because I know that when Laura gets a talk show, then that means that I can get a talk show.
Laura: Yeah. Right. Or vice versa, [inaudible] you out here. You do so much great work.
Pam: We'll do it. We'll do it. And like when a friend of mine got a book deal, I'm like, that means that it's possible.
Laura: Yes. That's so beautiful.
Pam: I don't know if I want a book deal right now, but yes.
Laura: I joke around and I say my memoir is gonna be great, later in life. Especially the time around my, my late twenties and my early forties, even though I'm not there at the forties yet. I just feel like it's gonna be a great, great time of my life. Yeah.
Pam: You do have a book in you. You have a talk show in you. Right now you're doing, you have your full time and LA Taco. And that's, I feel like it is LA Taco where you kind of like release your creativity.
Laura: Yes. I am able to do it at work a little bit, but I've also been in this role for six years or in this space for six years that it's also, it kind of becomes repetitive. Right. So, yeah, I think new creativity, it definitely is unleashed at LA Taco. I enjoy it so much.
Pam: And you're so good. Where can we find you?
Laura: You could find me on Instagram @hungryineastlos, on TikTok @hungryineastlos, which I'm still learning to become a tiktoker because these tiktokers are like major editors. I love yours by the way, you crack me up. And then on YouTube at youtube.com/lataco all the episodes and everything I've done is there. Twitter, I'm Louda De East Los, so Louda like loud de East Los. And that's because people call me Laura [English pronunciation] too much.
Pam: Ah, si claro, Laura.
Laura: Oh my gosh. Laura, te imaginas? I'm like, who is Laura?
Pam: Laura Tejeda.
Laura: Do I look like a Laura? Laura Tejeda. Laura Tejado, Tejada. So one time someone called me Laura Tijera, I was like Tijera is a new one. That's a new one.
Pam: Yes. Listeners. When I met Laura, literally the first thing you said is Laura, not Laura.
Laura: Always, that's how I introduced myself to everybody. I'm like, hi Laura. Never Laura.
Pam: Yes. Never Laura.
Laura: Buenas tardes.
Pam: Yes. Which I love, I think there's boundaries, with your name are so important.
Laura: Yeah, because it's not what my mom made me. I don't think I did that in elementary school. Cause I do remember people would call me Laura and I like, let it go off my shoulder. But I, as I got older, I was like, that's weird. Like I don't identify as Laura. I identify as Laura.
Pam: Right.
Laura: And not even that, like the next workplace, the next place that I enter, I'm gonna go by Isabel, cause that's my middle name and I love Isabel, but I know I'm gonna have to start correcting people. They're gonna be like, Isabel, Isabel--
Pam: Right.
Laura: Laura Isabel.
Pam: Laura Isabel Tejeda es tu nombre de telenovela.
Laura: Right. Isn't that a novela name? I would also love to be on a novela. I'd be walking in all like Soraya.
[laughs]
Pam: What's next? So, you're gonna get a talk show. Let's declare that.
Laura: Yes. So I'll an actress on Netflix.
Pam: Yes. You're gonna get the role with the America Ferrera.
Laura: Yes.
Pam: Where you're gonna play a high schooler, but it's all good.
Laura: A senior in high school.
Pam: A senior high school.
Laura: Who's charming.
Pam: Who's charming. Yeah. Yes. ¿Cómo se llama the character?
Laura: Lorena.
Pam: Lorena, you're gonna play Lorena. And then we'll go from there. I mean, the sky's the limit.
Laura: We'll go from there, we'll see. Next time we check in both of us are gonna be on our red carpet or at some award show.
Pam: We're gonna meet at our red carpet. I love this.
Laura: Yep. For a cafecito.
Pam: Yes. Okay. Last two questions. What is your remedio?
Laura: Té de orégano con ajo y limón y miel. So my mom tried making me have it without the limón and miel and I said, girl, we're not doing this caldito, this is weird. So I was like, can we put lemon in it? And she's like, okay, pues. And then, cuz I always drink té de limón when I was having a cough.
Pam: Yes.
Laura: And she, the garlic is for like the cold, right. El orégano also has healing properties. So, growing up ese era mi remedio.
Pam: Para like, colds and flus.
Laura: Colds, I grew up with bronchitis too. So I had like seasonal bronchitis and so siempre, I was always like wheezing. And so I always had like a, like a very heavy like, pecho, mi pecho siempre estaba pesado. And so aside from the Vicks, that I'm sure everyone talks about everyone.
Pam: Everyone.
Laura: I don't know if it's just Vicks by itself though. People did it like that, cause my mom used to in the middle of the night, iron, con la plancha, trapitos, so yeah, I was like, you know what I know Vicks is everybody's but this is like a game changer, planchaba trapitos like cut up t-shirts and then she would put Vicks on my chest, put the trapo on top of my chest. She would do the same on my back. And when I tell you that, that was immediately warming, like, la tos que tenía se me quitaba, it was like this quick, like heat and it would be like off la plancha, like hot.
Pam: Whoa.
Laura: But when it would meet the Vicks, it felt like God was hugging me. It was like, so that's the remedio with Vicks con la plancha, el trapo, a little upgraded.
Pam: A little extra, extra.
Laura: It's not just Vicks, es el trapo caliente también.
Pam: Con la plancha. All right. All right. And what's your quote or mantra that you live by today?
Laura: My quote and my mantra is "dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres". I love that. For me it reminds me to keep a community that's always inspiring me, pushing me and, and also hearing me right. Hearing me in my authenticity. And so, that's how I see it. I gave you a second one too, "you are not your productivity". A coworker of mine printed that piece of paper. It was a meme going around in 2019 or something. It might have been from the Nap Ministry. I don't remember. They put that on my window. I was like, the way that I think that I have to continue to produce and produce and produce to be loved, appreciated. And now even more so in this pandemic, I'm like reminding everybody like, yo, if you need to take a break, take a break. If no one, if us getting to work 15 minutes late, the world isn't ending. Take your time in the morning. Like if you woke up with your mental health, not the best, take that time you need to breathe real quick, before you come in. Like the world is not gonna end. That's my favorite thing to tell people, take time off. Unfortunately, PTO is a privilege, but if you have paid time off, take it off. Even if you don't have paid time off and you have maybe the luxury of taking some like time for yourself, I'm always telling people take the day off and not just because you're sick or to do an errand. I honestly tell my boss, I'm taking Wednesday off. We have nothing on the calendar. Is that like, I wanna check in like, make sure there was nothing you were expecting of me, but either way I already booked it and I'm going to Disneyland, or I'm going or not, or I'm gonna get a pedicure and I'm gonna take a really long nap in the day. I'm gonna be honest with you. Like my inner child needs it. My joy is required this week. It's not a great week and I'm preplanning my time. Y lo voy a hacer. Me vale madre. We all need to do it.
Pam: We all need to do it. So, I'm curious, because I have a couple of clients who are college professors, something interesting that's been kind of like not the topic of conversation per se, but it's been, it's come up a couple of times with the new freshman class coming in. I mean, these are kids that the last two years of high school were during a pandemic. And so as these kids come into college, the professors that I've talked to, it's very challenging for them to teach them because they're constantly asking for mental health time. But, like a lot. Like one person was like, I can't, I couldn't even teach class cuz like half the class was in having a mental health break, like outside, you know.
Laura: Taking it. Yeah.
Pam: And so that made me think like I'm 100% proponent of like take care of your mental health because we grew up in a time where it was like overwork yourself to the core.
Laura: Yeah.
Pam: Um, and I'm also like hearing this, this person I'm like, well there's also extremes. You know, like where's that delicate balance.
Laura: That's a great question. I think about that often because I do feel like I don't wanna say people take advantage of it. I just think people aren't aware of the team they're in. So for me, it's a team they're in, but for the classroom, it could be your, where this is a class and in order to function, we need everyone to be present. Right. And it's also like nuanced because it's like, who am I to tell a student when they can't, but we could never do this before.
Pam: Right.
Laura: Right? So I don't even know what my answer is. One of the biggest issues is that I think that people are returning and we think that we're going back to normal.
Pam: What is normal, right?
Laura: Yeah. Like we're going back to what it used to be. So does it look like you film every class and you know, but then if the class requires participation, then that's where it's funky, you know? Yeah. It's difícil.
Pam: Yeah. I mean, I think it's a generational thing because even the professors, like what generation do they come from? And also like, just like these kids come with their specific biases, the professors also have their biases. And so like, it's this, this dance of, how do we meet in the middle without oppressing each other. with their ideas and beliefs. So that ultimately looking at the common good and, and the common goal.
Laura: Yeah.
Pam: For everyone, everyone to thrive for everyone to flourish, for everyone to pass the class or for everyone to, you know? And so, yeah, it's a, it's a whole other conversation, but.
Laura: And I do like it though. I do like that the younger generation is challenging the older generation.
Pam: Yeah.
Laura: Because I feel like--
Pam: So powerful.
Laura: Yeah. Like, I don't know if millennials got an opportunity to do that.
Pam: I think we started.
Laura: A little bit.
Pam: We kinda like started the path. And then like-- I did, um, another interview with Sarah and Adrián this week and they do research, immigrant work. And so one of the things that they shared was we have to understand that the work could outlive us. And so when we bring it back to the work that millennials did, when it comes to mental, like I remember when I started talking about mental health seven years ago, my friends were like, oh, must be nice, you privileged girl.
Laura: Yeah.
Pam: Must be nice. You know, and like, I would get made fun of, because people were like, what are you talking about? Mental health therapy? What?
Laura: What is that? Yeah.
Pam: Outta your mind, like, just get over it, go to work, get up.
Laura: Go pray.
Pam: Don't be lazy. Yeah.
Laura: Yeah. Yeah. Be grateful. Be grateful. It could be worse. Ugh.
Pam: I know. Look at all you have.
[laughs]
Pam: So I think what millennials started is outliving us and then the next generation is coming in to pick up kinda like what we left and then like they're taking it to the next level and then another generation is gonna come in and take it to the whole other level.
Laura: Yeah. I feel like the whole system, everything just needs to be revamped. Like a traditional classroom. The ways in which it functioned, it doesn't need to work the way it did. Right. So much, so much needs to be like deconstructed and rebuilt. And that's my biggest reminder where I'm just like, let's, uh, let's relax, like. One of my former colleagues and now friend, she's amazing. Her name's Sierra Jones. She came into a, a keynote for our pride grad this year here on campus. And my favorite quote that she left and it just made me think of that like sometimes I stress out so much about something and I'm like, who's gonna remember this detail. Right. And it's because I care, it's because I care. But she said, our legacy is not the work we do, but the love we leave. And I was like, Ugh, Sierra, I had to, I had to tweet it. I had to tweet it out and just let the world know, because it's so true. Like if you're leading with love, and if that student taking that mental health day is really gonna dismantle your whole class, then we got bigger problems. You know? Yeah. Learn to reframe to, for it, to be that it's not gonna ruin the whole class. For me, like learn to reframe to learn that it's not like, okay, you're gonna be 15 minutes late one day. It's not gonna be the end of the world. Right. Or you're gonna take a day off on a day that's really important to people. If me taking a day off means something's going to break down and shut down and like completely go on fire, then I'm not doing my job. We're not creating healthy workplaces. So I'm like, was I loving that day? Did I bring love into this space? And that's, what's gonna matter to me. That's gonna be my legacy.
Pam: For sure. Always leave with love. 100%. Ugh, this has been so fun.
Laura: Yes. Thank you so much. I love our pláticas.
Pam: I love our pláticas, this is so fun. Thank you for coming to Cafe con Pam.
Laura: Thank you for having me. I can't wait to listen to this episode, to more episodes where my life finally slows down more and more.
Pam: I hear you.
Laura: Listeners, stay shining!
***
All right, listeners. ¿Cómo les fue, what do you think? Screenshot, tag me on the socials. Actually, this episode is kind of fun because I'm recording it in the past to the future. So at this moment, when you're listening to this, I am in Mexico city. So I don't know. I'm recording in San Diego, pero by the time you listen, I'm gonna be in Mexico city and tag me in your stories. If I haven't updated, hold me accountable because I do want to document, and I wanna share with you my experience, entonces si you haven't seen me on social media then tag me, cuz I, I do wanna share with you what's going on, tag me on the socials. Tell me like, Hey, what are you doing? And if I haven't shared, then I will. I promise. I just need you to nudge me and tell me that you wanna see . Because sometimes I'm like, do people even care about what I'm posting? Like, I don't know. Pero si you tell me then I'll do it. Entonces ya, it's kind of interesting to record something in, in the past to the future, which I've done before, but is always like, I don't know what to say, cuz I'm not there pero bueno. I hope you enjoyed the episode. This is the time when I ask you to leave the ratings, the reviews, the shares, tell people about it, share it with everyone you know, because the more people that listen, the more the episode will get highlighted and heard and seen by other people. And our stories are important. We want them to be heard. We want them to be seen. We want them to be acknowledged. And so, I so appreciate you being part of this. I so appreciate you listening and leaving your raitings and your reviews, whichever platform of choice you use. Thank you so much for taking your time to do that.
If this is the first time you're here welcome to Cafe con Pam, I hope you feel at home and you enjoy this episode. Subscribe if you haven't so you can get the reminders or so the episodes can show up on your screen next time we drop a new one and let me know what your thoughts. Let's stay connected. Let's hang out on the social medias @cafeconpampodcast on Instagram and Facebook. I am on TikTok, I don't post that much, but you can find me there. And join our online space, where we talk about the podcast, we talk about mental health. We talk about all the things. It's a Discord server, stayshining.club. I would love to hear from you there. And I hang out there the most actually. So sometimes I'm like, I don't need to go to social media because the people that I love and care about are in like discord with me. And so come join me. I would love to have you there. And if you're curious about my work cafeconpamchallenge.com is a place where you can learn about my free challenges. I have two that you can take a look and also cafeconpam.com, where you can find all the things about my work and how I work with people and how I support liberation practices in business. We dismantle the damages of Calladita Culture, which allows women, especially to remove themselves from this belief that we need to be quiet. We don't, we can be bold. We can be strong. We can be powerful. I hope you join me in whichever way. I love you for being here. Thank you so, so much. I truly, truly mean it, y bueno, as always, como siempre, stay shining!