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Welcome to the Community Affairs Show.
My name is Priscilla Ornellas and I host

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the morning show on Mix ninety six
to nine, Priscilla and Joey in the

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Morning, and I'm so excited to
host this week. We have so many

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great nonprofits coming up, but I
did want to take a quick minute to

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naturally talk about my nonprofit very quickly. I have a nonprofit called Community Go

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Madres and basically our mission is to
create personal and professional development for women that's

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accessible, that's affordable, and removes
all barriers. So we're really excited with

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the work that we're doing. In
fact, we have our inaugural charity gala

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coming up on March eighth, and
it's going to provide scholarship money to a

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young recipient that was nominated through a
nomination process and it's called the Community quin

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Signeta. We're so excited. It's
for everyone. We would love to have

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you there and it's just a fun
night out, a fun date night,

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girls' night out, co workers,
brothers, sisters. Everyone is welcome and

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it'll have all the fun traditional elements
of a quin signetta and also give back

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to the community. So if you're
interested, go to our Instagram. You

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can go to my Instagram actually and
go to at Priscilla on air. All

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right, let's get started with our
first organization. I'm so excited to introduce

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Kayla and Priscilla from the Arizona Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce. Good morning, good

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afternoon, Hello ladies, helloo great, we were just chatting before we got

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on air. We have the same
name and normally we don't meet people that

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have the name Priscilla. I know, Pracilla. How do you pronounce it

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to people? Praca? I know, I got to dive into that.

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I always say Priscilla, but I've
been called to pronounce it the way that

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I was born to pronounce it.
So you've inspired me to work loud and

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proud. Yes, loud and proud. So thank you ladies so much for

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being here. So for those that
aren't aware, can you please tell me

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about the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
and like just like an umbrella statement of

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what it does or what you guys
offer. Yeah. So, the Hispanic

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Chamber of Commerce has been around for
over seventy five years and we're here in

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the valley serving Arizona at large,
and we do have grants that allow us

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to go into spaces like Nevada and
Utah, parts of California. We also

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do a lot with our Native American
and Hawaiian America, Hawaiian Native and Pacific

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Native groups. And really what we
do is we serve the small business owner.

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And that's not just Hispanic but all
minority businesses here in Arizona. And

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so while we're here in Phoenix,
we are our wings expand wide. I

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love it. We have different resources
for every facet of a small business owner's

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life. So whether that's they just
had an idea and they want to know

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how to turn that into you know, a small business, or they have

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a side hustle, we call them
and they want to make that their actual

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chamba, their actual job, their
actual you know, uh profession female entrepreneurs.

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We serve them in different capacities.
So whether that's access to capital or

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just resources, tools, webinars,
you name it, we have it.

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We want to be as accessible as
possible to our minority small businesses. I

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always say, we don't want to
be Arizona's best kept secret for small businesses

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because we have a lot to offer, and you know, both in Spanish

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and English, we do a lot
of community collaborations as well, and so

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if we don't always have the answers
we connect with our community to to serve,

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that's amazing. Say that, what
was it about the Arizona Hispanic Chamber

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of Commerce that made you want to
be a part of it? What was

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it that pulled you? I guess
yeah, of course, definitely. The

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mission has a lot to do with
what aligns to my beliefs. My parents

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are entrepreneurs, so it just felt
right to also give a little back to

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the community and help and serve the
best we can to help the small business

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owners you know, reach their goals, because we always say their success is

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our success. Yes, so we
completely understand the struggles and how how hard

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it takes, you know, to
get to where you want to be,

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and we want to be a part
of the of those goals and facilitate those

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opportunities that you know might align with
your initiatives as your small business. So

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we and especially me i as being
a Latina in Arizona, it's very important

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for me to also be in those
spaces, be in those communities and help

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others that look like me. So
definitely was really aligned to you know,

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my vision and the culture of the
organization is amazing. I love you know,

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that's beautiful. We're empowering women.
We have a CEO representing for us.

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So definitely, I was very very
happy and more than excited to be

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a part of this organization. Well, tell me about the event that you

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guys have coming up that you're really
excited about. Yeah, we we have

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six signature events throughout the year,
and we're going to kick off this year

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with our Power of the Purse,
where we celebrate and honor women in business

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leadership in Arizona that have really paid
the way, paid the way for others

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and that are really using their voice
and their talents to spark a generation of

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entrepreneurs and leaders. That's amazing,
and so that's very exciting for us.

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And you know every year we do
it, and this year it'll be at

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Desert Botanical Garden and we have a
really good lineup of strong speakers as panelists

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and keynote speakers, and so yeah, very excited for that. That's amazing.

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Okay, So if people want to
be a part of your organization,

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maybe seek resources, go to your
event, like just do all these things

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right. Where can people go?
Yes, of course you can go to

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our website at AZHCC dot com.
You can find all the information there for

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any programs, any you know,
workshops that we have coming up, any

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networking events. We always say to
come see you know what we're all about.

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We think that if those initiatives aligned
with you, right, I feel

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like it would be a great fit
for us to, you know, help

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you along your way, be a
pull of support for you. So definitely

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feel free to reach out to us. Like Kayla said, if we can't

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help you, we'll find a way
and we'll make a way to to allow

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them with us. Those things social
Facebook X, the new Twitter, and

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of course Instagram, so follow us
EHDC. Well, thank you guys so

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much for being here with me today. Okay, let's move on to our

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next organization, Rooted Soul. I
have the founders Rico and Nancy here with

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me. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, whenever you're listening to

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this, How are you guys?
All right? Good? Good? Thank

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you so much for joining us.
I'm so excited to learn about your cause

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and your organization. So why not
let's get started. Tell us exactly what

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your organization is. To sum it
up, Rooted Soul is its purpose is

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to empower teens. Okay, and
how do you do that? So,

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like explain to me, Like when
you say empowered teenagers, is it through

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activations? Through education? What are
some examples of that? We provide experiences

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and then we teach them the tools
that they carry around themselves every day,

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like their breath, like silence,
like nature, play, voice, dance,

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so more. Through empowering through self
care and well well health is certainly

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our primary one of the things we
want to accomplish. Our primary focus is

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for them to see and feel their
power, but we teach them how to

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be healthy holistically their body, mind, heart, spirit. They all play

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together and you can't do one without
the other. So all of our events

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are focused around offering them the tools
and only a couple ideas that we invite

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them to play with, like they
are good. Yeah, the power is

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in them to create the reality they
want to create. That's really cool because

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those are things that we probably I
don't know about you guys, but those

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are things I did not learn until
I became an adult. It's like I

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would have been much more value to
me if I would have learned them as

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a teenager. Yeah, So let
me ask you this what So you guys

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are the creators of this organization?
What made you guys start? Nancy may

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ask you what made you start the
organization? I think for me, the

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key thing is I haven't forgotten what
it's like to be a teenager. Sorry,

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if I get a little emotional,
it's okay. I haven't forgotten.

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And I look around and I see
people my age, and I see them

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parenting in the same way that we
were parented, which does include a lot

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of guilt, shame, and fear. And I don't see a universal way

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to get parents to see that and
all be on board at the same time.

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And so instead, let's teach teenagers. Let's teach kids how to handle

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these situations, how to understand that
they are powerful, and that they're powerful,

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and that they are able to have
life thrown at them. It's not

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the world against them. That they
have the power to be able to recognize

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and to self apply be empathetic towards
others, including their parents. Yeah,

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that's beautiful. It's helping teenagers break
those generational cycles. That is exactly it.

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Yeah, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work,

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it's doable, it's very doable.
Yeah, So it's a lot of work,

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and you'll be surprised teens in youth
actually feel the impact of these practices,

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oftentimes a lot faster than adults.
They have a lot less baggage that

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they're working with, and they're not
quite convinced or it hasn't shifted into their

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subconscious that they need to constant,
constantly protect themselves and their value and their

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safety. And so we definitely want
to act as surrogate parents as a sort

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where like we can reinforce that these
kids that they're powerful, that they're safe,

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and the events we create reinforce those
things. That's beautiful. Is there

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an inspiration specifically that like, obviously
I know why you started this cause,

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right, but is there some and
a team that you've impacted or a story

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about your organization that you're in your
head you're like, this is why we

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do this? Absolutely, I'm going
to start with my teens. Yeah.

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I've been very intentional in the way
that I've raised them. It's been very

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hard because we naturally teach the way
that we were taught, and so a

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lot of lessons were learned while they
were growing. And really the conclusion I

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came to is removing fear. I
don't want my kids to be afraid of

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me, and so I have been
able to do that to where my kids

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come to me about everything that's beautiful
their friends do. I've tried to create

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a safe space in my home where
kids walk in and judgment, fear,

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all of those things stop at the
door. And I want to be able

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to provide that for the rest of
the teens, for my kids friends and

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their friends and their friends. Yeah, that's amazing. It's you're right when

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you say that we do what we're
taught right exactly. I've learned that when

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you become a parent, you have
a toolbox of tools that your parents gave

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you, and if you don't have
intervention or somebody to teach you otherwise,

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you just pull from that toolbox.
Right, So, in a situation where

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you might need a hammer, you
pull a screw and you're like, Okay,

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this is a mess because I don't
have the right tool exactly. And

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I really believe that parents love their
children. Oh they love their children.

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They just don't have the right tools
to do it effectively. And it's hard

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and it's hard to break that.
Like you said, when you're an adult.

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So why not at least if you
can't change parents' perspectives, help kids

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have their fill their toolbox before they
get to a point in adulthood, right

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exactly. So that's that's incredible.
So let me ask you this, what

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are some things that are coming up
in your organization that you want people to

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know about or maybe like an event
that you want to encourage teens to be

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a part of. I'll take this
one. Gosh, we're so excited.

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It's like you you all, you
got to use like spark, the spark

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and it goes. We have after
school programs right now. We have offerings

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and the evenings for teens like breath
work, yoga, smash houses, anything

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anything that will like provide them on
opportunity to access these tools. We're really

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excited about getting into Durango and we'll
be in Durango four days a week,

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and those who are coming out of
DURINGO we're working out a plan where they

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can help facilitate some of our program
our offerings for the teens and younger.

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We're doing a lot of stuff with
community gardening that we're kicking off, and

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so those are just a few things. So yeah, definitely follow rooted soul

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to find out exactly when they're coming
up and if teens like are interested in

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being a part of the program them
specifically, what is social media the best

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way? Like, for example,
you say you have after school programs,

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right, how do teens know about
this? How do they get access to

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it? How can they be a
part of it? You know? Yeah,

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currently we're posting everything on social media. That's our primary platform. But

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we're in the evolution, so that'll
continue to change. But social media is

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definitely the place, and all of
our offerings are free for teens, okay.

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And we also we're creating a program
where we want to bring teens and

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teachers together. Teens kids spend most
of their time at school, yeah,

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and are around a lot of different
types of adults, and so if we

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can provide something where we can bring
teachers, you know, there's like this

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respect in balance between teens and teachers, and so if we can create something

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where teachers are giving to teens just
how teachers that teens are giving to teachers,

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just how teachers are teaching teens,
we can help build a better community

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in the school systems as well.
Have you ever heard of the million dollar

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Teacher Project. No, okay,
So I feel like this is the perfect

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sign to connect you to. So
the Million Dollar Teacher Project is a nonprofit

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organization that helps elevate the teaching profession
and give the teachers the tools and the

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resource is to be better for their
students. And then the fact that you

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want to help students be better with
their teachers. It feels like the perfect

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merge of like a collapse in the
making. Absolutely, we got to make

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this happen for you, guys.
Definitely. Our plan is to hire some

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of the teachers as facilitators so they
can they can intern extra money and facilitate

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some of these classes with our facilitator. All right, We're going to make

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this happen because I see, because
I'm sure you have big dreams and big

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plans for rooted soul. Absolutely,
what is something that you that feels scary

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to say out loud, But you're
like, we're going to get there,

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We're going to do that. Nothing
feels scary. Feel sorry. I love

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that. That's so amazing. I
truly believe that this is where heart is,

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it's where passion is, and it's
going to happen. Absolutely. That

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manifests that you're all yes, so
okay, So before we wrap, if

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people want to donate or contribute to
your organization, how can they do that.

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They can find all the information on
our website rootedsoul dot org or on

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our instagram which is rooted dot soul. Well yes soul like espanel in Espanola.

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Well, thank you very so much
for being here today. That you

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guys are doing so much good in
the community and our youth is going to

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be so much more better because of
you guys. So thank you, thank

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you, thank you so much for
having us. Okay, it is time

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to introduce our next guest. I'm
so excited. Paulina Flores, the founder

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of She Thrives Foundation, is here
to join me. She she Thrives Foundation

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is committed to arming women with the
tools to rebuild their lives and reclaim independence.

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Through education, mentorship, and vital
resources, we empower women to rewrite

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their own narratives and forge a path
of brighter to a brighter future. Thank

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you so much, Paulina for joining
us. How are you, Oh,

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I'm doing great. Thank you for
having me. Of course, So before

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we get into your organization, like
people like to know, like, how

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do you know people. How do
you get to know them? And it's

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so funny that this is the way
we met is a statement of this organization

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that you're trying to or that you've
created, right, it's through the networking

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world, through these events. How
did we meet? Is it on social

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media? Was it an event?
And try to remember. I think it

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was a combination of both. We
were already talking on social media and then

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I came to the your community Coal
Madrais event, Yes, pickoff, and

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that's where we met face to face. And then we have mutual friends in

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common as well, and we've run
into each other at a couple networking events

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as well. Yeah, so it's
been really great to see you grow and

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see the events that you've put on
and attend them and then now onto this

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nonprofit. So let me ask you
this. You have created events in the

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past, and what is different about
your nonprofit versus those events, or what

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are you doing with your nonprofit that's
a little bit different or is it kind

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of the same mission? It is
a similar mission. Whereas before the events

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were fostered around women empowerment, teaching
women how to get out in the workforce

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and be entrepreneurs. We're still going
to have a little bit of that flavor

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to it, Okay. I think
the biggest difference is now where the events

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before we're free for anybody to come, and we were getting sponsorships to pay

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for food and drink. Now there
will be a small cost to it,

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where the funding will go to women's
shelters, scholarships, other nonprofits. Essentially,

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the five year plan of this foundation
is to be able to start up

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Latina women's shelters. It's beautiful,
So that's the goal, Okay, to

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get there. So then I was
gonna say, let's reel it back just

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a little bit, and as the
founder, what was your inspiration for starting

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this organization? Like I know your
mission and what you want to do with

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it, but like, what was
that spark that made you think I have

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to do this? And this is
why? Well, this has been on

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the vision board for about ten years. I was in a relationship where I

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was with somebody who was the main
breadwinner. I had no control of finances

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or anything else. So when that
relationship ended and I decided to leave,

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I literally left with what I can
fit in my four door Scion XBI at

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the time, and the clothes on
my back. I had no career,

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I had no exposure to making money
or to providing for myself and my children,

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And it was I struggled for so
many years being a single mom because

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I didn't have the resources or I
didn't have the community that I could,

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you know, go to to get
advice, Because it really comes down to

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you know, it's important to who
you know, right, who you know,

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who opens those doors, who gets
you jobs, things like that.

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So for me, it was like, how can I create an environment where

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women can come together and collaborate and
meet other women that otherwise they would not

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run into on their daily lives.
Because when you're a single mom and you're

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just working, you're nine to five, going home to care the kids,

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and then back at it again,
there's no space for you to meet other

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women you know that are entrepreneurs or
corporate baddies at your regular workplace. Perhaps,

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so I wanted to always create these
environments where women felt supported to ask

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for help. Yes, that's beautiful, because it's so important. Like you

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said, when you were a single
mom and on your own, you didn't

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have that, so you didn't know
who to turn to. I bet you

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now I know your husband's there and
God forbid that anything go wrong. But

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if you found yourself in a similar
situation where you had to separate, you

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now have built that community and those
resources and those women that you're closely connected

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to, that you would feel that
support. Yes, oh no, one

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hundred percent. And like even now, like I do real estate, but

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if I ever decide not to do
real estate, I know so many women

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they would be like, yes,
we'd hire you, Come work with us,

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Come work with us at our company, Come help us do this startup.

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Like I have the connections that I've
met through these networking events that I

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otherwise would not have. So is
there someone in your organization or somebody that

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you've come in contact with specifically that
has benefited from this or they have a

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story that you're like, this is
exactly why we do this? Well,

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I think well, first of all, my board members are amazing. I

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think each of them have that story
where they help each other out. I

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have one board member, Teresa.
She used to work for chicanos Port La

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Causa and now she works at the
Arizona Chamber of Commerce, and she has

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met so many connections through her journey
that has helped us through the foundation and

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building the foundation. We have a
lot of board members that they are now

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getting to meet other people to open
themselves up. Yeah, you know,

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it's giving them that opportunity and that
exposure that maybe, like you said,

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they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Yes, correct, and exposures to like other

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industries too, because sometimes people are
doing something and they don't want to necessarily

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keep doing it. Well, also, you don't think you can do anything

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different, right, Like I'm in
radio. I love it and for a

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long time I thought radio is so
niche I what else would I do?

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There's nothing else for me out there. I've built my entire experience in my

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career in radio. But then as
a network and get to know people,

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I'm like, wait, these skills
can be used for this, that,

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and the other. And unless you
meet with people and are exposed to other

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things, you don't know that,
right, Yes, no, exactly,

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And I mean that was a great
connect. So I met Teresa through networking

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event too, and she's been part
of the pillar of helping me, you

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know, create this foundation because she
was kind of planned the seat, like,

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hey, she went to a few
events and she said, what have

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you thought of maybe doing a nonprofit
that incorporates these events. And I was

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like, you know what, I
hadn't thought about that, but we kind

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of took the idea and we ran
with it. Yeah, you know,

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Teresa, me, and so yeah, we just kind of ran with the

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idea and then started asking other people
to join the board to help us.

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That's beautiful. I love that.
So what is something that you have,

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like an event or a fundraising opportunity
that's on the horizon that you're really excited

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about. Oh my gosh, I
think I'm really excited about the Prom Dress

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Drive. So we have about fifteen
businesses who have said yes to doing drop

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off locations or we're going to have
boxes where they can drop off you can

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drop off used a prom dress that
you no longer have any use for,

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okay, And then we're going to
have the event March twenty third where we'll

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bring all the dresses together and young
ladies that can't afford a prom dress or

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a graduation dress can come and pick
out a dress for them to take home

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free of charge. We are working
on some sponsorships to do like makeup packages,

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cressage packages for prom That's amazing.
For that event, that one,

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I'm super excited about the other one
that's coming up is going to be in

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April, and it's going to be
a Latina entrepreneurship panel, okay, where

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we're going to have seven Latina entrepreneurs
their own storefronts, love it, and

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we're going to ask them questions on
how they got there, like how did

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they finance it, how do they
get funding, how are they doing their

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social media, where are they getting
their clients from, and different questions that

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people are interested in knowing, like
Okay, she can do it, I

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can do it, but how is
she doing it? Because nobody asks that?

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Yeah, and nobody wants and sometimes
like when you don't ask, these

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people don't give up information to and
then you feel like is it okay for

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me to ask? So that's a
really great thing because I think there are

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a lot of things in this world
that people don't realize are easy. Now

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I don't want to say easier,
but more attainable than you'd think, right,

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Like for examp, I don't know
about you, but I never in

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a million years thought I could start
a nonprofit. I was like, I

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don't know anything about business, I
don't know anything about legalities, I don't

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know anything about the irs, and
then I did it, and then I

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was like, wait, I wonder
how many other women out there don't do

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something because they think it's harder or
unattainable, you know what I mean.

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And so it's cool that you're doing
that panel because it's showing women like you

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can also be this yes, and
I think it it also like makes that

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safe zone to ask questions yes,
because I feel like I myself know a

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lot of women that I see on
social media, I'm like, oh my

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god, I wonder how she does
it, But I don't have the courage

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to just, you know, call
her up and be like, hey,

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how are you doing this? How
much are you making how are you making

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this work exactly because you don't have
those relationships to where you feel comfortable saying

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that. You know, and I
know in the Hispanic culture, it's always

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like, don't ask about money,
don't talk about money, don't do this.

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But it's really doing us a disservice
because well, that's how we stay

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the most unpaid like demographic of women
in the entire world, or at least

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the US, you know what I
mean. So that we got to elevate

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that, we got to get paid
more you know. So let me ask

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you this. You've mentioned that your
nonprofit is membership based. What does that

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mean? So what that means is
similar to some of the other nonprofits you

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can join. There is a membership
fee, and that membership fee allows them

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a discounted price for events. For
larger events, it gives them merchandise.

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It gives them access to committees,
and it gives them access to board meetings.

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Oh, okay, to be an
observer, Yes, to be an

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observer at the board meeting. It
also gives them access to showcase their business

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at one event. So let's say
somebody wants to become a member and they

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own, I don't know, a
beauty salon. They can come to the

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event, bring their banners, bring
their flyers, whatever they have, and

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they have speaking time at the beginning
of the event. This is my event.

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Follow me on these social media platforms, this is what I do,

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and they would get that speaking ability. That's wonderful. And is it like

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a monthly membership or is it yearly
membership. It's a yearly membership. Is

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a year membership. We do have
monthly plans, okay to break it down

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in payments, but it is a
yearly. Is that information on your website

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now or is that still being built? We are building it right now.

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We're building the website. We do
have the forms, the interest forms on

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the Instagram link, perfect if people
are interested in becoming members. So let

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me ask again, So the prom
is what day is? Or the prom

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dress drive? What day is that? I know they can drop off at

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all the locations now, but what
is the date and time and location of

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that drive? That will be March
twenty third. It's a Saturday, okay,

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from eleven to four. Okay,
we're at It's going to be at

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the Arizona Center. Arizona Center,
okay, cool, So they can just

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go there and then they'll be signage
to help direct people if they're out,

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there will be a signage. We're
going to launch the social media advertising on

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February first. Okay, do you
have to RSVP or is that something that

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you can just show up to?
You can just show up to it,

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00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.920
okay, beautiful to RSVP. Now
the panel of women that date, can

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you give me the time, day
and location for that and then how people

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can be a part of it.
We have the date as April twenty first,

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00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:03.880
eleven to two we are on location
on to be determined. Because of

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the location that we had we might
have to switch. Okay, so we

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00:26:07.880 --> 00:26:10.839
are looking for a location for that, but yes, that will be eleven

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00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:15.599
to two on a Saturday. And
we are also scouting for speakers okay,

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00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:19.200
perfect, and then for the panel, correct for women with storefront that are

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entrepreneurs that started from the bottom.
Now I'm here, yes, yes,

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00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:26.119
yes, that you that could be
a part of this that want to give

391
00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:30.519
back to women. So if people
want to reach out either be a part

392
00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:34.319
of this, maybe donate or offer
any advice or help or be a part

393
00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:37.960
of the panel, where can they
do that? They could reach out to

394
00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:42.160
us at the Instagram She Thrives Foundation. Okay, there is an Instagram setup

395
00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:47.640
right now. I myself personally monitor
the messages, so if they can send

396
00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:51.240
me a message through there. Okay. Is there anything else you wanted to

397
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:56.400
mention or bring up or talk about
before we end? I think the biggest

398
00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:00.119
thing is we are worth starting right
so we are starting from ground zero in

399
00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:04.319
January. We are trying to build
this up, and right now we really

400
00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:08.839
are looking for board members that can
come on. Okay, I am actually

401
00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:11.920
looking for three more board members.
The board members have a little bit more

402
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:17.720
responsibility than the members. There's meeting
times, there's planning and all of this.

403
00:27:17.799 --> 00:27:19.920
So I am looking for three board
members that can come on who are

404
00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:25.640
either entrepreneurs or corporate baddies, who
have connections in the community, and who

405
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:29.920
are not afraid to ask for sponsorships, are not afraid to step up,

406
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:33.000
and you know, take on some
additional tasks. Okay, all right,

407
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.559
and then they can reach out to
you all through your Instagram, right,

408
00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:40.319
yes, please all through my Instagram
and it's at She Thrives Foundation. Yes,

409
00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:42.519
awesome, Well, thank you so
much for joining us. That was

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00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:47.440
incredible. I'm so excited for you
and your journey and your mission. And

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00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:49.640
I've already been to a few of
events where you've sold out and had so

412
00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:52.359
many women that support you. So
you're already, like I know you're saying,

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you're just starting out, but I
think you have a really good foundation.

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00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:59.039
Thank you, so thank you again
for joining us. Thank you so

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00:27:59.160 --> 00:27:59.799
much for having me