Today, we bring you another one of our most beloved interviews with Latinas in entertainment. "If you find yourself in an industry doing all the jobs around the job you really want to do, check in on that," Linda tells Alicia. "There's some sort of fear around you not doing the thing you really want to do." She would know. After years of working in film and digital creative, Linda decided to follow her true passion: writing. Within two years of making that commitment, she was pitching and selling a television series. And there's so much more to Linda's story--breaking with tradition, sacrificing something of great value, and working harder than she thought she could.

Follow Linda @lindayvettechavez on Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Ilana Peña, and Gloria Calderón Kellett for more on creating Latina narratives in Hollywood.

We continue with our favorite conversations with Latinas in the entertainment industry. Growing up, television writer Ilana Peña was a student of books, where, she says, "girls could be complicated." Now, as creator of Diary of a Future President on Disney+, Ilana brings that vision of girlhood to life. She tells Alicia about rising from assistant to writer’s assistant to writer to creator, how the early loss of her father taught her to use “grief as an engine,” and why being in charge forced her to stop saying “maybe.”

Follow Ilana @lanstagram on Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Linda Yvette Chavez and Cristela Alonzo for more on creating Latina shows in Hollywood.

This week, we bring you one of our best-loved episodes about Latinas in the entertainment industry. Calderón Kellett runs the show. Literally. She’s the co-showrunner and executive producer of Netflix’s One Day at a Time, and with each season, she’d adding more credits to that list: writer, director and actor. She talks with Alicia about her rise through Hollywood’s writers’ rooms (How I Met Your Mother, Devious Maids, and Drunk History), and argues for letting good things be good. And reveals her plans to take her storytelling to the next level. 
 

Follow Gloria on instagram @gloriakellett. If you loved this episode, listen to Cristela Alonzo and Linda Yvette Chavez on what takes to write and run a television show. 

We continue with our Top 25 Countdown! The Hollywood A-lister reveals how she advocates for herself, maneuvers through complex power dynamics, and deflects the “Brown Discount.” She also shares about the work that went into Season 2 of the smash hit, Gentefied, streaming on Netflix now!   

Follow America @americaferrera on Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Why TV Showrunner Ilana Peña Craves Complicated Girl Characters and How Queens' Star Nadine Velazquez is Making the Most of a Second Chance.  

Today, we bring you another one of our favorite interviews with Latinas in the corporate world. The Chief People Officer for VICE Media has spent her career building better workplaces. She’s perfected a model: reflect, visualize, act, and persist. Now she's put everything she's learned into her new book, Inclusion Revolution: The Essential Guide to Dismantling Racial Inequity in the Workplace.

Follow Daisy on on Instagram @daisyaugerdominguezw and on X (formerly Twitter) @DaisyAD. If you loved this episode, listen to Powerhouse Marketer Ana Valdéz on Using Media to Create Change and Investor Nathalie Molina Niño Boldly Speaks Truth to Powerful Men. 

This week, we bring you another one of our favorite conversations with Latinas in the corporate world. Carla Vernón describes herself as “a very malleable piece of clay” with a sense of pride and self-awareness. She has used that singular strength to rise from associate to executive at General Mills. She reflects on her long tenure there, being among the first in her Afro-Panamanian family to venture into the business world, and setting and keeping her own standards as she gained success and status.

Follow Carla @CarlaInspired on Instagram. If you loved this episode, listen to Elisa Villanueva Beard's Aha Moment As Teach For America's CEO,  and Remix: How Ad Exec Nancy Reyes Became Undeniable.

We continue with our favorite conversations with Latinas in the corporate world.  After Alicia’s conversation with advertising superstar Nancy Reyes, she wanted to make t-shirts that read, "I am undeniable." That’s how inspiring this trailblazer’s story is. From learning that “everything feels better when you earn it” to “dealing with a massive career failure” and making the decision to go from “good to great,” Nancy’s success is a testament to what happens when grit and tenacity meet opportunity.

Follow Nancy on X (formerly Twitter) @reyesjimbo. If you loved this episode, listen to Daisy Auger-Dominguez on Making It in Corporate America and Top 25 Countdown: #24 How Meg Medina Summoned the Courage to Write.

Our Top 25 Countdown Continues! "Who is she? What does she want? Why can't she have it?" Those are the questions the Newbery Medal-winning children's author asks about each of her young Latina protagonists. What Meg Medina wanted was to write professionally, but first, she had to get brave.

Follow Meg on Instagram @megmedinabooks. and find all her books here. If you loved this episode, listen to What Sonia Manzano Knows Kids Need and  How Canticos Creator Susie Jaramillo Built an Inclusive Kids' Brand.

This week, we bring you another one of our favorite conversations around food. As she was researching her new cookbook, Asada: The Art of Mexican Style Grilling, the LA restaurateur began to realize how men dominate the grill scene. Now, she’s trying to change that by giving others the tools and inspiration to master asada. Bricia explains the financial margins necessary to sustain a successful restaurant, and the pride and responsibility of being Oaxacan.

Follow Bricia on Instagram @bricialopez and discover the secret to incredible asada here. 

If you liked this episode, listen to and How Chef Grace Ramirez Found Her Place Outside of the Kitchen and Remix: Chef Ariel Fox is Expanding Our Understanding of 'Authentic' Cuisine.

We continue with our favorite conversations around food. The VP for Dos Caminos and Del Friscos pulls back the curtain on what it takes to launch a restaurant, talks about the difference between competing on Hell's Kitchen as a newbie versus an established chef, and shares the personal change that inspired her new cookbook: Spice Kitchen: Healthy Latin and Caribbean Cuisine.

Follow Ariel on Instagram @chefarielfox. If you liked this episode, listen to Why Rum Master Distiller Sylvia Santiago Will Never Quit and Master Chef Lorena Garcia Says It Takes More Than Sharp Knives.

We are celebrating almost 300 episodes of Latina to Latina! For the first Monday of every month, we are counting down our top 25 episodes of all time. In between, we'll curate special playlists of some of our favorite episodes. For the next three weeks, we bring you some of our favorite conversations about food. When Karla Vasquez learned that there were virtually no Salvadoran cookbooks in print in the United States, this food writer and cooking instructor made it her mission to capture the food and the spirits of the women of El Salvador.

Follow Karla on Instagram @karla_tv and find her book here. If you loved this episode, listen to Why Pioneering Journalist Maria Hinojosa Put Herself in the Story and How Documentarian Cristina Costantini Fed Her Soul While Making Mucho Mucho Amor.