How to Empower Yourself and Become the Badass You Were Destined to Be
When you learn how to trust yourself and be your own cheerleader, you no longer require validation from anyone else. All the answers you’re seeking live within you.
In this episode, Victoria Jenn shares the most intimate stories behind her success and how she empowers herself to keep going, especially in moments of self-doubt. She also shares her signature framework for overcoming imposter syndrome.
If you liked this episode, you'll love our next one—it's packed with similar insights and inspiration!
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Full Transcript:
Welcome back to Banking on Cultura I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and I hope you're having an amazing summer I'm really excited to chat with you today because this summer so far I've had the opportunity to speak in front of so many amazing audiences and most recently I had the pleasure of speaking at Deutsche Bank Alpha of New York the association of Latino uh Professionals for America uh hosted an event for the wom in their community and I had the honor to deliver a keynote for over two 200 Latinas and allies and my theme was Empower and the feedback that I've received has been so amazing that I decided to not only make it a training during Hispanic Heritage Month which is coming up September 15th through October 15th but also I wanted to make a podcast episode so that my audience here can get the gems and hopefully feel empowered and powerful and Unstoppable that is the era uh that I am in and that is the era that I want to transfer over to you so yes shout out to the soft guard era all the things but I'm approaching my Unstoppable era and I want to share some clips from this keynote and I hope that it lands with you come back to this episode and check in frequently if you need a quick pickme up or if you need to be reminded of your badassery that is the purpose of this episode so my theme was Empower and what I decided to do was I decided to use each letter of the word and share a story of my background given the letter of the word so I'm going to walk you through what that look like and I hope it lands so here we go guys so e engage so when I started my career on Wall Street I was the only Latina on the trading floor I was the youngest Latina on the trading floor and I was one of five women on the trading floor this was back in 2008 2009 um right after I graduated college and I was working directly with brokers in managing High net worth accounts High net worth accounts are individuals who have a high net worth right they're folks who make tons of money and so they have these Accounts at these different firms uh where they allow these Brokers to manage Investments on their behalf so one day a broker asked me to look up a client's account so when I go to look up the client's account the first name was spelled as j o e l and I said okay cool last name Epstein so when I look at the account I check for what I needed to check for I walk over to the broker and I say hey you know I looked up Joel Epstein's account and it looks like he has enough money in his portfolio to take advantage of the investment that you recommended and I'll never forget what happened next the broker turned around looked at me with a smirk then started laughing his hysterically and I'm like what the hell is so funny now mind you the trading desk is an open floor format so everybody can hear and see what's happening in this moment he then proceeds to say to me what are you stupid do you not know how to read the name on the account is Joel Epstein I said Joel Epstein now in that moment one of two things could have happened I could have you know taken his word and I could have started to cry run to the bathroom I could have had all this self-doubt take over me but what I decided to do was walk back to my desk and because again it's a open floor format so I had speakers on my desk I put my speaker volume all the way up and I asked Google to spell the name Joelle right because listen I don't know what Joel but I sure as hell know what Joelle okay cuz my Primo's name my cousin's name is Joel and it is spelled as j o e l so as Google begins to recite the spelling of Joel in Spanish and then provide the historical context of the name I look over to the broker and very quickly his smirk that he had has now turned into almost like an expression of confusion that is what I saw on his face so I walked over to him and I said hey listen it looks like this was an incredible opportunity for us both I've never met a Joel and you've never met a Joelle but that does not mean that the two do not exist and I truly believe in that moment that he gained a new respect for me and he began to treat me differently and in fact to this day he and I are are friends he actually manages one of my accounts right now but if I had decided not to engage Eng with him but instead go sit at my desk and pout I would have never built a new level of confidence Within Myself and also I would have never used the opportunity to engage and educate this person about my Cultura right about my cousin Joel j o e l so engage next mindset so right now with so much political unrest and so much economic turmoil and so much self-doubt and ambiguity that each of us are still carrying with us Post pandemic during the pandemic a lot of us were forced to kind of think about who we were why we are what Legacy we wanted what type of life we wanted to live and some of us are still stuck in that space where we're having this identity crisis right especially for Latinos we're like are we American are are we Latino are we not Latino enough are we not American enough right and so we're experiencing this identity crisis that is leading us to have these moments of self-doubt make us insecure and lead us to feel rembrance of impostor syndrome and I've spoken about this framework on previous episode but I'm going to share my impostor syndrome framework again which is called the Don't Panic framework and I actually have a free workbook for you guys I'll put it in the link it is an impostor syndrome workbook that helps you eliminate your impostor syndrome but also um helps you as a journal so that you can start journaling these things when you start to experience impostor syndrome and work through this framework okay so first part of the framework is self-awareness so I never do this but this summer I'm actually opening up two slots for private coaching to to work oneon-one with me and this specific opportunity is geared toward leaders who find themselves questioning their purpose and are unsure of what their next chapter in life will be they're essentially at a Crossroads and they want more out of life and are just tired of following the rules they want to trailblaze their own path and live life on their terms without risking their credibility in the marketplace does this sound like you well look look coming from corporate I have over two decades of experience and I understand the sacrifices the risk darling and the game that you're forced to play in order to be taken seriously or Worse accepted you've worn The Mask dressed the part talk the talk and from the outside looking in you've made it yet you're unhappy you don't want to fake it anymore and deep down you know that you're destined for more I trained over 20,000 met on how to use their uniqueness and their magic to build a life of influence purpose and freedom a life where they don't need a vacation to escape or feel alive a life that is exciting and peaceful at the same time so if you're listening to this and it resonates and it's speaking to your heart and ready to transform your life expand into the unknown and explore the beautiful parts of you that have been hidden for far too long I invite you to complete the application to participate in this private coaching opportunity this is going to be super high touch very white glove kind of experience so once the two slots are taken they're gone so if you're interested I will put the application Link in the show notes make sure to apply check that out I can't wait to hear about your goals and where we are going to take your life next so cheers to your renewed life before we do anything anything in this life if we are going to truly transform we have to be real with ourselves and transparent enough to know when things come up for us and so identifying when do those moments of self-doubt come up the most is it when you're about to deliver a Keno is it when you're about to enter a room and you're the only person of color or you're the only woman in the room like when does it come up for you because if you're self-aware enough to know then you can prepare in advance next each of us should have a badassery committee now this committee is made up of five to seven people that you trust that know your history have seen you put in The Sweat Equity understand your accolades so that in your moments of self-doubt or when you feel like impostor syndrome is creeping in you can call on them to remind you of your badassery you can call on them to remind you of the magic and the aura and and the skills that you bring to this world right we all need those people in our lives so make sure you have members on that committee mirror real talk before we go out and seek external validation we have to be our own best friend we have to be able to look at ourselves in the miror and talk to ourselves in a positive way and be our own cheerleader before we call on others to do that for us we have to get very intimate with ourselves we have to love on our ourselves because that is what is going to allow us to walk into spaces and own the spaces that we walk into celebrate wins now I know a lot of my listeners and audience here I'm banging Ona we're ambitious folk okay we we get things done we have big audacious goals and dreams and our aspirations are huge we know how to do things to to reach a new level in our lives we're executors but at the same time whenever we reach a new goal we find ourselves always putting a new goal ahead of that goal and we're just never satisfied we're always just reaching reaching reaching we're never feeling satisfied with where we are and content with where we are and celebrating your small wins is going to help you to maintain that that gratitude and just feel thankful for every single win whether that's you making your bed in the morning that's you sending your kid off to school with a healthy lunch going for a walk hitting the gym whatever it is celebrating each win regardless of how small or big you think it is in your head because the reality is that there are people who wish that they were in your position there are people who wish that they accomplish what you have accom accomplish so never forget to celebrate all of your wins next peace stands for purpose so some of you might have heard this story but when I turned 40 I was in a place where I felt a little lost I was unanchored I I felt like there were too many answers that did not there were too many questions that did not have answers and I just wasn't in a place where I felt clear on what the future held and what I wanted this next decade in my life to represent so I found myself in Costa Rica and it was there that I grew a tremendous amount of self-awareness it was there that I connected with myself in ways that I've never had before I was more spiritually connected than ever before and God spoke to me when I was in Costa Rica and I was told that I needed to double down on my community I needed to provide the resources I needed to provide the tools to my community so that they can break generational curses to build generational wealth and that is how banking anura was born I saw a gap in my community and I wanted to use my gifts and also be used as a vessel to share these strategies to share these tools so that all of us can pursue Financial Freedom in ways that we never thought possible before and also embrace our Cura as a competitive Advantage versus in Achilles heel because many of us are carrying so much preconditioning and so when we walk into spaces we're kind of pretending to be something that we're not or we're assimilating so much so that we check ourselves at the door and leave our most competitive asset which is our Cultura which is our upbringing which is our experiences we check it out the door because we think that that is the only way to succeed I also started binging on Cultura so that we can be a help for organizations to learn how to do business with us how to talk to us how to Market to us cuz Frank winkley honey they just don't know they don't know they try to put us all into a box they don't understand how beautiful and complex our Cultura and community really is we interrupt our program to bring you this important message ooh this is really good you should know about this so I don't know about you but I've been known to procrastinate especially when things scare the hell out of me the fear alone would have me stuck overwhelmed confused and all types of self-doubt and don't even get me started on the impostor syndrome okay okay after getting laid off not once but three times honey I realized that the security blanket that I made up in in my head was just an excuse because I didn't really want to bet on myself the corporate benefits that had me in that headlock girl they went out the window once my job decided that they no longer needed me it turns out that I'll save a whole nickel if I cut your salary completely the truth is the only security blanket guarantee is the one that you create for yourself in other words until you start a business you will always be at the mercy of a company's headcount and you will never have complete control over your time which means you'll be renting out your thoughts leadership and helping build someone else's dream instead of your own if you've been waiting for a sign this is it don't you think it's time you stop playing small and tap all the way into your power s click on the link above or below this video to learn my three-step process the exact three steps that I took to make the transition from corporate to entrepreneurship and this is helpful even if you don't know what type of business to start and have only one source of income and this is absolutely free it is my gift to you I want you to win it's winning season in fact what's that it smells like winning season okay so tap in and I'll see you inside the training let's go so o stands for opportunities so 7 years ago I was heading up talent management for Johnson and Johnson and I was asked to relocate to Tampa Florida now you guys know Tampa no shade to Tampa but I'm definitely more of a Miami girl and so you know I bowed out took my my Severance thank you so much and I went on the hunt for a new gig my entrepreneurship journey is not traditional in the sense where I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur this was always the plan I was the first one in my family to start a business the first one in my family to graduate from college the first one in my family to make six figures so I didn't have access to people who were entrepreneurs I didn't know what opportunities lied there I didn't even know that that was an option for me right so after going on several interviews making it to final rounds not able to close and I'm like what the hell is going on I like to consider myself a closer so I took it as a sign from God that I needed to bet on myself I had savings and I said you know what worst case scenario I can always go back to corporate I was there for 15 years I have an incredible networking corporate I know how to interview for a gig I know how to get things done so worst case I can always go back and 7 years later I haven't looked back now a couple of months into my entrepreneurship journey I had let the world know that I was in business it was all over my LinkedIn it was all over my social media like this was a thing I was going to go all in I was invited to this invite only dinner held by the Latino Hive shout out to Richard and my hive Familia and who was sitting at the table this last person that I interviewed with in corporate and I said hm this is interesting so I very much am a fan of always collecting constructive criticism I believe that feedback is a gift whether we want to hear it or not whether we agree with it or not and so when I saw this gentleman sitting at the table I was encouraged to ask him for the feedback to find out like what happened and I was like you know what that that's a good idea let me go ask and just see so I went up to him and I said hey you know I'm just curious why didn't you offer me the job like why didn't I get it and he said it just wasn't a cultural fit however I see that you have started your business let's figure out how I can help you with that and it was at that moment that I was like wow like once you decide to pull the trigger and bet on you like the universe just pays attention and lines you up and thankfully and gratefully and just um you know I am just so honored that his company has been a partner of mine since I started my business 7 years ago but that happened because I was willing to create an opportunity I allowed for there to be an opportunity and space for him and I to connect opportunities we have to create them W stands for work ethic now cardi B is one of my favorite artists not only is she super talented but what I really admire about her is when she first came on the scene homeg girl was shamed okay she was judged she was ridiculed she was called every single name in the book ghetto ratchet all the things and whether you agree with that or not she decided to use that hate and that doubt as fuel to accelarate her to the next level in her career and so she worked her ass off she didn't allow the naysayers to hold her back she actually used it as inspiration to double down and move even more swiftly to achieve her goals and now she's one of the most successful rappers and Latina rappers of this generation she is literally the prime example of what can happen when you truly embrace your authenticity and work your ass off off work your ass off because when you do that nobody can deny your success nobody can prevent you from tapping in to your god-given gift and living up to your potential because there are no shortcuts out here but whoever works the hardest whoever markets the best whoever is able to remain true to themselves and not allow the hate to deter them but actually propel them are the ones who win e stands for education I never in my wildest dreams thought that when I became an entrepreneur I would be essentially paying for my own education my own professional development I have spent over 30 grand on coaches before I have invested so much money in my business into this podcast into my coaching programs into building my brand into remaining a student I've never been so studious in my entire life even when I was in school and college I have never been this studious in my entire life because I know that knowledge is what's going to separate me from the competition and what I also know is I need to remain humble enough to know that I don't know everything I need to go to the EXP experts and pay them so that I can accelerate my learning curve right I'm not trying to sit around and try to go to Google University and YouTube University and try to figure things out on my own no I want to pay the expert who has the formula who did what I want to do pay them so that I can get where I'm trying to go that much faster education R stands for resilience Latinos are the most res million people on the planet and I'm going to tell you why we literally come from a lineage of get it duners of Risk Takers of people who have made something out of nothing many of us are in this country because we've had family members migrate here with no money in their pockets had a language barrier and also had to adapt culturally so that we can have the opportunities that we have today resiliency literally resides within our DNA our ancestors have passed that down from generation to
generation we are a people that continuously remains passionate remains resilient and we don't ever give up that's not who we are that's not what our history represents and so whenever you feel like you are in a dark hole or you feel like you're stuck and you're unsure of the light at the end of the tunnel I want you to remember that you come from a lineage of people who make [ __ ] happen when their back is up against the wall when there were no more options they just kept going and made it to the other side and some even risk their lives so that you can just keep going
resilience understand that the world needs the special gifts that you have to offer Empower means to engage to have a strong mindset to find purpose create opportunities double down on your work ethic remain a student always seek out education and above all else remain resilient now there's something that I want to say about purpose because many of us are in a place where we feel like we have no purpose like what is our purpose right right and and we might be feeling unfulfilled we might be feeling like we're just Gone With the Wind Fabulous like we don't have direction we don't have anything that defines us and we're just kind of like going with the flow and when I went to Costa Rica to find my purpose what I learned is that purpose is an evolution just like we as people constantly L evolve we constantly are growing who you were last year is not who you are today that is the same case with purpose purpose will continuously evolve so it's okay to not have all the answers it's okay if you can't answer the question what is your purpose because it will change what my purpose was 15 years ago when I first started my career in corporate is not what my purpose is today right my purpose back then was to have Financial Freedom to make as much money as I could my purpose today is now to help other women make as much money as they can and help them get comfortable in their skin my purpose is also to mobilize my community to own their CA right own their history that wasn't my purpose back then it took time it took Discovery it took making mistakes it took operating in ambiguity it took asking myself the difficult questions of who I am and why I am and what do I really want without the noise of social media without the noise of seeking advisement from anyone else but using my own advice trusting my gut and and giving myself permission to trust myself is what allowed me to find this purpose however two years from now my purpose could shift and that's okay so give yourself Grace if you haven't been able to nail it down and you just feel like you're surrounded by people who haven't figured out well here's a hot tip none of us have it figured out we are all figuring it out as we go and that's a super fact whoever you are idolizing whoever you look to and think that wow they just got it all together just know that behind the scenes they're insecure too the only difference between them and you might be that they're doing it scared that they're showing up anyway they're allowing themselves to make the mistakes they're okay with failing in
public they don't allow what people have to say about the decisions that they make to deter them they listen to themselves they trust themselves and they just keep going so I want to end this episode with a question and this is the same question that I asked the audience before I ended my keynote earlier this week and it's a super powerful question it is a question that I had to ask myself it is a question that I continue to ask myself all the time and if you need to journal on this question I highly encourage you to do so use the impostor syndrome Journal that I will link in the show notes but take the time to reflect on this it's okay if if you don't have the answer it's okay if you don't know but I want you to sit back and really give yourself the opportunity to reflect on this question okay so here's the question y'all would you rather settle for a life where others identify and dictate to you what success looks like or would you rather live a life that is bold that is audacious that is brave that is true to you that is empowered that is the life that you were destined to live
ask yourself that question and if you need to revisit that question often please do so as I said I do so all the time it's very easy for us to kind of just get in the mix of things and forget ourselves forget who we are forget our dreams forget our goals because we're constantly fed information and we constantly have this crazy sensory overload where we start thinking that other people's goals aspirations life style journey is what we should be envisioning for ourselves or else there something wrong with us because they seem to have figured out their path so I encourage you in fact I challenge you to to listen to yourself and if you need to go away like I did hop on a plane go to Costa Rica or it's a station just give yourself time to to be with yourself alone be with yourself alone sit with the yucky feelings sit with the flaws sit with the mistakes sit with the regrets because on the other side of all of that are all of the answers you are seeking and also the freedom that you want the freedom to have a less heavy mind to be physically fit to be spiritually aligned to feel alive again that's when the magic happens when you sit down and become one with yourself all right guys that is my time thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode if you found value in this episode please make sure to leave us a review rate US leave comments all the things I love hearing from you guys and uh until next time know that I love you so so so much M Besitos Mi I need your help look the real game behind podcast is we need to really understand our demo AKA you our audience so that when we go out to sponsors who help us put on this amazing show and deliver this content to you that they can clearly understand who we serve and what is significant to you and what you value and the only way for us to get that information is for you to give it to us so we just created this survey I'll put it in the show notes it will take you less than 3 minutes literally but it will be so helpful for us to get a better understanding of what it is that you care about what's important to you what do you value so that when we're out in these streets trying to secure the big bag and get sponsors for this show they know exactly who our audience is and what you care about so we can bring you the best products we can bring the best organizations that are out here serving the culta the community you so please take a moment and fill out the survey I'll link it in the show notes appreciate you hey guys if you enjoyed this video I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one so make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.