Loving Without Depleting: The Blueprint for Finding Purpose and Success | Susana Briscoe Alba
This week, host Victoria Jenn is joined by powerhouse guest Susana Briscoe Alba, corporate executive turned entrepreneur. Susana, proudly 1000% Dominicana, shares her inspiring journey from leading in higher education to becoming a sought-after career strategist and author with Penguin Random House.
Together, Victoria Jenn and Susana dive deep into the importance of finding your voice, leveraging your cultura as a competitive advantage, and redefining traditional expectations, especially as Latinas and women of color in business and life. They get real about their own career pivots, family losses, and the powerful role faith, prayer, and community have played in their successes.
Susana drops exclusive news about her upcoming book, reveals practical negotiation tips that sent her social media soaring past 900,000 followers, and opens up about breaking old patterns around being a “provider” as a woman.
Be prepared for heartfelt insights, a few laughs, and plenty of wisdom about showing up authentically, setting boundaries, and loving without depleting yourself. Don’t forget to subscribe and share with a friend who’s banking on their cultural!
In this episode:
00:10:00 - Finding Your Professional Voice & Learning To Negotiate Like A Pro
00:18:09 - Your Content Strategy Starts With Self-Reflection
00:22:00 - Be Committed To Impact, Not Just Likes: Know Why You Started
00:28:40 - Embracing The Year Of Change And Clarity
00:38:57 - Redefining Success & Breaking Free From Cultural Expectations
00:53:59 - Creating New Traditions: Rewriting The Rules For Your Family
Full Transcript:
What's up everybody? Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and I'm really excited to have you guys back here with us. You know, whenever the community supports us, it means so much to me because y'all, it's a lot of work doing this podcast. I'm not even going to lie to y'all. It is so much work and it has become a labor of love and whenever you guys leave a comment, when I get new subscribers, it always kind of revitalizes me a little bit cuz it's like, oh, okay, the people, they appreciate this. They are vibing with what we are sharing. So, I want to start this episode with thanking you so so much for continuing to support us, continuing to tune in, sharing our episodes, and if you haven't already, please do so. If you know a fellow Latino who is interested in entrepreneurship, who wants to get reconnected to their cultura and really use their cultura as a competitive advantage versus an Achilles heel and of course you know we got some Monae in the mix too, okay? Cuz while we learning, we also entertaining over here, okay? Um definitely please do make sure to let them know that Uncle Tura exists. So, without further ado, as always, we have an amazing guest today. And I'm really excited to connect with her and introduce her to you guys because I met her on social media like many of my amazing guests, which if you haven't picked up yet, guys, please use social media to your advantage to network. It is an incredible networking tool. is an opportunity to for you to connect with people. You may not have the opportunity to do so. Whether they live in your state, out of state, whatever it is, it is just another tool at your disposal for you to start building relationships. And I continuously say this to you guys, relationships are everything. Especially when you are building a business, when you are reinventing yourself, when you are trying to think about what is the next pivot for you, relationships is what's going to allow you to not only help you think through things, but also expose you to things you possibly never even thought of. So, just make sure you're taking advantage of social media and trying to stay away from all the negativity that comes from social media and focus on the positive side of the resource that is available to you for free.99. Okay, so without further ado, Susanna, welcome to Bey. Hello. Hello. Hello. Susanna Alba. Yes. Thank you. Cute 1,000%. Dominic. Yes, we love that. We love Dominic. Ola platano for sure. We love it. Listen, I'm excited to have you here. So, please introduce yourself to the people. Sure. So, hello everyone. My name is Susanna Brisco Alba. I am the founder at Dunami's coaching and consulting services where we teach folks how to land six-figure roles through leadership development and career strategy. And so, I am excited to be here and chatting with all of the beautiful people who tune in to this podcast. My hope and prayer is that you learn something new that you can put into action and that it changes you going forward. Oh my god, you just reminded me. One of the practices that I wanted to put into play is praying before each episode goes live. I had uh an episode where I interviewed Looj's wife, Simone Smith. Shout out to Simone. Awesome. And it went viral. It went crazy. And it was the first episode that I prayed before the episode because her bestie was there and she was like, "Wait, wait, before we get started, let's pray." And the prayer was, um, obviously let this be an amazing episode, but let this reach the masses. So, you know what? Let's do that right now. So, let's do this, mama. Hands. Hands. Can we do the hands? Okay. I might not be able to reach that, but Okay. Okay. So, God, we thank you for this moment and this opportunity. We thank you for divine connections. We pray that as we go into this conversation, Lord, we ask that you would cover us, that you would be the one to show up and show out. And I pray for those who are tuning in wherever they are listening. I pray that this episode would be transformational for them. I pray your blessing and covering over the person listening and their whole family. I pray that you would give them fresh insight and fresh perspective. I pray for my girl God who is hosting this. I pray that you would continue to bless her greatly and that you would take her into new territories she's only dreamed of. And I thank you for this medium. I thank you for this opportunity. And we take this opportunity to tell you that we love you, Lord. And we thank you. We love you. Amen. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Girl, I did not know that we was going to get a whole sermon that listen when the God. Okay. All right. Hey. Well, I think this is a good segue into, you know, besides you now also leading sermons. I did not know that about you. Uh, give us some bon. Yeah. So, the bin is that the word on the street is that your girl is in the process of writing a book. Oh, for the people. I love this. Um, and it's all of the things that I wish somebody would have told me when I was starting off in my career. Um, it's all of the things about negotiating and interviewing, but also taking advantages of opportunities like this. Um, and making sure that you find your voice, how to articulate your value. I think one of the things that I struggled with so much in my career early on was being able to find my voice and thus my professional voice went to Harvard. Okay, code switching up to the max. And I would struggle when my Dominican accent would come out. And what I have learned is that that accent helped me to find my people instead of hindering my voice. Yes. And so my hope and prayer is that with this book, you would be able to find your voice, but you would also be able to put practical steps in place so like that you can take ownership of your career because if you don't own your voice, someone will always speak for you and they may not say what you want them to. I love that. You know, people have been trying to get me to write a book for years, and I'm like, "Girl, why don't you just write this damn book?" But you know what? I'm caught in between Yeah. two kinds of books. Okay. One, obviously, professional development, self-awareness, my entrepreneurship journey. Sure. The framework that I use, you know, to teach women how to make the transition from corporate to entrepreneurship, all that jazz. But then the other one I want to write is like a Sex in the City kind of book talking about my dating life because girls I got stories I'm sure stories for days and I'm like the world needs to hear these stories cuz there's so many lessons learned from the stories. So I'm kind of like stuck in between those two of which one I want to do first. Yeah, more than likely I'm going to lean towards the professional one only because you know we're thinking money and also it's just I know a tool that you can use and leverage to get clients and build credibility and authority and all that jazz. Uh so I'll probably go forward with that one first. But that's kind of been my back and forth. Yeah, it's like one foot in one foot out. Okay, which way do I want to go? Do I want to go? I think that's beautiful though. I think you can meld the two and kind of give teasers of what's to come. Ooh, you know what would could be interesting? Tell me, is if I do a book like you suggested where I'm giving the professional plays, but I'm talking about my dating life through those years. Cuz can we be so for real that impacts the way that you show up at work? Yes, it does. and also in your business and just ooh that could be an angle right there cuz I don't think there's really playbooks that combine both personal and professional and it's so important for you to be aware of who you are accessing or who's accessing you in all aspects as you are growing right whether whether it's a professional development growth or whether it's the professional growth I mean the personal growth you should be very aware of who has access to you because while they may not be helping you make plays professionally, your personal life can sometimes impact how you show up professionally. Absolutely. So, I think that there's that could be that could be really good. There's beneficial development books like that. It's usually very like one way or the other. Correct. And we are a combination of all the things. Absolutely. Oh [ __ ] Y'all, this could be a revelation that we had together. Look, you working on me without even working. Like, that just happened organically. Okay, listen. So, start writing. That could be good. Let the comments what you think about that because that could be that could be really good. And there's so many of our women who like only fragments of them get to show up. Yes. Right. And so, we're one person at home, we're one person at work, but what happens when those two worlds collide? And as a leader, especially if you are managing people, it gives you a greater understanding of this is why there was this reaction. Yes. Right. Um I think that that plays into a lot of the narrative of being the angry black girl or the angry uh brown girl or or always super sassy or having something to say. I think that a lot of that has to do with okay, but what's going on in the background? Yes. And how can I mitigate that so that I can show up authentically but not necessarily blow up completely? right? Or how do I address what's going on in the background so that I can articulate my voice with confidence and with power without having to feel like I need to shrink because that's that's very true too. And also just like the transferable skill sets like a lot of what you do in your professional life can be transferred personally and vice versa. Like you spoke about negotiation and you focus a lot on that. Like you got to know how to negotiate in your relationships personally as well, honey. And in your parenting. I have a seven-year-old, y'all. I need to negotiate with him all the time. Like, you want a chicken nugget, you got to eat your vegetables. Like, so it's not it's not something that is so far off. I just think we have to look at it from a different perspective. I could see the work now. No, no, no. I'm excited. I might become fixated on this. I love it. I love it. Maybe we need to do like a writing weekend. When are you planning to have your book come out? Yeah. So, I have to have everything has to be in by September and the goal is to drop in February of 26. So, it's coming fast. So, are you working with like an editor or are you So, it's been official. I am signed to um Penguin Random House, [ __ ] What? Oh my god. Congratulations. Thank you. Wait, have you made that announcement anywhere else? I told you this was an exclusive exclusive. Yo, I guess he's dropping the whole GJ for real. Yeah. So, we just signed our contract. Thank you. That's amazing. So, we're signed with DK uh Penguin Random House. Um we my manuscript will be in September and it drops in February. So, pre-orders are coming soon. Oh my god, I love that. Wait, so were you pitching a proposal of the book or they came? Not at all. So, again, you were told to use social media. Um, and my agent found me through my my platform on social media. And um, it's just so funny how things like just come together. So, folks had been telling me for years, you should write a book. You should write a book. You should write a book. And much like yourself, I was like, deh, cuz there's so much that I want to say, right? Um, and I think that there was also a part of me that needed to heal so that it would not become like a bitter book, but a better book. Um, and so as I was kind of going through that, I told God, I I was just like, "God, if this is really what you want me to do, then make it happen." And no sooner did I pray that, my agent was in my email like, "Hey, have you ever thought of writing a book?" And I was like, "This is a scam." Like, right? H like for real. Uh, and so I I said, "You know what? How bad could it be? Let me see if this is legit." And so I spoke with her and she was like legit a editor like a a book um agent. And I was like, "Okay." So, um, let's let's see where we go. And so, she started to pitch and to share and all these other things. And that's how DK picked me up. And DK Random House was like, "Hey, listen. We think that there's potential here. We'd love to be able to work with you." Um, one thing led to another and here we are. I love that. So, yeah, it's exciting. It almost feels like authors. Yes. Yeah. Oh my goodness. So exciting. So exciting. and just the the way that again I wish that these were things that I would have been told as I was growing in my career. So, um it's it's just wild. It's funny because we talk about social media and it's a free tool and when I started like I wasn't trying to have a bunch of followers. I really was just trying to get my name out there. And in making the transition from working a a very much 9 to5 to now letting people know that this agency was alive, I was like, "Okay, I use Instagram. I scroll it." Um, and I I needed to learn how to go from consumer to creator. And so I just started going live and just kind of sharing and that's how my platform grew. So when did you start popping? Cuz you have close to a million followers. So when did you start? Look, I don't know about you, but I'm trying to work smarter instead of harder. You know what I mean? I'm trying to secure these coins with less effort, but more return. What if I told you there was a way for you to make your entire salary, your five, your six figure salary within months? What if I told you there was a way for you to package your expertise where you can sell it to corporate and government agencies and go after lucrative five and six figure contracts so that you can secure the big. And this master class specifically focuses on how you can secure lucrative five and six figure contract even if you don't know what to sell and haven't started your business yet. I'm going to show you how to identify what your no-brainer offer is so nobody can say no. Honey, I'm going to help you think about how to pitch yourself, how to package your expertise. I'm going to show you the email scripts that I use to lock in meetings with hardto-reach executives. This is golden, y'all. It is the same framework that I use right now currently in my business as a consultant and a keynote speaker that gets flown out to speak all around the world, honey. And if I can do it, so can you. And this master class is going to break down the stepbystep process that you can follow. So, within the next 90 days, you can have your first five and six figure corporate or government contract. I mean, what are you waiting for, y'all? I put the link in the show note. Let's go and get it. Um, so I started I'm going to say about two years ago, I had 700 followers. What? Went from 700 to almost a mill cuz you're like a 900 at 930 something. 930,000. Yes. So 930 on. freaking amazing in two years. Okay. Wait, wait. Go ahead. Drop it. Okay. 9:30 on IG. 9:30 on IG, about 105K on threads, another 75K on Facebook, and then LinkedIn and YouTube are on the up and up. I think LinkedIn I'm at 3,400. Uh, and YouTube I just started. So, Amazing. And what about the TikTakis? Are you over there? I'm not big on the Tik Tok. Interesting. Yeah. Like I just could for me Tic Tac represented like having to do all of the dancing and like I'm I could dance but like like I'm the type of dancer that I look like I know what I'm doing sitting down. You stand me up it's going to be like um so so for me uh Tik Tok really was just not calling my attention. Also, at the point of me transitioning, I had a lot of student access because I was in higher education and a lot of my students were on TikTok. Um, and to them, IG was dead. So, I was like, "All right, I'm going to go where they're not." Okay, got it. Um, and now they just they're like, "Oh my goodness, like you're everywhere." And it's like, "No, I really am not. I'm just here." So, was there like a clip that just popped off and like set the trajectory up or So, there was a couple things. I made it my business in July. Um, as a as a kind of birthday gift to my July 2 years ago or July of 20, what are we 25? I'm going to say July of like 23 that I was going to go live every day for the month of July. Okay. Um, and I was just going to share whatever was on my heart. Uhhuh. long, short, but I was just gonna go live. And the goal there was just number one, to get comfortable, uh, showing up for myself, and number two, being okay not chasing vanity metrics because I think a lot of people go live and they were expecting to see all of these people show up. And what I learned about my audience is they catch a lot of my content on replay. And so, surely enough, slowly but surely, that started to pick up. And then I continued to do reels because that's the way you access, well, at least for me, that was the way that I could access new audiences, new eyes on my things. Um, and my negotiation reel went viral. Um, I I use that term loosely because my like my friends were like, "Girl, it almost has 4.3 million views." Like, wow, that's amazing. That's viral. And I was like, "Oh, okay." So, a lot of people liked it. A lot of people saw it. That's very viral. What did you drop in that video? really just negotiation tips. I think one of the things that I was talking about is that you don't have to share the number that you want to make. You want to share a range because then like that you're not pigeonheld to a number. Again, just from personal experience, I walked into the negotiation table. I thought I was doing something by giving a number only to realize that the budget was almost double and I was coming in at the lower end of the budget and I was like, "Dang it, I should have had a better strategy." Okay. And so that went crazy viral. And then another one that I did was how to respond after getting a rejection email. Okay? And that one went viral. People had a lot of emotions around it. Um, but that one got almost 2.3 million views. And so that's where a lot of that traffic started to come from. And then because I was already used to going live, it was like, "Oh, this is a real person. I can ask her questions. I like I can connect with her." Um, and then with some of my audience members, I was like, "If you're brave enough, I'll bring you on. You can ask me your I'll coach you right now." Um, and some of them I'm like, "Oh my god, my hair is not done. Like, I don't look a certain way." Um, but I'm a very firm believer that opportunities will present themselves. You need to be ready for them. Um, they're not going to wait until you're comfortable or until you're ready. They're just going to show up and you have to be able to take them. What is your thought? Like, do you have a perspective on the algorithm? Like, do you see it impacting your stuff? Um I think I think it depends on which day you ask me that. Okay. Some days I do think that there is an issue with the algorithm. Some days I also have to come to the very realization that I'm being lazy and sometimes my content is not as strong as it could be. Um and then in other days it's just like okay what is the goal of the content that I'm dropping? Is it is it to get in front of new eyes? Is it to make a sale? Is it to connect with my audience? What is the goal? Um, and so my goal now is really now that I have this platform is really just to build trust within my community because if you'll notice and you scroll through my platforms, I'm not selling you anything like I'm not doing major brand deals or anything like that. Many of these brands don't even know that I exist yet. Um, but if I endorse a brand, I want it to be something that my people can stand behind, you know? Um, and it's not just, oh, she just did this cuz she was getting a check. No, it's because I really do believe that this can help you, right? I really do use it in my day in and day out. So, um, so yeah. So, right now the goal with the algorithm is just make sure that my people can see it. Fun fact, with all of the followers that I have, especially on IG, about 4% of my folks see my content. And that is not That's a big number. Usually, it's like 2%. Yeah. So, I'll repurpose some of my content, especially the ones that go really viral. I'll repurpose them because not everybody has seen it, right? You know, um, and every time that I do one, my audience tells me, "I learned something new." I'm like, "It's the same 90 seconds. What else do you put out?" But, um, but I just think that that's the way that it works. You have to be committed to what the outcome will be for your audience more than just the views or the likes or those kinds of things. You have to you have to know why you started this, right? Um, and so for me it was if I can avoid younger Susanna, the tears and the frustration and the the moments of stuckness, if I can avoid that for someone else, then I will that's the reason why I'm doing this. And it's also a living legacy. I have a little guy at home. Um, and I want him to be like, "Wow, that's my mom. That's my mama bear." And also, "Mommy, what do I do?" Because I don't have my mom. and I miss her tremendously. But the lessons that mommy taught me have lived on even though she's she's gone now. Um so I want to be able to leave that for my son. So it's much bigger than just a couple viral videos. That's why when when they do go viral, I have a friend of mine um who's constantly checking my numbers cuz girl I'm like, "Girl, I think I'm at 800." She's like, "Uh no, no, you're you're at a whole different place now, ma'am." Um and even my family, my family is just like meant. And I'm like, I know. Mhm. Crazy. Mhm. We have an impact out here. I love that. When did your mom pass? Mommy passed in 2009. Okay. Um she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed in October and in November she passed. So it went like that. How old was she? She was 59. Wow. So she was still young. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Still young. And she was just so sure of herself. I think one of the things that has stood out to my family so much, especially my sisters and I, is that mommy wasn't afraid of death. You know, she spoke about like what she wanted done even when she was healthy. She was like mucho flowers like just make sure that our family is together. And the way that we started in prayer, she was like, make sure that that you don't lose that. Make sure that you stay grounded in that. Um, and so that is really what has kept us going forward. Um, and I think a lot of what we learned from mom is also what has kept us not like not keeping our eyes on things that are passing, uh, but really keeping our eyes on things that are going to move our impact forward, right? So, our family, our reputation, our name, um, and the hard work that mom and dad put in, you know, to get us to where we're at. Daddy used to work, I think, at one point, three jobs to get his girls through school. Wow. You know, so none of that is wasted. Yeah. I love that. My mom passed away also um almost 16 years ago. And she was young. She was in her late 40s. Lymphoma. Oh my my. So F cancer. Yeah. For real. For real. For really real. But yeah, I agree with you. You know, my mom came from super hard beginnings. Um she was out of the house at 13 years old. Wow. Uh living on her own. Um you know, abusive kind of family dynamic. Had to grow up really fast. Had her girls very young and she was at a point in her life where she was doing things all over again the right way. And unfortunately, God had to call her. But she got her associates very much later in life. like she worked her ass off to better herself and evolve. And those lessons really sit with me. I didn't appreciate it when I was younger, but you know, now that I'm older, I was like, "Wow, what a freaking badass to like come from where she came from and choose because it's a choice that we make to be better." Absolutely. And a reminder that there's nothing wrong with starting again. Yes. You know, I think that that's one of the one of the things in our cultura is that you are going to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, you know, something that has a title. And so, what happens when you don't have that title? But our parents were just like, forget the title. I I would much rather make sure that my family is well taken care of, right? Um, and that I have life lessons that I can teach to them. And like you said, it's it's things that we perhaps did not appreciate as we were going through it, as many instances are, but now we look back and it's like, wow. Oh, I get it. I get it now. I get it now. Yeah, for sure. For sure. So, you were in higher education doing the corporate thing, had a whole team, making your six figures indeed. And decided to go out on your own. So, first of all, how long have you been a full-time entrepreneur? So, Dunamis will turn three in June. Three. Congratulations. Anniversary coming up. We got to turn up. What we doing? You got the sun the anniversary. What made you make the decision? Couple of things. I had known in 21 I had known that it was time for me to kind of vacate this role and I was struggling with that tension because I this was what I dreamed of landing this position, managing this team that I had built from the ground up. Like it was my dream job. But what happens when you get to the dream and it's not at all the way that it pans out in your head? I had known that it was time for me to go um because we were going into an event in 2020, March of 2020. We were going into a major event where we were going to welcome a bunch of students and all all of the things, right? And this was going to be our opportunity for me to be like, I've arrived. Let me show you what my team has done. And then the pandemic hit and in a matter of days I had to take an entire in-person event and flip it virtually which was mortifying because we were just not ready to do something like that but we could not cancel the event. We had over 600 people who had RSVP to come and now I had to tell them we can't so you're going to join us virtually. Um and I had already kind of had these feelings of okay Susanna it's time to go. it's time to go. But we went through that. Um, and in those feelings of it's time to go and in the visions that I kept seeing of me going, I kept seeing small screens and I was like, small screens. Where are they coming from? And they looked like phone screens. So, I didn't think really much of it because I was at work, you know, like I had all of these things that I had to get done. Um, and so the pandemic hit. We made it through. uh we did not hit our target as we had hoped just because life literally a pandemic we were dealing with. And so at this point I remember telling my team, okay, we've made it this far. The goal is not to sink. So we're going to work with what we have and we're just going to be as graceful and as efficient as we possibly can. Um and so we did that for a year. In June of 2021, again, those rumblings of it's time to go got really loud. So, we had survived that that year. Um, and I remember sitting in my office and just like this overwhelming feeling of and it was almost like a nudge, right? Um, and I remember Yeah. And I remember telling God, I said, "If this is you, then I need you to make it really clear because I'm really comfortable." Right. Um, and I had one of my colleagues who is incredible and she had been at the organization 15 years and I had been fighting for a raise for her and I don't know if she knows about that but girl I was fighting for you. Um, and they kept telling me no. They kept telling me no. They kept telling me no. And I kept telling God, she's been so good and she's been so loyal. Please open a door for her even if it's not with me. And I think that when it comes to leadership, you have to be okay with creating opportunities for others. Um because you never know how that will come back for you, right? And so I was going on vacation that June and she came into my office. I write about this in the book right as I was leaving and she was like, "I need to talk to you." And because we had developed such a friendship that I was like, "Am I going to be an auntie?" And she was like, "God, no. No, that's not what it is." Um, but this organization uh reached out to me about this opportunity and I was like, "Okay, so what's going on?" And she was like, "Well, I think I want to." Now, she had been at the organization for 15 years. She had never looked anywhere else. But I told her, I was like, "I want you to dream. You have so much talent, so help me to help you." So, she was like, "This position has come up. It came out of the blue. Um, I don't feel comfortable, and I won't go until you give me the okay." And I was like, "Consider it done. let me see your resume. Let's get your cover letter together. Let's start talking about salaries. And she was like, "Oh my gosh, I didn't think you were going to support me like this." Um, so we went through the process. She got interviewed. Some of my friends worked at the organization where she was interviewing and they called me immediately once they saw the the application and they were like, "What's going on with this one?" Because nobody leaves you. And I was like, "No, no, no. This one's legit. Like, I'm encouraging her to go. Like, go ahead. Go ahead." Um, and my friend at the other organization was like, "You you have no idea how wild that is because others have applied and we've reached out and they're like, "Absolutely not." And they make their life a living hell. But you're like, "Take her." And I'm like, "Listen, because I'm I'm not a reservoir." I think that as a leader, you should be more like a river where you can flow instead of being a reservoir where you just hold it all in because after a while, water being held gets stagnant and stinks. M and so I didn't want that for her. Um so she went through the interview, she got hired um 15k more than what she was making with me. And I was I was trying to get like five, so another 10. Like that was world changing. It was incredible because then she was able to be home for her children and not have to pay for daycare. If you are a mama, you know the daycare struggle, okay? It's like another mortgage. So she saved money on top of getting an increase. So that was the first one. Now, I had seven direct reports at that time. Um, and another one came in, same thing, star player of mine, and she's like, "Suz, um, I got approached about an opportunity, and I want to get your thoughts on it." And I was like, "So, what are we talking about?" Cuz at this role, she was creating the position. So, it was pretty much created for her. Okay. Um, and I was like, "All right, friend. Let's get to it." So, we got to work, did all the things. She of course also got hired making double what she was making with me. And at that point I was like, "Okay, God, I told you to make it plain, but but you moving a little too fast. Like I ain't ready." Um, and that kept happening for all of the ones that were with me. They were either ascending in the organization or they were finding opportunities elsewhere that were just like mindblowing opportunities where the money was like in like I couldn't I couldn't wrap my head around it. only that that God was opening a door for these girls, right? Um and so I was like, "Okay, they're good." And then I kept moving the date. So in September, um right before the height of our recruitment season, I got into a horrible car accident. Um got hit so hard by a guy who took a stop sign that my wedding band flew out of my car. Wow. and he hit me and dragged me uphill. Uh the wheels to my car were bent underneath the vehicle and now I was going downhill. Wow, that's scary. Terrifying. Um and a lot of this I'm telling you because this is what they told me once, not because I remember living through that. What stopped me from ending up in the Hudson River was that as this was all unfolding, a fire truck was passing. Okay. and and they had seen what happened and they parked the truck and my car banged up against the truck and that's what stopped me. Wow. Um and I believe that there was an angel that day because I couldn't find my phone. I was completely disoriented and she called my husband. How she got the phone number, I can't tell you. Um I don't I just remember that this woman called my phone. No one ever saw that woman again. Ever again. Not the not the fire department, not any of the witnesses. No one ever saw that individual again. Wow. But I remember I remember there was a woman there who called my husband and told my husband what was going on. And in true male fashion, he didn't pick up the phone. Okay. Cuz he didn't recognize the number. But she left this voicemail. Um and all of that unfolded. And so I was out for almost four or five months because of this accident. Um, and everything that I had built and done by the time it was time to go back to work after being out had faded away and had done away. Um, but I was so tied to the dream of what I had built and within couple weeks everything that we had worked so hard to do dismantled. The team was the morale was on the floor. Um, and I still went back. So I went back that January after the accident and by March I was gone. M and that really was what forced me to finally make the leap. I knew that there was more for me. I knew that there was more to me. I just didn't know what it was going to look like. Um and I had applied to a whole bunch of roles. Got a whole bunch of rejections. And finally I was like, you know what? I'm going to bet on Susana and if it doesn't work, the job market will always be there. I know what to do, but I'm going to teach other women. And so let's see what goes on. And when I started on social media, honey, I was talking about everything. Okay, I was talking about mom life. I was talking about corporate life. I was upset. Like I was talking about everything. So there was no rhyme or reason, but I started just to kind of share. It was almost like therapeutic for me. And then what kicked off was all of the professional development and the workforce development things. And I was like, okay, there's there's a market here. Um, and there's other women here who look and sound like me who are facing some of the same struggles. But interesting. So, you didn't even know what kind of business you were going to start. You were just like, "God, lead me and I'm ready." Yep. Interesting. Do you wish you would have left sooner? Do I wish I would have left sooner? I wish I would have just left in December, like once I knew. Um, but I think that it refined my character in those three months that I was there because I felt very much like I had to fix it. And I think that as Latinas um or just in Al Cultura, women are called to be fixers. And in some instances, it's not for you to fix. Just leave it be. And I think I needed to live through that in order for me to like now look at things and be like, "Okay, this is not for me to fix. Where do we pivot and how can I pivot in purpose?" Um, so like that I'm not chasing a paycheck, but I'm chasing my purpose. And so I wish I would have just listened in December, but I think that there was Yeah. I think that there was purpose behind that March that um January through March experience because it was it was wild. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You probably learned to trust yourself more. Absolutely. And I went back to being managed by someone when I was the manager. So while that happened, while I was out, they reorged and I was no longer in my position. The audacity. Okay. And then they sent it to the college community like, "Oh, we've made exciting changes. We've demoted Susanna." News to me cuz how is that exciting? Um, and like it also sent I worked at a very I worked at a primarily white institution. And so it also sent a message to our other sisters of color and brothers of color who were on campus like when you're down there you're really going to be down. And those were the phone calls that I got like, yo, like they didn't even wait until you were back. No, they didn't. Did you know that this was happening? No clue. Found out with y'all. So, it it really was just a very interesting time. Um, and again, I wish I would have trusted myself more, but now it's a whole different ball game because now it's just like and part ways while you still have your dignity and while I still have my grace, right? We're just going to go separate. Totally. I think a lot of us are preconditioned to believe what success looks like, right? So success looks like going to school, getting the degree, going to make your six figures, getting your titles, you know, buying the house, helping your family, helping your family, you know, being, you know, following the good path, you know, and so to break away from that takes a lot of unlearning and also faith, right, in yourself because you're essentially going against the grain of how you were raised, of how the people that you love, how they think, and how they are going to respond to something like that. And it I think that is why so many women remain. Yeah. Right. Uh a they're comfortable. That's that's big and key for sure. And no shade if you're comfortable and you Gucci like don't feel like it, right? Rock with it. Do you enjoy? Okay. Because when I was in corporate, I was appreciating staying at those four or five star hotels, traveling on their dime, you know, going to sports events, doing all the biso. I miss it sometimes. I'm not going to lie. So, if you love it, I love that for you. But if there's a voice inside of you that continues to poke you, hey, don't forget, pay attention. Remember, you want more. Your dream is different, right? Yeah. Your pivot is different. Think about your purpose. Don't ignore that just because everyone around you is on the same journey that you believe was success, right? And I think that's why people stay because they they go against the grain and that takes a lot of courage and a lot of bravery um and requires you to to take a risk and courage. Right. Right. Um so if if that is where you're at right now, let me encourage you with two things. Number one, other people's opinions of you are none of your business. And number two, everything that was supposed to take you out prior to where you are right now has not. So you might you might be a palm tree where you bend and sway, but you don't break. So be encouraged in that. If it was hard before, you figured it out, right? And so that was for me what I had to be able to remind myself. It was hard going for a master's degree. But I figured it out. It was hard getting my foot in the door, right? That's very common terminology. But I figured it out. It was hard walking away from a cush six figure role while I was dying inside. It was hard. But here we are with a book deal about a million followers, you know, trusted in the community. So it's just it's just being able to trust yourself. And I think if you don't trust that voice, then later on you will struggle because you will not know what your own voice sounds like. Um, and you'll have a hard time trusting that you can figure things out because we're always looking for permission or we're always looking for somebody to be like, "It's okay, you can do it." You know, so let this podcast be that for you today. It's okay, you can do it. This is a good segue into the talk that talk segment. Okay. Mi, I've got the perfect freebie for you. So, I just dropped a 17page workbook to help you get your mind right, especially in this climate of so much uncertainty. So, if you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur and you're just feeling stuck, you're not feeling too good about what the future holds and all the turmoil, the politics, all of it is just throwing you off your game, this workbook is actually going to act as a journal for you. It covers goal setting, efficiency tips, how to manage your time, financial management tips, strategies on how to wrap your head around the next big thing that's coming down the pipeline to bring you consistent revenue in your business. It covers what you should be doubling down on in terms of your well-being. And it is just my favorite jam-packed journal full of marketing and sales strategy to help you get clarity, but most importantly to help you secure the good bag. So, make sure to tap on the link in the show notes. I've linked it there so that you guys can get really clear on the top hacks that you can put into play to set yourself up for success. I hope you love it. When we were preparing for this conversation, I told you this segment we addressed something taboo in the cultura, something we want to see change or something we should be doubling down on. And what came up in our discussion was how Latinas are trained to seek out providers. Yeah. Right. To seek out providers, to seek out the man who's going to provide and how that may hinder their development professionally, financially, etc. Yeah. So, how does that come into play with us staying comfortable, right? And hindering our progress if we are trained with these dynamics of what a family structure should look like. Yeah. You as a Latina, where you should be in your life when you're in your 20s, when you're in your 30s, kids, hubby, all the things. Yeah. Yeah. So, how should we be addressing this if this is so prevalent in the cultura? I think there's two ways of doing that. The first one is make sure that you are in alignment. Um, and one of the things that I teach my clients to do is to understand their shape, right? And your shape, my shape is round. Okay? I'm blessed in that way. But, uh, when it comes to your shape, what are your strengths, your heart, your abilities, your personality, and your expertise? Because once you've been able to assess those things, you'll be able to assess is the role that I'm in actually in alignment with my shape or is it depleting me from from pursuing more? Um, and then the other thing is paying attention to the community in which you're in because if you're not careful, you'll have folks who mean well tell you those same kinds of like reinforce that narrative. Oh, you have to wait until you know you have the right man or be careful gay gay. you're not making too much and you make him feel some kind of way, he could care less. I And that's one of the things that I learned with my husband. There was one point where I was earning more than my husband, but I was so I was so aware of that was not a negotiation part of our relationship. It was just like, okay, this is what we make and this is how we help our family grow instead of, well, I make more than you, so you can't tell me what to do. Is your hubby Spanish? Mhm. Okay. So he must be an exception to the rule because we know machismo exist very much. Yeah. And not too many fellas can handle no their woman making more and and women find themselves shrinking. Yeah. Just to appease the ego of their partner. Yeah. And I think my husband for him he's always seen this big personality. He and I met in college. Okay. Um, and even one of the things that he he will tell you is that even though I didn't speak all that much in college, I still had presence. And so, ladies, sometimes it's not just about what you're saying. It's about the way that you carry yourself. And so, my husband knew very early on, she may not be saying much, but this is not one that I could play with. And that was just an internal thing that I perpetuated. So, when I got to a point of six figures, money, money doesn't change people. It just it helps to bring out who they really are. So if you're genu generally I can't even talk genuine genuinely. Yes, that's that Spanish accent I was telling you about. Um generous then that's what's going to come out. But if you're genuinely stingy then that's also what's going to come out because you're always hoarded, you know. Um, and so when we had this conversation surrounding finances, surrounding what money was like, like I told him from the beginning, I told him from the beginning, there's going to be moments where I'm making more than you and you need to be all right with that. And there's some guys who would not handle that conversation well. You know what I mean? But like, I went into this relationship saying those kinds of things. What about your mindset though for you to be okay as a Latina to be making more than your man? To me, it was an accomplishment and it also was just like a reminder that I could figure things out, right? Um, and if used correctly, then I could set myself up for generations that come after me, right? Um, so my mindset was never like, uh, I'm going to hold it against you, but I also have gotten to a point where it's like, I love you and should life happen and things go separate ways, we are going to be okay. Cuz now it's not just about him and I, I have a son. Right. Right. That I have to be mindful um about. And I I don't think that there's enough conversation like that that happens amongst couples for two reasons. one, we're not necessarily told to have those conversations, right? Uh, and two, they can be approached very like aggressively or with a negative connotation. And I've just gotten to a point where it's like, okay, well, we need to talk about it, right? Because we can't afford surprises later on. We have a whole little life that's depending on us. So, yeah. So, do you think Latinas are trained to be provided for versus be the provider? I think a lot of that depends on what your background looks like. Um, on novellas, she's always provided for, right? Um, and it's the bad girl that's always kind of going for her own. Um, I was born and raised in the Bronx. And in the Bronx, you had to figure out how like how to stay alive, right? And like how you were going to like there was always a hustle to you. So I think that there is something innately within us that that was kind of bronxified, if you will. Um so I I also think that I got to a point and I don't know where I picked it up, but I didn't want to have to rely on someone else. Not from a financial standpoint. Um, I wanted to make sure that I could stand assured in who I am because again, money changes people. So, if I come to you broke, are you going to be okay with that? And if I come to you with a lot, are you going to be okay with that? Um, and so I needed to, for me, I need to make sure that I have enough um of confidence that I can figure things out and enough that if it doesn't pan out the first way, it didn't take me out the first time. So, I will I will be able to stand on my feet. Much like this book deal, like this was not anything that it wasn't on my vision board. It was just something that kind of flew into my head and people had been telling me about that. But now with that, I'm just like, okay, we need to make sure that we have certain things in place. We have certain parameters in place because this is going to blow up. I'm calling it out now, right? Manifesting. Um, this is going to blow up and I want to make sure that we're comfortable and that we're good. And you need to be okay with that. And I think I've gotten to a point too where it's not my responsibility to manage your emotions. Yeah. And I think that that was a lot of unlearning. Definitely. Because you had brought up this human giver syndrome. So I truly believe like women innately have this syndrome. Yeah. But in certain cultures I find that it is ingrained just a little bit more. Right. Like for Latinas as an example, um like we are raised to be caterers, to be givers, to be the nurturers, to take care of everything. You know what I mean? How does that come into play when we're talking about professional accolades? Yeah. When you're a human giver, um when you're suffering from the human giver syndrome, it can lead to burnout because when it comes to the professional accolades, you achieve them and then you move the goalpost on yourself. So now you're chasing another accolade. Gift and the curse of the ambitious is what I call it. Never satisfied. Exactly. And so you missed the gift of the present. Right. Right. Um much like the reckoning that I had when I when I realized, okay, this is the role that I wanted. This is everything that I worked for and now what? Right? You you get to a point where you're like unfulfilled. So when you're a human giver um and you're falling into that syndrome, you'll always feel this incredible amount of pressure to perform, to do, to get okay, to get permission. You have to come to a point where it's like I am enough. Me the way that God created me with my gifts, with my quirks, with my my messed up aspects sometimes, but I am enough. And slowly but surely, I don't need to cater to everyone. This is why I said not everybody's opinions of you are your business. Right. Right. It's none of your business. Because if you if you pay attention to that, then you'll never be enough. You know, Thanksgiving. Okay. I I don't know what to tell you. I'm I'm sorry that she's upset. I'm still not going to go to Thanksgiving because I want to do my own thing or I want to create my own traditions. Um, and that's that's really hard. That is very hard to walk away from, but when you do, you realize, you know what? I'm still standing. And I saw that very much with my with my older sister and my brother-in-law. They got to a point where they were like, we're not doing the whole big family Thanksgiving thing or or Christmas thing. We want to make sure that we're present for our boys. And so, they created their own traditions. And how awesome is that? that their boys now are in their 20s and they look forward to Christmas with their family. But it was just like to rip that band-aid was a huge move for them, but they're still standing. How do we how do we create our own traditions and establish boundaries and still keep the essence and the magic of the cultura alive? Yeah, that's a good one. Uh, especially in this era. This era, I feel like everybody's like, "F you. I'mma do me. Go find yourself. I'm finding me." You know what I mean? Everybody's I feel like in this mode of like, it's me and that's it. That's all that matters. Yeah. And if we're not careful, we'll end up in isolation. And in isolation is where depression we've created an environment for depression. Isolation is like thriving. Yeah. The reason that like I have this strong opinion about this topic is because for as many people that I have following me, right, it almost doesn't feel real because they're not like tangible. You know what I mean? Um, and so I I want to be very mindful that when I am creating boundaries that they are true to who I am, right? and that I am I am ready to honor those boundaries because they're going to get tested. So, if you go into it with the mindset that at some point somebody's going to test this and I am going to be true to me, right? Um once you have adopted that mindset that okay, this is a firm no and and you're not going to push it. I'm sorry, but we don't do that.
because if I do it now, then I got to do it again, right? Um and then the next time it's a bigger amount, right? And it and the reason that I come to money is because that's very much big in our cultura. Yes. Um I will never forget I'll never forget going to the Dominican Republic with my family and seeing my dresses walk right by me. Oh wow. on my shoes walk right by me because my my mom wanted to support our community back in the Dominican Republic and I was just like well hold on a second we we don't need to do that because they have family of theirs that are here um and mommy was a was genuinely a generous person and truth be told some of those shoes I was probably growing out of and some of those dresses I didn't need but in the same token it was just like okay we don't always have to do that. Um, and I think that in our cultura, it's always like you have to be able to don't forget this person and make sure that you're taking care of this person. It's almost like when you go to these events and and you don't remember certain family members, they're
like, "Oh, I don't know who you are, so I don't owe any loyalty to you." you know um so when you are when you are in that place of setting a firm boundary go in with the understanding that this will get tested and at some point you have to stand 10 toes down on that I agree with that but I also find that that's the magical part of our cultura is the woman who did change your eight months old and you know now you get to you know I don't know do her a favor or something so that's I think that's where it's like how do we create our own individuality and also modernize what our cultura looks like today without losing the essence and the magic of what makes our family dynamic, what makes our music, what makes our traditions so special. Yeah. I think for me the the way that that plays out is in the magic of it is when you are in the right community. So I was born and raised in a church, right? Um, and I can go back into that church and my church mothers are still there. And those were the women who were changing my diapers at eight, you know. Um, and those were the women, well, not 8 years old, y'all. If you're in eight months, but those were the women those were the women who who taught me how to pray. Those were the women who taught me how to cook. Mhm. Those were the women who who demonstrated genuine love because they were not interested in what I could give them um or what I would be able to provide for them. They just loved me for me, right? And so now my ability to continue to keep our cultura and the magic of our cultura is to love that way. And that's the reason why I teach the way that I do because they taught me in full practicality what that looked like. And so one of the things that people hear or I hear people tell me when they encounter me is like it's so practical like it's so easy but that's that's the magic of Dulura that I I grew up learning and loving um that these women taught me in practicality how to love without having to deplete. And I think that that's where we need to be able to draw the line. How to love without having to deplete. Deplete. Be a palm tree. Yeah. So many. Maybe that'll be the title of the episode. Be a palm tree. Be a palm tree. Listen, you might bend and sway, but we don't break. And what's interesting about palm trees, um, even even when they're standing in the midst of a hurricane, this is why I talk about community so much is because their roots have gone out so far that they are anchored. And that is the magic of Akulura. Yes. That we are anchored in. knowing who we are in our identity, in our music, in our food, you know, in in the values that we hold, we're anchored in that. So when life does get difficult, we are anchored. Um I shared with a another friend of mine, the reason why community again is so important is when you think of an oak tree, oak trees are magnificent and they grow to be beautiful. But you're not going to plant an oak tree in a planter in something like this and expect a magnificent oak tree because you've limited its environment. And what I love about our cultura is that no matter where you're at, our our environment is unlimited. Yes. You could be in the Caribbean, you could be in the United States, you could be in Canada, you can be in Africa, but you find another Dominican, another Colombian, another Puerto Rican, another and it's like, oh my, you know what I mean? Yes. And so that's what I mean by making sure that we don't lose that magic, but in the same token, making sure that we're loving without depleting. Yes. Loving without depleting. I love that. So tell the people where they can find you, how they can stay connected. Yeah. So you can find me on IG. It's I am Susanna Alba. Uh you can find me on LinkedIn, Susanna Brisco Alba. It's it's Susanna Alba across all the things. Just Google Susanna Alba. Yes. and you will come and you will you will find me. Um we are we're excited to to just kind of go into this season. Um I'm excited to see how the book goes and where we go. Us too. You got to come back once it drops. Yes, I would love to. Um and maybe there's a book tour so I may be able to be a book tour. Listen, that random house better be giving you a fat check to do a book tour. So yeah. So I'm looking forward to that, you know. But thank you. Thank you so much for for having me. Thank y'all for for tuning in and for listening for supporting this beautiful face and this voice and our cultura. Thank you for pouring into our community my love. I appreciate you and I appreciate our prayer. I felt that I embraced that the energy in here was like woo holy spirit a little bit. That's right. We shifted. So so thank you. That was loving without depleting. So that's right. So thank you. Shout out to all of you for tuning in. As always, if you love this episode, please let us know. Share it with someone in your community that has allowed you to be anchored or someone that you believe needs to hear this episode, please share it. And I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye everybody. Hola, look, I don't know about you, but I'm trying to work smarter instead of harder. You know what I mean? I'm trying to secure these coins with less effort, but more return. What if I told you there was a way for you to make your entire salary, your five, your six figure salary within months? What if I told you there was a way for you to package your expertise where you can sell it to corporate and government agencies and go after lucrative five and six figure contracts so that you can secure the big. And this master class specifically focuses on how you can secure lucrative five and six figure contract even if you don't know what to sell and haven't started your business yet. I'm going to show you how to identify what your no-brainer offer is so nobody can say no. Honey, I'm going to help you think about how to pitch yourself, how to package your expertise. I'm going to show you the email scripts that I use to lock in meetings with hardto-reach executives. This is golden, y'all. It is the same framework that I use right now currently in my business as a consultant and a keynote speaker that gets flown out to speak all around the world, honey. And if I can do it, so can you. And this master class is going to break down the step bystep process that you can follow. So, within the next 90 days, you can have your first five and six figure corporate or government contract. I mean, what are you waiting for, y'all? I put the link in the show note. Let's go and get it. 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.
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