Ep. 1 — El Origen

Bienvenidos a La Voz Que Conecta, where Purpose, Community, and Growth come together.

En este primer episodio, "El Origen", María Álvarez — fundadora de Conéctate — comparte la historia detrás del podcast: por qué lo creó y por qué ahora. De Guanajuato a Idaho Falls, hija de inmigrantes, primera generación en graduarse de la universidad, y madre de tres hijos con necesidades médicas complejas. María dejó una carrera corporativa para construir un espacio donde nuestra comunidad pueda ser real, vulnerable y auténtica.

This is a bilingual space for entrepreneurs, professionals, parents, and community leaders navigating two cultures and systems that weren't designed for us. Conversaciones reales sobre los tres pilares del podcast:

🔹 Emprendimiento — por qué nos volvemos emprendedores no por sueño, sino por necesidad.
🔹 Comunidad — civic engagement, voto, educación financiera (crédito, HELOC) y acceso a la salud.
🔹 Sanación — permiso para descansar, creencias limitantes, salud mental y bienestar.

Some episodes will make you cry, others laugh. Some are uncomfortable conversations. But we're going to connect.

Recuerda: tu voz importa, tu historia importa y tu bienestar también importa. Porque cuando una voz se sana, toda una comunidad se fortalece.

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Un proyecto de Conéctate — Bridging Cultures, Building Trust.

Transcript

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Bienvenidos a La Voz Quonecta, where Purpose, Community, and Growth Come Together. Soy María Álvarez y este es un espacio bilingüe para emprendedores, profesionales y líderes que quieren crecer sin perder su esencia. Real Conversations, Practical Inspiration y una sola misión, fortalecer tu voz para transformar tu vida y tu comunidad. Porque cuando una voz es sana, toda una comunidad se fortalece. Esto es la voz que conecta. And in this episode, vamos a comenzar con dejarles saber por qué tomé la decisión de abrir este espacio para nosotros y por qué ahora. As many of you know, our parents immigrated from different countries to be here in the United States to seek a better life. And you probably went to school growing up like I did. And a lot of us didn't know the language. So we grew up trying to learn actually two languages at the same time. And we grew up in systems that were absolutely not designed for us. And pasamos tantos años hacia adelante cuando tus padres, quizás tú, tu familia, decidió emigrar de su país para poder tener una mejor opportunidad para nosotros. Andamos in una situation un poco difficile, no? Aquí en Estados Unidos. And I feel that there's no better time than now to be able to hold a platform where your voice can be heard. And let me just tell you why I felt very passionate about it. I have three children. And I was able to work on the American dream. I went to college. You know, I was a first-generation college graduate. And I was really excited to be able to join a corporate career and be able to climb the corporate ladder. But also that I didn't think you were going to my kids. Obviously, that was very difficult. And I'm sure that you go through a lot of things like this every single day because I've heard your stories. I have seen the things that you go through every day. And guess what? It's okay to be tired. It's okay to take a break. It is perfectly okay to want to give up. I don't know any human being that doesn't. Because I used to think I had to be like this top producing machine. And you can work on your goals without losing sense of who you are. Like don't do it at a risk that is gonna put yourself at risk. So success does not mean that you have to sacrifice yourself. Empecé a compartir un poco in my negotiation that se llama Conéctate, y me di cuenta que muchas personas estaban pasando por lo mismo. And this is a place where it is safe for you to talk about entrepreneurship. Hablar de cómo es navegar dos culturas, dos tres idiomas, cómo es interactuar con tus padres, con tus hermanos y hermanas, and now your kids. Like, I mean, we are adjusting every single day. Aquí no van a ver conversaciones en que es correcto, es esto, es lo otro. No, son conversaciones reales. Cosas que a veces no nos sentimos cómodos decir ni hablar, porque in nuestra cultura, ciertas cosas no se hablan. But when we do talk, wow, the healing is impressive. So now let me tell you a little bit about who this podcast is for. Es para ti que estás navegando, tener un negocio, or tal vez estás trabajando tiempo completo, you are also raising a family and tratando de cuidar de tus padres, viéndolos que están entrando in una edad different, con retos diferentes. And above all, like stay afloat, right? Like, whoo, that is a lot. That is a lot for anyone to carry. And this is a safe space where we can have these candid conversations, we can be raw, we can be authentic. Like you don't have to have it all together or keep it all together. I guess you don't have to pretend. Aquarius escuch. Aquarius, what do I mean by that? I mean, I learned a lot when I was navigating the healthcare system to find resources for my children's complex medical needs. Those systems were definitely not designed to be easy to use. And I thought, wow, I feel that I am okay. Digo, bueno, pues tres, say those idiomas. No digo que perfecto or correcto, porque no. But I'm raised in Idaho. So from Idaho Falls and Beyond. Hello everyone. And it's really bonito que todas las personas que sean aquí del area nos apoyen because there's a lot of support when a project or something new is launched in your city. So I hope that you guys are also launching new things in your city. And let's go back really quick as to the things that we feel we have to juggle all the time, right? Like, I mean, I talk to people now, and if you are a younger parent, whether it's mom or dad, and you wake up early and you go to the gym and work out, like no, I am not one of those people that wake up at 3 a.m. and go to the gym and work out or four or five. I did when I was like 30. And then I would go do a walk. And then después de eso, um, me iba a trabajar. Después del trabajo, uh, I see all part of receiving llamadas de my hijos, familiares, especialistas. After I was done with work, I, you know, had to run and make sure that I made it to some of the practices for my children, whether that was piano practice, whether that was football, football hablando en el fútbol. Estamos en la Copa Mundial. Y qué padre, qué padre. A quién le vas? Pon en tus comentarios a quién le vas, a qué equipo le vas y mándanos fotos de las camisetas que estás usando y a qué si vas a ir a un evento, si estás en un evento, qué padre, disfrutenlo. Después del football, de la práctica de football or the particular, luego tienes que ayudar con la tarea, ando, you probably have to catch up on work emails and a lot of different things. And it's like, what? That takes more than 24 hours a day. Like, did you see, well, did you hear? Did you hear in between there any time that was taken just for you? Does this resonate with you? If it does, then this podcast is for you. Hit subscribe, share with your friends, because what we're gonna be talking about is entrepreneurship. Because a lot of us were able to become entrepreneurs, not because we dreamt of becoming entrepreneurs, but because there was a need that entrepreneurship met. I think life sometimes comes and shakes us up and it's like boom, you started. Because all the most and what you create, and my negotiation, at what moment do we stop to think about ourselves? At what moment do we stop putting other people first? And when I left my corporate career and started my own business, I was shocked. I'm like, I feel that I have leaders like you and your mentee have arduamente, have dedicated support, have donated such a passion, because we retroced. No, okay, my dijo no, o sea, me la partí, sufrí, pasé hambre, quería darme por vencido. Sentí que ya iba a tirar a tirar la toalla, no? But when you pude escuchar ese tipo de historias, de testimonios, yo no me sentí sola, yo sentí que havia una community. Primero, vamos a estar hablando de emprendimiento, okay? Secondo, I'm going to start with community. What significan community? Like, what does community mean to you? Because community means something different to all of us. I mean, one of the things that is super unique, I guess, in our hometown is that our communities are a little like separate. Like, like there's two separate communities or a couple separate communities that kind of do their own thing, big things, and we have no clue about them. And I think that's something that I would love to change. I would love your help in sharing that if you have communities that are working together, that are integrating everyone, let us know how you did it. Let us know what organizations you worked with, let us know what funding you applied for. Another part about community is civic engagement. One of the razors for the whole in a situation and Latinos in these features, in 2026, is for the climate political. So on this podcast, we want to help bring you trustworthy information on different things that can make a big impact in your community, in your family, and in your personal life. You don't think, but definitively creo in Dios. Antes you created much in energía, you sent me that it's one of those things de mala vibra, that no enter because I aprendí muchas energía. Energia exists when you pensamientos. Aquí te refieres con sanación. Sanación para ti. Sanación que te permita descansar. Like it's okay to give yourself permission to rest, to take a break. You don't have to be an overachiever all the time. But your nervous system does not know that because that's what it was conditioned to do over and over and over and over, right? So the third part that we will be discussing a lot on this podcast is healing. And we're gonna be talking about the things that you grew up with. We're gonna be talking about limiting beliefs. And it's okay if you don't understand any of these um words because I did it when I was first introduced into my healing journey. They called it the great awakening. And I thought the great awakening happened like that, like, okay, I'm awake. So I should be fixed now, right? No. No. So be patient with yourself. Counseling. Wow. Healing can happen in many different forms. It can happen with, you know, energy, counseling, grounding, exercise, gym, nature, so many things. And I know that in our culture, this is like performing the time, no and essential tonterías, it's locked, if it's locked, for this is. We don't understand all of the services that financial institutions have to offer us. And so you're gonna be hearing from people that work at banks, uh, people that work at insurance companies, from experts in the industries that impact us and our lives almost every single day. Algunos episodios nos van a hacer llorar, otros nos van a hacer reír, some are going to be uncomfortable conversations, pero lo que es seguro es que aquí vamos a conectar. Vamos a escuchar de personas que están pasando por cosas que tú estás pasando todos los días, de personas que tienen conocimiento en algún recurso, en algún tema que pueda cambiar tu vida y la de tu familia dramáticamente. Así es que te invito que nos sigas en todas las plataformas en donde vamos a estar teniendo el podcast de La Voz que Conecta. Por supuesto, vamos a estar en YouTube, en Spotify, en Apple Podcasts, en Facebook y en nuestro sitio web. Si no sigues, conéctate en Facebook, síguenos y suscríbete a todos los otros canales. Vamos a estar agregándolos en los comentarios, en nuestros episodios, comparte con tu familia, queremos escuchar de ti, qué te pareció, qué te gustaría escuchar, qué no te gustó. Gracias por acompañarnos en este episodio de La Voz que Conecta. Si esta conversación resonó contigo, compártela con alguien que necesite escucharla y ayúdanos a seguir construyendo una comunidad más fuerte, conectada y llena de posibilidades. Recuerda, tu voz importa, tu historia importa y tu bienestar también importa. Porque cuando una voz se sana, toda una comunidad se fortalece. Soy María Álvarez y esto fue La Voz que Conecta.