The Latinx Chronicles with Hip and Erika

Dr. Graciela Berumen is the Assistant Director of Diversity and Multicultural Student Engagement for the department of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs at Kansas State University. Dr. Berumen's research interests include first-generation college students, global education, language acquisition, culture, equity, inclusivity, access, and identity in Education.
Originally from California, her interests stem from her upbringing as well as her love for language, education and raising two bilingual sons. Graciela considers her work as an educator and as a board member for the Tonantzin Society, Harvesters, The YWCA and her membership in Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., as a way to give back to the community and encourage others, who like herself are proud children of immigrants, to embrace their heritage and pursue their academic dreams. Her passion for equity in education and her love for her students inspired the creation of her non-profit: BE F1RST, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to offering one-on-one support, mentoring and scholarships for first-generation students and families.
The belief in the transformational power of conversations surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) also led to the creation of Becoming Equitable, LLC. Becoming Equitable offers onsite and virtual workshops, led by women of color who focus on facilitating discussions around DEIB in order to create more inclusive work environments.

Motherhood is a journey that almost every time brings change and the realization that one must make certain changes to ensure that the baby is growing healthy and also most moms-to-be make certain changes to embrace their "new" life and this was exactly the case with our guest Evelia Torres. After working in the beauty industry for many years, motherhood made her realize that she wanted to live a cleaner and more toxic-free lifestyle so she started making her own products and that is how De Mi Tierra was born. Listen to her journey and follow her because she is dreaming big and one day soon we will see her products in Target or Macy's!
De Mi Tierra means “From My Earth”, and all of the beauty and body products are 100% Natural, Simple, and Organic. The beautiful line of products pays tribute to traditional Mexican beauty rituals and the only ingredients used are grown from the earth. Find them at https://www.demitierranatural.com
Evelia is also doing her first crowdfunding to scale her business to the next level: https://ifundwomen.com/projects/de-mi-tierra-mexican-skincare-rituals?fbclid=IwAR18AqzJYFlWmWCtFHAsT7mL_BuBvjTAdWeqaMlX0h1yexrx2eshLd8K3Fo

Isabel Gonzalez-Smith is a mother, doula, and the founder of Chicago Latina Moms. Isabel founded Chicago Latina Moms in the summer of 2014 when she was pregnant with her first son after struggling to find a community that didn’t automatically associate Latina motherhood with crisis and was determined to create a space for celebration, empowerment, and growth. Today, Chicago Latina Moms (www.chicagolatinamoms.com) is a non profit organization dedicated to empowering, uplifting, and celebrating the Latina mother with an online community of over four thousand members.
We talk about the guilt of being a mom, the struggle, the isolation, but the Chicago Latina Mom space is for all moms and she wants to remember that "no estas sola"!

Isabel has also served families as a birth and postpartum doula as La Luna Doula since 2016 and is part of citywide efforts to improve Chicago maternal and child health. She assisted Erika, our host in her last birthing journey and they dive childbirth. Be your advocate, ask questions, remember that you can fire your medical provider, you need to be in charge on your journey.
Before pursuing birth work and Chicago Latina Moms, Isabel earned her Masters Degree in Library Science and spent 8 years as an academic librarian, instructor, and researcher focused on racial and ethnic identity.

When Isa is not working, you can find her advocating for the neurodivergent community, exploring nature with her sons, and trying to keep her houseplants alive! Isabel is passionate about social justice, empowering families as they grow, and making memories with her two adventurous so
www.chicagolatinamoms.com

The amazing Carmen talks about her life from her humble beginnings, the murder of her brother, and their move to Skokie from their beloved Humbolt Park for better opportunities but also meant leaving part of their culture, their language, and their loved ones. Her spirit and her words are uplifting and her journey was not easy, especially after becoming a single mom right after high school. The universe had other plans for her and she found a career as a public servant at the Cook County sheriff's office. She always kept an open mind, her hard work, and determination got her promoted time and time again but she always kept her dad's words close to her "learn while doing". She also reminded us that diversity means nothing without inclusion. We touched on police reform, police training, and the broken criminal justice system. The political world is ugly but "WE" the people still have the power and your VOTE matters.

We are starting the year with the southside coffee master Jesse Iñiguez, he is changing the narrative of Back of The Yards by bringing his coffee to the southside of Chicago. Jesse founded Back of the Yards Coffee in 2016 and opened the Coffeeshop in 2017. We discuss all things coffee, giving back, his community engagement and the community support he has received. We celebrated their journey and all of their success since Back of the Yards coffee is now well-known and a household name in the coffee world in Chicago and beyond!
If you live in Chicago you need to check out their new location soon at the corner of 47th and Ashland but in the meantime, you can order on their website www.backoftheyardscoffee.com
The advice we heard from Jesse was, "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" and "lift as you climb"!