Oct 6, 2020
As a child, Veronica Valadez thought that picking strawberries as a day laborer was fun, a time to run around the fields with her sister, throw overripe strawberries at each other, and sometimes pick enough strawberries to make some cash for school clothes.
She would come home exhausted,
covered in strawberry goo and mud, her tummy full of those sweet
red berries. For her parents and older siblings, though, this was
work - hard work - and they were being seriously exploited. She
didn't realize that until far later in life.
It wasn't until she went to college that she started to understand her childhood from that perspective, and college was part of her life only because she had mentors that encouraged her to go. She was the first in her family to attend a four-year university, much less to graduate with a degree.
Veronica's life has been all about self-discovery through her art, her activism, and in how she is raising her children.
I enjoyed this conversation so much, and what really stood out to me was the moment Veronica described when she met her mentor and advocate for the first time.
Enjoy!
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Be sure to check out Veronica's websites, this one includes her extraordinary art portfolio, and visit this one to learn more about her work in diversity and inclusion. Be sure to follow her on her YouTube channel, and on LinkedIn.
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Sarah Elkins loves to guide individuals and teams to improve communication, using storytelling as the foundation of her work. She is a Gallup certified Strengths coach and uses that tool to coach her clients to improve their communication in all relationships, and to find more satisfaction at work and at home.
Her book, Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell
Them Will is available on bookshop.org (supporting
independent booksellers), and on Amazon. The audiobook will be
available in fall 2020.