Today we’d like to introduce you to Valeria Alvarez.
Valeria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I came to the United States at a very early age from Colombia. Colombia has been going through more than five decades of conflict and in the late 90s, it became very dangerous and difficult for my parents, or any parents at that, to raise their children in our home country. We moved to New York City in 1998 where I quickly learned English and where we lived in a one-bedroom apartment for six years. Eventually, we migrated down to Miami, Florida where I finished high school and was accepted to go to college.
Due to my immigration status back in 2009, I had to decline my acceptance to several colleges because I lacked legal status. I had been a straight A student all my life, senior class president but didn’t have much guidance about what my next move should be due to my immigration situation. I moved to New York City at the age of 18 and worked three jobs to support myself, pay for out-of-state tuition school and to gain real-life experience. I began working as an intern for the Oprah Winfrey Magazine that helped me gain credit for my marketing degree while also volunteering at a Non-Profit called the New York State Leadership Council to learn about immigration laws in New York and nationwide. I worked a retail job and bussed tables in order to pay for my living in New York – basically, I did everything I could in order to survive in the only country I really knew.
I became very lucky that in 2012 I was able to gain legal status. It was also during this time, however, that my one support system in the US came crashing down. My dad had unfortunately not gained a legal status himself and was detained and sent to prison for seven months before being deported back to Colombia. I knew that I had grown up fairly quickly in comparison to my peers but it was during this time that I began to highly question my purpose and sense of belonging. I felt embarrassed to share my real story with others because I thought it made me weak and unworthy. I kept this very defining moment of my life very much to myself that it affected my personal relationships, my friendships and the most important relationship to myself.
I then began to get involved in different organizations and volunteering opportunities in Miami-Dade with the hopes of helping people, with the main focus on women, as I began to learn that perhaps many of the persistent disparities women currently have come from a place of not feeling enough. Perhaps the idea of promoting our truer selves and feeling empowered earlier could shift our confidence and slightly start changing the social norm.
In 2016-2017, I began learning deeply about learning from failure, critical skills, leadership, and education. In 2018, I launched the first TEDxWomen event in Miami where I focused on women entrepreneurship and women who are making a difference in our community and could voice their reality so others can learn from it. And now, in 2019, I’ve finished a school program that I’m launching with schools in Miami-Dade to teach our next generation empowerment, belonging and life skills. My organization, Modern Women, believes in transformative equality, personal growth, and community. We want women to discover a truer version of themselves, make progressive changes in their lives and breakthrough their potential. When thinking about what I wanted to do and why, I really thought to myself – we already have most products we need, there are companies of all sorts, what I want to bring to the table is better people who are willing to work on themselves, first, so they can truly be a better version of who they truly are wherever they may go.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s no such thing as an easy path. I became a third culture kid at a young age, not necessarily feeling like I was American but never really feeling like I was Colombian either. I struggled with identity issues – not knowing how or where to position myself in situations. I felt the need to excel and be the best at whatever I was doing because I thought that was my only way to fit in. We also grew up in a very humble household. I moved apartments over 20 times between the ages of 5-20 and my normal was having, at most, two brown boxes to my name. I never grew up feeling close to tangible things and started working at the age of 16 to support myself. I believe obstacles build character though, and I would not trade one single one I’ve had because they have truly made me more grateful and have made me have a broader perspective of what matters in my life. I like simplicity, it’s always just been what I know and what I’m comfortable with.
Please tell us about Modern Women.
The idea for MOWO came from a combination of my personal story growing up, working in education for a few years and learning about the obstacles we face as women. In my spare time, I’ve worked in multiple non-profits and NGOs that are close to my heart, from human to immigration to women’s rights and each of these have taught me countless amounts of ways that people in the world are creating safer, better places for others.
I find people’s value being the most important trait of all and I feel most proud that I am finally getting to a place where I can help people, especially women, find that value in themselves with my ModernWomen platform and with the other community incentives I help create throughout Miami.
Is there anyone, in particular, you would like to recognize? Mentors, etc?
You know, my parents have been my biggest teachers and mentors. They may have gone through many obstacles themselves, but they have taught me the absolute most important tool which is self-value. My dad is the most positive human being I’ve ever met – he’s truly the definition of resilience and falling down seven times but getting up eight.
Contact Info:
- Website: modernwomen.us
- Email: hello@modernwomen.us
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valerialvaarez/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valeriaalvarezchaux
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/wearemowo/
Image Credit:
http://brittrobey.com/ – Brittney Robey
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