Meet Jefa: Adri Rodriguez - Adriana Rodriguez Therapy And Wellness

Get ready to be inspired by Adri Rodriguez, a licensed marriage and family therapist who shares her transformative journey from El Salvador to the United States at the tender age of 16. Adri, a proud Salvadorian American and host of the podcast Entre Tias y Amiguis, talks about her multifaceted identity as a first-generation Latinx, eldest daughter, and queer femme. She opens up about her passion for mental health, education, and social services, revealing how her diverse experiences fundamentally shape both her personal and professional life. Adri's devotion to radical healing and justice-oriented care underscores the conversation, emphasizing the power of community and the importance of creating spaces where honest and meaningful dialogues can flourish.

Adri's tale of transitioning from a successful career in photography to full-time entrepreneurship in therapy offers invaluable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs. She recounts pivotal moments, from leveraging her client management skills gained in photography to branding herself as a therapist during the pandemic. Adri’s story illuminates the challenging yet rewarding path of entrepreneurship, particularly for first-generation entrepreneurs. Her reflections on the perseverance and dedication required to turn side hustles into thriving businesses will resonate deeply with anyone striving to carve their own path in the business world.

The episode also jumps into Adri's core mission of empowering others through self-awareness and healing, and her commitment to giving back to the community. Learn about the creation of her podcast, Entre Tias y Amiguis, which serves as a platform for sharing non-linear life paths and fostering real connections. Adri candidly discusses the challenges of stepping into a public role and the importance of visibility, despite the inherent vulnerability. This episode is packed with wisdom on navigating entrepreneurial challenges, building authentic communities, and celebrating diverse journeys, making it a must-listen for anyone looking to be inspired and empowered.

Transcript

Kita Zuleta 0:01

Hi, Jefa, welcome back to the Cafecito Con Jefas podcast. I'm your host, gita Zuleta, a brand strategist, Jefa coach and photographer in LA. It's season two and, whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this season is packed with powerful conversations, actionable strategies and the realness that Cafecito Cafecito Con Jefas known for. My Jefa journey has been anything but linear. I've pursued entrepreneurship in many forms over the past 15 years and I'm excited to share my knowledge and use this podcast to host conversations about real life and entrepreneurship, aka Jefa life. While our paths may vary, the emotions and experiences we share unite us. We're all the same, same but different. So grab your favorite mug, pour yourself a Cafecito and get cozy, because these conversations will ignite your passion, spark creativity, elevate your thinking and fuel your determination. I see you, Jefa. Keep going. Welcome to the Cafecito Con Jefas Podcast. Hi Jefa, welcome back to the Cafecito con Jefas podcast. I'm your host, Kita Zuleta. Today, I am so excited to be hanging out with fellow

Kita Zuleta 1:13

Adri Rodriguez is a licensed marriage and family therapist and proud Salvadorian American. As a first-generation Latinx, eldest daughter and queer femme, she ella are her pronouns Adri brings a unique perspective to her work, combining her lived experiences. With 19 years of experience in mental health, education and social services. Adri is the founder of Adriana Rodriguez Therapy and Wellness, where she empowers individuals, couples and families to navigate their growth era with holistic self-awareness, mindful action and justice-oriented care. She is also the host of the podcast Entre Tias y Amiguis, which creates space for real conversations about adulting, identity and liberation. Beyond Therapy, Adri is an educator, adjunct professor and community builder, dedicated to dismantling systems of oppression and reclaiming joy. She brings her passion for radical healing to every space she enters, always centering liberation, creativity and purpose. Adri is a wife, tia dog and plant mom, and a champion for all who seek to understand themselves more deeply and live more authentically. Oh hi, Adri, como estas amiga? Good to have you here. I'm so excited for our conversation today I'm good.

Adri Rodriguez 2:35

I'm good, I'm like listening to you. I'm like, yeah, like that's who I am. It's kind of like nice to you know, those moments where you just get to hear the alignment and how I talk about myself now and like what I do, and so that felt like really nice. So, thank you.

Kita Zuleta 2:49

Well, thank you for sharing your story and, of course, this bio is just a glimpse into all the things that you do. So, jumping right in, I'd love for you to introduce yourself, probably a little less formally, but just sharing who you are, what you do, who you serve and where you're located.

Adri Rodriguez 3:06

Yes, so I'm Adri Rodriguez and, like you said, my pronouns are she, ella, and I always like, even in my own podcast and as I'm doing interviews or workshops, I always start with, like, sharing my identities, right? So, as you heard in my bio, I'm Latina, I'm queer femme, I'm from El Salvador. I came to United States when I was 16. I'm Latina, I'm queer femme, I'm from El Salvador. I came to the United States when I was 16.

Adri Rodriguez 3:27

I'm an educator and I always start from this perspective, because I cannot be all my jobs without considering how all those experiences that live under those labels, right, like each of those labels holds a part of me, a story about me, a lens that informs, like all the work that I do. And so, you know, it's like being the eldest daughter, if you know. You know if you're an immigrant, you know, you know, right, like there is, like all this, like parts of me that I think are really integral, and like others getting to know me and then also choosing me to be their helper, their companion, their guide, or, just like you know, even like in in a friendship or entrepreneur relationships. Right, it's just like I want people to know what I stand for when they're coming in, you know, to meet me. So all the, all the lenses, all the hats and in terms of relationally, you know, my, my wife, my tia, like those are like, probably like that kind of those like big everyday roles.

Adri Rodriguez 4:29

But I'm also a community builder. I love being in community. I am a kid from the late 90s when the Internet came in, so I love making Internet friends, hence our friendship. But I always, kind of, in the pursuit of all my interests, have always been really intentional about finding the people that I fit in. And if those people are not in my vicinity, where do they live online? And I'm going to find them right. And so building community and fostering those relationships, both online and with my friends here in Sacramento, is something that is very important to me. So that's me in a nutshell.

Kita Zuleta 5:08

Me in a very small nutshell, because there's so much more. So I'm really excited for you to share with your fellow Jefa a bit more about your entrepreneurial journey this Jefa journey, as I like to call it, because you've been doing therapy, you've been doing so many other things and recently, well, I want you to tell your story, but I want you to be able to share what motivated you to start doing this on your own and pursuing entrepreneurship.

Adri Rodriguez 5:34

So, if you can tell us a story of how you got to where you are now, yeah, you know my life, the story of my life is that as one of those like happenstance, the door opens and I'm just like, do I go through it? Yeah, we're going to see, right, I am a big believer that I have a friend that said a really beautiful one. So Adri will try anything once and then she'll make a decision about she continues that thing, right. So I think a lot of my life and my journey into being an entrepreneur has been just like a door open. I got curious about it, I crossed it and I was like this is a good fit for me, so I'm going to keep going right, becoming. So when I came, I'll take it all the way back.

Adri Rodriguez 6:14

So when I came to the United States, I was 16. And I had a pretty clear career path that I was going to take. I was either going to be an architect or an engineer. Like there were like kind of like the two routes that I was going to go. The university that I chose didn't have an architecture program, so then that's how I ended up deciding to be an engineer. So I was a computer engineer undergrad for about two and a half years, which is kind of like that.

Kita Zuleta 6:37

And once I was in this career path as an engineer.

Adri Rodriguez 6:44

What I realized is that I walked in, I remember, into one of the computer labs, because back then we all didn't have laptops. You know, like back in the 90s.

Kita Zuleta 6:52

Yes, when you actually go. A computer lab, ladies, for those who do not know, is a specific lab room. It's kind of like a computer library. You rent a computer for a certain amount of time. You get to log in and wait for the dial up to go and open it up and use the computer for an allotted amount of time. So not only did I use computer labs, no, no, no, that is it. That is it.

Adri Rodriguez 7:17

Because it is like a generational thing, because I want to take that back because I feel that, like my journey, entrepreneur is also like this like change of the of the eras, like being a millennial has asked of us to like really adjust and be creative, right and like. A big part of my work is about being creative and not like only, and like making art and like in the, in the way that we we think about creativity, but it's like about building a life that allows to, you know, allows flexibility to then reimagine, create something like in your own terms, right. So when I walked into the computer lab it was so quiet and I went and I sat down and I remember I started, I started coding, right, and I was really good at this stuff, I'm really good at math, I'm really good at the sciences and I started tearing up and I was like I really hate it here, it's so quiet. And I started tearing up and I was like I really hate it, here, it's so quiet, like nobody talks, and it was like what the heck is happening? Because up until that point I had thought you just go to college and you get a job, right.

Adri Rodriguez 8:18

So I had ended up taking a lot of sociology classes because I grew up in a very conservative religion and family. And so sociology gave me like this lens of like how do other people live and what is the right? So that sense of curiosity, that sense of like being creative into thinking about others. And so I think that that from that beginning all the way to now that I'm a business owner, right Like that has been like the journey of just like I discovered something new and I'm like huh, like that's interesting. So, long story short, I end up graduating with sociology instead of being an engineer Graduate and it's like but what do people with sociology degrees do? I have no idea, but I was bilingual and so I got hired at a mental health clinic and I had like arts and crafts group for elderly folks, like viejitos de latinos.

Kita Zuleta 9:02

Like in a group in.

Adri Rodriguez 9:03

Espanol. We did arts and crafts, and it was in downtown Sacramento, and so all the people kind of started telling each other hay una muchacha en la clínica que la puedes platicar de todo, pero también te hace arts and crafts, right? So everybody started sharing that there was this safe space that I was creating where people could come and get their questions answered, because they were monolingual, the majority of them, and I was just like, of course, I'll help Eldest daughter, eldest daughter syndrome, right. Like showing up in, like this way, that was like really helpful.

Adri Rodriguez 9:36

And so I had like all these elderly folks asking questions coming to my group and all of that. And so then people around me are like, have you ever thought about getting your master's becoming a therapist? I was like no, I'm just, I'm just up to here, like this is as far as I've figured out, right, and um, long story short, everybody convinced me that this should be my path. Two weeks later I applied to grad school. A month later I'm in grad school, so door open and we don't take our time over here.

Kita Zuleta 10:04

It's if there's a decision made, we take action y'all.

Adri Rodriguez 10:08

Like the door's right there, so you're going to cross it or not, right? And I didn't have another door that was parallel. It was just like, well, let's see what happens, right? So that led me into this like 15, 19 year old career, where I worked in education, where I worked in social services and for the course of my career I really thought that I was just going to be like one of those people that grows a nonprofit, becomes an executive director, becomes like a grant manager, like this really big positions that have a lot of titles.

Adri Rodriguez 10:42

And then I got really disheartened with the work, but not because I didn't like the work. I didn't love the peopling of the systems and the barriers to actually getting students and families what they needed, right. And so then I was like, well, how can I do this in a way that is more autonomous? And so that was the part that led to deciding opening my private practice. But in there also I had a 10 year old photography business. That was like my side gig because I was an early career professional. I needed extra cash. I loved photography, so then I had this whole business like as I was building my life. So this is very long, lots of, lots of like turns.

Kita Zuleta 11:30

I literally was just about to say, as you're thinking, this is very long. I'm like as you, I don't want to say diminish, but summarize a 10 year photography business career into one sentence like, oh yeah, by the way, y'all, that is not easy. Let me tell you, it's not just a one sentence thing like that could be a whole conversation in and of itself. So I just want to like, let's take a quick beat. That side gig was a full business alongside doing everything else. Yeah, yeah, okay, we can continue. Continue summarizing all of the things that you've been doing oh my god, so so when I get to the point.

From Photography to Entrepreneur

Adri Rodriguez 12:15

They're just like, oh, I think like I want to start my private practice. I was like, all right, this is kind of like photography, right, and then I started translating some of the things that I did in photography client management, client acquisition like I'm a systems person, and so I started like what, what is the overlap here? Because I never thought about having a business as a therapist. Like I had gone to school and I have internalized this idea that you are only a therapist in this very particular way and you work for somebody and you, you know, grow your career all the way to get to like the highest levels. And I loved what photography gave me. Photography gave me a lot of flexibility, I met a lot of cool people, and so then I was like you know what? I'm gonna change the side gig because I'm not ready to quit my job. Photography has been a great, a great um, just like detour, but like I had a branding problem that everybody knew that I was a photographer and nobody knew that I was a therapist. And I was like, oh, like no, actually I have this whole other career that nobody knows because my social media therapist, even though that's my main like job because my social media presence was around photography, so I didn't have a social media presence as a therapist, right. And so I started translating all these things and started building a little corner of my life for, like the therapy, to put myself out there.

Adri Rodriguez 13:38

And then, when the pandemic hit, oh man, working in the schools as a therapist in the middle of a global pandemic, that was very hard, very hard, and that was like when the peopling got really exhausting. And so then I was like I've already run a successful business, I already know how to work hard for other people. I have this little side gig of my therapy practice. I think I can do this on my own.

Adri Rodriguez 14:07

And so 2021 comes, and I usually had July off because I was like 11 month employee, and so I said I'm going to start announcing I already had like eight clients If I am able to fill my caseload, so double to like 16, right, this month of July that I am off, then I'm going to have to quit my job because I just really can't go back Like I can't have two full-time jobs. But I was like well, we'll see. A week and a half goes by and I was full, and so then, literally I was like I guess I cannot go back to work because now I have this full on like list of people that want to work with me, and so I quit my job, and that was the beginning of my entrepreneur business side journey.

Kita Zuleta 14:53

Let's be clear that a full time entrepreneurship journey because you had essentially your therapy practice into entrepreneurship, because you already had 10 years under your belt as a side, as a side hustle photographer, you mean as a professional photographer, a professional photographer, and I didn't.

Adri Rodriguez 15:12

I don't even know to this day, as you pointed out like, why do I undermine that whole? It was, it was a whole thing and my wife and I would run it together, so it was like a family business. My, my sister, at some points would come to shoots with me. They'll be like holding, like flashes and things. I mean like I don't, you know, I'm going to sit with that. It's like, why am I undermining it?

Adri Rodriguez 15:33

Because that was a foundation, honestly, of all the success that I was able to harness really fast in therapy.

Adri Rodriguez 15:40

It was because I had already run a business and I already understood a lot of the like the details of how to run a business. And then I, as a multi-potentialite that we've talked about like multiple interests, I was able to just translate it and I was like, oh, this is photography, this is how it is for therapy, that's for photography, this is for therapy. And so, though it seems like, oh, yeah, I'm just deciding to open, right, like I hear myself, though it seems like, oh, yeah, I just decided to open, right, like I hear myself, it was not that, it was a lot of processes, a lot of learning, a lot of asking questions, and yeah. And so then that's where I decided in July 2021, if I got full, if I met like my goals, then I was going to quit my job. And I did, and that was really awesome. And then I had to make some really hard decisions about what do I do next, and so I've leaned in into the entrepreneur journey. That's a short, long story of how I got where I'm at.

Kita Zuleta 16:36

I have. I have so many questions, there's so many things I want to talk about, like just there. But I guess, too, what I'm curious about, now that we're speaking to your photography journey and how much you really had fully developed, like what the way I'm seeing that was. It's also what you tell yourself, right, like the fact that you were labeling the photography as a side hustle. Right, like you were doing your main career and because there was no need to market your career, right, you didn't need to show up online as a therapist because the work was there. Punto, like you got to show up, All you had to do is go to work, and I know that I've had this conversation, I think, maybe with you, but then also with other therapists that I've worked with, is in your very specific roles, like, I feel like as therapists, so many of the education that is, like you don't talk about what happens in the therapy room, right, so then it's not a thing that you go out and market and be like so this is the conversation we had with a client today Like it's not what is talked about online as a therapist, it's a. You are safe here, it all stays here. You get to just talk to me about it and trust that your story is safe here with me.

Kita Zuleta 17:59

And so there's no, because there's such a need in the mental health industry for professionals like yourself to be able to help those in need, especially when you're working under someone else and not for your own private practice.

Kita Zuleta 18:13

There's no need to market.

Kita Zuleta 18:14

You don't have to show up and say, hi, I'm a therapist, because going on social media, for example, isn't where you're getting your clientele, for example, isn't where you're getting your clientele, whereas es lo opuesto for photography, right.

Kita Zuleta 18:37

And so I feel like you got to go through your learning and truly growing up as an entrepreneur through the photography lens right, really learning how to market yourself, learning how to do all those backend systems Like you went through that entire process under the photography side gig hat, but truly, like you said, it was a full family business that lasted 10 years, right. And so then translating those skills to therapy ended up being a plug and play thing, where now it's just like you get to no longer work for someone else and simply apply the skills that you've developed over those 10 years to now marketing your therapy business, which, once your caseload is full, you also don't need to continue marketing, so it's not a forever marketing type of field. I've noticed it's like you come out and say, hey, I have a few slots. You know what I'm saying? That's kind of the rhythm versus for photography, for example.

Kita Zuleta 19:37

I mean you shoot a gig that client probably isn't going to need photos for at least six months a year or until they have another lifestyle milestone depending on the type of photography you're doing and I know you're doing a lot of life of all kinds, yeah, and I think it's so interesting how you know I feel like maybe it was just you weren't thinking about your photography business as a full business because it was your side gig, right, and I feel like that's the maybe detachment there, right, like not really looking at it like whoa, I was running this whole thing. It was just like, oh no, this is a hobby, or like this is just for fun kind of thing. Whole thing. It was just like, oh, no, this is a hobby, or like, oh, this is just for fun kind of thing. But I guess my question out of all of that is when you decided to go full-time therapy into your private practice, did you continue with your photography business at all? Like, was that still a side hustle for you For two years?

Adri Rodriguez 20:36

I still did two years but very, very small, just kind of like as a backup. Because so there's a couple of things that come up for me as I hear you. One, the calling the side hustle. I think what it allowed me to do was to be that creative entrepreneur. Like I don't think that even until today, until this moment, I'm making like whoa. Like actually, the fact that it felt so free, flowy that it felt like not like a necessity or like a thing that I was counting on, that pressure right, because it's different when you're a full time entrepreneur. This is your money, this is your thing, right.

Adri Rodriguez 21:07

I felt like my photography as a side hustle. Starting that way felt playful, felt interesting. I could master the skills of both the art of photography but also the running of the business. I became really autonomous on what kind of clients I wanted to work. How many weddings a year did I have capacity to take? I would schedule like I would open my season, my spring season and my fall season. I was like these are the slots if you want them taken Right. So I had a lot of control but also a lot of freedom, because it wasn't like my main gig.

The Journey of Hustle and Growth

Adri Rodriguez 21:39

And so then when I started therapy uh, private practice as a side hustle as well, cause I was still didn't quit my job until 2021, but I started my private practice 2019. So early 2019, even 2018, is when I started like working on putting it together. I think by the time that I got to like, oh yeah, like next month on putting it together, I think by the time that I got to like, oh yeah, like next month, I'm going to fill it up, I'm discounting, as I'm hearing myself, that I had already built out very thoughtfully, very mindfully, because that's where, like, the perfectionist and recovery kind of comes from. I am no longer a perfectionist where I expect things to be perfect, but I do like doing things well, and we've talked about this like about how sometimes it gives me paralysis because I'm so like, but I want to do it well, I want to make sure that it represents who I am really well. And so I'm hearing myself talk to you and I'm like devaluing a little bit, which not fair to like, my version of myself, that putting this type of work without even knowing what I was doing.

Adri Rodriguez 22:38

But much of my success now and we've talked about it in Cafecito con Jefas that sometimes it feels like, oh yeah, I'm in my like a harvest era right, that's what you call it, but this harvest era has been a 15 year pursuit to get to here, because I actually have not been like oh yeah, no, like that photography business run like a well oil machine.

Adri Rodriguez 22:58

I love people but I don't like people. And so I created systems, right, and then I was able to translate all of that into therapy when therapy felt like a side hustle, build something out and then all of a sudden, right, all of a sudden, I said oh yeah, like I'm just going to go full time and I think, like the values, the fact that like this has been a lifetime as an adult process of getting to this place and I guess where my mind goes is like that's part of being like a first gen everything right, like first gen entrepreneur, like I don't know people that run businesses. Running this photography business felt even a little bit like embarrassing at times, like, I think, because I was like why am I having a side hustle when I have this whole full career with a master's right? Like there's something about. In my experience, the entrepreneur journey wasn't super valued in the things that I thought that I would be doing. Right.

Kita Zuleta 23:50

Isn't a real job.

Adri Rodriguez 23:52

Not a real job, and that's really interesting to think about, about how, even in my language, I like minimize the entrepreneur journey that I put a heck of work in. It wasn't easy, like I put a heck of work, heck of hours. It made lots of money too right, because that was the beauty of having this side gig that I made a lot of money with it, and so I can't devalue it. So, starting today, I'm not going to devalue it anymore.

Kita Zuleta 24:19

And I'm so glad you're not, and I'm so happy that this is coming up in this conversation, because I also wanted to ensure that your fellow Jefa, our listeners, who are just getting started with their entrepreneurship journey at any capacity, are fully aware of the road to success. It's not what it looks like on Instagram, or it's certainly not what it seems, even sometimes coming out of our mouth. You said it, I think, in Cafecito a week or two ago, when you're like cumple tres años, right, when really your private practice three years full-time, but your private practice, like you said, it started in what? 2019, 2018. You really started translating everything that's work already towards your entrepreneurial therapy journey, right, so that's now build. That was building a foundation of two, three years of building your business, putting those business blocks together to where, when you said and challenged yourself that July, you hadn't just started, that mirrored back to you. But also, so our fellow Jefa aren't like, oh well, if this month I get, you know what I'm saying, like it's a great thing to have big goals and to challenge ourselves. Y así, a veces, es la única vez que nos empujamos, right, or nos tiramos to do something. So I do believe the power in manifesting things and being able to put goals out and just jumping into things, cause you know we've we're figure it outers, right, we will learn things as we go and it's totally possible for big things to happen for so many different people, but overall, the average entrepreneur Jefa takes two, three years to just build out the foundation of things before it starts seemingly just kind of flowing or getting this rhythm right. And so it took you what the two, three years from 2018 to 2021 to make that jump and saying, well, if this month I fill my capacity, you had already worked hard to get to eight clients right on a rhythm alongside your full-time job, right? And so that's where you know. I want to ensure that the misconception isn't translated to our fellow Jefa who may be just learning or trying to figure out how they're going to navigate their journey.

Kita Zuleta 26:52

Because, also, you still had your photography business on the side, so you were doing your full-time job, working for someone else. Whatever that caseload was, you had a family photography business. That had been at that point when you decided to expand into your therapy side hustle. Right and start. That you had already. I mean, if I'm calculating properly, right and start that you had already. I mean, if I'm calculating properly, when you told me you opened up in 2021, you still kept going for photography for two more years, which means you actually were still doing photography for those first five years as your entrepreneurial therapy.

Kita Zuleta 27:33

So you had five years of an entrepreneurial journey building your photography business, which means you were at a well-oiled machine point with your photography, which being at the point where you get to choose and be autonomous and be able to say this is what I am going to do, this is what I'm not going to do Yep, five years sounds about right to get to the point where you get to be choosy and you get to have your menu, like down to, this is what I do, this is what I don't get. Grab my slots, or don't? I'm good, right, like. Do you want me to take your pictures? Okay, then sign up.

Kita Zuleta 28:11

Right, like it's. You don't get to that point from zero to 100 in like three months, do you? Just because you pick up the camera, right? That's not what happened. So you had five years of that before you expanded your private practice, and then two to three years of building those foundational blocks on your private practice, getting to those eight clients, before you decided to say you know what, maybe it's time to take this full time. And even still, you still had your photography business for two years, right, and so really, translating and looking at the timelines as to what you were building, what you've been building, it's a whole lot more than just I've been doing this for three years full time whole lot more than just.

Kita Zuleta 29:02

I've been doing this for three years full time, you know, and and I want you to be able to see also, since you haven't been in the habit of seeing all the things that you're doing you know, you and I had the privilege to be able to get to know you and work with you, and so I've had a bit more insight into these things. But even now, this conversation is the first time we actually talk about these timelines in this way and I want to just be able to one give you your flowers, because, if anything, that's what is that? You said 15 years entrepreneurship. That's not even including all of the things that you were doing before as a community builder, even with what you were doing creating that safe space for those elderly people and having those, you know, it reminds me of, like Naomi from that art party who I just interviewed last week right, like the kinds of safe spaces like come and play and connect, right. But you were also answering these almost therapeutic like questions for these people and closing gaps for them, like that's building community.

Kita Zuleta 30:02

So you've done so many things over the course of what? Two decades probably now or more, to get to this point and you know, I want to be able to give you your flowers so that you can also walk away acknowledging your own hard work and everything that you've been doing to get to this point of a different version of expansion and right, we're going to get into that part in a little bit too. But I'm just really, really grateful that you allowed me to like kind of break that up and ask these questions for you, because and and sharing these stories, because it's so important for that to be shared, for that journey to come through and that's quite literally the purpose of this podcast, right, to be able to share the story beyond just the marketing aspect or the short intro that we have in Gapacito even, right, and so being able to go deeper. So I'm really excited that we got to touch on all that.

Adri Rodriguez 31:10

I'm really thankful for the pit stop because you know, I think part of from the therapist lens, right Part of surviving, I had a pretty difficult childhood growing up. I had a very difficult young adult season right. Part of how I survived I know that it was just like just keep going, just keep going. I have like in my mind this whole idea of like this can't be as good as it gets Like. I have always told myself this cannot be as good as it gets Like when I hit those walls right. And so I think that part of like that survival response, that trauma response, really has been just like go, go, go, don't even acknowledge the good stuff or the hard work, because it was just necesidad, it was just like to do it anyway. Right Like.

Adri Rodriguez 31:47

What else was I going to be doing if not having two businesses and like a whole career like in my head? And so I think it is important to appreciate right Like that I've had a journey that I put in a lot of work in. I think part of it is a little bit of like all of this, but I do have like my flowers, like recognize myself, because there's like a difference of like. I'm not boasting about it. I'm just like you're like asking me and I'm telling you and it's just like it is a pretty incredible story.

Adri Rodriguez 32:20

It is a pretty cool and a good amount of work, because in there also there's a lot of like the money work that I did to get to this place of being in a season of harvest, to continue to work and expand, is that I also navigated a lot of my money narratives, you know, 10 years ago when I started having this side hustle as well as my job Right, and so I am in a place where there's like three years of entrepreneurship. They're not just that. You know I'm not coming in fresh to think about all these things. I've already given some thought and created systems way far that are helping me have the success that I'm having right now. So thank you for the pit stop. I don't think I ever, or often do I, get to like, oh, what is happening here?

Kita Zuleta 33:08

Well, I am honored to be able to have this moment with you, because it is a pretty big aha moment, right, and especially having la costumbre to just keep pushing past any of it and not giving ourselves that acknowledgement, because that's very common for many of us, right, like in that position where, especially as first time entrepreneurs, you know, especially if it's, you know, not a real job or not acknowledged by other people you know because sometimes you get more praise for getting you know, a call center job than pursuing entrepreneurship, just because it's steady money and you know you're going into a bigger office and there's somewhere to clock in. Somehow that's more tangible and consumable for maybe family and friends or people around us. So for myself, I've learned that it's really important for us to take that time to really say no, this is one a real job. It's not easy, it's not stable, it's not a guarantee, it's not a journey that you can literally just clock in and clock out of and you know what the paycheck is going to be every week. And that's not the case, right, journey is wild and can go in a lot of different directions and evolve and all of the things, but it's a beautiful journey and it is a real job and it is a real pursuit and it is possible.

Personal and Business Why

Kita Zuleta 34:38

Tomar tiempo takes a lot of hard work, persistence. It takes determination and then also knowing why it is that we're doing. So I want to lead into the next question, finally, and have you tell us about where, obviously, this journey is, how you got to where you're at now? Right, and so now, Adri rodriguez, right, thinking about your current brand, uh, right, the mission and the purpose behind your, the products and services that you have, because now there's multiple um, I'd love for you to share with us your brand's. Why.

Adri Rodriguez 35:19

I think, on a personal level, my brand's.

Adri Rodriguez 35:21

Why is? Because why not, you know, because it is possible, because I've done it and you can do it Right, and so part of the motivation it is like a personal commitment or like a personal desire to see other people really gain Como agarrar las riendas de su vida, right, like grab on to the hardness of life and like hold on Right and say like no, no, no, I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to like push through Right, and so that's more like from a personal level and so more like from like a business perspective. You know, I realize that I navigate nowadays very privileged spaces. I am a professor in grad school, I am a therapist, right Like people come into my office like this, like little background here I'm not renting it, it's my office, right Like it is. I'm not like subletting right and things like that. Like I have a place to come in. I know a lot of amazing people, both entrepreneurs and other therapists or other people in like other fields, right, and so part of my why is how do I give back to my community? Not only by telling you what to do, because I'm no one to tell you, but to like, really have the opportunity to, for people to hear themselves, to talk about themselves, to gain self awareness about where do they come from, what influences from their family of origin, but also the society that they were brought up in. Right to have like this understanding of yourself that is deep and that is real, and that it's hard but it's also necessary, right To have like this understanding of yourself that is deep and that is real, and that it's hard but it's also necessary, right. That's, like, I think, part one of my why. Then, once we understand ourselves, I think then we have a responsibility, a self-responsibility to heal, to tend to it right, like, just take care of those parts of ourselves that we understand now where they come from, we have compassion for why they happen, but now we we got to do something about it, right, like, we got to tend to it, and then that's kind of like step three, which is this aligned action.

Adri Rodriguez 37:21

I believe that once we know about ourselves and we know the areas that we need to strengthen, then we become responsible for action that matches those values right From a perspective of justice, we all as a human right to serve joy and peace and rest and everything, right. That's not how the world really works, but as a, from my personal point of view, we all deserve it. And the other part is like putting heart into things I would say like justice, heart and creativity. Right, like my why. I want to be a person that embodies justice, that teaches other people to live with justice, right To give themselves and others like the things that they rightfully deserve. Heart, it's like what is the heart's desire? How do you honor who you are, who you love, when you are being an entrepreneur, right, like, how do you create justice around your values? And then how do you stay creative? Like, be creative because whatever.

Adri Rodriguez 38:23

There's this in therapy this is one quote that is like if you do not find the answer to a question, you might just be asking the wrong question, right. And so when there is a challenge with this creativity, right, like I like to think about, like okay, I'm having this problem, I could be like really defeated by it, or am I asking the wrong question about it and how else can I look at this thing? Right. And so my why really is about that introspection that the more that we know ourselves, the more that we heal, then our values can be the driver for this aligned action that then takes us into unimaginable places. You know, I don't know where my life is going yet, and I actually find that really exciting because there's new opportunities that I just don't even know yet what door is going to open, right? So that's my long short. Why?

Kita Zuleta 39:12

No, I love that so much and I think I love that you're also pointing out the different values that you're holding, but also encouraging others and empowering others to do in their journey as you guide them or teach them, or simply walk with them. And now, as the host of the Entity as Young Migis podcast, like hosting these types of conversations and you know, of course, because this is something that we've been able to work on, I'd love for you to share a little bit about this upcoming podcast because, as of the date of this recording, it has not yet been officially launched. Pero casi casi, we're like at the edge. Y'all, Adri and I have been working on this. She's been putting so much hard work behind the scenes for this podcast, so I am just honored to, of course, have you talk about it on the CCJ podcast. So I'd love for you to share about your vision behind the Entretias y Amigas podcast, and you know a little bit about that specific journey.

Navigating Vulnerability in Podcasting

Adri Rodriguez 40:16

Yeah. So by the time this podcast gets released, it will be out, though, like I am committing to that Now, I've said it and now it has to happen. So, in true nature to me, I always have a lot of things going on, because I love doing everything that I do, and so, um, it's coming. So what inspired me? Where did the journey began of Entre Tias Amigas? So, a few months ago, at the beginning of the year, I was having a conversation. Like I said, I tend to navigate this space. It's a privilege, right, we're like. We're like what do you think about life and what do you think about this? Like, like, these are conversations that I love having and that I I know people that love having them too, and I'm always in there in that space. And so I was with a friend. We were having a cafecito, and then we finished talking and we were just like on fire, like thought here, thought there and this and that, and then the joke came was like somebody should have listened to this, right. And then I was actually I've had this like in my heart for a while to put the this conversations out in the world, right, like one.

Adri Rodriguez 41:18

I wonder what difference it would have made for me to have had exposure to other people that were in similar journeys as mine. I know that many times throughout my journey of my early twenties, early thirties, I felt like man, like I am the only one doing stuff like this, because everybody was like very linear paths, right, and so I always felt so different because my path was never linear and it made me wonder about what difference would have made to me to have access to conversations of other people that were not living a linear life, or that they were being creative about how they lived their life, or that they had made decisions that were non-traditional like I've. For me, I'm childish on purpose, right, and so there's like all these ways that, like I've made decisions in my life that are not the traditional expectation of a Latina woman, right, which is kind of like how I'm perceived most of the time. So Entre Tiasias Amigos was kind of like that dream that I've had of just like where do people go to listen to other people's stories? Because I know that I grow when I listen to people's stories. I know that I grow when I thought partner with people who share the same values, and I know that I grow when I learn from others, right, like with that humility of just like every person that I come across has something to teach me, even if it's not something that I expected, right?

Adri Rodriguez 42:37

And so one part of the starting the podcast is that I want to have that space for me. I want to have those conversations and be able to record them. I want to have like an anthology of like what did I care about when I was 40, right, it's so cool to think about, like the record keeping, the storytelling, the just like who am I at this stage in my life? And then to be able to do a project that then also has the potential to impact and to benefit others. It's like all my values coming together.

Adri Rodriguez 43:08

The part that I've been struggling with which is really interesting is just like I feel really excited about this. But there is like this little part in my head which I've never experienced in my other businesses. So maybe you'll you'll help me like weed it out, because in my other businesses I was just like behind the scenes, put it out. Look, now I have a private practice behind the scenes. Look, now I'm a photographer, like so all these things behind the scenes. But there's something about the podcast being so public and that people will get access to me in, like, a different way. Even though I still have boundaries and I'm still making decisions about what's being shared, there is something about the public persona of me coming forward that is freaking me out and actually has thrown me a little bit into a freeze right like it is freezing me in a way that I'm frustrated with myself, with a lot of compassion. But I noticed a frustration. I noticed a confusion of like, why do I keep wishing that this was somebody else's project, that I was helping them develop? And now that it's my project and I think I've said this to you now that it's my project, I'm like, but like, do I really want to? Do I really want to Like? Do I really want to put that out there? Right, and so it has been like a really interesting part of my expansion because I chose to do this. I didn't have to. I chose to do it In my heart I know is the right thing to do, but I wonder if it is because I'm so used to like minimizing my story that it is the discomfort of that. It's like do I have things to say? Do I have things that are valuable? And I know I do and at the same time it's just like this podcast is like throwing me off for a loop. So it's really a fast. It's been a fascinating journey.

Adri Rodriguez 44:40

And the name of the Entre Tias y Amiguis. You know the Vicente Fernandez song Entre Nos, quiero Que Sepas La Verdad. Right, like. That's how I've always loved it, because I could, just, I could like. I have such a vivid image of just like. Being drunk and being like I'm going to be hecka honest right now. Right, and like.

Adri Rodriguez 44:56

What it takes for us a lot of the times to be honest is alcohol, right and so, but the sentiment of just like, what does it take to be in intimate relationships where we are honest is actually trust and respect and compassion. Right, that's how you do it without the alcohol, right and so in the song, this idea of like I'm giving myself permission to connect with you, to give you some of my inner truth, to give you some of my inner perspective, to be vulnerable about things that I don't talk about. That part is like what calls me Entre Tias y Amiguis. I want people to find a space where they can talk to their tias, their mentors, the women that have lived it already, but also the amiguis, right Like the people that we're living with, that are also figuring it out with us, right? And so that's the behind the scenes of Entre Tias y Amiguis, and so far, like the interviews that I've been having are exactly that, and so far, like the interviews that I've been having are exactly that.

Adri Rodriguez 45:58

It's just like moments of intimacy where we're learning with one another, where we're teaching one another, where they're teaching me things, and then now I hope that people get to listen to these conversations and that they feel the same impact that I'm having by recording them. It's been such an amazing experience and you helped me with the clarifying of why I was doing this, and I can talk about it now because I talked about it with you through our branding process, of understanding that it's not just to put out another project out there. It is almost like the pinnacle of photography, where I was a storyteller and then, as a therapist, I'm a story keeper and now I get to both tell and keep the stories through my podcast, and so I'm really excited, but really nervous too.

Kita Zuleta 46:40

Well, I'm really excited that we're this close for it to come out and that whole process. I mean what you're describing for it. In my brain, the category or the word that keeps coming up is it's just such a vulnerable thing to do. You know, and whether, even if, because true to form, right, like how we show up online will be curated punto, because we're not just, it's not even a reality TV show and not even a reality TV show is not that it's not real, but it's still curated. It's even, you know, like it's still you get a week's worth of, you know, nonstop filming, edited, cut and curated into the 45 minute show that it is right, like so, then it's still again curated. And so, with a brand marketing showing up online, punto, the goal will be to curate ourselves or our brand or the mission or whatever it is that we're doing accordingly, but, although it may be, like you said, boundaried and you get to decide how much or what it is that you're sharing this experience and this aspect of it I mean, as a photographer, you get to remain behind the scenes, like I think that's what has been even my biggest struggle in general, like getting on camera to show up on social media and all those things, because I'm so comfortable behind the camera right here, like literally covering my face, and so you know, that's the beauty of photography. It's like let me just show you the pictures and you know, if you see the pictures, you want more of that Cool. You get to work with me, like it really doesn't matter what I look like, who I am, you know, do we vibe enough to be able to you feel comfortable with these? Uh, with me behind the camera and directing you? Cool, cool, great. But there's not this whole like convincing of you need to like me. You just need to know that I can take your pictures, do it well, cool. And so photography is a really easy to stay behind the scenes job.

Kita Zuleta 48:56

Therapy is private, especially when you don't even have to market yourself. For the most part, right, because it's just like I get to keep it in the therapy room yourself. For the most part, right, because it's just like I get to keep it in the therapy room. And so, although you have been working through all of these things to put yourself even more so out there lately with taking on the personal brand that is Adri Rodriguez and being able to just say, like, this is what I'm doing Once it's live. It's live right and something that you and I have talked about and been practicing in order to strengthen the muscle of showing up online. Like you know, we talked about doing the close friends circle right and only sharing to specific people who we feel safe with and comfortable being able to say, like this is what I'm working on and this is what's coming, and we get to have the support and you know, the cheerleaders from our section, like we know and trust that they, you know, love us, for us or at least have been supportive, are interested in what we're doing. But once it's live, anybody can see it right, like it is officially out there for the world to see right, and so I've. I feel like that part, at least in my journey, has been the vulnerability part, the now it needs to go out.

Kita Zuleta 50:10

I remember when you know the CCJ podcast is now a year old and um the intro to know Kita Zuleta episode, girl mujer. I was like crying during that episode because, of course you know, I was like I just need to get it out, because I kept not recording my solo episodes. I had I don't know how many interviews done which were like, so easy, because having these conversations, this is fun. I'm asking about you, I want to know about your journey and, yes, I get to share and, you know, chime in. But it's not about me, right, I get to cheer y'all on and that job, that's easy. Let me promote anyone else Done. Then we got to talk about me, especially back then, even a year ago. Right, like, it wasn't my first year being an entrepreneur, but it was a first year on the mic, first year getting in front of the camera and saying, hi, I'm your host. Right, like, and doing these things. Oh, sharing my story.

Kita Zuleta 51:15

Honestly, I having to redo an introduction of myself for season two is why season two is still on the back burner. Right now, I'm like no, it's okay, I'm just going to show myself. Grace, we're going to launch season two in a bit. You know what I'm saying and I'm getting the interviews done and I'm very comfortable now Like, oh well, now, improvement, I'm doing the bio, the novice, as we start the process. This is what I wasn't doing, this in season one.

Kita Zuleta 51:44

Right, like, there's so much growth, I'm so much more comfortable and confident jumping on and saying, hi, I'm your host and like. This part is much easier. But trying to figure out how I'm going to like, condense who I am, to a reintroduction to myself and where I'm at now in order to kick off season two is like I've stopped announcing the season two podcast coming because I want to remove that stressor in order to just be able to do it and be able to say that. And so you know, in being in a similar boat, right like same, same but different, that the vulnerability part and the speaking to myself and sharing myself, and although I now thankfully have a year's worth of experience on the mic for myself, experience on the mic for myself getting on the mic has been an incredible journey back to my own voice and acknowledging so much of my journey and my story and being willing to share stories that I had never shared before.

Embracing Visibility and Taking Space

Kita Zuleta 52:56

So it's been an incredibly healing journey, you know, just having a podcast and having solo episodes on top of the interviews, and even in interviews there've been major aha moments for myself where it's like, oh, oh, that's right, oh, oh, oh, that's what that was, you know, or whatever that may be. So, you know, I feel you deeply with that version of freeze that is, and maybe not even freeze, but just being willing to let it go and release it and trusting that those who are meant to hear it will be hearing it and true to form as a brand. In general, we're not everyone's cup of tea. Right, Building a brand and owning ourself it's knowing that we are for certain people and, like the goal is to attract our ideal clients. Right, attract our ideal clients. Right, Attract our people and literally reject those who aren't because we don't want them in our life.

Kita Zuleta 54:07

We don't want them listening right, we don't want any of those things, but it's so much harder to block people's access to a podcast right Once it's on the podcast waves or you know, because this is like the commitment that is like yo, it's here, it's out there, Anybody can find it. It's not just marketing it on social media. So maybe that's a part of what's going on for you as well, but it's what is literal happening to me even and you know, CCJ is is not new to me, but there is a new generation of CCJ also. There's new Jefa that don't know me, that I don't even. I don't really want them to listen to season one, introduction to me. You know what I mean. I want to reintroduce myself now. So I feel like that can potentially be a part of what's been going on for you.

Kita Zuleta 55:00

But it is still that like opening up and allowing ourselves to be seen, which being so used to just doing the job, doing it well and not needing the acknowledgement to keep going. We just are fulfilled with work, needing the acknowledgement to keep going, we just are fulfilled with work, but then saying, look, this is it and this is what we're doing, and let me tell you all the things that we're doing in order to do what you see here. It's a very different level of showing up, showing ourselves, allowing ourselves to be seen, and both you and I, and the different types of works that we do, we still see people deeply and we give them space to feel safe and we hold people and that alone fills us. That's part of who you know, something that you and I share. I know I can say this with confidence because we know each other now Somos amigas.

Kita Zuleta 56:07

I find that we fall into the trap of not needing the acknowledgement and not almost like no, no, no, Thank you, but I don't know. Thank you for the flowers, right, Like we want to hear, like you were saying at the beginning, like listening to the bio, like that feels good to be able to say like yo, I did that Yo that is me right, but then coming out and saying this is me takes a whole different level of things.

Kita Zuleta 56:37

But I believe in you, amiga, and I'm so excited for you to actually release it and let the world see you, because you deserve to be seen and you deserve to be seen, thank you.

Kita Zuleta 56:50

And I'm so excited for all the things you're going to be teaching us, because I'm so excited to be tuning into your podcast, amiga, like I can't wait to hear you on the mic as you interact, because I've had so many conversations with you where it's like, oh yes, this is why we're friends, this is why we think deeply together, right. But also like being able to hear it in different topics and varieties.

Adri Rodriguez 57:16

Like I mean topics and varieties.

Kita Zuleta 57:17

Like I mean, that's exactly what it's about and so it's coming. It'll come and you may be scared until the moment you hit publish, right, like sometimes my husband and I like we'll work real hard, even for posts right, and then we'll be like push the button and so el otro is like share, because sometimes that's what we need to do in order for it to go live, and we're like, okay, it's out there, but it's coming and it'll take practice to get comfortable with being seen in that way. Um, especially the need to actually promote and market a podcast right, like, yes, it's out there and it's out there and people can find it. But the marketing part and saying hey, it's here and hey, go listen, and the hey, it's me, front facing is a different role and, true, to form, you're more than capable to do so. It's just flexing the muscle that is allowing yourself to be seen and on the front part of that project yeah, I know, I just share all of that.

Adri Rodriguez 58:27

There are so many messages, right, like from society, from our family, from people, casually, that they don't know that we're listening in that perspective, right, that discourage us as women, asages us as women, as queer people, as brown people, as people of color, yeah, all the intersections of who we are. We do hear messages and I think, as I hear your talk, it's like I have received a lot of messages where it's like don't take the space, serve, right, I'm great at serving, I'm great at producing, I'm great at being behind the scenes great at serving, I'm great at producing, I'm great at being behind the scenes. Um, but I don't know that I have had the voice develop in my head that says like take the space, take the space. Like you got it Right. And so I'm like right in the edge. So it is, by the time this one comes out, it will be out, I can promise that. And tengo nervios At the same time, I'm so excited and so, yeah, so I'm just like in that, like last step, but it's coming.

Adri Rodriguez 59:28

I'm very excited. I'm really thankful for the work that we did together because I feel really proud of the entire project and having a thought partner like you and I've told you, I've given you your flowers over and over but for the purpose of the podcast is being able to thought partner with someone who has as vast of a brain, if not bigger than mine, has been amazing, like my brain. Every time that I hang out with you, it's just like, yeah, okay, I'm just gonna go do it now, I'm just gonna go publish tonight. That's it like after today. It's like, hey, publish. It's just like, yeah, okay, I'm just gonna go do it now, I'm just gonna go publish tonight. That's it like after today. He's like, hey, publish, it's ready. Like what am I waiting on?

Jefa's Advice for Fellow Entrepreneurs

Kita Zuleta 1:00:05

that's how I feel right now yes, good, I'm over here, like, can we push the buttons now? What's happening? Go live now. Oh, I'm so excited. Well, whenever it is that you're going to be here, I'm so excited for you to have that. You know you've been working on this project. It's already there. Like you said, it's ready. So I'm excited for us to be able to access it as well, and for your fellow Jefa where they can follow your work. I know there's so much that we can learn from you. So y'all be sure to tune in to her podcast because, like she said, it'll be live now. So go look for the Entre Tias y Amigas podcast to learn more from Adri Pero. What piece of advice would you give your fellow Jefa?

Adri Rodriguez 1:01:00

What piece of advice would you give your fellow HFAs? I would say about? I would say something around like being patient. Being patient and with the trust in yourself that you will figure it out and the right time will come. And when you feel stuck or when you feel unsure, just allow that space to feel those feelings too. Those feelings are valid.

Adri Rodriguez 1:01:26

I don't think that I need to be confident 100% of the time to still do work. It is okay to hesitate, it is okay to have doubt, it is okay to take a pit stop, because even having this conversation, having this conversation, what if I would already publish? I would publish with the feelings that I'm having, and even right now I feel like, hmm, a little different. So like the publish is going to feel a little bit different and I thank you for that right. And so it's like divine timing, being patient with the timing, that the right strategy is going to be the strategy that works for you, and I learned that from Gita. I learned that that the right strategy is the strategy that works for you, and I really hold that to my heart and patience and self-compassion.

Kita Zuleta 1:02:11

Yeah, well, sorry, the knot in my throat is from receiving flowers because, as we share that quality too, it's hard to receive flowers at times. Well, probably more for me. But, like, thank you, I appreciate that. And, um, I'm just honored to have received the opportunity to have you trust me with that work because, I mean, it ended up being a few months that we ended up working together one-on-one, from building out your brand strategy Bible to then, you know, just extending that for one-on-one and then jumping into the cohort and you know just having different versions of support. You know being able to have you trust me with that behind the scenes part and the thinking through part, and even in this conversation.

Kita Zuleta 1:02:58

Thank you for allowing me this access to you, and it's not the first time I've thanked you for this access, as I know it is and has been a privilege to get to know you further, and I think that's probably just one more layer to the why the podcast isn't out just yet, because you have been very selective as to who you allow yourself to be seen around and protecting yourself in that way to continue to be safe, and you know that safety is a huge thing for me, right, like making sure that we feel safe in order to show up in any version of ourselves, whether it's live, in person or online.

Kita Zuleta 1:03:37

But I know that it's a privilege to hear your story and to get to know you and have that access, and so I'm really grateful for the amount of access I've received, especially this year. But it's been fantastic being able to see this expansion for you and the culmination of the journey we talked about earlier Now being able to expand in this way, and I love that. You also said earlier how you're not sure what the future looks like but you're excited for it, and I think this is just the beginning to anything that you want.

Kita Zuleta 1:04:16

Because, as we've talked about, even on your podcast when I was a guest having the ability to design our life accordingly and that's the beauty of this Jefa life right, that we do get to design our life it takes time, it takes a lot of hard work, it takes a lot of figuring out, a lot of deep work behind the scenes to really truly know this is the life that I want to design for myself, that I need to design for myself to take care of all of the different things. But, um, I'm honored to be a part of your Heffa life and really grateful to have you as an amiga.

Kita Zuleta 1:04:54

So thank you, thank you so much for that, thank you for everything I mean. Like we Heffas we could keep going with the flowers, like listen, we could like get stuck in the flowers.

Adri Rodriguez 1:04:57

So, amiga, so thank you, thank you so much for that, thank you for everything. I mean, like we have, we could keep going with the flowers, like listen, we could like get stuck in the flowers. So I'm just gonna say I receive it, I see you and it's coming. More is coming because I just the divine timing of meeting you, your community and, you know, spending some of the the best, more strategic money that I've ever spent in my professional life, and I know that spending some of the best, more strategic money that I've ever spent in my professional life, and I know that this is some of the money that is going to like build me up into some other parts and so investing in our business with people that we trust, like finding you, has been like the best of both worlds, and so I will not keep going into flowers because we will get stuck here, but I really appreciate it, here's yours.

Kita Zuleta 1:05:42

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Adri Rodriguez 1:05:46

I love you so much, I appreciate you so much and I respect you. I respect you a whole lot and I'm really thankful to you know to even have waited to be a guest in your podcast. Like what a different place we're in than if you know we would have done it last year. So divine timing y paciencia. Absolutely, we're going to get there.

Kita Zuleta 1:06:06

I'm so excited. I'm so excited we're here and, yes, we will continue with the interview, because we will continue to praise one another and go deeper, because it's so much emotion that is here, that lives here in this relationship, because there are now layers to it and it's an honor and, yes, all of it. So, before we wrap up, where can your fellow Jefa find you? Support your work, tune into your podcast, work with you as a therapist? How are all the different ways that your fellow Jefa podcast work with you as a therapist? How are all the different ways that your fellow half-ass can work with you?

Adri Rodriguez 1:06:42

so the main uh gate sort of to access me is my instagram. That is like kind of like my mini version of a website. So adri underscore rodriguez with a z wellness all together. So adri underscore rodriguez, wellness. Um, my instagram is kind of what links you everywhere in terms of therapy AdrianaRodriguezTherapycom. So that's like where you can go directly. But my Instagram is the best place because then you'll find all my links, for the podcast Entre Tias Amigas is going to be like just almost also hit so that that website comes live. So Instagram will be the best place to get to me and feel free to like reach out. Like I don't you do not have to be like a client or something like. I just love thought, partnering and getting to know people that are hungry, that are creative, that are excited, that are like looking, you know, for inspiration. Like hit me up, let's have a cafecito. You know, let's be in community.

Kita Zuleta 1:07:36

I grow in, my community grows, so it's yeah, so that's how you can find me Awesome and, of course, check the show notes and the CCJ website once her podcast episode is live. Since her podcast will also be live by then, all of the links will be updated accordingly. So please be sure to check out the page with her podcast interview and follow all the rabbit holes to be able to check out her work and support her journey. So now there are a couple rapid fire questions that I want to ask you that aren't about your Heva journey specifically, but just to get to know you in a different manner. Of course, you know we're a cafecito loving community, so, whether it's cafecito or tea, what is your favorite drink or your go-to drink when you hit your local coffee shop?

Adri Rodriguez 1:08:23

An oat milk latte ice with half vanilla.

Kita Zuleta 1:08:28

Nice, that sounds so good and so refreshing.

Adri Rodriguez 1:08:32

Yeah, so good.

Kita Zuleta 1:08:34

So good. Now, what is a book that has impacted your life that you would gift a fellow Jefa?

Adri Rodriguez 1:08:43

It's a nonfiction book called the Midnight Library and I read it last year and it is such a good book. Do you have it?

Kita Zuleta 1:08:50

I do Hold on, I have it. Yes, I have it right here. Oh my gosh, such such a good book. I had to make a mess of the visual so for anyone watching that, you just saw how I had to jump out of my seat to grab the book. So good, I've been actually thinking about reading it again because it's been like a year or two since I listened to it. So such a good book, y'all Theall.

Adri Rodriguez 1:09:21

the midnight library, by Matt Haig, I think, is how you, yeah and what I love it is because it's about the multiple, multiple roads. You can take any road and get to an amazing place. You could take any road and get to a difficult place, and so it's not about, like I said, like I don't know what the future holds, but whatever road is, it's going where I need to go and we're going to make it happen. So that's what that book reminds me of.

Kita Zuleta 1:09:45

That is awesome. Yes, I love it. Okay, pues Bueno, amigas. Thank you, amiga. Thank you so much for being here, for sharing your story, for allowing myself, but also your fellow Jefa, to witness this piece of your journey and learning from your experience and also being able to gain the confidence that it's possible. That's something that I know, I've told you in Cafecito before, where you've shared your milestones with us, and we need to hear that in this community, we need to be able to see que si se puede, you know, and it takes hard work, it doesn't happen overnight, pero si se puede. And being able to see que si se puede, you know and it takes hard work, it doesn't happen overnight, pero si se puede. And being able to know that with hard work, dedication, we are able to hit these milestones, that having this Jefa life is a real job. You know there are so many validating things to seeing Jefa like yourself that have been on this journey for 15 plus years or so on different routes and different pursuits. Being able to translate the skills that are running a business is huge and it's possible, and so I'm so excited for the continued expansion of your businesses, of your new podcast. So, thank you, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Thank you for having me. Bueno, Jefa, thank you. Thank you so much for hanging out with us, for getting to know your fellow Jefa, adri. Again, be sure to check out AdrianaRodriguezTherapycom for her current website, where you can follow everything there, and then on her Instagram, it's Adri underscore Rodriguez wellness, where you can connect with her directly and follow all the rabbit trails to be able to see where to go to support her work. And then, of course, once this episode is live, you can check out the CCJ podcast on the website and you'll see all of the updated links to be able to support her work. So, thank you, thank you so much for hanging out with us. Until next time, Jefa, thank you for listening to the Cafecito con Jefas Podcast.

Kita Zuleta 1:11:47

Well, Jefa, that's a wrap for today's episode. I hope you're leaving with fresh ideas, encouragement and inspiration to keep going. Being a Jefa isn't about having it all figured out. It's about showing up, learning, growing and taking imperfect action towards your vision. Remember, Jefa, you are not alone. This community is here to support you, cheer you on and celebrate your wins, because we go farther together. So let's do it. Scared pero juntas. If you enjoyed today's episode. Show some love by leaving a review and sharing it with a fellow Jefa. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss the incredible stories we have in store.

Kita Zuleta 1:12:27

If you're looking for a place to connect and focus, join our Cafecito and coworking sessions. Sign up to our email list to get those invitations directly into your inbox. Come as you are when you can and surround yourself with your fellow Jefa. I can't wait to connect with you at a future cafecito. Connect and follow along with the community on Instagram at Cafecito con Jefas, and you can reach yours truly directly at la Jefa Kita. If you're ready to grow your brand online and looking for guidance, book a free consultation with me, and together we'll develop strategies that are in alignment with the season you're in. I'd be honored to walk with you on your Jefa journey. Before we go, remember that being a Jefa is an ever-evolving journey. There's no rush and no finish line. Just keep going. Pasito a pasito. Until next time. I'm your host, Kita Zuleta. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Cafecito Con Jefas podcast.