The Invernadero Mind Podcast

Today's guest is someone I adore! His name is Ray and I'm honestly so grateful he agreed to do this interview, Ray happens to be dyslexic and also a writer, and is currently on his path to becoming an entrepreneur, he is opening an agency for writers who may struggle to find their path in their careers. Through his writing agency his purpose is to empower dyslexic and minority writers. He believes in diversity, inclusivity and of course a fair pay for their talent.

We discussed his early years of education and the challenges he faced, he tells us how he got diagnosed later in his college years, and how this helped him fuel his passion for pursuing his goals. He tells us about his book The golden boy and the process of publishing it.

We also discussed the fears of turning 30, aging, relationships ...and even mental health, I was very inspired by his story.

My guest today is living her dream life, she graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. she also has a Master’s in Industrial Engineering.

And is currently working at NASA full-time as a thermal engineer, she works on super cool projects including the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), which is a rover going to the moon in 2023 and the Artemis Program doing thermal analysis and susbsystem management for Orion.

Through her platforms she hopes to inspire and guide other women who are interested in following a career in STEM or wish to connect with other women in science. We discuss representation, discrimination, and the challenges she encountered as a young woman in this field. Guys she is also a Libra, you will learn in this interview that her and I share the same birth day, so that added to my already biased opinion about her! Let's welcome Zaida Hernandez.

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This weeks episode is a little different, we are talking about sustainability and my next guest is very passionate about what she does, she is a sustainability blogger and advisor who guides people explore better alternatives for consumption that is budget friendly and of course environmentally friendly as well. We navigate different topics around sustainability such as advocacy, lifestyle choices, and even politics. I loved this chat because I was very relaxing and educational at the same time.

Stay tuned!

This week's episode has me super pumped, I got the pleasure to speak to Bailey Burns. She is an Aerospace Systems Engineer working to get humans back on the moon. She focuses on life support for extreme environments, basically, she works on keeping astronauts alive in space. One thing I learned from interviewing many women in this field is that space is definitely trying to kill you. fun stuff!

She works on a lot very cool projects such as developing the Lunar Lander which is meant to go back up to the moon, definitely one of the most crucial parts of the Artemis mission.

We also discuss representation, last year we got amazing news!  NASA announced a team of 18 astronauts that will be part of the Artemis Program which is the program taking us back to the moon! Of those 18 astronauts, HALF are women, among them there are black women, an Iranian American, and an LGBT astronaut.

We discuss her college years, the steps she took to gain experience, imposter syndrome, and how sometimes the backlash women may face can come from other women!

She tells us her desires to go to space and her experience on being an analog astronaut, which is a program to train, research and learn stuff you would need to if you were in space.

Bailey is also an ambassador for Rubik's cube, and wants to be the first person who solves a Rubik's cube on space! 

Stay tuned!

I'm so excited for this week's episode, I had the pleasure to speak with Devon Pawley, it was actually December of last year when we recorded this interview, and a few things have changed. To begin with she is super close completing her Phd and we will be able to call her soon A doctor! How cool is that?  She worked so hard to earn her PHD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology @ University of Miami, she also holds a Bachelor on Biomedical Engineering.   She develops point of care diagnostics, that facilitates testing for diseases such as Zika or now COVID. How cool is that?   She tells us how her research and work allows her to engineer technologies that can provide a rapid result which is much needed specially in communities where this might be a challenge.   We also talk women in stem, and the misconceptions people may have. She explains that even though there is some work to be done, there are more women scientists in her field.   She spills the tea on how she decided to study biochemistry and what the college process looked like for her. She talks to us about her PhD research which will soon her to earn her very well deserved title - Doctor!  

Stay tuned!

This week's episode is such a good interview! I loved talking to Nistha Dube, she is a Mindset Coach, motivational speaker, and a self published author of her most recent released poetry book. 

She discusses abundance, and how to switch our mindset so that we can attract and manifest the things we want. She holds a Bachelor's in Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience and participated in events such as Seth Godin's Akimbo Workshops. Her expertise has allowed her to start her own journey as a coach, speaker, podcaster, and now writer!

I love the energy and the lessons she brings to the table and I think you will too! 

Stay tuned!

This week's episode I'm joined by the talented Shreya Malik. She is a software engineer who recently switched her career to be a product manager, but is still pretty much immersed in the tech industry.  

We discuss her beginnings and how she had to push hard to overcome certain barriers such as being a young female or a multi-minority as she calls it in the tech industry. She also tells us about her movement called "React Resiliently" which I absolutely love, as women we face all kinds of challenges and are often times misjudged and called emotional, or sensitive. Truth is, women have proved to be great leaders and Shreya embodies that. 

Stay tuned for more!

Shayla Redmond is an Aerospace Engineer who has a passion for science, art and space. 

She earned a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Physics from Tuskegee University and a Master’s of Science Degree in Systems Engineering with a concentration in Space Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology. 

She tells us how even after gaining experience and earning her place at the Air Force, she still wanted to pursue her passion for science and space. She joined the Project Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere (PoSSUM) in fall 2017 where she is a citizen scientist who works on research and suborbital training. 

Shayla is also a mechanical Engineer at Mercer Research Center in Georgia where she works with aerospace contracts in support of sustainment and innovation.  She is also  a PoSSUM 13 ambassador – a program created to incentivize young women to research, train and potentially earn a pass to experience microgravity. sounds pretty cool right? 

What i love about Shayla is that she is also committed to supporting education and finding ways to teach young students science through her passion for art. She created STEAM Unlimited to teach people some science through art 

As an aspiring astronaut she plans on continuing her work on researching and testing field of the upper atmosphere and beyond  I love her charisma and I think you will too.

For this week's episode I had the pleasure to interview the amazing Celeste from @talkerceleste 

She is a musician, songwriter and singer based in LA. She describes her music as "emo indie rock with glitter all over it", and created one of my favorite songs :)

Her talents and amazing voice led her to collaborate with other well known bands such as Frenship and sing as one of the lead female voices for one of my other top favorite songs Capsize 🎶

She's is so down to earth, funny and is open to having discussions about everything, especially those that are universal must-have conversations such as equality and social injustice.

She was vocal about different topics that are important discussing and used her platform to raise awareness around the presidential elections. 

We also discussed the challenges a female independent artist may face in the music industry and how Celeste deals with the famous "mansplaining".

Find out how she became who she is now and her future plans around her music☺☺️👏🏻

Today's episode I have Marine Leclerc as a guest, she is a sustainability coach and helps people, specially women to adjust their habits and practices to be more sustainable and minimize their carbon footprint.

She tells us how she became interested in blogging her journey and how she decided to start teaching and guiding others. Through her work, many people have learned to adjust and switch to better products and practices. Her blog Attitude Organic, she shows us tips, provides resources, and much more ! it's a true pleasure to visit her page and explore all the goodies she has to offer.

What I like about Marine is that she believes in being gentle and kind to yourself while adopting new habits, for example, she believes that the term ''zero waste'' puts a lot of pressure on people and this may have a counterproductive effect. Instead, she believes that minimizing waste production where we can and taking it slow, is the best approach.

We also discuss eco-anxiety and how to combat this.

Stay tuned !

This week's guest is someone who I admire very much, she is an activist, advocate, speaker, writer and recently founded Raise Our Voice Australia to empower and inspire young women and non binary people to lead the conversation in domestic policy, foreign policy and politics. Among her awards and accolades: she is a Forbes 30 under 30 listee, won the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Woman of the year in 2018, and was also recognized as one of Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence.

She believes that there should be more young people involved in policy and public decision making and is working hard to make this happen.

Listen to her story in today's new episode :)

This week's episode I have someone who is super inspiring, her name is Shawna Pandya and she is a physician, scientist-astronaut candidate with Project Possum. She is also aquanaut, speaker, martial artist, advanced diver, skydiver, pilot-in-training, VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies and Fellow of the Explorers’ Club. She is also Director of the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences (IIAS)/PoSSUM Space  Medicine Group, Chief Instructor of the IIAS/PoSSUM Operational Space Medicine course, Chair of Strategic Directives for the PoSSUM13, clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta, a newly appointed Primary Investigator (PI) for the Shad Canada-Blue Origin student microgravity competition, session organizer for ASCEND 2020 and serves as medical advisor to several space companies, including Orbital Assembly Construction, Mission: Space Food, and United Space Structures. Dr. Pandya holds degrees in neuroscience (BSc Hons. Neuroscience, University of Alberta), space (MSc Space Studies, International Space University), and medicine (MD, University of Alberta), and a certification in entrepreneurship (Graduate Studies Program, Singularity University).

She has recently completed a fellowship in Wilderness Medicine (Academy of Wilderness Medicine) and was named an ambassador for the PoSSUM 13, an initiative to make space opportunities and engagement more accessible to students, particularly girls and young women. She also serves as the Chair of Strategic Development for this initiative. In early 2020, Dr. Pandya was also named Director of the PoSSUM Space Medicine Group, which aims to catalyze the development of knowledge, data, testing, protocols, tools and technologies that will positively contribute to the development of space and terrestrial medicine.

Throughout her medical career, Dr. Pandya has had many unique experiences, through rotations in cardiac surgery in India, orthopedic surgery in Ecuador, reconstructive surgery at Stanford, and Aerospace Medicine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. As part of her work at NASA, Dr. Pandya delineated medical scenarios and optimized the Medical Kit contents for a Near-Earth Asteroid Mission, which was praised by NASA Astronaut Dr. Kjell Lindgren as “outstanding” and “invaluable towards the body of work for long-duration spaceflight.” Dr. Pandya has also worked at the European Space Agency’s European Astronaut Center Crew Medical Support Office in Germany, delineating a Quick-Reference Guide for Crew Health Hazards to the Autonomous Transfer Vehicle.

Dr. Pandya also has an entrepreneurial streak. Her first company, CiviGuard, was founded in 2009 in response to Singularity University’s challenge to “positively impact 1 billion people in 10 years using technology.” Through CiviGuard, the founding team presented their work at the White House, Google.org and the United Nations Emergency Telecommunications Committee, and was covered by BBC, Inc. and Entrepreneur magazine. In 2020, she joined Luxsonic Technologies as VP Immersive Medicine, where she helps develop VR-based tools for medical imaging and education.

This woman shows that you can have many dreams and literally do them all, if you get creative and are willing to hard very hard!

This episode touched home in some many levels because I suffered major cystic acne when I was younger and went through the emotional journey of self-acceptance, image and self-love. Cherie guides us through the best ways to deal with our feelings and thoughts in a way that we are learning to accept and love ourselves rather than judge and reject our own image. 

We also discuss mental health and toxic relationships and not just in the romantic sense but also friendships and family relationships, as i said, everything touched home for me. What I loved about this interview is that Cherie has a fantastic way to approach these topics without making you feel guilty for your actions or thoughts. She kindly guides us and explains what happens through our mind and body and teaches us how to deal with anger, pain, sadness, regret, and many other negative feelings that can be detrimental to our mental health. She is the best friend everyone needs :)

Stay tuned and joins us in our Facebook group to discuss the question at the end of this episode :)

My next guest is an educator, mother, and sustainability blogger. Her platform has allowed her to teach and provide easy-to-follow steps to minimize waste production that her audience appreciates, she believes in baby steps. We discuss global warming and the education system, she explains how important it is for schools to get onboard with the trash problem we have in the world and says that children are very interested in learning about this but everything starts with educators and parents. 

We also discuss mindfulness and mental health, and eco-anxiety which is a very real feeling that can take a toll on our mental health and we must learn to channel. 

Stay tuned and joins us in our Facebook group to discuss the question at the end of this episode :)

This weeks I'm joined by Mariacamila Garcia, she is currently studying at Cornell to become a veterinary. We talk about her struggles in getting admitted to school, we also explore the tabu around learning disabilities and how important it is for people to bring light to it and become aware of how many people suffer with learning disabilities and get dismissed by educators or even parents. 

We talk about representation and why it is important to have a strong support system specially when you are minority. She mentions that being hispanic in the veterinary field has opened new opportunities for learning and teaching other non hispanic doctors about the many cultural differences that doctors have to consider while treating patients, one of them being the stigma around spaying dogs in the Latinx community.

She discusses animal conservation and One Health which is a project she is working on! 

Stay tuned and joins us after the episode in our Facebook group to discuss the question at the end of this episode :)