Amiga Circle

With so many changes in our tax system due to covid, we decided to highlight the topic and discuss the basics of our tax system with local tax guru Vivian Barrera owner of Maya Professional Services.

She shares with us tips and resources on how to file individual and business taxes, covers the difference between deductions, credits, explains which one's better, and some common tax misconceptions that she's seen over the years. 

The economic status of women in Tennessee has made considerable advances in recent years however women of color still face inequities that often prevent them from reaching their full potential. Unfortunately, Tennessee still ranks in the worst third in the nation for both women’s Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity.

That’s why we had this conversation with three local Latinas from different industries, Arielle Garcia-Hayes, Nahomi Ortiz and Veronica Perro focused on awareness, advocacy, and structural change to build true equity for Latina women in Tennessee as we navigate inequality through the covid-19 crisis and beyond.

Claudia Caballero is President & CEO of Centro Hispano de East Tennessee, a nonprofit that works to empower the Latino community through education, workforce development, youth, and family engagement, and resource referral services. During her five-year tenure at Centro Hispano she has increased the organization’s annual income tenfold and expanded its staff from one employee to over 30 full and part-time team members. Raised between Honduras and the United States, she is both bicultural and bilingual.

In 2021 Caballero was the first Latina to join KUB’s board. She is a member of Conexión Américas’ Mosaic Fellowship class of 2018, the 2019 class of Leadership Knoxville, and class VII of Leadership Tennessee. She is the recipient of the YWCA Emerging Leader Award, the Young Professionals of Knoxville Outstanding Young Professional Award, and was named to the 2019 Knox.biz list of 40 Under 40 and VIP Knoxville’s 2020 list of VIP Women. Caballero is currently pursuing her Executive MBA from Vanderbilt.

In this episode, our conversation is more relaxed and personal as we talk to Dominique Brandt, originally from Miami, FL, and relocated to Chattanooga in 2013 to work in community engagement and development. She talks about her previous life, as she calls it, as a real estate paralegal, event planner and how she never stops looking for the next professional venture and life adventure thanks to her Dominican mom who played a huge influence in her life and taught her how to adjust to new circumstances.

This episode gets real quick as we talk to Silvia Ramos an Afro-Indigenous Peruana about how we can figure out what type of changemaker we "want to be when they realize that many of us have inherited systems of inequities and in order to dismantle those systems, we have to be intentional and examine ourselves."

She utilizes her background as a transformative equity strategist professional to partner with higher education, non-profit organizations, and corporations to assist them in achieving systemic equity and inclusive excellence. Her passion quickly grew into a lifelong commitment to dismantling barriers within education that prevent underrepresented students, schools, and their communities from experiencing the full benefits of education. 

Jeannette Ceja is an award-winning seasoned bilingual Travel Journalist, TV Host, Travel Advisor, and Global Public Speaker. Her work and experience has taken her to over 60 countries to date. She also has interviewed countless celebrities, politicians, athletes, and travel experts on the red carpet. Jeannette's work has appeared on ABC7 Los Angeles, FOX 11 Los Angeles, Mexico Travel Channel, and countless media outlets around the world. Founder and podcast host, Jocelyn Loza, talks to Jeannette about her journey and how she continues to shed light on the lack of diversity in the Travel industry.

Shadrina Booker is a proud Afro-Latina that strives to break down the stereotypes of what a ‘Latina’ traditionally looks like. As a Dominican-American raised in Miami, FL, the change of moving and adapting to a less diverse city like Chattanooga has brought all sorts of unchartered assumptions and questions.

Her work in education and non-profits allows her to align her professional and personal passion of being a part of increasing competency as it relates to culture, ethnicity, and race.

Wendy Amara started her career in the non-profit industry. She thought that this career path would make her happy but it made her realized that this isn't her type of happiness. Life changed for her when she attended a life coaching seminar. She learned that she can take control of her life, her decisions, and her future.

Today, Wendy is a Strategic Life and Business coach, speaker, and trainer. She has coached thousands of individuals over the past 15 years into achieving their life goals. Learn how to take your career to the next level and how to speak to your future self.

Arielle Garcia-Hayes started as an inner-city schoolteacher and today leads one of the best turnaround schools in the Chattanooga area. Arielle opens up about her path to being a principal and recognizing the strength of her experiences as she tackles educational inequity. Arielle also talks about how the cultural challenges of being a Latina who doesn’t speak Spanish really means and how, together, we can battle these outdated stereotypes.

Carolina Calderón is a Latina who 10 years ago left her native Costa Rica to come and live in the U.S. with her family.  She, like many other fellow immigrant women, had to learn how to adapt to a new country, a new language, and a new culture. She has adapted to her new home in Chattanooga and has been involved in several community projects. She recently joined the Board of A Step Ahead Chattanooga and the American Red Cross, and can’t wait for the next challenge where she can continue helping and supporting her community at the same time sharing the love for her Latino culture.

Valentina Escobar-Gonzalez founded Beyond Engagement, a Social Media Solutions company in the Johnson City area in January 2012 a year after relocating from Miami, FL and she has not slowed down since. She has a passion for assisting small businesses in growing their engagement online using social media marketing strategies.

A native of Guatemala she launched her financial services business with her sister in Chattanooga. Calling Chattanooga home for 25 years, you could say Vivian is a pioneer for the Latino community.

Raised by an immigrant family with deep entrepreneurial roots, where money was always dinner conversation, Vivian provides a plethora of information for small business owners who are looking for local and government grants.

Let's talk about education, traveling, and the Spanish language. Jocelyn talks to Jaime who isn't only an ESL teacher, she also founded Charlanooga, a group where adults gather and talk in Spanish only. And she is quick to provide a plethora of resources for parents with school-aged children.

Josselyn knows how to agitate for change. Her journey would make an awesome movie. From humble beginnings in Honduras to serving the United States Navy to traveling the world. She never stopped innovating. Today she is at Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and will be starting her own clothing line with a purpose.

"...when you walk into the room you want your smarts to be the focus of their attention."

Join us on our first podcast interview with the host and founder of Latina Professionals, Jocelyn Loza. She chats with remarkable Latinas about their accomplishments, how they are coping with staying at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, what projects they are working on, and everything in between.

Francia Portacio is our first interview, she tells Jocelyn about her experience moving from Colombia to the United States and her career in health science.