The Power of My Stripes
Journal Entry #1:
🦓 Reclaiming the Zebra as a Source of Power
A single moment of painful childhood discrimination can fuel decades of identity struggle. This is a story about reclaiming what makes us each unique and teaching children that being different is what makes them special and is their greatest strength and boldest design.
The zebra is a magnificent creature—a symbol of wild beauty and unique distinction. Its bold, contrasting stripes are a stunning display of nature's design, essential for camouflage, identity within the herd, and making the animal utterly amazing to watch. Yet, at a vulnerable moment in 5th grade in rural Ohio, one child's cruel words weaponized that very beauty. I remember the shock and embarrassment when I was told my small crush on a boy was impossible because, as they put it, we would have ugly "striped zebra children." That cruel comment, delivered with the dismissive ease of a playground joke, landed like a brick, making me feel different than all the other children, fundamentally less than and undesirable. The message was clear: my identity—my skin, my heritage—was something awkward, mismatched, and wrong. It was a devastating, casual slight that took something inherently powerful and beautiful and twisted it into a source of shame and inadequacy.
The Silence and the Struggle
That shame lingered with me for a long time. In the 1970s, as a Mexican American girl, I had no language, no resources, and nowhere to turn. There was no forum to express myself except for my parents or family, and I didn't want to hurt them either. I was embarrassed and I never told my parents about it. That silence was a great wound; it allowed the pain to settle and grow. As an adult, I sometimes think, did I make too much of a simple joke? But the vulnerability of that young girl speaks the truth: I didn't have the tools to know what to do, and the damage was done.
As I continued to grow up in our small school district with no Latino representation in school except for one other boy, this pain festered into a denial of identity. I didn't want to identify as Mexican American. I learned to minimize my difference, caught in a place where I was not Latina enough (because I didn't speak Spanish), yet definitely not the traditional "White" person the world valued.
My Strategic Pivot and Cultural Reclamation
Though I had learned to be proud of my culture as an adult, the real turning point came in 2014, when I was 44. I was asked to become a part of a relatively new digital platform called Latin Biz Today (LBT), a forum designed to help Latino entrepreneurs and small business owners.
My immediate reaction was hesitation, rooted in my lifelong insecurity: I didn't feel I would be a credible asset to the publication. Not speaking Spanish fluently made me feel disqualified from leading within a community I knew I belonged to. But I was pushed a bit—right into my uncomfortable zone.
This challenge was the necessary catalyst. I decided to lean into my discomfort and leverage my strategic leadership skills developed from 20 years in the fashion industry heading up creative teams. This was the moment I truly began to embrace my Mexican American ethnicity, not just privately, but publicly, professionally, and with confidence. I channeled my creative and strategic energy into:
Launching and hosting the Cafecito with Latin Biz Today podcast, a place for casual, authentic conversations with Latino leaders in their respective fields.
Leading networking events designed to foster connection and growth within the Latino business community.
Developing specialized content that utilized the beauty of my Mexican American culture, including traditions, recipes, arts and crafts, and travel.
Highlighting other inspirational business owners and professionals from the Latino community.
My work with LBT became a step in my Latina journey—where I used my corporate power to amplify the very narratives I once struggled to tell.
The Final Creative Outlet: Telling My Stories
The ultimate expression of my confidence came in the Summer of 2025. It was then that I finally felt ready to share all my stories of growing up as a young Latina, specifically those rich memories of spending my summers in Texas with my large family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Recalling all of the wonderful stories I had heard over those years became a way for me to express my fashion creativity—my innate ability to design and build—in another powerful way: storytelling. I am now using my strategic and creative energy to ensure other young children see themselves represented equally in my books.
We Don't Need to be "Enough" of one Thing; We need to be 100% of Ourselves.
Through all of this I've learned that we need to forget trying to fit neatly into one space. We have to stop feeling the pressure to "check the box" that limits who we are. Life isn't a multiple-choice test; it's a rich, dynamic story. Being 100% ourselves means blending together all our layers—our upbringing, our career, our culture, and our wisdom—and never minimizing any part of that story. My own personal journey shows the damage that can be done with the words we use, and the silence we keep. It has lifelong consequences. We must equip today’s children with the tools I lacked.
The Takeaway: Lessons for Today’s Children
3 Ways to Help Children See their Superpower
Give Them Language for Pain: Teach children to name exclusionary comments as "microaggressions" or "an unkindness". By giving the feeling a name, you give the child a tool to validate the problem and address it, rather than carry it internally as something inherently wrong with them.
Celebrate the "Mix": If a child mentions feeling different or "not enough," immediately point out the unique advantages of their blend of cultures or perspectives. Their "mix" gives them unique perspective and empathy. Remind them: Their identity is a strong, beautiful design, not a mistake.
Encourage Their Story (The Safe Space): Like the outlets of art, fashion and reading that provided me with a non-verbal sanctuary to protect my self-worth and fuel my future creativity and professional life, these creative outlets serve as essential tools for processing pain and validating identity when lacking the language and safe spaces to address the unkindness directly. Ensure that children have a safe, creative outlet (writing, drawing, or reading books with diverse characters) where they can express the feelings that their verbal language hasn't yet caught up to.
Today, I've reclaimed the zebra as a powerful symbol of difference, a strong, beautiful creature with bold, unique markings, not unlike my unique heritage.
Let's make sure the next generation knows: Your difference is your superpower. Own it!