Behind The Work by Jessica Santana

Judith Martinez On Women, Courage and Social Change

Judith Martinez has built her life around a single question: what would you do if you were one percent more courageous? It sounds simple. But for the young women of color she has spent her career serving, that one percent is the difference between staying small and stepping fully into who they were always meant to be.This week, Judith joins us on Behind The Work.Judith is the Founder and CEO of InHerShoes — the modern woman's community for courage — a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to catalyzing courage for young women of color around the world. She is a first-generation Filipina-American, an LA native, a Forbes 30 Under 30 nominee, a Vital Voices and TRESemmé Global Leadership Fellow, a United State of Women Ambassador for California, and a 2021 awardee hand-selected by Serena Williams and Stuart Weitzman for her work in cross-generational equity. She has spoken at the United Nations Youth Assembly, worked alongside Echoing Green fellows, and most recently served as Director of Social Impact and Inclusion at Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez — where her work helped earn the brand a 2023 Fast Company Brands That Matter recognition.In this conversation, we get into where InHerShoes came from — what Judith saw in young women of color that made her say courage is the thing we have to activate. We talk about what it felt like to speak at the UN Youth Assembly in the early years, what traditional institutions are still getting wrong about developing leaders, and what she learned co-authoring the first book written by students, for students, on leadership in higher education.We also get into the corporate world — what drew her to Rare Beauty, what social impact looks like from inside a brand versus inside a nonprofit, and how she navigates the line between performative and authentic impact when the pressure to perform is real. We talk about what the 2020 national awakening taught her about the relationship between individual courage and systemic change. And we talk about the hardest moment in her journey — and what it revealed about what she is actually made of.This episode is for you if:- You have an idea, a vision, or a calling you've been too afraid to begin — and you need someone to remind you that one percent is enough to start.- You're a first-generation woman navigating systems that weren't built for you and trying to build something that will outlast you.- You work in social impact — inside a nonprofit, a brand, or a corporation — and you're thinking hard about how to protect the integrity of the mission.- You're a young leader trying to figure out how to build power without losing yourself in the process.- You've been waiting for permission to step into the room — and you need someone to tell you the permission was always yours.- You want to understand what it really looks like to build a movement from the ground up — the parts that worked, the parts that didn't, and the moments that changed everything.Connect with Jessica:- Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter — link in bio- Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessicasantana- Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow- Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide- Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindtheworkAbout Behind The Work:Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career, and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.

Charlotte Castillo On Latinas & Civic Engagement with Poderistas

Charlotte Castillo was seven years old when she became the Chief Translator for her Dominican immigrant family in New York City. She didn't know it then, but she was already doing the work — figuring things out beyond her years, building courage in real time, and learning how to move between worlds. Twenty years later, she's still translating. Just on a much bigger stage.This week, Charlotte joins us on Behind The Work.Charlotte is the Managing Director of Poderistas — one of the fastest-growing and most influential digital communities celebrating Latina culture in the United States. Before that, she spent over 14 years as an award-winning senior executive at ViacomCBS, and before that, she was the founding Head of Marketing at Latina Magazine — the first print publication ever created for the bicultural Latina. She is a first-generation college graduate from Wesleyan University, the proud daughter of Dominican immigrants, a New Yorker to her core, and a mother of a 16-year-old son.In this conversation, we start at the beginning — what it was like to grow up as the daughter of Dominican immigrants in New York, and how that environment shaped her sense of identity, resourcefulness, and ambition. We talk about what it meant to be part of Latina Magazine from the very start, and what drew her deeper into media and marketing for a community that had long been underserved and misunderstood.We get into the pivot — what made her walk away from a long, successful corporate career, how she found Poderistas as a volunteer after being laid off during the pandemic, and what it felt like to step into something so mission-driven after 14 years inside one of the most powerful media companies in the world. We talk about why Poderistas works — why leading with culture, beauty, health, and entertainment creates the trust that makes civic engagement possible — and what she has learned about what actually moves people from awareness to action. We get into the danger of treating Latinas as a monolith, what it really looks like to correct that in media and politics, and what Latina power means not as a slogan, but as a real, lived practice in everyday life.This episode is for you if:- You've spent years building someone else's vision and you're starting to feel the pull toward something that actually reflects your values.- You're navigating the transition from a corporate career to mission-driven work and want to hear from someone who made that shift and found her footing.- You care about civic engagement but feel like traditional outreach has never spoken to you — and you want to understand a different approach.- You're a Latina who is tired of being treated as a monolith and wants to see what it looks like when an organization actually gets the complexity of our community.- You work in media, marketing, or philanthropy and want a sharper lens on how to reach communities with authenticity rather than assumption.- You want to understand what it looks like to build power through culture — and why that approach is more durable than anything built on messaging alone.Connect with Jessica:- Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter — link in bio- Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessicasantana- Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow- Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide- Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindtheworkAbout Behind The Work:Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career, and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.

Dulce Vasquez On Education, Community and Latinidad

Dulce Vasquez was born in Mexico, grew up undocumented in the United States, and went on to study at Northwestern, UCLA, and Sciences Po in Paris. She served as a Los Angeles City Commissioner, ran for City Council in District 9 and State Assembly in District 57 — two of the highest-poverty districts in all of Los Angeles — and built a digital platform that turns complex policy into content that actually connects with the people it's meant to serve. She didn't wait for permission. She decided her community deserved better and showed up.This week, Dulce joins us on Behind The Work.Dulce is a Los Angeles-based content creator, education leader, and former political candidate who uses digital storytelling to break down the issues that shape everyday life — housing, public transportation, education, mental health, and the rights of women and LGBTQ+ communities. She currently serves as Assistant Vice President at Arizona State University, leading strategic partnerships and public engagement. She is a formerly undocumented LGBTQ+ Latina, a five-time marathoner, and one of the most grounded, clear-eyed voices on what civic power actually looks like when it's built from the ground up.In this conversation, we start at the beginning — what she remembers most about those early years, when she realized education could change her life, and where her sense of civic responsibility came from. We talk about what it felt like to navigate elite institutions like Northwestern, UCLA, and Sciences Po as someone who grew up undocumented, and what those spaces taught her about systems, inequality, and who gets to be in the room.We get into the campaigns — what made her decide to run, what economic justice actually looks like at the neighborhood level in South Central, and what it feels like to put yourself forward in those spaces as a formerly undocumented immigrant. We talk about how her identities shape the way she leads, where she found the permission to take up space in a world that often tells immigrant families to stay quiet and be grateful — and what gives her hope right now about Los Angeles, civic engagement, and the communities she serves.This episode is for you if:- You grew up being told to be grateful, stay quiet, and not ask for too much — and something in you has always pushed back against that.- You're a first-generation immigrant, a child of immigrants, or someone navigating systems that were never designed with you in mind.- You care about civic engagement but feel disconnected from politics and want to understand what real community leadership actually looks like.- You've thought about running for office, stepping into public service, or using your platform for something bigger — and you want to hear from someone who did it.- You're building in education, policy, or social impact and want a sharper lens on where the systems are failing and where the opportunity lives.- You need a reminder that your story — all of it, even the parts the world told you to hide — is exactly what makes you the right person to lead.Connect with Jessica:- Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter — link in bio- Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessicasantana- Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow- Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide- Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindtheworkAbout Behind The Work:Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career, and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.

Heidi Rojas On Music and Motherhood

Heidi Rojas has spent her career giving her gift away — writing the songs that made other people stars. Two UK number one hits. Collaborations with Pitbull, Kelly Rowland, Natasha Bedingfield, New Kids on the Block. Music on Pitch Perfect 3, Glee, American Idol, and Good Morning America. And for a long time, she stayed behind the curtain — because that's where the work was. This week, she steps into the spotlight on Behind The Work.Heidi is a platinum-selling, number one hit songwriter, solo artist, vocal and performance coach, published author, co-founder of an artist development company, and the founder of Madre Creator Collective — a community built to prove that motherhood and creative fulfillment don't just coexist, they deepen each other. She is a proud first-generation Latina, raised in Chicago by a Cuban father and a Guatemalan mother, who wrote her first song at eight years old and has never stopped.In this conversation, we get into what it actually feels like to be the architect behind someone else's number one — and what finally made her say it was time to tell her own story. We talk about the nearly ten years of therapy and healing that shaped her solo music, what it means to write from the most vulnerable corners of your heart, and why sharing that publicly takes a different kind of courage than anything she'd done before.We also get into motherhood — what it looks like to be deeply present for two toddlers while building a creative life that refuses to shrink. We talk about the bilingual children's book she wrote with Con Todo Press, born from her song about reconnecting with her heritage and her ancestors. We talk about the most common block she sees in talented artists — and how she helps them break through it. And we talk about what it means to carry the weight of first-generation expectations while still insisting on becoming fully yourself.This episode is for you if:- You've spent years showing up brilliantly for other people's dreams and you're starting to wonder when it's your turn.- You're a creative who has put your artistry on the back burner — for your career, your family, or just because life got loud.- You're a first-generation Latina navigating the tension between who your family needs you to be and who you actually are.- You're a mother who doesn't want to choose between being present and being ambitious — and needs proof that you don't have to.- You're in a season of healing and you want to hear from someone who turned that process into art.- You need a reminder that it is never too late, and never too early, to tell your own story.Connect with Jessica:- Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter — link in bio- Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessicasantana- Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow- Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide- Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindtheworkAbout Behind The Work:Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career, and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.

How To Avoid Burnout - Detach From Work

We need to talk about burnout. Not the buzzword version. Not the "take a bubble bath and drink more water" version. The real thing — the kind that creeps in quietly, disguises itself as dedication, and doesn't announce itself until you're already running on empty. In this solo episode, Jessica Santana gets honest about burnout, what it actually looks like for high-achieving, purpose-driven people, and why the solution isn't another productivity hack or a long weekend. It's something most of us have been conditioned to feel guilty about: a life outside of work. Because here's the thing nobody tells you when you're building something — the work will always be there. The emails will always be there. The to-do list will always be there. But the version of you that can show up with clarity, creativity, and conviction? That one has an expiration date if you don't protect it. Jessica breaks down why detaching from work isn't a luxury or a sign that you don't care enough — it's actually the thing that makes you better at it. We get into why high achievers are often the most at risk, what it looks like to build a real identity outside of your job title, and why "I'll rest when it's done" is one of the most dangerous lies we tell ourselves. This episode is for you if: - You've been running on fumes for so long that exhausted has started to feel like your baseline. - You find it hard to disconnect — even when you're technically "off the clock." - Your entire identity is wrapped up in what you do, and the idea of slowing down feels like falling behind. - You've been telling yourself you'll take a break once you hit the next milestone — and that milestone keeps moving. - You're high-achieving, purpose-driven, and secretly worried that rest will make you less of all the things you've worked so hard to become. - You know something needs to change but you haven't given yourself permission to actually change it. Connect with Jessica: - Subscribe to the Behind The Work newsletter — link in bio - Follow Jessica on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@jessicasantana - Follow Behind The Work on Instagram: http://instagram.com/@behindtheworkshow - Follow Jessica on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jessworldwide - Follow Behind The Work on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@behindthework About Behind The Work: Behind The Work is the show for the ambitious person looking to level up their lives, their career and their businesses. Hosted by Jessica Santana, Behind The Work goes deep with the executives, founders, and leaders who are building from a place of power. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the real work — the strategy, the setbacks, the pivots, and the purpose — behind the people, companies, and organizations shaping what's next.