Vanessa Santos Leon: Re-Building for You, Discovering Your Authentic Self, & the Accompanying Emotional Pain
The Beauty Manifest host, Melinda, Sephora Beauty Director, mental health advocate, and professional speaker, has a conversation with Vanessa Santos Leon, Forbes Most Powerful Women of Latin America honoree, a Kennedy Center inaugural entrepreneur award recipient, and extraordinary business builder. They discuss what it is like re-building personally and professionally, discovering your authentic self through the process, and the emotional pain that comes with great growth.
Vanessa spent twenty years building companies that made other people wealthy. She was great at it, scaling platforms to 120+ countries at Gilt.com, winning a CES Innovation Award at Mastercard, co-leading a digital platform that reached 12 million students across Latin America. As CEO of #WeAllGrow Latina, she co-scaled the company to multi-millions in revenue, and helped inject $20M+ back into the Latina economy.
Corporate wanted her in lanes. She doesn't do lanes. She poured everything in: co-scaling, building, leading, but as women of color often do, she sacrificed well beyond her means. So after seeing the acquisition of #WeAllGrow Latina through in 2025, she chose to exit. Gave herself space to recover. Got real with herself. Free of identities. Free of expectations.
What emerged was Build The Dream Holdings, a media and lifestyle company for women who are done breaking themselves apart to succeed. A newsletter reaching 10K+ subscribers. A podcast. A growing community. An advisory practice for founders who want strategy without the burnout. And a product line on the way. (Want in? Join the list [https://vsantos.co/newsletter].)
Vanessa is a Forbes Most Powerful Women of Latin America honoree, a Kennedy Center inaugural entrepreneur award recipient, and an investor in brands like Bloomi, Nopalera, Lil' Libros, Agua Bonita, and Earth Rides, backing diverse founders and women building what they didn't see growing up.
Every room she's been in, every company she's built, every lesson she's learned, it all led here. She's proof that you don't have to fit in a lane to build something extraordinary.
Washington Heights. The Bronx. Daughter of immigrants. A first-generation Latina founder who didn't inherit a path, she built one. In an industry where every major voice is white, she's creating at a level most people only talk about. Wealthy. Whole. And just getting started. Build The Dream. Honor The Human.™
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**This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health care. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any mental health condition. Listening to this podcast does not establish a therapist-patient relationship. If you are experiencing mental health concerns, please seek the advice of a licensed mental health professional. The information provided in this podcast is not a substitute for professional advice, and you use it at your own risk. We do not guarantee any specific outcomes or results from using the information provided.
Edited by Nicolas Spearman: https://bit.ly/4eXMGqL
