We recently connected with Viridiana Zendejas and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Viridiana, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic stems from my family. Growing up, my mom was my prime example of an entrepreneur. She established the true meaning of work ethic for me. My dad also formed my definition of work ethic. My dad is such a loyal man; to his work and his family. On top of their full-time jobs, my parents led side businesses to bring in extra money. To them, work was an avenue to opportunities. I never felt like my parents lived to work. Instead, they worked to be able to live and enjoy life with their children. Yes, they worked hard and sometimes long hours, but creating memories as a family were equally as important in their work ethic.
My parents taught me the importance of connectivity, how to be fearless, and work for what I believed in despite the obstacles. The best part for me was the fearless quality. They taught me to be confident in who I was, what I said, and to believe in what I was working towards. Having confidence in myself helped shape my work ethic and the leadership skills I continue to use in my work today.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the proud founder and owner of Generaciones Counseling, a mental health practice dedicated to providing therapy services to the Latina, Latine, and Latino community in Arizona and Utah.
Generaciones Counseling and the work that I do is so special because it represents me and the many other first-generation children in immigrant families that are untangling their family’s expectations, continue to navigate societal barriers for themselves and their families, and are learning to break generational traumas to live more fulfilling lives. Generaciones Counseling is my way of providing first generation and the multilayered generations of Latinos/as/es a space where they can heal, discover, and feel empowered to blend new traditions with the beautiful traditions of their childhood without feeling othered or outcasted for not fitting one specific mold.
Another immense part of my work is educating and training organizations and companies on mental health issues to raise awareness and be more trauma informed as a society. Community and family was critical in my upbringing. We helped each other achieve our goals and get through the difficult moments together. The culture I was raised in honored community and I find it so important to heal in community. Raising awareness and training companies and organizations on how to better assist their team members is my way of continuing communal healing. I have set my mind to continue bringing communal healing and my next goal will be to create workshops for families that are looking to understand the role of trauma and how to heal as a family.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three things that were the most impactful in my own journey were doing things at my own pace, taking risks, and trusting myself.
Seeking advice from others about their journeys can be helpful; especially when you’re trying something new and feeling a little lost in the process. Yet, doing things at my own pace helped me feel empowered and proud of my decisions. It’s easy to compare ourselves to others but each person’s experiences, goals, and thought processes are different. It may take me longer, shorter, or the same time as others but at least it’s on my own terms and with my personalized needs in mind.
I also realized that doing things on my own terms allowed me to take the risks I felt the most comfortable with and even pushed me to try new things. I am a “play it safe and have a backup plan” kind of person. But I realized in doing things my way that I don’t have to have a perfectly drafted plan; it’s okay to take a risk without a flawless layout or having all things in order first. Sometimes we have to create the perfect time by taking the risks. There are a million “what if’s” for what could go wrong, but there are also a million “what if’s” for what could go just right. I think this also ties into my third quality of trusting myself. Trusting that I have the skills to accomplish what I set my mind to and can modify anything that may not have turned out the way I had envisioned.
The advice I would give folks on how they could best develop these skills is to first pay attention to how they perceive and speak to themselves. You are the main character in your journey and if you don’t believe in the role you are leading, others won’t either. Invest in you and work on building the positive self-talk and confidence you need to believe in your own journey.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
Not minimizing my potential and my skillset. Oftentimes, the role of a therapist is portrayed as a selfless individual who does this work out of the kindness of her heart to improve the overall community. Although aspects of this portrayal may be true, I am also an entrepreneur and a business woman within the field of mental health. Presenting my skillset as my company’s product has been my biggest area of growth and improvement, especially when other companies and organizations seek out my services.
Over the last year, my full sentence with companies and organizations has become, “this is the service I can provide and this will be the rate” with no additional justification or explanation on how I came up with that rate. As a society, we don’t question why lawyers charge a particular amount for their services and we don’t walk into a high-end clothing store with the intention of negotiating prices. For me, my lived experiences, my insights, my trainings, my hard work, and my continued growth aren’t up for negotiation and I’m learning to become more confident in letting others know that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gencounseling.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/generacionescounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/generacionescounseling
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viridiana-zendejas/
