We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Soledad Bautista a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Soledad, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I grew up in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and as much as I love and adore my country and my city they have a very big macho problem. It has a very conservative, religious, patriarchal structure and that made it very challenging for me. I didn’t fit in. Reading, writing and art have saved my life many many times, and at the same time have challenged my mental health because I dreamed of wonderful “impossible things” and the world around me kept telling me “no”. So I decided I wanted to ‘cure’ people, I was going to attend medical school and become an amazing surgeon and save lives. I was ready to go to med school!
During my last year of high school I was invited to serve for a year with the Servicio Jesuita de Jóvenes Voluntarios (SJJV). You were given a list and you could chose the place where you would like to serve my top choices were 1.- Chiapas 2.- Tabasco 3.- Oaxaca. The universe sent me to Oaxaca and it changed my life forever!
Oaxaca is full of magic and art and to my immense surprise I landed in the middle of one of those “impossible things” I dreamed about. Turns out an entire region of the state exists as a matriarchal structure!!! I had so many conflicting and challenging mental debates with the learnings I was told and taught were THE ABSOLUTE TRUE and the reality that a different way of existing was ABSOLUTELY possible.
At 17 years old, that is a pretty massive realization. I started to be much more inquisitive and curious about the whole structure and its complexities. All of it was just fascinating to me. Thanks to this I decided I was not going to be a medical doctor anymore. I will become a psychologist. That year helped me learn that there are no absolute truths, there is not only ‘one way’ of doing things and I should always always question and remain curious. Oaxaca helped me find my purpose.
I wanted to cure human bodies when in reality any if not all problems and/or diseases of the body, are born in the mind. My purpose is to help individuals and communities to figure out a way to create new healthy structures where change and difference are celebrated. Now as a 40 year old psychologist with a ton of life experiences I have corroborated over and over that the mind is the most important part of the body, because there everything and anything is possible or impossible. IT IS YOUR CHOICE!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Magnolia Global Wellness was founded in June 2021 because I needed to reconnect with my purpose. My life after graduating from psychology school had taken many beautiful twists and turns; one of those was an offer to move to Texas and work with San Marcos CISD. This opportunity allowed me to master my English as well as exploring a completely different path in life. As rewarding as this job was, I kept feeling that something was missing.
Changed cities, changed school districts and the unfulfillment was very much present, and I wasn’t really sure what it was, I just knew I didn’t feel whole. Then the world went upside down, the previous administration created an incredibly challenging atmosphere that questioned my existence in this country. The endless attacks on the color of my skin, my immigration status, and the love I have for my mother tongue made me fully aware of the intangible fear I’ve had every single year I have lived in Texas. Then the pandemic made it a forced reset button.
I couldn’t just exist anymore I needed to create! I am whole when I live my purpose. I am whole when I can be of service and help heal from within. I am whole when I stay curious and learning. When I can embody those ‘impossible truths’ that I continue dreaming about, I am ALIVE!
I want Magnolia Global Wellness to be a movement, a life philosophy and a service that provides tools for meaningful change. The inspiration for the name says a lot about why I found it. Magnolia is my favorite flower, I love the scent it releases, I love its beauty, I love that it grows on a tree and I love all of the symbolism that this flower holds. Global, because as an immigrant I have relied heavily on my grandfather’s advice to be “a citizen of the world” so I could stay strong, not only in the path to dual citizenship but in the whole experience of being an immigrant and a woman. Wellness because it is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence. It is a process, it is imperfect and it is absolutely worth it. Because when individuals have a more successful existence, their entire communities transform.
I start with myself, I am in the active process too. I love and embrace change as the only constant of life and the true force that keeps my inquisitive mind alive.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
My training as an actor, my passion for the performing arts as tools to understand and explore human behavior and being able to speak and fluently communicate in English and Spanish.
Curiosity is present in all of those three areas. I am always finding ways to ask more and better questions about everything and anything. I like to have a dialectical approach to intercultural communication. I believe cultural and emotional intelligence are the result of being able to know that there is always more than one way to exist.
I would encourage everyone to see the design thinking model as a life approach personally, professionally, globally in everything in life. I would also advise that in every aspect of your life/journey you remain open to finding and creating solutions. It is very easy to complain and it is very complex to offer paths and create opportunities.
Do not be afraid to make mistakes, it is ok to fail, fail often and fail better every time!!!
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
“We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power” by Rachel Rodgers. The current political moment in which women are no longer “full citizens” and do not have autonomy of their bodies gave me a new area of growth for myself.
I consider myself very well versed on psychology, sociology, human behavior, health, wellness, mental health and all the areas that surround these topics. This book gave me an inside view of the importance of women creating economic wealth as a fundamental piece for a better future.
My training as a psychologist and as a EMDR therapist have helped me with deeply layered understanding of individuals as well as collectives from the wellness perspective. This book made me aware of the urgency we are experiencing of having more women in positions of power and in full knowledge of why we are needed. This is another impactful layer of wellness that I have not contemplated before.
“The fact is that most women accept whatever salary they are offered, without saying a peep. Sixty percent of women never negotiate for higher pay, never ever, not even once in their entire career. If you are serious about building wealth, you must stop leaving money on the table.” “is focusing on our natural skills and talents, being mindful of how we use our time, and prioritizing the building of generational wealth, because that is how we can make serious change.” “And if you’re not into dismantling the systems of oppression that exist in our world today, why not? We should all be participating in our collective freedom. However, we have a right to build wealth for ourselves as women for no other reason than we want it.” “Thinking negative thoughts is a form of self sabotage that keeps you “safe” and therefore stagnant. Even if the status quo is uncomfortable or makes you unhappy, it feels safer than trying to do something new.” Rachel Rodgers
Since I want to speak about global wellness, I need to also understand the true impact of economical disadvantage, misinformation and inaccessibility for women as part of the current global problems we have, so I can formulate a better and more comprehensive approach to potential solutions.
I am a very curious and inquisitive lifelong learner and this book has given me amazing puzzles to question, investigate and explore. It also gave me more depth into understanding the importance of women in wealth and the impact we create in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: solbautista.com
- Instagram: @magnoliaglobalwellness
- Facebook: Magnolia Global Wellness
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/soledad-bautista-285b56132
Image Credits
Michael Stone Skylar Evans Megan Reddick
