Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Danielle Mendoza. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Danielle , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I would say our resilience has come from Doing It Afraid. Fear is defined as something you ‘believe’ will cause danger, pain or a threat to your wellbeing. Once we decided to do things we were afraid of we found that we were still standing, we were still alive and things didn’t fall apart. I am reminded of the words of Franklin Roosevelt who said “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
We have the honor and privilege of disrupting poverty, disrupting food insecurity, disrupting violence against women, and disrupting lack of access to essentials like clean water and education. My story started about 25 years ago when I was a preteen. I had my first international trip outside of the USA with the purpose of loving and encouraging other kids in tough living situations. It took no time at all for a passionate fire to rise up within me. I had to acknowledge that with all of our excess and with all of the lack I was surrounded by in that moment something had to be done and something could be done. The fire that was ignited in me that day is something that has never faded. I knew in that moment, on that hot summer day, in a Puebla in Mexico, I would never allow myself to be unmoved by the things that should break our hearts. I decided that day that I would be committed to a life long pursuit of disrupting what should not be. My husband Javier Mendoza says it best when he says “compassion without action is merely observation.“ This was a mantra we inherently lived by before we had the words to express it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Sincerity is not something that can be manufactured, if you do not know your WHY you will have a near impossible time convincing anyone else of it. As a family in the non profit world we are tasked with moving information from people’s head to their heart.
Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Growth, innovation, magic and beauty are born in the struggle, they are born in the trenches and it is in those trenches that you will find the substance, the character and the strength that will take you to rooms, tables, settings and moments that have the power to spark movements.
Grit and a relentless pursuit of your purpose is what separates those who make it from those who do not. You essentially have to ask yourself how bad do you want it? How bad does the world or person in front of you need it? And, what am I willing to give and do personally to see it through?
Here is the best advice you will get, a little crazy goes a long way. “Crazy is what makes me defy the odds” – Kim McManus
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I read The Hiding Place as a young child. The story of Betsie and Corrie Ten Boom had a profound impact on me. I was captivated by their strength, their tenacity, their bravery and their selflessness. They helped so many Jewish people escape the reign of terror from the Natzis and then endured their own imprisonment and punishment. Even after all the cruelty, heartbreak and despair they lived through they still chose to extend forgiveness.
‘If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love! We must find the way, no matter how long it takes.” – Betsie Ten Boom
“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”
-Corrie Ten Boom
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