We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexis Becerra. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexis below.
Alexis , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
As a first-generation Mexican American eldest-daughter, I believe resilience is part of the package. We were born to carry the many strengths passed down to us from the women who came before us. From the courageous actions and steps taken by my maternal great-great grandma Marcelina who came alone to the U.S. at the age of 15 years old to create a better life for her next generations, to my maternal great and grandma navigating American Jim Crowe Laws living in Southern Texas, to my mother and tias having navigated unhealthy relationships and showing up to the best of their ability to be single moms. I would like to say that despite all the adversity my female ancestors and myself have encountered, the one thing I have always leaned into is our strength and all the moments our lives have required us to show up, despite how scary it is, and do it with fear.
It’s in these moments, I have chosen to recognize I am not alone. But I walk with the light and the strength of those who came before me. It is in these moments that I have witnessed my true ability to transform, expand and grow. “Hazlo con miedo, pero hazlo,” my good friend always tells me. It’s just that, for me, that creates resilience.
I didn’t get to choose the family or the life I was dealt growing up. But I do get to choose the life I live now in the present and how I navigate this journey for my future. I choose to lean into the strength, adaptability and growth. It’s in knowing that not only do I have so much to offer to this world, I too deserve the best this world has to offer. I hold onto hope, light and the belief that anything is possible!
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?
In the last year, I have launched my business as a workplace trauma healing coach, dedicated to Latina professionals, helping them heal, rebuild and amplify their impact after toxic and unhealthy work environments. My work is rooted in everything I wished I had and needed as I moved up the corporate ladder as a mental health leader. I utilize my 15+ years working as a trauma trained expert and mental health leader. I am on a mission to help Latina professionals stop struggling in silence.
As the eldest daughter, I am not sure if I was trained to be a caregiver, or it was ingrained into me at birth. Naturally after my siblings and I lost both our parents to substance abuse and navigating the foster care system, as well as living with different family members, I made it my mission to give back to the community I came from. As a child you wish someone would tell you, “you are not alone” but navigating such adverse spaces, you feel very much that. I became a licensed marriage and family therapist to support and to give back in hope that the families I worked with would never feel the way I did growing up. But it was in this very system I found myself feeling a different form of being “alone.”
As a first-generation Latina Professional, I found myself a “professional unicorn”. I actually was called that by a former manager as I was resigning. He said, “You all are like unicorns, bi-cultural, bi-lingual and hard to come by.” I didn’t know it then, but he was very much right. The specialty we hold being able to innately connect with our population and create impact is HUGE. But with that, I felt came an immense amount of pressure, to show up. Show up, not only for myself as the first of my family to graduate college and get a masters degree, but to show up for our people. Be an advocate and a voice for our people. As I moved up the ladder, it was soon that I found myself as the only women of color and first-gen with a seat of the table. I found myself advocating and creating space for our people. As empowering as this feels to be the first and to be in spaces to ensure the voices and experiences of our people are heard, it is incredibly lonely. No one truly understands your experience being the first of your family to be in these spaces, but also the emotions that come up for you navigating these spaces alone and without representation.
Before I knew it, I found myself in spaces of leadership working alongside national organizations and sitting on county boards. But despite all of this, I was working in one of the most toxic unhealthy work environments I could have ever imagined. The funny part is that I had just spent nearly a decade working alongside a national organization dedicated to helping adolescents recognize the signs of unhealthy and healthy relationships. I was even featured in a local documentary speaking out on this. But like people in unhealthy romantic relationships, it is very hard to see you are in it, even if it is work-related.
The immense amount of trauma and emotional/verbal abuse you experience in these spaces is unreal. But the impact of these spaces on your physical, emotional and mental health is REAL. Because of this I made it my mission to give voice to our experiences in order for Latina professionals to no longer feel they have to navigate this journey alone. No longer have to struggle in silence and feel the weight of expectations and the pressure to fit into systems that don’t always understand or value who they are. In my private coaching and workshops, I create spaces for them to feel seen, heard, and valued. But also create space for them to know the power of reclaiming their identity and stepping into their true self.
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?
If I could go back and give my younger self advice and support it would be rooted in hope, believing in yourself and risk taking.
First and foremost HOPE. Because I truly believe with holding on to hope, anything is possible! Having this deep knowing that you deserve more and belong in spaces that feel like they are healing, nurturing and expansive is possible to attain. Even if you never saw it or felt it growing up. It is possible. And it may look completely different than you imagined. But, that’s ok!! Having this expectation and internal knowing that so much more is possible, is because IT IS possible. You are deserving of all the good the world has to offer. And never losing sight of that feeling to help you navigate the unsteady or unimagined times. It’s holding on to hope that will help you always see the light at the end of the tunnel. Te lo Mereces (you deserve it).
Next, believing in yourself. Because if you don’t have your back, who will? Let it not come from a space of cockiness, but from a place of deep trust in yourself. Leaning into your expertise, life experiences, networks and connections is what will support you as you navigate your journey. Believing you have the ability to overcome and be the anomaly in your life.
Finally, Risk taking. Because let’s be real, nothing great ever came from staying in our comfort zones or being complacent in the bubbles society has put us in. But let’s not forget risk taking and being reckless are two completely different things. Always have the strength to say yes even when it’s hard, scary or unknown. It’s in navigating the unknown that we will grow beyond measure. Whether it’s solo traveling, moving to a new country or launching your first business.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
In the last year my biggest area of growth has been dismantling all the internalized narratives of the systems that came before me. Recognizing that it is my right to rest, recover and heal from all I experienced but all that I carry from my ancestors who came before me. For people like myself, a bi-cultural Latina, REST is LIBERATION, REST is REVOLUTIONARY. It is in these moments of ditching the hustle culture, ditching the preconceived notions of what it means to be a leader and what it means we have to endure as a leader I have found internal healing and peace. I am not going to lie. The idea of rest or slowing down was scary to me. What did it mean about me? What would it look like? I even questioned what would happen to my body as I allowed myself to slow down.
I can tell you, it was the best decision I ever made. Investing in slowing down, healing and learning to fall in love with falling into my body was a gamechanger. There is this internal peace I have never felt before and I can honestly tell you, after years of being part of the 5 am club, I wouldn’t trade it to go back to those times. We are sold an idea of go hard or go home. But that doesn’t have to look like enduring so much harm from societal expectations or workplace trauma. 2 years ago you would have never caught me in a yoga class, today I happily find myself in these spaces, connecting with my body, my breath and my soul.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.itsalexisbecerra.com
- Instagram: @itsalexisbecerra
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsalexis-becerra
Image Credits
Photographer, Carlos Requenes Business name is: walkingphoto.mx
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
