Meet Erika Villafuerte

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erika Villafuerte a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erika , thank you so much for joining us today. There are so many topics we could discuss, but perhaps one of the most relevant is empathy because it’s at the core of great leadership and so we’d love to hear about how you developed your empathy?

Going through early childhood experiences and adult situations watching others being treated unfairly or dismissed caused me to have a little more interest in helping people be seen and heard.

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 started my business because of a passion through my own journey for more understanding of how our emotional wellbeing affects our belief in ourselves, goal setting and impacts our health. I also was driven by seeing the need for enhancing healthcare access and cultural sensitivity. Overcoming my own challanges and learning the importance of self care while taking a leap of faith to start my own business allows me to speak from my experience and not just a text book descriptoin of to do lists or what society says wellness and self esteem look like. I believe most people just need a little encouragement and a listening ear to get going. I love seeing people light up when they share their goals once they start believing they can go for it.

As a consultant, speaker and coach I help bring more awareness to how our emotions can affect our personal well-being and professional success. Our own mindset can keep us from thriving or keep us going in business and personal wellness. I like to remind people that if we don’t take care of ourselves first, we won’t last long at work. I assist with health insurance understanding and enrollment for those that can access it, as well as inform about any cost assistance programs that can offer extra help. I aim to help people find that there are options for their healthcare, too many that do qualify for insurance or community programs are misinformed and never look into help with healthcare, often at the cost of their wellbeing.

I also focus on addresing social disparities that may affect healthcare access for some. I am aware that not everyone can get the healthcare they need for variouis reasons, so besides health insurance plans for older adults, families and individuals, we also talk about self care and community resources for our wellness too.

I am a bilingual Latina and very happy to be able to assist the Spanish speaking community and this information is greatly missed in some of our Latino circles. We all deserve to be better infomred in a way that makes sense to us about self empowerment for living healthier.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Having gone through being overlooked and dismissed in times I could have used some help myself allows me to have extra empathy for those needing more information on self care

Learning the skill to just go for it. You’ll always feel a little not ready, do it nervous. It’ll work itself out.

Being raised in a lower income Spanish speaking family and often translating for my mom gives me the skill and understanding to be more patient with offering more clarity to my clients and even my colleagues

Stop comparing yourself to others and just try to be a little better than you were yesterday. It really is just you looking at even small progress instead of perfection in your journey.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always excited to partner with likeminded persons or organizations that complement what we do and also to support each other. I very much believe together we can do so much more. Especially in the Latino market, we will go much further when more of us work together.

People can message me on social media, lets connect and go from there

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saludfirst
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-villafuerte-98208142/