Meet Fabiana Cardenas

We recently connected with Fabiana Cardenas and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Fabiana, 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?

My resilience comes from my lived experiences of being a first-generation American and living with a mental health disorder.

I was born in Venezuela, I am the daughter of Jose Felix and Graciela Semidey, and the sister of Gustavo Semidey. The first two years of my life were spent with my family always nearby, with the beaches of Cayo Sombrero just a couple of hours away, with arepas available whenever I wanted, and with the warmth of my country’s climate and culture. But shortly after, my parents made the decision that it would be best to relocate our family to the United States. My parents did not make this decision lightly, but felt that enough violence and corruption in the country had taken place to threaten the future of our family’s well being.

As I reflect on my life, I find that the obstacles I’ve faced as a first-generation American have evolved as I continue growing. As a child, I struggled not being able to speak English, but even so, I babbled on in an incoherent gibberish no matter who was around, until that gibberish slowly evolved into the language spoken by everyone around me. As a teenager, I often found myself failing to understand why my parent’s hesitated to impart the same privileges my American friends had, not realizing that I was being raised in a culture that was completely foreign to them. As a young adult, I had to navigate circumstances that my parents never did, like paying for college and making the decision to neglect my ethnic background in hopes that it would help me fit in and show that I was capable of keeping up with my peers if I came across “more American”.

My most recent obstacle has been the most daunting. A year ago, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This diagnosis came after several months of crippling anxiety, debilitating intrusive thoughts, and sudden panic attacks. Unfortunately, it is unknown what specifically causes a person to develop OCD but from my experience, it was a reaction to drastic life changes, unexpected circumstances, and a flurry of emotions I was not equipped to process on my own. Being diagnosed with a mental health disorder was something no one else in my immediate family or friend group had experienced and it is something I am still educating them and myself on to this day.

As I’ve grown, the challenges I have encountered have only become more complex. But isn’t that the same for everyone? It seems like when you venture more and more into adulthood, you realize that sometimes, a big part of success is just figuring things out along the way. My resilience has grown out of looking back and realizing that despite the obstacles, I have always found a way to learn, resolve, and move myself forward through the mental, emotional, financial, and personal aspects of my life.

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 the co-founder and marketing strategist of a mental health apparel brand called Embrace The Doubt. As the creative mind behind our brand, I design all of our apparel and social media content including our original illustrations and reels. My husband Anthony is the logistical brain of our operation and he handles all of our processes like running our ad campaigns, working with our manufacturers, and making sure our website is accessible and welcoming. Embrace The Doubt was created by Anthony and I out of a desire to connect with others who live with a mental health condition, like myself. Our brand is focused on creating clothing and art that features positive, empowering, and encouraging messages that every day people can identify with. This endeavor was not one that I anticipated for myself, but nonetheless it has become an important part of my life.

Our brand is special because we focus on both uplifting others and educating on what it means to live with a mental health condition. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is not what most people assume it is. Yes, it can involve someone incessantly washing their hands or organizing things in a specific way but it is not because they are simply germaphobes or clean freaks. It’s because their brain is telling them that if they do not do these things something bad will happen, or things will not be perfect, or life as they know it will cease to exist. OCD feeds on uncertainty and doubt, it makes you question your core identity and beliefs through thoughts and feelings that may seem as if they’re your own when in reality, it’s simply the disorder wreaking havoc on your mind.

Through our apparel designs, reels, and illustrations, we hope to portray our authentic selves through vibrant, relatable, and supportive content. We want people who engage with our brand to feel like they’ve just met two new friends who are excited to get to know them and remind them how much they are capable of.

Although Embrace The Doubt is still growing, we have connected with so many people who have supported our brand and shared their own experiences living with OCD and other mental health conditions. As we continue building our brand, we hope to reach the stage where a portion of our proceeds can be designated to organizations who provide education, patient care, and accessible resources for mental health. Additionally, we are actively working on our outreach efforts in order to work with influencers, public figures, and institutes that prioritize mental wellbeing and self-care. Finally, we aim to create apparel with more inclusive sizing to help more people feel validated through our designs.

Since our kick off in April of this year, we’ve launched four t-shirts and a crewneck sweater that feature our exclusive designs. Our first t-shirt and crewneck are almost sold but we still have a few in stock! The first items from our launch are special to us because they’re a reminder of where we started, how much we’ve learned in just a few months, and how supported we are by our network. Our most recent launch includes three t-shirts with messages that you can share with yourself whenever you need it. These shirts boasts color, comfort, and a reminder to be compassionate with yourself. You deserve to wear one of them!

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?

The qualities that were, and still continue to be instrumental in my journey, are patience, perseverance, and a willingness to learn. It can feel daunting to start something new that is completely your responsibility and your unique endeavor. Especially as an adult, it can be easier to see what you don’t have and what you don’t know, as opposed to what you can accomplish.

Fear, doubt, and imposter syndrome are things that we all experience, but they don’t have to be the only things we experience. Be patient with yourself, NOTHING happens overnight. There will be days where the progress feels completely invisible and no one is going out of their way to tell you how amazing you’re doing. Those are days when reflecting on your progress, taking a deep breath, and choosing not to give up count the most.

Harness your perseverance. Your journey might take weeks, months, or years but that’s out of your control so focus on moving yourself forward in all the ways that you can.

Be willing to learn! If there’s anything I’ve realized is that no matter how many degrees you have, how much you read, or how many years you’ve gone to school, we’re never done learning, and what a privilege that is. There are so many free and accessible resources nowadays, (trust me, I use as many as I can) so take advantage of them. Especially when you’re just starting out, money is limited and how you spend your time is vital so watch the Youtube tutorials, ask others for help, welcome constructive criticism, and make the effort to practice again and again.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

It’s been 10 months since I was impacted by lays off at my last company— this is the longest period of unemployment I’ve faced. Though I’ve had the opportunity to submit hundreds of applications and interview for several exciting roles, I haven’t received any offers yet (staying positive!).

While Embrace The Doubt is still in it’s start up phase, for myself and my family, I need to make every effort to find my next opportunity.

A bit about my background: I specialize in digital marketing, creative strategy, campaign activation, and marketing operations. I’ve developed community engagement initiatives, led content creation, guided projects through each stage, managed client relationships, and launched marketing campaigns. I’m passionate about connecting social impact clients with their audiences and I value open-mindedness, teamwork, and trying new approaches that challenge the status quo.

I’m looking for roles in digital strategy, creative marketing, and project coordination but am open to exploring new areas as well!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All photos were taken by myself, Fabiana Cardenas, and my husband, Anthony Cardenas for our business, Embrace The Doubt.

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