We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Fileve Tlaloc. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Fileve below.
Fileve, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
The foundation of my confidence comes from my name and the connection to family. My first name, Fileve, is a combination name of my maternal and paternal grandmothers.
My maternal grandmother was Filvie or Fulvie. Supposedly, it means tawny colored in French, which described her color. They were of Indian descent from Mauritious. Filvie was also the name given to my grand mother to honor her father’s twin who passed away at a young age. My paternal grandmother was named Eve the biblical mother of all.
Growing up and still to this day, if I use my first name to introduce myself, people comment on how beautiful it is. Sometimes they ask/ed me what it means. So I always relayed that information about my grandmothers and their lineage. It was through them and my mother who rooted me in my family heritage, my ethnic identity, and national pride.
Through my name, I learned patience with people who mispronounced it. I learned creative mnemonic devices to get people to remember and pronounce my name I learned to gently educate people about cultural sensitivity and respect. My name reinforced
the lessonsmy maternal figures taught me; how to be resilient, respectful and creative.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As an anthropologist PhD, an artist, and a yoga inductor, I teach within and beyond the classroom, using my skills of research and visual creativity to tell stories that disrupt the status quo and reframe histories of oppression in order to liberate and empower the disempowered. My goal is to confront hard conversations and topics such as race and power without blame. Rather I work with the goal for people to re/humanize each other and appreciate the multivocality of our human existence.
My art works too challenge closed ideas about human existence and works towards imposing harmful racial and legal susceptible and bigotry.
In my small rural community, I wear many hats. My day job, I work as an economic developer, helping to advocate for nonprofits and local governments to serve the citizenry. My role of managing a federal grant advocates for communities to build programs that will help individuals thrive in our rural area.
I see it as my job to envision partnerships and cooperation through programming of organizations that would normally compete for limited funds.
As a yoga instructor I do my best to empower people through the use of their bodies and breath, something that we all as human beings have. I operate from a space of abundance and joy in order to disrupt common narratives of fear and scarcity. Because it is through joy and love where we are able to see the other and appreciate the beauty of doing things differently and existing differently. When we operate from a space of scarcity and fear, we do not look at people or difference with openness. We look at them from a space of xenophobia.
We begin to hoard resources rather than share.
We look at others suspiciously, instead of with open hearts. It is only through a space of joy, and abundance where we may rehumanize each other and ourselves.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One of the most impactful elements of my journey to success would be having a support network through family, friends, and mentors. If those people do not exist naturally in a person’s environment being able to cultivate people and recruit people in those roles is an important skill. A person must be able to communicate one’s needs, desires, fears and goals. This is essential in being able to manifest excellence. Within one’s life developing a sense of trust and love in yourself, amongst the people you surround yourself with and knowing when to let go of relationships that no longer serve are some of the hardest lessons to learn. But facing fears, and understanding that things only get better when you face hard times rather than run away from them cultivates bravery and resilience.
What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
My biggest area of growth in the last 12 months has been communicating my needs, my fears, and my desires to myself, my family, and the universe. Also, taking responsibility for past failures has enabled me to reflect and grow in ways that fuel my success. Understanding that relationships take open hearts
and seeing the people that have shown up in my life with empathy, seeing how I can show up for them has helped me grow as a person, as a friend, and as a family member. I now understand that just because something ends doesn’t mean you are a failure.
Sometimes things are just not meant to be. And it’s okay. This is acceptance. Nothing is either inherently good or bad. It just is. But if we are able to hold on to an attitude of gratitude, it can change our whole lives for the better.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://FileveTlaloc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fileve_tlaloc?igsh=bHg5cXhzamVxZHly
Image Credits
Selfie by Fileve Tlaloc
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
