Meet Karina Mora

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

Karina, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
Most of my influence comes from my father. He always led with generosity in business and in life. He was generous with giving people opportunity, as well as generous with sharing in the things he learned. I remember every time he drove me to and from college (a 3 hour drive) he would share stories from his life and the lessons he learned from every experience. He also taught me to value education whether it came from a classroom or from hands on experiences. In his personal life, he loved to share experiences. Whenever my cousins, or abuela, or tias would come visit during the summer, we would go on fun days planned in Chicago, to amusement parks, to mini vacations. He was generous with being able to give his family experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have.
This has helped me to value finding ways to pass on my knowledge, to not gate keep what I learn, and to be generous in creating memories.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My entrepreneurial journey started by building and growing a wedding photography business with my husband for thirteen years. I had grown into a successful and published wedding photographer, however, after a wedding where my culture was mocked right in front of me, I decided to let go of this lucrative career in the wedding industry, to elevate my own Mexican Culture.

After that wedding, I realized I had assimilated to American Culture, which made it easy for people to appropriate my culture in front of me. From there, I started reclaiming my Mexican roots by traveling to Mexico to intentionally learn the history, traditions, and skills (like cooking) that weren’t passed down to me. I shared my story and journey on social media, and eventually pivoted my business to helping people reclaim their own cultural legacies through workshops, and facilitated trips to Mexico, and fine art photography from Mexican cities.
I also started facilitating workshops to help others create safe spaces through culturally informed and empathetic conversations.

My podcast Elevating la Cultura features stories from first and second- generation Latinas who are working hard, pursuing their passions, and pouring their positive efforts and benefits into the next generations. From a podcast, Elevating la Cultura has grown into in person networking events, workshops, summits, and a mentorship program for Latina entrepreneurs.
Right now we are on Season 9 of the podcast, and we have a lot of events happening for the rest of the year!

I will be announcing my next facilitated trip to Mexico as well as launching another photography collection soon!

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?
One of the mindset shifts that have helped me, is to understand that pivoting a successful business is not a failure. Even though it looked like I had built a successful business, and people didn’t understand why I wanted to close it down, I realized that it wasn’t a reflection of my values and wanted to create something different, and that’s ok.

Another thing I’ve come to value deeply is community. Having people that will encourage you, share knowledge, and speak your name in rooms you aren’t in is a huge help personally and professionally.

I’m also a huge advocate for being intentional about your mental health. Whether it’s having a daily grounding practice or regular therapy sessions. Taking care of your mental health is going to be crucial to helping your heal and grow in positive mindset shifts.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Overwhelm sneaks up on you. It has helped me to understand my seasons. There are times where I’m in a season of planning and prepping and there are times when I’m in a season of executing. Knowing my workload, as well as my mental capacity, and planning in rest times helps me stay focused and grounded.
During the day if I’m feeling overwhelmed in my tasks, I break my tasks down and take breaks to give my brain a rest. Pushing through doesn’t help me produce quality work, so I’ve learned what works for me in order to have the capacity to get everything done that I need to do.

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Image Credits
Karina Mora

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