Meet Monica Ortega

We recently connected with Monica Ortega and have shared our conversation below.

Monica, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

Facing fears. I am naturally afraid of almost everything. But I learned that I don’t want fear to hold me back, especially when what I want is on the other side. So by facing fears I learned that I not only loved the feeling of adrenaline and accomplishment on the other side but over time it started building up confidence. That confidence turned into the resilience of knowing I can handle the next scary thing.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Hi, I’m Monica! I’m an emcee, speaker, author, and award-winning travel host empowering audiences to embrace the pivot and take brave action to transform their lives.

In 2014, I decided to face my fears and create a travel show where I went on epic, adrenaline-pumping adventures and did all the things I was afraid of. I gave myself no choice but to push past my comfort zone, and through this wild experience, I learned that everything I ever wanted was on the other side of fear: confidence, resilience, and my most fulfilling and courageous life yet.
This new sense of self-confidence unlocked a whole new world for me. I made a commitment to myself to never let my fears hold me back again, and then decided to turn it into a successful career!

Today, I am a professional emcee and speaker who loves to liven up a crowd and get people on their feet through dancing and entertaining anecdotes. As an acclaimed keynote speaker who’s been in the entertainment industry for 20+ years, I pair my versatile on-stage experience with my natural charisma to captivate audiences and inspire them to face their fears, reframe rejection, and embrace the hell out of life’s toughest moments. Like I always say, if I (a recovered scaredy cat) can do it, then anyone can!

I’m currently booking for emceeing and speaking at 2026 events and look forward to connecting!

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

The three skills that were the most impactful for me was learning that resilience was on the other side of fear and it was worth stepping out of my comfort zone for. I also learned to love pivoting and building out a life I love with my step process of visualization, journaling, vision board, goal setting, and making it happen. Finally, I learned to give myself permission to pivot and change. Instead of getting attached to each decision, I could evaluate at any time whether or not I liked where I’m heading and change.

My advice for people early in their journey would be to find tactics that help them navigate fear and change. Build up their confidence taking stock of their accomplishments and using this to build their confidence up.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My two biggest lessons from my parents were this:

My mom taught me to “Act Like a Rockstar” meaning to create a false sense of confidence to build up the real stuff. I was terrified of singing on stage but loved acting so she told me to play the part and act like a rockstar. Dressing and acting the part got me through my initial fear until I could learn to love performing with less of an “Act”.

My dad taught me that “I can always go back or choose something else”. After a horrible first attempt at moving out on my own I was terrified moving to Nashville. I asked my dad What if it was the same! He said “Then you come back”. He gave me permission to change the outcome if I don’t like where I’m heading.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Rudy Ortega
Kristin Herman

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