Meet Tonia Rivera

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

Hi Tonia, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I have never had any family to fall back or a “plan-B”. I was emancipated at 16 years old. Since then, I maintained the mindset that no-one was coming to save me. If I didn’t have a job or money for bills, I wouldn’t have food or a place to live, so I have always had to work hard. At age 15 I worked on a ranch mucking stalls at 5:00 am before school, that job paid for my food, clothes, and other necessities I otherwise wouldn’t have, and taught me discipline and value of time and money. As I have gotten older, I learned to not only work hard but to work smart and with intention, time is money. I always say, “you can’t teach work ethic, you either have it or you don’t.”, Of course you can teach good habits that may turn into a good work ethic, but it is ultimately up to the individual to put their desire to do into action, and maintaining that efficiency day in and day out. For me, there has never been any other option, something can’t come from nothing, if you want then you must do.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

At Mothers First Surrogacy, we educate, empower and match Surrogates and Intended Parents with ethical, vetted agencies in the ART industry who best fit their needs. We have recently began facilitating independent journey matches as well as offering independent journey management services. MFS is 2 years old and are very proud of the work we have been doing in the industry. Still, there is much more progress to be made in regard to not only providing educational material but actually coaching individuals on how they can manage their own journeys, should they choose to pursue an independent journey. Using a full service agency is not an option for everyone, and IPs’ deserve equal access to the appropriate services, providers, and vendors nonetheless. I have been working on a project over this past year that I am very excited about, Cherished Bonds. We will be providing surrogacy coaching, as well as birth and postpartum doula services. We are hoping to open our doors by February 2025.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three beliefs I hold onto that have aided me in my journey are to be relentlessly resilient, have the same blind confidence in yourself that you have in others, and know that there is always something more to learn.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am always looking for likeminded individuals and companies to partner with. I am a firm believer in the phrase, “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” If you are a provider with patients who need surrogates, are a mother who is interested in learning more about the process of becoming a surrogate, or an agency looking to collaborate, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at [email protected].

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mothersfirstsurrogacy.com
• Instagram: mothersfirstsurrogacy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonia-rivera-87476b260/