Alena
Hall
Assistant Managing Editor, The Odyssey
Being Latina means loving to dance when music isn't even playing. Gravitating to coasts because it's what my great-grandmother always painted. Finding the sounds of coquí frogs soothing as I drift off to sleep. Craving any and all fresh fruit I can get my hands on. And falling into a nostalgic trance each time my relatives start swapping stories about their childhoods, romances and families that existed because of that beautiful island [Puerto Rico].
To this day, my great-grandmother's artwork fills the hallways of our home, and the stories of my grandfather becoming the first Puerto Rican general to join the U.S. Army Reserve is a consistent point of pride for all of us.
Alex
Barragan
Director of Merchandising, Coach, Inc.
Growing up in Arizona and being Latino meant working harder than everyone else. It angered and frustrated me that when I would say I was Mexican, they automatically made assumptions. I wanted them to see what I know Latinos are – an intelligent and diverse group of individuals who come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
Alexandera Rosario
Kelly
Blog Editor, Huffington Post
As a city transplant kid growing up in the suburbs of the Hudson Valley, being Latina meant being different than everyone else. At the time, there weren't a lot of Hispanic kids in my hometown, and I didn't fit in with the few who were there. I had a hard time identifying with my Hispanic heritage as a kid – I am Puerto Rican on my father's side, and we spent a lot of time with my mother's Italian family. I didn't get what it meant to be Puerto Rican other than eating rice and beans and chicken and empanadas all the time. It wasn't until I got to college – I attended NYU through the Higher Education Opportunity Program, where the majority of the students were black and Latino – that I felt like I reconnected a bit with my own culture.
Alicia Cepeda
Maule
Digital Communications Manager
As a kid, I navigated the world as black. I think it was my front-facing identity for a few reasons: 1) My father passed away and he left behind a very strong black legacy that I wanted to carry on. 2) Growing up in Chicago, the majority of the Latino population was Mexican and didn't look like me. 3) Lastly, there were more black kids than Latino at the prep school I went to.
Don't get me wrong, I was always proud of being Colombian and enjoyed the benefits of our culture, language and spirit. I also eventually realized that being black and Latino were not mutually exclusive – especially on trips to New York City, where you had a bigger presence of Puerto Rican and Dominicans, many of whom were black and looked more like me.
Andres
Jauregui
Senior Editor, Forbes
My parents emigrated from Chile after the coup in 1973. They left a lot behind to come to the U.S., but they fortunately held onto their language and their food, which I think, looking back, were the biggest cultural influencers on me in terms of being Latino. When I speak Spanish, I still use lots of Chilean words, and I'm always keen to learn new "modismos" from my cousins.
Although I was born in the U.S., I felt that a lot of my experience involved assimilation into American culture. Internally, I was always worried about fitting in, although looking back I don't think I struggled with it much. I don't really have an accent (except, on occasion, a New York accent) so lots of people growing up thought I was Polish or Czech or even Persian. Never "Spanish." Must be the blue eyes.
Liz
Martinez
Producer, HuffPost Live
I didn't identify as Latino growing up, to be honest. But not because I didn't like the term — it had more to do with the fact that I grew up along the border. The way I saw it was, because I was born to Mexican parents and I lived in Mexico, I was a Mexican. But because I was born in the U.S. and went to school in Texas, I was an American.
It was a fluid identity that changed as often as I crossed the Rio Grande, and it wasn't until I went to college in Pennsylvania that I began to embrace the term "Latino" — at first because that's how others identified me, and later because that's how I saw myself.
Marcos
Saldívdar
Assignment Editor, Huffington Post
Growing up Latino meant identifying with my Mexican heritage and the unique immigrant experience that connects many Mexican-Americans. It meant growing up in a patriarchal society that was often sheltered and ignorant. It meant my parents had to work long hours to provide for me and my siblings. It meant that fear often overcame us because our mother was undocumented. It meant that to our close relatives in Mexico we weren't Mexican enough; and to our American peers we weren't American enough. But it also meant that growing up in a tight-knit family, full of love, support and happiness in spite of how little we had, would ultimately help us overcome everything. And it meant embracing that "si se puede!" attitude to make that American dream a reality.
Melissa
Fumero
Actress, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
For me, personally, being Latina means family. It means food. It means music. It means loyalty. That's what I identify with being a Latina: Family comes first, you stay loyal to your family. My family is everything to me. Also I think of foods and smells and music and dancing and celebration – and those are all the things I was raised with that make me feel Latina.
I think that there's a quiet strength you're brought up around when you're Latin, especially growing up in a Cuban family made of refugees. There definitely was an extreme work ethic – anything less than working really, really hard is unacceptable – and just a general toughness and strength that I learned from the women in my family and my father.
Michelle
Mulligan
Editor-In-Chief, Cosmopolitan for Latinas
Being Latina means family, heart and community first. I was raised with the idea that your culture means something specific, and you shape your life around representing it well. There also seems to be this wild, deep enjoyment about it that I truly love. Whether I'm walking the streets of Buenos Aires, the Bronx or Mexico City, I always feel this light and laughter surrounding the comunidad no matter what the circumstances. It's like we're in on a secret about what really matters.
My Latina identity has inspired my career in so many ways. As a journalist, it has always felt like the great untold story of this country. Not just the hard work and passion that fuels our economy but the multitude of little pop culture references, the beauty of our culture and the massively inspirational stories behind the women who succeed. These are the stories I feel most compelled to share.
Patricia
Reynoso
Editor, Glam Belleza Latina
Being Latino means experiencing the best of two cultures. It means living a rich life full of unique customs, delicious food, amazing music and inside jokes. It also means carrying a legacy with you, of wanting to show the world what your people are all about.
Growing up, being Latina was all I knew! My parents were extremely Dominican – they only spoke Spanish and our TV was permanently set to Univision – so my culture was my comfort zone. It was only later, as I merged into a more Americanized lifestyle, that I realized just how special those experiences were. I wouldn't trade them for anything.
My Latino identity is 100 percent responsible for any success that I've had in my career. First, it gave me that hustle that I saw in my own parents, helping me succeed in a very competitive field. Secondly, it gave me the courage to simply go for what I wanted – I had nothing to lose! And now, I believe it's given me the authenticity and the passion to be the editor of Glam Belleza Latina.
Roque
Planas
Reporter, Huffington Post
I cover Latino politics and Latin America, so my identity played a huge role in defining my career. I was a pretty terrible student until I took my first Latin American history course in college.
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