How Do You Say Success in Spanglish?
The path to success isn’t paved for people of color. Join me as I sit down with individuals who share their stories as we learn how to say Success in Spanglish.
How Do You Say Success in Spanglish?
Transforming Adversity into Empowerment - Carlene Fonseca
What if you could redefine success through the lens of personal struggle and cultural identity? Join me, Raul Lopez, as I sit down with Carlene Fonseca, a dynamic leader who has transformed her experiences from Central Falls into a thriving career in leadership and community engagement. As the CEO and Chief Consultant of The Greatest You Consulting, Carlene opens up about her journey as a first-generation Cape Verdean-American, navigating cultural expectations, academic triumphs, and a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis. Together, we explore how she embodies more than just professional titles and her commitment to empowering others to reach their fullest potential.
We confront the harsh realities of adversity and its unexpected role in personal growth. From my own challenges with an emotionally turbulent household and childhood trauma, to Carlene's transition from law enforcement to policy work, these stories underscore resilience and transformation. Through shared experiences, we discuss finding solace in academics and sports, and the importance of community involvement as a means to channel insecurities positively. Our conversation shines a light on the struggles faced by people of color and immigrants, highlighting the critical role of mental health awareness and self-worth in breaking free from toxic environments and embracing one’s true value.
Carlene and I also delve into the significant strides made in community development and wellness in Central Falls, showcasing initiatives like job fairs and wellness programs. We discuss personal growth through parenting, emphasizing open communication and gentle parenting methods that foster gratitude and self-acceptance. By reflecting on our journeys, we aim to inspire others to find fulfillment not just in overcoming challenges, but in embracing every moment of life. With honesty and empathy, we hope this conversation empowers you to transform adversity into a powerful tool for self-discovery and success.
See more at www.successinspanglish.com
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Intro Song: Regaeton Pop - Denbow Ambiance
This is Raul Lopez and you're listening to how Do you Save Success in Spanglish. The path to success isn't easy For minorities and people of color. Many attempt this journey with little to no guidance. Join me as I sit down with individuals who share their stories of perseverance so that together, we can learn how to say success in Spanglish what's good, mi gente, it's your boy, Raul. Welcome back to how Do you Say Success in Spanglish. Today we have Carlene Fanzica. How's it going? Hello? Hey, welcome to the show. Hello, a long way from where you were in high school to where you are now and we've reunited recently and it was great to catch up and I'm definitely glad you reached out and asked me to jump on the show, and so I'm so excited to have you here today.
Raul Lopez:Thank you so much for being here.
Carlene Fonseca:Thank you.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and so just to kind of give an intro on Carlene. Carlene Fonseca, the CEO and Chief Consultant of the Greatest you Consulting, brings a diverse and rich background in leadership, community engagement and education. Carlene holds several roles in long-term contracts, such as the statewide director for the Rhode Island Afterschool Network, working with professionals in out-of-school time throughout the state of Rhode Island, a core faculty member with College Unbound, an educational program for non-traditional adult learners. Carlene also spent some time as a program director in Central Falls School District, where she manages significant budgets and led impactful educational programs.
Raul Lopez:Carlene's educational journey includes a BA in government from Georgetown University, an MA in criminology from George Washington University and an ongoing MBA from Providence College. She has also attained certification skills in diverse areas like social-emotional learning facilitations, yoga, mental health, first aid and racial equality facilitation. Carlene's motivation for the business stems from her commitment to fostering personal and professional growth, utilizing her strengths in strategic thinking, leadership and community development. Carlene is a proud mother, a lifelong learner, loves listening to podcasts and hitting the gym. She enjoys a healthy lifestyle, both physically and emotionally, and recovery as a survivor of childhood and adult traumatic experiences, and loves empowering others in the community to become their best self. Welcome to the show.
Carlene Fonseca:Thank you for having me.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, it's very impressive. You do so much and I follow you on Instagram so I see all the stuff you post all the time and the things you're making moves on, so I'm really excited to kind of get into it. So I guess, to kind of start off, tell me you know who is Carlene.
Carlene Fonseca:Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that introduction. And who is Carlene? That's a good question right Because growing up I've been trained to, I think, society we're just trained to like define ourselves by our roles and the things that we do in our jobs. And that's why I started saying like my roles are right, because I am a person outside of any position. I hold any job, any career. Outside of any position, I hold any job, any career. I'm a mother. I'm a dog mom. I'm someone who loves movement and exercise and anything that gets my mind and my body moving. I love helping people. I'm a lifelong learner. So whether that's reading, that's learning more about myself. I'm like 34 years old, I think. Every single day I'm learning something different. So I would say Carleen is a work in progress. I am settling into my own skin and learning who I am, and I'm very proud of that.
Carlene Fonseca:So, we'll get into it, but on a surface level. That's who I am.
Raul Lopez:Nice, nice. Yeah, I think that last sentence, you know, settling into your own skin, is kind of a lifetime progression. You know, every year you might get a little bit better and better with it, but it's never something you fully get used to, especially early on. You know, like you said, we're always, we're always defined sometimes by the roles where we think we're supposed to be, in that we never really understand where we're supposed to go. And so I'm glad to hear that you know, you're, you're, you're doing so well with that, so I get you know. So, obviously, one of the things you said when in your pre-interview questionnaire is that you know. You said you are from central falls by way of cape verd. Um, you know, for most people those are two words that they've never heard, especially in one sentence. So can you tell me a little bit about you know, uh, being cape verdian and growing up in central falls?
Carlene Fonseca:yes, absolutely so. I. I I joined the sorority in college and we always used to say, by way of if somebody was like not originally from the United States. And although I was born in America, born and raised in Central Falls, I identify very heavily with my Cape Verdean culture, especially as a first generation person here, especially as a first generation person here. So my parents came here from Cape Verde in the 80s and they didn't have a college education, they barely had a middle school education, but they always pushed on to all of us like get a degree and you know, be a lawyer, be a doctor, you know those things that immigrant parents tell their kids to do. So I did well in school and I love Central Falls.
Carlene Fonseca:I got a tattoo of CF because it's my initials, but it's also where I'm from, and growing up here taught me a lot. It taught me a lot and I did well, like academically. I graduated number two in my class. My brothers and sisters all graduated number one. So I was the one that was like that. I was the odd ball. I was the one that used to get in trouble. I experienced a lot of childhood traumatic experiences. So I think with that I started acting out. I actually just got diagnosed with ADHD as an adult because of my daughter and I wish like somebody had picked up on that a long time ago. But I always did well and one thing that CF taught me was perseverance. So I tell people I may not have had the best education here upper bound helped offset that but I was taught to persevere that, no matter what I went through, that I would find a way. If one path didn't work out, I would go another route. So I'm very proud proud of that, being from Central Falls.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, yeah, I mean, even though I kind of finished at the tail end of my life growing up in Pawtucket and my parents still live in Pawtucket now. I did spend a lot of my early ages growing up, I think from like first grade to about about sixth, seventh grade in Central Falls. I think I started Central.
Carlene Fonseca:Falls Junior.
Raul Lopez:High School and then left to Pawtucket, so I can remember it all over.
Carlene Fonseca:So yeah, central falls.
Raul Lopez:I think I started junior high school and then uh left to patucket. So, uh, so, yeah, so cf has a dear place in my heart for people you know. Look up central falls, rhode island. Uh, learn about the uh, tiniest little city in the tiniest little town, uh, in the tiniest little state. Uh, there's a lot of amazing culture in in that city of central falls, so's great. I love being there and then watching it develop from where it was years ago to where it is now has been pretty amazing. So, and I agree, I mean Central Falls is not the smoothest place to grow up with this broth and there is a lot of perseverance that occurs there and people you know, a lot of strength in that town and for the people there. But obviously you mentioned a little bit about um having to deal with a variety of childhood trauma and stuff like that, but would you mind sharing a little bit about that?
Carlene Fonseca:yeah, absolutely, um, and I'll talk a little bit more about, like my cape burying heritage. So, um, we, I had a huge family. My grandfather had 34 kids, different women, um, and I ended up meeting a lot of my uncles and aunts in adulthood and my grandfather he actually died by suicide in Cape Verde the year before I was born and we never really grew up talking about feelings, mental health, I think like at first I thought it was like Cape Verdeans who just didn't do that, but it's every culture, right. Like everybody just talked about mental health and those challenges and sweeping things under the rug and it's like as long as the garden looked clean, it didn't matter what happened, like inside the house, right, even till this day, it's like that.
Carlene Fonseca:So, growing up, I was like in an emotionally abusive household, um, neglectful, like my parents did everything that they could, like I was always even growing up in central paul's, it's like everyone was like poor, quote unquote, right. So it's like you, I, I didn't go without, but what I did go without was that emotional support and and structure and checking, checking, checking in and validating my feelings. Like my emotions and my feelings were never validated growing up. So I always grew up like questioning myself and my worth, um, and then like early late elementary, early middle school um, I was like sexually abused by a great uncle and that kind of like mess turned my whole life upside down and I started like acting out in school.
Carlene Fonseca:My grades started going down and now that, as I'm older and I'm getting into like psychology and health and wellness and learning about all this stuff, it's like I had all the signs that something was like wrong with me, something happened to me, and no adult in my life whether it's like a mentor, teacher, parent checked in to say like what is going on, right? And so I kept it silent until I was an adult. I just came out with that a few years ago and we'll get into like the effects of all of that. But growing up I just felt like I needed to always validate myself and improve my worth, and especially in like a Cape Verdean culture like you just you just keep it quiet and keep it moving, keep it pushing. So I mean that's what I did and I was able to excel in school, like I said, but inside, deep down, like things just weren't right. That makes sense.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, no, not completely, not to say anything about me, but the cultural aspect of our lives where our emotional well-being, especially back in the day, you know, back when we were growing up as kids, it wasn't as big as it is now.
Raul Lopez:You know, now there's a big focus on it. Now there's a big thing where every time your kids something's going on, it's oh, that's therapy and things like that. And in our culture that wasn't the case. You know what I mean. You sucked it up and you kept moving and if something bad happens is don't say anything because we don't want people to think bad about our family, and that you, a lot of kids, dealt with the same type of lack of support emotionally on all aspects of anything that we had. So so you know, thank you so much for sharing and thank you for being open. You know about it because obviously you know it's great to be able to share these situations to help other people you know overcome, you know their obstacles and their ability to hold things in. And so obviously you said you kind of did really good in school. Kind of despite that, were you kind of like pinpoint focusing in school, because it was kind of keeping your mind off of other things that you were dealing with.
Carlene Fonseca:Was that?
Raul Lopez:your outlet.
Carlene Fonseca:My outlet was probably sports. So I grew up. I grew up playing sports at an early age. Basketball was like my number one thing. I joined our girl we had a girls team at the time for the city. I think I was eight years old, eight, nine years old when I started to play, so that was like my outlet. I played basketball throughout high school. I scored a thousand points, but I, I I also played soccer, volleyball, softball, I did track and I I also volunteered and I did community service.
Carlene Fonseca:I think something inside of me, like growing up in a community like Central Falls right, we're the third most populated city, I think in the country right, we have over 25,000 residents in one square mile Like that's a lot of people, like a lot of resources are pressed. Our city budget's not that much. We don't have a lot of resources in the city. So what I noticed is I was going out playing sports in different cities and towns. I said how come our fields don't look like that? How come our courts don't look like that? Um, and I kind of like started to notice those economic differences. Um, and I, I gave a lot of time back into my community when I was in high school.
Carlene Fonseca:I volunteered at the middle school with the sport the girls sports teams. Um, in high school I did. Volunteered at the middle school with the sport the girls sports teams. In high school I did. I volunteered over 500 hours with our local community center doing like a tobacco free program and ambassador. I did a health fair. In high school I ran a health fair as a student. So I was always like, I think my way of channeling that energy was to give back and to be a source of inspiration, maybe that I didn't have, and let other people know like that, that help is out there, that people are valuable. So I think I was projecting like my own insecurities and onto other people, but helping in a good way.
Raul Lopez:So yeah, yeah, but yeah, and you also mentioned that you, you were, you were a little bit, uh, destructive as well. I think you were getting in trouble more as well and uh was it one of those situations where it's like you were, you were getting ahead of stuff despite what you were doing, you were so smart that you couldn't get. Even if you got in trouble, you were still doing well in school that you kept moving forward yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Carlene Fonseca:Um, like I would get to. I got suspended. I got in school um fights. I remember I fought a boy in sixth grade, um, because he won. Of course I won, but it's not something I'm proud of, but I was.
Carlene Fonseca:I was like lashing out, but my schoolwork was very important to me. My sister went to Georgetown University, where I ended up going, and she was nine years older than me and she was a real role model to me. She left home when I was eight and I went to go visit her. It was cheaper at that time to fly Southwest and to do the $39 flight, so me and my mom went with her. It's the first time I traveled, like stayed at a hotel, and I saw Washington DC and I said that's where I'm going to school. And since I was eight years old, I just did everything in my power to make sure like I got there and I did. I just did everything in my power to make sure like I got there and I did because I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm simulated, stimulated intellectually a lot and I love reading was another outlet. Like I read, like I would read a book every week, maybe two. Growing up since I was like in kindergarten it's just reading and learning was always something that was like really big for me.
Raul Lopez:And throughout high school and early on before you got into college and Georgetown being I guess you said that was your goal to get there. You know what did you feel once you accomplished that goal of yours. What kind of feelings ran through you?
Carlene Fonseca:that goal of yours. What kind of feelings ran through you? Oh, it was a, it was a culture shock. I mean, it was completely different than I imagined. Um, different in good and bad ways, right. Um, I don't know, I think. I think when my sister, when I saw the culture um aspect she was involved in a lot of the cultural programs we went to the multicultural graduation and things like that. When I went, it was a complete culture shock. It was the most white people I've ever seen in my whole life, the most wealth I've seen in my whole life. Even the black people at Georgetown were rich, going to school with execs. Um, I think one of the uh Supreme court uh judges like his daughter was was going to school with me at the time.
Carlene Fonseca:It was like elitism at its best, um, and I just I didn't fit in in a lot of ways and it was also the first time that. So, like I mentioned, I'm Cape Verdean. I went to Washington DC. They had no idea what Cape Verde is, and so they looked at me and they're like what are that movie? Like some funny sort of Puerto Rican? They probably thought I was like some funny sort of Puerto Rican. Like she's not Spanish, but she's like J-Lo a little bit. She like she's not Spanish, but she's like J-Lo a little bit, but she's like from the hood, so what's? I don't get it. You know so, and I'm light-skinned, I got green eyes, so it doesn't help. Um, so it was like fitting into that circle as well, like I had to like really figure out like where I fit in and who I was like. I started to like ask myself and question myself like who am I, and and and what do I want to be?
Raul Lopez:Yeah, I think it's a struggle we, a lot of us, deal with when we first go to college. We never know what to expect and how to get there and what we're going to do there. And obviously, probably by the time you you visited your sister, she was kind of already knowing how to make it work and so you came in thinking, oh yeah, it's going to be easy. I meet all these people but I mean, yeah, I feel you, dude, it's like one of my friends' friend's dad owned a yacht company in Europe and he got kicked out of housing but had the money to live in like a nice apartment in downtown Boston and it's like, you know, people got money. I don't even know Like what. I thought people had money. I was way off on what people had money Like. So, yeah, that that really. And so what were what were? How were you able to kind of overcome some of those challenges once, once you guys started getting going into university?
Carlene Fonseca:I just a perseverance, like I said said if I didn't know, something I would like go to. I was that person who went to office hours. I went to our writing center. We had like a multicultural center. I went there for support, um, and I joined a lot of programs, like I like extracurricular activities, like just like in high school um, I joined probably like eight programs my my first year just to see like what, what I liked, and I just kept going. I I like buckled down on my academics, got support.
Carlene Fonseca:I remember I had to take pre-calc, um, and I'm like I already took pre-calc, I took calculus already and now I'm like going backwards, but it was a different type of calculus. So I just remember I just doubled down, I did my studies, but I also did the things that fueled me, like the service. I joined service boards and I joined my sorority. I'm a part of Delta Sigma, theta Sorority Incorporated, the best sorority out there, and we do a lot of service. So that was my way of like giving back to the community. I learned a lot about DC. I interned on the Hill with the Department of Justice and I was able to just take advantage of any opportunity that came my way and that helped me like stay focused. You know, like stay focused and put my academics first.
Raul Lopez:Nice, nice. And I know you mentioned earlier when you were younger, because of all the trauma you were dealing with, you were focused really on community to kind of validate yourself. Were you still having those sort of feelings in college? With all the community service you were doing, you still thought you were trying to validate yourself um, now I I put that together as an adult, right, like as a child.
Carlene Fonseca:I'm not thinking about that like this is why I'm doing that, but probably same thing, as you know in college.
Raul Lopez:Um, it was my way of of healing and and mice and coping I guess, cool in my way nice, okay, yeah, and and so you obviously went from georgetown uh university and then you were. I'm guessing you were able to kind of overcome that culture shock and and get through successfully, because you know obviously you obviously you went to George Washington University afterwards. You know what was the evolution like for you between undergrad and grad school.
Carlene Fonseca:What was the evolution? I thought I wanted to go into law enforcement, right Like. I thought I wanted to like be part of like FBI or CIA. So I went ahead and applied for a criminology degree and George Washington was a great school. I actually got I got two full rides at other schools and I turned them down. I tell people, like, if I had one regret in my life, it's that, like, go to where they're paying you to go. So I went and I think as I was going through my coursework I realized that I didn't necessarily want to do enforcement. I wanted to work on policy because I didn't believe in some of the laws and policies that were happening and how laws came to be, and at the same time I was working for the federal government.
Carlene Fonseca:So I worked at the U S agency for international development. I worked there for two years. I did that like nine to five during the day and then I went to school. I went to grad school in the evenings and that was a real learning experience, like I I helped, I was the liaison to the white house liaison and that's when I learned, like, about political appointees. So whenever a president comes in, he appoints all the heads of all these agencies and all the leadership staff, like the director of every agency, every department in the agency, every leadership team. So we placed all those folks in our agency through Obama. So it was a real learning experience.
Carlene Fonseca:And then going to school at the same time I just it was a really good learning experience, like I tried to take advantage of a lot of opportunities but still enjoying my life. You know, enjoying my life. I was in a not so healthy relationship at the time, but I didn't really. It was like my first like serious relationship and I didn't really like see a lot of the red signs. There were a lot of red signs and I kind of like that started like my spiral emotionally, yeah, yeah and this is when?
Raul Lopez:Um, yeah, yeah. And this is when? Was this? While you were still in, uh, third Washington, or um, and then did that continue on until you graduated or did things, yeah, until I graduated yeah. And then, once you graduated, what was? What was life like that for you?
Carlene Fonseca:So when I graduated, I had to decide if I was going to stay in DC or come back home. Graduated, I had to decide if I was going to stay in DC or come back home and ultimately my my uncle ended up passing away a few months after I graduated from grad school here in Rhode Island and I lived with him my whole life. So I said I was going to come home. I was going to come home, support my parents my grandmother was here at the time so I said I'm just just gonna come home and like figure it out over here. So I had I got a job promotion in DC and I called them and I was like I'm, I can't go. I actually moved all my stuff there, I like set up an apartment with my cousin and, um, I was just like I something inside of me said don't go, don, don't, don't stay there. And I came back home.
Raul Lopez:And did, did your? Was your relationship over by that point?
Carlene Fonseca:Yes, it fizzled out. I told when I moved back.
Raul Lopez:Okay, good, all right, yeah, Nice, and so, yeah, I mean, you took that leap of faith to kind of get back to Rhode Island and back to your roots, and what was that like for you once you got here?
Carlene Fonseca:It was completely different, Like being a high school student and being an adult, like I lived in DC for like eight years, so like coming into into it, it was like crazy. It was election year, mind you. Like it was a governor's race when Gina Raimondo got elected and I ended up joining my first job in Rhode Island. My cousin introduced me to someone and was like, oh, like, maybe you could work for this campaign it was Angel Tavares' campaign for governor. So I'm like back into Rhode Island.
Carlene Fonseca:People are like who is this Carleen girl? Right, Because nobody knows me from here. Like that, was this Carleen girl right, Because nobody knows me from here, like that. And I had to like kind of like prove myself, but also like it gave me a good opportunity to like put myself out there and meet people and work in the community, the community that I loved. So I did that for a whole year and I worked for then Congressman Cicilline on his reelection campaign as well, and then I said I need to get a real job because these campaigns ain't doing it. So I ended up working for Blackstone Valley Prep, which is a charter school. I was a dean of operations there for a year and then after that. That's when I moved over to the Stature Fall School District where I went to school, and that was an honor because I was able to bring back resources and grants and activities for our youth Some things like that I didn't have growing up.
Carlene Fonseca:So, that was like full circle.
Raul Lopez:Nice, nice, yeah. And so what was it like when you go back to your school and you're not on the other side of the table? You know, obviously, when you're a kid and you're in high school, you're like, man, my school doesn't do this, or it does do that, or it deals with whatever. But then you get flipped to the other side and you're like oh OK, I see what we're working with.
Carlene Fonseca:You know what kind of shock did that give you? Yeah, I mean, it's actually easier working with the students than working with the adults. I say that in any, any aspect of life. Right, it's like the problem is not the students. The problem is, are the adults? Um, and that's what I found right Um, the students are awesome Even now. The students are awesome Even now. I go back to the school all the time. I speak to students and the problem at the school?
Carlene Fonseca:So I I started I wanted to like think outside the box and like what can we do to like really support these students? And one thing that happens in Central Falls is we have a lot of students who don't end up like graduating on time right in June, so they have to do summer school in order to make the August graduation so. And then there's a bunch of other students like the, the younger, the younger grades, who just need summer school. So I applied for the grant, um, through the state. It was like the first time that they put out this skills for Rhode Island's youth grant and what I did is I tied the academic component with workforce, because students need to work. Right, it's like summertime, they're like a lot of our students are supporting their families or supporting themselves, so they need income, legal income. So what I did was the students went to school nine to 12, and then from 12 to three or 12 to four. They worked in a local business like small business or nonprofit or even the school district between those hours and they got paid for it through the grant.
Carlene Fonseca:So it's thinking outside the box like how can we best support these students so that they're achieving academically, but we're also thinking about the whole student. So I was able to do things like that. I took them on a lot of field trips Like that's something that we didn't necessarily have. Going up right, like going up in like an inner city, even in Rhode Island, being so close to the beach, a lot of students don't make it down there. So I remember one field trip. We took them to the beach, we took them to National Guard camp, we took them to a bunch of different job fears and career fears that were specifically for youth and I thought that was important for exposure, because growing up I wasn't exposed to any of that stuff, and it's so. And being able to leave Rhode Island and CDC and be exposed to different experiences, I wanted to bring that to our youth.
Carlene Fonseca:So, those are some of the things that that that we did.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, no, it's, it's. Rhode Island is interesting when it comes to distance. We are, there's no distance really in. If you go anywhere outside of Rhode Island it's like everything's close by. But the you know Boston's considered a day trip when I was growing up. You know like, oh, you're gonna go to Boston. Oh, you know like we didn't just go to Boston. Like there's times then as an adult that I've gone to Boston like three times in one day, you know, just to go drop off something, come back and go do something else.
Carlene Fonseca:Oh, you're a good one, I wouldn't do that.
Raul Lopez:That's exactly it. You know people are like, oh my God, now I live in Connecticut, I'm 45 minutes from like 40 to 50 minutes from my parents, so I'm always the one coming up to do stuff because I'm like you live so far, you live so far and I'm like dude. I used to go an hour and a half to go get an ospice for my wife when she was pregnant in houston, because the best ones were in the west side of houston and so, uh, but yeah, it's just you. There is this perspective of you miss out on outside of your bubble. Um, for people in rhode island, um, you know, like I said, like one of the things on my other, one of my other episodes, I talked about how I didn't apply to brown because I thought there was too many white people at brown and I applied to boston university.
Raul Lopez:I'm like it's the same shit. You know it was the same thing, it's just I'm. You're stuck in your little bubble. You don't know different. You think providence. You think just because the school's in providence it's going to be closer to what your culture is, but you don't realize that that's its own ecosystem, inside of Providence, that lives completely different than what you are. So yeah, I'm glad you were able to kind of give that additional perspective to some of your students.
Carlene Fonseca:Yeah.
Raul Lopez:And so what did you start doing after you were working for Central Falls? What was your next step?
Carlene Fonseca:So after Central Falls I actually went to Providence College um, and I uh one of my primary uh roles there was running a fellowship program. So, um, it was called the Feinstein Community Fellowship Program. It was named after Alan Sean Feinstein, which is like a huge philanthropist here in Rhode Island, and um, I worked with primarily first gen um students of color, low-income students, and they were placed in local non-profits throughout Rhode Island and they would get like a tuition scholarship for that, and then I ran bi-weekly like workshops with those students as well. So it's like a leadership program, um, and I managed our day-to-day um things in the office and I did that for five years. Um, at the end I kind of told you a little bit about it, but it was a very traumatizing experience at the end of my road there, um, because they it's a catholic, predominantly white school and the leadership is very conservative and I want to say racist, so heavily racist um, and they just didn't treat students of color or staff faculty of color very well and that's why you see a mass exodus over the last decade of people and unfortunately I was part of that.
Carlene Fonseca:But I'm proud of myself that I was able to like recognize that, and before I even had like my next job lined up, like I left, I resigned because it was no, it wasn't good for my mental health, um, and that's the one thing like I, I emphasize to people all the time it's like a job is they'll replace you in a second and you probably, they probably need you more than you need them. And I think often, often, we one define ourselves by our roles but two, we give so much power over to employers and think like nothing else is going to come, nothing better, like I won't, I don't, I'm not qualified for this position. But I just want to challenge people to say like no, you, you can get another job, you are worthy, you are qualified and you can, you can explore, you can explore your options and you don't have to be stuck in a place that doesn't value you. Because when, when you are stuck in places like that, you start to devalue yourself and like that's the worst position you can be in.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, no, it's true. I mean, I felt that for the longest time too in my career where I'm stuck at a job and I'm like something will come, please, something will come, cause I don't know if I'll apply anywhere and they'll take me. And you know, you just keep sucking at it and you think you have to be loyal to a company because that's what they tell you. You know, and when you know, with time my perspective of loyalty has been I'm loyal with you while I'm working there and I'm going to work hard while I'm there, and that's my loyalty to the company.
Raul Lopez:But it goes both ways and you know, I I had, I also had a job where I wasn't getting raises and anything like that, and then I left and then two jobs later, they're calling me to come back with a higher position, a higher pay, and I'm like you guys are underpaying what I'm making now at the position you are now. So if you would have kept me for like 10% more five years ago, I would have been staying there for a lot longer. But now you're almost doubling what you would have had me pay me before, and you're not even close to what I'm making out. So, yeah, it's like you gotta, you gotta realize your value to these companies, because it really does. You know, we don't recognize it and we think we and we get taken advantage of, you know, especially because our we're immigrants. You know our parents were workers. They just went and worked and did what they had to do.
Raul Lopez:So you know they, they just sucked it up and went to work and came home, fed the kids and that's it. So no, I appreciate that and I think that's from that. What you're mentioning is part of what you guys do now in your consulting firm. Did you leave that fine sign? Is that when you started doing the consulting, or was that there was still more? Yeah, good question.
Carlene Fonseca:I actually started it while I was there, so I always knew skills and strengths and do something like on my own, like, so it was right. It was right before COVID happened, january 2020. Um, and I read this book, um, trent Shelton. He's a? Um like a inspirational speaker. He's an author, and I read one of his books. It was called the greatest you and he really inspired me to like, pursue myself and and in my wants and my needs. Um, so I was like I'm gonna create this consulting business, um, it's gonna be called the greatest you consulting, because I want everyone to be their greatest you. I think it's it's a exemplifies, like, my life story and how I want to share my gift with others. So I I originally was like, oh, I'll consult around everything, right, and you can't really do everything.
Carlene Fonseca:And over the over the years I I just got into recovery April 7th of last year from substances and alcohol, which I'm very proud of, and through that journey, I realized I had a lot of mental health struggles too. I was in this past year and a half. I was diagnosed with, I guess, adhd, anxiety, depression, complex PTSD. So through that journey, I realized I want to help other people who are recovering from anything, because we all recover from something. We all have traumas in our life and somebody's little trauma could be somebody's big trauma. That could be a divorce. That could be a breakup to big trauma. That could be a divorce. That could be a breakup. To some people, that could be like sexual abuse. People who experience sexual abuse, 95% of them turn to drugs and alcohol 95%. So at the age of 10, somebody should have told me like you're probably going to go down that route right, and this is a message now I'm able to give to youth, but also give to adults and caretakers of those precious youth.
Carlene Fonseca:So I centered my business now on health and wellness, around the eight dimensions of wellness, which could be emotional, physical, social, financial, because when we neglect one of those areas, usually another area is neglected. So through my business I do workshops around mindfulness, yoga, trauma, mental health and also put on events. I've been doing the Central Falls Job Fair for 10 years now with the Department of Labor and Training and Progreso Latino. I'm going to be hosting a health fair to talk more about like preventive strategies, not necessarily like, okay, you're in it now. Now, what's the? What medications are we taking? I want to take a holistic approach to that to health and helping people.
Raul Lopez:So yeah, awesome. Well, first, you know, congratulations on recovery. I know that's a difficult thing to do and it's a it's a lifelong journey that you, you deal with all the time. So you know, I'm proud of you for, for you know, sticking with that and getting through that Cause, yeah, I think, at least for me.
Raul Lopez:We all have family members and stuff like that that have dealt with different aspects of things, and so it's great to see some success with that. So I just want to let you know I'm very, very proud of you for all of that. And then, you know, it's really exciting to see that you're. You know you've turned your traumas into. You know I think that's something you've said, you've always done You've turned your traumas and, you know, projected them out to the world to help other people and and and improve the lives of others. And so you know, um, what's been some of probably the biggest challenges um for you in, in, in that realm.
Carlene Fonseca:Yeah, I think I think what I've learned is is and this is something like I want to talk about for a good amount of time because in our communities we don't talk about self-love and self-acceptance and self-respect, right, and it's always especially as women, as women of color it's always what are you giving? What are you putting out to the world? Like how are you going to serve the men? Like the kids come first, right? Like you never talk about yourself. And I had to flip the script once I went down that rabbit hole and I found myself in a deep, dark place all alone. Like I knew I needed help and like asking for help is probably one of the most courageous things that you can do and.
Carlene Fonseca:I just want to let other people know if you need help, if you need assistance, like there are places, there are resources that you can go to, and it's not a sign of weakness for you to ask for help. Like I grew up thinking like, oh, that was a weakness, I had to be hyper independent, do everything on my own and I don't have all the answers. I was the first person in my family to get sober, to go to a facility, to go to Butler, to talk about mental health, and it's so stigmatized in our community that I didn't have that person. Like I couldn't go to an uncle or aunt and say, oh, how can you help me through this? Like, do you have a recommendation? Like you can't go to your employer because then they look at you crazy. So it's like you have to. I had to figure out my way and I had to ask for help because I didn't have those answers or resources in my circle. So I just want other people to know like it's okay for you to ask for help.
Raul Lopez:it's actually a very courageous thing to do yeah, it's super, super difficult too for a lot of people.
Carlene Fonseca:So yeah, being able to hear other people say that.
Raul Lopez:Say that, I'm sure is really helpful.
Carlene Fonseca:Yeah, and then yeah, and then I, in terms of you know, helping other people, I realized I had to help myself first in that process, right Like we can't if our cup is empty, we can't fill anyone else's cup. And as a mother like I got into an abusive relationship, like right after I had my daughter and I was no good to her if I wasn't good to myself. So I had to get help for myself in order to be the best version of myself for her. So even in my business now, a lot of the practices workshops is centered on you, right Like you can't change the world until you change yourself or heal yourself. And by healing yourself, you're healing generations, you're healing bloodlines. And in my family we didn't heal. Like I said, my grandfather died by suicide and nobody in the family thought that's important to talk about. Things like that are genetic. They get passed down from generation to generation. That's something you need to talk about.
Carlene Fonseca:I have my daughter.
Carlene Fonseca:I have a therapist I see every week but my five-year-old daughter now she's been in therapy since she was four years old and people say, like your daughter's in therapy, yes, she's in therapy, but she's seen a lot of things in her four years and I want her to be set up and prepared in a way that I was not.
Carlene Fonseca:So that's her learning to regulate her emotions and deal with her emotions and learn coping skills and strategies, something that our parents didn't teach us, our grandparents didn't have to teach. So one thing that I do is I lead by example, I show people after this interview we're doing I'm going to sauna, I'm going to read, I said for an hour, maybe two hours, I'll be there. I tell my daughter that. I tell my mom that who's watching her? So she knows that's my way of decompressing and centering myself. It's not always about other people and to be the best people, we have to take care of ourselves, and I pass that message on to my daughter. If she's, if, um, they're fighting over a toy, or she sees somebody else doing something, they're not supposed to rain a focus on yourself.
Raul Lopez:I tell her focus on yourself.
Carlene Fonseca:What are you supposed to be doing in this moment, right, and if, and if we all did that, the world would be such a better place.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, yeah, it's. It's commendable too that you're you're taking the life lessons you've had in applying it to your daughter. I think one of the great things about our generation, as far as parents go, is that we're very reflective of what we, what didn't work for us as a kid, and we try to do the opposite. Well, I think a lot of our as you mentioned, I think generational trauma. For a lot of our parents it was doing repeating the same things because they thought that's what worked for them and people didn't get the therapy, people didn't get the stuff. You know, like you're teaching your daughter not just that she's not just going to therapy because therapeutic which it is, but also you're teaching her that it's okay to go. So if she ever gets, if she doesn't need therapy for 10 years and decides, oh my God, I'm dealing with stuff, hopefully she's a better understanding of being able to say, hey, uh, I'm not afraid to go get help and that's very commendable, that's.
Raul Lopez:You know, it's a hard thing. It's a hard thing to overcome from our cultures and our lives and our generational traumas of what we need. And even I think as an adult, I go back to my parents. I'm like you're dealing with a lot of stuff. Maybe you should go see a therapist. You know what I mean.
Raul Lopez:It's trying to work back and forth and I feel like our generation has been really good at being able to be receptive of that and so I commend you for that, has been really good at being able to be receptive of that, and so you know, I commend you for that. And you know, as a parent, I never stopped thinking about what can I do better to help my child in there. So you know, thank you so much for all that and then and so, from the stuff you're doing with your, with Greatest you Consulting you know we talked about all the things that you do and the mental health and the ptsd um things. You know what, what do you feel has been one of your biggest successes, um, as an organization, so far that you, that you've been able to produce?
Carlene Fonseca:um, I'll say two things. Um, one is is something historically, and then something new that's coming. So, um, I, like I mentioned, I've been doing a Central Falls job for I started it when I event to the 10th time that we're doing it, and now we're doing it twice a year instead of once annually and we bring together between 30 and 40 employers throughout the state and we invite job seekers and people who need resources and, on top of employers, we've been inviting apprenticeship programs. We've been inviting colleges like College Unbound and getting folks to like. We've been inviting apprenticeship programs. We've been inviting colleges like College Unbound and getting folks to get their four year degree, ccri, lifespan, who has workforce development programs as well, match job seekers with employers who are offering them benefits.
Carlene Fonseca:I always go back to one of the successes one of the recruiters now for a student, which is a bus company. She's a recruiter now but she went through the job fair, like five years ago and that's where she got her job. And five years later, you, you know she's recruiting for the company. So, um, for me, like that, just it comes full circle to know that in a community when I first started the job fair, job fairs weren't local. They like they. They were in Warwick right at, like a Crowne Plaza, they were at different hotels and things like that, and they didn't used to come to our communities like, especially communities like a Central Falls.
Carlene Fonseca:So what I said is I'm bringing the employers to us, like that job fair is staying in Central Falls and you're going to come where the people are. And what I'm proud of is, like now, with the recruiters. I want to say, if we have 30 employers, at least 20 to 25 of them bring bilingual recruiters or even multilingual um recruiters, because they know our population and they value that and they say I need an, I need an employer. I'm going to send an employer who speaks the language of the folks who are attending um and that's huge. That's huge for the employer side, because they don't they don't usually do that. So being able to like see, uh, uh, a program like that evolve and grow and change the lives of people, um, that's, that's been huge for our company.
Raul Lopez:Nice, nice, and so so you were going to say something.
Carlene Fonseca:And the second part of that is I'm getting into wellness, health and wellness product development. So I just developed a wellness journal which is like has daily journal prompts, weekly journal prompts. It runs on a 90 day period so folks can jot down their thoughts on and my journey and my mental health recovery journey and my substance use journey. I journaled a lot and that was something that helped me put pen to paper your bilateral movement. It actually helps trauma and lower stress and anxiety by writing things down. So I will be launching a wellness journal in the next few weeks. It's printing now so that's a tool on top of the workshops and events that folks can use to better improve their health.
Raul Lopez:Awesome. Well, congratulations on that. That's pretty cool that you're making those moves and getting some stuff out there, so I'm very happy to hear that that you're making those moves and getting some stuff out there. So I'm very happy to hear that and obviously before you, right when you were talking about stuff you mentioned also when I get out of here.
Raul Lopez:I'm going to the spa and you're going to go unwind and read and do that, and you're you. You know I see a lot of your Facebook Instagram posts where you're always at the gym and doing stuff like that, and so it looks like you're really trying to strike a balance between your mental and your physical health. You know, and people lots, of, lots of times also focus on one or the other. You know, why is it important to have that balance between both?
Carlene Fonseca:Yeah, good question. Like I said, when you neglect your physical health and emotional health two different things, right, but they can overlap. And for me and a lot of people like myself, like I have ADHD, like I'm just, I'm restless, I have to be doing something. And for me, movement is my way of expressing my emotions and I think, like playing sports, growing up, like what we don't express we suppress, right, and for me, movement is the thing that helps me like express those emotions, even if I don't know it, subconsciously, through moving, through yoga, through sports, through lifting emotions. Um, and like even the sauna, being in 200 degree weather, it's hard for you to think about anything, right, so your mind isn't like I don't have all these intrusive negative thoughts coming through because I'm in 200 degree weather, there's not much I can do.
Carlene Fonseca:So I think it's important to like have a healthy balance between like movement and like emotional health, because study after study has shown that outdoor, being outdoors, being in the sun, being in nature, like going on walks, it helps your mental health. Like, no questions about that, and that's something that I really emphasize with my daughter, like I wasn't a nature girl, right, but now we go out, we play with the bugs. I'm like, don't a a nature girl, right, but now we go out we play with the bugs. I'm like, don't kill the bugs, I'm scared. And it's like it's a, it's a learning thing, and like we go to parks and we go to lincoln woods, it's like a we hike and I want to expose her to all of all that good things we actually she doesn't sleep in her room. We turn her room into a yoga studio oh nice, you know, like we do yoga together.
Carlene Fonseca:And she, she, yesterday she was drawing. I have a dog. Dogs and animals are very therapeutic too, so if you need something, get an animal. And she was drawing chalk outside and she drew my, my dog, a hotel and she put a meditation room in his hotel, right. So that's telling you. Like these things, I'm passing it out to my daughter, yeah, and now I tell her, like mommy's going to the gym, mommy's going to my yoga retreat, and she's like she knows what it is because it helps, mommy you know it helps mommy to be a better mother.
Raul Lopez:So yeah, and it's amazing what you just said, because it's really the you know, the lead by example, um, kind of aspect of life where, um, I think one of the criticisms I always had of my parents is that they'd always tell me one thing and then do something else. You know what I mean. I'm like why, why am I getting in trouble for something you do? Like, why do? Why do I get in trouble because I dropped the plate? But you just dropped the plate and nobody yelled at you. You know what I mean it's like.
Raul Lopez:So you lead by example, I think is always important and you do. It looks like you're doing a great job with it and I'm really glad to hear that. But it was just funny because it reminded me, like a week ago, like I'm always talking to my daughter and where we talk to her, and one of the things my dad told me you know, now that I'm an adult, you know he's like one of the things I love about you raising your daughter that's different than what I did was that I yelled at you and I beat you and I told you what to do and you talked to your daughter, you explained things to her, you let her know why this is this way, or why this is difficult, and with her and say you know, yes, it's challenging and you're gonna get better if you keep doing this and stuff.
Raul Lopez:So we were having a conversation about soccer uh, she's also a soccer girl, she's. She does soccer like six days a week where she's on two teams and, um, we were talking about how, you know, we were in the city town, uh, and she hadn't moved up quite yet, um, to like the high level, just because the numbers, you know, um, but she wasn't getting challenged where she was and I was like, if she didn't get into the higher level team this year, I would have put her in probably a different program and she's like yeah, because I need to be able to be challenged.
Raul Lopez:If I don't get challenged, I'm not going to improve and get better. You know, and I'm like, oh shit, I'm like someone's been listening to my podcast. I'm like, holy, I was like there, you go. All right, eva, she's just started laughing. I was like I'm glad to hear that all our conversations that we're having is actually making an impact where she can look at this situation and understand that, yeah, this is too easy for me. I need the challenge if I want to get better. You know what I mean, and that's not something I ever had as a kid. That's not something I learned as a kid. This took me a long time, you know, to get there so remarkably a long time, you know, to get there.
Raul Lopez:So and remarkably, I don't even know how I got here. But it kind of segues into like my next question as well, like, obviously, as an adult reflection in looking back and realizing the stuff we've been through and the stuff that we've gone through and modifying our lives or modifying or understanding what we went through to kind of change things. I think it's an important aspect of things and it seems like you've done a lot of reflection on things that you've dealt with in the past. You know, tell me, tell me, how do you think how important is reflecting to you and how does that, how has that affected you, your life?
Carlene Fonseca:I mean, it's been huge and it's something I work on every single day, like and and and. I have a smile on my face and it sounds. Everything sounds peachy. But every day is day, is a struggle, and but I know if I have a positive outlook and if I'm grateful and I'm thankful that it's easier it's like that much easier, right?
Carlene Fonseca:so by no means is is my life easy, but it's worthwhile. It's the most worthwhile and at peace that I've ever been in my life and that's what, looking back at my life like a year, two years ago from, I would never imagine my life being the way it is now, like I am at peace and I thank God every single day for my recovery, for those challenges, for those dark days, like I have high functioning depression, so like I may not look like a person quote unquote that's depressed because I'm high functioning, but it's challenging and I have to remind myself that I'm here for a reason and that I have everything within me. And that's like my biggest blessing in this world is like going through those dark times, because now I know there's light, now I know that I can overcome and nothing that I went through was like for nothing. It was, it all had a purpose and not everything was good, like all the abuse I went through, like I wouldn't wish that on anyone, um, and by no means was it okay, but I'm able to accept it now.
Carlene Fonseca:I'm able to accept that it was part of my journey, my learning experience, my growth and my development, and now I'm able to, with good intentions, do something about that, right? So I didn't. We mentioned growing up I use a lot of that energy to do for others. Now I use that energy to do for myself, you know, and that's what was missing my whole life, like I didn't pour into myself and I didn't think I was good enough and I didn't think I was enough. So, reflecting back on life, like I'm just so grateful and thankful for where I am, because now I get to pour into me and becoming my greatest self becoming my greatest self, awesome, and so I'm glad, and we talked about this earlier you know that you felt that you, you, you had to validify yourself.
Raul Lopez:You know what I mean and do you feel like you've reached that level, a level of validity to yourself?
Carlene Fonseca:I think I've reached a level like I love myself, I marry people. People like are you married? I'm like, yes, I married myself and I went to a yoga retreat last year and this ring says nevertheless, she persisted and I learned to love myself and I do not love anyone on this earth, even my daughter, more than I love myself um, because without me there's nothing. So I always I put this ring on as a reminder of like love and acceptance. And Carlene, you're beautiful and you're enough just the way that you are and that's enough for me. That's really enough for me. But it is a journey. I struggle, I struggle a lot, but my therapist helps, my medication helps and movement, movement helps.
Raul Lopez:So it's a journey. Yeah, I mean. One of the things I've learned from starting this podcast is the importance of mental health and how, especially with people who are successful, are able to open up about it and seek help when needed, because we, you know, the struggle will always hold you down and it's kind of like a chain to your foot that if you don't, uh if you don't get help, you're never going to elevate yourself to what you need to be.
Raul Lopez:So, yeah, no, I, I'm always I'm. You know it feels unintentionally. I, my podcast has been just a mental health promotion promotion tool for people. Uh, because it comes up.
Raul Lopez:It comes up over and over and over again and I think it's one of the biggest pinnacles of being successful is, you know, mental health, you know, so I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad to see things are working out better for you and that you know you're you're, you're finding that peace and that validity that you, that you deserve. So I'm very proud of you for all of that. So, and then I think you know, usually when we start getting to the tail end, I started asking some questions and so, you know, one of the things I always like to ask my guests are you know, if you could go back and talk to the younger version of yourself, what's something you would, what's some advice you'd give yourself, what's?
Carlene Fonseca:some advice you'd give yourself. What would I tell baby Carly?
Carlene Fonseca:I think, I think baby Carly would tell me something, tell me she would and I actually had this. I don't know, epiphany, is that what it is? I was kayaking and cause. I think my, my younger self could tell me much more than I can tell that younger person honestly, um, because as a young person, you just have so much wisdom and knowledge and innocence. As adults, we're tainted with life. So my inner child, she, she told me that I was, I was out out kayaking, um at a yoga retreat in near, near New York and I was in the middle of like a river kayaking.
Carlene Fonseca:I'm like this little girl from CF, like out here and um, we had to do like a mindful meditation out on our kayak and I was praying I don't fall out. And she, she told me my, my, my younger child told me that she's like look at you, like look where you are right now, like look around, and she was like I'm so proud of you and um for me that like just brought everything full circle for her to tell me I think I was looking for that validation everywhere else and I needed that validation from my younger self to tell me, like you're doing like the damn thing, like look at you now, like you're a bad ass. Um, and yeah, that validation from my younger child, that's like all I needed yeah, yeah, yeah, and and now.
Carlene Fonseca:Now I give that to my daughter. Nice, that's the biggest blessing, because if I didn't go through half the stuff I went through, I wouldn't be the kind of mother that I am. Like people say gentle parent Yep, A gentle parent. My daughter, like she's an adult. We talk through her feelings. She has an emotion chart and she brings. She brings it to me If I get angry, she goes let me get the emotion chart. But if I didn't go through my experiences I wouldn't be the kind of mom that I am.
Raul Lopez:So yeah, I agree. Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm a big proponent on like I apologize to my daughter when I go out of line. You know like I never would get apologized when my parents would get out of line.
Raul Lopez:I'm not even as an adult they don't say sorry, yeah, and so, and so for me, it's very common to be like, okay, I kind of went overboard when we had. When we were talking about the situation, I was like but I want you to understand where I'm coming from and I'm frustrated, and sometimes adults get frustrated too and you know it's okay to feel that way, but it's not okay the way I talk, and so you know so I try, we try, I think and, like I said, it's once again reflective aspect of my life where I look back and say what did I hate as a kid?
Raul Lopez:And I want to make sure I'm not that way with my, with my daughter. There was a lot of stuff growing up that I hated you know, that I hated the way I was. I think we all hated some aspect of how we were raised, and I just try to look back and say, no, you know what I'm not.
Raul Lopez:I don't want to do that with my daughter. And you still catch yourself doing it sometimes, but you still got to you know, be okay with changing so and then. But thank you so much. I mean that's beautiful and I'm glad. Stopping to smell the roses is probably one of the hardest things to do, sometimes being able to stop and say hey look, I'm here. You're always chasing, but you're never reflecting and you don't look back.
Raul Lopez:So, yeah, that's wonderful. And then I think, lastly, you know how do you say success in Spanglish. What does success mean to you?
Carlene Fonseca:Yeah, you said it before. I did. So success for me, in Spanglish, is being present and being able to enjoy moments, and not for me, not thinking too much into the future and not looking too much into the past, because nothing good is there and if we live into the future then we're not enjoying the current moment. So every day I try to be as present as I can. I try to be as present as I can in all my doings. Like somewhere I was listening to a podcast and they said, like be where your feet are. So my feet is here with you doing this podcast, even though my feet are off, but they're here with you when I'm with my daughter, like my feet are there. Be with her. If I'm at work, if I I'm working, then my feet are there. So for me, success is having the freedom to be where your feet are and be present in in that moment.
Raul Lopez:It's awesome, man, that. That's beautiful, um, and it's amazing the the lessons we learn from our kids sometimes as well, because I remember, um, something, something was posted on the internet and they were like uh, you, you're running to go to school and your kids walking slow and you yell at them for being slow. Oh, hurry up, get in the car, hurry up and get there, hurry up. We're doing like is like at some point we lost the fact that she was enjoying every aspect of what she was in at that moment, while we're rushing to get to the next phase, you know what I mean and you know and I remember from clear as day for me the first time I put my daughter on grass, and the amazement of just touching grass for the first time and I'm like we lost that.
Raul Lopez:We see grass all the time. Now I sit on grass and I'm itchy and I hate grass. You know what I mean, but at some point it was the most amazing feeling, cause I've never felt this in my life and it's like sometimes you do have to look at little Carlene's point of view and get that affirmation from your younger youth.
Raul Lopez:So, no, thank you. Thank you so much for all of that and thank you for your positivity, thank you for your honesty and thank you for, you know, being open to discuss everything. I really appreciate everything that you presented today, and so, I guess, tell me, you know, how can people get more information about what you and your company does?
Carlene Fonseca:Absolutely, and thank you, thank you for this platform, thank you for the safe space that you create for people, because that's what I hope to do in my life is just create safe spaces individually and with groups. So you can reach me on my website it's greatestuconsultingcom. You can also reach me on Instagram, heal with Carlene or Greatest U Consulting. So, yeah, just check out my website if you ever want to connect, do any workshops. So, yeah, just check out my website if you ever want to connect, do any workshops. I am local to the Rhode Island, boston area, but I'm also international because there's such thing as Zoom.
Raul Lopez:There's internet.
Carlene Fonseca:You can reach out to me.
Raul Lopez:Nice, awesome, well, thank you so much. Like I said, I really appreciate you taking the time to come up here and you know, tell us your journey. Thank you so much, carly. Thank you and everyone else and you know, tell us your journey. Thank you so much, carly. Thank you and everyone else listening. You know, thanks so much for joining us and I hope you'll join me again next time as we continue to learn how to say success in Spanish.
