Jefa + Co.

A new year is around the corner.

A new opportunity to start over, to start fresh.

Most of us become so overwhelmed with resolutions before we even start them and as a result, accomplish very little to nothing.

So how can we approach our goals and resolutions without dwelling on every single detail all at once?

Think about your resolution:

Is this going to help me become a better person? What tools do I need to help me reach this goal?

Write it down:

Once you have thought about your goal, write it down in a notebook, a blank sheet of paper, my worksheet below, or for those that are always on the go, the Notes section of your phone. Write your plan for accomplishing your goal. Set a realistic time frame and reward yourself at certain checkpoints along the way.

Create a “dream board”:

If you have a Pinterest account, create a board for your goal. Find articles, pictures, and quotes that will help inspire your resolution.

Wake up earlier:

We’ve all heard the saying “el que madruga Dios lo ayuda”. Make it a point to set your alarm thirty minutes to an hour earlier each day and use that extra time to work towards your resolution. Every little bit counts.

Social Media Blackout:

It’s true that social media on our phones has literally taken over our lives. We’re on our phones the better part of the day scrolling, liking, viewing, subscribing, commenting, etc. Some of us don’t know how to control our phone usage and end up wasting our days away chismeando. Designate a specific time frame for phone usage or a specific time frame where you completely avoid it. You will find yourself making more time to work towards your goal!

Don’t get discouraged:

Nothing happens overnight and you will not wake up one day magically knowing everything there is to know about reaching your resolution. Know that every good thing takes time, practice, research and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone.

Enjoy the process:

Whatever your resolution, be sure to always have fun while working towards it. Find a friend who is working towards the same goals and get together and share ideas. Broaden your horizons.

May 2020 be everything you’ve ever hoped for. May you always have an a amazing support system cheering you on all the way. Know that anything you put your mind to is possible. Si se puede Jefa!

How did this happen? One day I’m in my tia’s living room dancing to Destiny’s Child ‘Jumpin’ Jumpin’ with my primas and then all of a sudden I wake up to a husband, two kids and 60 pounds of belly fat where my hip huggers and JNCOS used to sit.

Lately, I can’t help but think my life is passing me by and the older I get, the faster the days seem to pass. Memories of my better years are starting to blur together and I’m starting to question my purpose in this world.

I live with an unsettling fear of leaving this earth without ever having made a difference. I’ve always wanted to do something inspiring or life changing in the community and, because of it, have had countless sleepless nights where my mind is going a thousand miles per hour, thinking, “What can I do? Where do I start?”.

I turned thirty today and for some reason, that number has hit me so hard. So it was only right that if I was going to ever do anything to impact my community, it would be now. Thus, the idea for Jefa Latina was born.

Like I said in my first post, I have so many ideas and dreams for this project, but if I can inspire at least one person or make at least one connection, then I will be content.

So, back to turning the big three-oh.

Y’all, I have never thrown myself a birthday party because my birthday is wedged right in the middle of all the holidays. I always settle for dinner and gifts that double as birthday/ Christmas gifts.

I’ve always secretly (or not so secretly) wanted a big bash complete with all I’ve music and every year hoped someone was throwing me a surprise party. I have even hinted at the fact, but no one has ever budged. Not my parents, not my husband, not my brothers…nadie.

“It’s too close to Christmas.”

“No hay dinero.”

“Estás pidiendo mucho.”

So this year, I planned my own party. I figured it was now or never. A treintañera, y con música en vivo chingao!

Just like I always dreamed. I do have to say I had people who contributed to the cause. So it’s only right I give credit where credit is due. If you’re reading this, you know who you are and I am forever grateful to everyone who helped out.

The conjunto that played at my party is Alianza De Rancho. Thank you guys for making my party extra special. We’re actually teaming up and changing the name to Claudia y Los Dinos. Okay I’m kidding, but I did belt out a couple songs with them.

Here’s to getting old. May I grow wiser and live with purpose with each passing year. Thank you to all my family and friends who made it out. I am so blessed to be surrounded by the most awesome support system ever. En especial my husband who always has my back with all my crazy ideas. And my parents who put up with my bipolar attitude.

I love you guys with all my heart.

Here’s a few random pics of the party:

Cheers to my next thirty years! 🍻

You can now call me señora.

As Latinas we have a very strong presence. We wear our feelings on our sleeve. We know what we want and let it be known. Wether we own a business or not, our genes bring out the jefa in all of us.

Una madre y esposa is the jefa de su hogar. For a wife and mother, there is nothing more important than running her household and making sure there’s a hot meal on the table and clean clothes on the backs of her familia.

An entrepreneur is the jefa of her business. She lives and breathes ambition and is always striving and working on something new. Never underestimate a Latina businesswoman, she stops at nothing to get where she wants.

A student is the jefa of her own life. She’s the boss of her future. She owns every single late night study session, homework and aced exam. She knows one day her hard work will pay off. One day she will be the jefa of her own destiny. Sometimes her future seems a bit blurry and she may not be sure of where she is meant to go but her jefa genes will eventually show her the way.

La mujer with a medical condition or illness is the jefa of every battle scar and treatment session. She owns her faith and wears her pain and illness as a medal of determination. She takes every day as it comes and despite what she feels, she fights to live another day.

The artist, the writer, the teacher, the athlete, the secretary, the maid, the nurse, etc, todas somos dueñas of our own destiny. It doesn’t matter where life has lead us to, what matters is that whatever we do, we do it with pasión.

Think about where you are in life and own your presence. Own your unique circumstances and characteristics that make you, YOU. Be the jefa of your life!

Happy Monday Jefas!

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving. I still can’t believe how fast the year is going!

It is an honor and great pleasure to announce my first official feature for the blog. I chose to interview this incredible woman who is always on the move. She’s always looking to expand her client list and her brand. She is the perfect example of a woman que le hecha ganas a la vida.

Lillie has been in the beauty industry for a long time and is an OG in the cosmetology world. She offers many types of beauty services and on top of that manages her brand, Fierce Dolls Makeup Artistry. In other words, she’s a chingona.

Click below to listen to the interview!

As promised, here’s a throwback picture of Lillie doing my hair for my quinceañera:

Stay tuned to the blog for upcoming monthly features of local Latinas that are not afraid to boss up! Have a great week mujeres!

I don’t know why, but Latinas were raised in a world of chisme, envidia, and competition against each other. As crazy as it sounds, most of us don’t want to see anyone doing better than us. We become extremely closed off from someone when we start seeing them doing something for themselves. We side-eye their progress, we question their ability to succeed in their endeavors, we mock and ridicule their hustle because we feel threatened by their success.

Yet, we are so quick to support big businesses and already wealthy public figures. We set alarms for their product launch dates, we share and like their posts and we convince our friends to do the same. We’re rooting for people who don’t even know we exist.

This is probably one of the biggest flaws of our Latina community. So why not change it? Why not, instead of undermining local success, support it? Imagine how much stronger our community would be if we would set the hate aside and help one another.

I encourage each and every one of you reading this today to go and support one of your local Latinas. Wether it’s the fitness trainer, or the baker, the makeup artist or the boutique owner. Go share a post, like a picture, buy a product, leave a positive review. If someone is hosting a “sip and see” or a “stop and shop”, sip all the sips and stop at all of the shops. Support each other! I promise you— together we can do big things! Let’s create a big army of Latinas supporting Latinas. Listen, we CAN coexist. There IS enough room for everyone to succeed!

Being an entrepreneur is already hard and we’re making it twice as hard for our local Latinas just because of the lack of support from the community. Let’s not let envy and pride get in the way of another woman’s success. Amiga, don’t hate, congregate!

As Latinas, we have a tendency to whine about everything. We are so quick to complain about things not going our way. We point fingers and we don’t like to be wrong. Somos dramáticas. If watching Novelas growing up has shown us anything, it’s to be good actresses.

As the year comes to an end, most of us tend to reflect on the past 12 months and think of all our accomplishments and things we put on hold. Things we wish we would have done better and things we wish we would have started. We look around and we see so many successful women our age doing things and we can’t help but feel stuck. We complain about not having enough time. We complain about not having the resources. We blame our hectic lifestyles. The kids get blamed. The husband gets blamed. Our demanding jobs get blamed. We bitch, we nag, and we complain again.

But have we stopped for a minute and thought about the real culprit in the situation? Have we thought that maybe, all this time we spend complaining about things not going our way, is time wasted? Have we sat down and contemplated that maybe the only person holding us back from getting anything done in our lives is ourselves? We’re so quick to blame and point fingers. Have we thought about looking at ourselves and realizing that we are standing in our own way?

We are jefas in nature. It’s in our blood. As Latinas we posses pasión. A trait so powerful that when used in the right way, it can lead to wonderful things. Let’s stop the blaming and complaining about outside factors that we have no control over. Let’s use our pasión to reach our goals. Let’s get out of our own way! Let’s not sulk in sorrow. It’s time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and it’s time to get out and make things happen.

For me personally, one of the hardest things for me to tackle this year has been my weight. I was just told by my gynecologist last week that I gained 30 pounds in the last 11 months. Something that I knew was happening in the passing weeks, but it was much harder hearing from another person. A person who had no idea what my day to day life looks like.

Just as I was about to complain to my OB about life and all of its obstacles, just as I was about to blame everyone and everything else, I stopped myself. Truth is, who wants to hear someone complain about something they are not doing anything to change or make better? If it’s anyone’s fault that my weight has gotten out of control, it’s mine. It’s time I take back the reigns of my life and make some changes. It’s time to be the jefa of my own life and direct myself where I know I need to go. It’s time to step down from my drama queen throne, dig deep and start crushing my personal goals.

Whatever your struggle has been this year, identify it, accept it, and make a list of ways to make yourself better in that area. Wether it’s time management, money management, weight management, etc., write it down and create a plan. Put on your big girl chonis and don’t be dramatica!

In the last decade, the presence of Latino women in the work world has blown up. As females, we have learned to dominate the cooperate ladder and have become an asset for success. We have so much to offer and for once, all of our hard work behind the scenes is finally shining through. If you grew up in a Latino home, you know how tough it was for Ama to live her dreams. We grew up believing that the only roles a woman was good for were making tortillas, cleaning, washing, drying, folding, carpooling kids to and from school, watching Novelas, etc. In time, our list of to-dos has taken an evolutionary twist. These days we have become more self aware. We are more in touch with our personal goals than we’ve ever been. We want more for ourselves. We’re reading books on success, we’re going back to school to finish that career we put on hold to help others reach their dreams. We’re taking that new position at work. We are no longer afraid of failing because we now have the courage to get back up and try again. We have subconsciously built an army of Chingonas and whatever your hustle is, you know you are going to be backed by this awesome community we have built for each other. That being said, I’d like to introduce myself to all my local Latina entrepreneurs doing the damn thing: Hola, my name is Claudia Mota. I was born and raised in the Permian Basin. My lifelong dream has always been to use my voice to make a difference in my community. Seeing how much our area has grown over the last couple of years has inspired me to create a space dedicated to all those local Latina women that wake up each day to kick ass and build their empire. We have so much local talent that I want to showcase on this blog. My goal is to feature all kinds of talent from fashion designers to writers to beauty bloggers to photographers to bakers. I want to create a space where we can network and collaborate, ultimately creating a strong bond between all Latinas area-wide. As women we are strong, as Latinas we are luchonas, and as a community we are unstoppable. I have so many plans for this little space, but for now help me by spreading the word. We are local, we are Latinas.

“People think of Latina women as being fiery and fierce, which is usually true. But I think the quality that so many Latinas possess is strength.”

Zoe Saldana