Hi there!
I guess you’re looking for the long version of who I am.
In a nutshell, I’m a writer.
I’m also a mom, a Latina, a queer woman, a wife, and a neurodivergent Virgo. Oh, and I’m left-handed, so I spent most of the 90s and early 00’s with ink stains on the side of my hand (IYKYK).
Here’s the longer story:
I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and chasing the high of a new byline since I published my very first poem (School is Fun) in some national poetry anthology for kids. Since then, I went on to win various awards for my essays and short stories in elementary and high school, while also torturing my classmates with my god-awful poems about roses and gravestones and the like. Fortunately, I shifted back toward essays and stories after a while.
I tried to get into Sarah Lawrence, but being a first generation child of immigrants with very few resources, lacked the insight into all things college prep. So, I got rejected (yay rejections!) and putzed around at my local uni, shifting majors from Art History to Photography to Journalism. Eventually, I…left and took some time to figure things out elsewhere. Maybe the real story there will go in my memoirs someday.
Now, I started out my career writing event listings for The Miami New Times, and then community news stories for Miami’s Community Newspapers (where I was also a secretary). Eventually, I left to go study Anthropology at the University of Miami (Go Canes []_[] ), while also working for a non-profit (Breakthrough Miami), helping kids in underserved communities with education opportunities. It was a great experience, and also made me develop the utmost respect for teachers.
After obtaining my BA (with a minor in Creative Writing), I got a job at HistoryMiami as a Development Coordinator, while also working as a personal assistant to a local Dominican artist. Some time later, I decided to go and travel the country for some time—my Kerouac era, I guess. I booked a one-way ticket to NYC, stayed with a few friends, then made my way to various other towns and cities via bus, couchsurfing with strangers along the way. A few months later, I landed back in Miami, worked a few odd jobs, eventually landing on an office and social media management position at a co-working space. Not long after, met my husband, and after a series of joyful moments (marriage) and heartbreaking losses (losing our first child), I made my way back to writing.
I published my first personal essay in XOJane (remember those days?) while I was pregnant for the second time. I also began working on a book (that’s been shelved for some time), gave birth to my child instead, dealt with massive birth trauma (physical and mental, both of which I’ve written about), and took a little time to recover. But writing’s always been there, and about a year later, began writing in the travel and parenting spaces. Not long after, I joined the inaugural team for Romper (part of Bustle Digital Group, then still a fairly young media company) and helped launch the publication with some amazing writers and editors. I spent years there writing list pieces, trending news, essays, and reported features (particularly about maternal health and mental health). I also spent time developing my travel, essay, health, and lifestyle writing working for publications like The New York Times, Lonely Planet, Fodors, Where Traveler, JetSetter, HipLatina, Yahoo, Oprah Daily, Good Housekeeping, The Miami Herald, Yes! Magazine, GO Magazine, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Advocate, and dozens of others.
Since then, I’ve won accolades and awards, gone on numerous press trips all over, developed strong relationships with editors and PR pros, and even gone back to doing a bit of literary writing on the side (kudos, Twenty Bellows!) I’m currently working on further developing my cultural criticism chops, writing TV reviews for The Wrap and others. TV and film have always been a huge part of my life (watching shows and reading books were the only ways I could “travel” as a child—I got on my very first plane ride when I was 18 and about to graduate high school, just so I could go see Radiohead in NYC! A story for a different day…).
As for now, I’m always on the hunt for new opportunities of all kinds. I’m also working on some book proposals and maybe, eventually, a script or two. If you’d like to work together, feel free to reach out! Or if you just happen to like my work, I’m always happy to accept a coffee or two (iced lattes, preferably).