Vanesa Carrillo: From the Border to Tech and the Start of Latinas & Lattes

Send us Fan MailSay hi or share a story! In this episode, I sit down with Vanessa Carrillo, a first-generation Latina, product marketing manager at Microsoft, and founder of Latinas and Lattes, before she gets too big. We talk about navigating college, showing up in professional spaces, and finding our way through career and identity shifts. Our conversation made me reflect on my own early 20s—especially now as I turn 30. We talk about growing up bilingual, being ESL kids, dealing with imposter syndrome, finding faith, and learning how to ask for help. Vanessa shares her journey from El Paso to Georgetown to working in tech, and how her experiences led her to create Latinas and Lattes, a nonprofit helping Latinas in Seattle connect and support one another. We also talk about rejection, rest, and what it means to choose yourself when the world often expects you to shrink. Whether you're figuring things out at 23 or starting over at 30, this episode is your reminder that you're not behind—and you're definitely not alone and every Latino has their own story. ☕️ Enjoying the podcast? Support La Chismosa del Valle on Buy Me a Coffee so I can keep telling stories from our community. Every cafecito helps cover production costs and keeps this space going for everyday Latinos doing dope things. https://buymeacoffee.com/la_ameriquita Support the show Help shape future episodes! Leave a voicemail or shoot us a text. I actually wanna hear from you! I like constructive criticism. Follow along on TikTok and Instagram: @la_ameriquita, @lachismosadelvalle Help shape future episodes!Leave a voicemail or shoot us a text. I actually wanna hear from you! I like constructive criticism. Follow along on social media.IG: @lachismosadelvalleoffical, @la_ameriquita Tik Tok: @lachismosadelvalle