On Courage as a First-Generation Latina Explorer and Entrepreneur

I shared with my parents a little bocadillo of my plans for my next move. I've been hesitant to tell them because I know the pushback I'll get.

—De donde sacas estas locuritas Christinsita? My mom asked: Where do you get these crazy ideas? 

She went on and on about how dangerous it is for me to do what I want to do alone as a woman, that I need to go with someone, and that the Mexican cartel is going to find me, et. ce. te. ra, et. ce. te. ra.

I know there is an element of danger in going alone to remote places as a woman but I don't allow fear to dominate my choices in life. I also have an intention and a purpose for every single place I plan to visit.

I let God guide me and I’m fully aware that I'm at His mercy and if He chooses to take me, that is His choice, not mine. 

In momento mori, I go forth.

I, of course, have reverence and humility for God’s will and for the savage brutality nature can hand you if you don’t respect it, but I try not to let fear cloud the desires in my heart.

Courage is Contagious

I come from a long line of faith-filled risk takers and entrepreneurs. My ancestors on my maternal grandmother’s side, Carazo, immigrated from Navarra and Burgos, Spain and on my grandfather’s side, Victory, from Ireland to Costa Rica in search of the rich fertile soil for coffee plantations.

My ancestors on my paternal grandmother’s side, Dubon, immigrated from Provence, France to Nicaragua. Fun fact: Dubon originates from the Old French nickname le bon, which means good.

My grandpa, Manuel Victory, on my mom’s side opened his own company, Victory Maquinaria, in 1969 selling industrial ventilation systems, and he worked there basically until he died at 82 years old. My great-grandfather, Juan Manuel Victory was the Raleigh bikes representative and distributor in Limon, Costa Rica. 

On my grandma’s side, my great-grandfather Ignacio De la Cruz Infante, opened his own pharmacy, Botica Garcia in 1940 in Cartago, Costa Rica where he would pour his heart and soul into his business. 

Before this, he had many other businesses, including an ice factory, a refreshments factory, a paint factory, and a gold mining business during World War II. With the fruits of his labor, he was able to send my grandma and her brothers to study at Princeton, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Kansas on full scholarships. 

My grandpa on my dad’s side, Alberto Lacayo, opened Managua, Nicaragua’s first pharmacy, Farmacia Managua in 1946, the pharmacy my uncle and grandma would go on to manage after he passed. 

My parents also took a big risk in immigrating from Latin America to the US not knowing if “the American dream” would work out for them but following their faith to where they were called. 

My dad has a work ethic like no one else I’ve ever met. He definitely put in his sweat, love, and tears into his passion for healing and caring for the sick. He passed the medical boards in another language when he decided to move to the US, worked 48 hour shifts, and later 2 jobs all while juggling being a husband and a father.

My mom moved to another country leaving her precious comfort zone of Costa Rica for good old UGA in Athens, Georgia, she later moved half way across the world to Australia for her Master's. After meeting my dad and falling in love, she found herself in another foreign country with 3 babies, a husband who practically lived at the hospital, no family to help her, and her career out the window since her priority was making sure to raise us with strong values, deep-rooted faith, and an eagle’s eye to keep us out of trouble.

My parents and my family lineage is a living example of stepping into the unknown at the mercy of their faith and trust in God to provide.

Reflecting on this made me realize that all of the risks I’ve taken in my professional life have come from this same faith and growing up with parents who gave me the courage and support I needed.

Unlike many of my generation, what was “wise and safe” from a career standpoint was never pushed onto me and my parents encouraged me to follow my dreams, even if that meant living in different countries and far away from family.

So when my mom is bewildered at why I am the way I am, nomadic, adventurous, and multi-passionate, I wonder why she can't see that her very spirit and nature is where I get it from.

There's a reason I decided to move to Italy for my first college year abroad learning a completely new language and studying in a foreign country for a year, or why I chose to walk across Spain to see Saint James’ remains, why I decided to get my Master's in France to learn another new language, why I chose to work on the remote island of Sardegna with dolphin and diving exploration, why I'm fascinated by pilgrimages to unknown lands, and love meeting people from different cultures, religions, and traditions, why I started two businesses, and feel my happiest self in a dense wooded forest with nothing but the sound of animals and wild streams around me, or under a deep sea floating through colorful corals, unknown fish and eerie marine creatures.

There’s a reason for why I am the way I am. 

It’s because I'm in love with exploring this fascinating world, experiencing it, immersing myself in its wonders, and being completely part of it. I believe my mom and my ancestors of entrepreneurs are and were the same.

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

— Billy Graham

You can’t serve two masters

My best friend told me, "You throw yourself into everything you do, sometimes without even thinking it fully through." 

This can be a bad thing but can also a very good thing. I tend to throw myself at the wind knowing that God will catch me. I try hard not to let doubt, or fear, or anything else get in my way. 

I don’t start a project or a trip and think about all of the things that could possibly go wrong (like my parents do). I guess that might come with becoming parents? Not sure, I’m still wondering. 

I start a project or an adventure and think about all of the ways it could go amazingly right. I’m not perfect at this, of course self-doubt and insecurities still find their way into my head as an entrepreneur.  

You have to have thick skin and a testadura for entrepreneurship and for living on the road, it’s a mental game and it takes exercising your positive mental skills to keep moving forward. 

But I’ve come to find out that when you serve one master, you decrease the negative thoughts and emotions taking up your energy. 

You can’t serve two masters and live fully satisfied and surrendered to the will of God.

I had a boyfriend who used to ask me,

“Pourquoi est-ce que tu toujours penses que tout ira bien?” —Why is that you just seem to always think everything will be ok?

Because in the end, it will be and if it’s not ok, then it’s not the end. But worrying about it will actually do more harm to your mind, body, spirit, and maybe even the circumstance. 

Worry is essentially a lack of trust, a lack of confidence in the true will, His timing, His plans, and in His very power. There is just no reason to obsess over things that are out of our control.

I’m a big believer in stepping out of your comfort zone and into the unknown, but in order to stay calm and open-minded about what’s thrown at you, you have to trust in the process and the larger plan that’s already been designed for you. 

Of course, there’s also an element of caution, responsibility, choice, and discernment that plays an important role as well. But that’s the beauty of life, we have free will to choose the path.

It's this very spontaneous and exploring spirit that confirms I am my mother's daughter.

She is the same exact way only she has my dad by her side, and doesn't like that I do the things I do 'alone.'

I tell her, “You know I'm never truly alone. I’m always with the truest friend I could ever have. Jesus Christ.” 

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ”

— Matthew 6:25

Follow the Vocation Placed in your Heart

When I have so many voices telling me to stay put, to stop moving, to settle down, to find a partner, I tell them I do want all of these things but not on your terms, I want them on God’s terms.

As my spiritual director, Father Joe, tells me, “If God has placed a strong desire on your heart that you just can’t shake, you must follow it and ask Him what He wants you to do with it.” 

I’ve had this desire for 14 years, there really isn’t a day that passes that I don’t visualize this dream in my head. 14 years is long enough in my opinion. I feel ready to actively pursue this call trusting that the higher force will guide me. 

I’m grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit injecting me with courage and character to take risks, stretch myself, peel back the layers and experience life with all of my senses, to be open to vulnerability, fears, and awkward moments.  

Finally, I’m so grateful to my parents and my ancestors for their strength, resilience, and their yes to life. Without them, I may be living my life chained by the shackles of fear and doubt. 

If you’re unsure whether you should follow that call that’s been placed in your heart, my advice to you, my dear reader, would be to remember we’re only dancing on this earthly plain for a short time.

One day we’ll be in another realm looking past the veil at the life we’ve left behind, what do you hope you’ll see playing before your eyes? 

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