The Mamacita Behind MCG
Valentina Izarra
So how exactly did a business graduate turned actress end up becoming the Mamas Con Ganas founder and podcast host? Great question! Me hace recordar una frase: “There are moments that mark your life. Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same again and time is divided into two parts: before this and after this.”
For me, it was the moment I discovered that I was married to a stranger and that nothing that I thought I knew about this person was true or real. As I write about this experience candidly for the first time, I realize words cannot express the heartbreak, disappointment and disenchantment I felt in that one instant that seemed like eternity. My family nucleus—everything I had built my life around—was shattered into a million tiny pieces and I had to figure out the way to pick up the pieces as I also grappled with the responsibility of caring for my five month old son.
Maybe you could say I was cruising along life until my life was flipped upside down. Me voltearon como un huevo frito. One day the sun was shining and the next I was in the midst of a hurricane (categoría cinco mamacita). I experienced the darkest part of my life up until now and, let me tell you, it was MUY dark.
As I crawled in that dark hole—because it felt at the time that I couldn’t even stand—I searched for the light. Noche y día buscaba la luz—sometimes in all the wrong places y otras veces en sitios perfectos y mágicos… a motivational book, an episode of Super Soul Sunday, an inspirational quote written on a Facebook picture… Funny thing is, the more I looked for light, mas aparecía la luz… y por todas partes.
Rebuilt My Life
As I transformed and rebuilt my life, I wrestled constantly with fear and insecurities. I even considered giving up my passion, acting, all together in order to search for something more “stable.” And I asked (actually, Mamacita, I begged) God to give me faith and some sort of signs as to what I should do with my life.
In the mean time, I became un poquito bastante obsesionada con el movimiento de self-improvement and I kept finding the Oprahs and the Marie Forleos—mujeres en el mundo Anglo que han sido mis hada madrinas de cierta manera because they helped me transform my life for the better. INCREÍBLE como personas que ni conocía me brindaron herramientas para fortalecer de nuevo mi auto estima y mi sentido de “self-worth.” Me di cuenta de que me gustaba tanto la información que aprendía de ellas que quería traerle este tipo de herramientas de vida a otras Latina-Americanas como yo—latinas que están en búsqueda de un poquito de luz en este momento… pero que también buscan las características que retratan nuestra bella cultura: picante, pasión, y mucho sentido de humor. Jajaja… or is it hahaha?
So if you’re feeling a little spark right about now, I invite you to hop aboard this self-improvement train. Destination: Self-fulfillment. I can attest, that if you do it Con Ganas, you’re in for quite a ride Mamacita!
Fun Facts
Born: Caracas, Venezuela
Raised: Venezuela, United States and France
Passions: Acting, Ballroom Dance, Music (I make Latin music mixes just for fun), Traveling, Languages (I’m actually fluent in Spanish, English and French and conversational in Italian and German)
Celebrity crush: Ricky Martin (I know mamacitas, he’s not into chicas, but I can’t help it. He’s hot and he knows how to dance. Lol)
Favorite city: Paris, Paris, Paris! (In a French accent s’il te plaît)
Favorite color: Indigo (A mix between blue and purple)
Favorite cocktail: Caipirihna! OR Kir Royal!
Favorite music to dance to: Reggeaton and Salsa (I can never get enough of my Daddy Yankee and there’s no such thing as too much salsita)
Favorite season: Verano… summer baby! (I can’t help it; I have Caribbean blood.)
Favorite quote: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been”—by George Eliot
For more information visit www.valentinaizarra.com