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Latina Style Magazine, Vol.17, No. 5, 2011,p.34

As a New Yorker and avid traveler I have found few places in the world that can offer the same diversity, excitement and beauty that my native hometown does. When I hopped onto the subway at Prince Edward station, exited at Tsim Sha Tsui station and met my new British and Swiss friends at the Victoria Harbor waterfront promenade to watch the nightly spectacular skyline light and sound show, I realized Hong Kong is a city-state that can definitely contend.

Nicole Hage Photo Courtesy of Play Golf Designs, INC

Long day, me and my pup CJ are ready to snuggle Night Friends!” tweets Florida native Nicole Hage, 23, to her 1,048 followers on Twitter.com which includes world-renowned professional golf players, coaches, media, family from her Cuban mother’s side and from her Italian-Lebanese father’s side, and golf enthusiasts.

They know she is one of today’s brightest rising stars coming up in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). “I know I can be the best,” says the determined golfer. Not only are they her admirers but most are part of the team that has supported, inspired, and believed in Hage throughout her ascending journey that began at a young age in Coral Springs, FL. Today the young professional golf player has determined to make it to the top of her game.

Although she does not have full status on the LPGA, Hage is currently competing in the 2009 Duramed FUTURES Tour which concludes in September, and a top finish would earn her a LPGA card.

Hage admits playing golf can take its toll physically, mentally and emotionally. The busy golfer travels across the country, is on the road six months out of the year on tour away from her family, friends and fiancé. “Everyone thinks it is a glamorous life,” she says. “It is but it’s still a lot of hard work. It’s nonstop.”

Where did this passion for golf that would make her willingly sacrifice so much come from? According to her parents, Joe and Sybelis, Hage, as a 3-year-old, she refused to stay behind when her father would go out to the range. At one point, he tried to sneak out of the house but his persistent and clever daughter would already be waiting at the door golf clubs in hand. Naturally, he gave in and would create fun games.

Soon, this childish fun became a life-long passion. As a young girl, she saw Nancy Lopez, one of the best players to ever play the game, as a big sister. She could relate to her because she was a beautiful and young Hispanic woman who was also very fan-friendly. “It’s easier to relate to someone if you look like them and you have the same background,” asserts Hage who grew up eating Cuban food and a proud Latina. “You feel like you have the same morals. It’s like having a Barbie doll that kind of looks like you.”

Instead of playing with her Barbie dolls, Hage, at 7 years old, began to take golf lessons. With her training and natural ability to strike the ball at a long distance, she began to develop into a stellar player. So much so that her father has not touched a golf club since she was eight. “He says that I started beating him so he stopped practicing,” says Hage.

This was the age when her Dad took her to her first LPGA tournament. Being impressed by and being able to meet her sports role model, Kelly Robbins, during that 1992 tour, the young Hage decided she wanted to play professional golf.

Nicole Hage during the 2008 U.S. Open

From competing in tournaments at the age of seven to being one of the top players in college. In 2007, the accomplished young golfer graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Communications and a minor in Sport Coaching. As a collegiate player, she was the 2004 Southern Eastern Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year; four-time all-conference selection; and a four-time National Golf Coaches Association All-American.

Hage says the four years at Auburn University is when she “grew up.” “I absolutely loved it. I had a great team and a great coach. It was a great learning experience for me,” recalls Hage, who still talks to her college coach, Kim Evans once a week and team mates every day. The best advice Evans gave Hage was to have her main thought for every round be, “fairway and green.” Though, she says sometimes the most random song may slip into her mind while she is on the course.

After her college graduation Hage moved to Coral Springs, FL and immediately started working with her current coach, Martin Hall, a noted trainer in the golf world. Everything was going as planned until her rookie professional season in 2008. Playing on two tours, the LPGA and Futures tours made for some stumbling blocks. “I had a pretty rough year. Last year was a learning year. I think that it was definitely a good direction for me,” says Hage who had made the cut in two LPGA events, and on the Futures Tour had a best finish of third.

With valuable lessons learned in 2008, Hage is determined to gain full LPGA playing privileges in 2009, and that means focusing first on the Futures Tour money list. “I have expectations and goals,” shares Hage. “I want to be out there more than anything. I have been waiting and working hard since I was very little to get out in the LPGA. I have part of it; I just don’t have all of it yet. It’s frustrating because I really do work hard.”

Despite her frustrations, Hage realizes that she must learn to be patient. “You know, it’s a marathon; not a sprint for this kind of a career.” However this is something she still struggles with today. She says it is a mental game and it is easy to make it a lot more complicated than it needs to be. “Mostly, it’s just me getting in my own way mentally,” asserts Hage. “Not letting myself just go and play and do what I do naturally.”

Hage is certainly grateful for her friends and role models who have given her advice along the way and even more grateful that they happen to be some of the best players to ever play golf. During her 2008 season, Hage recalls the kindness bestowed onto her when golf greats, Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel invited her to a dinner that lasted for three and a half hours. They shared their similar experiences when they first began on the LPGA which reassured Hage and advised her to look at the bigger picture. “It was just reassuring to know that there’s a learning curve out there and you have to figure some things out,” says Hage. “Since that dinner my scores started coming around and I started seeing a different trend in my game. That dinner really made a difference for me.”

Other LPGA hall-of-famers that have taken Hage under their wings are Karrie Webb and Wendy Ward. Just a phone call away, they are constantly watching out for Hage’s game and take every opportunity to send her a congratulatory text when she has a great round. As a young player, Hage is amazed at the warmth and generosity of these accomplished players who are very busy themselves. “It’s so nice to know I have someone willing to take time and talk to me,” she says. “They don’t have to do that but they do. That just means the absolute world to me.”

Integrity and respect for others is one of the values Hage holds most highly. She adheres to the Golden Rule wherever she goes, making sure she thanks everyone who works behind the scenes at any event. “I try to treat people how I want to be treated,” says Hage who has seen a lot of nastiness in the game. “I want to leave a good impression on everyone that I meet because without the fans I don’t have a job.”

Lorena Ochoa, currently the number one ranked female golfer in the world and the first Mexican golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world, is someone Hage admires not only for her success but for her grace on and off the course. “I don’t know her personally but she just oozes class,” notes Hage.

As impressive and important as Ochoa has been for the Latino community and for the sport, Hage would like to see more diversity on the tours. She is very proud of her heritage and likes that she is different. “I’m not a blonde with blue eyes or green eyes or fair skin,” says Hage. “I’m very tan, I have a different look out there and I love it.” There are great opportunities for all women in the LPGA, observes Hage. “I think more Latinas out there can definitely bring a different crowd to the golf course.”

What this dynamic player loves most about the sport is that no one can judge her based on the way she performs. Her final score is how she is rated. She is glad that she “can’t have extra penalty shots because [she] didn’t look good.” Her biggest critic, however, is herself as she admits to placing very high expectations on herself. “I want to be on the top every week,” she asserts. “I don’t want to be a player that barely makes cuts every week.” Mediocrity is unacceptable for Hage. She believes that being a professional golf player takes too much of a commitment and is too hard of a lifestyle for a player to be just mediocre at it.
She is a true believer that if you give it all you have and you believe in yourself anyone can achieve their dream. “If you don’t then you are not a failure because you know in your heart you did all you could,” she says. “At the end of the day, if this is not to work out, I know I believe I gave it all I have. So there’s no doubt in my head that I’m going to get there. I just need to be patient and wait for it to happen.”

This is a lesson Hage has learned as she has matured within the game and in life. “Golf is important to me but […] it’s really not that important when you look at the big picture of life,” observes the young professional golfer. Her family and friends are most important to Hage who says that when it comes down to it, what will matter most when her life is over is not what she shot at some event but her relationships and reputation she left behind.

“You will not let anyone down because you have done your best and given all you have. We’re not super heroes.”
We may not be super heroes but Nicole Hage is certainly a super golfer and a genuine person who will make it to the top.

Outstanding Latina Golfers

Lorena Ochoa
Hometown: Guadalajara, Mexico
Home Golf Course: Guadalajara Country Club
Birth date: 11-15-1981
Education: University of Arizona
Record setting Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa who plays on the U.S. based LPGA Tour continues to solidify her position as the number one ranked woman golfer in the world after recently winning her 2009 season debut at the Honda LPGA Thailand and the 2009 Corona Morelia Championship. Ochoa grew up next door to the Guadalajara Country Club and took up golf at the age of five. She won her first state event at the age of six and her first national event at seven. As a junior, she captured 22 state events in Guadalajara and 44 national events in Mexico. She won five consecutive titles at the Junior World Golf Championships and in 2000 she enrolled at the University of Arizona in the United States. In November 2008, she became the host of a new annual LPGA event, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, held at her original home course, Guadalajara Country Club. Proceeds from the tournament help support the Lorena Ochoa Foundation.

Gerina Mendoza
Hometown: Roswell, N.M.
Home Golf Course: Sherrill Park Golf Course, New Mexico Military Golf Course
Birth date: 3-29-1984
Education: University of Texas – El Paso
Gerina Mendoza, a native of Roswell, NM, played collegiately at UTEP and won four tournaments while in college, including the 2007 Conference USA championship. That year, she was named the CUSA Player of the Year. Mendoza turned professional in 2007 and played on the Futures Tour in 2008. In her rookie season she made 15 of 17 cuts, had four Top 10 finishes with a best of second place; finished 10th in scoring average and 15th in money. Currently, she is a contestant in “The Golf Channel’s Big Break: Prince Edward Island series (2009).”
Best Tournament: 2nd at the 2008 USI Championship in Concord, N.H.

Lizette Salas
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Azusa, Calif.
Birth date: 7-17-1989
Education: University of Southern California
Lizette Salas is one of the top young players in the country who looks to follow her fine freshman season with an even better sophomore campaign in 2008-2009. During the fall season, she posted four top 10 finishes in as many events, including a win at the Stanford Intercollegiate and another third-place finish. In summer of 2008 she competed for U.S. at the Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship at Tokyo Golf Club. She was among only four NCAA women’s golfers selected to the team, was medalist at the U.S. Women’s Open Local qualifier; medalist at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship and competed at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v15-3/rising.php

New York, NY—Late last year thirty-two year old Linda Cortes and her husband, Chris, a construction worker, owned a house in Florida. However, due to the national foreclosure crisis, the sudden halt in construction projects and an unexpected bout with cervical cancer, the Cortes’ declined on their mortgage and lost their home.

Since there are no shelter systems in Florida and her husband is originally from New York, they decided to pack up everything they could and move to New York. Linda, who is now five months pregnant, and her husband have been in the New York City shelter system since August 2008.

“Family homelessness is an issue that has gotten worse and worse over the last few years,” says Tim Campbell, Director of Crisis Services for Coalition for the Homeless. Established in 1981, Coalition for the Homeless is the nation’s oldest advocacy and direct service organization helping homeless men, women, and children.

According to their most recent report over the past decades families of mostly mothers and children make up over two-thirds of those seeking refuge in the New York City shelter system. In November 2008 more than 36,600 homeless men, women, and children were sleeping each night in New York City municipal shelters, including 15,800 children, 14,100 adult family members, and 6,700 single adults. Most families stay in the shelter system an average of ten months.

Entering the shelter system was no small feat for Cortes. It took her three months of going to court to prove that she was in fact homeless and that there was no way for her to return to her home in Florida, to be eligible. Once in the system Cortes explains that conditions are not great. She now lives in the Grand Concourse hotel and says that, “it’s very small and you have no cooking facilities.”

“You share a bathroom with like thirty other people (when they work). It’s disgusting. The hotel that we are in they used to call a ‘crack motel’. That’s what they put you in.”

The ‘they’ Cortes refers to is the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), the independent Mayoral agency put in place to “over come homelessness in New York City.” The agency has recently been under fire for suddenly enforcing a decade-long program that charges rent to homeless people who have income and live in city shelters. Beginning this week this program has been temporarily suspended.

Although DHS reports say that street homelessness has declined 30 percent since last year, this number does not reflect the increase in the homeless population as a whole, which increasingly consists of families and individuals who are working.

“People have the wrong perception,” says Cortes.  “They think homeless people are lazy, they don’t wanna do nothing, they just wanna live off the system and that’s not true. I would say seventy-five percent of the homeless is working homeless.”

Cortes, works for the organization, Picture the Homeless. Founded in 1999 by two homeless men, it is directed and run by homeless people by “building an infrastructure that keeps organizational decision-making in the hands of homeless people.”

Through leadership development among homeless people they work to impact policies and systems that affect their lives. One of the systems Cortes has been affected by and has been working on is the housing system. As she does street outreach to help others who cannot afford housing, she herself is finding that the shelter system makes it difficult for her to leave.

Almost a year later she is just now able to receive rental subsidies in order to move but is confronted by more obstacles. The vouchers DHS provides those ready to move on from the shelter system are $962. It is difficult to find a decent apartment at that rate in New York City where the average rent for a one-bedroom is $1500. Most landlords will not accept her voucher and when they do they offer unlivable spaces according to Cortes.

“That’s not fair,” says Cortes. “Just because a cardboard box becomes available we have to leave the shelter and run into it. More or less that’s what they’re saying,” she adds.

The Doubled-Up Homeless

Many families either end up back in the shelter system or are unwilling to live within it because of discrepancies like this. One of these individuals is Monica Ortega, 52. She has been living in a friend’s co-op apartment with her seven-year old granddaughter, Keishla and twenty-one year old grandson, Jason, for the past eighteen years.

Her friend, who owns the co-op, is being pressured by his daughter to evict Ortega and her family. Ortega, who receives $695 per month through Supplemental Security Income (SSI), has been asking every month for the past four years to no avail on the status of her application to live in a project apartment. They say that in order to be eligible she has to wait for someone to move out or die.

Unable to work due to nerve and anxiety problems that stem from being abused by a stranger as a child in her hometown of Santurce, Puerto Rico, Ortega struggles to keep her apartment and hardly goes out.

Although, she has not found many organizations to help her, she has found solace and community in a small faith-based organization. A pastor named Dariana every Wednesday and Saturday drives up in a beige van to the park on 7th Street and Avenue A in the Lower East Side, and sets up an amp, guitar and microphone as passerby’s and regulars form a circle around and sit in the benches. Ortega volunteers to help give out groceries to men, women and children who line up every week. She then joins the group and sings along to songs like My God is an awesome God. She says it helps to distract her from her problems.

Another small organization that helps lift the burden off her shoulders is the Campo Misionero Sarepta, Inc., founded and run by life –long Lower East Side native, Rocky Stella. For almost a decade, Stella has fed thousands of families, through his soup kitchen run out of the basement of the Pentecostal Church El Divino Maestro on Third Street between Avenue B and Avenue C. Ortega says that she appreciates Stella’s efforts.

“To know that there are people like Rocky out there who really care and are really trying to take steps to reach out to them and help, can be more powerful sometimes than what an established agency can do,” mentions Campbell.

The Abandoned Homeless

A tall and large black woman wearing all black and a tightly wrapped green scarf around her head and neck stands in front of a busy McDonald’s restaurant on 95 Street and Amsterdam Avenue. Rocking from side to side, she holds her cupped hand out in front of her as she tries to make eye contact with passersby with her tired and weary eyes and asks for change when they cross her path.

Her name is Ramona Fikes and she is forty years old. Eight years ago, after confessing to her family that she had contracted AIDS, she was rejected by them and left on her own. With two children to care for, Briana, 2, and Dayshia, 18, she must beg in the street for money to buy food for each day.

“Sometimes its about choice. Sometimes it about what people put you through. You become homeless,” says Fikes in a low raspy voice. “It’s all over the world. Its something that is gonna go on to the next generation; homelessness.”

Fikes, usually has friends take care of her daughter while she begs in the street in the day. At night she sleeps in over-night shelters when she can. A few blocks away from the McDonalds where Fikes stands is a small Women’s Shelter in the basement of the Central Baptist Church on 96 Street.

Although, only capable of serving ten homeless women at a time the church tries its best to make the women feel loved and taken care of as opposed to the more crowded and sometimes more violent city over night shelters. “You’re only a check or two away from being homeless your self,” says Tisa Henry, 27, volunteer staff worker at the Central Baptist Church shelter. “Especially in this economy it doesn’t take much to be where they are. You count your blessings and do what you gotta do. Hopefully you won’t end up there.

http://www.wjitimesobserver.com/convergent-project/urbaez-and-medrano

By Esperanza Urbaez, LATINA Style magazine, Vol. 15, No.

On this sunny but cool March day at the National Hot Rod Asso c iation Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas the thunderous motors from the zooming bikes on the slick black race track make the 35-year-old Peggy Llewellyn (loo-ellen) say, “Oh, I want to be out there so bad.” Although, lamenting the fact that she did not expect the chill in the air and was under dressed, the pure passion this Pro Stock Motorcycle drag racer and native Texan has for this sport counters the chill and burns within.

Shockingly, she fears roller coasters. (“It’s something about going really fast, up and down,” she says.) However, for all else she is a 5-foot-2, 115 pound fearless female racer who is the first Black and Hispanic woman ever to win a National Hot Rod Association race in 2007 in Dallas and who has persevered despite all the challenges and detours she has faced. Taking her love for racing, drawing from the strength and support of her family and friends and believing that quitting is never an option, Llewellyn is living proof that dreams—no matter how far—can always be reached.

Peggy at 3 years old.

Starting Line
“It’s just the pure love of the sport,” explains Llewellyn of why she has continued to race and persevere despite all odds.

“I like going back on two wheels. It’s a major thrill,” she adds. Llewellyn, who has thrilled fans ever since coming onto the scene, describes her passion for drag racing as a calling. “It’s hard to explain to someone that doesn’t understand that it’s something that burns in you,” she says. “It’s not something that I could just give up. This is something that I was meant to do.”
According to her mother, who is Mexican, Llewellyn literally began riding from the womb. She acquired the “racing bug” from when, while pregnant with her daughter, she would ride on the back seat of her husbands’ motorcycle. Growing up in the “small town with a big city feel” of San Antonio, Texas, she was surrounded by racing and motorcycles, and the closest one was her father, Eugene Llewellyn, who is from Jamaica, owner of Southeast Cycles in San Antonio, Texas and an avid drag racer himself.

Family outings were spent drag bike racing at the Alamo Dragway on her “pocket rocket” bike going 30 mph against her younger brother. “It was a time to have fun and do what my dad did,” she recalls. “I was seven and all the little boys and girls had bicycles but I was the only one with a Honda nitro funny bike that belonged to my dad.”

Interior designer or nurse was what this pro drag racer had hoped to be as a child. It was not an option for a little girl to aspire to be a female Pro Stock motorcycle racer because they did not exist. Not until the summer of 1996 when pioneer Stephanie Reaves (the first women to ever receive an NHRA PSB license and qualify for a national event) along with Angelle Sampey and Karen Stoffer qualified for the Mile-High Nationals in Denver.

Peggy performs the traditional pre-race burnout to heat up the rear tire of her Buell.

Seeing how these women came into a male-dominated sport and proved they were a force to be reckoned with, gave Llewellyn the confidence and inspiration she needed to make this sport her career. “I remember calling my dad right then and saying ‘Daddy this is what I want to do. That’s my calling right there. That’s when I decided,” recalls Llewellyn when she was 23 years old. “Without these pioneers, it would be impossible for me to even consider a career in drag racing.”

Cross Roads
Drawing from their courage and example, she went full speed ahead when she got the opportunity to compete in NHRA PSB for the 2001 race season. However, as soon as she had the green light, she faced an abrupt red light when her 2001 season did not go as planned and came to a halt. She did not do well and lacked the financing to continue. After this, she pursued a real estate license and sat on the racing track sidelines for five years.

At a crossroads, Llewellyn had to make one of the most difficult decisions of her life. Should she quit her dream of being a Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion or be strong and face the challenges? Turning to her constant role model, her dad, who told her not to quit and to keep on going, she took a course at the Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing school in Florida. Here she learned invaluable skills from her instructor George Bryce.

One of the skills she acquired from Bryce that she applied during her off time was learning how to use mental marks. She would imagine going through a run and even making the sounds. Going through these exercises when she is off the track has helped her focus and instinctively know exactly what to do going 190 MPH at 6 seconds on the track where there is no time to think. “For me it could be a first round, a second round or a qualifying path, you still get the butterflies in your stomach. The exercises help them to subside before you go up to the line because you’re going into autopilot and you have to be a hundred percent focused on your job,” she explains.

Family Fuel
Not only is her father, who arrived in 1967 from Kingston, Jamaica and thrived in the United States despite prejudices against him, a huge source of strength and a prime example of determination and hard work for Llewellyn, but also her Mexican grandmother, Victoria Martinez. A woman who did not know how to read or write, she was able to make a living and support her 10 children in the United States. She also raised Llewellyn, whose first language was Spanish, until she was 3 years old. Her grandmother did not necessarily like that she raced but nevertheless unconditionally supported her granddaughter with her prayers. Llewellyn, who holds her abuela up high, recalls her saying, “Ay, mi hija. Don’t get hurt.” “She was my fan in her own way, “says Llewellyn.

Another big fan of hers is her 10 year-old niece, Dayzha, who Llewellyn raises. At such a young age Dayzha understands why her aunt must leave a couple of weeks at a time and fully supports her. Llewellyn admits that if it were not for the support of her family, friends and co-workers she would not be able to balance her personal and professional life. With the economy down she counts the fact that the real estate firm where she also works allows her the flexibility to pursue her dreams a blessing. “It’s the help from everyone that makes it easier for me to balance everything and do so well,” she adds.

Changing Gears
After her five-year hiatus, with the burning passion to race within her, after completing her course at the Pro Stock Motorcycle school, and with the support of her family, Llewellyn was ready and determined to start fresh and get back into the drag racing circuit.

Prepared but patient Llewellyn knew everything would take time as far as learning, getting used to a new bike and crew. With the same willingness to sacrifice, determination and goal, Llewellyn and her team did very well, very quickly. All the hard work and perseverance paid off when she won the event in Dallas where she was the first black and Hispanic woman to win an NHRA PowerAde event, making it into the Championship round.

This unprecedented accomplishment was significant on so many levels for all women in sports, for women of color and personally for Llewellyn. “It set me apart from all the women in the sport because there has never been a black woman,” asserts Llewellyn who has received countless letters and emails from men, women and children thanking her for being someone who looks like them and who is doing what she loves. Llewellyn wants her victory to send the message that, “your background doesn’t matter.” “If you have the drive and determination you can go out there and do it.”

Peggy and her team celebrate her first career win Sept. 23 at the 2007 O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Just as Stephanie Reaves, Angelle Sampey and Karen Stoffer were the ones who broke the mold for women back in 1996; Llewellyn broke the mold for minority women in 2007. This is where she sees the NHRA growing in diversity. “It’s like ‘Wow’,” she says. “It’s not even a question anymore.” There are a lot of black and Hispanic women riders coming up in the level under the NHRA, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), observes Llewellyn. “They just need that chance, that door to open and the funding,” she says.

Role Model P(eggy)
Giving back and being involved in her local community in San Antonio, Texas is just as important as racing. As an active member of the Women’s Sport Foundation, Llewellyn visits elementary schools once a month to speak to girls about the importance of physical wellness, staying active, and pursuing their dreams, through the program GoGirlGo! GoGirlGo! uses sport and physical activity as an educational intervention that supports girls’ health and wellness in childhood and early womanhood.

“If I can touch one little girl or ten little girls and just give them a little bit of advice, it’s rewarding,” shares Llewellyn about her experience. It is especially important for Llewellyn to empower young girls in her sport because of the misconceptions that are sometimes placed on her. “They’ll look at me and say ‘Oh, wow. She’s so small’ or ‘it’s a girl’,” she says. However she explains that “when the helmet goes on it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman. Once you crack that throttle it’s whoever gets to the finish line first.”

Dream Detour

Peggy is seen (near lane) leaving the starting line at the 2008 FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals, July 27 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma

Whether you are a man or woman in Pro Stock Motorcycle racing one thing is certain. You can not compete with out sponsorship, and this has been one the biggest challenges for Llewellyn in pursuing her dream of becoming a multi-time champion and helping expand the presence of Pro Stock Motorcycle in the motor sports industry. This has been difficult because, “you can do well but that doesn’t automatically mean you are going to get the funding; the sponsorship,” she says.

Her goal is to align herself with companies that have products that she tends to use. Having Llewellyn as a spokesperson would be a benefit for that company or product. She believes that companies who think outside of the box and advertise with the NHRA will get more “bang for their buck” because it is not as costly as NASCAR and there is more diversity in terms of more women involved with the sport. Llewellyn’s idea of an ideal sponsor would be a make-up company. “Yes, I may ride motorcycles but I’m still a girly girl; makeup, shoes, clothes, hair products.” http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v15-2/peggy.html

By Esperanza Urbaez, LATINA Style magazine, Vol.15 No.2, 2009

Living among us are women who balance the world in the palm of their hands. They are top executives and successful CEO’s of multimillion dollar corporations; role models to many; raising strong families as loving wives, sisters, daughters, aunts, cousins, grandmothers, and mothers: and fabulous with every hat they wear. They are superwomen.

And they are everywhere. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, women-owned firms employ nearly 13 million people and generate $1.9 trillion in sales. Between 1997 and 2006, majority women-owned firms (51 percent or more women-owned) grew at twice the rate of all firms (42 percent vs. 24 percent). The number of Hispanic working women in the U.S. workforce exceeds seven and a half million, and the numbers continue to rise. Many of those ventures were started not only by women, but by women who are mothers. These entrepreneurs and executives who are also mothers are trying to help not only themselves, but other women as well.

As even Superman had his own secrets behind the ‘S’, so do these strong and successful superwomen. Learn how these phenomenal women find balance in their lives, deal with stress, and make the most of their experience of being mothers. Follow their steps and you can surely be a spectacular supermom. It’s as easy as ABC!

Maria de Lourdes Sobrino and daughter

Adversity
“I wish we could have a school for parents,” said Maria de Lourdes “Lulu” Sobrino, founder & CEO of Lulu’s Dessert Corporation, who has overcome many challenges and obstacles – including discouragement from her ex-husband – in order to become a leading maker of ready-to-eat desserts. “Nobody knows exactly how to be a good parent. We just try our best, and unfortunately we will make mistakes,” continued Sobrino, mother of 21-year-old Monica and 32-year-old Lourdes. Maintaining the traditional Mexican values and understanding her daughter, Monica, who was born and raised in the U.S., is still a challenge for Sobrino.

Natalia Boden and son

Balance
One of the elements to master in order to become a ‘Supermom’ is work-life balance. When it comes to priorities, it is all about balance for Wanda Dryman, resource planning manager of the Customer Service Center at Aflac. “Being a role model for my children and also taking time for myself so I can rejuvenate,” is what is important for her. “You can’t be a superwoman to everybody!” Dryman has three children: her son Christopher, 18; and daughters Kendall, 7, and Avery, 2. She spends extra time with her husband if she needs to, goes to the gym on-site at Aflac and makes sure to relieve stress.

Boden’s biggest work-life balance strategy has been her superb organizational skills. “I know that if I don’t complete task X by X time, I might be late to pick up my son, so I make sure that all is listed and in order of priority every day,” she says. “My daily calendar has each hour segmented for something different, including time to eat!”

Wanda Dryman and family

Cloud Nine
“Being loved for who I am with all my imperfection,” has been the most satisfying aspect about motherhood for Salaverria, and the fact that she knows that she has done the best that she could over the years is even more satisfying. For Sobrino, being a grandmother and seeing her children grow has made her feel complete as a woman. “It’s a great feeling.” Now that her children are adults, Sobrino counts her daughters as her friends, and vice versa. “Having their trust, love and being their friend; I think that’s the amazing part of being a mother.”

The greatest joy of motherhood, according to Boden, is holding your children close and hugging them. “There is nothing more absolutely fulfilling than being a mother,” adds the Honduras native.

Not too long ago, Dryman had the opportunity to watch her son listening, caring and keeping an open heart to others. This brought her much joy because, as she puts it, “You hope that your children will grasp something of what you teach them and sometimes you’re not really sure.”

Do’s and Don’ts

Vilma Salaverria and family

As one finds the balance working on a successful career, overcoming adversity and enjoying motherhood, many lessons are learned about what to do and what not to do. Of all the life lessons acquired by Sobrino, the most important has been to have integrity. She always taught her daughters to be fair and be accountable for every decision that they make.

“Do your best,” is the lesson Dryman imparts on her young children, whether they are playing football or gymnastics and also to be sincere in everything they do. This and hard work is the same lesson Salaverria has always given her children. “In college, my boys worked two to three jobs at same time,” she says. “They know I worked hard and for many hours. They learned and followed the example.”

“Love and enjoy life” and “always, at all times look on the bright side,” are the lessons Boden hopes to give her young children when they become older. Of course, manners are also important: “For now, it’s: no se dice ‘que?’, se dice ‘perdon?’ when you don’t understand what someone has said!”

Encouragement
These fabulous ‘Supermoms’ have the following encouraging messages, especially for all working moms and future working moms-to-be:

“Think about having children when you are young. I have seen a lot of people who are waiting until after their thirties or sometimes forties to have kids. There are many reasons why we give priority to our careers and we don’t think about the future of the kids. I believe its better be at the in end of your twenties or early thirties and strong, when your marriage is young, to have kids”

-Maria de Lourdes “Lulu” Sobrino

Vilma Salaverria

“Do your best and don’t kick yourself for doing one thing better than the other. Use the support system that you have, whether it is family or work.” -Wanda Dryman

“Be fully committed to all the roles in your life. You have to deliver. You can’t have work-life balance and not deliver. Understand one another; reach out, encourage and support others. Mentoring is the key.” -Vilma Salaverria

“If you are a working mother and you feel you are not spending enough time with your children, remember this: your son and daughter will admire you later on for all your sacrifice and hard work and how you managed to work and spend time with them. They will realize when they too are mothers and fathers what it is you did to make sure they always had the best life could give them. That is what I think of my mother and father.” -Natalie Boden

http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v15-2/emothers.html

It seems like every other week the U.S. Government is bailing out another industry in order to prevent the ever-looming collapse of the economy. First the major banks and investment bank stocks, then mortgage lenders and the auto industry. More recently, the entertainment industry has even made its bid for a hefty handout. Today the economic downturn the U.S is facing is in hands of the nations’ top corporate executives and needless to say, corporate boards of the industries play an important role in oversight and decision-making. This is why the scrutiny of the selection and make-up of the nation’s top public corporations is ever more crucial to all citizens in this growing global economy and diversity on corporate boards is ever more important.

By Esperanza Urbaez, LATINA Style Magazine, Vol.15 No. 1, 2009 

http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v15-1/soundboard.html

By Esperanza Urbaez, LATINA Style Magazine

http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v14-4/lsbsny.html

“Latinas in the Media” event, I founded, organized and hosted in collaboration with the Latino Honor Society of Hunter College is held annually in the Spring. This event is meant to provide students the opportunity to hear from and speak with Latina women who have gained success in the media industry and to celebrate their accomplishments not just as women and as members of the Latino community, but as professionals. It is essential at a time in history when our quality of life is so greatly affected by the media and when such a small percentage of the media is produced or controlled by minorities and/or females to create and support events and organizations that are at the forefront of changing this reality. Below please find the “all-star” line up for the past two years.  Details for the 2009 3rd Annual Latinas in the Media Forum below.

Press Coverage:   Article 1 Article 2

Please view the 2008 winter newsletter containing information about the 2007-2008 language immersion programs for The Fellowship, Inc., an educational travel company. I was exclusively commissioned to produce, write, and layout this newsletter.

By Esperanza Urbaez, The Word Print

 Why did you first decide to enlist in the Navy?

 It was the financial aspect. I graduated from Unity High School in SoHo at 16. What I didn’t think about was the cost of college. So even though I had a scholarship it didn’t cover all of my finances.   

From day one the experience was bad.  When I first got there I was sick and they took my medication away from me. So I was walking around with a severe case of tonsillitis that escalated to a point where I was on bed rest for two weeks. I told myself, “Have faith in God. You’ll get through this.” This was just the beginning, you know. Then it started going downhill.

 Where were you at this point?

 I decided to do construction electricity. It was OK for the first week but then I was told I had to climb a telephone pole, just like you see outside, 25 feet up in the air and there’s this big yellow mat laying on the ground.

I went up there and kept sliding down. When I finally got up there, the instructors were talking to me and I fell off the pole on my back onto the mat.

After the first day I was complaining about pain in my ankle. I thought, “It’s probably just a sprain.”

After falling for a whole week and going to the doctor they said,  “You just have a sprain. You’ll be fine. You can go up the pole.” The fifth day I fell off again. That Saturday morning I got up and I couldn’t walk. I stood up and my legs buckled under me so they took me to the doctor on Monday. She said, “She has a third degree sprain. She needs to rest. Give her the week off.” After that week they put me back up there and the same thing happened to the other leg.

It just kept getting worse. They finally took me to the hospital. I couldn’t move and the doctor told me to stand up. I had to ask for crutches. I stood on those crutches for nine months and every week I would go to the doctor. My physical therapist told me she thought I ripped my Achilles tendon. They never gave me a MRI, or a cat scan. I didn’t get an x-ray until 7 months later. I didn’t get a bone scan until 8 months later.

 Did you have to do all you military duties?

 Yes. I spent my days on the quarter deck which is the main area and kept watch being security, taking the log, watching TV, cleaning, doing inventory, and helping the petty officers around the office.

When I cried, they would tell me, “You have to man up. This is the military. It’s not our fault that you’re like that.”  I said, “Yes it is! If you would have gotten me off the pole the first time I wouldn’t be in this situation now!”

My next move was to get discharged. You are not allowed to have males in your room on the training base [so[ I told my [male] friend to come over to my room.

 So you were trying to find something to get caught and get discharged?

 Yes. I got caught and they asked me why I did it. I said, “I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m in pain, I’m not getting any type of help. It’s my life right here. I can’t do this.” They said there weren’t really going to punish me because they understood my situation. They were just going to strip me of my privileges.  

I knew that if you tried to commit suicide or if you seem suicidal they will let you go, so I tried to overdose on pills. Not to kill myself but to get sick and so they could say I was suicidal. I tried that about three times.  

My next thing was I had somebody help me onto stone steps. I stood on top of the steps looking over for a couple of minutes just yelling and screaming and somebody reported me.

 What did they do?

 They sent me to counseling. I went in just talking all crazy about suicide and how I hate myself and blame God and all this other stuff. I blamed everybody, my mother, the state. I said I hope the President dies, this and that.

 Was it after 9/11 that they were to send you to Iraq?

 Right, they tried to send me to Iraq. I thought, “You can’t go to war if you’re pregnant,” so I tried to get pregnant. I got off my birth control and I told my boyfriend, “I know you’re in school right now and you’re not ready to have a child but we’re going to have a baby. Don’t worry about it. I got it under control.” That was the plan.

 Then I got called in for a medical review. They were thinking about discharging me because I had been idle for so long not doing anything. I was back and forth to the doctor and on and off so many medications. I got lucky.

 At that point how long did you stay?

 I was there for another four months. In April they called me and I got a letter in the mail that said I was being discharged with a disability.

 That must have been a relief.

 When I came home I became depressed because I still couldn’t walk straight. Even now I walk a lot straighter than what I used to. It was bad for me because I was a trained dancer in seven different areas. I danced for 13 years. I couldn’t salsa. I couldn’t tango. It took me a long time to realize I’m not going to be the dancer I was.

 Do you regret the whole experience?

 It’s the dumbest thing I have ever done in my life. It prevents me from doing a lot of things.

 Is it common for people to go in and then change their mind about it?

 Mainly with minorities because they felt like they were tricked. Now what I see is how the government targets people of low-income neighborhoods or people of middle class single-family homes. 

 So they target minorities?

 If you ever noticed, there’s a military recruiting place right next to BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College). Where I live, at Broadway and Junction, there’s always Marines and Army recruiters in the train station. They’re always trying to get somebody to join…I think they are using more minority sailors and soldiers to say, “Hey. I look just like you. I’m the same person. I was in your position and you could be like me.”

 Do you think people in general know this or do kids not know what’s going on?

 I don’t think kids realize it because a lot of them think we have equal rights. They have to remember it’s only been about 45 years since civil rights and we’re still having problems. It’s not equal.

They don’t tell you that you’re going to go out there and fight a war that you don’t believe in because the Iraq War is not about us. It’s about Bush and his oil. The man owns an oil company. He has stock in an oil company and you have people fighting a war that they don’t believe in. It serves no purpose and they can’t pull them out now because if they do they are already disrupting the life of those people who have adjusted to them being there. What’s going to happen once they leave?

 So this is the opinion of a lot of people you have encountered in the military?

 Yes, a lot of people I know and some of them have not even gone to Iraq. It’s just the relations the U.S. has with other countries. My friend was stationed in Italy for three years. She loved Italy but some of the responses that she got from the people were negative because the representation of our government.

 What was your experience like in the military as a woman?

 I actually had a female chief. She was very [negatively] biased towards women. [There] was just so much sexism. It was out of hand. Not only were women not given any type of consideration, they were also demeaned and treated like they were stupid. Like you didn’t know anything.

 What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of joining the military?

 Do your research. It may be for you. Speak to a recruiter, talk to people that are in there now that the recruiter does not bring in. If you see someone in the street with a uniform ask him or her. They’ll talk to you.

 Is there anything else you would like to say to Hunter College students?

Think. Just think.