Aneurysms, Entrepreneurship, and Latine Media, Oh My!

Aneurysms, Entrepreneurship, and Latine Media, Oh My!

Rare cardiovascular subclavian artery aneurysm. That wasn’t on my bingo card for 2022. But then again, not much of these last few years was on either mine or anyone else’s bingo cards, and yet, here we all are, just trying to deal.


In many ways, my entire life has been a series of unexpected twists and turns, some planned, some not, but they all follow the same theme: how can I turn this experience into a net positive? But it wasn’t always this way. Let me take it all the way back for a moment.

When I was 9 years old, my mother decided mothering wasn’t for her, and she left.

Little 9-year-old Lucy didn’t take it well. She rebelled, she found solace in local gangs, she blamed her dad, she blamed just about anything and anyone she could find, and she happened to grow up in an environment where kids with needs aren’t treated like kids with needs; they are treated like everyday criminals, and it doesn’t matter if you’re just a child.

Being arrested, put in handcuffs, and in the back of a police car, then transported to the juvenile detention facility where I was mug-shotted, fingerprinted, strip-searched, put in an orange jumpsuit, and locked up in a cold cinder block jail cell was just another Tuesday in my neighborhood - and that was just for ditching school.

These early traumatic years have informed my life perspective and approach ever since.

Fast forward to the moment a few months ago when my phone rang after a CT scan of my neck was done because of a mysterious neck strain.

“Hi Lucy, it’s Megan (my doctor is a physician assistant, so she chooses to go by her first name).” My mind immediately started racing. “This isn’t good news,” I said to myself, “They never call when it’s good news.”

She begins to deliver the news as best as possible so as not to inspire immediate panic. “Well, it seems you might have an aneurysm in your subclavian artery. It was at the bottom of your scan, and we’re not entirely sure, but you need to get it checked out.” My mind processes the only thing I know about aneurysms - am I bleeding out internally right now? Isn’t that what an aneurysm is??? (turns out that’s not what an aneurysm is) Am I DYING???

Sensing my obvious confusion as to why I’m not already dead or if I might be dead at any moment, she begins to calmly explain that they don’t believe the possible aneurysm poses an immediate threat, and theoretically, we could wait and get scheduled with a vascular surgeon in a few days for follow up but aggressively “suggests” that going to an ER without delay is the better choice.

I understand immediately.

I finish up a work call, call my brother and give him my pin and passwords and instruct him to empty all my accounts should I die so as little as possible gets stuck in probate (like most Americans and especially people of color, I have no will or trusts set up - that’s obviously changing).

Facing possible death is a hell of a thing.

We all know we’re going to die eventually. We all understand that it can be at any moment. Many try to live with that in mind and embrace the carpe diem mentality. Or if you’re an elder millennial like me, YOLO, but with only the possibility in mind, it’s pretty easy to forget that we truly aren’t guaranteed another day and fall into our old ways of letting dumb shit steal far too much energy.

There are still too many details about my condition that are unknown to determine what the actual risk of sooner-than-expected death is, but rather than causing additional consternation; it instead added a certain amount of freedom from the shackles of everyday worry. While my vascular surgeons figure out the best solutions and paths forward (my condition is so rare that there are virtually no identical cases that inform an accepted and clear treatment path; leave it to me to continue to choose the path less traveled...), all we can do is cross the decision bridges when we get there.

In the meantime, rather than focusing on what could be a premature death or other less-than-desired outcomes like permanent disabilities, my focus has gone to the now. My life. My business. My loved ones.

My personality is a problem-solving one. With that same determination inspired by my experience growing up in (and still living in) a white supremacist, class-based oppressive system that almost claimed me as one of its millions of unlucky victims, I immediately turned to how I was going to keep both the media company I launched and me alive at the same time.

I’ve always been absolutely astonished at just how many Latinos live in the U.S. and how little power we wield.

There are 60 million+ Latinos in the U.S., the majority of whom are bilingual and are English-dominant, not the other way around as mainstream media would have everyone believe. And yet, name other media outlets besides the well-known Spanish-language brands we all know.

Movie studios continue to ignore us. History tellers continue to erase us. And brands everywhere continue putting “Hispanic” audiences in their minuscule multi-cultural budgets despite Latinos continuously leading consumer-spending numbers and trends.

But why would they care when no one makes them care? They still reap the rewards of Latino dollars without having to put in any additional effort at all. Why fix what’s not broken for them, right?

That’s where media brands like Luz Media, Remezcla, Hip LATINA, Futuro Media, Latina Media Co. and even white-owned mitú who just recently merged with John Leguizamo’s NGL Collective, come in. None of these brands, however, will amount to much of anything if they don’t thrive and grow into nationally recognized brands. Latinos can make that happen.

Ultimately, Luz Media decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign because 1) I just don’t have any quit in me even when I really want to, and 2) I can’t possibly imagine the pitiful state of affairs for Latine media with even less Latina-owned media, rather than more. At the end of the day, we’re really just hoping the Latino community will fight for us as hard as we fight for them.

I’m confident that years from now, when Luz Media and I are still here, we’ll look back on these tough days and be proud of all that our community was able to accomplish - together.

You can support Luz Media here and watch our story below:


The Luz Media Story Hits a Bump in the Roadyoutu.be

a woman giving the side eye to a man

Have you ever met someone who seems overly confident, self-centered, or even downright rude? Maybe they constantly talk about themselves, disregard your feelings, or even manipulate situations to their advantage. And, if you're anything like us and countless other Latinas, you might've thought, is this person just a purebred a**hole, or are they a narcissist?

Keep ReadingShow less
woman surrounded by colorful illustrations
Image by Sayuri Jimenez.

Nathalie Molina Niño has never been one to shy away from breaking barriers, and now, she’s focusing her attention on a new mission: demystifying corporate boardrooms for women, especially Latinas. Molina Niño is the President of Known, an asset management and financial services firm, a veteran tech entrepreneur and builder capitalist, and a board member at the iconic lingerie Brand, Hanky Panky, and others.

Like many corporate boards, Hanky Panky hadn’t publicly disclosed its board composition until recently. After the brand survived the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Molina Niño decided it was time for more women, specifically more Latinas, to know what it means to be on corporate boards.

Coincidentally, the decision to finally be more vocal about this topic aligned with the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which served as the perfect kick-off to the work.

"Something that rarely gets talked about and I think almost gets kept opaque by design is boards,” she explains in a recent Instagram announcement. “[This Latinx Heritage Month], that’s what I’ll be talking about.” Her goal? To equip more Latinas with the knowledge they need to navigate onto for-profit boards, where they can thrive and build multi-generational wealth.

For-profit corporate boards often feel like an exclusive club. And in many ways, they are, especially for Latinas, who hold the smallest percentage of board seats in Fortune 500 companies compared to other racial groups. According to the latest report from Latino Board Monitor, while Latinos hold 4.1% of these board seats (compared to 82.5% held by white people), only 1% go to Latinas. Molina Niño, a first-generation American of Ecuadorian and Colombian descent, is part of this boardroom minority.

When asked about her experience as a Latina board member during a recent Zoom interview, she said, “It’s been lonely. There’s not a lot of Latinas on boards.” She went on to explain that even serving on boards of Latina-founded businesses gets lonely because, “A lot of the times, people who serve on their boards represent their investors and, as a result, [...] you still don’t see a lot of Latinas on those boards.”

This lack of representation drives Molina Niño’s determination to increase Latina presence in corporate boardrooms. By sharing her insights, she hopes to give Latinas a roadmap to claim their seats at the table. “If you don’t know where to go, it’s impossible to figure out how to get there,” she says.

The Road to the Boardroom

Getting onto a for-profit corporate board isn’t an overnight achievement, but it’s not an unattainable dream either. People often think you need to be a CEO or have a certain type of background, but that’s one of the biggest myths about boards in Molina Niño’s experience. What they’re really looking for is expertise — whether that’s in finance, marketing, sustainability, or even technology. If you have that expertise, you’re already an asset. It’s simply a matter of which road you should take.

Understanding what boards are and how they operate is key to unlocking opportunities. For-profit boards serve as the governing body for companies, overseeing direction and financial stability, and guiding CEOs and executives in decision-making. But Molina Niño emphasizes that not all for-profit boards are created equal.

“There are two kinds [of for-profit boards] [...]. There’s the publicly traded business board and then, on the privately held side, there are, I would argue, two types of boards [...] the traditional business board and the venture-backed business board,” explains Molina Niño. Traditional businesses are often family-owned or long-established and may only form boards to meet requirements, like securing financing or transitioning through an ESOP. Venture-backed boards, on the other hand, are typically filled by investors who hold major stakes in the company.

According to Molina Niño, understanding the difference between them is how you can create a successful strategy. With publicly traded business boards, the whole world is privy to them, so, “The way that you get in there is a little bit more transparent. Sometimes those publicly traded companies will hire a recruiter to help them find new board members,” explains Molina Niño. For private companies, on the other hand, there’s no legal requirement to make announcements. As a result, most people don’t know anything about them or their inner workings.

“Usually what happens in traditional businesses that don’t have venture-capital investments is that the Founders, Executives, or the board members, if one existed already, they usually go to their friends,” and people they deem experienced to fill board seats. In other words, it’s the founder’s decision, and that’s an entirely different approach than hiring recruiters. When it comes to venture-backed business boards, the seats on the board are filled by whichever investor writes the biggest check.

This is why an understanding of the different types of boards and acknowledgment of their own strengths is what will help Latinas define a sound strategy. Whether that’s working with a recruiter, networking and connecting with founders to build trust, or making the biggest investment.

The Path for Latinas

For Molina Niño, the key to getting more Latinas into corporate boardrooms is education. Knowing what a board looks like and how it functions is how you can position yourself to get on it. In openly talking about this, without the mystique it’s usually shrouded in, Molina Niño is providing women, especially Latinas, with invaluable insights. “If we had Latinas understanding what are the three types of for-profit boards I think that, on their own, they would be able to figure out what their best chance is and adjust their careers to make themselves more competitive,” states Molina Niño.

When asked about the impact of increased Latina representation in boardrooms, Molina Niño flips the narrative. “Boards don’t help Latinas by offering them seats; Latinas help businesses thrive by being on their boards,” she says. “The whole point of sitting on a board is that you have experience and expertise, and as Latinas, you also have some cultural experience that everyone wants. [...] At the end of the day, we [Latinas] have to realize that we have a ton to offer and we have to be selective about where we put that expertise,” she explains.

As demand for access to the Latina consumer rises, Molina Niño predicts that more Latinas will find themselves recruited into boardrooms. But she’s not content to sit back and wait for that moment. By openly sharing her journey and insights, she’s making sure other Latinas know their worth and have the tools to claim their place at the table. “I realized that quietly being on boards that helped me personally is not helping other Latinas. [...] I was lucky enough to have friends who could advise me and share their experiences, so that’s why I’m doing this,” she stated.

With Hispanic Heritage Month as the backdrop, Nathalie Molina Niño’s mission is clear: “My goal is just to give Latinas enough information so they can make a plan for how to eventually get on a board that they’re paid to be on and that will eventually help them build generational wealth.”

flags of latin american countries fly behind performers wearing culturally traditional clothing

Ever noticed how September in Latin America is just one big celebration? As we wave goodbye to summer and avoid winter as long as we can, the streets come alive with parades, music, and festivities. Many Latin American countries celebrate their freedom this month, commemorating their hard-fought battles for independence from colonial domination. Let’s dive into these significant days and understand what makes each unique.

Keep ReadingShow less