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A podcast on shared humanity; discussing personal and professional perspectives. From serious to silly to sublime, coming from kindness and curiosity, it is all about connections.
Hi. I hope you're well. This podcast is a place for people to share personal and professional perspectives to talk openly and to ask questions. From serious to silly to sublime, it's all about communication and connections, Always coming from a place of kindness and curiosity, we talk about shared humanity, discuss ideas, and highlight people creating a better world. We've got to keep learning, keep growing, keep being.
Melissa Shere Beek:I'm Melissa Shere Beek, and this is Beek on being. Today's episode is Beek on being and GLOBAL FUTURE FOUNDERS. Are BASIS schools being left behind in today's education? Many children graduate without practical and essential tools for life and leadership. In studio today, we have entrepreneur, small business owner of Raw South, and founder of GLOBAL FUTURE FOUNDERS, Yesenia Gomez, to talk about what it means to empower today's youth to become tomorrow's leaders.
Yesenia Gomez:I love that.
Melissa Shere Beek:I'm so excited that you're here.
Yesenia Gomez:Same here.
Melissa Shere Beek:Same I'm really, really thrilled.
Yesenia Gomez:Me too.
Melissa Shere Beek:So I know you from Raw South. Mhmm. But tell our listeners a little bit about you.
Yesenia Gomez:Okay. So my name is Yesenia Gomez. I'm the owner well, first, I'm a mom of three amazing kids, young adults. I'm the owner of Ross South for almost twelve years. A wellness cafe here in Miami.
Yesenia Gomez:And most recently, I just founded GLOBAL Future Founders.
Melissa Shere Beek:I can't wait to get into that because I think it's phenomenal. Okay. So how did the Wellness Cafe come about?
Yesenia Gomez:So that came about I had been working corporate for basically, like twenty years of right after high school. And I always found that I wasn't really like your your regular worker, right? I always had that entrepreneurial spirit. And I really didn't fit, basically is how it how it transpired. And at one point, I got fired.
Yesenia Gomez:And when I was fired, it made me kinda like check myself and and really see what direction I wanted to take At my that time, I was married with the father of my children. And it was a very difficult point in my life because I had been working corporate for a long time making lots of money. I loved my job, but I just didn't fit with the culture. Right. I had a lot of things that I wanted to do and ideas.
Yesenia Gomez:And when you're working in sometimes that environment, it's difficult to be able to like express yourself the way you want to express yourself. And so, again, I got fired and I took some time off. I became very, very depressed for like a couple of months. A good, like, four or five months. I found working out as my way of getting out of that rut.
Yesenia Gomez:Sure. And I started going to body and soul years ago, like 2012. At that point, workout was just my constant thing to do to help with my mental health. Needed it just to release the what I was feeling and try to get clarity and just feel better about myself.
Melissa Shere Beek:Sure.
Yesenia Gomez:In general. But then after I would work out, which was I would spend like four hours at the gym, I would then go to Wild Oats. I don't know if you remember Wild Oats.
Melissa Shere Beek:I loved Wild Oats. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Wild Oats was like Whole Foods. Yeah. Right? And I would just, like, you know, travel and not travel, but just, like, visit the aisles and figure out what I was gonna have for lunch. And that basically, every day became my menu for Ross Health.
Yesenia Gomez:So my meals that I would prepare after the gym, I would take a picture of it, I would say like this is what I'm eating today. And then one day, a year and a half later, I told my husband, I want to open up a restaurant. And he thought I was crazy. My kids thought it was crazy. They're like, you've never done this.
Yesenia Gomez:You've never owned a business. But I felt it. I I really am a true believer that you have to trust your intuition. Yeah. And when you feel it, you have to do it.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. And so I said, this is what I wanna do. And he's like, okay, give me a little bit of time. We need to get the money together. And when we had the money together, I started looking for spaces and that was really hard to come by.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. It was difficult to find a location. When I found the location, I contacted the landlord and I told him, hey, listen. I I wanna open up a juice bar. And he immediately shut it down.
Yesenia Gomez:He's like, nope. That's not gonna work. I had a juice bar here before. The tenants were terrible. They're too hippie, free spirited, and it's not something that I want at my shopping mall.
Melissa Shere Beek:So what happens then? Opportunity.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. So then what happens? Again, I'm like in this major rut because I'm like, I finally have the chance to be able to do it. This is the perfect spot. And here he goes and he shoots me down right and I'm like, oh my god, whatever.
Yesenia Gomez:So I just kept doing what I was doing and like, two months later, I'm like, I'm not giving up on it. I'm gonna send them another email. So I sent them another email and I said, listen, I really need you to like, sit down and talk with me. Listen to my idea.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right.
Yesenia Gomez:Just meet me.
Melissa Shere Beek:Get to know me.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. Get to know me. Give me the opportunity.
Melissa Shere Beek:Because you're a go getter.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. Yeah. I sent him a second email. So then he's like, okay, meet me at my office, whatever time. And when we met, the meeting was like maybe an hour and a half.
Yesenia Gomez:He's like, okay. And then he gave me the opportunity. I was able to open up the shop, which is the original,
Melissa Shere Beek:the shop you visit. I remember.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. And I've been there for twelve here
Melissa Shere Beek:all the time. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. I love it. Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:So what are the realities of creating a small business like that? Because there's that's a huge jump.
Yesenia Gomez:That's a huge jump. You definitely have to have grit. You have to have you have to be persistent. You have to not take no for an answer. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:You have to be dedicated. You have to it's a it's a lot of things you have to be.
Melissa Shere Beek:You have to be flexible?
Yesenia Gomez:You have to be flexible. Mhmm. Definitely, you have to be flexible. And you just have to be committed
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:To the in and out of the everyday.
Melissa Shere Beek:So how long from starting it to really hitting your stride with it, you feel?
Yesenia Gomez:So it's funny because now the business has changed so much, We've pretty much been on a roller coaster since COVID.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. I don't wanna go back to COVID, but really, that's what changed the entire world. And especially when it comes to business, small businesses.
Melissa Shere Beek:Especially small business and a restaurant business.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. Special especially that. When I started the business, there weren't many health food spots around. So I started the business and a month later, I was killing it. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Killing it.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:2014, started. 2015, I had my highest numbers.
Melissa Shere Beek:Amazing.
Yesenia Gomez:'16 was a fantastic year. '17 was a wonderful year. That's when I had already opened three spots.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Remember.
Yesenia Gomez:And then '19 was solid solid year and then '20 came around and that was when everything changed. Took the
Melissa Shere Beek:wind out of the sails. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. So now now we're steady, we're stable. Good. We're there. We're committed to our community.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. People are committed to us.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. The community loves you.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. I love They really do. I thank you. Thank you.
Melissa Shere Beek:So what's the biggest lesson or biggest responsibility when creating a small business like this?
Yesenia Gomez:I think particularly for me, I know that when a customer comes in for product, they don't come in for that product. They come in for consistency.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:They come in because they trust you. They trust what you say what you say to them. They trust your menu and the ingredients you're listing on your menu.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yes.
Yesenia Gomez:They're trusting what they're drinking. Right. So to me, it's it's the trust.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. I think what you hit it on the head, consistency.
Yesenia Gomez:And consistency. Because I know
Melissa Shere Beek:that even when you have, like, specials during the day and I don't come in to get, my usual stuff Yeah. And I try it out, I know it's gonna be great. Oh, thank I know quality wise it's gonna be great, and I know taste wise it's gonna be delicious.
Yesenia Gomez:Thank you.
Melissa Shere Beek:So I think consistency. I think you're right. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Mhmm.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay. So there are obviously setbacks. So how do you handle the setbacks?
Yesenia Gomez:Setbacks, there's been quite a few. Right? Okay. Really, I don't stay long in that moment. Mhmm.
Yesenia Gomez:I really try to focus on what I need to learn from it.
Melissa Shere Beek:Uh-huh.
Yesenia Gomez:And then move on.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:I learned that from my past, when I sit in in in a moment that's dark or deep, I
Melissa Shere Beek:Doesn't benefit you.
Yesenia Gomez:It doesn't it doesn't work out. So the quicker I'm able to, like, jump out of it and, you know, find out what's what what can I fix Right? Then that's that's just helped me.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay. Yeah. I like that. Now, then you challenged yourself even more because Yeah. Forget just owning a restaurant and being responsible for providing great stuff for the community.
Yesenia Gomez:Right.
Melissa Shere Beek:What'd you do? Tell our listeners what you did.
Yesenia Gomez:I became a flight attendant. I became a flight attendant.
Melissa Shere Beek:So what made What motivated you to do that?
Yesenia Gomez:So after COVID where things have, you know, they were Yeah. They weren't really balanced. Right? I felt I needed I had plateaued
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Not only professionally, but also I had come out of a relationship
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:That really drained me.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:And I was feeling very blah, like.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right.
Yesenia Gomez:I had no real passion, no motivation, no no drive to do anything that I I've always had. Right? I felt that I needed something different. I needed something spontaneous, something that was
Melissa Shere Beek:just What made you think of Flight Attendant?
Yesenia Gomez:Well, it was really random because I was scrolling through my Instagram again and it came up, we're hiring. And I'm like, boop boop. I'm doing it. I'm doing Wow.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. So what did that take? What did you have to do for that for training?
Yesenia Gomez:So that is a whole month's training. It's away. It was in Wyoming. Wow. And that was intense.
Yesenia Gomez:I had to roommate with someone. It was going back to school, which I hadn't been in school for years.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Sure.
Yesenia Gomez:It's a it was a lot of studying, test taking every other day. Like, you study, boom, you have a test, and it was crucial. Like, you had to pass a test with a specific score. Right. If it wasn't that score, you were kicked out.
Yesenia Gomez:So you had to spend all this time, invested all this time. And then if you didn't pass, you're gonna be out. So it was a lot of a lot of pressure. But after I completed it, I was like, wow. Like, this is awesome.
Melissa Shere Beek:It's amazing.
Yesenia Gomez:Amazing. Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:So how long did you do that for? Are you still doing it?
Yesenia Gomez:No. I stopped. I stopped because my body wasn't really handling it well because I went into menopause. Oh, yeah. So the up and down was really killing was it wasn't making you know, I wasn't feeling well.
Melissa Shere Beek:Making sense anymore for you. No. I get it. I get it. Yep.
Melissa Shere Beek:So what insights did you gain from being a flight attendant that differed from what you gained from creating and owning and running raw south?
Yesenia Gomez:So it's funny because they have similarities, right? At the shop, you know, it's very small.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:And I sit and talk to people all day. Right? People come in, they'll tell me the stories. Sometimes I'm like, oh my god, I can't I can't believe you're sharing this with me. Like, we just met.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. But the same thing is what I found on the airplane. People come in and they all have stories. Right. Not everybody that flies is flying for fun or vacation.
Yesenia Gomez:Right. They're flying because they're going to a burial.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:They have a sick family member. So when you get to talk to them and you're able to assist them, even if it's just helping them with their bags or whatever it is, bringing them something to drink, calming them down.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right.
Yesenia Gomez:That is to me is is very gratifying.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Helping everybody and being there in a moment when they need you. Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But I think you do that at the at the store too. Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:I think so. Yeah. Okay. So with all the knowledge and expertise, now that you have all of this, you created something new. A program.
Melissa Shere Beek:I did. Tell us about GLOBAL FUTURE FOUNDERS.
Yesenia Gomez:So GLOBAL FUTURE FOUNDERS is a kids program. Mhmm. We're teaching four pillars. It originally started with just entrepreneurship because that's what I can specifically teach. Right?
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:Since I've done it. But as I went, as I taught my first course on entrepreneurship, the parents were like, okay, what's next? What else are you teaching? Yeah. And I'm like, okay, well, let me think about it because I have to kind of like figure it out.
Yesenia Gomez:I have to see who else I can bring in, Right. To help teach the the classes. So it consists of entrepreneurship, life skills, communication, financial literacy. Yeah. Okay.
Melissa Shere Beek:So how did you come up with this?
Yesenia Gomez:So in the beginning of the year, I went to Guatemala. Uh-huh. I've been to Guatemala twice this year, and I fell in love with the country. Yeah. Just looking at them, they're they're the way that they move, they move in family.
Yesenia Gomez:They they're in groups. So if it's the dad, the mom, and all the kids, and there's a lot of poverty.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:You know, I would see, like, moms washing their clothes in the river, which broke my heart. I'm like, oh my god. And the kids are just like helping the mom. They're tiny.
Melissa Shere Beek:It's unity and community.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. So it was it was hard to watch, but it it really pulled at my heartstrings. And I'm like, I wanna come back. Yeah. And I wanna come back and I wanna help.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. So I was filling out the application for a volunteer to volunteer there for a month. And as I'm filling out the application, one of the questions is, what can you teach the kids? And I said entrepreneurship. And and then right there with that question, it stopped me in my tracks.
Yesenia Gomez:And I'm like, would I have to go away for I don't know how long when I can literally teach that?
Melissa Shere Beek:In the backyard. Right here. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:And I know a of kids would benefit from it and want it and and are asking about it.
Melissa Shere Beek:Need it. More than even wanting it. Right. But need it.
Yesenia Gomez:Right. So then I finished the application, of course, but then I was like, no. This is starting here. Okay. And then that's how.
Melissa Shere Beek:So you have the four pillars. You said life skills, leadership, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
Yesenia Gomez:Correct.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Because they're not getting any of this in school. Mhmm.
Yesenia Gomez:So
Melissa Shere Beek:and then you said you get people to come in to teach. So who are the kids learning from?
Yesenia Gomez:Okay. So besides learning from me, that section of entrepreneurship, I also have other professionals.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:And people that are involved in whatever like, for example, the bankers.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right. Different community leaders.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:They come in and they help assist in teaching the kids.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, that's awesome. Okay. Great. So so what are your goals for the program?
Yesenia Gomez:The goal is to get it wherever there's a kid.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:It could be libraries, schools, sports centers, anywhere where there's kids.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right. So it could be involved in after school programs? Absolutely. Know you have Did you have a first one already at this store? I did.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay. That was great.
Yesenia Gomez:I did.
Melissa Shere Beek:And then so you said libraries also. My
Yesenia Gomez:first original one was at the library.
Melissa Shere Beek:At the library?
Yesenia Gomez:Coral Reef Library.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, great.
Yesenia Gomez:Right. That was a four week course. Mhmm. And I held it there.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, that's perfect. Mhmm. And what was the community's response? I bet they loved it.
Yesenia Gomez:They loved it. The parents loved it. The kids loved it.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:And one of the kids that came back for the financial literacy course this last time, his name is Xander. And Xander at my entrepreneurship class said that his business idea because I take him from the conception of the idea all the way to the, you know, the finalization and, you know, starting the business.
Melissa Shere Beek:Do they come up with their own ideas? And then you help facilitate.
Yesenia Gomez:Okay. Got it. So he said that he wanted to open up a lemonade stand. Aw. Well, Zander came in to the financial literacy class.
Yesenia Gomez:He did his lemonade stand. Now he's doing markets. Now he's created not a lemonade drink. He's created a lemon elixir. So he's elevated the brand.
Yesenia Gomez:I
Melissa Shere Beek:love this.
Yesenia Gomez:He's incredible. His name is Zander Lemon Elixir on Instagram. He's like, you're not gonna believe what I've done. Yeah. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:And is he selling in different stores now
Yesenia Gomez:He's selling at different markets.
Melissa Shere Beek:Unbelievable.
Yesenia Gomez:So he's becoming an entrepreneur. He's completely an market
Melissa Shere Beek:or any of the markets. I love this. Yeah. Look what you created.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. Yeah. It was awesome.
Melissa Shere Beek:That's amazing.
Yesenia Gomez:It's really, really wonderful.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, I love that. So I was gonna ask you why the program is so necessary. But that's an example perfectly of why the program is so necessary.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. And I really think that there's there's a shift. There's a shift happening. I think I read something recently where instead of kids really taking the conventional way of education, they're they're thinking more outside the box and wanting to become entrepreneurs. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:So it's I think
Melissa Shere Beek:they don't even realize that just something that they're passionate about or an idea that they have can actually come to fruition. Exactly. So I think it's terrific that you can show them, no, this is great. Yeah. We can make it work.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly.
Melissa Shere Beek:And then they get invested in it and then they're excited and yeah. I love that. I love that. So how do you see it expanding in the future? Do you see it implemented in school programming?
Yesenia Gomez:Or Definitely. And really globally, I'm hoping for that to happen. Yeah. I wanted to really go everywhere.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. I think it's necessary to be everywhere. Don't think they're learning these things in school anymore.
Yesenia Gomez:No. They're definitely not. Yeah. They're learning a lot of math, a lot of science, but
Melissa Shere Beek:But not really how to implement all of those things. No. And to take their passion and and to create something Right. Sustainable with it.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly.
Melissa Shere Beek:So okay. Good. So you're a busy woman, and you're a strong powerful woman and I love that. But how do you balance professional, personal, like that work life balance?
Yesenia Gomez:So to me, my morning routine is like the most important part of my day. The moment I wake up, I go down, I make my coffee, I come up, I turn on my YouTube and I listen to Grace Voices.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay.
Yesenia Gomez:So it's a devotional and prayer channel. And basically, I sit, I listen, I take what I need to listen to. Yeah. And then I'm gonna start my day.
Melissa Shere Beek:I love that.
Yesenia Gomez:And then second to that, which is super important for me is my time with my kids. Like, I have to have my time with my kids. Yeah. And I make it a point.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Yeah. Well, both of those things feed your soul. Yeah. The podcast and the children.
Melissa Shere Beek:Exactly. So, yeah, you gotta fill yourself up.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. And then the last part is I have great staff, so I'm able to do what I wanna do. Yeah. You know, I'm able to if I need to go, I can go.
Melissa Shere Beek:I You can trust them.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. I love that. So, what's been the greatest challenge in all of this?
Yesenia Gomez:I think the greatest challenge for me personally has been to let go and kinda delegate a little bit more.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:I think I'm a little bit controlling
Melissa Shere Beek:Right.
Yesenia Gomez:When I'm in, you know, involved in in a program or involved in my business. Right. I feel that I can be a little bit Well, you know what you want.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. So you wanna make it happen.
Yesenia Gomez:I know. I know. But I think it's good to be able to, like, let go and let other people because I felt it when I was not able to do it myself.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right? Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:So I think that's
Melissa Shere Beek:that's Yeah. Delegating. Mhmm. But you also have incredible people that work with you that you can trust to do that.
Yesenia Gomez:For sure. For sure.
Melissa Shere Beek:That's awesome. What's what's been the greatest lesson that you've learned from all of it?
Yesenia Gomez:My greatest lesson has been that you really need to be able to have people around you to support
Melissa Shere Beek:you. Mhmm.
Yesenia Gomez:You know? If it hadn't been for my two girls at the shop, you know, when I've been down and business has been tough, and they're like, come on, we can do it. Don't worry, we're gonna make this special, we're gonna do this.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, I love that.
Yesenia Gomez:My family, like, don't worry, we got you. You know, it's important to have people that support you.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Lift you up too. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful.
Melissa Shere Beek:I like that.
Yesenia Gomez:Thank you.
Melissa Shere Beek:What's been the greatest reward?
Yesenia Gomez:The greatest reward has been when I see the impact that I'm making. Mhmm. Like, for example, Sandra.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. That's amazing.
Yesenia Gomez:It's freaking awesome. I think it's amazing when somebody comes back into the shop and says, oh my god, I feel so much better. I did the power shot. And the power shot, I had the worst cold and I took it four days straight and I feel great.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, I love that.
Yesenia Gomez:Or you know what? I lost 10 pounds. I've been eating and and, you know, juicing and I've been doing really good. That's that's rewarding.
Melissa Shere Beek:And they feel good about themselves. Yeah. What don't people see? Like, behind the scenes that goes on in in
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah, the worry. Yeah, the worry. The worry because my responsibility isn't only about me.
Melissa Shere Beek:It's The community that I'm you're
Yesenia Gomez:serving the community. I'm serving my employees.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:You know, it's a lot for a single person to carry.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Huge responsibility.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. So you have to you know, it's great to be an entrepreneur. It's great to work for yourself. It's great to make your own money, but you have to know that those are all things that you're gonna have to deal with. Right.
Yesenia Gomez:And that being able to teach that to kids is also
Melissa Shere Beek:That's like stability. Yeah. Kind of being fluid and know that, you know, this is just a moment. Right. Got it.
Melissa Shere Beek:Right. Oh, that's great. So what's next on the horizon?
Yesenia Gomez:So right now, my main focus is that. My main focus is GLOBAL FUTURES. I really want I believe that we have a great thing that we've started. Mhmm. And I really wanna just make that grow.
Yesenia Gomez:Right. Take it as you know, to as many places as I can, touch as many lives as I can.
Melissa Shere Beek:So I'm gonna have the link in my listener links on my Linktree. Mhmm. When is the next set of classes starting?
Yesenia Gomez:So I'm working on that. Okay. My last financial literacy class Mhmm. One of the parents volunteered their space to be able to hold the class there.
Melissa Shere Beek:That's fabulous. Awesome.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. Because we were in the heat. We were dying. We were
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Yeah. It was hard for them. Yeah. In July in in in Miami.
Melissa Shere Beek:But
Yesenia Gomez:they stuck it out. They did great. But she was generous enough to say, hey, you know, the next time don't even worry about it. We can do it here.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, that's
Yesenia Gomez:perfect. So I'm planning the next class. I'm coordinating with the next speaker. Okay. And
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay. So I'll have that ready to go. So we'll so anybody who wants their children to become a part of this, they'll they'll have the link and they'll have the information.
Yesenia Gomez:Exactly. Oh, I
Melissa Shere Beek:love that. Oh, that's so great. Any other things that we don't know about you that we should know?
Yesenia Gomez:So I I got engaged.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, you got you held out on me. You. You. Oh, that's so exciting. I can't believe you waited this whole time
Yesenia Gomez:and you I didn't had say a surprise at the end.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yes. You did. You had a surprise at the end. I didn't realize it was gonna be that. That's wonderful.
Melissa Shere Beek:So tell us about this. So it happened in Guatemala. I love it.
Yesenia Gomez:We were hiking. He woke me up at 03:00 in the morning. We had a special hike for the Indianos hike Uh-huh. Which is one of the mountains or one of the volcanoes. And I was exhausted.
Yesenia Gomez:It's 03:00 in the morning. I hadn't had a coffee. I'm, like, dying. I'm, why now? Like, why do we have to walk now?
Yesenia Gomez:He's like, come on. We gotta go. So we took a little ferry because there you travel by ferry. We stayed in Lake Atilan. I don't know if you know know
Melissa Shere Beek:know it that well yet.
Yesenia Gomez:But it's so beautiful there.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. It's
Melissa Shere Beek:Now I know why he woke you up
Yesenia Gomez:at three in the morning. Yeah. So we took the little ferry. We went to the the spot where they picked us up. Then we took the hike, and the hike was, like, forty five minutes.
Yesenia Gomez:No coffee. No nothing. I'm I thought in the middle of it, I'm like, I can't do it. Mean, just I'm dying. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:I'm dying. He's like, no. Come on. You gotta go. I'm like, what is wrong with you?
Yesenia Gomez:Why are you so excited for this hike? We finally made it up there and then he pulls out the the tripod, puts the I'm like, what's going on? And I think he proposed.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, I love that. That's so beautiful. It was Congratulations. Thank you. That is an incredible surprise.
Yesenia Gomez:It was surprise. Oh, wow.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Oh, my god. That's so exciting. So happy for you. Thank you.
Melissa Shere Beek:Thank you. That's good, wonderful things in the future for you.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. Okay. I think so.
Melissa Shere Beek:I love it. Well, thank you for being here today. Thank you for having me.
Yesenia Gomez:You for having me.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, my pleasure. But I have one little thing that I do before I let my guests go.
Yesenia Gomez:Mhmm.
Melissa Shere Beek:It's called quickie questions. Are you game?
Yesenia Gomez:Okay.
Melissa Shere Beek:I think you might have already answered one of them. Okay. I'm not even realizing about, like, what your morning routine is, but I love it. So I'll have to think about what do you do only for yourself?
Yesenia Gomez:Only for myself?
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Because everything you do has been for everybody else. When I think about what you do for the community and for the kids and for the store and
Yesenia Gomez:I work out every morning.
Melissa Shere Beek:You do? Yeah. Okay. That's good. Alright.
Melissa Shere Beek:What I was gonna ask you what your daily ritual was, but you already said what you do in the morning. Do you have a ritual in the evening?
Yesenia Gomez:Honestly, after To wind down? Not really. No. I take my dog for a walk. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:And then after dinner, that's it.
Melissa Shere Beek:That's it. Collapse. Mhmm. Last book, show, or podcast that you listened to or read?
Yesenia Gomez:Last podcast show or or book you
Melissa Shere Beek:saw? Mhmm.
Yesenia Gomez:My last book was I believe wait. I have to come back on that. Okay.
Melissa Shere Beek:You can come back on that. Is there anything that you've binged recently?
Yesenia Gomez:I really love Naked and Afraid. Oh, really? Oh my god.
Melissa Shere Beek:I would've never guessed that. I was waiting to see what you said. Naked and Afraid.
Yesenia Gomez:I love it. I love it.
Melissa Shere Beek:I think it's so cool.
Yesenia Gomez:I love the way they problem solve, the way they work together.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:I love it.
Melissa Shere Beek:They could be just afraid, not naked, but wow. Naked and afraid. Oh my god. That would be enough. I like that.
Melissa Shere Beek:Do you have a favorite memory?
Yesenia Gomez:My mom.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, this is so nice.
Yesenia Gomez:And today's her birthday.
Melissa Shere Beek:What a good day.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. It's a wonderful day.
Melissa Shere Beek:Day. Yeah. Do you have one specific memory about her that you always think of?
Yesenia Gomez:So when I was going through that very difficult time where I lost my job Yeah. And I was in bed for the majority of the days and the whole day. Yeah. That was stressing her out. But she would come to the bed and she would rub my leg.
Yesenia Gomez:And she'd be like, you're gonna make me cry.
Melissa Shere Beek:Aw, I'm sorry. It's okay. Wait, let me get your tissue.
Yesenia Gomez:She would be like, it's she would rub my leg and she's like, it's gonna be okay. You're gonna see. Have faith. Mom. Have faith it's gonna be
Melissa Shere Beek:okay. Aw. Yeah. That's a good memory though. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry.
Yesenia Gomez:It's okay.
Melissa Shere Beek:Okay. So then this of course, the next the next question I had is, where do you find comfort?
Yesenia Gomez:I find comfort in in the word.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. Yeah. I believe in that. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:100%. Mhmm. Okay. Good. And what's the greatest gift you've received?
Melissa Shere Beek:My kids. Yeah. That's the biggest blessing.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. For sure.
Melissa Shere Beek:Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. Oh, I hope you had a good time. I had a
Yesenia Gomez:great you cry.
Melissa Shere Beek:No. No. No. But it was a good memory.
Yesenia Gomez:Your mom
Melissa Shere Beek:is the best. Yeah.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah.
Melissa Shere Beek:Yeah. That's it. Always have that. Oh, good. Well, stay a little after.
Melissa Shere Beek:We'll talk more about this engagement. Okay. To our listeners, thank you so much. So grateful you're here. Keep listening.
Melissa Shere Beek:Keep learning. Keep laughing. Keep up with Beek on being. Listen to Beek on being wherever you get your podcasts. All episodes are automatically transcribed.
Melissa Shere Beek:DM us to share thoughts, ideas, or nominate a guest. A big shout out and a huge thank you to Steven Chen at Penthouse Studios.
Yesenia Gomez:Woo hoo. Thank you.
Melissa Shere Beek:That was good.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. Good. How did it feel? Good. It felt good.
Yesenia Gomez:Yeah. I got the out of it. Yeah.