From Pain to Power: Healing, Hustling, and Honoring Heritage With Guest Ciji Castro, Chef, Entrepreneur, Mother, and Advocate
In this deeply inspiring episode, host Colleen Silk welcomes Chef Ciji Castro, a culinary entrepreneur, endometriosis advocate, and powerhouse Latina chef. From studying criminal justice to becoming a clean food crusader, Ciji shares how chronic pain, motherhood, and cultural pride shaped her mission and her business.
She opens up about her long battle with endometriosis, the fight to be heard in the medical system, and how that journey led her to create a clean Latin food brand, Domestic Gourmet, built on authenticity, health, and advocacy. This is the story of an incredibly fearless, dedicated, and influential woman who turns adversity into action and beyond.
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In This Episode, We Explore:
The transformative journey of Chef Ciji Castro—from criminal justice major to culinary entrepreneur.
Her personal battle with endometriosis and the importance of self-advocacy in healthcare.
The creation of her clean Latin food line, focusing on organic, health-conscious ingredients.
The role of vulnerability and advocacy in raising awareness for chronic illness.
How she balances motherhood, entrepreneurship, and personal health with resilience and community support.
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Top Takeaways:
- You know your body best—be your own advocate.
- Pain can lead to purpose and powerful change.
- Vulnerability builds connection and strength.
- Clean eating can celebrate culture and health.
- Advocacy raises awareness and inspires others.
- You can be a mom and a business owner—both are valid.
- Your story holds the power to help others.
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Stay Connected with Chef Ciji Castro:
Website: www.domesticgourmet.com
Instagram: @domesticgourmet
Resources: Endometriosis Foundation of America
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About Hospitality Bites:
Hosted by Colleen Silk, Hospitality Bites is a raw, honest, and restorative space for voices in the hospitality industry. From chefs to advocates to media personalities, each episode centers on mental and physical health, lived experiences, and what it really takes to thrive both in the hospitality industry and beyond.
🎙️ New episodes of Hospitality Bites drop every Monday, now proudly under the Walk-In Talk Media umbrella.
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube the following week.
📬 Want to get involved or learn more? Visit HospitalityBites.com
#HospitalityBites #ChefCijiCastro #EndometriosisAwareness #WomenInHospitality #LatinaChef #CleanEating #EntrepreneurLife #ChronicIllnessAdvocate #FemaleFounders #CulinaryEntrepreneur #WalkInTalkShow
Transcript
But I'll never forget, even though I got bad news that day, that although I will never be vindicated as someone who was telling the truth, my voice was heard and I made happen.
Speaker A:And that is the biggest takeaway and one that I have carried with me.
Speaker A:So, you know, with this whole endo thing, I knew my body, right?
Speaker A:So I'd go to these doctor's appointments, I would be dismissed.
Speaker A:Um, I remember pap smears were so painful that I would nearly pass out.
Speaker A:You have a husband, you're trying for a baby.
Speaker B:And let me tell you, trying for.
Speaker A:That baby really hurt too, you know?
Speaker A:And that's when I felt like, okay, I just need to be louder.
Speaker A:I just need to be louder.
Speaker A:We did find two endometriosis centers that would see me.
Speaker A:And they saved my life.
Speaker A:They gave me my quality of life.
Speaker B:Foreign welcome back to Hospitality Bites.
Speaker B:I am your self proclaimed hospitality hustler, mompreneur and founder of hospitality media, Colleen Silk.
Speaker B:If you're new to the show, I take pride in highlighting individuals from all aspects of the industry with the goal of humanizing it.
Speaker B:My guests have included restaurateurs, bartenders, chef, cookbook authors, consultants and coaches, and mental health advocates.
Speaker B:And today's guest is someone I had the pleasure of meeting while recording episode with my friends at walk and talk show, Carl Viadini.
Speaker B:Today's guest is a seasoned chef.
Speaker B:She is a mother and entrepreneur and founder of all things domestic, gourmet chef CG Castro.
Speaker B:Chef cg thank you for coming on my show.
Speaker B:Welcome.
Speaker B:How are you?
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker A:Thank you for having me.
Speaker B:I appreciate you taking time out of your busy day.
Speaker B:As working moms, our days are very structured and also chaotic at the same time.
Speaker B:So carving an hour out means the world to me.
Speaker B:So thank you.
Speaker A:You're welcome.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker B:And since we only have a little bit of time to get all the things covered, let's jump right into it.
Speaker B:So let's start with what's your background in hospitality and how did you yourself in this culinary space?
Speaker A:So I grew up around food.
Speaker A:My grandmother, you know, catered out of her kitchen.
Speaker A:My grandfather had a hot dog truck and she would also in Chicago, they put four kids through private school with a hot dog truck.
Speaker A:And then, you know, on Thursdays, you know, she would load it up with Cuban sandwiches and subs.
Speaker A:And so like, I grew up around food.
Speaker A:My uncle owned a hot dog store.
Speaker A:So like a, you know, Vienna.
Speaker B:How do I not know this?
Speaker B:Hot dogs are my favorite thing on the planet.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love a good hot dog.
Speaker B:Love a good chi dog.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so Chicago dogs are the best.
Speaker A:Vienna's the best.
Speaker A:Fight me on that.
Speaker A:I've had them all.
Speaker A:But anyway, so I just grew up around food.
Speaker A:And my mother was an incredible cook.
Speaker A:She's still an incredible cook and a host.
Speaker A:Like, she threw, like, amazing dinner parties.
Speaker A:And so even though she didn't let me in the kitchen, she's OCD clean.
Speaker A:I got to watch from the sidelines.
Speaker A:And, you know, it's funny because I remember being in college and I was minoring in criminal justice, actually majoring in criminal justice, minoring in counterterrorism.
Speaker A:And so I was going to be a special agent for the FBI, like my mentor.
Speaker A:And I told her, I'm like, I'm never going to be like, you like, this looks miserable.
Speaker A:You just cook all day.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And then, you know, I went through school and then I met my husband, and it was like my life flashed before my eyes and I was like, holy, I'm gonna have his man's babies.
Speaker A:I'm gonna get married.
Speaker A:Like, what am I gonna do with my life?
Speaker A:It's, you know, everything that I had worked so hard for was no longer gonna be what I wanted.
Speaker A:You know, I was a certified hostage negotiator at the time as well, and.
Speaker A:And it was just like I was at a crossroads.
Speaker A:So I. I got into this wife life and I love it.
Speaker A:So, you know, came full time mom.
Speaker A:And then, you know, during the pandemic, everything stopped.
Speaker A:And it really was the first time that I had the opportunity to dive into my passion of cooking and created an Instagram channel, created a website.
Speaker A:And then two years ago, I got my first opportunity and I started doing cooking segments regularly on tv.
Speaker A:Started in Spanish tv, moved to mainstream American tv.
Speaker A:And then about a year ago, I started my cpg.
Speaker B:First of all, my mind is blown that you went to school for criminal justice and negotiations, because I grew up in the D.C. area, so that's a lot of things that I know about work in that space, but it's a very intense, like, labor intensive.
Speaker B:When it comes to your mind and physical health of balancing this world outside of your home, that's very difficult.
Speaker B:I know friends that are in that and it's really hard.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So to jump from that, to jump into this industry is incredible.
Speaker B:I commend you on doing that because, you know, now you're in full blown motherhood running a business, but you also have this incredible background in something that it's hard people to fathom.
Speaker B:Like, I.
Speaker A:Can you imagine?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, all those tools help in business.
Speaker A:I, you know, was trained.
Speaker A:Joe Navarro was my mentor in college, and he is an expert in nonverbal communication and body language.
Speaker A:You know, and everything that I learned, I applied to business deals to.
Speaker A:To work, you know, so I kind of feel like no matter where you come from, there's all those tools and lessons that you can take with you to.
Speaker A:To grow.
Speaker A:But also, you know, I struggle with ptsd.
Speaker A:I had a really rough childhood, so I knew for me, I knew that I would not be capable of juggling both that kind of a work life and my family life, because at the time it was hard enough keeping myself alive and in a.
Speaker A:In a good men.
Speaker A:So I've had to do a lot of work.
Speaker A:I mean, I've been in and out of therapy now since.
Speaker A:Since I was 8.
Speaker A:And I'm gonna be 41.
Speaker A:So, you know, we're talking a lifetime of dedication to living the dream and that, you know, that nobody realizes how much hard work goes into that.
Speaker A:But a lot of freaking hard work has gone into being happy and healthy.
Speaker A:And every day, you know, some days are a struggle.
Speaker A:You know, every day you wake up and you don't know, is today going to be the struggle?
Speaker A:Because now I'm in perimen, and that threw a wrench in my happiness and my mental health.
Speaker A:So here we are.
Speaker B:I mean, and you're also still technically in the postpartum stage.
Speaker B:I believe it's, what, up to two years?
Speaker B:If not.
Speaker A:I'm past that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I've got a four and a half year old.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So you just.
Speaker B:You literally just made it on the other side.
Speaker B:So you're so.
Speaker B:For those that are confused about perimenopause is.
Speaker B:It's the fun thing that no one talks about between having reproductive health into non reproductive health.
Speaker B:It's this weird in between that is finally coming to the forefront.
Speaker B:And working in our industry is very difficult because you're balancing this mental change, this physical change, as well as trying to be, like you said, like, okay for the day to run your businesses and run.
Speaker B:Running your home life.
Speaker B:How has that been for you?
Speaker B:Trying to navigate what sounds to be an incredible business that you're building and you're just beginning, like you're gonna.
Speaker B:I believe first when you have all these wonderful things we're gonna talk about coming out.
Speaker B:But how have you navigated all of those things?
Speaker A:You know, I have to say that my husband is my best friend and also my knight in shining armor.
Speaker A:Like I always say, he's the best thing I found online because, you know, I found him online Almost.
Speaker A:Almost 20 years ago.
Speaker A:But, you know, with everything that we have gone through, he has.
Speaker A:He's very in tune with me because it's not just mental health and now perimenopause.
Speaker A:You know, I've battled stage four endometriosis my whole life, but I didn't know that.
Speaker A:And so, you know, we had.
Speaker A:We have a very long history of hospitalizations where, you know, I would try to advocate for myself and people wouldn't listen to me.
Speaker A:When, you see, first of all, I just got life insurance a couple years ago, and there was, like, 4,000 pages of medical records.
Speaker A:So when you're talking about Baker acted as a teenager, I mean, I have got the gambit in medical history.
Speaker A:But through that time, you know, like, his.
Speaker A:No one.
Speaker A:I mean, this man loves me like I've never been loved before.
Speaker A:And so he's really in tune where, you know, sometimes, you know, perimenopause, you know, you'll.
Speaker A:You'll be raging or you won't have any energy or, you know, and for me, it's very triggering because it's like, oh, my gosh, is this endo fatigue?
Speaker A:Is my endometriosis back or is this rage?
Speaker A:My ptsd?
Speaker A:Am I triggered?
Speaker A:Am I.
Speaker A:You know, and it's him that, you know, it's almost like he keeps tabs, and he's like, you know, it's your hormones, I think.
Speaker A:You know, like, he keeps me grounded from freaking out.
Speaker A:And we just.
Speaker A:I know him like he knows me, and together we figure it out.
Speaker A:But I don't do it by myself.
Speaker A:There's no way.
Speaker A:So the benefit of being a founder of my own business or being, you know, here with the kids is now I've been able to set myself up to where I'm preloaded in case I do need to take a sick day, in case there is a day where I can't get out of bed or, you know, whatever the case may be.
Speaker A:I have enough product, I've got enough content, you know, where I can go dark if I need to.
Speaker B:I commend your husband for being so vulnerable to accept what it is that your body is going through because it's hard to explain to people.
Speaker B:And I'll let you go in more about your endometriosis of what that feels like.
Speaker B:I have several friends and colleagues that it took years to be diagnosed, and while they're working on the floor in, like, a restaurant space, you're called weak or, like, Suck it up or like take a bite.
Speaker B:All, you know, like these are things that are thrown in your face and it's hard to express that to your significant others of like, this is how bad I feel.
Speaker B:It can be emotional, it's physical, it's back breaking.
Speaker B:Like that's a. I've had friends explain as back breaking.
Speaker B:I went through my own struggles of trying to find out what I had, you know, in my early reproductive years and being very dismissed.
Speaker B:It's just like deal with it.
Speaker B:And to be so strong in your own skin now and to have you advocating for those that may not feel that way and have a partner that is by your side and has learned is incredible.
Speaker B:And like that that is my dream and goal of this business that I'm building with my husband is like rooting me on from the sidelines is I want to give everybody the opportunity to share their story.
Speaker B:So for those that are at home suffering in silence potentially, or they're in the industry and they don't see themselves, they can see themselves now in someone like you.
Speaker B:So I commend you both and your partnership because that's incredible.
Speaker B:And I think what you said about having content prepared and your business set up so you can take those dark days is huge.
Speaker B:It's okay to step away.
Speaker B:I mean, especially also with three children.
Speaker B:My God.
Speaker B:I mean, you're like never off, so.
Speaker A:No, I'm not.
Speaker A:And especially this summer.
Speaker A:I've had, had no childcare.
Speaker A:This summer has been the most challenging for sure for my.
Speaker B:Speaking of your business, what are you building?
Speaker B:What is it that you are offering to the world outside of like your incredible voice and all of your lovely content?
Speaker B:Because it's so uplifting.
Speaker B:What, what else are you working on?
Speaker A:Right now I am working on a line of clean Latin foods.
Speaker A:So this actually started last about a year and a half ago.
Speaker A:It was just over this conversation with my kids on why I wouldn't buy like 150 count of fruit roll ups from Costco.
Speaker A:You know, and back then we didn't really, we knew that artificial dyes were bad for us.
Speaker A:But it's not like now where now you hear it in the headlines and.
Speaker B:Everybody'S like, oh no.
Speaker A:So at the time I'm like, well, you know, because red dye number 40.
Speaker B:Is not good for you.
Speaker A:And then kids, why.
Speaker A:But why?
Speaker A:So now we're on a Google search, right?
Speaker A:And in that, in our research we found that it causes bladder cancer.
Speaker A:And it just so happens that my grandmother had bladder cancer in her 80s and we couldn't figure out how that happened or why, because we don't have a family history of it, although we do now.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So she had bladder and breast, which is very rare to get it, like 83.
Speaker A:So once I saw that, like, even though we still don't know if that was the correlation, the fact that I see that there is one, I came home and I threw out all of my products.
Speaker A:And I remember very vividly that day I was going to make arro con sacha, which is a super quick one pot meal where you make yellow rice with Vienna sausages all together, one pot.
Speaker A:Dinner's done in 20 minutes.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But it, it needs this, this seasoning.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And that seasoning is supposed to be annatto, but because that's what gives, you know, food that beautiful golden color.
Speaker A:But annatto was the last ingredient behind red dye number 40 and yellow number 6.
Speaker A:So that night I'm like, okay, I'm gonna experiment.
Speaker A:I'll figure this out on my own.
Speaker A:And our rice was like neon with too much turmeric.
Speaker A:And it took a work in progress, but from that moment, I was very careful and I realized that all of our ingredients, all of our staple products that I use at least five times a week were not what we were intending on buying.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:There's all these fillers.
Speaker A:And so one of the things that I started with is an ancestral product, and it's annatto oil.
Speaker A:And annatto oil is something that is available now, not organic.
Speaker A:I'm the first one to bring organic to the market.
Speaker A:But again, no subpar, you know, subpar ingredients.
Speaker A:And it's one of those things that unless you made it, you didn't have it.
Speaker A:And it is necessary for the holidays.
Speaker A:Like all of the, the base dishes need it.
Speaker A:So I figured, you know what, there's a hole here.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:There's a market for me to fill, and that's where I'm going to start.
Speaker A:And so that's what I started with.
Speaker A:And it has been very well received.
Speaker A:And then next I'm redoing those spices.
Speaker A:It took about a year of recipe and development, but I finally got it down.
Speaker A:My packaging is in mass production.
Speaker A:And actually I just got an email yesterday that hopefully it's been deleted.
Speaker A:Again, it was supposed to be done between the 7th and the 11th, and now it's the 20th, of course.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:Then it'll take like four to six weeks to get to me.
Speaker A:So I'm really hoping that by the end of August I have my spices and I'm Making an all purpose seasoning called adobo.
Speaker A:And you can use it like you would any other lawry's or regular adobo that you find at the store.
Speaker A:And then also sazon.
Speaker A:Now sazon is like a red from the annatto.
Speaker A:You put it on your pork or your rice or people use it for everything, eggs.
Speaker A:Now you.
Speaker A:My concern with coming out with spices was everybody's coming out with spices.
Speaker A:You know, everyone there has been, you know, adobo and sasson done recently that are clean, organic, but they're not made from scratch.
Speaker A:And so that's where I was like, okay, this is where I can, you know, stay true to my love of freshness and made from scratch, you know, using clean ingredients while also supporting our nation's farmers, which is another passion project of mine, and then come out with something that is just stands apart while still being competitively priced.
Speaker A:That was another concern of mine.
Speaker A:And it turns out, you know, obviously it'll take more time, but not much more time, you know, especially if I'm, you know, if I've, if I'm drying onions and garlic in the ovens, you know, while I'm making oil, I'm still in the kitchen.
Speaker A:Kind of feel like that part will come out in the wash.
Speaker A:But it is incredible.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:I think just going off what you said is that you have learned so much about what goes into your body and the health that you've worked on to be more knowledgeable about what goes into your body as just like a woman.
Speaker B:And then now as a parent, we do take things a lot more seriously.
Speaker B:Like I, my mom had always been a red dye person.
Speaker B:She teaches children with special needs and when she went back to school to learn about it, a lot of her kids that were ADD ADHD red dye number five, horrific for them because that kept them going, keeps them busy, keeps them unfocused.
Speaker B:She's always kind of put that in my mind.
Speaker B:But I didn't take it seriously until I became a mother.
Speaker B:And that's when I started learning about my own physical health.
Speaker B:That you are tying marrying the two together.
Speaker B:You're not just doing this for yourself, you're doing this for other people and their families and giving them a product that is good for them.
Speaker B:You've done the research, you've done the work for everybody.
Speaker B:You've already done the work.
Speaker B:Instead of, like you said, the Google of what can is safe for my kids, what's not safe for my family, that is a huge offering to people that you're A mother that cares.
Speaker B:But you also want to provide a really great product.
Speaker A:Yeah, I do.
Speaker A:I want it to be good enough to sell itself.
Speaker A:Especially, you know, being a bootstrapped small startup.
Speaker A:I feel like that is imperative when, you know, it's not like I have a huge marketing team, you know, that's going to blast this everywhere.
Speaker A:It's going to, you know, it's growing organically through consumers, you know, which isn't necessarily ideal, but it is how I am starting at this point.
Speaker A:But I've got a lot of fun things coming this last quarter in the fall, and I'm hoping that's when Domestic Gourmet will.
Speaker A:Will seriously pop off.
Speaker B:I love the name, too.
Speaker B:I think it's so perfect for.
Speaker B:For someone like you.
Speaker B:Like, it's domestically made by a person, but it's not just like a throwaway item.
Speaker B:It's something that you want to keep in your cupboard and your personality.
Speaker B:So those that don't necessarily know.
Speaker B:We met on a podcast through Carl, and we were just.
Speaker B:We were guests.
Speaker B:Carl was the host, but we were able to have, like, this side conversation that was so beautiful because I understood where she was coming from.
Speaker B:We have a very similar stories when it comes to understanding our health, understanding this industry, navigating it as a mother.
Speaker B:And I was like, man, thank goodness I was on this show because I'm so happy I got to meet you and learn about you and beyond what you see on Instagram.
Speaker B:And it.
Speaker B:There's so much more that goes into everything that you do and all that you advocate for and advocating for the endometriosis society that you're taking your own story and you're now helping others.
Speaker B:Please share a little bit more about that.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I've battled EDNO since I was nine years old.
Speaker A:We just didn't know that every month I would miss school from severe abdominal cramping, vomiting.
Speaker A:And then in high school, I started fainting regularly because the pain was so bad.
Speaker A:So my family, you know, Yaya Sister Club, the Sisterhood, the Yaya Sisters came out.
Speaker A:So we created our own little club with my mom, my cousins, and whatnot.
Speaker A:And I was Princess Fainting Goat because everybody thought it was funny and also dramatic that I was.
Speaker A:So when you go and you talk about, you know, she's just being dramatic.
Speaker A:I was the squeaky wheel, okay?
Speaker A:I. I am an advocate because I was my very first advocate.
Speaker A:I was a child that grew up in a culture where you keep the secrets in the house.
Speaker A:And if your life isn't Perfect.
Speaker A:You, You, You.
Speaker A:You pretend that it is.
Speaker A:Whereas I was.
Speaker A:I remember very vividly being, like, nine years old and like, this is wrong.
Speaker A:I'm not going to keep this to myself.
Speaker A:And, you know, and I would go to any adult who would listen.
Speaker A:And in high school, I'll never forget, this is a very powerful moment that I want everyone that is listening to hear.
Speaker A:It was in high school, and I was taking a law class and the kids were writing.
Speaker A:The assignment was to write to the governor for soda machines.
Speaker A:I took that opportunity to write to the governor about an ongoing criminal case that I was.
Speaker A:I don't want to say victim.
Speaker A:I hate that word.
Speaker A:But anyway, I was involved with.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And he sent I'll never.
Speaker A:It was the one and only time I ever got called to the principal's office.
Speaker A:There were four state representatives and attorneys there with my entire case file.
Speaker A:And they went through the holes and the investigation and everything.
Speaker A:And why, you know, it wasn't my desired outcome.
Speaker A:However, you know, a criminal.
Speaker A:So criminal.
Speaker A:So, you know, they were in prison anyway for harming someone else.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Because that's what happens.
Speaker A:But I'll never forget, even though I got bad news that day, that although I will never be vindicated as someone who was telling the truth, I'll always be like, she was lying or this or that.
Speaker A:My voice was heard and I made happen.
Speaker A:And that is the biggest takeaway and one that I have carried with me.
Speaker A:So I feel like, you know, I didn't have anyone growing up to fight for me or, you know, my mom.
Speaker A:My mom fought for me in the way that she knew how.
Speaker A:But, you know, but I. I was louder.
Speaker A:I've always been louder.
Speaker A:So, you know, with this whole endo thing, I knew my body, right?
Speaker A:So I'd go to these doctor's appointments.
Speaker A:I would be dismissed.
Speaker A:I remember pap smears were so painful that I would nearly pass out.
Speaker A:And they would be like, you have a husband, you're trying for a baby.
Speaker A:Like, it's just a little.
Speaker A:I forget what it's called.
Speaker A:But, no, it fricking hurts.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And let me tell you, trying for that baby really hurt, too, you know, so.
Speaker A:But it was a whole bunch of.
Speaker A:And women are the worst at dismissing each other.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And that's when I felt like, okay, I just need to be louder.
Speaker A:I just need to be louder.
Speaker A:Until a few years ago, I remember I know my body at this point, I'm so in tune with my body.
Speaker A:Even though, like, I might get triggered and be like, oh, is it this Is it this?
Speaker A:I know when something's wrong.
Speaker A:And so I was having a lot of pain.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:I was on my period now for over six months.
Speaker A:And I went.
Speaker A:And they did a saline hysterectogram where they put a catheter in through your uterus.
Speaker A:Through your cervix.
Speaker A:Sorry, through your cervix, into your uterus.
Speaker A:They blow it up with saline.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All of this, by the way, is with no pain medication, right?
Speaker A:So they go through your cervix, they fill it up with saline so that they can look.
Speaker A:They were looking for fibroids, polyps, cysts, it's whatever.
Speaker A:After that, I start hemorrhaging.
Speaker A:I go to the er.
Speaker A:I had been hemorrhaging through a Super Max pad and tampon, overnight pads and a Supermax tampon.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Every hour.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I was losing a lot of blood, and I go.
Speaker A:And my hemoglobin was like.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:I don't know, seven, eight.
Speaker A:They're like, well, you can go down to a four before you need a blood transfusion.
Speaker A:And they sent me home.
Speaker A:Come home, lose consciousness.
Speaker A:The nanny calls for an ambulance.
Speaker A:I go in and I tell them I was just, like, fainting, right?
Speaker A:In and out.
Speaker A:I tell them I just had a gynecological procedure.
Speaker A:I'm a stage four endo patient.
Speaker A:I'm ready for that hysterectomy, right?
Speaker A:I've had three kids, seven miscarriages.
Speaker A:My body was done.
Speaker A:I knew I was done and ready for that hysterectomy.
Speaker A:And also, the doctor that I had gone to for this procedure did rounds at this hospital, does perform surgery.
Speaker A:So I went with her, hoping that if everything went south and those results came back that I needed a hysterectomy, she would be the one to do it.
Speaker A:She never showed up.
Speaker A:And they admitted me as GI with possible irritable bowel syndrome.
Speaker A:Forget the fact that I'm still hemorrhaging from a gynecological procedure.
Speaker A:And I have a long medical history of my battle with stage four endometriosis.
Speaker A:So their course of action was just to keep me sedated under morphine because I was in so much pain.
Speaker A:My husband was out of town for work.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:By the time I got to the hospital via ambulance, he was already at the airport.
Speaker A:And by the time I woke up the following morning, he made his way back to me.
Speaker A:He was there when I woke up like that.
Speaker A:That's how much that man loves me.
Speaker A:And so he started calling all over the country for an endometriosis specialist.
Speaker A:Most of them only deal with women fighting for fertility, whereas I passed that.
Speaker A:So we did find two endometriosis centers that would see me.
Speaker A:And I ended up going with Dr. Setchkin and Dr. Chu in New York.
Speaker A:And they saved my life.
Speaker A:They gave me my quality of life.
Speaker A:It's the first time that I wake up pain free.
Speaker A:I mean, I still have my days now because, you know, I'm working through perimenopause.
Speaker A:I'm back on hormones.
Speaker A:Hormones make endo grow and exacerbate the situation.
Speaker A:So it's a cluster again, but manageable.
Speaker A:And, you know, and it's just something else.
Speaker A:There's always something else.
Speaker A:But what I'll say is, after that, Dr. Sechkin was like, you know, hearing my story and that I have such a long history.
Speaker A:It was him who was like, you should really come to patient day and talk on your experience.
Speaker A:And it was the first time that I had ever met anyone with endometriosis.
Speaker A:And it was the first time that my husband had met another husband that had sat on the sidelines while, you know, fearing that their wife was going to die.
Speaker A:So, you know, that was really powerful.
Speaker A:And that was the moment that I was like, come hell or high water, if I have a platform, which I already did, as the domestic gourmet, I'm going to use this.
Speaker A:Even though it's food and, you know, you were talking gynecological and periods and whatnot doesn't necessarily combine.
Speaker A:I don't give a shit.
Speaker A:More than 1 in 10 deal with endometriosis.
Speaker A:And we say more than 1 in 10 because it is often misdiagnosed.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Women are constantly dismissed, and it takes on average 10 years to get a diagnosis.
Speaker A:For me, it took 20 years to get a diagnosis and 10 years to get proper treatment.
Speaker A:I had had multiple surgeries before that last surgery.
Speaker A:So that's.
Speaker A:That's my.
Speaker A:Why.
Speaker A:It's because someone has to.
Speaker B:When you were talking about 1.
Speaker B:Being advocate for yourself means a little.
Speaker B:It gets you emotional because, you know, as a mom, I'm doing all of this with Hospitality Bites, my media company, to share everyone's stories, because I don't want my kids to have to advocate so hard for themselves.
Speaker B:You know, if you can hear mine in the background, you know, that's my littlest one.
Speaker B:And his story to get here is truly a miracle.
Speaker B:And I was on the dark side with him postpartum for a very long time.
Speaker B:It took me to come out of that, and Advocate for others is my why.
Speaker B:And I just.
Speaker B:I'm so proud of you for being so loud and, like, taking up space.
Speaker B:Because there's nothing wrong with combining your love for the culinary space and love for hospitality with your story.
Speaker B:Because there's so many women in our industry, 52% make up the hospitality sector, but only 17 to 18% sit in leadership roles.
Speaker B:So if you have this juxtaposition of so many women in the industry, but there's only a select few that are in the leadership, people aren't talking about it because they're going to be.
Speaker B:They're going to feel silence or they're going to feel uncomfortable.
Speaker B:And it shouldn't be uncomfortable because these are everyday things.
Speaker B:And if you're working on the line or you're at the front of the host stand or you're.
Speaker B:You're the, you know, greeter at whatever sector of the industry you're in and you're feeling this pain, you're not crazy.
Speaker B:It is not in your head, is very real.
Speaker B:There are people like CG and myself that are talking about, hey, this stuff happens every day.
Speaker B:And we're here to be your voice, and we're here to help you get the resource or help facilitate the conversation, to get you to the next step, should you need it.
Speaker B:There are resources for you there.
Speaker B:There are real people that do care.
Speaker B:But it's so hard to cut through all that noise of also, like, because of Google, it tells you everything under the sun of what it could be and you're not heard.
Speaker B:Makes me very emotional, listening to your story and hearing, like, you know, your husband getting to meet someone that he.
Speaker B:He thought he was gonna lose his wife.
Speaker B:Because my husband thought he was gonna lose me after our son.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like you.
Speaker B:I hemorrhaged and no one talked about it.
Speaker B:It was just, hey, go back.
Speaker B:Here's your baby.
Speaker B:You know, good luck.
Speaker B:And I was also going through waiting to have breast cancer surgery six weeks after he was born.
Speaker B:And then I've had three surgeries since then, and he's only a year old.
Speaker B:You know, the things that we go through as women and we put on this face of we love being a mom.
Speaker B:It's also really, really hard.
Speaker B:And there's a lot of things that are okay to talk about.
Speaker B:Please don't feel shame.
Speaker B:I think that's the biggest takeaway is don't feel shame for being a woman.
Speaker B:It's the greatest gift to be a mother, but it's also really freaking hard.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I love everything that you Speak about it.
Speaker B:Truly makes my heart race hearing your story, because I understand it.
Speaker B:I can feel the pain.
Speaker B:It's just such a privilege to hear you speak.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:I want you to know that I have so many thoughts, but I can feel my heart racing.
Speaker B:I don't want to get choked up again because it just.
Speaker B:It sucks that it takes people like you to go through what you've been through, to start being a voice, act and get this change going.
Speaker B:So, man, hats off to you.
Speaker B:I just any admit it, I'm getting like, super choked up.
Speaker A:I mean, my God, thank you.
Speaker A:You know, and it's, It's.
Speaker A:It's everything you said.
Speaker A:I'm raising three girls after what I've been through in my life.
Speaker A:It's terrifying.
Speaker A:No, And I, you know, they're my why.
Speaker A:They're why we have no secrets in this house.
Speaker A:We have a completely open family.
Speaker A:And, you know, that's not easy.
Speaker A:It's easy to come and say, you know, share all the lessons I learned and the lessons that I want you to take, you know, from this conversation.
Speaker A:Because it is conversations like this that I listen to.
Speaker A:And I'm like, I'm gonna be brave too.
Speaker A:Like, I'll never forget the first time I saw a woman going through an endo flare up and sharing a video live as she was crying.
Speaker A:And it broke me.
Speaker A:It broke me because I had never seen anyone feel what I feel.
Speaker A:But I realized in that moment, I gotta be vulnerable too.
Speaker A:I gotta share my story too.
Speaker A:And it's exactly what you said.
Speaker A:You know, Instagram is perfection.
Speaker A:It's beautiful.
Speaker A:Everything is amazing, right?
Speaker A:And I do that very well.
Speaker A:I have for years, and I have a global audience as a result.
Speaker A:But the fact of the matter is, is that's not real life.
Speaker A:That's editorial.
Speaker A:You know, I want to go online and I want to see beautiful food, I want to see beautiful clothes.
Speaker A:I want to see beautiful makeup and hair and traveling.
Speaker A:That's what I want to see.
Speaker A:To escape the days that I'm just hating life, right?
Speaker A:Because there are those days too.
Speaker A:And so that's what I also do, you know, but that's not reality.
Speaker A:The reality is that, you know, as women, you know, we are beautiful, right?
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We get ourselves all gussied up and we go out there, but we go through so much, and we go through it quietly, you know, because we do judge each other too.
Speaker A:Like my husband, I.
Speaker A:When I go out, I never dress up.
Speaker A:When I'm meeting, like a client or something, I dress up for Women more than I dress up for my husband.
Speaker A:Like, do you know what I'm talking about?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Like, it's just.
Speaker A:It's just this thing.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But, you know, a lot.
Speaker A:There's a lot that's unsaid, and it's because, you know, you can't.
Speaker A:I think we're past it, which I'm really happy about.
Speaker A:That you can be like, you know what?
Speaker A:Life isn't always perfect.
Speaker A:You know what?
Speaker A:You know, life sucks sometimes.
Speaker A:Motherhood sucks sometimes.
Speaker A:But also, it's amazing, you know, and it's okay to feel both, and it's normal, and it is women.
Speaker A:And I think that that's why you and I bonded immediately, is because we're doing the same work.
Speaker A:We have the same passion.
Speaker A:It's that we are hustling.
Speaker A:We are killing it.
Speaker A:But sometimes it also feels like it's killing us.
Speaker A:But we're still fighting.
Speaker A:But we still fight, you know, and we fight for our kids and we fight for other women.
Speaker A:And I think that that's what I love about you is that was, like, what instantly is that you are a girl's girl.
Speaker A:You are there for whoever needs help.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And again, that.
Speaker A:That is kind of a detriment to us where we will pour for an empty cup to go save someone else, you know, But I.
Speaker A:You know, for me, I would just make yourself the priority, continue to do that, because what you are creating in this platform is going to be a lifeline to so many women.
Speaker B:I really appreciate that.
Speaker B:And we have had the pleasure of being able to chat now more than once.
Speaker B:And one thing that we have also acknowledged is that there are so many men in our industry and in our lives that really want to help us be us, make that change, because they want to see the people in their lives succeed.
Speaker B:They want to see people that they employ succeed.
Speaker B:They just don't know how to.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker A:Because it's.
Speaker B:They don't live it every day.
Speaker B:And that has been huge for me is to see big, burly guys like Carl.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, be like, oh, my gosh, I know.
Speaker A:He's such a teddy bear.
Speaker A:You would never know.
Speaker B:And I think that's what's so beautiful about feeling conf.
Speaker B:I feel so confident in myself now, and I have let go of the shame or the stigma that goes along with being emotional and being empathetic and also cursing like a sailor some days because I'm like, I'm going to lose my darn mind.
Speaker B:But at the end of it, I feel very centered of this is my purpose.
Speaker B:I went through all of these things to help others.
Speaker B:And I love hospitality so freaking much because I love to give experiences.
Speaker B:I know you love to give it.
Speaker B:I mean, it's very apparent.
Speaker B:And everything that you do is you are pouring your love onto a plate.
Speaker B:Whether it's a season, whether it's a conversation, everything you're doing is coming from this deep passion of giving to others.
Speaker B:But it really is so crucial that we give to ourselves too.
Speaker B:So I'm so glad that you said that.
Speaker B:I have Learned that taking 5 to 10 minutes a day for myself and saying my intentions and saying my prayers or saying what I'm grateful for has changed my life.
Speaker B:And it's this little sliver of, like, me time that I have to give myself every day.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker A:When you say your intentions, do you say them out loud?
Speaker B:I say em out loud.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Do you know that by doing that, you reprogram your subconscious mind?
Speaker B:The only reason I know that is my.
Speaker B:A guest I record an episode with last night, he's a wellness coach.
Speaker B:And we've talked about this so deeply of.
Speaker B:It's kind of.
Speaker B:It's similar to like grounding, physically grounding yourself.
Speaker B:Like there's a real thing about feet to the ground.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Manifesting things, saying it out loud.
Speaker B:You're this much closer to it coming to reality.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I use grounding a lot.
Speaker A:I used to have severe panic attacks that what I would also faint from.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:But I used that as almost like a meditation.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:When you start touching something and you're focusing on, okay, this, this box, you know, is soft or it's, you know, rough or whatever.
Speaker A:And so that's another way of grounding and kind of bringing your mind back to the present when you are having those irrational panics.
Speaker A:But when I was, I don't know, I think I was like 11 years old, my parents had a book called the power of your subconscious mind.
Speaker A:I've always been a book worm.
Speaker A:Always.
Speaker A:And I read it and I learned that you can reprogram your subconscious mind by saying things.
Speaker A:You know, it's not just thinking them, you have to say them, because when your ears hear them, it registers in a different part of your brain, which is that subconscious mind.
Speaker A:So children who are grown up and constantly, you know, maybe verbally abused and then grow up believing that of themselves, they can change that.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I know that I did that by.
Speaker A:In college is where I really struggled with my mental health.
Speaker A:And, you know, I had had some nervous breakdowns, was hospitalized And I started doing some really intensive work and the affirmations and about, you know, releasing the shame, you know, for me, you know, sometimes women who are victimized carry that shame.
Speaker A:Of that my shame was of telling people.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because that's the shame that I was felt from my family is that it was shameful to.
Speaker A:To.
Speaker A:To talk about it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Which is really conundrum because, you know, my family came from Cuba, but I grew up here in America.
Speaker A:I am.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker A:My biological father's Puerto Rican, but he's out of the picture.
Speaker A:So I grew up in this very strict Cuban household.
Speaker A:My mother was.
Speaker A:She's a Forks.
Speaker A:I love her.
Speaker A:She's my best friend.
Speaker A:I love her now.
Speaker A:But it was tough growing up.
Speaker A:Shedding that shame was very hard.
Speaker A:And the affirmations that I had in post its everywhere was like, I am powerful.
Speaker A:Maybe I put it on a light switch or, you know, in my.
Speaker A:On my sink whenever I would turn on my water.
Speaker A:Be like, you know, I don't need to feel shame or shed the shame or I knew I had one with shame, but I would say that.
Speaker A:And that was the hardest one to shed was the shame.
Speaker B:I believe it's just super instilled in us.
Speaker B:Is this weird underlying.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's a woman thing or just a human thing, but the word shame in itself is like, hard to say out loud.
Speaker B:Like, I feel shame for something I have worked so hard on letting go all the things I judged myself for.
Speaker B:Like, everybody makes mistakes.
Speaker B:And I talk about this a lot in this industry is everybody makes a mistake.
Speaker B:If you meet a perfect person, let me know.
Speaker B:Send them my way.
Speaker B:Cause I'm sure that they have done something in their life that they just keep deep down that they are embarrassed about or that they're shameful for.
Speaker B:And when people dine in restaurants, I think that's so important to remember that these are people that you are engaging with.
Speaker B:And they too might have a bad day, but they're doing their best to give you a beautiful experience.
Speaker B:And I know that as a server, I used to hold in some guilt when I would wait on tables.
Speaker B:And it would affect my ability to engage with a customer.
Speaker B:And I just had to start letting it go of I made a mistake yesterday.
Speaker B:I make a mistake every day.
Speaker B:I talk about.
Speaker B:Leah clocks me on it constantly.
Speaker B:Mom, did you know that you.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Thank you, child, for telling me that.
Speaker B:Yeah, but they're so beautiful that they have this ability to check me.
Speaker B:It's made me a better mom.
Speaker B:It's made me a better leader.
Speaker B:I feel like I've become a better business person of acknowledging the mistakes and not trying to pretend like this has been easy for me.
Speaker B:None of this has been easy.
Speaker B:This has been such a struggle.
Speaker B:But I feel so much joy in everything that I do.
Speaker B:At the end of the day, when it comes to hospitality bites, it's.
Speaker B:It's curious.
Speaker B:Cause I did not feel this a year ago.
Speaker B:I was in such a depressive state.
Speaker B:And being able to say that out loud now is.
Speaker B:I'm proud of myself.
Speaker B:I don't feel shame for being depressed.
Speaker B:It was a really tough year.
Speaker B:I went through some awful things.
Speaker B:Things that I didn't tell anybody.
Speaker B:And I've.
Speaker B:I've just had to let it go because I just want to be present for everybody.
Speaker B:I want to be present for the things that are happening today, not in the future.
Speaker B:And I just.
Speaker B:Yeah, I feel like we have very similar thoughts on life.
Speaker B:I was so grateful that Carl had you on.
Speaker B:It was so.
Speaker B:Like we said, it was very serendipitous, and it really was the universe saying, hey, you two should meet.
Speaker B:You live in two different parts of the country, but let's bring you together.
Speaker B:Uh, I am so grateful that you have shared your story with me.
Speaker B:You shared your businesses and what's to come.
Speaker B:People should be super stoked about that.
Speaker B:I'm very excited for you.
Speaker B:I'm also excited that she's agreed to join me on my documentary for Unhospitable, which.
Speaker B:And sharing more of her story and how we can make positive change and learning more about the organizations she's involved in.
Speaker B:Truly, this has just been.
Speaker B:It's my privilege to have you here.
Speaker B:And I. I also want to dive in another conversation about your family's hot dog business.
Speaker B:Because when I say I love hot dogs, you have no idea.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker B:I had a hot dog card at my wedding.
Speaker A:My gosh.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That is how much I love hot dogs.
Speaker B:So I will be pressuring you to come out with some sort of hot dog line.
Speaker A:Buns.
Speaker A:I don't know if I can be Vienna, though.
Speaker A:They're the best.
Speaker B:They are the best.
Speaker B:We literally had Vienna hot dog.
Speaker B:We did.
Speaker B:Well, my husband's from New England, so we had to have like, a Boston style dog, which is fine, but we had Chicago style dogs with neon green relish.
Speaker B:The correct bun.
Speaker A:It's the only way it's okay to eat artificial coloring.
Speaker B:I know, right?
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's such a God.
Speaker B:I literally like this girl's talking about hot dogs.
Speaker B:Everyone in my life knows how much I love hot dogs.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker A:That's so funny.
Speaker B:Isn't that so?
Speaker B:So when you said that my mind is blown like I think Domestic Gourmet will be.
Speaker B:Should have their own hot dog.
Speaker B:Whatever it is, you can do it.
Speaker B:I believe in you.
Speaker B:Bring in some Cuban flair.
Speaker B:I don't care because I love human food too.
Speaker B:So this is like the universe.
Speaker B:This is me from the universe telling you Domestic gourmet hot dog seasoning for re.
Speaker B:Seriously people, if you don't like hot dogs, then we can't be friends.
Speaker B:So please direct people where they can learn more about you, all the things that you're that are coming up.
Speaker B:Any of the organizations.
Speaker A:Well, the biggest organization that I'm an ambassador for is the Endometriosis foundation of America, otherwise known as Endofoundation.
Speaker A:And you can find all the information resources@endofound.org that's e n d o found.org and then for me, Domestic Gourmet, you can find my website, domestic gourmet.com or on any of my socials.
Speaker A:Domestic Gourmet, Yes.
Speaker B:Well, this has been truly a pleasure.
Speaker B:I have so many more wonderful things that we're going to talk about with documentary.
Speaker B:I want to bring you back when your spices are ready to go a hundred percent.
Speaker B:Definitely do like a product launch conversation and talk about that and where you can get it.
Speaker B:I want to thank everybody for listening.
Speaker B:I appreciate you opening your eyes and ears to topics that may make you uncomfortable because this means the world to me.
Speaker B:Please follow all things hospitality, bitesospitality, bites.com, connect me on social media, on LinkedIn.
Speaker B:I'm there.
Speaker B:I'm present.
Speaker B:Please follow my friends at the walk and talk show, Carl and Pooch.
Speaker B:Thank you guys for bringing me into your fold.
Speaker B:This has been such a blast.
Speaker B:As I always say, please be kind to yourself.
Speaker B:Be kind to one another.
Speaker B:Thank you for listening.
Speaker B:Thank you, Zigi.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker A:Thank you for having me.
