Dear reader…

Welcome to the last post of the year. If you have been following the blog. you may know I started it because I wanted to embrace diversity and to empower minorities to stand against stereotypes among the financial sector; however, I’ve realized I cannot tell people how to fight for their dreams if I’m still fighting to achieve mine. Ironic? Yes, indeed; nevertheless, this introspection of trying to connect the dots backwards made me figure out that my will of changing the world started way before college.

It all started in 1995, the year when I was born (I know you guys don’t give a sh*t about my early years, but I swear it is important to give a context). As an only child, I grew up surrounded by adults, but more important, I grew up surrounded by powerful and independent women: my grandma who raised 4 girls on her own, her sister who took charge of a textile factory after her husband disappeared, my aunts that were super successful professionals, but mainly, my mom who played the role of mom and dad after my father died when I was 5. As you may have inferred, I didn’t hear the word patriarchy until I read it in a Harry Potter book at the age of 10. Why? Well, mainly because I was living just with women, but also because at that time patriarchy was still normal. The first hints I saw against it were in Rugrats, where Angelica Pickles was been raised to be a strong independent woman, and they were quite smooth.

Going back to my story, as I mentioned before, I was an only child, so toys were my best friends. As a regular girl, I had babies, teddy bears, pink bicycles, make-up, and a bunch of Barbies of different professions, but also, I had chemistry games, a chess, musical instruments and anything I found that could have not been potentially harmful for me. In other words, my relatives were confident about me playing with anything I found, and they conveyed that confidence to me, converting it into self-esteem. Of course they told me I was pretty, that as a girl I should always be nice, gentle and smiley, they told me my appearance was important; however, they were more interested on my thoughts and feelings. They never made me less or shut me up, teaching me that my voice is as important as the rest. They just don’t let me imagine and dream, but they encouraged me to achieve all the things I was dreaming of, and so far, I think it has been the best gift someone could have ever given me.

The Dream-Gap. That’s how the difference in education between a boy and a girl is called. A difference I was never subject of. No, I don’t see myself as an inspiration, nor example, actually I think I’m far away from being one, but I have to recognize that all the people that surrounded me when I was little did a great job giving weapons to fight real life. Weapons that should be given to every boy and girl around the world, so dear reader, if you are father, mother, uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, cousin, brother, sister, or if you are near children, don’t just tell them they look pretty or strong! Ask them about their dreams, opinions, desires, and help them to achieve them, even if it is the craziest thing you’ve ever heard!! Remember the Wright Brothers were called crazy when they dreamed about flying…

WE NEED BRILLIANT PEOPLE DOING BRILLIANT THINGS… WE NEED TO CLOSE THE DREAM GAP!

For a 2019 with a weaker patriarchy… ❤