181: How to Self-Care Yourself to Financial Independence with Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Grad School Femtoring podcast. This is your host Dra. Yvette. Today we have a really fun and insightful episode all about how BIPOC women and LGBTQ+ gente can self care themselves to financial independence. Our guest is Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino, a queer Mexican American former math teacher turned personal finance educator and financial coach studying to become a certified financial planner. As the CEO of Wealth Para Todos LLC, Soledad that is determined to make sure more BIPOC women and LGBTQ+ folks learn how to self care themselves to financial independence, so they can work because they want to not because they have to. Oh, that sounds so nice. Welcome to the podcast Soledad.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Thank you so much for having me.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Oh, thank you for coming. I would love to hear more about you- about who you are, what you do- and especially, I would love to hear a little more about your backstory and how you got to where you are today.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Well, September 30th 1986 I was born. I was born to my parents, who immigrated here from Mexico when they were kids. By the time I was four, they had gotten a divorce. I grew up in a neighborhood that had a lot of gun violence. There was a lot of poverty. And I experienced some traumatic shit at a very young age. I didn't know until I was in my 30s that I had PTSD. It was something that I had developed coping mechanisms for right? So one way that I dealt with my PTSD was through dissociation. I was a straight A student. I was really good at school. However, cada rato, I would have inflammation throughout my body and when I was 16, it caused me to be in a wheelchair. At 18, I was also in and out of a wheelchair because of inflammation in my body. Doctors weren't really sure what was going on. They thought I had different autoimmune issues. Anytime I went to the doctor, I was always told I had a different autoimmune issue. And in 2019, it got so bad that I had to be put on medical leave from my job as a teacher.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

By that time, I was a public school math teacher and I was put on medical leave. I had two kids already, and I did not have any income coming in- which was very scary for me because I had been working since I was 16 years old. I started reading some personal finance books, and I created my first budget at 32 years old using the money that I was getting from my disability checks. And as I read personal finance books, I was like wait a minute. I think I could build wealth. I think I could retire early. I think I could learn how to invest. And all of this was when I was sick. I was sick on medical leave for six months.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Wow.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

As soon as I learned that information, I just became very passionate about teaching everyone else about that too. So I started weath para todos, where I would share all the information I was learning. And poco a poco people started reaching out to me to create their personal finance curriculums, to coach them, and now I have my one on one coaching business along with my wealth para todos academy.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

That is amazing. Wow. You know, a lot of the folks that listen to this podcast are first gen students, a good portion of them are children of immigrants. They are high achieving students. And some of us- like myself included- have chronic illnesses, so when you talk about inflammation in your body, autoimmune diseases, I think that multiple people are gonna resonate with that story. But then when you took that - I was like, we're going on this trajectory and you're telling your story. Then you go into- I started learning about personal finance and wealth building. I'm like wait, what? That's not everybody's trajectory.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

The topic that you're here to talk about today is actually very multilayered, just like your background and your experience. The title is not the title that I came up with. It's your title of self caring yourself to financial independence. I think that's very, very specific and also almost kind of surprising. You don't think about self care when you think about financial independence. And why the focus on the two? Can we get started by you telling us how you're defining or interpreting these terms? Like when you think about self care, what are you referring to? And when you're talking about financial independence, what does that mean for folks who may have very little information on personal finance and financial literacy?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Yeah, for sure. My whole journey was that I didn't believe that somebody with my background could actually build wealth. For me, I felt so successful going to college and having a job that allowed me to eat at restaurants, because I didn't have that growing up as a kid. I thought I made it. I was not thinking about retirement. I wasn't thinking about financial security. I think the one thing that was on my mind was like oh tengo que comprar una casa because that was something that people talked about. But I didn't necessarily even know how to do that, or knew how to save purposely for it. As I read these personal finance books, I didn't feel seen. I didn't feel like I could relate, and a lot of times the ideas that I had in my mind were like- yeah, but you know what? You don't have health issues. I'm sick.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

I have two kids, and I live in a high cost living area. And I have to pay for a lot of co pays and doctor fees. And I have to see a therapist. Later on, as I accepted my diagnosis of PTSD, then I was like- really, I'm not healthy. I'm not healthy physically with this inflammation. I got diagnosed with IBS. I had all these different health issues. But then also, I'm somebody who, with my PTSD, wakes up in the middle of night with my jaw clenched, screaming, heart palpitations. And that's also not something people talk about. People don't talk about that. So for me, I was like, how does someone like me build wealth?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

It meant that I had to engage in a lot of self care- which was also very foreign for me, because I grew up with family members who work until they die and they don't necessarily pause. I mean, I think one thing that I always remember hearing growing up was para de llorar, ponte a trabajar. This idea of just staying busy and productive was something that was so honorable. So when all of a sudden, I'm like, I'm gonna go to therapy. First of all, that's not something that my family was all happy or accepting about, or something that I even felt comfortable sharing.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Then I was like, I'm gonna work with a healer who was helping me with my body, with the massage work and energy work. But even thinking that I was worthy enough to pay for that type of service felt very foreign to me. It felt very like a luxury. In so many ways, self care for me felt like a luxury. It didn't feel like a birthright. It didn't feel necessary. And that was part of my issue, right? The fact that I wasn't engaging in consistent self care, that I didn't find myself worthy of wellness. That impacted me. It was easier for me to dissociate. It was easier for me to people pleas. It was easier for me to focus on helping everyone else- whether it be as a teacher, as a parent of two kids, as someone who's in a marriage, as a grandchild or a child of - so many people. There's so many people that I could always help. It was easier for me to focus on helping everyone else, instead of understanding where I needed support and where I needed help.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

So my journey to financial independence really started with me learning to become wellthy - like well- thy.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Oh.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

It started there. And as I started working one on one with clients- I realized, Rita-Soledad, this is not a you issue. This is- systemically a lot of people struggle with this. In a capitalist society that prides itself in productivity, that makes resting a luxur, a lot of people don't necessarily know what it feels like for their nervous system to be dysregulated, for them to know that they're tired, that they're exhausted, that their body is signaling to them- hey, I'm starting to get sick. We're taught to push through. And one thing I learned, and I decided, was I was going to stop pushing through and instead pause to self care.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

So self care, to me really represents understanding in your body what it feels like to be dysregulated, understanding when you're out of alignment- anytime that you do not think that you are capable, powerful, or deserving of something, you're out of alignment. And understanding -what are the beliefs and the narratives that you have there? What are the things that are impacting your wellness and how you show up for yourself on a daily consistent basis? If you learn how to take care of yourself, then becoming rich is very easy. The hard part- the very, very hard part- is unlearning everything that has told you that you weren't capable, deserving, powerful enough to do something.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Then the financial independence is just making sure that you have a certain amount of money. Usually, it's whatever your expenses are at retirement- your annual living expenses times 25- that amount of money invested maybe in the stock market, or just knowing that you have that amount of cash flow available to you so that you can live off a bit at a 4% withdrawal rate. Now, that's a little fancy. But financial independence is just knowing that you don't have to work because you have enough money to support yourself. And I believe you can't get to that place as a Black, indigenous, person of color, woman, person in the LGBTQ+ community, if you do not engage in your healing first, which requires lots of self care.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

You just unpacked so much in that answer. I feel like the folks that are new to financial independence are like- wait, hold up. Times 25 and then what? When you mentally do the math- even if you're not making a lot of money, when you multiply that annually by 25, it feels like an inconceivable number. And I don't hear this a lot. I am a big fan of different personal finance folks, and I follow a lot of other women of color who talk about personal finance. But I haven't heard anybody really focus on the self care aspect of it the way that you do and making that connection. And I do think it's important for folks- like you said, BIPOC, women, LGBTQ+ folks. Can you say a little bit more about -because those are very specific populations. You just talked about the struggles, the systemic struggles, with focusing on self care and wellness, and even thinking about wealth as starting with your wellness. So why is it so critical for you to focus on this population- on BIPOC women, LGBTQ+ folks?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Well, because I'm that population. That's me. That's my friend. That's my cousin. That's my community. And I didn't grow up in a community where I saw people have financial security. So for me, it's like, well, let's figure it out. What does it look like for us to build wealth? What are all the challenges that we have to overcome? Now historically, here in the United States- and even worldwide. The stock market - investing in the stock market- is a very USA thing to do. In other countries, even trusting a bank can be very foreign, can be very nerve racking.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Because banks and other countries collapse, right? So here in the United States, part of building our financial security, the ability to retire, is linked to the stock market. And yet we don't receive education a lot of times. I mean, I didn't. I got a master's from NYU and no one taught me how to invest in the stock market, how to make sure to- the difference between the target date fund and low index funds, and understanding how much I should be investing on a monthly basis to retire at the age that I wanted. Nobody taught me that. And the more I talk to people, I know nobody's taught other people that too. A lot of times, you only know what your inner circle has taught you.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

If you are an immigrant, or you're a child of immigrants, and your family is new to this entire country- learning a new language also learning the financial systems that may or may not even give you access- because maybe you don't have a social security number. Not every bank allows you to have an ITIN. There are so many systemic things that impact people. Then we also know the ability to open up a spousal IRA- that's only available to people whose marriages were recognized by the federal government. That's not something that was available to everybody. So that impacts the queer community.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Or even like credit cards and the ability to build your credit history. Let's say your family has been here for a few generations. But it's likely that your mother didn't have access to a credit card until the 1970s and being able to buy a house on your own. There's a lot of systemic things that impact people. And I think, unfortunately, we're not even taught about that. We don't know about the history of all the systemic forms of oppression. A lot of times we think- oh, I'm not good at money. My family's not good at money. Versus my family has had to be really resilient and has already overcome so much, and still has to overcome so much to build financial security. So that's my talk about that.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

It can feel really happy too, like a big load on your shoulders to be part of that first generation. So maybe first generation college, but then first generation wealth building. Because you're already facing so many systemic issues, and then on top of that, let's say you take it upon yourself to learn about it and to start building wealth. Like I said earlier, it feels like it's a lot, almost inconceivable. You mentioned that before you can even start to work on the wealth building, you have to work on yourself. I'm wondering, what does that actually look like? Like how do you actually do that? How do you actually self care yourself to financial independence? What are some examples? I know we all take care of ourselves differently, and financial independence looks differently based on everybody's cost of living, lifestyle, etc. But what does it look like for you? Or what are some examples you would want to share about what that might look like for someone?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Yeah. So first, I think the number one thing is - do you take the time to be in your body? Can you notice emotions in your body, where they lie? If you're feeling anxiety, do you feel it in your chest? Do you feel it in your stomach? Do you feel it closing up in your throat? When you're uncomfortable, do you also feel? Do you also notice neutral emotions and what it feels like to be feeling neutral? Or even pleasurable emotions- do you know what that feels like in your body? And when you have whatever sensation, do you notice it? Can you pause? And can you provide yourself with some comfort?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

If you're feeling overwhelmed and anxiety, and you feel that in your body, do you take some time to then journal out your thoughts? Because our circumstances, we cannot control. But we're always going to have thoughts about those circumstances, and our thoughts are going to impact our feelings, and our feelings impact our actions, and our actions impact our results. For me, a big part of my self care routine is journaling and creating very intentional thoughts without gaslighting myself, without saying just be positive, or just be happy, or you can do it. It's more like, oh, you know what? I'm noticing this overwhelm in my body. Let me take some deep breaths. Let me regulate my breathing. Let me go for a walk. Let me take a little break from this situation.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

And then let me spend some time understanding, what are my thoughts? What am I saying about this certain circumstance? What pressures am I putting on myself? How am I talking to myself as the result of actions that I've taken? Can I feel shame, and disappointments, and remorse without criticizing myself, and judging myself, and being mean to myself? Can I feel those uncomfortable emotions and shower myself with all types of carino? That's real self care. In my 20s, I used to think it meant getting my nails done, getting a blowout, getting a massage. And I was doing all of those things while being very self critical to myself- not being my number one ally, not being my number one best friend.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

And this happens to a lot people. One of the things in order to reach financial independence- it's simple. All you have to do is become debt free, build an emergency fund, and then invest 25 times your annual expenses, have that invested. That, in theory, is simple. But what gets in the way of that is the amount of extra cash flow that you have. Well, what impacts your extra cash flow? Your income- and increasing your income. I truly, truly believe that we all have skills that we can monetize. But people start to have certain beliefs about themselves. And it could be not only from beliefs that they've created for themselves, but also what people have told them to believe about themselves.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

The lack of representation in certain areas is enough for people to think -oh, I shouldn't apply for that higher income job. I don't see anybody who looks like me in that role. Are people even going to listen to me? You know, those things can impact you. But if you choose to engage in intentional thinking, if you choose to notice those thoughts, and be like, you know what? If I keep saying those thoughts to myself, it isn't aligned with the actions that lead to the financial results that I want.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Well, one of the things that I heard in the way that you are defining and providing examples of self care is it's a two part process. It's doing the thought work of reframing your thoughts, because a lot of us have limiting beliefs, or just a lot of not so helpful thoughts that get in the way of us meeting our goals. But then aside from that- because a lot of folks are like oh, thought work. They don't take it seriously. That's why a lot of folks don't take coaches seriously, because they're like, that's not going to do anything. They probably haven't done that work effectively.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

But the only thing you said that was super important and really stuck out to me is the self regulating piece too. Because if you've got trauma in your body- as someone who has experienced trauma and a lot of moments of dysregulation in my body, it's that too. Take care of yourself by going on a walk, by journaling, taking a hot bath. Doing the things that are going to calm down your nervous system, that is also key. Because like you said, when you are well, then you are able to gain the clarity to pursue your long term goals. And if one of your long term goals is to achieve financial independence and work when you want to, not because you have to, then it makes sense. I feel like it's all kind of coming together.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

It's about enjoying the journey, too, right? At the end of the day, you can have all the money. But if you're still being nasty to yourself, if you're still being so self critical and judgmental, and anytime that you do experience shame, you just really beat yourself down. Like who cares? That's not a way to live either. Part of what I've learned for myself in my journey to building wealth has been going to individual therapy, going to couples therapy, really learning to be intentional about all the healing that I feel like I had to do on an individual level. But also for my children, understanding my communication, and how my communication interferes and creates problems in my life. And when you do work on that- like for me, doing EMDR for my PTSD. When I faced that- which was the scariest stuff in my life. Obviously, it gives me nightmares at night. Sometimes it'll give me flashbacks during the day.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

When I finally was like- I'm going to heal from this poco a poco. I'm going to create space in my life to deal with this, instead of just always avoid it. Man, it becomes so fucking easy to tell people- hey, do you want to work with me one on one? It becomes very easy to just start to invest more, to think about increasing your income, because there's other stuff that's harder. The hardest part is to heal, to heal from our trauma. That's also one of our biggest challenges. I think people don't talk about healing people. Talk about coping through drinking, through going to parties, through avoidance, through Netflix. A lot of times- some of the coping mechanisms that I had is, I was a workaholic.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

And here in the United States, nobody was gonna say, hey, you have an issue. Instead, I was getting awards for Teacher of the Year and so much praise. When in reality, if I had been drinking as much as I was working, it would have been a real big problem. And I just struggled in silence until my body literally would shut down every few months- not every few months, every few years.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Workaholism is so real. Dissociation is also very real. A lot of listeners are going to relate to that because they're in the thick of it, in their own educational and professional journeys. And it's really hard to break out of it unless you have a moment of pause or unless your body forces you to put a pause on things. When you shared a little bit more about your background, and you shared about having that time- the time that you were on that disability leave at work. You had that, a little bit of time and space in that pause, that moment, to rest and reflect and learn about so much.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

I guess right now I'm thinking- what do you wish other other folks knew, or made time and space to learn more about aside from their healing? What kind of advice would you give to folks who are in the thick of it, who are in the workaholism, who are doing the nine to five or the working 24/7? Because again, like I said, it's a lot harder to see something when it's staring at you right in front of your face versus when you have some distance from it. Like for me, I live in Portugal right now. So for me, it's so easy to critique the US from an outsider's perspective, because I am no longer there right now. And when I move back- because we are planning to move back- I'm gonna see it from a different perspective having had that distance. So what what do we say to folks who are not at a distance yet, who see- kind of like, oh this is interesting. I'm intrigued. I might want to pursue this. It's new. But I'm so busy.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Yeah. I feel like all I can do is share my story. All I can say is- look, I went from working 12 hour days as a teacher, to working also on Sundays to prepare for the week. I wasn't even making good money. My last year of teaching, I think I was making $60,000. But I was working out of habit, out of coping mechanism, out of not understanding how beautiful work boundaries could be in terms of creating a beautiful life. I was addicted to people pleasing and serving other people because I was running away from my own- my PTSD. I think if you're struggling with being a workaholic, a lot of times you don't even know. You don't even know that you're a workaholic.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

So I can just share- I was a workaholic. I didn't know I was a workaholic. I would get sick every once in a while, and I would just be like, i's because I have autoimmune issues- not necessarily knowing that I could actually become healthy. It's possible to lower the levels of cortisol running through my body that was impacting the inflammation, that was impacting my organs, that would impact my health. I didn't know that that was possible, because if I went to the doctors, the doctors were just very quick to just say- you have an autoimmune disorder. No one was looking at a holistic way to really help me heal.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

So I can say that that was my life and I got really sick. I'm telling you, I was in hospitals every few years. I had horrible health issues- horrible, horrible health issues. Then I got sick. I decided to pay off my debt- because if I paid off my debt, I told myself, well then maybe I don't have to go back to teaching. Part of it was like, I gotta finish my number of years of teaching so all my student loans could get cancelled. Now, what if I just paid off my student loan cancels? Then if I had a choice, what would that look like? What would I do with my life?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Unfortunately, it still meant that I was addicted to working. I found myself being really busy. I was a stay at home parent curating the longest to do lists ever, putting all these expectations on myself, still causing myself to be really tired- because the underlying issue was that I didn't find myself worthy of rest. I didn't know who I was without producing. So if you can't separate your identity from what you do for other people, you're gonna really struggle mi gente. You're gonna struggle. I know that was my struggle. As soon as I started to do a little bit more work- for me, it was like, I'm gonna pay this $100 once a month to see this healer. And I started to feel better. Poco a poco- I mean, this happened so slowly for me.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

It meant thinking, what else can I pay for? How else can I invest in the support that I need to heal? So starting to go to individual therapy, couples therapy, reading certain books, paying to be in spaces where other people were talking about meditation, where it was cool to be healthy- not cool to be stressed out and burnt out. Because those were the spaces that I was in in the past. Now I have this life where I have a business that has six figures in revenue. I'm growing it to multiple six figures of revenue, and I work 24 hours a week. When I'm not working, I'm in Pilates. I still go to therapy. I am journaling. I'm sitting in the sun reading my books. I'm going on walks. I'm taking my kids to school. I'm picking them up from school. I am just taking baths. I spent a lot of time taking these hot baths. I'm just like, my life really, really transformed, and I just want other people to know that it's possible for you too.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yes. Thank you. That was really powerful- and centering your story in the words of advice for folks, and just reminding them that there are other possibilities. Also, another thing that you said that I thought was really, really key is finding a way to separate who you are from what you do, from the work that you do. We do so much work. But we are more than our productivity. Even just getting to that, like- who am I outside of what I do every day, or nine to five, or 24/7? That's a big question. That should be a journaling question for everybody. That's your homework for today. Ask yourself, who am I outside of the work that I do?

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

I'm wondering if you have any other closing words, or just words of advice, or things that you want to share? Maybe things that you wish that you knew? What do you want to leave the folks today with when it comes to- because it's really powerful and you make it seem so easy. In some ways, it is. But in other ways, it's like, the equation to become financially independent isn't that hard. And if you believe in yourself enough, it's not as hard to make six figures or whatever income you want to make. But the hard hard part is working on yourself. That is so hard.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

It doesn't stop.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Yeah, it doesn't end.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

I want everyone here to know that they're safe to feel it all and think about it all. And when you feel unsafe, I want you to really ground yourself. I want you to become an expert at regulating your nervous system. Because once you regulate your nervous system, then you can engage in the thought work. And once you're consistently engaging in the thought work, you're going to have clarity and you're going to be able to dream. The ideas of ways to make more money so that you can eliminate your debt, build an emergency fund, cash flow, traveling, and anything else that you're really interested in doing, have enough money to max out an employer retirement account or a roth IRA- that is going to be accessible to you.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

But it really does start with acknowledging where you need support and where you're struggling. If your nervous system is always dysregulated, and then you just choose to engage in dissociation- you come home and you choose to drink, or you come home and you choose to turn on the TV. Or you don't come home, you decide to go out and keep partying. All that dissociation is keeping you from your healing. And I want you to know that you're safe. You're safe to feel it all and you're safe to think about it all.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Once you create that safety for yourself, then building wealth is as easy as subscribing to my weekly newsletter, just looking out for the tips that I give in there. Or joining wealth para todos academy, or working with me one on one, or watching YouTube videos, and listening to other podcasts. It becomes like, oh, I'll just do this. I'll just do that. That decision, that clarity, is just always available to you when your nervous system is regulated. I am literally- it's so interesting. I wake up every morning. I do my water, kind of check in with my body. And sometimes I feel this nervousnes, especially if I've had my PTSD nightmares at night. And I'm just like, let's just ground ourselves, create safety for ourselves journal. Let me always take care of me.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Then I have the clarity to take the actions that are necessary that are aligned with the financial results that I want. It literally can be that simple. But it also never ends, that work never ends. The version of myself that was working on how to pay off debt, versus the version of myself that was building an emergency fund, or now, trying to grow to multiple six figure companies- each version had had moments where my nervous system was dysregulated. And each time I chose to pause instead of push through. So everyone here, I hope that you also choose to stop pushing through, pause to engage in self care, and learn about how to max out your Roth IRA. Start there.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

I also really appreciate that you are normally starting where you're at. When you said- I got started learning about how to create a budget when I was in my 30s. Instead of - there's a lot of content out there about like, I started in my 20s. And I retired early by the time I was 30. Then the rest of us are like, well, I guess I'm gonna give up, because that's too late for me.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

My husband didn't start investing at all until he was 32 years old, and now he has a six figure investment portfolio in three years.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

That's amazing.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

How was that possible? Because he tripled his income. How was that possible? He believed in himself. How did he believe in himself? Well, my husband, he grew up in the projects in the South Bronx. He didn't graduate from college. But part of it was just really creating the safety for ourselves. Instead of spending our intention thinking about everything that could go wrong, all the why nots, we started directing our energy and our time to what if we could work out? What would that look like? And operating in almost faith. But it was only possible because we had regulated nervous systems.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

That makes a lot of sense. You know, the way that you say it, it makes so much sense. And yet, not a lot of us are receiving this message, you know? I want to thank you for joining us today, for sharing about your story. For folks who resonate, who want to hear more from you, how can they reach you?

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

Yes, please, please follow me on Instagram or LinkedIn. On Instagram, I'm @wealthparatodos. You can go to my website, www.wealthparatodos.com. Subscribe to my weekly newsletter and listen to my podcast, which is also called wealth para todos.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Oh my goodness. I'm so excited. We're gonna add all of the links, including the podcast link to the show notes. I'm so excited for you. You've done so much. I appreciate everything that you've shared on your social media content. I have followed your work for a while now, and I wasn't sure if you were gonna say yes. I decided, let me just go ahead and reach out and see what happens. And I'm so glad I did because you provided a wealth of information. So thank you for being you and for being open and honest about your identity, about who you are, because a lot of folks are going to resonate with some or all aspects of what you shared today, myself included. I want to thank you again. It means a lot. I think that this is going to change some lives. This is gonna be plant that seed in a lot of people's minds and hopefully everybody can take something from it and start to work on their healing and their wealth building in their own way.

Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino

We can do it, poco a poco.

Dra. Yvette Martinez-Vu

Thank you