What happens when the life you carefully built — the city, the career, the plan — gets taken away?

And what if every redirection, every closed door, every forced departure turned out to be exactly what you needed?

In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Julia Villaseñor. Julia has spent years working at the intersection of art, culture and communication, including at Kurimanzutto, one of Latin America's most influential contemporary art galleries.

Julia's story moves across Mexico, Paris, India and back — not by design, but through a series of unexpected turns. A visa rejected after nine years in France. A move to India she never planned. A decision to return home that allowed her to spend her father's final years by his side. A family restaurant closing after seven years.

And through all of it, a growing willingness to trust paths she never planned to take.

This is a conversation about loss, reinvention, identity, and what it means to build a life around trust rather than certainty. And about why art — at its best — is one of the most human things we do.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• What it actually feels like when a carefully built life plan collapses — and what you do next
• How living between cultures — Mexico, Paris and India — shaped who she became
• What India taught her about letting go of control and trusting the unexpected
• Why the most painful redirections often open the most important doors
• What it means to make art accessible without making it shallow
• The difference between curating and communicating — and why she's done both
• How to trust a process you can't see or predict
• How to embrace a future you never planned for

🔗 Check out Julia's work:

Instagram: @julibertad

Kurimanzutto: https://www.kurimanzutto.com/

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

00:30 Episode Starts

01:17 Meet Julia Villaseñor

06:02 Living Between Two Completely Different Worlds

10:16 When a Chapter of Your Life Comes to an End

12:14 Searching for Home Across Three Continents

17:06 The Country That Changed Me Forever

18:14 Why You Sometimes Need to Let Go of Control

20:13 The Opportunity of a Lifetime

22:55 The Turning Points That Changed Everything

24:23 The Visa Rejection That Changed My Life

26:36 Why I Chose to Leave India

27:37 The Decision I'll Never Regret

29:13 Losing My Father and Returning to My Roots

30:17 When Life Keeps Closing Doors

31:14 Learning to Trust the Process

32:40 Do Things Really Happen for a Reason?

38:14 Why Art Shouldn't Be Exclusive

46:42 What Makes Us Human?

48:53 How to Embrace a Future You Never Planned For

📺 Watch more episodes:

Catch The Upswing is a podcast for people building meaningful things in difficult times. Honest conversations with leaders, founders, investors, and changemakers about what it actually takes to keep going, lead well, and stay hopeful about the future.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

🔗 Follow & connect:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswing
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswing
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@catchtheupswing

Why do some communities thrive for years while others slowly disappear?

In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Fabian Pfortmüller — entrepreneur, community weaver, and co-creator of the Community Canvas and Community Weaving Framework — about what actually makes communitieswork.

From entrepreneurship and leadership to social impact and human connection, community has become one of the most talked-about concepts of our time. Yet many communities struggle to sustain momentum, engagement, trust, and a genuine sense of belonging over the long term.

Fabian argues that most people confuse networks with communities — and that mistake changes everything.

This is a conversation about belonging, relationships, trust, leadership, and why people stay.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• What a community actually is — and why it is different from a network
• Why purpose attracts people, but relationships keep them there
• The difference between community building and community weaving
• Why many communities fail despite good intentions
• The five elements of the Community Weaving Framework
• How trust, care, and belonging create lasting engagement
• Why consistency matters more than one-off events
• The mistake of treating community like a funnel
• How leaders can create spaces where people genuinely feel they belong

🔗 Check out Fabian's work:

Community Weaving Framework

Community Canvas

Entangled (Fabian's Substack)

Fabian Pfortmüller on LinkedIn

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 Trailer: "Networks Connect, Communities Care"

00:20 What Is a Community?

01:28 Why Community Matters for Entrepreneurs and Leaders

03:57 How Do You Build Meaningful Community?

04:27 Community Building vs Community Weaving

05:36 The Five Elements of Healthy Communities

06:12 Fire: Purpose, Values, and Shared Direction

06:53 Web: The Relationships That Hold People Together

08:46 Rhythm: Why Consistency Matters

10:46 Circles: The Hidden Structure of Every Community

13:52 Reciprocity and Preventing Burnout

15:01 Spiral: The Journey Into and Out of Community

16:36 Building Trust and Meaningful Relationships

17:09 Networks Connect. Communities Care.

18:42 Why Belonging and Psychological Safety Matter

19:56 The Power of Hospitality

20:39 Leadership Through Role Modelling

21:09 Resources and Where to Find Fabian's Work

📺 Watch more episodes:

Catch The Upswing is a podcast for people building meaningful things in difficult times. Honest conversations with leaders, founders, investors, and changemakers about what it actually takes to keep going, lead well, and stay hopeful about the future.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

🔗 Follow & connect:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswing
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswing
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@catchtheupswing

Why do so many people wait to feel ready — before starting, before speaking up, before stepping into something new?

And what if the question you're asking is the wrong one entirely?

In this episode of Catch The Upswing, Jessica Espinoza speaks with Servane Mouazan — coach, mentor, board member, and one of the most thoughtful voices in leadership and social impact.

For more than two decades, Servane has helped entrepreneurs, investors, and changemakers build careers, organizations, and lives they can actually sustain. Her approach is radical in its simplicity: slow down, ask better questions, and stop looking for other people to give you the answers.

Together, they explore confidence, mentoring, leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship, and what it actually means to build a meaningful life and career in uncertain times.

This is a conversation about getting out of your own way, learning to think for yourself, and understanding that confidence doesn't come first.

It comes from doing.

🎙️ In this episode, we explore:

• Why the best mentors give less advice — not more
• The difference between coaching, mentoring, sponsorship, and peer learning
• Why most people ask "how" before they know "what" or "why"
• What actually makes someone board-ready
• How to navigate being the only different voice in the room
• The difference between endurance and true resilience
• Why pushing through isn't always the answer
• How to build confidence step by step — without waiting to feel ready
• What sustainable leadership actually looks like from the inside
• Small daily practices that help you stay grounded while doing demanding work

🔗 Connect with Servane Mouazan:
Website: https://servanemouazan.co.uk/
Podcast: Be & Think in the House of Trust
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/servanemouazan/
Instagram: @servanemouazan

⏱️ Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

00:46 Welcome Back: Meet Servane Mouazan

03:15 "I'm a Thinking Partner for People Who Want to Get Out of the Numbness"

05:30 What Makes a Mentoring Program Actually Work

10:42 Coaching vs Mentoring vs Sponsorship vs Peer Learning

14:22 What the Best Mentors Actually Do

18:24 "Shut Up and Not Give Advice"

21:08 How to Help Someone Find What They Actually Want

28:45 The Entrepreneur Who Thought They Wanted Freedom

38:54 What Actually Makes Someone Board-Ready

42:12 How to Get a Board Seat — Without Asking Directly

49:33 "You're Not There to Sit. You're There to Serve."

56:14 How to Navigate Being the Only Different Voice in the Room

01:04:22 The Difference Between Endurance and Resilience

01:11:18 "You Don't Know You're Pushing Too Hard Until You Collapse"

01:17:45 How to Build Wellbeing Into an Organization From Day Zero

01:24:30 What Servane Wishes People Had Known Earlier

01:28:52 Daily Practices That Keep Her Grounded

📺 Watch more episodes:

Catch The Upswing is a podcast about leadership, resilience, entrepreneurship, psychology, and building meaningful things in difficult times.

Honest conversations with founders, investors, creatives, and changemakers about what it actually takes to keep going, lead well, and stay hopeful about the future.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

🔗 Follow & connect:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CatchTheUpswing
Instagram: https://instagram.com/CatchTheUpswing
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@catchtheupswing

#Leadership #Confidence #Mentoring #Coaching #Resilience #Entrepreneurship #CareerGrowth #BoardLeadership #ImpactInvesting #CatchTheUpswing