In this episode, I sit down with Karina Melgar, founder of LEAPS Services, to talk about neurodivergence, cultural silence, and what happens when one person decides to turn injustice into impact.

We talk about what neurodivergence actually means, why so many people have been pushed to the sidelines, and how showing up locally can change lives — including your own. This one’s about community, courage, and doing the hard things before you feel ready.

✨ Tune in to get comfy with showing up for community— one brave step at a time.

📅 Recorded: October 21, 2024

About Our Amazing Guest:

🌟 Karina, the founder and CEO of LEAPS Services, is a visionary Mexican-American entrepreneur driven by a mission to create lasting, positive change for the neurodivergent community. Her journey to establish LEAPS was inspired by a commitment to inclusivity, empowerment, and advocacy, rooted in the strong cultural values she grew up with. Through LEAPS, Karina has created a welcoming, supportive space where neurodivergent young adults and their families find the resources, guidance, and encouragement they need to thrive.

As a Latina CEO, Karina combines strategic leadership with a deeply personal commitment to social impact, designing programs that promote community integration, personal development, and diverse opportunities. She believes in the importance of representation, diversity, and standing up for her community, carrying her cultural heritage into every decision to ensure that LEAPS remains authentic, empathetic, and transformative.

Through program development, team support, and partnerships, Karina’s focus is on fostering growth, championing inclusivity, and building a brighter future for neurodivergent individuals and their families. Her vision and dedication make LEAPS a trailblazer in the field of community-based neurodivergent support.

📲 Connect with Karina:
IG: @leapsservices

Website: www.leapsservices.com

About Me, Your Hostess with the Mostest:

🌟 Laura Cardona is the host of Get Comfy with Laura, a Latina life coach, and the founder of Buena Vida Life Coaching. She helps women get comfy with the uncomfortable — growing, healing, and living life on their own terms. @buenavidalifecoach 💖

📲 For more Buena Vida:
IG: @buenavidalifecoach
Website: buenavida.life

In this episode, I sit down with employment lawyer Laura Rodriguez to talk about our rights at work. We talk about documentation, red flags in the workplace, protections for employees and employers, and what to do when something doesn’t feel right. This conversation is about empowerment, clarity, and remembering that your voice counts — no matter your background or job title.

✨ Tune in to get comfy with employee rights — with honesty, practical guidance, and the reminder that you are not asking for too much.

📅 Recorded: December 5, 2024

About Our Amazing Guest:
🌟 Laura Rodriguez is an employment lawyer based in New York. She has worked in employment law for the entirety of her career, previously at a boutique NYC law firm and now at Frontera Law, which was founded in 2022 and handles both employment and immigration law matters. Laura is a native New Yorker who grew up in and continues to live in Queens (after a stint in New England for college and her early 20s). The majority of her work over the years has been representing immigrant and undocumented workers with claims against their employers. She is grateful for the ability to provide support, guidance, and advocacy to members of the immigrant community that she grew up with. Laura is passionate about representing and helping educate workers about their employment rights.

Laura's first language is Spanish and was raised in a bilingual home - her Spanish language fluency has been a key asset in her work. Speaking to clients in their native language has been vital for providing thorough and well-rounded legal representation. Although Laura usually represents workers, she has started to shift towards more representation of employers as well - helping make sure they are complying with labor and employment laws and providing guidance about workplace best practices. Laura loves to counsel employers that want to do right by their employees and feels especially honored when she has the opportunity to work with Latina business owners.

📲 Connect with Laura Rodriguez:
IG: @laurarodriguez.esq

Website: www.fronteralawfirm.com

About Me, Your Hostess with the Mostest:

🌟 Laura Cardona is the host of Get Comfy with Laura, a Latina life coach, and the founder of Buena Vida Life Coaching. She helps women get comfy with the uncomfortable — growing, healing, and living life on their own terms.

💖 For more Buena Vida:
IG: @buenavidalifecoach
Website: buenavida.life

In this solo episode, I talk about getting comfy with coaching, support, and telling the truth about how much we try to carry on our own. We also start looking ahead into 2026 and the kind of energy, support, and life you want to bring with you.

✨ Tune in to get comfy with what’s next....

About Your Hostess with the Mostest:

🌟 Laura Cardona is the host of Get Comfy with Laura, a Latina life coach, and the founder of Buena Vida Life Coaching. She helps women get comfy with the uncomfortable — growing, healing, and living life on their own terms.

IG: @buenavidalifecoach 💖
Website: buenavida.life

In this episode, I sit down with Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino to talk about the real relationship between self-care and money — and how moving from scarcity to abundance starts with how we take care of ourselves. We get into mindset, emotional health, financial literacy, and why tending to you first actually makes money stuff feel more doable.

✨ Tune in to hear us get comfy with money — with intention, compassion, and practical tools that support confidence, abundance, and your Buena Vida.

📅 Recorded: 11/7/2024

About Our Amazing Guest:

🌟 Rita-Soledad Fernández Paulino is a queer Mexican-American money and self-care coach who went from solving math problems in the classroom to solving money struggles for progressive wealth builders. Living with Celiac disease, PTSD, and ADHD taught them that financial security must never come at the cost of joy and wellness. As founder and CEO of Wealth Para Todos, Soledad guides first-gen and second-gen wealth builders toward financial independence rooted in D.I.V.E.R.S.E. self-care. Featured by NPR, CNET, and Bankrate, they use 1:1 coaching, Wealth Para Todos Academy, and their weekly podcast to help people become financially flexible now—and work-optional con tiempo.

Go Check out their amazing podcasts, especially these episodes:

#40: How to Practice Self-Care at Your 9 to 5

#19: How to Practice Self-Care During ICE Raids and Political Unrest

#7: The Link Between D.I.V.E.R.S.E. Self-care and Financial Security

📲 Connect with Rita-Soledad:

IG: ⁠@wealthparatodos

Website: ⁠Wealth Para Todos

Podcast: Wealth Para Todos

💖 For more Buena Vida:

IG: @⁠⁠buenavidalifecoach⁠

⁠⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠BuenaVida.Life

In this episode, I sit down with Marcy Guevara-Preet to explore the power of personal style, wardrobe confidence, and the freedom that comes from dressing for yourself — instead of who you think you’re “supposed” to be.

✨ Tune in to hear us get comfy with your personal style — and maybe find more joy, empowerment, and self-expression in your closet, too.

📅 Recorded: 11/21/2024

About Our Amazing Guest:

🌟 Marcy Guevara-Prete is a Manifestor, Visionary, producer, host, and celebrated plus-size style expert dedicated to helping people of all sizes feel amazing in the skin they're in. As a pioneer in the plus-size retail space, Marcy owns The Plus Bus Boutique, which is now celebrating 10 years as LA's premiere destination for plus-size fashion. Building on this decade of success, she has manifested a brand new concept, Perfect10+, located in Atwater Village, further expanding her vision for inclusive and empowering style. You may have seen Marcy as a featured expert on shows like Rachael Ray, The Dr. Oz Show, Hallmark Home and Family, The Real and on Oprah.com. On top of her entrepreneurial endeavors, Marcy currently works as a producer on shows including Top Chef on Bravo, Funny AF with Kevin Hart coming to Netflix, Love Island: Beyond the Villa, The NeverEverMets on OWN, Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry, and Wahl St on HBO Max. Marcy's passion is helping people of all shapes and sizes dress well, love the skin they're in, and manifest their most confident selves.

📲 Connect with Marcy:

IG: @themarcyminute, @theplusbusboutique

Website: The Plus Bus Boutique

💖 For more Buena Vida:

IG: @⁠buenavidalifecoach

⁠Website: ⁠buenavida.life

In this episode, I sit down with Marialejandra Gutierrez and explore the powerful, often overlooked connection between our home environments and our emotional well-being.

✨ Tune in to hear us get comfy with the mind–home connection — and maybe find a little more clarity, safety, and comfort in your own home, too.

About Our Amazing Guest:

Marialejandra Gutierrez is a proud daughter of immigrant parents and first-gen Latina with Ecuadorian and Mexican roots. She is the CEO and founder of Primrose Studio Co. which is a Latina-owned business based in Los Angeles that combines mental health and interior design to provide a home wellness interior design service. Marialejandra is also a practicing therapist who specializes in helping children of immigrants navigate and work through anxiety, guilt, shame, family conflict, generational trauma, inner child healing, and sexual abuse.

📲 Connect with Marialejandra:

IG: @primrose.studio.co

All links: Marialejandra Gutierrez

Email: primrose.studio.co@gmail.com

💖 For more Buena Vida:

IG: @buenavidalifecoach

Website: buenavida.life

In this episode, I sit down with Carla Garcia for an eye-opening conversation about the mind-body connection — and how deeply our emotional health can show up in our physical bodies.

✨ Tune in to hear us get comfy with the mind-body connection — and maybe find a little more peace in your own healing, too.

About Our Amazing Guest:

Carla Garcia, LCSW is a therapist, chronic pain coach, and sound healer born and raised in Los Angeles. With her roots as a first-generation Latina, Carla combines her personal experiences with her professional expertise to guide others through chronic pain healing and emotional wellness. She specializes in helping individuals, particularly Latina women, uncover how trauma, stress, and stored emotions can manifest as physical symptoms. Carla uses a holistic approach that incorporates mind-body coaching and sound healing to help clients relax, unwind, and rewire their brains to deactivate pain signals. Whether through one-on-one sessions, workshops, or community events, Carla is passionate about spreading knowledge on the mind-body connection and supporting healing in her community.

📲 Connect with Carla:

IG: @yourpaincoach

Website: www.healingwithcarla.com

Sound Healing: @Finding.paz ⁠

Email: carlagmsw@gmail.com

💖 For more Buena Vida:

IG: @buenavidalifecoach

Website: buenavida.life

Coach Janis and I get comfy talking all things boundaries— what they are, why they matter, and how skipping them leads to burnout and resentment. We dig into trusting your instincts, preserving your peace, and building those “healthy fences” that keep relationships strong while honoring yourself. 💪🏽💖

About Our Amazing Guest:

Janis Hillard is a Boundaries Coach and Social Justice Advocate who believes in the power of setting healthy boundaries. As a Woman of Color who once struggled with creating clear limitations, she understands that messaging from inside and outside our communities doesn’t help to make our paths easy. With over 10+ years’ experience in mental health counseling, her mission is to coach women into developing their own safe and comfortable limits; while learning how to value their time, knowledge, and energy so they can take up space in world – unapologetically.

📲 Connect with Janis:

IG: @janishillard

Website: janishillard.com

Newsletter: The Healthy Fence

💖 For more Buena Vida:

IG: @buenavidalifecoach

Website: buenavida.life