Meet Carol Loya, Allianze Case Management: Lupus Warrior to Business Owner

My guest today and I have a very special link:  Carol Contreras Loya is my baby sister.  But we have another very special and rare link:  We share a pair of kidneys!  Carol was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic illness when she was only 15.  At a time when I was worried about pep rallies and college applications, she was fighting for her life with multiple hospital stays and surgeries.  At the age of 21, her disease attacked her kidneys. Her doctors tested all of us, and we found we were a perfect match.  

After her transplant of my kidney in 1993, Carol was inspired to study nursing, and despite her health struggles, worked hard to earn a degree from UTEP, the University of Texas at El Paso, becoming the 2nd in our family to cross a university stage.  However, her illness made traditional nursing next to impossible for Carol, and she began to search for other avenues where she could use her nursing degree without the long hours and risks to her own health.  A cousin of ours reached out to her about an opportunity in the home health realm where she could set her own schedule and not be on her feet as much. Carol found that the individualized patient contact and ability to follow and celebrate progress brought her the fulfillment she was searching for.  She took the next steps to earn her Case Management certification, and built a career with a large Case Management company working with Workers’ Compensation cases.  

However, the entrepreneurial nature inspired in us by our mom continued to pull at her, and with the support of her husband, who was working in marketing while pursuing his own degree, she launched her own company, Allianze Case Management.  Starting with just a few contacts, she pounded the pavement, built relationships with doctors and networks, and was able to land lucrative contracts with the Department of Labor.  She recently celebrated her company’s third anniversary.   

Join us to hear about how her illness manifested into a passion for providing compassionate, dedicated health care and what drives her to continue to be a leader in her industry. Vamonos– juntas somos pasionarias! . 

Transcript

Nena Contreras Barnett: 0:13

Bienvenidos a Somos Pasionarias. Welcome to Somos Pasionarias, where we talk about women who are changing lives and leaving legacies by pursuing their passions. My name is Nena Contreras Barnett. I'm a pasionaria and your host. Juntas somos pasionarias! Join me to meet some amazing women and explore what it means to live your passions and realize your dreams. Hola Pasionarias! Thank you for joining me again to chat with another amazing pasionaria. Our guest today and I have a very special link. Carol Contreras Loya is my baby sister. But we have another very special and rare link: we share a pair of kidneys. Carol was diagnosed with lupus, a chronic illness when she was only 15. At a time when I was worried about pep rallies and college applications, she was fighting for her life with multiple hospital stays and surgeries. At the age of 21, her disease attacked her kidneys. Her doctors tested us all and found that she and I were a perfect six antigen match. After her transplant of my kidney in 1993. Carol was inspired to study nursing to help other transplant patients, and despite her health struggles, worked hard to earn a degree from UTEP, the University of Texas at El Paso, becoming the second in our family to cross a university stage. However, her illness made traditional nursing next to impossible for Carol and she began to search for other avenues where she could use her hard won nursing degree without the long hours and risks to her own health. A cousin of ours reached out to her about an opportunity in the home health realm where she could set her own schedule and not be on her feet as much. Carol found that the individualized patient contact and ability to follow and celebrate progress, brought her the fulfillment that she was searching for. She took the next steps to earn her case management certification and built a career with a large case management company working with Workers' Compensation cases. However, that entrepreneurial nature inspired in us by our mom continued to pull at her and with the support of her husband, who was working in marketing while pursuing his own degree, she launched her own company, Allianze Case Management. Starting with just a few contacts, she pounded the pavement, built relationships with doctors and networks, and was able to land lucrative contracts with the Department of Labor. She recently celebrated her company's third anniversary. Join us to hear about how her illness manifested into a passion for providing compassionate, dedicated health care and what drives her to continue to be a leader in her industry. Vamonos, juntas somos pasionarias! All right, hello, I've got my wonderful sister here. I'm so excited that you're here with me today. We talk a lot about all of the dreams and everything that you have been pursuing, and I'm just really excited for other people to hear what you have to say. So... so welcome.

Carol Loya: 3:24

Thanks, Nena. I'm so happy to be here.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 3:26

Awesome. Okay, so I talked a little bit in my introduction about your illness. You were diagnosed with lupus and kind of have had to gear your life around that. And so I want to talk about how that inspired you to do what you're doing right now and how you overcame the challenges that were faced with that with that illness. So tell me a little bit about your illness like what is lupus? When and how were you diagnosed and being diagnosed as a teenager which is like such a critical age for people, how did that make you feel being a teenager and having this illness?

Carol Loya: 4:03

Okay, so Lupus is a autoimmune disease and basically what that disease kind of does is it attacks your your own body, like the immune system is decreased. So your body is kind of attacking itself. It's a chronic illness, there is really not a known cause for it. So you know, you get can get a lot of infections because your immune system is really on the defensive side. And so I was diagnosed when I was 15 years old. That made me I think like a sophomore in high school, I believe thinking back. And for me, being a teenager that was actually like going to high school at a school that was across the street from the county hospital where I was treating at- in their clinic as well, as you know, when I'd have hospital stays, it was kind of it was kind of nice and kind of hard for me. But, you know, there was watching all my kids in my group of age (teens) that were out there doing their usual things as high school students and sitting sometimes in by the window and watching all that go by was a little bit difficult for me. But luckily, I got through it. Luckily, you know, with the help of the teachers and mom, and even you sometimes I remember, you helped me a lot with my schoolwork, I was able to maintain, you know, some good grades. So that was, you know, something that I felt good about accomplishing, still having have gone through all of that, but it was difficult just spending so much time across the street, after I'd get diagnosed with an infection have to go in for never less than a week for IV antibiotics. So I, you know, be missing out a lot on on my school and associating with the classmates and stuff like that.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 5:59

And they didn't have like, all that stuff that they have now, like, you know, we have homebound teachers that go to your home and help you if you can't come to school. And you know, of course, with virtual learning, you know, even kids that are at home, like we've had all these quarantine kids, that can still access the same education and you didn't have access to that, because there was nothing like that at the time.

Carol Loya: 6:22

No, back in that time, it was, you know, the teachers would try to send over whatever work that they could. But it really I mean, I'm sure, they were very limited being that they didn't have the tools that they have now and, you know, to help students that are in same situations.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 6:39

So knowing what you knew about your illness and the prognosis that you had, did you ever think that you were going to go to college, I, I, we talked a little bit about that support group that you were in, in Thomason (County Hospital). So many young girls your age that were so sick, did that make you realize how grave your illness was, and that you were in danger of dying?

Carol Loya: 7:05

Well, I mean, not so much that it kind of guided me if I wanted to go to college, as far as decision making, because, you know, it was just hard, hard for me to decide to what the next step in my life was going to be. And I think, as I started entering the adulthood and started, you know, I did get a job while I was actually last year of high school, that work school program, and you know, you start earning money, and I was I was able to tolerate, you know, those, those early jobs when we first started. But, you know, as, as the years would come and you'd start developing more and more infections, because you know, with growing up, obviously comes more stress and stress is a big enemy to lupus. So if anything, it probably I look back at it now, it probably was just best that I didn't go to school back then so early, because I probably would have not made it through the, the courses, because it was college. But you know, with work, you have some sick leave, and then you know, sometimes you just have to take the ticket without pay. So you know, I did what I could, but thankfully eventually was able to, to get better and get back into school.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 8:22

So you never really thought about going into the medical field before your transplant.

Carol Loya: 8:27

Not at that point. Specifically, I did have an admiration for the nurses, and all the medical staff that I would deal with. So often as I'd be in the hospital for those infections, and, you know, when you're in there for a week, you kind of get to know these people, they become your, your friends, you know, it could or sometimes can even consider them family because the nursing staff, you know, they, they go in and they do their job, but you know, they they also, you know, establish a relationship with each patient. And that's kind of what was very admirable that they would get to know you and build that bond.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 9:04

And so let's fast forward to the transplant. So you were 20... you were 21 years old when your kidneys failed. And then we were trying to... you and I were trying to do the math, the only way that I remember is that it was when Jared was born, which was 1993 when you had your transplant. So how did that change your perspective about you wanting to go into the medical field?

Carol Loya: 9:33

Well, all my life it's just been a continuous relationship with people in the medical field. And, you know, that takes me back from the high school years and then you know, when we were dealing with the the issues with the kidney, you know, all the way up until with with mom's illness, you know, with cancer, so I've just had them in my life for such a long period of time. When it came time to go back that I was able to go back to school, thank God because of my health was was good enough and I was able to get back in there. And, you know, the... obviously the counselors, you know, they asked you "Well, what field you know, do you want to go into?" And honestly, it was the first thing that popped into my mind. It's not like I had that desire, but it's like, "What else? What else would I want to do? I want to do something that I, I admire and know that. Also, I'll be doing a good service." So I chose that.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 10:29

Okay, and so once you went back to school, what were some of the challenges that you faced in going back to school?

Carol Loya: 10:38

While at that time, I didn't really face too many challenges, because thankfully, I had had my transplant, thank God and thanks to you, but I mean, obviously, I surpassed all those serious infections, because my trans... my lupus status had basically gone dormant. And so I wasn't having those constant flare ups and causing me to... my immune system to drop and get infections. And you know, just all the complications that you can have with lupus. I just wasn't having them as, as I was before, with your classic lupus complications. Like if you'd open up a textbook, you'd see, when I finally did do that, I saw that I had gotten every complication that I could, you could get with lupus. But those were in the early years, you know, when I was young, and I, between the 15 and the, the maybe 20. So I you know, once that once I got back onto into the rhythm after the transplant and got back into school, I didn't really have any issues going to school.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 11:42

So now you graduated. And we were so excited. And so you were the second person in our in our immediate family to graduate from college, both of us Miners, yay, Go Miners. So, now that you so you graduate, and you get hired, Okay, where was your first job at? And what were your first few weeks, like on the nursing floor? We talked about this a couple days ago. At what point did you realize that your body just was not going to let you do this kind of work like you had planned?

Carol Loya: 12:12

So I made the decision to probably go to the busiest floor, which I probably look back at now and say maybe that wasn't the right choice. But I really wanted to get my feet in there and just be as... get as much experience and knowledge that I could through. One on One nursing and so I chose the Med Surg floor. And because it was so fast paced, really you're... you're on your feet for maybe I'd say 10, 11 of the 13 hours you put in for each shift, even sometimes 14. I was realizing that when I was getting off of work, I was completely exhausted both physically and also mentally. I you know, kind of was realizing as well that I may have chosen the wrong floor or even the wrong profession because there was so much illness on the floor. It was.. I was in fear immediately when I started realizing how... when it just kind of hit me that I was so faced with the constant, like you know, C- Diff and the MERSA infections. A I just constantly washing my hands because of course that's what you're supposed to do. But I did not realize that after all of the years with my with my... I'm sorry to hear you...

Nena Contreras Barnett: 13:36

That your body was just not going to be able to combat those things. I mean, even for you know, somebody like me with a healthy immune system, that time that I got a staph infection that was really hard for my body to fight it. Yours is even more magnified with the lupus and your immune system being compromised. And it was even more compromised after the transplant because now you're on immunosuppressants, so you don't lose the kidneys. So...

Carol Loya: 14:00

Right, but I did feel so good that I and I was so proud that I was getting through school and I had, you know, gotten... gotten through and graduated. And I didn't really think about those things. I just wanted to keep going and I was just so happy and so excited. And I made the choice and I did it. But because I've been on prednisone, the steroid corticosteroid medication for since I was 15 up until this date, which we're talking almost 30 years later, I... my skin is so thin. And so imagine washing after in and out of every room, and sanitizer constantly. My hands were bleeding through the gloves. And while I was you know trying to do patient care it was.. I was really at that point coming to realize this is just not gonna work. So I did have to approach you know, the upper staff management there and let them know that it wasn't going to be a match for me and I had to put in my notice.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 14:58

So how did the door then open for you to go into home health?

Carol Loya: 15:03

So when I stopped working at the hospital, I took some time off trying to make, you know, decide what was the best choice for me. And I was considering, you know, trying to go back to school and I didn't know exactly what the plan was... just try to advance my, my knowledge there and maybe major in something else. But of course, you know, the real world hit and the husband kind of looked at me like, okay, maybe it's time to start looking for a job. And back in at that time, you know, opened up the newspaper, and there was a an advertisement for home health case management. And I kind of knew about the word case management from a relative of ours that did case management for nursing. So I thought,"Okay, well, you know, it's not going to hurt me to try." I called they asked me to go in, same day, they hired me on the spot. So it was just a blessing. I think that led me to that to start my career in home health.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 16:03

And once you got into it, how did that differ from hospital work? Were there different skills? Obviously, you're you're not being exposed to all of those, those illnesses, even though you know, you are, you do have some people that have contagious illnesses that you're dealing with. But what are some of the management skills that helped you develop?

Carol Loya: 16:26

Well, as a, as a home health nurse case, manager, you are really managing the illnesses, or maybe postdoc status of several patients. There's usually another nurse involved and that does daily visits, but you're you're monitoring the case-- you do the first visit, you do any recertifications. And while you're doing these visits, you you're still performing nursing care. So if I had, if, during my visit, I still was able to do you know, do IVs, treatments, wound vac for for wound treatments, you know, learn how to do that, which was a wonderful experience. But what I loved about it the most is that it wasn't just going into the room and you know, meeting the people in a hospital scenario, you you literally could stay there and you know, really get to know the patient and what's going on and really try to help the patient learn about their illness. Because it gives you the option, the opportunity to do that. Actually, you're supposed to as a home health nurse, every time you visit, teach something on that visit. So I mean, it differs just a little bit but you you learn how to case manage, and constantly know exactly what's going on with your patient and what their needs are. And then you follow up and try to meet those needs with whatever is ordered by the doctors or even the nurses helping you with the case.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 17:52

But you didn't technically have to have your case management certification at that point, or when did you did you go about getting that? And like, what is the process for doing that?

Carol Loya: 18:03

Okay, so with home health case, management, you do not require a case management certification. I didn't know that. But I also, you know, knew the situation that I was in and I needed a job and I wanted to do... try this out. With the, always knowing, like I said that I knew somebody that did case management for workers compensation, that knew that I would be interested in something like that. So while I was doing my case management for home health, there was an opportunity presented to me and I took it and it led me to workers compensation case management, and that's, you have to do that for a while. You know, maybe like a year or so, underneath someone who's already certified, or a company and then that's how you get your, your certification, you have to test for it.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 19:02

And so, now you're working in case management under this company, like on a contract, right, and you were quite busy. But at what point did you did you realize,"Hey, I can just like hang up my own shingle and have my own company?" Like that, I mean to be brave enough to take something as complex as medical case management, and be willing to put your name on the door that for me is scary. So how did you make that decision?

Carol Loya: 19:38

I knew only have a couple of nurses out there in the El Paso area that had done had gone to do that independent case management. So I'd always admired the fact that they basically kind of cut out the middleman and they were their own boss and I just knew that one day I should try that. Because I just didn't want to not let my ambition and where it where I was, and I told myself I was going to do it. And when I turned 50, I said, you need to do this, there's no way, there's no backing out if you don't make it, and then if you don't have enough business, you can always go back and work for the company. Because I'd worked for the companies for, you know, so over 10 years, and so I'd realize that, you know, there, they were making a lot of money off of what I did. And I was the one with the knowledge, I was the one with a certification. So all I needed to do was just basically cut out the middleman. So I decided at that age, that I was going to give it a try. I didn't do it until after 51 though. I still I still was a little afraid. But once I put my foot down and I said, Carol, you got it, you got to take the chance. And I had the support, you know, to do it for my husband. So I said, Okay, start it up. And I just looked on the web, and I found how to do it. And I walked into the County of El Paso and I asked to open up the LLC business under my name.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 21:14

Wow. I'm so what are the qualities that you bring to the table that you think other agencies might not have? You mentioned that there was a couple of other nurses in El Paso that are doing what you're doing. But what makes you different? And and you know, I talk a lot about what it means to be a pasionaria. How do you when you go and you know, offer your services to a doctor or network or something like how do you show them that that's who you are?

Carol Loya: 21:47

Well, I've always considered myself to be an advocate for the patient. And when it's workers compensation, there's so many people involved, you know, you have your insurance carrier, you have the doctors, the patient. So you have the employer, so there's just... you got to be able to present yourself to each individual party as that you're there for them, to help them move the case along. So really being that I'm an independent nurse case manager, I get to control my work, and how much I do for each individual case. You know, of course, sometimes that means working way after hours, but I, if I see the need, I'm going to do that. But I just want to.... I present myself as just a very, you know, straightforward person who is going to try out, try to follow up and provide the services for each individual party. Because when you're when you're with the patient, of course, they need to know that you're going to try to get them the treatment that they need in a timely manner. And the doctors, that's really what they want. And of course, if you turn around and remember, I don't know if you remember, but I did do case management services for an employer sidete as well. So I know what everybody wants. I just have to... when I'm presenting and I have to sell it the way that each individual party knows what they want.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 23:19

Do you think that there is a difference between you being a female owner versus the male owner? Does that change what you bring to the table at all?

Carol Loya: 23:29

The only thing that I can say about that is that the majority of nurse case managers for workers compensation are female. So I mean it just that you know, I tried to just keep doing what I do on a on a independent level versus you know, going out there and being a same case manager for there's like three of them, give you an example- three of them that work for one company, you know they I'm there and I'm showing that hey, I have the time to do whatever you need me to do.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 24:10

If you'd like to hear more stories like these about pasionarias in every walk of life. Join me at my blog SomosPasionarias.com. I'll tell my stories about growing up Latina and what drove me to follow my passions and overcome my challenges, as well as introduce you to some of my idols and mentors. You can find links there to follow my crazy life on Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok and learn about some of the things I love on my Pinterest page. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a blog post or podcast. Siguen adelante. And now back to my current amazing guest... So I know your biggest cheerleader besides me, of course, is your husband, Rene. Tell us a little bit about Rene, and how did he help you build this business?

Carol Loya: 25:09

Well, first of all, Rene is also graduated from college, and he did get a Master's... not a Master's- a Bachelor's in business management. And so he was obviously in the field that I needed him to be when it was needed most in our life. He was job searching actually, when, right after I opened up the business that we had got the unfortunate news that he was let go from the company that he worked at.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 25:41

Yeah.

Carol Loya: 25:42

So as I started becoming super busy, I realized that I needed to use my husband's skills, and I brought him on board. And so he was able to really helped me with the, all the financial and tax stuff that needed to get done for the business. And he would also accompany me to some of the visits, just helping me. While he drove me, I would work, instead of downtime, and me driving. So that happened for the the initial part of our business opening. And now he does have a part time job, but he still handles the books. So his support is still ongoing, and I am so appreciative of him.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 26:25

So this is kind of a sticky question, but we you and I talked about it a little bit. So growing up with my mom building her Jafra business, which I haven't had an opportunity to talk about on the podcast yet. But my mom built a six figure business with Jafra Cosmetics, and my dad would do things like unpack her orders and deliver orders and run a bank deposit over. And I feel like he often felt like he was her lackey. How have you and Renee overcome that? How are you like, like, lifting him up to where he does not feel like he's, you know, just kind of tagging along?

Carol Loya: 27:14

Well, obviously, I tell him so many times that I would not be able to be doing this without him. Because I do not know any part of that business management stuff or the finance part. So I know that if that would end, I don't know if I'd be able to continue because I would I'm not good with numbers. But I think early on, because we were so blessed, and that he was able to work with me, and actually experience going out to these appointments and seeing how I, you know, would follow up and document and, you know, generate the the numbers that I needed to show my billable time. He obviously because he was seeing the numbers was able to see that this was gonna work out for us. And it had to be this way, because it was just easier for us to reach our goals this way. And so since he learned that, he's on board, 100%. And, you know, he's hopefully able to continue to do this. And I think he'll be fine with it. Because it's, you know, the paint... the picture paints itself, it's clear to both of us that this is the way it ended up being but it's the best for us.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 28:31

And I think that's one thing that I really admire about your marriage is like you said, the picture is painted so clear. Like you guys have a clear focus that, you know, you started this business at age 50. Which, I mean, there's a lot of us that are thinking, I wouldn't want to try something new at age 50. You know, what if I fail, and here you're diving head in, headfirst into this business. And so I think a lot of it is because you guys are have been, like visualizing all of this, that at this age, we'll have the house paid off at this age, we'll have this much in our retirement account, at this age. We'll build this business together. And so visualizing that together I think has been a big key. So that kind of brings me to my next question, my next comment here. I was just so excited to hear that Renee. I know how hard he's been training. He's been dieting He's been running. And he recently ran the El Paso Marathon. Was that his first marathon? Remind me....

Carol Loya: 29:33

No, actually this is probably it's like his fourth El Paso Marathon. But you remember he does have a... his love has always been triathlons before he met me. So he is getting back on board and think his goal, his next goal, is going to be the triathlon again. So he's pretty happy. He made... he beat his last numbers and he's gonna keep going.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 29:57

Awesome. Well, we're gonna keep the guestroom ready for you guys for the Rock & Roll Marathon in San Antonio here in October. So make sure to sign up for that one. But so how has it doing this business together, given you the freedom to help him follow his dreams and passions to? So he's been supporting you on all these dreams and passions, but now that you are a sole owner, you have a lot of freedom to work your own schedule. How has that helped you support him?

Carol Loya: 30:27

Well, I mean, we just try to work around each other's schedules. And, you know, if, if I see that it's time that he's gonna, you know, take his love and go run or get on the bike, or whatever he does, then, you know, I'll pick up some slack and you know, like, let the business be on hold for a moment. You know, he'll come back from his run, and he'll, you know, eat something and take up in the kitchen or whatever. It still needs to get done. And I get back on the books, get back on the computer and start generating.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 31:01

So that kind of is my next point that... I was talking about how having this illness, what I'm not, I can't remember what the life expectancy is for somebody that is diagnosed with lupus, at a very young age is but obviously, you know, you know what those those numbers are, and you've already... Like, I tell everybody, when we talk about you, that when you were first diagnosed, doctors were saying, you know, that you weren't gonna see 18. And then you did. And then they're like, Well, you know, 21 is like the, the average rate. And you beat that, you know. And then you have, we have actually, I don't even know what the record is for the longest kidney transplant, but we're about to hit 29 years with this kidney. And so that's crazy.

Carol Loya: 31:57

It is, it really is,

Nena Contreras Barnett: 31:59

Yeah. So how are you continuing to invest in growing your business while still enjoying life's adventures while you can? How are you balancing the time that it takes to grow this business, which is you know, only three years old, it's still in its infancy, and still enjoy making memories and all of that? How do you find that balance?

Carol Loya: 32:25

Well, I mean, it takes both of us to my husband and I to try to find a balance, and, you know, we will plan things and try to keep some normalcy within the marriage. And, but right now, I think we've realized that, you know, having already three years with the business, and the amount of work that I have, with the cases, and that, of course, it turns into more work for him. You know, it's, it's, we're probably in a situation where I don't need or we don't need to have it that much business coming in. So actually, I'm going to tell you that today was the first day that I declined a case referral. And I felt terrible, because I know a patient out there needs it, but they'll set them up with a telephonic case manager. But I just think I need to try to bring down the load a little bit so that I can continue to maintain balance, and help continue this lifestyle that we want and dream for. You know, too much doesn't always mean it's the best.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 33:38

So what is your legacy that you hope to leave behind with this business?

Carol Loya: 33:45

The legacy is that if you feel there's something out there that you can do, just put your mind to it, and tell yourself to go for it. Don't look back. And if you fall, get up and just keep walking.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 34:01

I think that is really amazing advice for our pasionarias. There's something that you're passionate about out there. You know, just set your mind to it and go after it. So, I'm so grateful that you agreed to be my guest. I think that your story can inspire so many other women that are dealing with the limitations of a chronic illness, whether it be lupus, fibromyalgia, you know any other chronic illness, to realize that they can surpass these limitations that they set their mind to, they just have to go a different route. You started off with this one path, and then you just went the back way and ended up finding more success and more freedom than if you had continued on that original path. I'm going to continue to pray for your continued health and like I said, we celebrate year 29 this summer of a healthy transplant. And we can just thank God for that and just ask him to continue to bless us.

Carol Loya: 35:00

Thank you, Nena. And I'm glad you referred to that. I thank God for all my blessings and for you. And I'm very happy that I was able to share my story with you and the pasionarias out there.

Nena Contreras Barnett: 35:12

Well, thank you. Thank you pasionarias for joining us today. I look forward to sharing more stories of women driven by their passions, changing lives and leading us by example. May we all continue to be pasionarias, lifting each other up and cheering each other on as we follow our dreams. Make sure to subscribe to my podcasts so you don't miss any new episodes, and follow me on social at @somospasionarias so we can get to know each other. Siguen adelante, con pasion.