{"id":220443,"date":"2023-03-28T09:05:45","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T13:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=220443"},"modified":"2023-03-30T07:41:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T11:41:40","slug":"breaking-culturally-limiting-mindsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2023\/03\/28\/breaking-culturally-limiting-mindsets\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Culturally Limiting Mindsets"},"content":{"rendered":"

People who grew up hearing that they must work hard, be humble and thankful for what they have often don\u2019t realize how those cultural messages help shape them and sometimes sabotage success, says author, speaker and entrepreneur Valeria Aloe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAncestral ways of thinking influence our decisions and behaviors,\u201d she says. As an example, Aloe shared her own story and struggle as an Argentinian immigrant working on an MBA at an Ivy League school and working in corporate America and how a cultural narrative she received from her father led her not only to work hard \u2013 but burn out. The messages she received were \u201cMoney comes with sacrifice. You need to sacrifice yourself to make money, and I follow that to the letter because I burnt out to make money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The part-time co-director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation says she learned a tough but necessary lesson: \u201cworking really hard and sacrificing are not sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aloe\u2019s presentation, \u201cRising Together: Breaking Through Our Cultural Limiting Mindsets to Succeed,\u201d was sponsored by the Office for Hispanic Initiatives and held at the Feliciano School of Business. It was one of several events happening during Women\u2019s History Month at Montclair State University, which kicked off with a flag-raising ceremony led by female police officers. All Femme Everything, a talent showcase in honor of the 2023 Women’s History Month theme designated by the National Women\u2019s History Alliance, \u201cCelebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories,\u201d was held Thursday. It was co-sponsored by the Office for Social Justice and Diversity, Student Government Association, Daughta Speaks, The Brotherhood La Hermandad, and the Department of Theatre and Dance. The Future College Graduate Academy, including the Educational Opportunity Fund Program, an annual female and female-identified empowerment conference, is set for Friday at University Hall for female high school students in grades 10 through 12.<\/p>\n

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Women\u2019s History Month kicked off with a flag-raising ceremony and a procession across campus that included female University police officers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During her talk, Aloe walked the audience through common cultural messages that may result in limiting beliefs and feelings of unworthiness. Messages of \u201cjust work hard and your hard work will get noticed\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t rock the boat\u201d often keep people from singing their own praises or speaking up for themselves when it comes to asking for pay raises or promotions, Aloe says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say no to ourselves before someone else says no to us,\u201d she says, \u201cespecially women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aloe surveyed the audience, revealing that attendees were largely first-generation college students, first-generation in their profession and identified as Latina\/o or Hispanic. When she polled them about behaviors that hold them back the most, two top reasons emerged: \u201cI may say \u2018yes\u2019 too often to not \u2018reject\u2019 others\u201d and \u201cI feel uncomfortable talking about my success stories.\u201d The latter was followed closely by: \u201cI tend to remain silent when I have a different opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Author and speaker Valeria Aloe chats with students after her presentation and book signing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The author of Uncolonized Latinas: Transforming Our Mindsets and Rising Together<\/em> walked the audience through the \u201cLatino paradox,\u201d stating that in 2020, Latinos accounted for 52% of the U.S. population growth, numbered 62 million and contributed $2.6 trillion to the U.S. economy. \u201cIf we were a country, we would be the eighth largest economy in the world,\u201d Aloe said, before adding that Latinos lag far behind in all metrics, resulting in leadership and wealth gaps that have remained largely unchanged since 1980. \u201cWe don’t just make less money, we have less wealth, and this also applies with very similar numbers to the Black community,\u201d Aloe says.<\/p>\n

The Latino \u201cpopulation is relevant and growing,\u201d Aloe says. \u201cWe are extremely and increasingly powerful and growing and yet, we have not awakened to our power and influence, and we remain largely unseen and unappreciated \u2013 and that is the paradox.\u201d<\/p>\n

These beliefs can result in not owning our victories, bypassing growth opportunities, Aloe told the audience, adding that it is possible to \u201cchange mindsets and behaviors that we carry from our culture. We don’t need to wait for change to happen outside of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shared how to become aware of limiting beliefs and behaviors, how to reframe them and change inner dialogue to more positive self-talk and ultimately how to take action by taking micro steps upon which to build a sense of accomplishment. She asked for volunteers to share what steps they would take to tackle an issue they were facing.<\/p>\n

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Author, speaker and entrepreneur Valeria Aloe shares some culturally limiting mindsets that people carry into adulthood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jennifer Martinez, an Accounting major, shared that she wanted to stop procrastinating when it came to reading, studying and getting her school work done. Aloe challenged her to leave her book on her bed, as a reminder that she needed to read. Martinez agreed to do so, saying later that she found Aloe\u2019s talk about cultural limiting beliefs helpful. \u201cI can relate to them, all of them actually,\u201d Martinez said after Aloe\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n

While Aloe\u2019s talk centered on culturally limiting beliefs among Latinos \u2013 as immigrants or children of immigrants \u2013 many of the lessons also resonated with non-Latinos in the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much that she talks about that applies to Latinas, of course, but to women in general,\u201d says Liz Rich, executive director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. \u201cYou don’t question those beliefs because they’re so ingrained in your cellular data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rich says she met Aloe during the 2020 Women\u2019s Entrepreneurship Week and was \u201cabsolutely just blown away by her from the get-go. I thought that she was just such a kind, giving, wise person who just had so much to impart beyond just how to work in business spaces; she teaches you how to live in life spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Associate Provost for Hispanic Initiatives and International Programs Katia Paz Goldfarb, right, and Executive Director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Liz Rich, third from right, and other audience members listen during author and speaker Valeria Aloe\u2019s presentation. Her book titled Uncolonized Latinas: Transforming Our Mindsets and Rising Together<\/em> is in the foreground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez<\/a>. Photos by John J. LaRosa<\/a>.<\/p>\n