SONYA PEREZ

Holistic Leadership Coach | Chicana | Mom

Origin and Identity

My identity has developed out of questions. I grew up the middle child of five in a conservative Christian home. As a kid, I was always curious. My dad used to call me the Questions Kid. Growing up in a white evangelical church always had me questioning what it meant to be a Mexican family. But I don't speak Spanish and my grandparents were born in the U.S. I’m also a quarter white.

Through my own curiosity about who I am and where I come from, I have learned more about the history of my ancestors and their journeys. I learned that my great grandmother escaped in the night from an indentured farm worker situation in Texas and the many layers of discrimination for generations which lead me to not speaking Spanish. Growing up I knew that my great-grandparents had resided in Texas and California so I would simply say the border crossed us. I found that the history books "forgot" to tell the stories of non-European immigrants and the reality that Mexico used to be twice as big as it is now.

Now I hold the reality that I come from a people who have been colonized twice (first the Spaniards and then white prospectors who sought gold in the west) and from the colonizers.

I identify as Mexican-American, Latina, Hispanic, and mostly Chicana. But I’m also just me, and that is enough. I have grown more comfortable with my own story and standing firm in who I am and not letting the world push me into boxes.

Professional Spark

I am a lifelong idealist and have always had a desire to be part of the larger global scene. Some of the earliest memories I have was interest in missionary week at church - a time when people would come from all over the world. In high school I did some international mission work and that opened a lot of questions about the global economy, extreme poverty, and inequity. It got me thinking about business and work and the value of work. I was exposed to the idea of microfinance - that you could give a woman a small loan and [from there] build the economy in her community. Out of college I went into microfinance and fundraising for a nonprofit.

My work in nonprofit, my work with my own identity and development, led me to a Masters Program [at Northwestern University] in Learning and Organizational Change. In that program I learned about executive coaching. I learned the power of reframing something and I was exposed to the idea of a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset.

Dismantling Limiting Beliefs

I started traditional school in 7th grade, after being homeschooled for elementary school, and learned that I was dyslexic. There was a group of kids that got pulled out of class for being gifted and talented and I remember thinking “Why am I not in that group? I’m talented, I play musical instruments.” Meanwhile, I was in the lowest reading group and couldn’t pass a spelling test.

I internalized the message: I am not that smart and I better spend a lot of effort hiding it. Like anyone who has a different way of learning, I learned mechanisms to protect myself and how to get around it, including all the different ways of memorizing things to get past the Friday tests. I actually learned a lot in the process and developed a really strong work ethic.

But I still had this deep belief that I wasn't that smart. I was also super behind on pop culture because I was homeschooled. Throughout middle school and high school, there was a shutting down of asking questions and pretending I knew more than I knew as a way of self-protecting. In college I questioned if I really belonged there or if I got in to fill a diversity need.

In grad school I discovered the work of Carol Dweck and her research on students with a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. I had spent so much energy of my life in a fixed mindset, being defensive and hiding what I didn't know, trying to be what I thought people wanted me to be, rather than enjoying the process of learning. Through her work I was able to unpack that.

In grad school I also read the book The Power of Latino Leadership by Juana Bordas and it was like coming home. Her work freed me up to stand in my power as my full self, understanding that the way that feels natural for me to lead - with a cultural commitment to family and community - is an asset to my leadership. Before then, I didn’t know how to own that authentic cultural piece of me in a professional, white environment.

When I felt like I could own myself and be proud of my perfectly imperfect humanness, then I could be more courageous and creative and care for people. I wasn’t projecting all of my hurts and fears onto the people I was working with.

Leadership Coaching

My approach to leadership is called the Leadership Atlas because everybody has their own map. We all have different experiences and beliefs that impact how we’re showing up. Your unique terrain and landscape will determine your unique map to authentic leadership.

Atlas is also the name of the first vertebra between the skull and the body. I have a mind, emotion, and embodied approach to leadership. When we feel better, we lead better.

In my coaching business I help people feel authentic and empowered. When a leader can feel authentic and be ok with themselves and not operate out of a defensive, armored place where they think they have to be something they’re not, or show up smarter than they are - especially for people of color feeling like they have to code switch or be “professional” - they have more of themselves to give to the causes they care about.

Community

Community has always been a big part of how I operate in the world. I naturally made it a priority to be around people who inspire me and stretch me because I love learning. The people you surround yourself with will impact what you think and you will experience their nervous system responses. The communities I am a part of have supported me and greatly enriched my life.

Transition

I love transition. I do a workshop where I work with people to transform their relationship with transition.

Our brains want stability, the three core needs of the human brain are safety, connection and autonomy. When change happens something feels disrupted and our brain wants to reestablish those things.

Changing jobs or routines can mean that our connections are changing. External changes like the pandemic disrupt our need for autonomy and call into question if we have control over our lives. Being aware of our needs and what feels disrupted helps us have self compassion and set an intention for who we want to be through transitions.

Impact

I intend to bring more joy and ease into work and life experience. So much of our life is work - that includes domestic work, motherhood and paid work - and I think work can be joyous. It's hard if you have an environment that isn’t doing that healing work of believing that work can be done differently.

I love working with nonprofits. I say I am a leadership coach for change agents because I think all of us want to bring more love into the world.

There are so many different causes that people are passionate about and I want people to be able to have sustainable energy for their passions. Nonprofit work is about bringing more joy and beauty and humanity to the world. Yet, nonprofit work is often exhausting and people get burnt out. I want to change that paradigm of caring for the whole person to make a more sustainable impact on the world.

To connect with Sonya and learn more about her work, visit her website and Instagram