We’re taking the word back. Anjelica, Monica, and Mary Ann debut “Las Patronas” to redefine leadership, fear, and ownership.
For many of us, the word “Patrona” (Boss Lady) has carried a heavy, often negative weight. It was whispered as a critique—calling a woman “bossy,” “demanding,” or “too much.” We were taught to shrink ourselves to avoid the label, fearing that stepping into our power meant stepping out of line.
Enter Anjelica, Monica, and Mary Ann—the voices behind the new “Las Patronas” segment. These three powerhouses aren’t just podcast hosts; they are mothers, professionals, and trailblazers who are actively rewriting the script. They have navigated the fear of being seen and are here to show you that leadership isn’t just for the boardroom; it’s for your living room, your community, and your own mirror.
In this debut episode, you will learn how to strip the negativity away from your ambition. We are redefining “Patrona” not as a slur for a difficult woman, but as a badge of honor for a woman who owns her flaws, her decisions, and her entire life.
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Anjelica: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Latina Leadership Podcast. We are so excited to be here with you today. And we have a little something different for you guys. We are launching a new segment of the Latina Leadership Podcast called Las Patronas. And I am so excited to be here with these two beautiful ladies, Monica and Mary Ann. And I’m Anjelica. And we’re going to just talk about what a Patrona is and what it means to us and why we’re doing this.
Anjelica: So, ladies, welcome.
Monica: Thank you.
Mary Ann: Thank you.
Anjelica: So tell me, let’s just jump right in. Why are we doing this? Why are we here?
Monica: Well, I’m here because you told me to be here. No, I’m just kidding. I’m here because, well, I’m Monica. And honestly, fear has held me back from a lot of things. And I like being behind the scenes. I’m safe there. I’m comfortable there. But you guys, you know, pushed me to be out here. And so I’m doing it. I’m doing it scared. But I’m doing it. And I think that’s what being a Patrona is, is just doing it.
Anjelica: I love that. I love that. And Mary Ann?
Mary Ann: Well, I’m Mary Ann. And I am here because I think it’s important for us to share our stories. I think that we have a lot to offer. And I think that being a Patrona means owning it. It means leadership. It means ownership. And I think that that’s what we’re doing. We’re owning our stories. We’re owning who we are. And we’re sharing it with the world.
Anjelica: I love that. And for me, you know, the word Patrona has always had kind of a negative connotation, right? It’s like, oh, she’s a Patrona. She’s bossy. She’s, you know, a bitch. She’s, you know, all these negative things. And I think for us, we want to redefine that. We want to take that back. And we want to say, no, a Patrona is someone that owns who she is. She owns the good, the bad, the ugly. She is the boss of her life. And she is owning it. And I think that that is so important for us as Latinas to see that. To see women that look like us, that sound like us, that are doing it. And not just doing it in a professional sense, but doing it in life. Like, we are owning our lives. We are owning our decisions. We are owning our mistakes. And we’re growing from them.
Monica: Yeah. And I think it’s also about, you know, for me, especially, it’s about breaking those cycles. It’s about breaking those cycles and those chains that have held us back for so long. And showing our daughters and our sons, you know, that it’s okay to be a strong woman. It’s okay to have a voice. It’s okay to take up space. Because for so long, we’ve been told to be small. We’ve been told to be quiet. We’ve been told to be seen and not heard. And I think that time is over.
Anjelica: Yes. Amen.
Mary Ann: Amen.
Anjelica: It is over. We are taking up space. We are being loud. We are being proud. And we are being Patronas.
Anjelica: So, what can people expect from this segment? What are we going to be talking about?
Mary Ann: Everything.
Monica: Everything.
Anjelica: Everything. Life, love, chisme. No, I’m just kidding. But no, really, we’re going to be talking about everything. We’re going to be talking about our struggles. We’re going to be talking about our triumphs. We’re going to be talking about what it’s like to be a Latina in this world today. And we hope that you guys join us. We hope that you guys listen. And we hope that you guys get something out of it. Because we’re doing this for you. We’re doing this for us. But we’re mostly doing this for you.
Monica: Yeah. And we want to hear from you guys too. We want to know what you guys want to hear about. We want to know what you guys are going through. Because we’re all in this together.
Anjelica: Exactly. We are a community. And that’s what Las Patronas is all about. It’s about building a community of strong, empowered women who are supporting each other and lifting each other up. So, thank you guys for joining us. And we can’t wait to see you on the next episode.
All: Bye!
