We all face moments that force us to look in the mirror and ask, “What am I doing with my life?” For many of us, especially in the Latina community, it takes a profound loss to shake us out of our comfort zones. It is so easy to seek comfort, to put our heads down and just survive, but avoiding the uncomfortable doesn’t protect us from reality—whether you engage or not, the world is happening to you.
Today, we’re joined by Linda Macias, City Commissioner for Brownsville, Texas, representing District 2. After navigating the traumatic loss of her mother, Linda realized she could no longer sit on the sidelines. She transformed her grief into a powerful calling, proving that you don’t need a fancy title to start making a difference—you just need the courage to show up and bring the right people to the table.
In this episode, you will learn how to channel deep personal pain into community action and why your vote in local municipal elections matters more than you think. You will walk away with the practical encouragement you need to stop waiting for permission, step into the uncomfortable, and start leading in your own life today.
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Pain can be repurposed: Your lived experiences, including grief and trauma, can be the profound catalyst for your greatest community impact and legacy.
Leadership doesn’t require a label: Don’t wait for a title to lead; gather the right people, put your ego aside, and start solving issues in your neighborhood.
Your local vote is your loudest voice: Participate in your municipal elections, where critical decisions about your immediate environment and daily life are made.
Model the courage you want to see: True role modeling starts at home; stepping off the couch and actively advocating for change is the best way to inspire the next generation.
Overcoming the fear of running for office starts with self-belief and recognizing that success is not guaranteed, but taking the risk is essential. Build a strong support system; securing support from your spouse and family is vital during moments of self-doubt. If leadership feels like a calling in your heart, trust that the right individuals will step up to help you champion your campaign.
Municipal elections are critical because local representatives, like mayors and city commissioners, directly impact your daily quality of life through infrastructure improvements like better roads, drainage, and parks. Despite their importance, typically less than 15% of the population votes in these elections, meaning local leaders often win by minimal margins. Your vote directly influences community revitalization projects and local economic growth.
Being actively involved in your community significantly reduces anxiety and depression by fostering meaningful connections and allowing for the open exchange of ideas. Volunteering at local organizations or participating in city parks and recreation events helps combat isolation while channeling your energy into positive outcomes. Shared experiences within the community empower individuals and provide a healthy, actionable outlet for stress.
Anjelica Cazares: Hola amiga. Welcome to the Latina Leadership Podcast. A podcast by Latinas for all women. Get ready because today’s conversation is really special. Hola and welcome to another episode of the Latina Leadership Podcast. I am your host, Anjelica Cazares. And on today’s episode, we have Linda Macias, city commissioner of Bronzeville, Texas, representing District 2. Thank you.
Linda Macias: Thank you so much for inviting us out here. Thank you so much for giving us the space to be able to have a conversation with you.
Anjelica Cazares: We absolutely love the area and the fact that you guys were so willing to invite us and welcome us into the space. Muchas gracias. Okay. Tell me a little bit about the district about the district that you’re representing.
Linda Macias: Absolutely. So I represent district 2. I was elected May 2023rd and in district 2 I represent 45,000 residents.
Anjelica Cazares: Wow.
Linda Macias: And so it’s about 11 different precincts. And every precinct is unique within its problems. And I think if anybody ever wants to be an elected official, one of the most important things is to ensure that we’re listening, to ensure that we’re having that one-on-one, that we’re interviewing our constituents, not only so we can get to know them, but as well so constituents can know their representation. And it’s important to hear out and have that ground on ground block walking um talking to individuals so you know what is important to them and to know what issues are in the area cuz nobody’s going to know more of their community than the person that lives there.
Anjelica Cazares: Exactly. Absolutely.
Linda Macias: I’m like I really wanted to represent. So I think that I had 2,000 conversations throughout the campaign and so Yeah.
Anjelica Cazares: And then Oh, you were doing a lot of canvasing.
Linda Macias: Yes. And it was amazing. So I got to learn every problem and when I got elected I went ahead and I already knew this is a plan in place. So we worked a lot with our directors. The city of Bronzeville has about 21 different uh departments and then well they have their fire and police. So I really got to work with so many directors, so many individuals to ensure that we’re working towards solutions.
Anjelica Cazares: No. Well, thank you. It’s amazing to see a lot of Latinas as uh taking the taking the initiative to actually run for office. What made you run for office?
Linda Macias: So it’s kind of a long story. Um, I got time.
Anjelica Cazares: Okay, good.
Linda Macias: Okay, so my mother was 16 years old when she had me. She was a teen uh obtained pregnancy and so I really understood and because she didn’t have the family or financial support, I really got to understand um the struggles that single motherhood takes. Um poverty, it’s also a traumatic experience to some kids. I didn’t even know that. I was like, okay, this is just an experience that we had. And so that made me very driven. I went on to college. Um, but we were also very empathetic and you know, my mom, my brother and I, we’re individuals that believe in kindness and always helping people because we understand suffrage and we truly believe that you don’t have to be an Oprah Winfrey like let’s just have kindness towards one another and that alleviates suffrage and sometimes those small moments of kindness can really make an impact. And so I got my bachelor’s in criminal justice. I got my master’s in counseling. I was a school counselor for 10 years and I really felt in the midst of um the middle of my career within five years I was like okay I’m so like this is good like I think this is going to be my life for the next 30 years you know I had just purchased a trajectory yeah you know I had purchased my home you know we’re hosting holidays in my house you know I have my husband like this is my life for the next 30 years I’m going to be a school counselor I’m going to retire and this is it but co ends up happening and my mom at that time is about 47 years old and it’s unfortunate and she ended up passing away from co. So as a counselor, you know, grief is something that’s very hard and it’s one of the worst things that any individual can go through. You can always solve things, right? Any problems that you may have, okay, we can try to find a way to navigate this, but how do you navigate death? And so in that navigation, I really had to look at my life because death puts life into perspective. So I gave myself two weeks to really grieve. Like I didn’t go to work. I didn’t do anything for two weeks. I stayed at home and I really had to process what this meant for me. And a lot of the times grief is the the loss of an expected future. So I expected my mom to be there all the time. I envisioned having my mom in a wheelchair and taking her to Lubies and give and going to go seek out that senior citizen discount. That was really the type of future that I had for myself. And God had other plans. So we after her passing I really put things into perspective and I say okay how is my future going to look like now? And so what I started to do I said you know what I didn’t want my mom’s passing to just stay there and that she went through all of this and then that said no her life continues within my heart and I want to keep her memory alive by the help and the kindness that the kind person that she was. So I went ahead and started helping people. So I started doing food drives. started getting really involved in the campuses. We would get our campuses involved to help out nonprofit organizations. Um, and I remember this one time, I’m kind of going off.
Anjelica Cazares: No, no, go for it. Go for it. Cuz I’m following.
Linda Macias: Okay. Okay. So, I just ended up getting very involved in the community and I had a friend term limits went to to effect as a city commissioner. So, as a city commissioner, I can only run two terms and that’s four years each. and term limits go into effect and I had a friend that called me and by this time I have a she was about 5-month old daughter and then I had a three-year-old daughter.
Anjelica Cazares: Okay.
Linda Macias: So young mom and I had this rant. She called me. She’s like, “Hey, you need to run for office.” And I was like, “No, I already proved to myself that you don’t need titles or positions to get things done. As long as you get the right people in place and you have the energy and you’re positive, like you can really bring people together and solve issues.” So, she was like, “Okay, well, what type of representation do you want for you?” And I said, “You know what? I want someone who’s energetic. I want someone who’s going to put ego and pride aside. Someone who has the gift of bringing people to a round table and saying like, hey, let’s all work together, you know. And she was like, do you believe that the individuals who are currently signed up, do you believe they represent that? And I was like, well, I don’t know them, but from what I’ve heard, no. And then they she said something very impactful. And she told me, what type of representation do you want for your daughters? And I said, okay, here’s the deal. I finished reading this book by Bnee Brown and it’s called Dear and Lee. Yeah. And in the midst of that chapter, she talks about as parents, we need to set that example to our children. Don’t tell your children to do something. Do so you can be an example to your to your children. And so I really have to model and role models start at home. Examples start at home. So I said, I need to exemplify everything that I want my daughters to be. I can’t tell them be courageous and then I’m in the comfort of my couch. I can’t tell them you go and be out there loud and and get involved in advocacy and meanwhile I’m just laying back. No, I have to set that example. And so that’s kind of how I started getting into service and you know people just started coming in. So it was really really a wonderful experience kind of one thing led me to the other and I really feel like my guardian angel, my mother is there to guide me.
Anjelica Cazares: Um, so I have to tell you this. I I follow along because uh death does put a lot of things into perspective. I lost my sister. She died from cancer. She didn’t reach she did not reach the age of 40. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to live past the age of 30. I’m one of those I’m one of those girls. I’m from that neighborhood. Like it was I was an atrisisk youth girl. I was like, you know, whatever. My mom was an im my mom came from Mexico, didn’t know the language. Um, and as far as this, this is what I’ll explain to you. I remember my mom telling me one time, you know, um, at as feminine, we have things that happen to our bodies. And I remember thinking, I thought I was dying the first time it happened to me. But anyway, when she started talking to me about it, she was like, “Oh, when I lived in the Rancho, we used to wash them by hands.” I was like, “Mom, I go to school. You want me to wash where by hand?” So, I knew she didn’t understand my situation or the perspective or the things that I was in. Right. So, as we live life like that, my sister got sick. She got really excited and uh she just couldn’t. Anyway, when she passed away, she was she was boneless. She was thin. She died from cancer and it was a a slow harsh death for her. Uh she suffered a lot and she never had the opportunity to do more. And she was smart. She was so beyond wise her years. She was smart. she didn’t even get to reach the age of and so when death came to us was way too close I knew that I really really really could not continue doing what I was doing because I was seeking comfort I wasn’t looking for the discomfortable because I knew everybody is so not everybody those who I knew were so quick to be comfortable because it’s easy to to not worry about what’s happening to not worry about that, not understanding that it’s actually happening to you. It’s whether you like it or not, it’s happening to you. Whether you vote or not, it’s going to happen to you. It’s going to happen to you. And so, I didn’t want that to be I didn’t want that to be what he did. I didn’t want that to be the story that I told my son. He’s graduating from the University of Oklahoma.
Linda Macias: Congratulations.
Anjelica Cazares: Thank you. And I wanted him I I couldn’t You’re the same way cuz again, I was following you. I didn’t want to send the trajectory of like you got to go for your dreams and do this and do that. I’m like look kid this is it. This is I have nothing to offer you. There is no legacy that I can leave you. What I can offer you is help you pay for the education. Let me let me pay for education. Please. That’s the living legacy I can leave you and that’s all I can offer. Hopefully I can do more and I can leave you something or or something something anything. And so that’s that’s the necessary that we needed to take. That’s a step that we need to really honestly take. There is nothing more that we can offer our children and our community but what we know. And if how can we offer our community what we know and we stay inside the house. If we stay inside the house and we we and we say, you know what, that’s not my problem. You know what? It doesn’t matter. Guess what? It’s going to happen to you. Whether you want to or whether you vote or not, it’s going to happen to you. It’s going to happen. So participate. Um be a part of something. We have part of it. Be a part of it because right now I mean I mean I feel like a huge target and I don’t want to be like that.
Linda Macias: Mhm.
Anjelica Cazares: And whether I want to or not I just am. I just am because of my last and my surname because of even now like I I say nothing and it’s like and people take pause to it and I’m like oh god of both on both ends of the aisle everywhere I’m like this this does not I I really need to speak the truth I need to speak myself and and so this is how we started to and you’re paying homage to your sister as well.
Linda Macias: I’m so sorry that you went through that and it really seems that that impacted your life and now it re um rejuvenated you. It’s given you the energy to keep on going because of nothing but love and you’re like okay my life God is allowing me to be here. This is my life and you know what we’re going to do all that we can and you’re going to do your part too. Absolutely. So I’m really glad that you’re doing your part. I did want to comment a little bit. So you mentioned something that I liked a lot. you had said um you know what politics like people need to get involved and it’s true. So just to discuss a little bit about Bronzville we have 200,000 individuals living within our community and we have 101,000 registered voters. So how many do you think of individuals or how many voters vote during municipal election meaning like the mayor, district commissioner?
Anjelica Cazares: From my understanding because I am I’m very no I am very vested into this. Usually it’s less than 15% of the population that votes on these municipal like for the mayor for your city council members less than 15% usually.
Linda Macias: Mhm. Literally people win by like 100 votes. So in Bronzeville we Yeah. 9,000 people come out and vote during the mayoral election. And out of 101,000 individuals that have the liberty of exercising their right to vote. And I will tell you that we’re very grateful for those 9,000 people. And the way that my district works, it’s only the individuals that live in that district can come out and vote for me. So in my district, about 2,400 people come out and vote. 2,500 people out of 45,000, you know. So it is you. It is sad, but I’m also very grateful. I like to focus on the positivity and I’ve had people say so I think municipal elections are very important and it’s important across the board because as a city commissioner and I will attribute a lot of my successes is partnerships and collaboration. So I work very well with Congressman Vicente Gonzalez. He has been truly truly um helpful within my district. I will tell you that he did help us get a $33 million grant for the airport. The airport is in district 2 and we have made significant improvements within the airport and we’re planning on expanding and growing and so we have given that airport a future um more given a revitalization.
Anjelica Cazares: I’ve seen the airport. It’s pretty but it TLC tender loving care. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Linda Macias: And and we’re getting there and we we need to start somewhere and so we have improved it. When I went in, there was no restaurant. There was nothing there. It was kind of like an empty shell. And so going in, um, we ended up getting a restaurant, Kalakas Tacos. Amazing. If you guys ever want to stop by, you can park and eat there. You do not have to fly out. Um, a second thing is, you know, up upstairs, we got a Cactus Brewer brewer, and it’s really delicious drinks that they have their beverages, coffee, um, orchata orchata coffee. So, it’s really nice. And then we also teamed up because something that we truly needed was a playground in there.
Anjelica Cazares: We also needed a business lounge and we were able to do something while they’re there. Yes.
Linda Macias: Kids, you know, they want to be running around. So, we went ahead and did that without utilizing taxpayer money. We did this strictly off of sales tax and this was through collaboration. BCIC and GE. So, that’s another thing. Partnerships, building rapport, building relationships are extremely important when you’re in office because that’s how you become successful. You have a penny, you have a penny, I have a penny. How can we collaborate and utilize this to accomplish something that’s going to improve the quality of life in the constituency base?
Anjelica Cazares: So the giving circle in a very big way that is amazing because a lot of us can do very little with 100,000 but many of us can do a lot with a couple of millions and if you got if you got 100,000 you got 100,000 you got what can we do with this? What can we do with this? But I mean, yes, you know, whatever we can use it like for our own thing and it’s a little piece. Yes. But where is it that we’re all coming? The airport is a great place to start. So congratulations, Bueno. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I do want you to speak to the audience. What would you tell young ladies like yourself who are maybe considering thought about running for office? What would you tell them?
Linda Macias: That’s a wonderful question. Um, and I would put myself in the position that when I first started to contemplate to run, I was afraid. I was scared. I was like, “What does this mean? You’re really putting yourself out there.” Um, success is not a guarantee either, right? Failure is still an option. And so, something that I would tell myself 3 years ago, um, is that you know what, believe in yourself. And secondly, you got this. Like there are so many people who are willing to help you that are willing to believe in you but you have to believe in yourself first. So believe in yourself first and the people will come. And so I would tell you that in my campaign I ended up announcing and where I thought are am I going to get support? Am I going to get help? You know what I ended up getting amazing individuals that ended up being a part of my campaign and helping with Um, also if you’re a Latina and you’re married, make sure your husband’s supportive. That’s most important. Your family being supportive. My husband, I mean, he worked that campaign as if his name was on the ballot. He was like, “No.” He was so And every time I had a self-doubt, he was like, “No, you lift yourself up. You got this, you know, and so you just got to keep on going.” So if if it’s something within your heart, cuz that’s the thing for me. I really felt like it was a calling. After we had that conversation, it just kept in my mind. It just kept in my mind. It was in my heart and it was something that I could not shake off. I talked to my husband about it, you know, he was all in. I said, “Okay, we’re going to do this. We’re going to do this.” So, we went ahead and started the process and like I mentioned, we had individuals coming in to support and help. And, you know, we were a camp of I would say that we had consistent people. Four people was myself, my husband, like two friends. And a small group is a very mighty group. Yeah. Yeah.
Anjelica Cazares: Yeah. Just believe in yourself. I do want to um parting words for the entire audience. Just parting words. What would you And thank you. Congratulations and welld deserved. But I would love some parting words for the audience.
Linda Macias: So, first off, thank you so much. I really appreciate it and I love how creative you are. This was something completely different. I’ve done a podcast in a park. I’ve done a podcast at a studio. And now I’m doing it here. So, it’s you never know. I mean, just from yesterday to today, I had my calendar booked up. I wanted to ensure that I g was able to gift you some time and and for you, I’m so grateful you gifted me this time to have this experience. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to talk to someone about, hey, this is what we’ve been through, but we have overcome. It’s very empowering and who knows, sometimes a shared experience can influence somebody else. And so, just some parting words is be a part of the community. It’s very healthy in regards to when you feel connected to somebody. Um, and being a part of the community, I do believe that it does reduce anxiety and depression because you’re be able to exchange ideas with somebody. You’re able to connect with somebody. Um, there are so many different groups within our community that need help that need volunteerism. If you’re ever bored, you know, follow one of the Facebook pages such as Bark, the animal shelter is always looking for individuals to volunteer. We have the city of Bronswill parks and recck department. We have 46 different parks and we have hundreds of events. In fact, we have an event today at 5:00 at Charlie Capital, which is in my district. We’ll be going out there. So, every day there’s so many events. And please be a part of politics. As I mentioned, a lot of us can get frustrated, but know that advocacy and being involved goes a very long way. So, if you want better roads, if you want um drainage improvements, if you want more sidewalks, if there’s parks that you believe should be around your area, which is something that I’m working very hard in my district to improve quality of life, but if you feel this great sense of like, hey, these are some improvements, talk to your representatives. That is why we’re here. So, nonetheless, my name is Mas, proud city commissioner representing district 2 in Bronzeville, Texas. And thank you so much for having me. Gracias. Yes. Because a civic duty is not only a personal duty, but it’s a community duty. One go. Bye.
Anjelica Cazares: And here I’m here with the sweet Linda. Linda, tell me your full name and what do you do? Are you in? Okay. Tell me your full name. Who are you? What do you do?
Linda Macias: Um, I do track. I run high go to Lasers High School. And my full name is Linda Macias. Cool. Okay.
Anjelica Cazares: You What grade are you in?
Linda Macias: 10th.
Anjelica Cazares: 10th grade. What are you going to Okay. Do you have a plan like after school? What do you plan to do after school? Well, after school, like after you graduate high school?
Linda Macias: Oh, uh I plan to go into being a kids therapist or maybe psychology. I’m not sure yet, but that’s what I’m interested in.
Anjelica Cazares: Okay. And why?
Linda Macias: Because I just feel like I want to understand kids and like understand like why they do things. And like especially psychology like I just want to know like why they do things like just like like serial killers like why.
Anjelica Cazares: Yeah. Yeah. So your interest is in the psychology of young kids. Why young kids and not like adults?
Linda Macias: Young kids because I just want to learn how like we’re everything’s going on and like why they do it. Yeah. Cuz when your kids when your kids like when you’re a kid like you just do things and like you don’t have like more of an acknowledgement of what you’re doing. So whatever you see at home is like whatever you’re going to show at school or different places. I just want to know like Yeah.
Anjelica Cazares: Yeah. What do you feel how do you feel is going to make a difference to understand what they do and why they do what they do? What’s going to make a difference?
Linda Macias: um probably like being understanding and maybe put them in the right environment. Okay. Because it’s also a lot on parents and I just think it’s very like any like any little thing that they do like they hit their kids a lot you it impacts impacts them a lot.
Anjelica Cazares: Yeah. Something of being able to be or treating each other right. Right. Like school one school bullying. What do you Okay. As you grew up, you’re from the area. As you grew up in the area and everything that’s going on today, do you feel like kids who are younger have it harder than you did when you were like their age? Like kids, young kids like maybe 10 years old, 9, 8 years old. So, like you’re talking about now, right?
Linda Macias: Yeah. I think now because they probably have a lot more trouble focusing at school because of phones and because I feel like parents right now, I feel like they should really like restrict on what they see and restrict like the times that you should be on their phone. Um it also hurts their eyes like the blue light when they get older their eyes are going to be like not as how like they’re supposed to be.
Anjelica Cazares: Yeah. Yeah. So when you talk about like their do you feel like the difference it makes of being addicted to a phone or do you feel like it had an impact on you and that’s why you know it’s definitely going to have an impact on you?
Linda Macias: Yeah. When I was little I didn’t really have any restrictions on the internet or any of that stuff and I would just use it like like nothing. I would just be on my phone all the time. And I just think like maybe when like when I have kids, I don’t want them to be on their phone or any of that stuff. I don’t want to buy them a phone anytime soon or iPad or electronics at all. Yeah.
Anjelica Cazares: Oh my god, that’s amazing. Okay. Well, I’m going to ask you this and we need some parting words. What advice would you give for young girls just like Linda who are in the same situations and who also are looking to get into psychology? What words of encouragement would you give them?
Linda Macias: I would give them to make sure to follow your dreams. Don’t let anyone like put you down at all and just go what you want to do. Just make sure get done your schoolwork. Um have your grades right. Um just keep going for what you want to do. Like just get like if you have to get uncomfortable to get comfortable. So when you’re like uncomfortable like you don’t know what you want to do. um like you’re struggling, but once you get into like you’re out of your comfort zone, you’ll get more comfortable into what you want to do.
Anjelica Cazares: That’s amazing. I love that you have to be uncomfortable to get comfortable. Or you are wise beyond your years. Thank you so much, Linda. Thank you. Thank you so much.
