#44: Shasia Rangel - Industrial Design to Social Work, Mexico-America Culture Shock, and Leading with Empathy

Shasia Rangel shares her journey from growing up in Mexico to building a new life in the United States, exploring her career transition from industrial design to social work and the challenges of cultural adaptation.

• Studied industrial design but moved away from it
• Found fulfillment in social work, helping neurodivergent adults navigate toward independence
• Discovered that building a community through dance was crucial for her smooth transition to America
• Faced culture shock, especially around food authenticity and differences in conversational topics
• Learned valuable leadership lessons through dance, focusing on empathy and situational awareness
• Believes strongly in the importance of mental health and the benefits of therapy
• Working to embrace that "life is meaningless" in a positive way - finding freedom in creating your own purpose
• Encourages everyone to "speak and live your truth" while embracing change as a natural part of growth

Guest bio:
Mexican-American, born in the States but raised in Mexico. She majored in Industrial Design, but recently transitioned into social work after a long journey of craving to do something more meaningful with her career. Outside of work, she has been a leader of Koreos for 3 years and is also an active member of Playground, another KPOP cover project team. 

• Instagram: @dancingshasia / https://www.instagram.com/dancingshasia/
• YouTube: @ShasiaRangel / https://www.youtube.com/@shasiarangel

Links/resources:

• “Why” - Taeyeon | No Limits (dance cover - YouTube)
• Tacos 1986 (restaurant - website)
• “Fancy” - Twice | The Essence (dance cover - YouTube)
• Kurtis Connor (YouTube content creator)
• Danny Gonzalez (YouTube content creator)
• Smosh (YouTube channel)

Transcript

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J.R. 0:00

Hello everyone , ladies and gentlemen , boys and girls , everyone in between , welcome back to another fun and exciting episode of 1000 Gurus with me , your host , jr Yonacruz . Today's guest is Shasia Rangel . Shasia is Mexican-American , born in the States but raised in Mexico , majored in industrial design , but recently transitioned into social working after a long journey of craving to do something more meaningful with her career . Outside of work , she's been a leader of choreos for three years and has also been an active member of the project team Playground .

J.R. 0:32

I was excited to have my good friend Shasia come on the show for various reasons . There are a handful of people in my life with whom I can have a five to six hour plus conversation with , and Shasia is one of them . What I love about her is that she's not only very thoughtful about what she says , but she practices what she preaches and constantly tries to learn and improve . Since I've known her , so she's one of the people who I respect the most . We also have really good chemistry , and so I knew I would have fun recording this episode with her , and we cover a lot of topics , ranging from her experience adjusting to living in the States from Mexico , her evolving career path lessons . She's learned about leadership from dance , why Shasia hates Mexican food in the US , insights about mental health and why her therapist broke up with her . I'm just kidding about that , but sort of not . I think we both had fun recording this one and hopefully you guys have fun listening to it .

J.R. 1:23

So , without further ado , hope you enjoy this episode with Shasia Abbey , rangel Gonzalez , or Sarge for short . We don't call her that , but we should

Interview Start

J.R. 1:36

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of 1000 Gurus . Please welcome my guest , shasia . Please welcome my guest Shasia . Cool Shasia . Thanks for being here . I really appreciate it . I've been looking forward to this for a while now and , for those of you who don't know , shasia and I dance Well , I'll go into how we know each other . But Shasia also helps edit and schedule the posts for this podcast , so anything you've seen on our social media is like a short form . She has seen it as well and has scheduled it . So , yeah , she is a big part of our production , so I appreciate her for that . I'll go into how I know her . So we met on choreos back in 2021 yeah , right 2021 yeah , because I know 2020 is when it hit .

J.R. 2:22

And then we started lemon era then , like next january yeah , it hit . And then we started Lemon Era then , like next January yeah , it hit . And then you are on the team since then . So 2021 , right , right , and we've been dancing together since then and other dance projects , and we've been co-elship on the team for the last few years and , like I mentioned , you also help with this podcast and you do a lot of other stuff and your career as well as has evolved over the years . So we might get into , or we'll definitely get into , that , but what else you up to ?

Shasia 2:48

lately just dance , fortunately , and work , which is good yeah but yeah , that's a good description of who I am .

J.R. 2:56

Thank you , that is all encompassing yes I'm just kidding , we'll get into a lot of that as well . And also your birthday's coming up , right . Yeah , just filmed a birthday cover , I think by the time . Well , and also your birthday is coming up , right . Yeah , just filmed a birthday cover . I think by the time this episode comes out , your birthday cover will have come out .

Shasia 3:08

Yeah , yeah .

J.R. 3:09

So that'll be exciting . Maybe we will link to it Actually we will link to it in the description so they can check it out , because it's really cool . I think I've was a lot of fun . That was the first time dancing with one of your old team , like team project team , but it was a lot of fun . We were at the pier , right right . I remember that because I just took a lot of fun screenshots of like you remember .

J.R. 3:36

It's like the our weirdest and then some parts where I like covered you up or like yeah actually , you know what . I'm gonna link that in one of the intro posts nice yeah anything else you're up to no , no , yeah , that was fun , though .

Shasia 3:52

We filmed this morning and it was also around the beach area of Venice . Luckily , I got to have all my favorite people , my favorite girls it was all girls in the cover so it was really fun , really fun experience , and it was really chill and fast that's great . How many people it was six dancers and then me okay , so you're the seventh who filmed ?

J.R. 4:11

it jordan .

Shasia 4:12

Oh okay , cool nice it was literally just all the ogs . It was really fun .

J.R. 4:16

And then austin came to support with samyak nice , his boyfriend oh yeah , people who listen to this will know who austin is . All right , cool anything else , before we jump into main topics . Thank you for having me . Thank you for being here , appreciate it . I always like to have my closest friends on here , because it's cool to not only catch up I mean , we see each other but not only that , but to have a conversation recorded for forever , until the end of time , so it's nice to cement this moment .

J.R. 4:45

Ok , so we'll

Growing Up in Mexico and Moving to the U.S.

J.R. 4:46

go into the first topic , as usual , which is origin story , main influences . So , shasia , where did you grow up and what were your main influences ?

Shasia 4:51

I guess you can break that apart , if you want okay , so I was born in the states . A lot of people don't know that about me , actually , because I was basically raised in mexico my whole life until I was 22 . So yeah , I , my parents , are both mexicans , so I definitely consider myself mexican over american . Every time anyone asks , yeah , I just say I'm mexican oh , that's where your accent comes from .

J.R. 5:15

Yes , we're talking about this before . He's like well , where are you from ? What's your accent from ? And we had him guess , and she , he's like hispanic and she's like oh yeah , wait , I didn't hear enough words , though .

Shasia 5:25

Well , but it's interesting because I don't think anyone ever tries to guess my accent , so that's why I was curious . I was like , oh , I want to know . But yeah , I've been living here for the past four years now , which is crazy . But yeah , I went to school in mexico . I went to To school in Mexico . I went to , let's see , yeah , I went to school for industrial design . And what's the second part of the question ?

J.R. 5:51

Just main influences .

Shasia 5:52

So what do ?

J.R. 5:53

you think shaped you to who you are today .

Shasia 5:55

So I don't think I've ever had a specific person or someone that I looked up to , but I like to find inspiration in everyone that I meet . I feel like everyone has something that we can admire from them , so I like to see the world that way okay , so you got a lot from a lot of things people experiences and whatnot and there's nothing that stands out .

J.R. 6:16

That was like I don't know . I don't want to lead the question right , but people say my family . Obviously some people , maybe they have a spirituality that they lean towards , or maybe school experiences or where they grew up or stuff like that . But I don't know if anything comes to mind .

Shasia 6:32

I mean , of course , my family . I'm really close to them , so yeah , but I do have a couple of maybe mentors during school that guided my pathway throughout my life , like decisions that shifted my career or my decisions , but maybe I'll go more into it later how did you end up moving to the states like why ?

Shasia 6:51

right . So because I have the american nationality , like always , like when I was growing up , I always thought that this might be a possibility for me . I wasn't sure if I was gonna like it , so initially my plan after finishing college was to move here for six months and see how he liked it , and then I just stayed so where did you live ?

J.R. 7:13

did you have family here ? I feel like I know the answer to this . Yeah , also as a no yes , yes , yes .

Shasia 7:20

so my whole mom's side of family lives , or has lived , in California , because my mom migrated to the States when she was a child . So ever since her whole family just lives here . So I came often to the States because of that and , yeah , I think because of that it was a little easier to transition into that decision of moving here , like I wasn't just by myself . And then my sister moved to the states , maybe four years before I did so . When I first moved here I lived with her for two years , maybe a year and a half , um , and then now my parents also live here because my sister had a baby well , now a kid bigger baby yeah , so they wanted to come over to just help her out and see him grow .

Shasia 8:06

But yeah , basically now my whole family is here , and even my dogs and stuff , so I have no reason to go back to . Mexico , but I definitely miss it a lot .

J.R. 8:16

Yeah , I remember was it last year . You took us down to Mexico just to see your area and stuff like that . It was really fun .

Shasia 8:24

Yeah , I think it was almost two years now , but yeah , but it was during christmas . That was really fun , oh that's right .

J.R. 8:30

Yeah , so for our team we have these bingo fundraiser things , and so I bought one of the bingo squares , which was to take us down to mexico for , like , tacos or something right and I think , was it also jordan , or and ? Jordan and austin yeah and then so we went down and saw where , like Shossi , grew up and everything and taking us to like the taco stands and the grocery stores and we got some just random stuff .

Shasia 8:52

Yeah , because that's another thing . Right , I lived in Tijuana for nine years , and then I can do the math right now . But the rest of the years that I lived in Mexico , I was in a different city called Leon , which is what I consider now my hometown , because most of my memories are actually in Leon and then most of my friends are also in Leon . I have no friends in Tijuana , but I like going to TJ for food , so that's why I wanted to take him .

J.R. 9:15

So Tijuana was the earlier part of your life .

Shasia 9:17

Yes , the first nine years Okay .

J.R. 9:19

That makes sense ,

Why Industrial Design?

J.R. 9:20

yeah , okay . So then you moved over here because you want to see what it was like . Six months you had family here . Now they are all moved up here . So industrial design what is it ? Why did you choose it ? What did you plan on doing with that ?

Shasia 9:30

Right . So I always liked design , always had an eye for it , always felt some sort of passion for it . But I was also always a pretty smart kid . So all of my life everyone was just like you just have to go to an engineering or something like that to make your brains worth right . But my heart was like I really want to do something that has to do with art . I don't want to just look at numbers or be in the office all my life . I feel like I'll be really unhappy .

Shasia 9:58

So my sister went to school for fashion design actually , and she's six years older than me , so throughout her time in school I would help her out with projects , be at her school and just be next to her during all those years . So I got to see what it was like to be in that school particularly and the type of projects they would do , like the environment , and that made me feel even stronger about wanting to do something similar . But because , like again , everyone kept telling me like but you're smart , you have to use your brain , you have options . Yeah , especially I remember this one teacher that I was really close to in in my last year of high school , like he , I think , had really high expectations for me . And then he asked me like what did I decide ? At the end ? I was like , oh , I'm going for industrial design . He was like what ? No engineering .

J.R. 10:54

And I was like , oh , I follow my heart , I guess . Why do they feel like you'd be good at engineering ? So I know you said smart , but were there any specific qualities ?

Shasia 11:03

good with numbers , oh okay , is the number side of it ?

J.R. 11:06

yeah , and math but you have no interest in numbers or math I really like math when I was in high school .

Shasia 11:12

But actually the reason why I went for industrial design is because it's like a mix , because what industrial design is is basically product design , but in mass production . So they teach you the aspect of , like how do machines work and how do you make this possible , like through the machines .

J.R. 11:28

So what are some examples of like mass produced products like that ?

Shasia 11:33

I'm like looking at a lot of things like yeah , everything yeah , basically so what is an example of non-industrial design thing ?

Shasia 11:40

so a lot of product designers just do things like more manually , like they actually do it themselves , or there were some stuff that we actually learned that were a little bit more on that side . That is what I ended up liking more about industrial design and it's the reason why I decided not to pursue it as a career after . But ceramics , for example , you can't really like mass produce it if I don't know , you can , but it's not as pretty and like as valuable in my opinion . But a lot of designers actually take the time to make the molds and just do one by one . There's someone making it like clearly and , yeah , I think just industrial design at the end of the day .

Shasia 12:20

The reason why I didn't want to pursue it is because I , through school , I learned also about how damaging it could be for the environment , because they're somewhat realistic and they're trying to teach you also to step away from just producing trash for the world . Because one thing that they teach you in school is you have to find a need for you to be able to design something like . Someone has to need something for your product to be successful . But a lot of people make up needs to excuse the product .

Shasia 12:55

Basically oh interesting , like they go in reverse yeah , like they try to make a product but not figure out where the need is first or it's a need that is not really a need like you're , like it's stupid , I don't know . Avocado cutters that are like weirdly shaped and then it's like a one one used product .

Shasia 13:11

Basically that's not really something that is well designed , it's basically just made for money and a lot of things are like that .

Shasia 13:18

And I started realizing that as I was in school and I was like I don't know if I can see myself doing this , because I always had a passion for protecting the environment and just , of course , human rights , but , like animal rights and taking care of our world , we only have one .

Shasia 13:33

So the more I learned , the more difficult it was for me to see myself in that career . Maybe I could see myself as a product designer , but I was like I don't know if I can do industrial design . And then also I started hitting math as I was getting more into it . Like I had I don't know like seven classes , seven courses that were like math related , and every time , like I just started hitting it more and more and more and I was like okay , maybe this is not for me , but I still had really fun classes . Like I learned how to do things in different materials . Like I learned how to use or like how to work with wood , metals , plastic , ceramics , as I mentioned , like basically any type of material I learned to work with and that I really liked , and which is why I feel like maybe I would have enjoyed studying product design more than industrial design .

Shasia 14:23

But I don't regret my decision and I made really good friends in school and it was fun overall so then maybe product design in the future , if it comes around , if it makes sense yeah , I would love to go back into ceramics at one point when I have money maybe , maybe have like a workshop and have like my own line where I can just do the things myself and I don't know a helper or two , but I like to be able to just do it myself , like I don't want it to be like a mass thing , like I just want it to be intimate .

J.R. 14:56

Like not a mass produced product , but something that's more personal and that's part of art , right , it's like unique , okay . So then , now that you know that industrial design or , I guess , mass produced products is not really your thing and it didn't align with your values of what you wanted to contribute to society

Career Shift to Video Editing & Production

J.R. 15:12

, what do you gravitate towards now , now that you have more self-awareness ?

Shasia 15:18

So I guess I could give a little bit of background what I ended up doing after school first , but I got more into video editing and production because I didn't want to do industrial design in school , right , and I had one class I was video editing related and by this time I was already doing covers and like stuff like that and uploading to youtube back in mexico . So I taught myself to edit before this class . So when I got into this class , everything that they were teaching us I already knew and my teacher saw this , or like my professor saw this , and she was like I could just teach you how to do things that you don't know how to do , like you don't have to do the same stuff that your classmates are doing , because I want you to actually take something from this class . And I really bonded with this teacher like a lot and at the end of the she basically got me my first internship and I got my first job because of that and it was like video related and I really enjoyed that .

Shasia 16:12

And when I moved to the States I wanted to pursue that same career video editing , slash marketing but I started working at a cosmetics company and I just felt like my life was so depressing I was I think the way I describe it is that once I started working like 40 hours a week , I just could not believe that this was my life . That was just like there is no way I have to live this way until I am like 60 something or whatever age that I have to retire . I yeah , it was a really dark time in my life that I was just like I need to figure out something else Like this cannot be it .

J.R. 16:54

Well , what about it ? Was it just the hours itself , or was the type of work or combination or anything ?

Shasia 16:58

A combination Like the environment was not great . It was like a warehouse , and I think this is very common , like a lot of people who are into video editing or like working in that environment literally are in a warehouse and are just like stuck to their laptop or computer the whole day . Right , and I think it's good when you have to focus . But I just didn't want that to be my life like every single day , especially if it wasn't something that I was passionate about , like I wasn't creating stuff that I was passionate about . So yeah , and also , yeah , I struggled with seasonal depression during that time more intensely , so just getting out of work and seeing like the day was over was really depressing . And I think during that time I learned a valuable lesson of trying to make every day worth it and finding something nice to do or like something that I would enjoy . If I knew that maybe work wouldn't fulfill this , then I would just like purposely find something else to do in the afternoon that would fulfill it , and thankfully I had choreos , right and dance and everything , so that helped a lot . But yeah , I just yeah . I just didn't want that to be like the end goal or to continue into that career path . So I guess , luckily now , luckily right .

Shasia 18:14

But , like at the time , it was of course a difficult time but I got laid off and I was unemployed for a year and a half and during that time , at first I was excited about it . I tried to look at it in a positive light because I was like , okay , this is my chance , right To change my career path . This is like a sign like I have to do it . And I was really excited about it for the first six months , let's say . But then I feel like everyone knows getting a job these days is so hard , so , so , so , so hard . So I feel like by the end of these 18 months that I was struggling with that , I was just like I just need to find a fucking job , like I don't care what it is anymore .

Finding Fulfillment in Social Work

Shasia 19:03

But I bumped into this post that was basically , and it was basically looking for social workers and this was something that I was scared at first because I didn't know if they would actually consider me because I had no experience in the work field that had to do with , yeah , social working . But I did a lot of volunteering when I was in high school and a little bit in college . So I put that as my experience right and I felt like this aligned a lot more with what I wanted to do , like in the long run , because I always wanted to do something that was like more impactful or that wouldn't damage the earth more than it already is , like I wanted to give something back to society . That was like my goal , like my whole life , like I just wanted to do something , impact someone's life in a positive way .

Shasia 19:43

So when I saw , saw this , I was like okay , maybe it's a sign . And they got back to me so , so quick and the whole process was so quick . So like for the first month that I started working there , I was just like how did I get myself into this job ? This is crazy . And it felt like a dream for the longest time , like I now is sinked in , but but yeah , for the longest time I was just like I can't believe that this is happening . And also my work environment is just so , so nice , like my two bosses , my supervisor , my coworkers are all amazing people and I just never thought that I was going to be able to achieve that or be in an environment like that .

J.R. 20:21

So the environment for sure is something that you really enjoyed . You kind of quote unquote , accidentally fell into it , but is there anything about the work that you really enjoy that aligns with you ?

Shasia 20:31

Yeah , absolutely Specifically a type of social working I do .

Shasia 20:35

I work with people who have mental disabilities .

Shasia 20:39

This could be either ADHD , autism or intellectual disabilities as well , and my company particularly works on helping them live a more independent life , and all of our clients have to be 18 plus , basically adults , so they are able to make their own decisions , and usually these type of clients are struggling to make that step into becoming an adult fully right .

Shasia 21:05

So we assist them into following habits or maybe understanding systems that are in society that are not as easy to understand , let's say , taxes , applying for jobs , applying for schools , these type of things that usually no one teaches you right , but us , as neurotypicals , understand this as time , like passes , or we can teach ourselves to do it , but they don't . They can't do this and their family usually struggles with doing it , so they seek for help outside . So that is basically what I do and I feel like , yeah , I've always just like helping people and obviously , as I said before , I've always been an advocate for human rights and just standing up for what is right and I felt because of that this aligned a lot with what I wanted to do , and every day is hard , I would say , but at least at the end of the day I feel fulfilled with what .

Shasia 22:01

I do Like I don't really care anymore about changing I don't know , millions of people's lives , but I'm just content with helping the two clients that I see that day . Knowing that I was able to support them that day with whatever I did , it's just very fulfilling .

J.R. 22:20

My two follow-up questions before

Neurodivergent People, Mental Health, and Therapy

J.R. 22:22

we shift topics is one what is something that more neurotypical people should know or consider about ? Maybe I don't want to say approaching , like dealing with or being involved with neurodivergent people that you think that they don't know or should know ? Maybe that's a very big question , but I'm curious .

Shasia 22:40

No , yeah , I think in general , just try to give people grace . I think it's really easy for us to judge when we see people in the street , for example , or at the store . There's people who are doing things that are not normal in our eyes , maybe , and we are quick to judge and see , I don't know , he's acting crazy or what is wrong with that person , like maybe they are not in their like five senses or maybe they're struggling with something personally , maybe . Don't put yourself in a dangerous situation , of course , too , but just give them grace . Try to put yourself in their situation too , or at least give them the benefit of the doubt , just whoever you encounter in the street , even if maybe they're not neurodivergent and they're just on drugs or whatever , or just a weird friend of yours .

Shasia 23:24

Or just strangers . I feel like it happens more with strangers when they see like I'm walking with friends and they'll be like why is that person doing that ? And I'm like maybe they're in their own neighborhood , like you don't know that , maybe just let them be . But in general I think , just treat people with kindness , yeah more compassion , empathy kindness .

J.R. 23:42

Yeah . Second thing , I guess , is work on the topic of mental health , but was there anything that you wanted to touch on ? We'll get into moving to the States , but in your own , figuring out your work , your career , your life , but also working with people who maybe struggle with this at times and they're neurodivergent . Any thoughts on mental health ?

Shasia 24:00

Yeah , well , as I said earlier , I was unemployed for a year and a half and I feel like that was one of the biggest struggles that I've had mentally . I realized with that that the way that our society is built with capitalism , a lot of our self-worth is aligned to our work and how productive we are . So not being able to be productive during that one year and a half was so , so , so detrimental for my self-esteem . I never expected that to happen , like I . I just never thought that . I thought I was worthy because I worked until I started analyzing that right , but luckily , I guess again , I wasn't luckily in the moment , but now I see it like that I started taking therapy thanks to it . I actually started taking therapy right after I started working , but I wanted to work on like everything that I had suffered for , like the past months before I started working and I was struggling with other things as well . But yeah , I will never .

Shasia 24:56

I will always ask people to just take therapy if they have the possibility to . I feel like everyone could take advantage of taking therapy . Even if you feel like you're doing amazing , we all have something to learn , always , right , we're always learning , but especially about ourselves . I think , I think just , yeah , just going to therapy is so , so helpful . I'm actually having my last therapy session in a week and that's crazy , like seeing , yes , seeing this this is like graduation or something kind of right I don't know what the word is in english like when your process like ends , how do you ?

J.R. 25:29

know when it ends . How do you define like that finishing point ?

Shasia 25:33

My therapist kind of hinted that it was time for us to , but I have been feeling that I had nothing else to share . Like I felt okay for the past weeks and every time I was like what am I going to tell my therapist ? Now I already like literally the same things that we're talking about right now . Is what I talked about last week right , and that happened for two months . Like it just kept happening every week that I was here and she was one day . She was just like so it seems like you know how to handle these things on your own now . Do you think we still need to see each other like every week ? And I was like I know where this conversation is going and I kind of did it .

J.R. 26:10

She's breaking up with you . Yeah , it's not you , it's me .

Shasia 26:14

No , I actually cried about it for a week because it's so weird . I don't know why I'm like this , but the week before I was just thinking I don't want to take therapy anymore because I'm , I'm risking , I'm , I feel like I was wasting my time . I was not , but I feel like I was really busy during those days and I just wanted to have that extra hour a week to do my own stuff and I feel like I wasn't saying anything new , Right ? But then when my therapist told me that , I was like , oh fuck .

Shasia 26:41

I kind of hit it like OK , it is ending and it was scary to know that I was going to be handling on my own now and of course she's always gonna be there , right , it's not like I'm fully on my own now and then I can never talk . No contact breakup . Yeah , basically . No , I can contact , but but yeah , basically , when they know that you are capable of doing things now and you , they see that you are putting uh into action what you learned at therapy , that's when they'll start saying okay , maybe we can start navigating towards finishing therapy . So for the past two months I've been just having two sessions a month , and before I used to have four sessions a month . So it's like gradual . Yeah , next week is my last one .

J.R. 27:27

Wow exciting .

Shasia 27:29

Yeah , I'm all on my own . You're all on your own , yeah exactly .

J.R. 27:33

That's cool . That's great to hear . I look proud of you . Obviously you've come so far and then you know that the most , so that must be such a great feeling . We're definitely not going to get to the next two

Adjusting to Life in the U.S.

J.R. 27:43

things that we brainstorm , but we'll see where it goes . So I wanted to ask you specifically about your coming over here from Mexico and adjusting to the States . We're in Southern California , laoc sort of area all around , and your family's from like Pasadena area .

Shasia 27:59

Yeah .

J.R. 27:59

Right . What I want to know is what was that experience like ? I'm sure there were a lot of culture shocks and things you haven't gotten used to things you have gotten used to . So could you walk us through your experience moving here ?

Shasia 28:10

Yeah , so I think my experience was really smooth because I had choreos , honestly , in my family . Of course , my sister helped a lot . Like having her here was like familiar , like I wasn't on my own fully . I wasn't as close distance wise to my like uncles and aunts , so I wouldn't see them as often , but like living with my sister , of course , was a better transition than just moving to a whole country that you don't know anything about , like on your own right and I spoke the language . So also that helped a lot .

Shasia 28:40

But I think having that community already here because for for context , it was COVID right I auditioned before I moved here , basically because auditions were transitioned to online and I think they were like throughout December and January , like the first days of January , and I moved here officially in February , so like the community was already there for me before I moved here .

Shasia 29:04

So having someone to have , having someone to spend time with , was so much . It was so much easier to transition because of that . Like having someone to spend my afternoons with or I don't know if I just wanted to hit someone up and go get ice cream or try a different restaurant it was easy to do . So I got to know a lot of my favorite restaurants because of choreos , because we're always eating after dance or like practice filming whatever . So , yeah , definitely having that group of people around was so , so helpful . And for anyone trying to move out to a different place , I would just recommend finding community , and I am such an advocate for community . I think community is so important for us as a society and sometimes we stay away from it . But , yeah , just finding community will make things easier if you're moving to a new place .

J.R. 29:59

That's a good pro tip . What were some of the if you have any that come to mind biggest culture shocks or things getting used to from Mexico to here ?

Why Does Food Taste Different?

Shasia 30:07

So the first one was food .

J.R. 30:09

What Our food isn't as good .

Shasia 30:13

The one thing that I always told friends like I don't know . This is just in my brain , but for me just food doesn't taste as fresh . In the states , like in mexico , we have everything around us , right , all the fruits and vegetables are grown around us , so like everything is fresh . But here , like I don't want to like spoil , I don't know . It tastes a little bit like plastic , I don't know how to describe it . Wait , you don't want to spoil ? I don't know . It tastes a little bit like plastic , I don't know how to describe it .

J.R. 30:33

Wait , you don't like plastic .

Shasia 30:36

I don't know .

J.R. 30:37

Why do you think that is ? Why do you think it tastes much different ? So , distance-wise , we're not that far , and if you go to a place where it's , let's say , the restaurant owner is from Mexico , or their family or whatever , Theoretically in my brain shouldn't it be the same right ?

Shasia 30:52

but it doesn't taste the same right .

J.R. 30:53

Right , that's exactly what I would say too . What do you think is the difference then ?

Shasia 30:55

I have no idea .

J.R. 30:56

The capitalism air I think so .

Shasia 30:58

Mexico is also a capitalist country , right ? Sure but I do feel like maybe there's stuff in the states that are approved that in mexico aren't like fda approved that ingredients uh-huh , a lot of preservatives that maybe are not approved in other countries or are not as easy to consume in other countries .

Shasia 31:17

Yeah , I'm still trying to figure that out . I don't understand why that happens . Like one thing that my family doesn't understand either is I don't eat tortillas here . I don't . I'm not . Like sorry to all my fellow Mexicans , but I'm not a huge tortilla fan . Take Mexican . You don't eat churros , right to all my fellow Mexicans , but I'm not a huge tortilla fan , but Take Mexican .

J.R. 31:34

You don't eat churros , right ? Or is there something else you don't like ?

Shasia 31:37

There's a lot of things . Well , I just don't eat Mexican food in the States . That's the thing . That's what I'm going to say . In Mexico I eat a little bit of tortilla , but in the States I just cannot stand it . Like the flavor is so fake , it's so so , so fake . So , yeah , the food basically was the first thing that I was like I cannot , I need , like I , as I said , I don't eat mexican food in the states . I try to just crave it until I go back home and I'm like okay you save your cravings yeah , this is so much better , I just eat it from yeah .

Shasia 32:06

And then it's so sad because everyone like keeps trying to recommend me places and be like no , but this place is authentic , you'll like this one . And I'm like at this point I don't expect anything . I'm just like OK , I'll try it , but I feel like I won't , I won't like it . And then , yeah , I almost always don't like it .

J.R. 32:21

You know , what's funny is that I think I've went to maybe a couple of Mexican food places with you , and and it's always that holds your breath oh , what does Shazia think ? So now part of me is thinking maybe you were just being nice to us in the restaurant . It's good .

Shasia 32:34

The thing is , every time I eat Mexican food , I never expect it to taste like authentic .

J.R. 32:39

Never , oh . So just your expectations are lowered .

Shasia 32:41

Yeah .

J.R. 32:45

And I'm like , yeah , it's good . So what do you eat , Shazia , if you don't eat mexican food ?

Shasia 32:49

the way that I usually eat is just more like ingredient based . Honestly at this point , like what ? Like ? My go-to is like rice , broccoli and salmon , I see so just ingredients , but not necessarily like a cuisine yeah what about like restaurants ?

J.R. 33:02

do you have like favorite type of cuisine from restaurants ?

Shasia 33:05

yeah , I like a lot of asian food . I've heard from my asian friends that asian food in LA area is really good . I've never been to Asia , so to me it tastes amazing . Maybe people who are from Asia feel exactly the same way that I feel about Mexican food , but you know what ? I have not tried the authentic one , so I'm happy having Asian food in LA .

J.R. 33:24

Yeah , so I have a theory on the whole what makes the food taste different ? Because , like we talked about this too , for example , I don't really like italian food , mostly just because it's not my vibe , like it's just carbs , cheese , oil , whatever . But when I went to italy and had the food there and the pasta and I was like wait , I don't really like pasta , but why is it so good here ? And my theory is that it's really the sourcing , because of course , in those places they're growing their food is different from how we grow it here , and also the sourcing , and we mass produce food and low quality , like you said , and we probably put plastic into the food to give it that American flavor . But then I was surprised because I'm like , wait , I really love Italian food in Italy and so I think now I'm like it probably is just the food sourcing , because theoretically , that Italian chef can come here and make the same food , but it tastes different .

Shasia 34:14

I actually had an Italian professor because I learned Italian in college , but that professor said the same thing I can't buy the ingredients to make pasta and make it taste like it tastes in Italy . It just won't taste the same . So yeah , I agree Very sad . I do have a restaurant , though , that I would recommend for tacos . I agree , very sad . I do have a restaurant , though , that I would recommend for tacos . Is it 1986 , 1982 ?

J.R. 34:35

Something like that . Oh yeah , the place Did we go ? To that place it's in that area where you used to work right .

Shasia 34:39

Yeah , and actually there's one in Westwood now too .

J.R. 34:41

Oh , that's right , yeah , yeah .

Shasia 34:45

So if you guys want to get tacos , I would recommend they taste like authentic TJ tacos .

J.R. 34:47

TJ Tacos . Oh , sign off by Shasia . Now , just exclusively go there . Affiliate link . Just kidding . No , any other culture shocks or things getting used to I guess

Closed-Mindedness in the "Land of the Free"

J.R. 34:58

getting a little bit deeper .

Shasia 35:01

One thing that I feel like the States is which is weird , because I feel like here is all freedom , america is America freedom . Yeah , it's the , I don't know .

J.R. 35:11

So free guys .

Shasia 35:12

Yeah .

J.R. 35:13

So free that we have military right now in LA County .

Shasia 35:16

Right , every fucking corner . But like everyone , like I feel like of course America wants to , wants the world to know that they are like the freest country , or whatever To project that .

Shasia 35:28

Yeah , so it was really ironic to feel like I couldn't really talk about a lot of topics when I moved here , because I felt like people weren't ready to have those conversations . And I still feel that way about some certain things Like , for example , socialism or feminism or like the I don't know the environment . There's so many things that I feel like the states is so close-minded about , and I've tried talking about these topics with like family , with friends , and it's just so hard for them to not get defensive about it and I've tried with so many people , right , and I feel like that has made it really hard for me to connect or find like meaningful connections . And I think now I'm used to it and I like I've passed the point that I'm like I can make meaningful connections regardless of not being able to talk about these topics with them .

Shasia 36:18

But at the beginning I struggled so much because I would talk about these topics so much with my friends in Mexico , like it's just a normal conversation that we'll have every day , like if we felt about something specific I don't know about the government or about what's happening , like we would just talk about it casually . But I feel like here I have to be so aware of what I'm telling to specific people because I feel like they might take it the wrong way or they think I'll be an extremist . There's just yeah , it's just not a free country . I think that makes a lot of sense , because I think it's just not a free country .

J.R. 36:49

I think that makes a lot of sense because I think it's ingrained in American culture that it's identity politics is very prevalent and so with that is a lot of people who are rooted in their identity , of who they think they are , and therefore any sort of discussion on other topics that attacks their identity they're so resistant to that . I think it's just ingrained in the culture .

Shasia 37:10

It is , and it's scary in a way , like I just wish that people were a little bit more open-minded about those topics and I feel like it's so . As I said , it's so ironic because people think they're so open-minded here , like they like on instagram or like tiktok , they'll be like oh yeah , like talking about these topics . It's like they're coming up with new ideas . Well , these topics were conversations that I was having with friends maybe six , seven years ago . Yeah , I guess this is just catching up .

J.R. 37:34

Yeah so you are open-minded oh , my god , I was waiting for it .

Shasia 37:39

Yeah , I could see that .

J.R. 37:41

Oh my god sorry , anything , anything else . I want to switch over to dance a little bit while I have some time , but anything else on the topic of culture shock or anything , okay , so

Leadership Lessons from Dance

J.R. 37:53

let's go into dance leadership , because I feel like you have some good insights here , probably , and so what has your experience been with dance leading ? And I don't know if it's a good question , but what draws you to it ? And then the follow-up questions are like biggest challenges right .

Shasia 38:07

So I've been dancing I think since I was like 12 . So when I first started I got into K-pop I saw that they had like cool dances and stuff and I wanted to learn it Right . I don't know why or how , I made friends on Facebook that also were into K-pop and I kind of made like a little group and we even filmed a video for youtube . I will not link it dang it .

J.R. 38:35

I was gonna research you , but she said no .

Shasia 38:36

So I actually don't know where it's at , but lost media . But yeah , uh , that was like the first group that I made that got me into dancing and stuff . And then after that I like met friends and stuff . Like just throughout my dance experience or dance career I've always gravitated towards leadership or have been put into that position without me really wanting to . I think it's just because I have a big personality , so I have a big voice and a big personality , so it just like gravitates towards that . And then people like start listening and yeah , it just when I was younger , it just happened . It wasn't like something planned .

Shasia 39:20

And after that , like after the first groups that I kind of was leading , I got invited into bigger groups in my hometown that had more experience . So in those groups I started just as a regular member , right , but then little by little , because I had insights into I don't know formations or cleaning stuff like that , I also started like going up like leadership wise and then I decided to create like my own group . Like I feel like the ones that I did before were just like oh yeah , we're just a couple friends that want to want to dance and are like fangirls and stuff . But for this one . I was like I want to make one that I can actually call my group and do things that I want to do and lead us into a specific direction , like not just something for fun . So yeah , I created a group with some friends the essence we are also . We were also on youtube for a couple of years , not active anymore , but but yeah , that group basically I feel is a group that gave me the most experience leading and I learned a lot through through that group and also kind of left a little traumatized .

Shasia 40:23

So when I moved here I was like I don't want to do any type of leading , I just want to be like a little sponge and like just absorb all the information that I can , learn as much as I can .

Shasia 40:35

And I feel well , maybe you remember , but when I first joined koreos I was just like like learning mode like the whole time . I was just so focused and trying to just observe how they would , like clean stuff or teach us stuff or lead the projects , like I was just really focused and , yeah , I just wanted to learn as much as possible from the experience . And unfortunately , a couple months after I joined , a lot of people left and we were left with without a lot of leaders . So it felt irresponsible of me to not step up if I had the capability to , at least as an OSL official subunit leader slash leader in choreos . And ever since I just kept getting more and more responsibilities because I felt like I had to . I wanted to pass down that knowledge to other people . Like I felt like it was selfish to keep that information to myself , knowledge to other people Like I felt like it was selfish to keep that information to myself .

J.R. 41:37

That makes sense . So , over the course of your leadership experience , one thing that I would love to know is some of the biggest lessons that you've learned or takeaways that you've helped that you could pass along to future leaders or people who , I guess , learn from your mistakes , or something like that .

Shasia 41:50

Well , as I said , I always had a big personality and big voice .

Shasia 41:53

I feel like when I was younger , I was not as good listening . I was stuck on like being right or like wanting to be right or wanting things to be in my way , and maybe I didn't really see it that way at that time . But now , like looking back , I'm like , oh yeah , maybe I was just stuck on wanting to do things that way that I wanted to do them . Sometimes I still like that , but I feel I definitely have learned to lead with empathy early , by understanding other people first and then trying to adjust to the situation . Because of that , yeah , I feel like a lot of leaders I've encountered lack empathy or are not really good of having situational awareness . Like I think it's good to have goals and have expectations of a project , but like you also have to be realistic and see when your teammates are not in the position to fulfill your expectations . So you also have to adjust to them and see what they need from you , not just what you want from this project , if that makes sense .

J.R. 42:56

Yeah , that makes a lot of sense . You were OSL of the year for how many years in a row ?

J.R. 43:01

I think two In my head it's been like four , I don't know . Yeah , shasia is just a testament to someone from the outside . I don't know . Shasia is a really good leader , so practice is what she preaches . I think most people who are in a cover with shasi have a good experience , because not only is she very competent at what she does and I read through all of the retroforms , it's what she's saying the empathy , the listening , the awareness and leading with that in that sort of perspective , I feel like , creates a good experience for people and that's what I also always want to achieve from a cover right .

Shasia 43:34

All I want is for people to . I think before I all I wanted is for us to feel proud about it .

Shasia 43:40

Now all I want is for us to have a good experience from it it's not just proud of the end result , but also enjoying the whole process yeah , yeah , and sometimes the end result has to like not be as good for us to be able to enjoy that process , and I know that doesn't align with everyone , but I think after years , I just think that is more important , like the experience , rather than just making a great cover . Or if I do have in mind that I want , like an amazing cover , like I need to make that clear for my team members as well , like from the beginning , not even like after we just started , but like from the before . We have who is being in the cover , like the cast before , like I want them to know that these are the expectations for this cover . So if you're not mentally there , then maybe this is not the cover for you to do , but I really want to push us a little bit further for this specific project . But , yeah , being transparent .

J.R. 44:33

I think is also important . Yeah , I like that a lot . I don't want to add anything to that , because I would have said the exact same things that she just said . I think setting expectations up front is super important yeah we are at the time for rapid fire questions , but do you have anything else on leadership , dance leadership or things that people can take away from your experience ?

Shasia 44:48

I think just don't take things too seriously in general , anything .

J.R. 44:54

In life .

Shasia 44:55

Yeah , in life I feel like there's this one thing , that is like this one sentence that is oh my God , life is meaningless . But then also , oh my God , life is meaningless . It's nice to know that there is no meaning and you can do whatever you want with it . It's not that serious . It never is that serious . And yeah

Rapid Fire Questions

Shasia 45:16

that's all I think . Perfect , okay , ready for rapid fire .

J.R. 45:18

Sure wait , so exciting , okay . Well , the first one is billboard questions . So if you could put up a sign for millions of people to see metaphorically , what would it say ?

Shasia 45:27

non-commercial maybe a little because of the situation . Probably no one is illegal on stolen land . I like it .

J.R. 45:39

What is one of the hardest challenges you face in your life and what did you learn from it ?

Shasia 45:43

I think definitely , as I mentioned , like the one year and a half that I was unemployed , but I feel like I already talked about it .

J.R. 45:48

Yeah , I like it . If you could redo one thing , what would you do ?

Shasia 45:53

I think I like to stand by all of my mistakes .

J.R. 45:58

Okay , it's a thought experiment . Okay , we'll move on . What about if you could give your younger self advice ? What would it be , any age ?

Shasia 46:07

Loosen up , like it's not that serious . There you go .

J.R. 46:11

In the last few years , what new belief , behavior or habit has improved your life the most ?

Shasia 46:16

I think , trying to live in the moment . I'm still working on it , but I think it's important to not think too much about the future or the past . Just enjoy what you're going through right now . You're only going to go through once .

J.R. 46:28

Enjoy what you're going through Negative , positive , whatever , but it's just being in the moment . Yeah , enjoy what you're going through Negative , positive , whatever , but it's just being in the moment . Yeah , how do you define success ?

Shasia 46:36

Feeling content with what you're doing . Yeah , whatever it is , it doesn't matter if you're not doing much , if you're just laying on your couch for one day just watching TV . If you feel content , I think that's successful .

J.R. 46:48

Very Zen , very Buddhist answers . Shazia , I like it . If you knew you couldn't fail , what would you be doing or trying right now ?

Shasia 46:57

Probably opening a cafe , yeah .

J.R. 47:03

What kind of cafe ? What's the vision of this cafe ? I ?

Shasia 47:06

don't know . I just always romanticize the idea of having like your little shop and just being able to run it very casually , like not too capitalist , I guess .

J.R. 47:16

Yeah , I only said that because that's also one of my bucket list dreams . Same with aiden we want to just have our own cafe , not to make a ton of money like in my head it would barely break even , but for me it's just a space for the community and then just like the vibes , right yeah if you knew you would absolutely fail , what would you do anyway ?

Shasia 47:35

I feel like I already do it , but just dancing . Yeah , I feel like I already fail , but , but yeah , just continue to do what I love , regardless of the result I like it .

J.R. 47:45

What is something that you've been

Pondering Deeply & Hot Takes

J.R. 47:46

pondering either frequently or deeply ?

Shasia 47:49

I feel like for the past like five years , just the meaning of life . I'm still trying to figure it out . I was gonna ask .

J.R. 47:54

So what did you figure out ? What's the answer ?

Shasia 47:57

like the answer is that there is no meaning , as I said okay and I'm trying to make peace with that and just enjoy it for whatever it is .

J.R. 48:06

Yeah , do you have any favorite hot takes ?

Shasia 48:10

I feel like I'll get canceled if I say things as I said .

J.R. 48:16

I feel like what are the topic areas ?

Shasia 48:18

feminism for sure .

J.R. 48:20

Okay , and then socialism for sure wait , so you're pro-feminism just the type of feminism that I like , the grade of feminism I see , I see , yeah , okay , so we're not ready for the grade yet .

Shasia 48:33

Yeah .

J.R. 48:35

That's fair . What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you've ever made in either time money , energy or et cetera ? Don't say living in the moment . You said that already .

Shasia 48:44

No , I was going to take something like literal .

J.R. 48:46

Okay .

Shasia 48:47

I have a couch that I thought about a lot buying it or not , but I decided to get it , even though it was a little pricey , because I was like I feel like I need just a place to sit and I spend all my life on it , so I'm grateful for that .

J.R. 49:00

What do you like about the couch ?

Shasia 49:02

So I guess TMI , but my bed is like a loft bed , so I wanted a space for me to just be able to chill and a place for me to just sleep . Oh , and I think that separates it really nicely and , yeah , I think my life has a better what is it schedule pattern because of it .

J.R. 49:22

Yeah , yeah , first time I got couch all right . Favorite recent relatively cheap purchase that's impacted your life the most so I was thinking about this .

Shasia 49:32

Lately I've been getting into buying probiotic sodas I have huh , yeah , okay so I think when I first moved here , I was really into boba , like really into boba , and I , as I grow older , I am trying to find like healthier habits and I am also just not craving sweets as much , so that's age . Yeah , yeah , I remember us talking about this when we just met and I was like sugar gives you headaches . I don't really like , what does that mean ? And now I'm like oh .

J.R. 50:04

So when we met , you were not old and now you are . You've crossed over to .

Shasia 50:07

Yeah , I think so , but yeah , anyways , when I'm just craving something sweet and I know that I want to just have a drink , I think a lot of times people just want to have a drink , like on their hand or like on the road or whatever . Boba is a great go-to , but it has so much sugar and so many calories and sometimes I just want , I don't want to consume all that , I just want a little drink and I want a little bit of flavor . And yeah , probiotics , I don't think they work , like I don't think they have probiotics .

Shasia 50:33

Sue me , I don't know yeah but it's just a little drink that I like the taste experience of drinking it . Yeah , so it's nothing about probiotic soda that I would like to hope that it does have something to do like .

J.R. 50:43

I'm sure it's healthy , but I just like it I'm sure it's not healthy .

Shasia 50:47

I wish it was healthier than boba I guess yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , not as yeah , not as bad , I don't know . If I just don't want to drink water , then I'll drink .

J.R. 50:55

That's fair ,

Media Recommendations

J.R. 50:56

okay . Last one Favorite books , movies , videos , articles , media or anything else that you share or recommend the most .

Shasia 51:02

So I'm a big like YouTube like Consumer . Yeah , consumer , I don't really watch a lot of long-term media like movies , or I don't read that much honestly either , but I like a lot of commentary youtubers like curtis , connor , danny gonzalez commentating on what sometimes it's just like stupid movies that are online right , and other times it's a little more like on society or like specific topics and it's also like comedy , so it's fun .

Shasia 51:32

Also , lately I've been into smosh . I know a lot of people used to watch smosh when they were younger . I only started watching smosh like maybe two years ago and they're pretty funny . I think something I wanted to do for the past year was to stay away from tiktok a little bit more because the brain rot .

Shasia 51:50

I think I still scroll , but naturally I've gravitated a little bit further away from that and watching things that are a little more like mid length yeah yeah , it's a little bit better for my brain and it's a good way to distract myself from things that I want to see , because I feel like on tiktok , yeah , you're laughing like one second and the next one you're like crying and the next one , you're like mad because of what's happening .

Shasia 52:12

Roller coaster of emotions so sometimes I don't want to go through that , I just want to have fun . I don't want to , I don't want . I want to escape from reality , and I think smash helps me yeah okay , that is it for rapid fire questions .

J.R. 52:26

We'll go into any questions

Ending Questions: Gratitude & Final Takeaways

J.R. 52:28

, so we end with gratitude shout out to my mom . So , shasia , what are you grateful for ?

Shasia 52:32

I'm grateful for life . Yeah , I am grateful for my friends , for the meaningful connections I've done this year , for the meaningful connections that I've been able to keep for the years that I've been here , and also for the friends that I've been able to still maintain from mexico . Yeah , grateful for my family , of course , for choreos , for playground and , yeah , I think those are for my dogs , but they're my family .

J.R. 53:00

So , yeah , yeah I like it all right . Do you have any final ask from the audience or any final takeaways you'd like them to have from this conversation ?

Shasia 53:07

just speak and live your truth , whatever that means for you . Try to not fit into what other people want from you , and also don't stress too much about what that is . If you don't know what it is yet , I think you will grow into it , and we're also changing beings . So if what you like now is not what you liked maybe five years ago , that is completely okay , and it's okay to embrace change as well . Nice , I like it .

J.R. 53:37

Okay , shazia , where can we find you if people want to connect or see what you're up to ?

Shasia 53:40

so I'm on instagram like dancing shazia and on youtube I think it's just shazia , ringle or rankel , whatever you yeah however , you want to pronounce it when you read it yeah , but yeah cool , all right .

J.R. 53:54

Well , that is it . Thank you , shasi , for being here .

J.R. 53:57

I really appreciate it yeah , I think this was a really good conversation , as expected . I think you gave some really good answers unique answers too , so not surprised . So I'll do my final sign off . Thank you guys for being here . Be sure to like , follow , subscribe whatever you want , comment below . Below , give Shasta some love . Tell us what you liked about this . And yeah , reminders Always be kind to other people , especially yourself , and remember that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen . So thanks for being here .