I Was Never The Problem: The Truth about Systems, Culture and Self-Worth with Jen M. Torres

In a heartfelt and profound conversation with Quincy, Jen Torres, the Puerto Rican lesbian founder of Simply Lead, shares her journey of fighting for authenticity in the face of cultural and professional erasure. Joined by her partner Eboné, Jen delves into the struggles and triumphs of creating a space where everyone can thrive. Through personal anecdotes that range from the oppressive realities faced by BIPOC and LGBTQ individuals to the nourishment found in delicious foods and music, Jen highlights the importance of dismantling harmful norms and fostering environments where true selves can shine. The discussion encapsulates themes of identity, leadership, grief, and the power of coming home to oneself.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplyleadllc/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-m-torres-166004116/

Transcript

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 0:01

Good evening everyone. Tonight's conversation is about what it costs to belong. Not the loud kind of belonging, the quiet kind, the kind that asks you to edit your voice, soften your edges, and leave parts of yourself at the door so you can be acceptable. For so many BIPOC and L-G-B-T-Q People, survival has meant learning how to perform Before we ever learned how to rest, before there were DEI statements, there were truth tellers like Bayard Rustin, Audra Lorde, James Baldwin, Gloria Anzel, doa, and Jose Saria each reminding us, you do not have to disappear to be worthy. Tonight, I am joined by the incredible Jen Torres Puerto Rican lesbian founder of Simply Lead, and a woman who chose to stop shrinking and start repairing culture. This conversation is about identity, leadership, grief, softness, and what it means to finally come home to yourself. So Jen, welcome to Cocoon After Dark.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:00

Hello. Thank you for having me. Also, what a beautiful introduction. You're gonna have to just live with me and do that.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:07

I'll, you're so cute. You have a recording so you can put it on a note card and go, wait a second. This is what I am, this is what she said. I am

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:20

Listen, I'm just gonna throw it out there. I'm just have a little audio of it. Thank you.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:24

I love that. So we're gonna start with Simply Lead. So if you guys have listened to the podcast for a while now, you have heard her amazing wife Ebonne on the show and Ebonne at the end of our episode, I said, get me in touch with people that would love to be on the show that need their voice out there. And she goes, Jen Torres, and she happens to be my wife. And I was like, ah, of course. Absolutely. So I am so happy that she introduced me to you on our call that we had before this a couple weeks back, just getting to know you guys a little bit. I'm so excited. And you guys, in a couple weeks, these two fabulous humans are flying out here to LA and we are having dinner and we are so excited.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 2:04

We are very

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 2:05

Oh, it's gonna be so great. So what did Simply Lead move? When did it move from idea or calling to an idea to a full on movement basically?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 2:18

Yeah, that's such a fabulous question.'cause I feel like I'm such, I'm a person who just sits and festers with things for a long time, a lot longer than I should. So I feel like Simply Lead has been like in my for, for over, gosh, 15 years maybe even. Yeah, I would say. But it didn't, I know it didn't start. Um, it's about six-ish years old now, so it took me a minute. But I think it stems from, I mean you did such a beautiful job with the introduction, but this is a quote that I. Live by, and I think it's what really started for me. So leadership doesn't require erasure and success doesn't require self abandonment. And so I have.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 3:00

oh, so cute.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 3:02

What Simply Lead is. So I think when I moved from Puerto Rico to the States, I had a lot of, culture shock just in general. And I was in my almost early thirties, I think late twenties, early thirties. So I came from Puerto Rico to Boulder, Colorado. And so I had a lot of different kinds of culture shock. And I think one of them was definitely professionally. I was, I started teaching, I started, I took my, I got my master's there. Um, I started seeing a lot of inequities happening, but not just with the students and families I was teaching but also myself, how I showed up professionally. I had a teacher at one point who photoshopped like all of my freckles off and asked. Like wear smaller earrings and can you just not be so much? And it was just all of these small microaggressions that I was learning, internalizing, and then slowly assimilating to the sort of white dominant or dominant work culture in the us and. I was doing it for survival and didn't realize the impact it was having on who I was and all of my identities. And so that took a lot of what is this? So my unlearning started then my journey around, of course we all know like the histories of, but I think I went into this deep dive of like, what is colonization? What is this black, white binary in the us? What is, what is happening in these spaces, especially in a professional setting, not just in my personal experiences. And so all of that. Took me to this space of like, we don't have to do that, and folks don't have to show up in these sort of assimilated ways of being, let's not do that. Let's break it all down. Let's dismantle all of this and let's create spaces where everyone can thrive. But we're gonna do it through a liberatory lens, through a restorative lens, through a lens that everyone, no matter who they are, can feel like they're a part of that process and they can do their own personal unlearning. And then rebuild those cultures together. And so it's like this whole idea of, where I was, where I came from, what I had to learn in the US pretty quickly. And it really was this sort of path of why am I assimilating and it's really taking a toll on my ident. And for my, darker sin Latinos and Afro-Latinos and black and brown folks in the US who perhaps can't assimilate in the ways that I could because I have, white passing privilege. My mom forced English into us since we were born. So she was like, you can't have an accent. You can't do this. So she was very much aware of those sort of, nuances of how and racism and all of that. And so we grew up with those kinds of privileges back home that she knew if we ever went to the States would prevent us from having those barriers in our way. And so when I realized I was using those privileges, I was like, okay, what about everybody else? And like, how is that helping me and who I am and how I show up? I was like a full blown queer Latina lab. Wow. These things that I'm now hiding so that I can perform in a professional setting. And I was like, nah, fuck that. I was like, no. So it took a long time for me to feel comfortable enough in who I was to move into a space of let's create a professional set setting where everyone can do this and everyone can be this. And so that's, gosh, not in a nutshell, I feel like I've been now ranting, but in a nutshell, that's what simply lead. Was for, it was really for me, but then for everyone else who felt the same, who felt othered in some way, who felt like they couldn't thrive as their full, authentic self in their professional settings, and allowing folks to be that, inviting them to come into a space and be, their authentic full selves and celebrate that and recreate cultures that allow that to happen.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 6:53

that's such a great explanation. I am obviously shocked by earrings and freckles

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 6:59

Yeah.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 7:00

because Yes, exactly. They're so cute and you and I both come from a culture,'cause I'm Native American. You get your ears pierced. If you didn't in the hospital, you got your ears pierced by the time you were two months old. We all wear earrings. There's no like, you have to wait till you're seven or 10 or 15 or whatever. It's like it's just part of the culture and you wear earrings. And I remember twice when my older daughter had earrings, a boy walked up to her in first grade and tried to pull her earring out and said, why do you wear earrings? Because obviously in their family earrings weren't popular. And then when I was in second grade, a little boy tried to pull my earrings out. And for the last amp years that I've been alive, I've had two, one hole longer than the other because he tried to rip my earring out of my head. And it's so weird how people actually, I feel like they sexualize girls with earrings. Why is that?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 7:54

I mean, we could sit here and talk for hours about unpacking all of these things, but I'm not quite sure. I'm not quite sure. I think it's baffling to me all the ways in which we are, um. Ridiculed othered and pushed to meet specific standards and norms that make other people feel comfortable. And that's, I think where that starts, this insecurity with oneself of this is the only way, and anything outside of that box is a threat to me in the ways that I believe I should exist and grow up. And so anything that's outside of that, um, folks can react in violence and in a lot of harmful ways and it's really quite unfortunate.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 8:39

So what was your first way that you started your own cultural repair once you came here and you were like hit in the face with all these incredibly ridiculous standards?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 8:51

yeah. I think, of course, reading my mom always says. Education is a path to liberation. It's one of her favorites. And so we grew up reading, learning, that's all she wanted from us. We grew up in, pretty impoverished spaces in Puerto Rico. And so for her education was the way to liberation, to understanding, to being, the best person you could be. And so I, right away, that's where I went. Where do I go to understand and unlearn and learn what's going on around me, in front of me? And so reading, I went deep into so many just brilliant humans that I had not read. Of course, in Puerto Rico, we learn about our culture, our history, American history. You do get those. General ideas. We of course, experienced colorism, but coming to the US I went deep into, um, the brilliant black authors and understanding black history in America, understanding right American history, understanding all of that. And so that's where I went and I loved it. I, and I'm still obsessed. I mean, I read too much, I think.'cause of course you can also get very sad, but every time you read you get more and more angry. But it's the only way to really learn and become your full, authentic self. So I went down that rabbit hole pretty quickly. And outside of that, it was conversations with folks around me. I didn't have a lot of white friends. I didn't know a lot of white folks, and so I was like inviting them to understand their experiences, as much as possible. Um, really quickly realizing, that white fragility and just backing off and really finding myself pretty isolated in a lot of spaces. Um, and you're not white, you're not black, you're not a lot of things. You're very much othered in a lot of spaces, but my goal was to learn from everyone around me and learn as much as I could. So having as many open conversations as I could, that was super helpful. So just, this anthropological approach to what is happening, that was really like my way of understanding and unpacking everything.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 11:05

Oh, that's beautiful. Who, like, I have two questions, so I don't wanna forget. One is going to be about what exactly does the US do for Puerto Rico, but firstly I wanna know right now, who are your favorite authors or what is your favorite thing that we should be reading right now to understand Latinx people's um, existence here in the United States?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 11:28

Oh my gosh, we'll be here forever. What was the first part of this question?

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 11:33

part of it was, what does the US do

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 11:36

Oh, that's why I forgot. Absolutely nothing. They do absolutely nothing. So we have been colonize, I don't even know now, too many years. And I think that, it's a very complex relationship, but it is very much an oppressive one. And so you will hear lots of folks, um. Arguing that we, like other countries in Latin America can be independent. Other Puerto Ricans will argue that we cannot, at this point be an independent country. Um, but it is complex. I think the topic, um, I believe that the US does absolutely nothing but oppress us as a people. And so it's like a toxic relationship that we need to let go of. And so I don't know what that can look like and how that could work. I think lots of folks have some beautiful ideas brilliant ideas, and it's at this point, so complex in how our government works, how the US government works, how they work interchangeably. Um, and so yeah, I just wanna say they do absolutely nothing but oppress and harass us. I'm gonna be that person today.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 12:47

that's okay because I am politically ignorant about it, so I was like, I just wanna ask you, because I know so many Puerto Rican people that live here and have dated them before several, and I just. I never asked them, and that was my fault, I think because ICE is so present right now and things like that. And they're picking up Native American people and and I mean native as in Indian, native American, indigenous people in addition to, our Puerto Rican friends and Filipino friends and things like this. And I just am so continually baffled by it that I thought maybe I would figure out something that we're helping you with. But apparently it's true. We're doing nothing except ruin you.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 13:34

one of the books that would help really just get this, and it's very specific. It's not the history of the US and Puerto Rico, but it gives a, just a brilliant, and the writer was just fantastic. And now I'm gonna forget his name, but the book is called The War on All Puerto Ricans. Oh my goodness. I actually asked Ebony and I give each other books that we love, and this was one that she read. I think last year and she was just like, oh my God. Like, it just really opens your eyes to so much, violence and oppression and just pure hatred for people that they are colonizing. And it goes through,, a lot of history and the lens of a specific, era of Puerto Rico when the US came. And you learn about when it was illegal to have your Puerto Rican flag out. People would get, jailed for life, for having the flag in anywhere if you spoke Spanish. I mean, it would, there's so many different laws that were put in place and so much injustice occurring. Since the birth of, the US in Puerto Rico. And that is one brilliant book that I think everyone needs to read. Another one that I'm fascinated by, her name is Paola Ramos. Of course she's a brilliant at the journalist as well. She's very well known on Instagram or they actually, excuse me, I don't know their pronouns. I'm gonna go with they just in case. They're a queer journalist and they wrote, gosh, is it Behind Me? They have two books that I really like. Oh, finding Latinx beautiful book. And the second one that I really love is called Defectors. That is really fabulous because it goes down the rabbit hole of. Latinos Latino in the US who are basically like prot Trumpers and why, and really unpacking like this, these ideas of self-hate, history fantasy heritage. And so there's just so much there. So I love how they, investigate and interview different folks from across different intersectional Latinx identities. So those are just two the top of my head that I I'm fascinated by.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 15:41

Those sound absolutely ama amazing. And when we're done, I'm definitely gonna look up Paola and Yes, maybe we can get her to come on the show. Maybe you guys can come and chat with her. That would be

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 15:53

Oh my gosh. I will be

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 15:55

Oh

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 15:55

they're brilliant. So yeah, they have a very large following. Their dad is also a very famous, um, um, like broadcaster. He's been on the news for like, he just recently retired and so they come from a very like famous family, I guess you would say.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 16:12

Very cool. Thank you for introducing me to them. So when people come to you for Simply Lead, what are most of these leaders afraid to face when they come to you?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 16:22

Oh gosh. I think most people are afraid to face their own lack of self-awareness and how much their internalized ways of being are actively perpetuating the ways they move in a space. And they also don't often realize. How much of those come from societal norms that they don't even know when they picked up, right? Like, this is just the way it is and you're like, but is it? And so it's really beautiful to watch folks go from this is just how I approach this. This is just the way it is. This is just, how we do things here to, oh my God, when did I pick this up? And I'm even perpetuating something that's either right. I'm a woman and it's anti-feminist, or I'm a this and I'm, upholding the patriarchy, or I'm doing these things and Right. Like they just all of a sudden are like, oh my God. It's like the coolest thing to be a part of and to allow that vulnerability in this space is just what I love to do. And so I think most often that's what we see happen.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 17:33

Oh, that's so beautiful. So when they come to you and you set up a plan, or sorry for my lack of skills in

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 17:43

Oh, no worries.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 17:43

this, but um, do you work in groups so everyone learns from each other? So you set like certain cohorts and you begin and you walk it through it. Is it online? Is it in person?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 17:53

Yeah, the cool part about what we do is that we tailor it to their needs. So a lot of times what I love to do is start with a culture audit or an organizational audit that allows me to really just gather intel, collect the data from the folks in the room. And so from there, sometimes I'll recommend, Hey, I think what you really need is maybe a full day retreat in person. We're all gonna do this together. If I find that the leadership team, maybe there's, um, staff against leadership, right? That's the theme that's coming up, then I'll recommend, you know what, let's do something with the leadership team. Let's do a little bit of coaching. Let's just see where folks are at. And then I'll do stuff with the staff separately, and then I'll combine them throughout. So we weave them through. We can do that virtually or in person, but oftentimes that culture audit, that organizational audit is what allows me to really identify which is the best path for the organization. Sometimes folks don't have budget for that, and they're like, listen, we just need this, or we just want this, or we're just having a really hard time with feedback, or we're having a really hard time, um, with conflict. And then we'll go in and we'll say, all right, then we'll do this kind of a workshop for you, or we'll lead through our feedback cycles with you. We'll build new ones together. And so we build based on their budget and we tailor that approach. Sometimes folks just want us to build actual curriculum for them, so we'll build very tailored curriculum for their specific company and then just send it to them and we'll do that format. And so it's really fun to get to do things very differently based on who the folks are. Um, so that's the approach we take.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 19:34

Oh, that's so great. Um, we found each other also on LinkedIn but what types of things can we help you get people to your page on LinkedIn, especially because you're not a fan of social media, so I assume you might not be on Instagram for recently lead, but how can I get

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 19:52

I need all the help I can get.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 19:53

yeah. To like go on LinkedIn and go, holy crap, this is exactly what we need,

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 19:58

um, so the question was how to get people there or how can you help me get people there? Listen, anyone who wants to, I wanna say just do better, just be a better human in general. I know that sounds so vague and I know that, when you're building what you do and you have to have your elevator pitch, I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to be real specific. In general, if you are trying to either repair, grow, or realign in within your organization or within yourself. Period. That's what you can do with us. And so we do that through a restorative lens, through a liberatory lens. Oftentimes that stems from, Dr. Martin Luther King and Kaa ha and I might have said their name wrong, KAA, I think that's right. Kaa Haku. And so these people who are actively building ways of being that create vulnerability, that create, self-awareness and that create and allow you to be your full, authentic self. So if you feel like you're in a space where only some people can thrive and only a specific group of people are, doing well or not doing well, call us and we'll start helping you unpack and create a space for everyone to do that. And we do that through those kinds of,, ideas, theories, and lenses. Anyone who wants to do better. Yeah, I know we're supposed have a really good pitch, but I just, anyone who wants to be a better human.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 21:22

okay, good. You guys, it's Jen m Torres on LinkedIn if you're looking for it. And it's RRES? Correct.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 21:29

correct. Yeah.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 21:30

So let's go into family, because I, you and I had some conversations and EB and I did about around food and about how important it is for your family and your life and things like that. So what part of your work is the hardest part when you come home to e and a, out of your home office, back from a retreat off of a zoom for hours on end? How do you come back?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 21:57

You mean what is, how is it, how am I interacting with e and a after work? Is that kind of what you're asking

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 22:03

Yeah, especially if you're seeing more damage than repair to start, like, you're like, wow, these, this, these folks need a lot of help here. Like how do you. Come back knowing that there's, and obviously you're happy that they've reached out to you and they're going to change things, but the amount of repair work that you have to do can become really heavy. I'm sure.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 22:27

Yeah, so I, I'm proud to say that it's definitely gotten better throughout the years. I am a cancer, I am a recovering people pleaser. And so I feel like when I first started doing this work, I was entre, engulfed. And what is that? When you're just like, you are, you consume, I think I'm an empath. So you are just consuming everything that everyone has said to you and you're almost, like a therapist, right? Like you are really getting all this trauma, dumping any kind of conflict. All of that stuff is coming at you, all day, every day. And so I think at the beginning I was very much like, oh my God. Like what do I do with this energy? And of course Anthony calls me Wednesday Adams, because I feel like I'm very much that person who will always be like like a angry optimist, or maybe, a happy pessimist, I'm not quite sure. And so at my first few years with Simply Lead, I did not know what to do with that. I think what has been really beautiful, and of course, Ebonee, she's just the most beautiful human ever, is really. The ideas of finding joy, right? And creating a space for that to exist, even when other things are existing. So the ideas that you can hold more than one emotion at the same time, um, you can be experiencing more than one thing at the same time. That has allowed me to be like, okay, all of these things are true. The world is horrible right now. These things are happening. These people are sad. Everything is occurring and I'm safe right now. I have a beautiful home. I'm with someone who I love and we're trying to find joy within the work that we do because we do similar work. And so being able to not compartmentalize, but allow all of those different emotions and feelings to coexist, um, while. Keeping that positivity and that joy as often as possible. And I think I'd have to give as much credit as I can to ebonne for that because she just wholeheartedly lives by those values. And I think I've always stemmed more so from like, oh my God, what dread, right? There's so much dread. And I live in that as like this people pleaser, cancer, all of these things Wednesday, Adams, right? All these like personality traits that I'm like, okay. And so really just being able to live all of that at the same time. So making sure that we are creating that space, that we are being intentional, and that if we are giving each other attitude that we call it out, right? So we are very much. Those people who communicate until you're blue in the face. And she has taught me that is healthy. And I'm like, really? We can't just sit in silence and ignore each other. Okay, great. The silent treatment is not gonna work for you. Cool. All right. And so really just being able to name it and move through it is what's been helpful.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 25:20

that's so beautiful. When your families are over at your house or you spend time with your families, what's like some of your favorite things to do and how have you taught E part, like how to be a Puerto Rican wife, um, lover, if you will.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 25:39

yes. Of course she's been trained. She knows all, all the right things to say and how to act, um, so I think that it's been a lot of fun to, to share not only like our culture, but our food. So of course she eats like no other, because I love to. Share love through food. I love to cook, so she loves everything. And anything Puerto Rican, especially what we call like poor man's food, so like country food that not a lot of people who perhaps didn't grow up in Puerto Rico have tried. And so she's gotten to try like all of that. And so I really love immersing her in that, of course, the language she is, she's always been pretty good at understanding. I think she took some Spanish when she was younger, so she's quick to pick up what we're saying. Um, and now is trying to learn to speak as well. So making sure that I'm like, come on, get it together. It's been four-ish years. You better learn. And so she's loving that. Of course, she listens to Bad Bunny

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 26:34

Oh yes.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 26:36

she's learning his songs because why not? Um, so those are the ways that I've immersed her in, like these beautiful ways of being a Puerto Rican. And she's been back home a couple of times and, we love the beach. We just love to lay on the beach. I mean, who doesn't? But just showing her the beautiful culture. Of back home has been a lot of fun. And when we're together here, oh my gosh, her and her mom love to perform. So we love karaoke. They love to sing. Ebony loves to do all those things, so it's been a lot of fun. She loves to play games being introduced to a lot of different games and, family functions in that way with the karaoke, with the singing, with the laughing and the joking. So it's fun to have us together because we, I think black and brown people don't realize how similar they are in their cultures until they are actively hanging out with black and brown people. And so oftentimes I'll be like, oh, you all do that. We do that. You do that. And so it's been, that's also a lot of fun to, to share how deeply ingrained our cultures really are.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 27:35

That's so cute. I can, I'm like literally imagining you guys just like the life of the party and then, like her mom walks in and she's the life of the

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 27:44

Oh, she's, oh, she's, oh, and they love to dance. Oh my God. Ebony's such a great dancer. I didn't know if she told you. I'm sure she was a drag king for quite some years. And so she loves to put on shows and, she did one last year where she came back and did a Christmas, or a winter holiday drag king show. And I mean, I'm here for it. So we love to

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 28:04

Wow.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 28:05

Our first year together somehow we got invited to a lot of her friend's weddings, which was amazing to learn someone new through that lens. And I mean, the dancing that happened was magical, so that's a lot of fun.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 28:18

cute. And don't you feel like when people are saying their vows and you're sitting next to somebody that you like, love or falling in love with, almost feel like you wanna turn around and go, will you marry me right now?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 28:31

Oh yeah. Especially this cancer, literally like day three, I'm like, you just marry me. Like we're good.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 28:38

So cute. And that is so cute. So when do you feel like your truest self.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 28:45

Oh my gosh. Do you know that is such a, gosh, that is such a hard question. I feel like when, and I was actually talked to e Ebony about this a few weeks ago because I feel like ever since I moved to the States, I was mid, I don't know, late twenties, early thirties. I feel like I lost my full self. I feel like I have never felt my 100% authentic self anywhere in the us. I lived in Colorado, I've lived in now Maryland, so East Coast, west Coast. I've traveled through the us but I don't know that. I have ever felt 100% me, outside of, we call it, oh my gosh. Which is like, the mountain town in Puerto Rico. We were up in the country. And so I think in that house where we grew up, in the middle of nowhere, that's where I feel 100% my authentic self. And so sometimes I have to go back home to feel like I can recenter. Like I have to go sit in my bed in that house in that kitchen and just bring it all back.'cause I feel like there are still moments when I'm here that there are parts of me that are invisible and that either are intentionally invisible or unintentionally that are hiding for some reason because of maybe who's around me or, people. You do code switching, so like, if I'm unintentionally code switching, things like that. So I think when I'm home, that's when I really feel back in, back on the island a hundred percent myself. Anywhere else, there's always something that feels like it's missing. And of course here at home when I'm, in my pajamas with Ebony and we're watching something on TV and we're just like, like I think I can, um, feel like I'm me. But I think if I were to answer that authentically, that's probably my answer.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 30:39

That is so beautiful. So beautiful and so sad at the same time. Um, but can we touch a little bit back on Bad Bunny?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 30:48

Okay. Yeah. Hello. Why not

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 30:51

So you guys are recording on Tuesday. The show goes live tomorrow and the Super Bowl is on Sunday. And he won all those Grammy awards Sunday night, this past Sunday night. Which did you watch? And are you gonna watch the game?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 31:04

absolutely. I watched the entire Grammys. I love it. And Ebony was so cute. She bought me a Benito jersey. So I have my jersey that says Benito, and it's beautiful. And I almost wore it to this interview'cause I was so

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 31:17

You should.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 31:17

I know.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 31:18

Before we go put it on and we'll take a squad cast photo of you and me with

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 31:22

It's gonna happen. So I'm super proud. Of course, Puerto Rican pride over here, but, um, I, I don't know. I've never known anything about football. I don't watch it. I don't understand it, but I have for the last couple years, watched the halftime show and of course this is Bad Bunny's concert and people are, I don't know why they're playing football, but that's what we're doing. So we're excited to go to his concert.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 31:48

Are you flying out here to go

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 31:50

Oh gosh, I wish No way. That would be gazillions of dollars. No.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 31:55

Yeah. Sadly there's not many people that actually get to go that are just regular Joes, like you and me, unfortunately.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 32:02

I wouldn't be able to get through that game. I'm not gonna lie. I'd be like, when is the show? And let's go. Like, I can't

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 32:09

As you said, it's the show and they just happened to be playing football at the same stadium. Yeah, exactly., So during the show, when they kept going to him, do you think that the station was, CBS was trying to make a statement about Bad Bunny in his presence at the Super Bowl and what it means to be Puerto Rican in America? Or what do you think

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 32:33

You mean when they were panning in on him in the

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 32:35

Like continuously? Yeah, like coming up to him, talking to him, panning to him. Like,

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 32:40

Who knows?

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 32:40

he was gonna be the big winner, like I'm curious.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 32:43

I dunno what they were thinking. But I think, I mean, I think what I love about him is that he is 100% authentic. Lee himself, wherever he is, period, he does not, he stands up for what he believes in. He loves his island, he loves his people. And sometimes I think that folks who are either. Maybe afraid or ashamed of some parts of themselves. Often try to hinder folks' joy and light. And when you see people who are truly being themselves, a lot of times you'll see people around who feel threatened by that. Because when you're growing up in different categories of boxes or different binaries and people are outside of those and you're like I, why can't I do that? Why am I not that way? Why am I not allowed to be outside of these boxes or these parameters? I think people tend to try to, um. Hurt and harm those who have allowed themselves and live through that authenticity. And I don't necessarily think that is always on purpose or intentional, but I do believe that, American society in general and just America's social norms ha, are so binary and they're so patriarchal and they're this way or no way. And anyone who lives around that can either, fear for their life or be harmed. And so I think a lot of people who prefer to live outside of the box are living in a box and they're sad. And I think sometimes they try to. Pushed that away from people who are really just so comfortable in being themselves and proud of being their full, authentic selves. And so I wonder if CBS should maybe take a look inside, I don't know, give us a call. We'll do some, some dialogue with you. We'll restore and repair, but I don't know what their intentions were. And I hope they were all positive. And I hope that they were all about highlighting beautiful artists just all around black and brown and all the different intersectional identities that were there. Um, but I don't actually know what their intentions

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 34:57

Yeah, I was,

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 34:58

but I'm now by this question.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 35:00

'cause I kept thinking to myself, do they know that? So many people are so against the halftime show. I mean, they know this, that so many people are against the halftime show, and do they know that they're giving voice to it on purpose, even though CBS is pretty much known to be very right-leaning right. But they host a show like the Grammys, where there's so many different,

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 35:26

is their last year, which I'm also like, oh

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 35:29

Who's picking it up next?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 35:31

I don't know. But I was intrigued. I think Evan and I were like, oh, I guess it's too black and brown. They're like, we're out. Y'all are taking over. We're over this. So I'm not quite sure, but I think this, yes, they mentioned it was their last year, which I thought was also interesting. Yeah.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 35:46

have missed that. Between, I don't know, drinking champagne

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 35:49

The commercial, oh my goodness.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 35:52

we printed out the, um, like a. Contest, like a quiz of who everyone we thought were gonna win. So we, during each thing we wrote down, and then each person, won a certain amount of points per thing. And I happened to win. I don't know how miraculously I won because I didn't vote for who I thought was should win. I ended up thinking more logically like, this is who they think is gonna win and this is how they normally vote. But anyway, but it was

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 36:20

oh, I pray that I was so just proud that he won the album of the year and that he just put his whole heart and soul into that album. I mean, it is a love letter to Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans who grew up on the island and all Puerto Ricans just everywhere. And so to see it win that category and to just be able to play it and feel, oh my God, this feels like home. Like it just makes you feel like home and that is just beautiful. So it was really exciting to watch him win for Absolutely. I'm super proud. Like he's my little baby. I feel like it's my son,

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 36:57

oh, that's so cute. I love that. Let's go back to some other things that I wanted to ask you about being firstly,

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 37:07

Yeah.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 37:07

to our country and being allowed to be who you are as much as you possibly can, right? Marry a woman, a person, um, that is so genuine and so incredible, and you guys get to live this full life together. What is your body? Remember that say your resume can't show.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 37:32

Oh my gosh, what does my body remember? In what sense?

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 37:36

When you step into, say, simply Lead or some other place, a speaking engagement or your, suddenly people bring attention to you. What is the first feeling like that you get in your body? When that happens.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 37:52

Yeah. Tension. I am definitely someone who's very uncomfortable with, um, oh gosh. Anything that has to do with networking, talking to people, which is strange. I'm definitely like, um, introvert who. Can be extroverted. And so for a lot of reasons I think I, hide. Um, and so I feel a lot of tension in my body. I feel a lot of insecurity in my body. I think it takes me, a couple of minutes of being like, you are you're an amazing person. Just be yourself to feel like I can flow in whatever space I'm in. But I definitely feel uncomfortable. And I think that stems back from, the 10, 12 ish, how many years has it been now? How old am I don't know, 12 ish years of being in the US and feeling othered by lots of different groups of people. And so being able to recognize that's what's happening in my body and inviting folks to. Get to know who I am as, a lesbian, a Latina, Puerto Rican allowed or this or that. And just being okay with that. Um, and I'm also fighting my own sort of cultural norms. A lot of us as Latinos, Latinas, especially, we grew up, put your head down, do your job. You don't ask questions, right? You don't take up space, you don't do these things. And so to remove myself from all of those, um. Boundaries or boxes or ways of being culturally, I have to remove that to be my full, authentic self, but also to be an amazing CEO and an amazing founder and to do this work authentically. I can't be held by those parameters either. And really recognizing and understanding that we are all. Shaped by, social norms, culture, all of these things. And we don't have to live by those if it doesn't speak to who we are authentically. And in order for me to feel like a leader in this space, I had to let go of those. What I call toxic norms, right of head down, do your job, don't ask questions, don't take up space. Why? Why can't I take up space? Why am I not allowed to be this beautiful queer woman, Latina, taking up space? And what does that mean for me? What kinds of spaces do I wanna take up? How do I wanna take it up? And inviting myself to be okay with being uncomfortable taking up the space until I feel more comfortable with it. And so I think that's how I show up in any space. Still to this day, I still have to talk my way through it and like pep myself up and coach myself, and so when you don't grow up with those sort of norms, it takes a lot to grow into them yourself and to coach yourself through that.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 40:42

Do you feel like when you're at home you still have some of that introverted extrovert thing

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 40:47

Oh my gosh,

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 40:48

or you're just like all over the place?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 40:51

I think what's beautiful about MySpace with Ebonee is that she is such a playful person and she is the total opposite, right? She, her mother, they're like, you're beautiful, you're black, you're a woman, you take up space, you do what you want. You live by your own rules and you just shine. And so she is just so playful, always in, surrounding herself with joy, always wanting to be creative. And so she has allowed me to just come into that and like, then, little steps. Okay, I wanna play too, and I wanna be creative too, and here are the ways I wanna do it and here's how I'm showing up and, here's what's cool about me. And so it's been fun to be able to do that in a safe space, right? In a space where I don't feel threatened or, um, ES said that someone's gonna judge me, right? Like it doesn't matter. And so we get to do that here. So I. Wholeheartedly believe that I wake up and I'm like, wow. Like whatever I want. And some days I wake up and I'm like, I can't talk to you. Like I just want to be in my books, in my feelings, and I just need you to walk away. And she knows that. And I think we've been able to get to a place where I can say that to her and also not feel afraid that she'll feel offended by that, right? Because I'm also right recovering people, pleaser. So I don't put my needs or feelings first. But there are moments where I need to be deeply ingrained in a book and just feel what these people, these writers, these histories are feeling and live in that. So I'm definitely, I go back and forth in my own space, but I'm happy that I get to do both.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 42:27

That's so great. I love your guys' relationship so much. I can't even tell you. I, is it March yet so we can go to dinner? Because I'm like so excited. So what, um. What did you mistake or when did you mistake, like endurance for strength, right? You're out there and you're surviving people's stories and you're teaching them and things like that. When did you realize that was actually your own inner strength and not just like, I have to do this, I have to prove, I have to become, I have to be sense.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 42:59

wow. Um, gosh, I don't, am I there? I don't know.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 43:05

I feel like you're there. You're so powerful.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 43:09

I feel like what year am I in with some, A year? Six? I don't know. I think maybe a few years into owning my own business. I think years. The first year's scary, right? You're like, oh my God, what am I doing? And I was still working full time. Um, owning my own business, working full time. So I was doing a lot. I'm always doing a lot. And I think maybe years three and four when it was like really thriving and I was like, oh my God, like I'm killing it. Like, this is amazing and I'm having such a good time and learning from other brilliant practitioners, I think I felt like, oh yeah, like I've arrived. And then of course that goes back like real quickly'cause I have, lack of self-esteem. But I feel like I definitely felt a moment where I was like, wow, like I love this and I do this really well and I love like what it does for other people. And so yeah. Maybe circa 2023.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 44:09

So it's

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 44:10

Not very long ago, I suppose.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 44:13

But it's long enough that you have some retrospection, which is important, right? Because without retrospection there's no growth at all.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 44:21

Yeah. And you're never done. I absolutely, I am definitely one that feels like you're never done learning. You're never done reading. There are, every year I'm like, oh my God, there's like a hundred new books, a thousand new books. And so for me, I feel like I am very much a curious person. I think even since I was little, like how do things function? I wanted to know biology, physics, aero, like whatever. Like I just, how does space work? Like what is happening in this world? Like I very much believe, I'm like a first time human. I don't know if you believe in past lives, but I very much feel like this is my first time here. So I've been like WTF to like lots of things. And so I've always been like, how does this work? How does this function? How does it belong here? Why is this happening? And so I've always had that sense of curiosity. And so I do that through books. So I'm like, let me learn, right? How do I do everything? How do I see everything? How can. Take in as much as I can about this Earth and how it functions, because I'm just fascinated by all of it, by all of it. To the point where the first time I try to, I tell this story to Ebony all the time. The first time I tried a Blackberry was when I moved to Boulder, Colorado from Puerto Rico.'cause they, you don't really get those fruits back home. And if you do, you're like, we don't have money for that. And so I went into, if you've ever been, please go. This is not a, what is that? PCA, this is not an advertisement for them, but the whole Foods in Boulder, Colorado will change your life. That place is massive. And I'm coming from Puerto Rico, from markets, supermarket, whatever. Nothing. Like I've never, I had never seen anything like that. I was 28 walking into this boulder and I literally scanned the fruit and vegetable section and cried. I was like, how is it that some people are allowed this much access to food and not just food, like top quality. Unbelievably beautiful looking food. I was blown. And that's one of my first journeys of like, oh, food insecurity, food, this and like, um, food deserts. And I was like, why is it like, screw all of this? But I went in there and I bought these blackberries and I just cried eating them because I had never tasted something so sweet, so juicy. And I was like, why do you get this? I was just like, I'm fighting for everyone to get this. I was just like so mad. But also, so like enthralled and in joy of just biting into this like most delicious blackberry I've ever tasted. And so I've always been that person of like why? And why is everything so beautiful? And also we all deserve this. So it's interesting. But yeah.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 47:01

My girlfriend and I were just having that same conversation like yesterday probably, or the day before she had stopped at Air One to get certain, like vitamins and some other things, or maybe it was Whole Foods. It was either Air One or Whole Foods. And she came back and she was like taking the groceries out because she was staying with us for a couple days. And um, she goes. Why is it so expensive? Why if we just bought like Twinkies and Ding-Dongs, we could eat on$10 a week. And I'm like, I don't know. But it's certainly not fair. And I think the same thing all the time, that everyone should have access to good food. Even the difference like in the quality of your olive oil, the quality of your salt, like I am a kosher diamond salt fan to the tea, but that's not cheap salt. But it changes the flavor profile. And when you can get good food and you make that good food with absolutely the freshest ingredients, you have a different experience. Your tongue is happier, your belly's happier, your cells are happier, your blood is happier. So many things become so much pure to you. I feel like when I eat really good food, I become more innocent. Does that make sense?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 48:15

I know, and it's just so beautiful. Like we all deserve that and it's just wild America's Wild America has a.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 48:23

during,, during Christmas my daughter's vegan and she said, mommy, I want to take vegan tamales to her cousin's house for Christmas Eve. And I said, okay, I'll go find some. They were here visiting us in la They live in San Diego. And so I drove way out to North Hollywood to this vegan. Mexican Mexican food shop, and it took them a while to get our order together and things like that. So I just stood there and talked to her and I said, um, to her, she's Mexican. I said, were you raised vegan? And she said, no, not exactly, but my mom immigrated here 45 years ago. She's just passed away last year. But she immigrated here 45 years ago and she came to LA and she knew how to cook food. And so she worked in this restaurant here, and the lady was this hippie, like full on hippie and, um, born like probably in the late fifties or, yeah, probably in the late fifties. It was 40 plus years ago. And she wanted this restaurant to be like, vegetarian and blah, blah, blah. And the, her mom said to the chef. Slash owner, I know how to make this food because in Mexico we can't afford meat. So we make our own, impossible, if you will. Meats, I can do this. So as the years went by, she offered her mom the opportunity to buy the restaurant for$10,000. So she bought the restaurant from her for 10 to thousand dollars. She just passed away and now it's her daughter's restaurant. But her mom said before she passed away, please keep the integrity of the restaurant, keep it vegan. So they have this amazing cheese in their tamales that tastes like it's not vegan. My daughter goes, mommy, I think they made a mistake. And I go, they did not make a mistake. It is 100% vegan. And she was so happy that she was eating this amazing vegan food. But it goes back to the fact that. Every food choice, every um, dietary choice that you have should also be easily accessible and delicious.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 50:29

absolutely. Absolutely. And now we have to go there. And now I'm hungry. You're gonna take there. I can't wait.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 50:35

it's very far from where you guys are going. Oh my gosh. I'll, maybe I'll buy some, if you remind me, or actually I'll write a note, buy the vegan tamales and I'll buy'em frozen and I'll put'em on ice and I'll bring'em to you guys, because where that is very far from where you

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 50:50

Oh my gosh. Don't go. If it's too far,

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 50:51

No, it's very far from where you guys are gonna

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 50:54

Okay. Okay.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 50:55

so Yeah. I'll do that. But, um, there's a few more things I wanna talk about before we go.'cause I know we're getting close. Very close. Um, what does freedom feel like now for you?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 51:07

Oh my gosh. What? What in what would do you mean? Like just in general, what would, what is freedom to me or,

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 51:13

Freedom to you, freedom to your community. If like are you encouraging like some of your Puerto Rican family members to like move to the states or do you say, no, stay away, especially right now, or, what are like your dreams for Puerto Rican cultures future in the.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 51:33

Gosh. I mean, I think in general, I think. I think in general freedom is, can we all live safely and as our full authentic selves? Um, no matter what, we all are humans. We should, we all deserve human rights, equal human rights. And so to me, freedom is access to that opportunity. We all deserve to live safely, beautifully, authentically, um, and building whatever dreams we wanna build here. And so I think in general, that's maybe what I think freedom could be or is. And so I don't know that there is, um, I don't know that there is a suggestion for, folks back home come over or stay there. I think everyone. Chooses and builds that for themselves. I think I came to the states because my mom really ingrained in my three sisters and I that, right? Get educated, live your dreams. There's more opportunities in the us. Try it. Go for it. And when we think about, um, how many different kinds of jobs and dreams and things you can have in her mind, you had more access to that here. I don't know that is truth. I think that comes, stems from that American dream that a lot of folks, um, believed in or believe in from like the past rhetoric. I don't know that I would say that is accurate right now for a lot of us, but I do think that you can find. Forms of freedom in Puerto Rico and in the US depending on what that means to you as an individual. And so I think there are parts of that I feel are unavailable to me now. Like I'm, afraid for my partner and I as like queer women. She's a, black masculine presenting women like women. And so how we show up, um, in these spaces in the us can be very scary. Um, there are, parts of the US where she has to go work that will go together because together is safer than her going alone. And to me, that's not freedom. And so how do we build, um, forms of freedom within our capacity now, like, we live in Maryland, in Annapolis, we feel very safe here. We feel as free as possible here. And how do we do that for ourselves? And I think depending on who you are, how you live, and what your intersectional experiences and identities are, that can look different for different folks. And you can feel free in different spaces depending on who you are. So I'd, I want, in a perfect world, for all of us to feel free everywhere and to feel like all of our human rights are respected, period. Um, and that's not the case. So I don't know that I could answer that. That's, I guess that's honestly as I can answer that question.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 54:37

Now, and I fully think that you did answer it because. You were on point about, it's not, you're not saying come to America or stay in Puerto Rico or anything like, like that, that you are giving people the freedom to choose because you can have just hopefully is wonderful as a life in both places. It's just how you build it and like you said, spending time in spaces that make you feel safe and loved and secure. And especially with your partner going together to make sure that, happens and you can come back to the room at night and, debrief and, we're never coming back here again. I'm glad we came together. Like these people are really fucked up kind of thing, but I just, I love you guys so much and I'm so happy for you and I'm so glad you came on the show. Is there anything else you want to say or have tell us before we go?

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 55:29

Gosh, these open-ended questions are hardening because I'm like, what? There's so many things I wanna share, but just gratitude for you. Inviting me to take up some space with you and to talk about some beautiful things and get to share a little bit more about who I am and how I function and what I believe to be true of this world, this wild world we're living in. And I appreciate that. I appreciate your time and yeah, the space to share about this work, I think it's beautiful work. I think everyone can benefit from it. I don't necessarily think only some folks can benefit, and so I encourage people to be inspired, to think differently and to, to want to be. Better, whatever that means for you, whether that's just learning something different or experiencing something different or thinking about something in a different way. I think there's so much value in continuing to be educated, to learn, to grow, to be self-aware. Um, that's what leads us, I think, to freedom and to liberation. Um, the ideas that we all understand each other's humanity. And so if you take the time to do that I think it's worth it.'cause we all deserve it. And so yeah, that's my message.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 56:46

I feel like your work is. It's so important because it gives the people opportunities to not just like learn cultural sensitivity and things like that, but to like really learn about other people, like friends of mine that, I went to college with and so forth that are black or Mexican or what have you, or Asian, and they're like, do white people really do this? And I can, I live in both worlds too. My, my one side, my family's white, the other side's Native American. So whenever I was sharing things, I volunteer a lot. That is my passion. I tell people I am best at things I don't get paid for. The things I get paid for I'm not so good at. But if it's, if I can do it voluntarily, I am like. The best. And I got the opportunity. I was like PTA president of my older kids' school. And one of the things I wanted to bring in was culture. Because I was seeing, we lived in San Diego at the time, I was seeing a lot of like adjunct professors that were coming from other countries and they were settling in, the town that we lived in because we had really good public school system and they were, immigrant moms that were staying at home with their kids and didn't know the language and the kids didn't really know English. And I was like, oh my God, what a great opportunity to bring all these different people into the classrooms and share their culture with the kids because they wouldn't ordinarily get this necessarily. So I offered to make tortillas with the kids in my daughter's class because as a Native American from California, which was Nordic, California and all these things we are beans tortillas, and, small game and fruits and berries, like that's what we ate. I was making tortillas and one of the Asian kids said, I've never had a tortilla before, and I thought to myself. Oh my God, you poor child. Because this is what, like, People in Southern California grow up on. Most people eat Mexican food very regularly. It's like part of the culture. But the fact that he was willing to share that with the class and then he got to tell them what it tasted like and what it compared to in their culture, which was Taiwanese and it was so beautiful. But after that, I had all of the volunteers that volunteered in their classrooms come and share with each other as adults. What we gained from teaching this and sharing this with the kids in the class. And the stories were so cool. Everyone was crying and it was just really beautiful. So I love what you do. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us and for being at least on LinkedIn for your business.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 59:24

Okay. We have Instagram, Quincy,

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 59:27

So you do use it.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 59:29

we do. Simply Lead has an Instagram, you,

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 59:32

It's simply lead.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 59:33

something happens in there, but it's Simply Lead llc. It's there. Um, yes. If you see a post Celebrate Me, I did that. We have, um, I used to have a social media human who did a lot of fun stuff for me, and of course she went on to own her own business. She's a brilliant human. And I was like, you know what? I can do this. I cannot, Quincy, I cannot. But any post you see, celebrate me. Be like, Jen, I'm proud of you. You did that way.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:00:00

Yes. Yes. Oh, that's so cool. Canva. Canva

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:00:04

Yes.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:00:06

oh my God. And I really only know how to use it on my phone. And the schools now have, um, I don't know if all schools do it, but our school particularly has a Canva account for the kids and they learn it on the laptop. And she's like, my daughter says to me, I don't know how mommy, that, you know how to use that on your phone because it's terrible. And I'm like, I don't know how you know how to use it on the laptop, because like you said, I'm not very, um, tech savvy either. So the less choices I have, the better I am at it. And there's less choices on the app on the phone than there is on the laptop. I open laptop and I'm like, I don't know how to drag and drop that and put that and download that like button.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:00:46

I'm here.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:00:46

Right.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:00:48

You do. On your phone. I'm not gonna lie.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:00:49

It's, I think because I spend hours in the middle of the night awake, I'm like teaching myself things that you can only do on the phone.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:00:57

I

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:00:57

I'm like, I don't even know I have a laptop anymore. But anyway, thank you again for coming on the show. Stay on with me on this.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:01:05

you. This is like a Puerto Rican goodbye. We've done this three times. I'm here for

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:01:08

Okay, so if belonging required your disappearance, it was never belonging. Jen's story reminds us the culture doesn't change through silence. It changes when someone decides to stop abandoning themselves. And maybe after tonight you will too. Thank you for listening everybody.

jen-m-torres_1_02-03-2026_123724 1:01:27

Thank you. I.

quincy_1_02-03-2026_093724 1:01:28

Absolutely. Yes.