We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Beatriz Ayala a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Beatriz, thanks for joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

Until December 2023 my identity was directly intertwined with being a Founder and CEO. For the past 4+ years I had been building a company from scratch. When I arrived in Miami in July of 2020 by the time I decided to move on from that business, my community mainly if not only knew about me in the context of my work. It was somber and deeply difficult to walk away from, what it felt, people knew me for. What value do I bring now? Does it even matter if its outside of my business context?

While there is a part of me that it is still grieving that identity and everything that it brought me, this wasn’t the first time I experienced this lesson. Attaching my worth and value to my work was a lesson I thought I had learned the hard way back when I was an award-winning advertising executive sho spent 11 years working with global and local brands to turn them into pop culture icons. To no-one’s surprise but my own, here I was again. Only this time, it hurt much more because this company was born from my heart and hard work.

Now, as I am entering a new phase of my professional journey, I am defining it as my identity’s third time’s a charm opportunity to measure my worth based on my values, authenticity, and integrity. This third rodeo is all about my internal compass helping me navigate the wilderness of life so my identity is rooted from my essence and not from the external validation of the world.

Beatriz, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am work in progress; yet I know I am a connector, idealist, and disruptor who believes IRL experiences and connected ecosystems will shape our future as humans in unimaginable ways. I’m also a change advocate, I welcome change and sometimes even induce it more times than it’s probably consider manageable. Change is the reason my professional path has been as curvy as Puerto Rico’s mountainous roads. I spent 11+ years working in the advertising mayhem for global and local agencies where my love for creative storytelling, brand building, and experiences flourished and to date, still informs how I show up in the world. Then, I decided to become an entrepreneur saying goodbye to the corporate world and embarking on building a business and a brand directly linked to everything I deem important in my life: community, music, and creating opportunities for others. “out of nowhere” I ended up building a tech-entertainment startup reimagining how people gathered around live entertainment with Musicasa, becoming one of less than 200 Latinas in the US to raise more than $1MM in VC funding. Finally, taking me to my present, where I have joined a growth-stage tech company called threshold.world as their Head of Brand to reimagine and redefine what it means to build capacity and connected organizations at scale for the social impact and nonprofit world. Encompassing all of this is my love for communication and storytelling, serving as an International and TEDx Speaker, where I cover a world of topics ranging from authenticity at the workplace to community building, entrepreneurship, organizational culture, and beyond.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There are many books, videos and people that have informed my approach, validated by beliefs around how to build and manage team and complex situations, and taught me ways to transform my blind spots into allies for good. They range from practical to alternative and continue to help me as I evolve and grow as a human:

1) Astrology natal chart and solar revolutions is a practice that I’ve included in my life since I was 11 and in my decision making since 2018. It’s been a game changer as a tool to understand myself, the energies at play, and where do I need to invest time and resources to grow. If you’re looking to learn, you can follow Versohk Williams or Mia Astral.

2) Human Design is a practical tool that’s given me many practical ways to understand my decision-making and learn to listen to myself and my body.

3) Reinventing Organizations – a book written by Frederick Laloux about the emergence of a new organizational and management paradigm inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness. I read it in 24 hours and cried most of it :).

4) Grit by Angela Duckworth a book about the power of passion and perseverance showcasing why some people fail and others succeed.

5) Brené Brown’s TED Talk: The power of vulnerability. Real talk everything she puts out there around vulnerability, shame, and human relationships. She’s a gift to the world.

6) Give and take by Adam Grant. This was a gift from a dear founder friend that talks about how giving without expecting anything in return makes people more succesfull than selfish ones.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe my authenticity, clarity of self, and integrity helped me build my relationships and reputation in the market. Brene Brown talk about BRAVING, which is the ability to build trust in relationships and ultimately build credibility. I haven’t found a better definition than hers and it reflects how I choose to show up it he world. Here’s a summary of it:

Boundaries – teaching people how to treat you. What is acceptable/not acceptable
Reliability – actions match your words and words match your actions. You’re congruent, live in harmony. (Have friends that can call you out!)
Accountability – you take responsibility for everything in your life. No back-channelling, no blaming.
Vault – she calls it the other side of confidentiality. You withhold from sharing what’s not yours to share in an attempt to connect with another person. Avoiding using other people’s stories as you’re currency for relevancy.
Integrity- choosing courage over comfort meaning you always live your values even if it means going against the grain
Non-judgement- asking for what you need and allowing others to ask for what they need without judgment.
Generosity- when something happens always assume positive intent; ask questions before assuming stories in your head.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatrizayalamuniz/
• Other: Public Speaking portfolio: https://tinyurl.com/2c2rjkfc

Image Credits
Solo portrait: Valerie López, Angle Platform