We were lucky to catch up with Paloma Chavez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Paloma , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Lo- Terapia has been a project that I have been working on for two years, two years ago I was finishing up my last year of my MSW program at Smith College and I was completing my practicum hours at a CBO that offers mental health services to the Latinx community. At the time I was had a client whom I did individual therapy with and occasionally also did family therapy with and one day I wanted to do something different. I decided that during that Friday afternoon family session, I would play a game with the family. Days leading up to that session I had begun to prep for the session and was having a difficult time finding a game that was in Spanish and would be age appropriate so I decided to go with a game familiar to them, Loteria. However, my plan all along was to observe them have fun and also navigate conflict. I secretly chose their game boards ahead of time and also hid some game cards without them knowing, my plan was to prefabricate the game and chose a winner ahead of time. My intention was to see how they reacted to “cheating” and loss, but unfortunately and fortunately, the game didn’t go as planned because I hadn’t quite thought about all the details. Even though the session didn’t go as planned, the family still enjoyed the game and after the session I began to reflect on the experience. As a therapist/ social worker in training, I was struggling to find resources and therapeutic tools that were in Spanish and/ or were created for the Latinx demographic. I kept finding myself having to translate resources ahead of time or even during session. These experiences led me to imagine what it would be like for a therapy game to exist for our community, a game that was not only in Spanish but was also culturally relevant. In moments of imagination, I envisioned kids, teens, and families feeling connected and a sense of representation by this game. I decided to be brave and told myself that I would create a tool for the Latinx community and there was no better game to repurpose than the traditional Loteria. I started to reimagine how Loteria could be used in therapy and the gears in my brain took off running with ideas and thats how Lo- Terapia was born, not from a mistake during a session but from an opportunity that confirmed the need for resources and tools in Spanish and for the community.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am a first generation Chicana social worker that developed, Lo-Terapia, a bilingual mental health focused game that is designed to be used as a therapeutic tool for families and individuals from the Latinx community. Being a social worker for me means supporting others, being empathetic and client centered, strength focused, educating, and listening. Ever since I could remember I have partaken in some form of “social work”. In high school I worked part time at a local McDonalds and while working there colleagues knew they could rely on me to support them with translating documents, finding resources for their family, or even just to have someone to talk to and validate their feelings. During my undergraduate career, I worked with high school aged youth to support them in realizing their academic success and also organized a fundraiser for farm workers who were impacted by the fires in Northern California. These acts of kindness came from the heart and came naturally for me, I wanted to use my privilege of being a documented multilingual educated person to support others. It was not until my last semester of my undergraduate degree that I realized I wanted a formal degree in social work so that I could continue to do the work I love. I am proud to be a part of the 14.4% of social workers that are Latinx and the 8% of Latinas that have a Masters degree. Though despite earning my masters from a well known institution, I am proud to say that the people that truly showed me how to be a social worker are the people in my community including my family members who are mutual aid experts, community organizers, educators, and land protectors.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

As a Latina entrepreneur, it has been an amazing experience to be connected to other Latina entrepreneurs through social media. During the start of this project, it felt very lonely and I felt like I did not have anyone to connect with as no one in my circle is a business owner or has created their own product. Over the past two years and more specifically after graduating from my MSW program, I have noticed how my social media algorithm has changed and reflects more Latina entrepreneur and professionals. I don’t have specific videos in mind that have significantly impacted my thinking or philosophy but I would say that there are certain pages on Instagram like LatinasWithMasters, CafecitoConEstrellita, and ChicanaSocialWorker that share content that is very inspirational and motivating for Latinas like me that are slowly but surely figuring it out in this scary business world.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Starting a business and creating Lo-Terapia has truly been a humbling experience and this process has led me to have an immense amount of respect for all business owners. My experience as a business owner and creator of a product has not been an easy one, there were many moments where I wanted to quit and could not find joy in my project. My support system has been my biggest strength and they are the reason why I persevered and have been resilient throughout these two years. My support system has not only included my family and fiancée but also strangers that have believed in me and my vision. J de La Vega an author-illustrator was the first “stranger” to believe in me and is the illustrator of all the beautiful amazing. J de La Vega’s belief in my idea is one of the reasons that I knew that I could not give up on Lo-Terapia, because I had people like J by my side that saw the potential for a game like Lo-Terapia. It was also moments with clients when I wished I had the finished product, that helped give me the last push to finish Lo-Terapia. Lastly, is it the strength of my ancestors that provided me with the resilience to continue creating a tool for the healing of our community.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Lo_Terapia