Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sandra Rodriguez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Sandra , appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I was born in California, a state where the latino community is large, my parents took the risk in starting our life over away from the city and moving to the upstate in South Carolina. There were definitely challenges! Bring a first- generation Latina, things were a bit different for me when I compare my life in my town. I did not have the same financial resources as many did and as a family we definitely struggled. I constantly watched my parents take risk and fight for success. Regardless of the multiple times we almost lost our house or went days without a meal. I watched my parents fight and sacrifice everything they had to provide for us. The thing my parents did right was teaching me the value of success, the value of hard work. They also taught me how failure is required to succeed, but it does not define the outcome. As I look back to where my parents started when we moved to South Carolina in 2004, and look at all the hardship they endured to their goals, I smile, because now they are owner of two homes and are able to help others who are in need.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Sandra, I am 28 years of age and I am currently own a small nutrition business as I also work as a college science instructor. I have my bachelors in biology, I have a passion for science and wanting to understand how things work, how they are processed and mainly, trying to work on solution with experimental thoughts. I’ve always been someone who loved to think deeply and outside of the box, however, school was not something I loved, since being bilingual and having English as my second language made me feel insecure about my potential. In 2013, after graduating high school, I decided to go to my local community college ( where I happen to work at now) and take a few general classes, I was not sure on what I wanted to pursue as a career, but I knew I wanted to get a degree to honor my parents hard work and efforts. After a semester, I decided to go to Cuba, there I spent time translating medical seminars and consolations with nurses and other health care professionals. I became confident in translating and helping others, I began to learn so much about health that I started to grow passionate with the idea of wanting to learn more about health. I soon left Cuba and in 2016, I moved to Puerto Rico to get my bachelors in biology. I packed my bags, went to an unknown island, and decided to have my academic experience there. However, it was not easy, I encountered various hardships ,financially, emotionally, all of it! I had people telling me I was not good enough, to change my career dreams and to stay away from science, I admit, I was not the greatest student, but I did try my best. In 2019, I completed my bachelors in Biology, I came back home to South Carolina and decided to look for jobs in biology, however, nothing seemed to go in my favor. During this time, I was facing a few health issues due to the hardship and experiences in Puerto Rico, leaving my health and performance at it lowest it had ever been, I never felt well and I was unable to do physical activities as I use to.. I grabbed what I knew and started looking into biochemistry and found nutrition in the midst of my search to health . I remembered my experience in Cuba and quickly knew that my solution was in educating myself with quality, science based nutrition, so I applied for my Masters in Nutrition and completed it. I used my degree to help myself and it led me to grow passionate about finding holistic approaches to achieve optimal health, wellness and performance. I had tried everything, and once understanding the true essence of nutritional, I learned that nutrition was not a look, and it is not a one -size fits all as society and media proclaims with so many diets.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Success is always winning and it doesn’t comes with delays. Many view success as a metal, reaching the final destination but never like to mention of the amount of imposter syndrome, the amount of failure it truly takes to get there. Even other might questions what you are doing and try to convince you to do something else because they are not seeing what success is suppose to look like. But, what is “Success” suppose to look like anyway? It truly is different for everyone! Even if its just one client trying their best to change one small thing from their lifestyle, even if it took them 4 moths more than what was the expected… they succeeded! Just like everyone has a different body that requires customized and personalized attention, out dreams are personalized and require customized attention, if things move slower than expected, it is still moving, so you are still succeeding. I might now have a 50 client business, but I am grateful for succeeding in having the clients I have and watching them grow in their health!

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Absolutely! The field is hard, I am competing agains google search and thousands of self proclaimed influencers. It can be very frustrating, however, I love science and knowing how everything is works. I love understanding my clients and making them seem seen, heard and understood as we set goals and strive to reach them! I am absolutely passionate and love the world of nutrition, since it is all biochemistry leading to a world of lifestyle.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @del.oro_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-rodriguez-751603102/

Image Credits
Sabrina Metz