Episode Transcript
Hello, my name is Aziz and I'm the son of a divorced mother.
She is really my superhero.
That's why it's important for me to support women to share their uniqueness, their personalities,
perspectives, and emotions about life.
Too many women in this world feel alone.
They worry about the judgment of others and they struggle with their mental health.
But when they listen to the Rare Girls podcast where empowered women share their voices and
tell their stories, many women will feel inspired to live a life of freedom and to
overcome all insecurities.
They will feel it is a safe space to find their confidence, to remember their unique
beauty and to feel their self-worth, and they will connect with the sisterhood of rare girls
who encourage their success and support their dreams.
That's what this podcast is all about.
My guest today is Maria Jose Garcia Delez.
Maria Jose is from Medellin, Colombia, and she is 33 years old.
She studied industrial design but never practiced it.
Maria Jose is an actress in progress.
it is one of her dreams and passions. On the meantime, she works as an interpreter,
she has a bakery business, and she is a sexuality researcher. She really enjoys
dance and to train kickboxing. She strongly believes that the most important thing in life
is love and gratitude, and this is what really leads us to success. Maria, how are you today?
Hi, how are you? I am very good right now. I am super excited about this.
Very, very happy to be here and to have this opportunity.
We're gonna have so much fun. I am ready as well.
And I'll begin with this nice first question, which is,
Maria Jose, if your friends and your family and the people who know you best
could describe your personality, what would they say about you?
Well, I think they would say that I am a very good listener
and very persevering and, I don't know, maybe loyal, a very loyal person.
Tell me a bit more about that, especially being a good listener.
Do you feel it's not common nowadays and there are not many good listeners?
How can someone become a better listener and a good listener?
What is a bad listener even if they're trying to listen?
Tell me more because it's a useful thing that more people can discover more about.
Well, it's just something that I've heard from my friends. And I think being a good listener is just
to be there while they're just like telling your like a story or their problems or whatever they
need to tell you. And it's not for you to judge them or start to talk about yourself
while they're talking and like not paying attention to what they're saying, but to really
focus on what they're saying, what they want to tell you,
and like acknowledge their feelings.
Thank you.
So it's, you want people to feel heard, understood,
that there is a connection that is not cut
and that is deepened.
Is this correct?
Yeah, that is correct.
I mean, I just feel that people,
when they're trying to tell you something,
if they're sad or they have a problem,
or they just wanna tell you something
that is very, very good for them,
like something like an experience that made the day
or make them really happy.
And you're just like, oh yeah, that happened to me too once.
And you start to tell things about yourself.
I just feel that you need to make them feel heard.
Yeah, I'm hearing you and I know what you're saying.
and what do you want us to do about it?
And try to be there while they're talking to you.
Very present.
That's very, very validating to every person
who will go through that experience.
I thank you for that.
And I'm wondering, because it seems to me
there is probably a connection with your interest
in being a sexuality researcher.
Is it something related?
And how did you start your interest
and researching sexuality, what did you feel was missing?
Tell me more related to that.
Well, this is something,
it's a very huge part of my life.
It does connect with the part of listening to people
because in sexuality,
it's like a topic that is full of taboos, right?
It's full of mystery.
And the lack of information out there is great.
I mean, this is greatly, this is big.
So what you need to, why I started to do this
is because I was like, I knew that the information
is there about sexuality.
And I know that that information is very important
for you to balance your life.
And that people out there feel very alone
with their issues regarding sexuality.
They feel like that they are they are always feeling that something's wrong with them
In regards of anything about sexuality, which is like a very huge topic and it covers a lot of aspects
but I want people to to know that they're not alone and that a lot of us have
crossed things like that or have experienced things like that and
that is common, and sexuality is very common to go through a lot of things in your life.
So I just wanted to put out there the information that is already in the books, in articles.
People are talking about it, but they're not giving that information to us in an easy
way for us to achieve it, you know?
Because you're not getting any information of that in schools, college, in your
family, whatever.
So, I just needed to put that out there.
Thank you.
And again, it makes me understand that connection, communication, and understanding are very,
very important to you.
And I'm curious as well about Medellin, whether the culture there is encouraging,
for example, women's empowerment.
You are already working as a female entrepreneur.
Maybe when it comes to sexuality, it is not really something that is, you said, discussed there.
Is that uniquely more to the culture of Medellin?
Is it to South America? Is it to the world, most of the world?
Like, tell me a bit more.
I think it's most of the world.
But I really think that here in Medellin, people are starting to acknowledge this.
Like they know that is something important for you to know.
but also like in a way,
they are still very conservative at some point,
like they wanna know about it,
but then they become a little bit cohibited.
And like, I wanna know about this,
but maybe I don't want everyone to know
that I want to know about this or that,
but I think that they are opening their minds to it
and it's very good.
And yeah, I think sexuality is a topic
that is getting bigger and bigger every day for everyone.
And everyone is starting to understand it more
and like beyond sex, because it's not just that.
So like to start to understand yourself more.
And I think that is the good part of it.
Thank you.
I agree.
And it makes me think since you love acting
and being an actress that is very related
to communication and to helping people understand.
I interviewed before an immigrant woman who went to Canada and she felt that there were a lot of
stereotypes and she became an actress because she said she feels the freedom to be any person with
any story, any background, rather than being stuck in one kind of stereotype as a foreign
immigrant. So she can be anyone freely at any moment. Can you resonate with this or what
interests you and fascinates you most in acting.
Yeah, I resonate with that.
And I get what you're saying.
But I think with me, acting is more like this path to self-knowledge.
It is something that really, really helps you to know yourself like deeply.
So in order for you to become like a
very good actress or a very good actor, you need to know yourself deeply.
So in my journey of trying to connect with myself, with my spirit, with my soul,
I think acting has been one of the greatest tools ever for doing that.
So I think that is what connects me the most to it.
That's so interesting. A lot of women are on their journey of self-understanding, self-discovery.
At the same time, as all humans are, maybe a lot of the things that we think we are come from the
parents, from teachers, from religion, and all that. So let's say there is a teenage girl who's
listening to you right now and she's like, I'm trying to understand myself, but I don't know
who is the real me and who is the me that is just being my mother or grandmother or a teacher
or anything. How do you differentiate and know this is part of me, this is part of my soul,
or this is not really me,
it's just a habit that I'm copying someone else.
Yeah, well, I've been there.
So I will really tell this girl
to really listen to herself, right?
To like try to be quiet for a little bit
and listen to what makes her feel good.
And when I say listen to what makes her feel
is like your body and soul and spirit
it's always trying to communicate with you, right?
So you need to just like, just out,
you need to just like escape from the outside voices
and start listening to yourself.
So I would just say like, be quiet, calm your mind
and listen to your body.
What makes you feel comfortable?
Even if it's not what society is telling you to feel,
what makes you feel comfortable and start with there
and just start to get in with forgiveness also,
you just like go within yourself, go deep,
get in touch with your inner self, with your inner child,
forgive yourself and start from scratch
to get to know what you really want to do
or what you really want to be.
But listen to yourself first.
Thank you.
And when you said that your soul
is trying to communicate with you, et cetera,
do you have some metaphysical beliefs
or spiritual beliefs related to this, does it?
Because often, even you as someone who likes communication
is interested in sharing related to sexuality,
maybe, you know, religion,
you see it as more of the conservative side.
Do you have, like, you believe in manifesting?
Do you believe, I don't know,
some Colombian shamanism,
or what is your perspective on life
that allows you to feel that calling of your soul?
Well, I really, yeah, I have a strong belief in this
that I really believe that soul, we are souls.
Like, you know, like the spirit becomes
like a human being through our souls.
And this human body is just here to allow the soul
to do whatever the soul needs to do to evolve
and to become or to achieve
what the soul came here to do.
So I have really made this my path, like I'm going to do whatever it takes to allow my soul to do whatever she or he or they, I don't know, came here to do, right?
So I'm always trying to connect with my soul and to listen to what it's trying to tell me.
So why are you here? Why are you Maria Jose right now? And what do you want to do in your life?
So I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to allow my soul to do it. So I do believe a lot,
like in souls and spirits. Thank you. And there are so many people in the world who,
when they're surrounded by those who are too conservative, they say, no,
I'm going to go somewhere else. Maybe you, as a Colombian, you go to Madrid or Barcelona or
Miami, or I don't know, something like that, and you think, well, at least I'll be around
people who think like me instead of needing to fight so hard. What keeps you in Medellin?
Well, you could have, even because of your diploma, life experience, et cetera, try
to move somewhere where a lot of the topics that you are fighting for are already more
advanced.
I just think that wherever I am, I'm going to encounter people that will not think as I do,
right? And I just think that I am doing it for myself. And when I do this with love and when
I try to communicate that message to everyone, just the people that need to hear that message
are gonna do it. They're gonna listen to what I'm really trying to say. And the people that
does not want to listen to it, they will just shut off. They're just going to ignore me,
if you can say it like that. So I just think that if I'm here because I'm here right now,
and I think it's because right now I'm studying acting and I want to really finish my school
here, but I do believe that I'm going to travel a lot at some point because I feel that I
need to spread this to a lot of people out there. So I don't think it's Medellin. I
just think it is the place that I'm in right now because it has to be like that because
I really believe that wherever you are and the time that you're there, you're
is exactly where you need to be. And I just try to, like I told you before, to listen to myself,
to follow that path. And like, I believe in signs and that my soul is talking to me,
God is talking to me, and whatever, I mean, whatever He has planned for me is the best thing,
you know? So I just try to work in myself every day and to follow the path that to where
that is going to lead me.
Thank you.
And you as a woman who's listening to her soul
as well as researching sexuality,
how do you balance your feminine and masculine energy?
Like some people might think you'll be in a business woman
that's masculine, but you baking that's feminine.
You're doing kickboxing that's masculine,
but you doing acting is feminine.
How does that balance work?
How do you not go too masculine
and then you feel like you're losing some femininity
or how does it work for you?
And what is your belief on that?
Do you believe there is such a thing
or this is a myth overall?
No, it's not a myth.
I think everyone has masculine and feminine energy
within us, right?
It's something that, I mean, that's true.
Of course, in some people, even if you're a guy,
even if you're male or female, you can be female
and you can have like very, very strong masculine energy
and you can be a male and you had like very,
very strong feminine energy.
So I just didn't think that it has to do with
if you're a woman or if you're a man
or whatever you identify with.
It's just that I don't think they interfere
with each other, right?
Whenever I need to do something
because I feel like doing it and it makes me feel good,
if it takes more of my masculine energy, well, that's how it is. And that's how I'm gonna treat it.
One of the things that I enjoy the most is kickboxing, like training that. And I just,
I don't feel like, oh, I'm being too masculine and I'm gonna, what are they gonna think about
me? No, it's just my body is telling me that this is great and it makes me feel great.
So I'm just glad that I have this energy within me, the masculine and the feminine.
And I consider myself having like a stronger masculine energy within me.
And I embrace that.
And I think it's amazing.
You know, it does not like reduce my feminine part or aspect, or I could
be really feminine too at some point.
So I just think it's depending on what you're doing, you can just
like embrace your energy within you.
Thank you.
I agree 100% with that.
and I want to know more then because you believe
that the secret to success is love and gratitude.
Love to me seems to also be connected
to making people feel understood,
to communication, to that connection.
But to you, what is your definition of love?
How does it lead to success?
And what is your definition of gratitude
and how do you practice it?
Okay, well, that's a lot.
Well, love for me is being able to or allow yourself to put yourself in someone else's
shoes, right?
To be emphatic, empathetic, right?
Because we are here in this world, in this life to evolve, to live, right?
To enjoy, to experience a lot of things, but also to respect others, right?
That I really feel that all of us are one.
So for me, love, when you act with love, with like everything you do, you do it with love,
you are helping the whole world because the energy that you're giving to the world is
so big that it's going to affect the whole humanity, even if you don't notice it.
But at some point the energy makes itself noticed and I mean, it is helping.
If we all start acting like that, like with love towards everyone with no judgment,
with just like respecting everyone's beliefs because everyone is struggling. Everyone is
living what they are supposed to live, right? They have a purpose and whatever they live in
is because that is their path and you need to respect that. So for me, love is to
how to put yourself in someone else's shoes, right?
And the gratitude thing is just, I think it's magic.
For me, gratitude is magic in your life.
Once you start being grateful or saying thanks
to everything that happens in your life,
you become more aware of everything that surrounds you.
So it's like even the little things, for example,
Thank you because I could taste the breakfast that I ate this morning and it tasted really good.
So just with that, you being grateful just for that, it makes you happy.
So if you're happier, it will lead you to success.
You will never get lost there.
It's like, you will succeed because if you can be able to go to bed at night feeling
happy of your day, of whatever you did, even if it's a sad day, even if it's something
that it was a very hard day, you had some problems or you're suffering from something.
If you are grateful, you are able to understand that what you're going through, even if
sad, it's because something bigger and better is coming for you, right? And that you're going to
learn something from it and then it's going to make you stronger. And I just think it is a great
force. It's amazing. I agree 100%. And today, we live in the age of Instagram where there are
many women and even teenage girls who grew up comparing themselves to some photoshopped women.
and things that are unrealistic, they don't feel beautiful,
they don't feel their unique beauty,
and therefore they become shy and introverted
and lose their confidence.
What's your perspective on this
and your advice for them to find their unique beauty
and to really live life fully?
Well, my perspective is that it's something
that I have experienced my whole life.
I mean, my biggest struggle has been
my relationship with my body. So I have always, I have always thought of myself or my body that is
not good enough or like I had had like in the past that is not good enough because
when I was a teenager or I mean a couple of years ago, five, six years ago, I would look
myself in the mirror and I would say like, I'm not like those pretty girls, right? The pretty
girls that society is telling you that exists, you know, because of the beauty standards
that are already established. So in your mind, in my mind, I was like, I'm not like
those pretty and beautiful girls. So something is wrong with me. You know, my body is wrong.
I need to change it. And I have done a lot of things. I mean, I have done like
every diet that it is out there and I've been treating myself badly because I have
felt enough for society because of my body. So that's one of the reasons that I kept ongoing with
the sexuality aspect and because it made me connect myself with my body, you know, and also
with training, with kickboxing or dancing because those things allow you to see your body in another
perspective, you know, like it doesn't matter how your body looks like, that however it looks,
it's beautiful because I mean, beauty standards are just a lie. I mean, that's just something
that society wants you to believe, but it's a lie. And, but it doesn't matter how it looks
like because it is in continuous change. I mean, your body is changing so fast and every
And it doesn't matter.
What matters is how it makes you feel and what it allows you to do, you know?
So while I turn that perspective, like I make that shift, like, okay, it doesn't matter
how it looks like because it makes me feel this.
So it allows me to feel pleasure, it allows me to feel the different flavors of food,
it allows me to feel the wind, it allows me to a lot of things.
And it also allows me to fight and to train and to run and to walk.
And while I'm training, it's like, this is amazing.
I mean, my body is very strong.
How can I be treating it badly?
Like it's not logical.
So once my advice would be like, please start telling yourself every day, what did
my body allow me to do today that made me really happy?
So I went out with my friends and I laugh.
You're able to laugh because of your body, right?
You ate amazing meal, you saw beautiful landscapes,
you listened to music, you felt pleasure.
I mean, there is a lot of things
that you can do with your body.
So tell yourself every day at least one thing
and it's going to change your mind
and your behavior towards yourself.
I mean, it is a process, but it gets to a point that it's just in you.
Even with gratitude and with this, if you do this every day, it becomes something that
is like a routine for you, like it's a routine, right?
You don't have to stand in front of the mirror to say it.
You will just go during your day thinking about it.
Oh, this is amazing that I was able to watch this video, right?
It was amazing to listen to that.
It was amazing, you know, drinking that water
and you don't even notice it.
And that changes your life completely.
I agree with you, Maria Jose.
Thank you so much for participating in this podcast,
for sharing your voice and your perspective
and for making people feel understood
and sharing with them the knowledge
that allows them to really live with gratitude, with love,
with self-love and sharing love.
And I wish you all the success.
I wish you the same.
And thank you for inviting me.
This has been like an amazing experience.
I'm so happy to be part of this.
You are welcome.
