ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Permission. It's the word that anchors this conversation, and few people have claimed it as fully as Bianca Alba. Born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and brought to the US at six months old, she grew up in the DMV as the oldest of four girls, watching her parents work multiple jobs to keep food on the table. She became the first in her family to earn a college degree on a full scholarship after failed courses in microbiology and organic chemistry redirected her from the medical route toward public health.
That path led to the CDC, an internship during the Ebola outbreak, and a competitive fellowship that took her to Santa Fe, New Mexico, on a $20,000 salary. Alone in a new city, she learned to take herself on dates, hike, and travel solo, quietly laying the foundation for everything that came next. A deployment during the Zika response brought her to Puerto Rico, where she's lived for nearly a decade.
Then Covid hit. Deployed relentlessly to the front lines, living out of hotels and building test kits at night, Bianca reached a breaking point: she couldn't promote mental health while struggling with her own. She started a podcast on the side:This Latina Travels, moved to a remote federal role, and kept building an emergency fund just in case. When that position was eliminated in a reduction in force last year, her preparation met its moment. She chose herself, going all in on the platform she'd built, which now spans a blog, speaking engagements, and service-focused college programs in Puerto Rico that have put over $70,000 into local hands.
This conversation is about giving yourself permission,to start before you're ready, to grieve a career even as you outgrow it, and to trust that preparation, community, and purpose can turn an ending into a beginning.
Connect with Bianca at:
- Website: https://www.thislatinatravels.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thislatinatravels/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/biancaalba/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thislatinatravels
- FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thislatinatravels
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThisLatinaTravels
Follow Raymond:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondmlee/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raymondlee.co
- Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clockingoutpod
- X: http://twitter.com/hrentrepreneur
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@clockingoutwithraymondlee/videos
Become a guest on Clocking Out: https://bit.ly/46sqClq
