Transcript

Josie Lepe  00:08  It was my strength and that I enjoyed it. And also, like I said, it’s changing. So I feel very fortunate and lucky I was able to do that. I mean it the other thing was like cause a Latina from San Jose shooting hockey. We never went I never went to the ice as a young person.

Mónika  00:24  Welcome to Our Latina Lens podcast where we elevate the stories and work of accomplished Latina and Latino photographers in the United States. I’m your host Monika. Sports photography is a genre that may not come to mind when you think about Latina photographers. But when I say that Latina photographers have contributed to the visual narrative in the United States, I mean in all areas, including sports photography. San Jose-based photojournalist Josie Lepe, began in journalism in 1999, picking up and developing film at the San Jose Mercury News. As you will hear in today’s image tour she has since gone on to claim her place as an award winning photographer in sports photography, in addition to other areas that she photographs in journalism and her own artistic practice. For her image tour, Josie chose three iconic moments in Bay Area sports that also represent milestones in her career. As Josie mentions in this episode, sports photography as part of professional sports and privately owned journalistic institutions makes it so that she doesn’t own the rights her images. In order to share her images. Today, we’ve included images of the front pages of newspapers where her images were published. Well not ideal. It does add a layer of context to how Josie’s images have been shared. And I will point out that they’re all front page and above the fold images, which is a place of honor in print media. My interview with Josie about her path can be heard in Episode 10. There’s a link to that episode and to the images we discussed today in your show notes in your podcast player. You can also go to ourlatinalens.com/podcast to see the images there you can also access a transcript and links to Josie’s work. Now let’s hear from Josie.

Josie Lepe  02:34  At Candlestick, the 49ers were losing. I was focused on people’s sadness that the 49ers were losing their last home game at Candlestick. This was the last game at Candlestick so there was a lot of like momentum and history being made that day. For them to get into the playoffs they needed to win this game. And it turned out that in the last seconds, my job was to stay at the opposite end of the field, win or lose right? So I was already covering fans dejection. The Falcons, I believe it was the Falcons, they were going the opposite way. They had the ball. The game was over. So my job was with sports you either focus on dejection or celebration, so I was focused on the dejection 49ers fans being sad, so I wasn’t even turned around. I was the only one on the opposite side of the field. There was no action on my side. I was looking at the fans, let me see some sad fans. I was looking for the right image that tells the story about the 49ers losing their last home game and their season was over. But then all of a sudden, I’m looking I’m shooting people their faces switch, I hear this like roaring of of yelling and excitement and I’m going what is happening the next thing I turned around I see them coming at me and it was like a long distance away and I so I dropped my long lens and started focusing like trying to Okay, I gotta get this image in focus, get it in focus. I was the only one there in that corner and he dove in like straight up to where I was at and I was just making sure that it was exposured right? You know, it was in focus, you know, I was doing my Hail Mary. And I was just saying May the Photo Gods be with me today you know, before a football game and I still even today May the Photo Gods be with me today. You know, sometimes they are and sometimes they’re not because what sports is all about where you’re at in position. So that completely changed. You know the game and then all of a sudden he scored and they won the game and the 49ers were off to the playoffs. But at that moment they clinched the playoff and they won it was a shocker. And I was the only one at that corner.

Josie Lepe  05:00  So I got the play of the game, and everybody was excited. Associated Press, there was nobody in that corner. So that was the first time to that Associated Press came to me and say, Hey, we need to see your take. We want we need that image. So this image want became viral, it was everywhere. And everybody’s like, “Did you see that 49ers image? The clincher?” And I’m, like, you know, people were telling me and I’m like, Yeah, you know, and I was like, “That’s my image.” And they’re like, what, a lot of times people don’t even look at who took the photo, or they see Josie and they associated with Jose. So they half the time, they think I’m a male shooting this image, because there’s no way a woman would have shot that image. That was one of those like historic images. And even today, it’s made..it’s an iconic image of Candlestick– one of those 100 most memorable images. It was one of those images that if I did not follow the rules, the game plan as coverage as a team member, and most of the time photographers, like, ah, the image is over there, the celebration, I’m going to go over there because I’m not going to get anything here. But it’s part of being a team member and a team player that actually saved our butts in this it saved us, right? I had the image and I was the only one that had the image of that play. Because I followed the rules, and I stayed in my corner. And that’s the thing whenever you’re covering and you’re a team member of a group, you say, Okay, you’re covering this corner, this corner this as your corner don’t, you know, because things could change, right? So those are possibilities. But then, if nothing happens, you’re just stuck with like dejection, images of fans, boring, that kind of thing. But it’s still part of telling the story and you have to work as a team member.

Josie Lepe  06:55  The other reason I picked this image was I when I started the Mercury News, fresh out of college in 1999. My job was to…I was part time, drive it a Candlestick pickup film during halftime, bring it back and develop it. So this is Candlestick was kind of sort of what journalism started for me as know, as a young photographer, and where I was inspired. So I would go pick up film, bring it back, develop it work with a photo editor, she would mark the images, she wanted me scan, I would scan him for the next day paper. And then I started getting inspired by all the photographers and the great work, they were doing that I was like, Hey, can I come and shoot a little bit before I leave, I could get it passed again, shoot a little bit of football before I leave and take the film, it made more sense because I can be with photographers and grab stuff instead of waiting. They’re looking for me. And so I was more I was more helpful. And I get to practice. So that was one of the things that was also memorable was that this is where I got started, you know, as in photojournalism, picking up film and developing it. And it’s one of those iconic and memorable images for me because it started in 1999. And here, it took me I think it was 2013 It took me a few years to get to where I want it to be. And it didn’t happen overnight. It was a lot of practice and struggle and learning, learning the sport because before this before going and working for the Mercury News, I had never been to a sporting event. I never went to a football game or professional or non professional. I mean high school you went to the high school football stuff that I never really did any I just never experienced this so this was a…the work environment brought me to this new experience and opened the doors for me, in a sense, with with athletics. So that’s what this image is also memorable to me that I was able to where I started, my job, my career. This also was… there’s a memorable image of Candlestick that that I will contributed. So with photography, for me, it’s about recording history and having that document that will be here forever and say, you know, once I’m gone, they can say oh, Josie shot this image and she was here. You know, my children can say that, but a lot of times they confuse me with Jose. So I don’t know maybe that that’s not going to be the case. But at least you know, my children wouldn’t know that I shot this image.

Josie Lepe  09:44  The 49ers had a historic legacy at Candlestick of winning Super Bowls and having this legacy of a team and Candlestick was that home base in San Francisco. It had been a stadium that was old then and they needed to be rebuilt and they decided not to rebuild there in San Francisco. They moved to Santa Clara, where they had their offices and base for a practice training was in Santa Clara. The games were Candlesticks, even though they were called San Francisco 49ers their office base was in Santa Clara. Also, they were moving to Santa Clara. They’re still called the San Francisco 49ers. But the history and the legacy of the 49ers and the team was built. It was Candlestick. Candlestick was their home. So they had this legacy built around the stadium as a winning team. And now you know, they’re in Santa Clara. So having that last home game and actually winning the game and going to the playoffs, they actually didn’t end up going to the Super Bowl. They lost it to Seattle afterwards, but it was iconic that they would win their last home game, the Super Bowl Rings were all part of the Candlestick history. That’s why having that iconic, winning game that day, and the last home game was memorable overall, for the history of it. The thing about sports is there, there’s always some kind of memory or record being covered while we’re there. And that’s one thing I love about sports, that something will happen that will be a record breaker or some memorable moment.

Josie Lepe  11:35  When we walk into a football game into the stadium, you’re like, okay, you it was more not emotions. It was like, Okay, wait, it’s last home game, you have to cover the fans get the arena, you have a list of items, you need to focus on the sense of place the fans, tight, medium wide, a lot of us were working underneath the stadium while I was talking about the rats going by, it wasn’t like this beautiful stadium that we were covering, we were covering the history of the past,. You go in at 10am, you show up and you’re there from 10am to like six or seven and you’re rolling in images, you’re constantly you start by doing the tailgating, the fans inside outside, gaining a sense of place to the arena getting full stadium, I go in with the game plan, you know, have my lenses do I have a wide, my long lens and your you have to be prepared when the image happened. And at the end of the game, I was like, Whoa, that totally was a game changer. We’re stressed. We’re on deadlines, where there’s a lot of things going on in our brains that sometimes like there’s no feelings, I get lost in the camera. Don’t get excited in the sense that like, wow, this is the last game and I’m excited about football. It’s more I’m excited about, Oh, I gotta get the shot. I always have to prove myself. This image, then the next game, I have to prove myself again. So it’s never enough. It’s always you have to try and keep on building your momentum as being a photographer, being at the right place at the right time is helpful. But also being prepared for the game is helpful.

Josie Lepe  13:16  You’re exhausted at the end of the game, you’re on your feet, you’re going up and down stairs. It wasn’t until the next day that people were saying “Did you see that image?” And I’m like, Yeah, I saw that image coming right at me being at work. They’re like, hey, great job, you know, sticking to the routine. So it wasn’t until the next day that it was like a memorable image. But the problem was it this would have been a more memorable image if they would have beat the Seattle or gone to the playoffs. And it was over by the next round. So then it was now history, right? But it was 15 seconds of fame or whatever they say the next day. But yeah, I was just really happy and glad that I got the image that I was there and the image was in focus, there was a set of frames. And you know, the camera that I had wasn’t as fast as as other photographers today, you know, this image, I would have had a nice sequence with the camera I have I was like who I got the image, thank god otherwise, it was always pressure making sure that I did the job that I was supposed to do. Right? There’s always this pressure of getting the image.

Josie Lepe  14:34  I feel like it’s historic. I’m glad that I was able to contribute because you know, with photography, and being in journalism, the thing that I always wanted was somehow to contribute to history. You know leave something behind as legacy be part of that contribution. Photography is we’re record keepers, right? And I think I’m a documentarian, it’s important to me and I love the action the moment things happen so fast and getting that instant moment of a play and being at the right place. I feel like I contributed to you know, the history of California and the history of sport. Whether I am remembered or not that’s not important for me is that I was able to do I got to live my dream that was the ultimate thing that that I grew up in downtown San Jose in the barrio, I would have never thought that I would have been a photographer or shooting sports I never went to the sports I was never really brought up to like either do folklorico or any sport so for me to get the opportunity to cover sports a dream that most people are passionate about and dream about. Right so and I got to do it. And for my hometown paper was the other thing that you know, I grew up with the Mercury being here in San Jose and I got to do it from my hometown paper.

Mónika  16:03  What a full circle moment to be able to capture such a significant image during the last game at Candlestick Park. I love that it was how Josie tuned into the fans emotions that clued her into the fact that she needed to turn around and that provided that opportunity for her and the winning team shot. Next, Josie claims her right to her spot an opportunity to do the work she loves in the face of clear sexism, in order to capture another winning shot.

Josie Lepe  16:33  In 1999, and I was a lab tech and working picking up film and scanning I was also do my other job was like to do headshots in the studio and a lot of product shots, shooting products where the Style section in the studio. Sportswas something that was trying to learn to become better at, because for me for sports was more about capturing the action. It was happening all the time. How do you create images that happens so quickly you got to think fast right? You have to compose and not only compose your shooting on manual. We have to shoot on manual because you know there’s no way you can you know the camera is going to electronically go crazy with this white ice. So it’s learning how to expose quickly learning how to move your aperture, your focus selection where you want it. The one thing I learned earlier, I used to also help out Richard Wisdom, which I call him my photo dad. I used to go with him because he you know help them turn on the lights at arenas, help them set up remote cameras. He was in his you know, 60s they had say hey, you want to go help them? And then I’m like of course I do I want to learn. So what you do is you go in assist and you learn so I learned how to set up remote cameras and how to light. Because in the old days used to have to light the arena’s in order to photograph them so you get one shot, with light on the ice. After years of practicing with him. I finally got my first shot at traveling.

Josie Lepe  18:14  Nobody wanted to go to Detroit. Detroit, it was one of these cities that a lot of people, the sports photographers like we don’t want to go to Detroit. So I was like “oh sure,” when they asked me. This was my first road trip that Jerry Miglets said say hey, you want to go cover the Sharks at Detroit. They’re in the playoffs. So I was like of course. This was the opportunity. I’ve been waiting for it to get to travel because almost in the old days, all the sports photographers used to travel and going to Detroit it was like Joe Louis Arena. I love shooting hockey hockey was I was really passionate about it, it was here in town. So it was easy for me to go when I could go and practice with one of the photographers and setting up remotes like you got these amazing images. So this was my first road trip to Detroit are always on a budget. The photographers are on a strict budget. So I ended up in this hotel and they’re having ants and bed bugs in it. So I had a move. And so the whole night was just terrible experience with traveling. So finally I got to a different hotel and then the next day I gotta get up early, go set up and with remotes, you have to show up like three hours, four hours before the game. You set up the cameras on top of a catwalk which is like hundreds of feet up above the ice. So I had shown up and say okay, you know, I had sent emails, I would like to set up a remote camera and they’re like, sure come and show up at this time. So I showed up. And then the gentleman that was escorting us to where we need to go up to the catwalk all the way up like hundreds. He looked at me he goes uh Um, I don’t think you can handle this. And I’m going to why not I do this in San Jose. I’ve been doing this for a while now he’s like, I think you’re going to be able to handle our height, you have to kind of go over a barrier that there is nothing underneath. So if you fall or something falls, you’re going on the ice. And I’m going, Well, why don’t you give me a chance to show me you know, I bring my stuff up. If I can do it, I will do it. If I can’t, I’ll let you know. But you know, and there was a group of us and it was mostly all men. And I was the only female. I’ve had other women wanting to do this, and they just can’t cut it. And I was like, Well, I want you to take me up there. And let me see for myself, if I can handle this. You know, I’ve done other arenas.

Josie Lepe  20:47  Finally, we went up there. And I was like, okay, I can handle this, no big deal. And I went follow them. I set up my camera came back down, I focused, I did everything I needed to do, because you’re kind of guessing on the focus, you have you kind of the aperture and everything. And I think I got it, you know, I set it all up. And then I came back down with them. And then there were like, because it was a little scary, because there is nothing. There’s an area you cross over. And it’s an old arena. It’s this is like a historic hockey arena. And for me, I was like, so excited to be there, “I’m at Joe Louis Arena. How exciting is that?” I know, it’s no longer here. It’s like, you know, the hockey heaven. And you know, you’re in a hockey town, you know, and I was like, excited. And you know, when I went up there, I was like, again, I was like a robot. I did my job. I didn’t think about it. I’m like, don’t think about it. They’re trying to freak you out. Just do your job. So I was like, I looked down yeah, there’s you know, height. Sometimes I think about it was I afraid of heights. I just didn’t think about it. I didn’t think about being afraid. So I just did it. You know, like, I was careful. I did I set it up and I just didn’t have any emotion. So that’s one of the things that I I think a lot of times for me, I don’t feel I don’t have emotions, because I don’t let that get in my way of stopping because they were trying to like, egg me on saying this is scary. Are you sure you want to do this? You’re not supposed to be doing this. And I was like, No, I can do this. You know, just give me the chance. And I feel like I’ve always that they’re always someone’s always trying to put the stop. I don’t think you can do this. And I’m like, if you give me the chance, I think I can handle it. It’s like same thing with sports, you know, the sports is it’s a hard job. It’s just give me the chance. The more I shoot it, the more I do it, I can handle that, right. It’s just this constant battle. I feel like even today, you’re still doing it. So always you have to prove yourself every single time.

Josie Lepe  22:52 I get the assignments because they know I can handle it, I get the assignments because they know I can meet deadlines. This is one of those images that was memorable one because I got this was Jerry Miglets gave me the opportunity to go on the road beam be on my own. I was I nailed an image. And I actually won an award local like sports award, the sharks loss, I had the image that I needed for the game. And and the funny part was like when you’re shooting, you’re sending images. And at the end of the night, you have to run and get your gear up to the top, come back down and send this image and you’re go go go, I went grabbed my image and came back down to transmit and I knew I had something because I you know, I was pressing the trigger for the camera. But I wasn’t sure what I had because you had one shot at this. And basically I timed it just perfectly. And it’s all about anticipation. And timing because you might be on the opposite side of the… the reason you do a remote is that you can’t be in two places. So you’re stuck in a section that they put you on the pucks on the other side, you can’t shoot it. So the camera second body covers that area. And I was able to watching the game anticipate exactly when to press down the button so the camera would trigger. And sometimes there’s a delay and sometimes the radio from down at the ice all the way to 100 feet up high. It doesn’t always necessarily go but you just have to really anticipate and have it go right before and it just it was that perfect telltale sign of the story of the game that the sharks ended up flat that day and the image was perfect for it.

Josie Lepe  24:41 So I sent that back and you know it was one of those historic images for me because it was you know, I was being challenged saying oh, I don’t think you can handle it. And then this became front news right front page, image, my remote camera. And also while I was there, you know I was also trying to I don’t think you’d belong here. And I’m like, this is where I was told to be. And this is why my spot because with hockey, there’s ice levels and positions. And I said I was told here and I have my mark and I took a picture and I always had to prove to someone that that was my spot because people always want to challenge you to take you and it definitely in Detroit, it was a rough city with hockey. But it’s also for me, it was beautiful to be at the historic hockey arena. I got to see it before it was demolished to. I love this image one because it was my first road trip. And it took me from 1999 to 2010 to get on, you know, beyond the road. Of course, I did like little sporting events here in the Bay Area because we were so rich with lot Pebble Beach was at their 100th Pebble Beach anniversary. You know, there was different things I contributed in some sense I was always Josie you do the sense of place, my job was go get a sense of place, or there’s certain photographers that were doing the action, I was doing kind of the sense of place and fans, the atmosphere. So I was always contributing in some sense, but this was my first like on the road on my own. You know, it took me 10 years to get there it wasn’t overnight. So that’s why this one is a memorable image for me. Although it’s in a frame in the basement right now, because I don’t have nowhere to put it but but it’s part of my history.

Mónika  26:29 And our next image shows these instincts kick in to capture the iconic, and she reflects on how the field of sports photography is changing and what that means for creating images like the one she shares. A reminder that you can see these images and find out more about Josie by clicking the link in the show notes are going to ourlatinalens.com/podcast

Josie Lepe  26:57  This was a young rookie sat at San Jose Sharks he had just started then he was making his debut as an NHL player from the Czech Republic. We were at SAP arena which is the downtown San Jose arena. And at the time 2010, the stadium was full there was definitely a lot of activity. Hockey was really popular. You had all the the box offices tech companies always had the stadium full compared to today the hockey is a little bit hockey and soccer tend to not be a sports that it’s very dominant here in the Bay Area or in the States. They try to be as much as possible. It was one of those years ago, it was a full stadium. So he did have a large audience it was there was a lot of excitement and hockey during this game. But you know afterwards, you know they did a portrait of him he was he was 19. He barely spoke any English when he got here. I think his life change. After that day. He went out there and just really killed it had three goals in the game. And that’s usually called the hat trick. So I was so focused on the hat trick. And then he also scored a fourth goal. But to me I was like, well the hat trick is important. But I hadn’t seen what the image because I was so focused on shooting, that when you shoot if you don’t see the image happen, it means you have it. If you see the image happening on your screen, it means you don’t have it. Because you basically you know, you saw it so you didn’t shoot it. So it’s one of those things. So I was like I had not seen what had happened. So the the fourth goal, he shot the image of you see underneath the stick is in between his legs. He had done this historic goal between his legs and the puck going in was something that I had not seen in the camera because I was busy shooting the image. And my thing was always I was always told, make sure you have the puck in the image. Make sure you so I followed the puck always. So I wasn’t so much focused on him. I was following the puck and the player.

Josie Lepe  29:16 I was editing and then the team photographer goes, Did you get it? And I’m like, What do you mean? Did I get it? I’m sending the hat trick picture. He’s like, no, no, no, no, the more important picture and I’m like what is what are you talking about? And I had no idea I had the important picture. You have the one between the legs. And I’m like, Oh yeah, I have that. He’s that’s the important one Josie and I’m like, Oh, I thought the hat trick was important because it was a hattrick he’s like No, the between the legs shot was important because that’s something no one really has ever done. And this became like the goal that was heard around the world, like, it was iconic and it was me and the other team photographer had it and the AP had it from the opposite side, but two of us have his face looking at the puck going in a little different angles. So that’s the thing of beauty about sports is that three or four photographers may be shooting it from the same angle, but we all have a different view of it or we get blocked, or you know, just a different angle, I had it at an angle that had the puck visibly clearer going in behind the goalie. So I had a different frame. And I at first, I didn’t think I had it because I did get the referee block my image from for an instant, and then it came back and I was like, Oh my God, I hope this is in focus, because I knew that the referee had blocked me at one point, but I had the image. So then I turned around and sent this image, it was an image that went it got picked up and it got all over, especially in the back in Europe. Tomas Hertl was here from the Czech Republic every his family was also here. So it was important as a as a rookie.

Josie Lepe  31:06 The image itself became this iconic image. Unfortunately, the players decided to teach him a lesson he got hurt, his knees got hurt, and he’s never played the same. But he came really hot playing hockey and he had four goals in one game. And I think it’s still like historic, not too many NHL players have been able to do that. And in a game. The amazing part was that this young rookie got four goals in one game, and he made national headlines with this image. I have never seen a goal like that probably ever. So and I don’t think no one has ever done that, again, that I have heard of.

Josie Lepe  31:55 Hockey was one of the sports I love to photograph because it’s different every time it’s fast, you’re shooting through a small window, they’re making it more and more and more difficult where now you can’t shoot 10 feet in front of you. So you have to close the window because they don’t want the players have gotten hurt the lens hood dropped into the ice while the game is playing. So now they the NHL has more and more rules. And the other thing was like a player I think broke his finger through putting his hand through the hole. So they’re making changes with sports. Sports, it’s very difficult. The league’s own the images, right, we’re there to cover the what’s happening, you know, and reporting back for the news. In general, where we’re there, you know, as observers, and we’re being invited, but most NHL, NFL, they all want to control the images that they create for the sports and they it’s all about money. I think specially hockey, the future, the images we used to get that is going to be a thing of the past where we’re no longer going to be able to shoot through through a hole in the ice, we’re going to have to shoot through glass which images get warped and unless something’s really happening close to you, and you’re going to be able to capture it. Or you’re going to be shooting from above which is a different perspective of an image. So things are changing, just like in concert, you know, concert images, the the artists want all the rights to their images, or they want to provide images to you. But with sports since they are the stadiums are funded by taxpayers, we are still able to cover the sporting events we but as soon as these things become private, I think sports are going to be covered by the teams and they’re going to be handing out images. So things are changing. I see what I experience and capturing this image the spot that I was at and through the window. I don’t think an image like this will be captured in the future. So I do feel lucky and fortunate to have the opportunity to cover hockey when the way it is today, or was in the past, because it’s definitely changing.

Josie Lepe  34:21 I was going through my archive and think what images represent my work right one of the sports that I was always found that I was passionate about and strong at as a sports photographer was hockey. I really love to shoot hockey, sports. There’s a lot of people that are really great at football, they’re great at soccer, they’re great at the Mercury News. You had to be great at everything. And at the time when it was Knight  Ridder and you had to really be good at sports photography, news, portraiture, like you had to be a person that was very kind of a jack of all trades, right? And for me, you know, I was okay at football, and I made a memorable image, I was okay at other sports, but hockey, I really for some reason I was I found my strength in hockey. And that’s why I picked two the images because one, this strength of, you know, not giving up and my first shot of traveling was a hockey assignment. And also this image of this young man who it was a historic image. So I captured a historical image of hockey myself and it was one of those sports that was my strength hockey was my strength as a as a visual storyteller. I enjoyed it. And also, like I said, it’s changing. So I feel very fortunate and lucky, I was able to do that. I mean it the other thing was like, I was a Latina, you know, from San Jose shooting hockey, we never went, I never went to the ice as a young person. And it wasn’t until like I was in college, a friend of mine, that we started to go to the snow and ice and the cold. So the Arena for me, it’s always cold in there. And I always wear lots of layers, but it’s a place that somehow I always felt like I was at home. I don’t know if it’s because it’s in San Jose or I felt like my strengths were were there in this in this arena.

Josie Lepe  36:26 I’ve always wanted to shoot the Olympics. That’s one thing I regret that I never as a staff member, I never got to shoot the Olympics and though and I always wanted to shoot the Winter Olympics, because one hockey was part of it to cover the US hockey team was one of the dreams I had. I don’t know if I ever get to that. But it was something I dreamt about covering the Olympics and the Winter Olympics. That’s the only thing my regret wasn’t able to cover.

Mónika  36:56 I was torn between encouraging Josie to show the breadth of her work and showing her skill and tenacity in sports photojournalism. We agreed that since there are so few women and even fewer Latinas in sports photography, that focusing on her 20 plus year career and successes as a sports photographer made the most sense. Be sure to follow her work to see the range of her skill. Who do you think would be inspired by Josie has tenacity or enjoy hearing how she stood her ground when others doubted her? Screenshot your podcast player right now with this episode information and share that on social media or text to someone who you think would enjoy Josie’s story. I’m so grateful for you listening, Gracias.

Mónika  37:44 Images discussed today are owned by Getty Images. This episode was produced and hosted by me, Monika Aldarondo Lugo. The music was composed by Mattijs Muller and our podcast logo was designed by Tumpa Mistry.

Mónika  38:06 Laancla Creative