Winning the Latina 40 Under 40 award was such a surreal experience, especially when it finally clicked that I had manifested winning this award years ago! This is one of the coolest things I’ve manifested that I’ve never shared on the podcast before, so we’re going to talk about it today! 

This award didn’t just fall out of thin air for me. I worked hard to build up my business and my community so that I could be ready to be recognized for the work I was doing. And yes, the universe conspired in ways I had no idea were possible, and for that I am extremely grateful. And, with some aligned action and a healthy amount of manifestation, my wish became my reality. 

In this week’s episode, I’m going to share the story of how I was nominated for and won the 40 Under 40 and how you can use my manifestation method, too! I use the Magnetic Method framework all the time, and it has brought me so many new and incredible opportunities. And right now, the doors to the Magnetic Mastermind are open, so you have the opportunity to learn more about this method and how my coaching can help you manifest your most amazing life! 

Follow Erika on:
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

Website:
http://www.theerikacruz.com

How to work with Erika:

Book a consultation call for the Magnetic Mastermind here!

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST, an Afro-Latina-owned boutique podcast production and copywriting studio.

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello friends. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Chino Night Revolution podcast. This is your host Erika Cruz. In today’s episode, I thought it could be really fun for me to tell you one of my manifestation stories. One of the kind of coolest things I think I’ve manifested that I actually am not sure if I’ve even shared on the podcast, but I ended up, manifesting winning.

40, under 40 for Latinos in the Bay Area in Silicon Valley, and that happened back in at the end of May, was the award ceremony. So I was, I received the award about mid-May, and then the award ceremony occurred at the end of [00:02:00] May, but the way in which this manifested is a perfect example of how to draw opportunities to you using the magnetic method.

So I thought it would be fun if I tell you the story. And then what I can do is go over the magnetic method framework and explain how that ended up manifesting. Okay, cool. So I’m looking down because I have some notes here. So if you’re watching the video version of this, that’s what I’m doing here and.

Here’s the thing. I knew that I wanted to win an award. I knew I wanted to win an award even before I even had a business. I was like, oh, that’s cool to be recognized for something. Because on LinkedIn I would see people get awards, so that desire was there. And notice that the desire came from me seeing somebody else do it.

I think it can be really easy to see somebody else do something and then we start to compare ourselves and we think it’s not possible for us. But this is a [00:03:00] perfect example of how comparison equals clarity. I saw somebody else do it and I was like, oh, I want that. Well, in order to manifest, we must be clear on what we want, clear on why we want it, but we have to leave the how and the when to the universe, which is the hardest thing to do because as humans, we want to control.

So let me tell you the story of how this happened, and then I’m going to revisit this. Focus on what we want and why we want it, but leave the how and the when to the universe. And I’m also going to talk about when, like how it is that we take action in order to manifest. So, okay, grab your popcorn story time.

Erika back in the tech industry, baby Erika in my twenties. I knew I wanted to win an award, but honestly, I didn’t even know if it was possible for me. But what I did know is that I wanted more out of life. I wanted to feel more fulfilled, and while I was in tech. The [00:04:00] way that I found more fulfillment was getting involved with, Latinos and tech.

Latinas and tech, different organizations, different meetups, going to events. And there was one person on my LinkedIn feed named Frank. And you know, I don’t even remember exactly how or when I met Frank. I think we just came across each other on LinkedIn and I started following him and he holds an annual conference for Latinos in Silicon Valley, and he’s been doing it for a while.

So as I saw this conference, I said, I need to be there. I need to be involved with more people that look like me because I was working at the time in the tech industry and the company was, Indian owned and. The co-founder was Chinese, very typical for the tech industry. So while there was diversity in people of color, there was other brown people.

It was, it was very different. And I was one of the very few females in the company. I think there was maybe three of us total. I was definitely the only Latina. [00:05:00] And I reached out to Frank and said, Hey, I see that you hold this annual conference. And it’s, it was like a $500 ticket to attend the conference.

And at the time, I had a lot of scarcity mindset. Honestly, I probably could have afforded the ticket, but I didn’t know it at the time. I was like, oh, how am I gonna spend that much money on this? So I reached out to Frank and I said, Hey, I know you have your conference coming up. I would really love to come as a volunteer.

Do you need help with anything? Is there anything I can support with? So we ended up meeting for coffee. We met for coffee at the local Pete’s, if you’re not from, I don’t know if they have Pete’s everywhere now, but Pete’s is originally from Berkeley, California, which is where I went to school. So Pete’s coffee is near and dear to my heart, and we met at a Pete’s coffee and we talked a little bit about what he’s doing.

I told him how I really wanted to get involved with that, the Latino community. And he says, you know, maybe I can pair you up with somebody at their booth who’s looking for support. To man the booth. So I was like, okay, so this is a vendor that’s coming to the [00:06:00] event who is going to promote their services.

So I would essentially help them. So I’m kind of working for free in exchange to attend the conference. So that conversation occurred. We took a photo, he posted it on LinkedIn. He was really good about posting on LinkedIn. Remember that’s how we, that’s how we connected. So a couple weeks go by, a couple months go by and the conference is coming closer and I signed up for yoga teacher training and my day for yoga teacher training conflicted with the conference.

So I couldn’t go. So I sent Frank a message. I said, I’m so sorry. I know I reached out. I know I offered to help. I have actually signed up for yoga teacher training because I would love to be the Latina yoga instructor. I don’t see a lot of representation for us, and it’s been really helpful with my own anxiety as I’m working this tech job, so I can’t make it anymore.

And of course, he was understanding. And this is maybe back in, I don’t know, 20 17, 20 18. So as time goes [00:07:00] on, I then, you know my story. If you listen to this podcast, I, they, no, actually this must have been 20 18, 20 19. Because that’s when I was going through yoga teacher training, and I already knew that I wanted to get out of the tech industry.

Well, when I finished my yoga teacher training, then it was 2020, the yoga studios closed. So that dream that I had of becoming that Latina yoga instructor, I had to pivot. I was like, I could still do this, but I can’t do it in the way that I thought. So I started to create content about yoga ethics and the different things that I learned about yoga, for example, non-attachment, which now that I think about it.

Is very tied to what I’m going to talk to you about with how we take action as I’m done with this story. So time goes by, I start creating content on TikTok. The content that does really well is the content that I talk about. Mindset, or being a Latina and tech or overcoming imposter syndrome. All of that tends to do really well and that led to [00:08:00] me beginning my coaching business and I was still working in the tech industry.

Well, I started to create all this content on TikTok, which then allowed me to grow a following, which then allowed me to start hosting workshops. Mind you friends. When I started posting on TikTok, I didn’t even know that a coaching business was a possibility. So I am posting consistently. I start hosting these free workshops and then the people who attend the workshops are the people who start asking me if I could coach them.

And I was like, what’s coaching? So I looked it up, ended up joining a group coaching program. All it took was me seeing how the layout and the skeleton of this group coaching program was. And I was like, this is what I’m going to do. And it gave me the. Framework, and obviously with my own content, my own teachings, I brought in the yoga stuff that I had learned without the practice.

 all of the, mindset stuff that I learned in yoga, I brought that into my coaching program, and then I end up launching my coaching program. I could probably do a whole episode on [00:09:00] like how that manifested. But I start my business and of course my business starts because I’m creating content and I’m showing up.

Well, I then start posting some of my content on LinkedIn as well. I noticed that the emails that we sent out performed really well on LinkedIn. So now we have a process where I write the emails, my amazing, virtual assistant, Cynthia will then take those emails and she will put them onto LinkedIn as well, and then schedule the emails through our email provider and.

Now that I’m more active on LinkedIn, of course Frank starts seeing what I’m doing and then he hosts a meetup for Latino leaders and he asks me if I wanna come. So we reconnect, and this is the first time I see him. Since that one time we had coffee, when I was asking if I could volunteer. And now I am.

Now I’m here as this. Latina entrepreneur who at this point I had already interviewed Luis Foci on TikTok. I had already been on the front page of the New York Times. I already had over a hundred [00:10:00] clients at this point. I brought my friend Lizette with me. We had a great time. I met some amazing people. I ended up landing a speaking engagement from that event, and Frank is the person who put this event on.

So more time goes by. A couple more years go by, and I receive an email from Frank. He says, Hey, I hope all is well. I’ve been seeing your amazing work on LinkedIn. I would love to nominate you for 40, under 40. Please send me your bio and your headshot. And I was like, what? So of course, I Google Latino 40 under 40 because I didn’t even know that that was an award.

I didn’t even know it existed. Mind you, my desire of launching to win an award was planted back in 20 18, 20 19 when I was seeing other people on LinkedIn win awards. So we fast forward and I send him my, my bio. I send him my headshot. And I kind of, [00:11:00] and I’ve had many circumstances and many situations in which I’ve been nominated for things or I’ve been considered for things and they don’t move forward with me.

And that doesn’t mean anything about me. Now I’m wise enough to know this, but we could do a whole podcast episode on that as well. Send me a DM if you want me to. So it wasn’t that I, I wasn’t hopeful. I was hopeful, but. I said, I’m just so fortunate that somebody would even consider me for this award, and I’m just going to lead with gratitude and leave the rest of the universe.

And if this is not the opportunity for me, may a better one come for me. So I, I’ll never forget, I was dancing, I was actually dancing salsa bachata, and I went to the restroom and I washed my hands and I quickly checked my phone because I don’t really look at my phone while I’m dancing. 

 And that’s when I saw the email come through from Frank and I was, I was already in this abundant energy. I was dancing, I was doing something I love to do. You connect with people when you’re dancing. So I see this email from Frank and I just got so [00:12:00] excited.

I, I think I may have even literally responded to the email from the bathroom. And before going back out to the dance floor, because I had headshots on, on my phone and I had my bio, already written in a notes, in my notes app. So I sent all that to him and I remember just feeling so in alignment and excited and I said, okay, well, whatever happens, happens, right?

So I kind of like let it go and a few weeks go by. I go to an event at Stanford University called the SOLE Summit.So SOLE, state of Latino Entrepreneurship. So what Stanford does is every, every year or every two years, I’m not sure, I think it might be every year, they run a report of the state of Latinos in the United.

States. So they measure business growth. They measure the amount of new businesses that Latinos begin. They, they measure at what rate they, at, what rate they’re hiring, and they do all of this extensive research. And my good friend Rebecca, who’s the founder of Blum Me, I highly [00:13:00] recommend you check out the company.

It’s a sexual wellness brand. and her products are available on Amazon. but Rebecca was going to be speaking at the conference, so she shared about it and I was like, oh, I wanna just go see Rebecca. This sounds like a great event. Let me go to it. And mind you, this is at this point, 2025, the pandemic is kind of a thing of the past in-person.

Events are happening more, and I know it’s something that I wanted to do more. So I go to this event and I think nothing crazy of it. I’m just like, hopefully I meet some cool people. We, we will see, like I didn’t have specific expectations of it. I was just thinking, I’m excited to see Rebecca. I’m excited to maybe connect with other people and then maybe I’ll consider doing their program because they have a program.

And my, my friend Rebecca did it. So I am at this event and Rebecca’s the last person to speak, so it’s kind of like a panel. And her session was the, the last hour of the event, which I already knew. I was on a time crunch because [00:14:00] of traffic. I knew I wanted to leave, so I stayed for Rebecca’s panel. And then I said, okay, as soon as they’re done with the interview thing and they go to the questions, that’s when I’ll sneak out.

So as soon as she was done being interviewed, I recorded a few clips of her, sent them her way. She did amazing. And I’m sitting there feeling guilty, right? Because it’s like you went to this event to see your friend, but you also know you have something to do back home. And I think I was getting ready for an enrollment or something.

So I was just feeling the pressure of having a lot to do and the later it got the more traffic I was going to hit. So I sneak out of the room that where this panel’s occurring and I go downstairs because it was upstairs and I was like, okay, I’m gonna be in the car for at least an hour and a half, maybe two hours at this point.

So I think I might wanna get a snack. So I walk into the cafe, that’s by the parking structure. At Stanford University and I get a little granola bar and somebody walks in [00:15:00] behind me who’s also leaving the conference. I’ve never met this guy. We’re gonna call him Sam. I actually don’t know his name. I don’t remember his name.

So Sam comes up behind me and says, oh, I really like your shoes. I was wearing some boots. And he said, are they comfortable? And I said, you know, they’re actually very comfortable. I really like them. And we just kind of talk about that. And I was like, well,have a great one. I’m gonna head out before traffic.

He’s like, yeah, me too. So I pay for my, my little granola bar, and I walk out and I go into the elevator. And then once I’m in the elevator and I hit to go, I push the button to go down to the bottom floor where the parking is. Sam’s coming in. So Sam walks in and he was like, yeah, I decided I’m just gonna wait to eat till I get home because I don’t want traffic to get worse.

I was like, oh, I hear you. So Sam comes in and the elevator doors are almost closing, and then somebody else walks in. Okay, so third person walks in, I know third person’s name. Third person is Clemente. So Cle, Clement, Clemente walks in, [00:16:00] and so we just like, you know, say everybody says hi, and Sam then asks me.

So what is it that that you do? And I start telling him, oh, you know, my name is Erika. I’m the founder of Courage Driven Latina. I help women do the things that scare them. I have a coaching program. I also do some speaking. And then the third person that was in the elevator was like, wait, you’re Erika.

You’re the courage driven Latina girl. And I was like, oh yeah, that’s me. He said, nice to meet you. I’m Clemente. I’m the founder of Latino 40 under 40, and you’ve been nominated and you have a really strong case, and I was like, are you freaking kidding me right now? We get out of the elevator, we’re both going to the same floor.

I start telling him a little bit more about my, my vision, my goal for the company, my goal for the business, why it was that I started it. We had a really great in-person connection. He said, you know, well, a lot of people were nominated this year, [00:17:00] so unfortunately not everybody will get it. But it sounds like, like you have a strong case.

So at this point I’m like, okay, we’ll see if I even get this, but how cool that I got to meet him? So I go home. I got a parking ticket. I won’t forget that. And I didn’t even let the parking ticket get to me. I, and the reason I got a parking ticket was because they didn’t explain really well what section we could park in for the parking, because I paid for the parking, but I just parked in the wrong section, but according to the email that we got, so I was just like, I did the best I could.

There was a miscommunication. I could fight it, but you know what, what’s $30? It’s good. Let’s just keep the vibes up. So I’m, I’m on my drive home and I’m sitting here reflecting on, wow, everything that had to occur for me to be in the elevator at the same time as Clemente. just think about all of the ripple effects I had to decide to leave Rebecca’s.

Speaking engagement, her panel at the moment I did. I had to then go to the [00:18:00] cafe to have the conversation with that Sam dude, who then Sam sparks the conversation about what is it that I do? Clemente happened to walk in and hear that. I mean, this could have been missed by just a second, like if something would’ve been a little different in that ripple effect.

Like this was really just the butterfly effect, right? Everything lined up. For that moment, and this is how manifestation works. We are clear on what it is that we want. We are clear on why it is that we want it, but we cannot control the how and the when. That is a really hard thing to overcome as a human when we want to control everything.

 [00:19:00] [00:20:00] So let me finish telling you this story and then we’ll go on into breaking all of this down. Well, a few [00:21:00] weeks go by and then I received the email that I have been accepted. I will be receiving the award of 40, under 40 then a week later, so, yay. How exciting. Right. Celebration. But then a week later, I’m on my way to Los Angeles to visit my brother and my niece and my nephew and I’m on the plane and I was meditating and I remember I was meditating that I already had everything I wanted in my business.

Erika: I was really doing like this visualization and I land and it, I take my phone off airplane mode. I’m done meditating, and then I have this text message and it says, hi. It’s Clemente, please give me a call as soon as you can. So as soon as we grab our luggage, we get off the airplane. It’s a very short flight, only 45 minutes.

 and I said, Hey, I just landed in Los Angeles. As soon as I’m out of the airport, I’ll give you a call. So my brother’s picking my mom and I up. We get in the car and I said, okay, everybody be quiet. I’m going to take this phone call. So I answer. I [00:22:00] call him. He answers and he’s like, Hey Erika, how are you?

And I was like, oh, I’m so good. How are you? Like, I’m excited for the award ceremony that’s coming up. He was like, yeah. He’s like, well, look, the reason I’m calling is because, as you know, you’re getting the 40 under 40, but we also have something really special. We give away three additional awards and you are the recipient of our Rising Star Award.

So this means we are going to interview you on stage, by the top. One of the top news anchors of Telemundo is going to be interviewing you on stage about your journey. I was like, what in the manifestation is happening right now? So I attend the award ceremony. Of all the 40 people who received the award, I was the only one interviewed on stage, and it was a moment where I really got to speak from my heart.

I ended up like landing a sales call from speaking. So many people came up to me. [00:23:00] I like gave a meditation away to people who came up to me. It was the most beautiful synchronicities. And now I am in my office, and if you’re watching the video version, then this is the 40 under 40 award. And then I also have my Rising Star Award over to my right, so I can see both of the awards at all times in my office.

And it is a reminder that manifestation works and manifestation is possible and it’s not just for the lucky ones and it. There’s a method to it, and that is what I teach inside Magnetic Mastermind and I call it my magnetic method. So let’s break it down now, right? let’s look at this magnetic method and look at this story and break it down.

So we hear a lot that manifestation isn’t about hustling, and that’s true. It’s not about hustling, but it’s also about taking action. A lot of people miss this. They either lean too far onto the [00:24:00] taking action side, or they stay in inaction. But the truth is that having the desire to manifest something and not taking any actions towards it is just wishful thinking.

It’s not manifestation, and society has taught us to take what I call attached action. How does detached action work? 

 So with attached action, which is how society has taught us to take action, is that we’re taking action in attempt to control an outcome. So. I’ll give you an example. You maybe say, I wanna post a video and I’m expecting a client.

So the reason behind posting this video is because I’m looking to control the outcome and I’m expecting a client. But what happens when you post a video and you don’t land the client? Well, that’s when you can start to feel like, maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this. And then what happens whenever you make the [00:25:00] result?

Depend, you make your worthiness dependent on that result. Well, you’re probably not gonna keep posting if you’re feeling like this isn’t working, or I’m not good enough for this. And what happens if you stop posting? You don’t land the client. So now let’s look at my example of how this on, how this manifestation came to be.

It is not like I saw the award. On LinkedIn back in 2018 and then decided I’m going to post on LinkedIn and I want to win an award. And if it doesn’t happen by the first post I’m giving up. No. Right? Or it wasn’t like I went to go look up all the possible awards and just applied from this needy energy.

I didn’t do that either. No. What I did. Is what now I call, which is what I teach inside magnetic Mastermind detached action. So, and this is what I was saying about the yoga teacher training, how we learn about non-attachment and things like that. And I’m able to [00:26:00] implement all of this into my, my trainings now.

So what I teach my clients to do is I teach them to take detached action. So you’re still taking action, but this is coming from a place of being in service, from coming, coming from a place of abundance rather than, while attached action is coming from black. So the example of posting a video, right, in hopes to land a client.

Well now if you’re taking detached action, that example is that you post a video so that you can spread your mission, so that you can serve, and then hopefully the right person finds you and then they become a client. But the intention isn’t to control. The intention is to serve, and that energetically puts you in a completely different place because what happens if you post a video and you don’t get a client?

But the intention of the video was to serve anyway. Well, you’re gonna feel in service instead of feeling like you’re not good enough. And what [00:27:00] happens? Well, you’re going to keep posting if you feel good about being in service. And what happens if you keep posting? Well, you build relationships, and then eventually it’s inevitable that you sign a client. So yes, we do take action when it comes to manifestation, but it’s about taking detached action. And if we look at, that’s only one piece of the magnetic method framework, and that’s kind of the part of the strategy piece. The other thing is that I support you in building influence by the type of content that you create.

So it wasn’t like. Frank was following me and thought, oh, I bet you she’s a great person inside. I bet you she’s a great leader inside. No, Frank was watching the thing he was seeing. Frank is the person who nominated me for the award. Frank was already seeing everything I was doing on LinkedIn because I was sharing it.

Because I was building my own [00:28:00] influence. I, I wasn’t waiting for somebody to tell me I was a thought leader. I showed up as a thought leader. I shared client wins. I shared what, what frameworks I was teaching. I showed up as this person in service that is already a thought leader. I was already showing up as the identity of somebody who deserves an award, even though I wasn’t sitting there pitching myself for them.

The other thing that the magnetic method supports you in doing is showing up as if you already have the thing that you desire, right? Taking the detached action. But the other thing is more on the spiritual. More on the manifestation side. Manifestation side, and that is mental rehearsal. And. Mentor rehearsal is something that Olympic athletes use.

Over 80% of the Olympic athletes use this, which is pretty much visualization, visualizing your success. And what this does is it rewires your brain to be familiar with success, [00:29:00] so you’re more likely to be able to receive it when it comes to you. And you’re more likely to build connections in your brain that support the success.

A lot of us, what we do is we use our imagination to worry, and we’re thinking about worst case scenarios, and we’re thinking about, oh, if I post that video and then nobody comments on it, I’m such a failure, but. That is wiring your brain for negativity. That’s literally creating the worst case scenarios in your brain, and your brain doesn’t know the difference between something that’s vividly imagined and something that’s really happening, so why not use your imagination?

In a productive way to wire your brain to expect success because the brain’s job is to show you proof of your beliefs.

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right. Says Henry Ford. And it’s so true because the brain, the brain’s job is to confirm your beliefs. So those [00:30:00] are three of the main things that we do with the magnetic method, and that is how. This manifestation came about.

I was clear on what I wanted. I was clear on my mission and why I wanted it. I was already visualizing my success, but there was no way of me controlling that Frank was gonna nominate me, that I was gonna end up in the same elevator as the creator of Creator this award. It’s mind blowing how manifestation works.

And the thing is, people think they need more time to manifest. You don’t need more time, you need more alignment. And in order to be aligned, it means you must take the action that is detached. It means that you must work through those blocks or those beliefs that say you’re not good enough or you’re not worthy enough.

And those are all the different things that I support you with, with the magnetic method inside of magnetic Mastermind. 

 the door is closed tomorrow. If this podcast episode [00:31:00] resonated with you and you are a creator or an entrepreneur. Or you want to be one and you want to manifest opportunities and you want to learn the magnetic method, I invite you to schedule your call on your call.

It has to be scheduled by tomorrow, but on this call, I will look at your situation, your scenario, and then if I think this program’s a good fit for you, I will tell you how I think the program’s a good fit for you. And then if we both think it makes sense, we’ll talk about the next steps. But even if you have an ounce of interest in this program, schedule a call.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Even if you think that this program might be too advanced for you, schedule a call. Either way, it can be helpful, right? I will give you guidance if I think, Hey, actually this program works for you. Here’s what we’re gonna do a little different. Or if I think something else is a better fit for you, I will be totally honest.

Okay, friends, yay. I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode. I will see you next week. Schedule that call with me. You can find the link down below in the show notes and a las proxima! [00:32:00]