What is it like to be famous and Hispanic in Arizona?

But what I wanted to talk about is at this moment in Arizona, with so much that's going on, whether it's politically, whether it's socially and all that, sort of what it's like to be successful in Arizona at this time.

Vanessa, one of the things that you said made me think, when you pronounce your name, you pronounce it twice.

You pronounce it in the traditional way, and then you sort of anglicized it.

That has been a thing with you, as we've discussed before.

Maybe we can just kick off there and start about that, what that was like, because that was early on in your Phoenix career.

Yes, that was very early on, actually.

That was less than a month into my Phoenix career.

That was back in 2015.

I came to Phoenix after working as a journalist, both in Los Angeles and Miami in Florida, which is my hometown.

Two cities that, as you both know, very multicultural, very diverse.

As somebody who has been bilingual my whole life and has worked in both English and Spanish media, Certainly, it was a frankly a big surprise and a shock to come to a place like Phoenix, Arizona, right? We're four hours driving away from the Mexican border.

We have a robust and thriving Latino community here.

So that was something that was unexpected, to say the least, to receive so much backlash.

Because I said, I say Mesa, I don't say Mesa, or I say Casa Grande, I don't say Casa Grande.

It's interesting.

It's been 11 years since that occurred.

It's changed the trajectory eventually of my career.

But I've had conversations with people about what if that had happened today, right? What if that situation that happened in 2015 occurred in 2026? And I have to say, I don't think I want to find out what that would have been like in today's climate.

If it was difficult and challenging in 2015, I think in 2026, that would have just been compounded 10 times, right? Because of the climate that we're in, because of everything that's transpired since 2015, from a political, social and cultural perspective.

So it's been a journey.

It's helped me grow.

It's taught me some very important lessons.

It has absolutely not made me waver one inch and being a proud Latina, which I am a proud Latina, but I'm also, you know, proud American because I was born in this country.

So there's that interesting dichotomy as well, which I think doesn't get talked about enough.

But again, we're living in some interesting times to say the least.

But what I wanted to talk about is at this moment in Arizona, with so much that's going on, whether it's politically, whether it's socially and all that, sort of what it's like to be successful in Arizona at this time.

Vanessa, one of the things that you said made me think, when you pronounce your name, you pronounce it twice.

You pronounce it in the traditional way, and then you sort of anglicized it.

That has been a thing with you, as we've discussed before.

Maybe we can just kick off there and start about that, what that was like, because that was early on in your Phoenix career.

Yes, that was very early on, actually.

That was less than a month into my Phoenix career.

That was back in 2015.

I came to Phoenix after working as a journalist, both in Los Angeles and Miami in Florida, which is my hometown.

Two cities that, as you both know, very multicultural, very diverse.

As somebody who has been bilingual my whole life and has worked in both English and Spanish media, Certainly, it was a frankly a big surprise and a shock to come to a place like Phoenix, Arizona, right? We're four hours driving away from the Mexican border.

We have a robust and thriving Latino community here.

So that was something that was unexpected, to say the least, to receive so much backlash.

Because I said, I say Mesa, I don't say Mesa, or I say Casa Grande, I don't say Casa Grande.

It's interesting.

It's been 11 years since that occurred.

It's changed the trajectory eventually of my career.

But I've had conversations with people about what if that had happened today, right? What if that situation that happened in 2015 occurred in 2026? And I have to say, I don't think I want to find out what that would have been like in today's climate.

If it was difficult and challenging in 2015, I think in 2026, that would have just been compounded 10 times, right? Because of the climate that we're in, because of everything that's transpired since 2015, from a political, social and cultural perspective.

So it's been a journey.

It's helped me grow.

It's taught me some very important lessons.

It has absolutely not made me waver one inch and being a proud Latina, which I am a proud Latina, but I'm also, you know, proud American because I was born in this country.

So there's that interesting dichotomy as well, which I think doesn't get talked about enough.

But again, we're living in some interesting times to say the least.