Fairygodboss Radio: Mariangel Maldonado, Head of Wellbeing, Booking.com

About the Episode 

In this insightful episode of Fairygodboss Radio, we sit down with Mariangel Maldonado, the Head of Wellbeing at Booking.com. Mariangel opens up about her mental health journey, the importance of flexibility in her career, and how different aspects of her identity influence the work she does today.

Throughout this conversation, Mariangel provides valuable insights on the trial-and-error process of finding a well-being routine, noting that it won’t always align with idealized versions we see on social media. She also highlights the need for women to support each other, breaking down walls and building professional trust. Finally, she explains the importance of identifying your own well-being non-negotiables. 

Listen to the full conversation above. We also provide a transcript of this exciting discussion in the following article.

Fairygodboss is proud to partner with Booking.com. Find a job there today!

About the Guest 

Mariangel Maldonado is the Head of Wellbeing at Booking.com. 

Organizational Psychologist, Clinical Psychologist, Thanatologist and Therapist

Mariangel is a strong and passionate advocate for wellbeing inside and outside the workplace. A curious mind and soul  that follows an integrative and holistic approach to health. Bringing in years of experience in both clinical and organizational psychology she leads Booking.com’s wellbeing strategy that includes physical, mental, emotional, social and financial health, with a lens of identity and intersectionality at its core. Aiming is to create a healthier work environment, reduce the stigma around mental health, and foster a more inclusive culture for everyone.

Episode Transcript

Gabi Carachilo: Hello and welcome to Fairygodboss Radio. I'm Gabi Carachilo, Vice President of Client Operations, and I am thrilled to be joined today by Mariangel Maldonado at Booking.com. You serve as the Head of Wellbeing. Thank you so much for being here today.

Mariangel Maldonado: Thank you for having me, Gabi.

Gabi Carachilo: I am thrilled to have you, and so excited for our discussion. I would love to jump right into, learn a little bit more about your career path and how you landed in the role that you're in today.

Mariangel Maldonado: Yeah, sure. There's always long and short stories I can share about that, but my background is in psychology.  I have a dual background in clinical psychology, but also in work and organizational psychology. Ever since I can remember, I knew this is what I wanted to be. I have a very vivid memory of the first day of high school and the professor asking, okay, introduce yourself, and if you know what you're gonna study in university, you can already share. And I just stood up and I was like, I'm Mariangel and I wanna be a psychologist. And, and that was it. I never deviated from that goal. I love helping people. I knew that I wanted to work on something that will allow me to walk people through the stages of life and development and getting to know themselves better. So that's what I dedicated the first part of my career to. I had my own private practice. I was working with clients, I worked with children with adolescents, adults and couples.

And then I moved to the Netherlands and I switched to organizational because I've always been mindful of being flexible with a path, but knowing what my end goal is. And that, that to me is that idea of helping people and I started my career at Booking.com, working in tech as an agile coach. And that's a bit of the flexibility part because I didn't know anything about technology or agile, but when I read the description of the role and when I did a bit of research around agile product development, I realized that it was very similar to the type of therapy I'm trained in, which is solution focused brief therapy. So I thought, okay, it's like every two weeks you have a little bit of a review, you have a conversation on progress, you assign a little task. And I thought, how different can it be? It turns out that a lot <laugh>, but it was one way to get me into the company and then I could start building a career in it and experiencing different things.

 In my time in tech, I was always very vocal that what I knew what to do was psychology, right? And that part of team development, psychological safety, when it became one of the popular terms, was definitely right up my alley. So I always tried to get involved with initiatives that were related to that part. And in one of those, I got to work with what's at that time was the beginning of our diversity, equity, and inclusion journey on a training around unconscious bias. And that for me was the first exposure also to DEI work. And I immediately fell in love with this idea of connecting identity and wellbeing. So when there was an opportunity for me to join the team, I jumped on it because it looked like the dream role, right?

They initially were looking for someone that could bring mental health and a mental health program to the company. And that's exactly what I wanted to do. There was this one day when I was sitting in another training doing a resiliency sort of like stress management session for some team leaders. And I remember sitting with one of my colleagues and closest friends now, and we both thought like, oh, I imagine how good would it be if one day at Booking.com we can have a day dedicated to mental health? And all of a sudden this role was open, and not only have we had now a day dedicated to mental health, we have had Global Wellbeing Month, and we have done a lot of different things since we started the program. So I live in this constant state of pinch me, how is this my life <laugh> when it comes to the job that I do? But the journey to get to where I am was oof. It was definitely an adventure.

Gabi Carachilo: It sounds like quite an amazing and impactful career journey. I really appreciate you sharing that story with us. And looking back as you reflect on the journey, were there key moments or decisions you made that shaped that career path or, you know, any turning points that really made a big difference along the way?

Mariangel Maldonado: Absolutely. My very first encounter with working in corporate was when I was very young. I was still in university. It was a means to an end, so I started working so I could actually pay for my studies.  And in that instance, in my first role in HR, I got asked to politely leave. It all came down to the fact that I was prioritizing at moments my studies, instead of the role. And because I was working and studying full-time, I also was experiencing a lot of stress. So one day I actually ended up in the hospital with a very bad case of stomach pain, and I had to miss work the next morning. And this was many years ago, right? But you were not really giving sick days at that time. So my manager didn't like that. So she was kind of like picking at these things that now I understand where more signs of the need for work-life balance, that was non-existent in that company at that time.  And that was the first time that I said, I don't think this is fair treatment and I want an opportunity. And I found an opportunity. That was, for me, a very important thing to do, to realize that I could have my own voice in making sure that I was saying something when I observed that there was unfair treatment happening. 

Then I had this thing, when I moved to the Netherlands. The first year that I was here, you had to do an internship. The program that I was doing was advertised as a international program, but in reality it was a lot of Dutch people and a couple of people from other European places. So when this teacher was on the seminar telling us all the things that we needed to do, she directly looked at me, and I remember I was sitting in the middle of the classroom and she looked at me and she said, you know, international students sometimes decide to go back to their country because it's really hard to find an internship here. And I was thinking, oh, I'll show you <laugh>.

I went out and I applied to a lot of places. I found an amazing internship with a really good company. And at the end of my internship period, that company was going into a restructure. So there was not an opportunity for me to stay, but my manager there told me that she looked at a lot of positions at Booking.com. She's like, why don't you apply there? And I was like, who? <laugh>, because Booking.com was not a thing in my vocabulary at that time, but that's how I got to know about the company. That's how I applied. And I ended up working here. And the last thing that happened there for me that was really important was that I actually didn't pass my first interview, but I got a lot of positive feedback. So when they gave me another opportunity, I focused on that feedback, on improving, on flexing, like I was saying, that importance of being flexible for that end goal. And yeah, that's a bit of how I started working here.

Gabi Carachilo: I love those stories and I appreciate the transparency and the authenticity that you're bringing to this conversation, because often we hear from folks within our community that feel as if they're doing something wrong, if their career path isn't linear, if there isn't this clear A to Z trajectory of how a career journey can unfold. And what I'm hearing from you is that even despite some of the hardship, the unfair treatment, the challenges, you were able to flex, you were able to adjust, you were able to continue to grow and learn and pivot and advocate for yourself along the way. And even if that career trajectory wasn't exactly linear,  it worked out and, and you found a really great path for yourself by taking those actions. So I really enjoyed hearing more about that, and I appreciate you sharing some of those career moments that shaped your trajectory along the way. I would also love to learn how, if at all, gender has played a role in your career, any experiences there?

Mariangel Maldonado: Yes. And this is an interesting one because of course, the first part of my career happened in Mexico, the second part in the Netherlands. And I think at the beginning, gender played a big role in Mexico. Again, it was a long time ago, but the way people will treat women in the workplace was very different, right? So that's also why my first experience in corporate, I swore after that that I was never going back into a company. I was like, no, this is not for me. But once I started working in the Netherlands, I realized, oh, it had nothing to do with the company. It had to do with the place that I was in and the way they were treating women. And that was a very important lesson that it sometimes is the specific place you're in. It's not a whole, and it's not good to generalize in that way.  I think when I started working in tech, it also played a role because a lot of times I was the only one in the room, right? And, and starting to understand that experience of women in tech really opened my eyes. And I think when I moved to diversity, equity, and inclusion, it was also a big drive to want to create change for women. And then when I started to work on health and wellbeing, it was the realization of there's also a lack of equity in the space of health and wellbeing when it comes down to women's health. And also the importance of talk about women's health at work, right? But to me, what was funny about all of that is that I didn't know these things. I think if anybody ever saw that episode on Desperate Housewives, when the child of Gabby and the husband character says, “We're Mexican?”, that's exactly how I felt when people started telling me like, yeah, but you're a Latina woman and you need to be thinking about the experience, not only of being a woman, but of being Latin. And I was like, whoa. Because in Mexico, I was always part of the majority, right? I didn't know that there was the being a woman on top of that being Latin, and being from all those represented communities until I was out of that environment. And now I understand that every single block of your identity matters. And it's good that you have conversations around that and that you think about how are those different blocks of identity impacting my experience?

Gabi Carachilo: Super important. Yes. And I do think that there has been a bit of a shift or a call of attention to this intersectionality component in the workplace and work teams and among DE&I groups, ERGs, to really ensure that all of those unique parts of our identities are being represented and reflected upon and so on. And so I appreciate you sharing that with us. As you reflect on your career, what interactions with other women have stood out to you? Have you had folks within your network who have been the most supportive or influential that come to mind?

Mariangel Maldonado: Oh, definitely. I am very lucky to have found amazing women in my path. I think my first ever female manager in the Netherlands, I learned a lot about self-confidence from her. She was also not coming from tech, stumbled into that path. And the first thing that she did when we met was tell me, okay, you know what, what I wanna really focus on is move you to a permanent contract because I think it's important that you don't have the stress of thinking every couple of months, am I gonna have a job or not? And as an expat, that to me was huge, right? Because it meant that I could start considering other options about my life in a different country and stay in and what I wanted to build. So that was a really important moment of like, as a leader, how can you remove stress from someone else's experience? And in this, it was a very big thing, right? Like a permanent contract, but it's sometimes it can be with being flexible in other ways, allowing people to manage their own calendar, their own working hours, anything like that, right?

Another big thing for me has been vulnerability and something that I have not mentioned, and I think it's important speaking about that intersectionality and identity, is that I live with a mental health condition. I have had my fair share of mental health struggles throughout for many different reasons. And that meant that a lot of the time I kept my personal life very separate from my work life, right? Because I also box what goes inside my mind in a way that I can protect being a functional person and being in a position where I can work and I can provide for myself and all of these things, right? But I found amazing women in my time at work who wanted to take down those walls and those protections and tell me, “but we wanna get to know you and, and it's safe and it's okay, and you can trust us and you can make friends at work”. And I still have those people in my life that we have been friends for over 10 years, and they have little by little chipped away from that hard external world. And allow me to see the importance of having people that will have you back in the workplace as a person, not only as a professional, right? Like a manager can do, or or your colleagues. So that has been really important. And I think outside of that part of work is,  you know, how people have this expression of having, uh, who's in your front row or in your personal board of directors or anything.

I constantly think about making my ecosystem of support be women, because I also wanna support other women that have their own businesses or, or are doing something that is meaningful to helping others. So my coach is a woman, my therapist is a woman, my personal trainer as well, <laugh>. So I do ensure that I surround myself with people that can bring a lot into my life. But that I also, to me, role models of that balanced way of living and caring for all aspects of myself, not only the professional one, and in the end all has an impact, right? Because it's all connected.

Gabi Carachilo: Absolutely. You, you make a really great point about that co connection, that there has been this movement where you can bring your whole authentic self to work and things don't have to be as compartmentalized and segmented. And it's important to have  that network or that community or that council or that board of people who can be that support system in a really safe, authentic, vulnerable way. Especially as sometimes those lines are blurred right between personal and professional.

Mariangel Maldonado: And I think if, if I may add to something important. I do hear it a lot around like the bringing your whole self to work or your authentic self. And for me, it's also very important that we do two things in the workplace. One, we respect whatever people choose to share as their authentic of true self and what they don't. Right? That choice should be in you as an individual. Not like, oh, but in this workplace we are a family and we share everything. It's like, whoa, whoa. Let's, also be mindful of what can that mean for someone, right? And, and allowing them to keep the parts of themselves that they find private or meaningful to themselves, because that's the second part. Whenever you choose to open up a part of your identity to other whatever that is, you are providing them with the privilege of getting to know who you are, that authentic, true self and whoever you are out there, if someone is providing you with that opportunity, with that privilege, you need to feel honored about it, right? Not offended or disgusted or concerned. That, I think is where it creates a problem or people feel forced to be a version of their authentic self. Like they need to overshare and other people feel that they don't know how to deal with what is put in front of them. So I think creating that balance and allowing everyone to find their sweet spot with respect is really important.

Gabi Carachilo: Very important call out. Thank you so much for calling attention to that. And I agree, finding that sweet spot, allowing people to share as much as they feel comfortable doing so in a given situation, and then respecting and feeling honored when a person does feel comfortable and safe and open to reveal maybe that certain part or piece of their identity. You've talked a lot about ways in which others have supported you and how you've supported others in the work environment. What are you doing at Booking.com? I'd love to learn a little bit about your role and how you are supporting other women in your organization as well. 

Mariangel Maldonado: Yeah. So across what we do in the program of wellbeing, we focus on five different pillars of health. So we have mental, physical, emotional, social, and financial. Our wellbeing program has exactly that, intersectionality at its core, because we recognize the importance that there's no one wellbeing size fits for all, or a wellbeing framework or system or reality that applies to everyone, right? So we work a lot to bring more equity into the space of health and wellbeing, and that we do through different initiatives and programs, but some of that is our volunteerism programs. In another way, I also work very closely with our employer resource groups to ensure that we're considering that identity and wellbeing and intersectionality. So for example, we have talk about women's health, but also about with our women's network, but also we have talk about the realities of motherhood in Latin America, right? So we combine our Latin colleagues framework with a women's network and create this session where we're touching on important topics to both groups, right? And we talk about narrow diversity as well. We talk about like the difference that exist in gender on these topics. And we also have a lot of dedicated mentorship programs and leadership development programs. And what we try to do, or that I, I try to put a lot of focus on is making sure that we have wellbeing embedded in all of them. So that we're talking about the importance of things beyond just stress management, but that we are recognizing health challenges, that we're recognizing the impact of mental health and emotional health, and how do you become resilient. And something that for me is very important is this idea that high performance and productivity and being good at your job, it can be coexisting with good wellbeing and good mental health if you put all the right things in place, right? Sometimes people think that they need to burn themselves out to have a good career, and that's not always the case. Or that you need to have a very demanding environment because that's the only way that you're gonna get the most out of people when actually we know in research show us that investing in people in their development, in providing them with opportunities in coaching and mentoring and all of that can also lead to that motivation and intrinsic growth. Right?

Gabi Carachilo: Sure. Well, so we'll talk on, and I'd love to expand more on the concept of, of burnout and finding balance, a bit later on in the conversation. But before we pivot, you make a really great point about coaching and mentorship and learning and development and how to infuse that into wellbeing or making sure that that is a component in all of those programs. As we're on that topic, I'd love to ask you if there's been an impactful lesson that you've learned in the workplace, something learning and development focused that you'd like to share with us?

Mariangel Maldonado: So many things <laugh>, something that I think connects to everything that we're talking about was, I mean, of course when you start working on diversity, equity, and inclusion, you get exposed to all the things that are happening in the space of gender, right? And the importance of feminism and the history of it, and where is it coming from and the place in the workplace. But to me, the moment the light bulb went on, on that identity piece when I read a book called The Memo by Minda Harts and that idea of being a woman of color in the workplace, and what does that look like? Then starting learning more about allyship, allyship not only for in the same space of a woman's network, right? And how do we become allies to each other, and how do we support people that might be also younger than us that may have had less experience in certain areas. And so it's more about that collective support and the importance of that within a community. That to me, has been really important. It's not only about, let's say, my community versus your community or who gets the resources or anything like that, it's more about like, how do we come together to support each other, particularly when we are members of underrepresented communities. And the other one also connects to this, the importance of talking about wellbeing in the workplace and removing the stigma that exists around this. In my own experience, it has been definitely around mental health, but also around physical health, right? The first time we did a session on women's health and talking about periods and the different ways that we form a family and the importance of hormonal balance. I was in the session learning a lot of things that then empowered me to go and talk to my doctor about some of health things that I was having, issues with that then led to me being in such a better state mentally because it turns out that I was suffering from some physical things that I shouldn't have been, right. But no one was listening to me, and I also didn't know how to ask the right questions or how to challenge my doctor because I was looking at them as a position of authority, but then I was back up at science and the right information and facts, so I could go and be like, okay, we are gonna talk about this, and this is, and this is what I know and this is what I want you to do, and this is what I think we're gonna get to, and then telling other people about it, right? Like, I went through that journey and then I started talking to other people about the importance of that. And then I realized, particularly when talking with my girlfriends, that a lot of them were suffering in silence and were not raising their hand, or were not approaching their doctors, or we're not talking to them because they didn't know they could or they didn't know how. So that to me, and, and it applies like in this case to my experience, but I have seen it also happening across so many other things. We need to be sharing more of what we're going through so that we can feel more connected and more empowered to be in a better place. 

Gabi Carachilo: Absolutely. It's such an impactful lesson, I really love your takeaways about the importance of having that collective support and then of course, removing the stigmas, advocating for ourselves, being empowered to have those conversations that can show up in so many different facets of personal and professional life. So thank you for sharing that. We've talked a little bit about some of the challenges that you have faced and women have faced in the world today in work environments. And we know that especially in the past few years, there's been a lot of challenge. What are you doing differently as a result, and what advice do you have for our audience on how to persevere? I think you talked about resiliency earlier in the conversation as a theme, I'd love to, to explore that further.

Mariangel Maldonado: I think the most important thing is for people to find what works for them. And I know everybody says this, but truly experiment with things until you find your good routine and what works for you for feeling resilient, for feeling at your best. And at the same time, what I think it's very important is not to romanticize the process. I think a lot of the time, particularly in the area of social media, we look at all these people doing these healthy things and finding their wellbeing and their balance, and they do it in a very aesthetic and pleasant looking way, <laugh>. And it's like, well, I wish it will look like that, and it will feel like that, but that's definitely not my experience. But what I have learned is I, and I think I've been working on myself very intentionally, particularly for the past six years, that you need to be flexible with yourself. You need to find what works for you. You need to be able to choose your heart now, knowing what it's gonna bring for you later and if that's gonna be helpful. And also analyze things like, is it still working for me? Is it still serving its purpose? Do I need to change anything? So being that constant self-reflection, and to me that has come down to finding my wellbeing, non-negotiables, the things that I know I need to have in place. One of them is definitely physical exercise. And at the same time it is the hard one, right? Because I will put that first no matter what. And that means that if I go to the office and I have to be there early and I have a long commute, I need to wake up at two in the morning to do a workout and get ready before I start my commute and my workday and all of that. And I know that to some people that can sound intense, but what you don't know is that if I don't do that, my mental health starts spiraling and I start having a lot of challenges, and it's one thing that can completely flip me over, right? So I choose that and I know that it's good for me, and I feel so much better since I started making that commitment with myself. Do I enjoy it? No <laugh>, do I think it's the best, is the best thing in the world? Do I, uh, no. But after a lot of doing it and accepting it and coming with that compromise to myself, now I actually wake up feeling good about the fact that I know this is gonna lead to that, right? And this is coming from someone that used to wake up questioning her existence.

I love when people are like, oh, I wake up and I smile, and I like, I wake up and I'm like, why? So <laugh>, the fact that I'm not in that mindset anymore is magical, but what I have to do not to be in that mindset is a lot. And I have found that when you share that with other people, some people might criticize you or some people might think like, how can you put yourself through that. Or why do you do this, or whatever, because I, that's one step of my 10 step routine that I have <laugh> that I have to do. But I think that's where  that respect comes in and that idea of like, if someone is sharing something with you of what works for them, listen, respect them, giving them that space because they have found that. And, and it's more about like, look at that and think, have you found what works for you and what you need? And then allow yourself to share that. I love Sarah, a good friend of mine, and also a person that I work with that has shared, you know what, what I need to do is wake up and watch some TV and like, that's what works for me. And I'm like, do it. That's great. It doesn't need to be what other people tell you is good for wellbeing in general. It's amazing if it is, but if it's not, it's what's good for you. And if that's contributing, then that's fine.

Gabi Carachilo: I love that. And I also love the notion of experimenting, right? And figuring out what those wellbeing non-negotiables are. Maybe in that chapter, that season of life, what worked for me, pre-kids looks a whole lot different now that I have a five and three-year-old at home in the mornings, and we have a different routine. And I don't know that I had given a lot of thought to kind of that reflection, taking a more analytical approach and experimenting on how I can adjust my wellbeing strategies or approaches or non-negotiables, maybe even, you know, month by month in a given situation.

Mariangel Maldonado: <laugh>. Yeah, I love neuroscience. I love wellbeing hacks.  I love biohacking. So I do go and test, I keep my journals, my reflections of what's working, what is not then, and it does pay off because you can actually track what is meaningful for you, and you can see the changes that it brings to your life. So it does take a bit of time investment, let's say, or discipline, but what you get on the other side is so rewarding.

Gabi Carachilo: It's definitely going to be worthwhile. I'll be taking that as an actionable takeaway for myself. So thank you for sharing that. Next up, we're going to transition to one of my favorite segments of the program, which is our fast five questions. My first question is, what is your favorite karaoke song?

Mariangel Maldonado: Ooh. Uh, I don't know if it's gonna make a lot of sense because it's in Spanish and it's something that I really enjoy, but it's called ‘Mis ojos lloran por ti’. And it's a bit of a very fast rap kind of song. So knowing the lyrics and mastering those lyrics, it's a challenge that one has to go through. And I can say I nailed it. So that is my song.

Gabi Carachilo: Impressive. Impressive. What is your favorite way to practice self-care?

Mariangel Maldonado: Exercise, for sure.

Gabi Carachilo: Who is one celebrity that you would like to have dinner with?

Mariangel Maldonado: I love reading. That's one of the things that I truly enjoy. And Matt Haig is one of my favorite authors that is still alive because I have many that are not, and I'll love to have dinner with him and have a conversation because his books have truly impact the way that I think about my own mental health journey and also the way that I share it with others.

Gabi Carachilo: I love that. Which is a great segue. And you've shared a couple of authors and books that have been impactful for you, but if you had to give one book that you would recommend to our audience to get a copy of and to read, what would it be?

Mariangel Maldonado: I will stay talking about him for a bit, because one of his books that was really supportive for me was Reasons to Stay Alive. I have definitely had very dark places in my life where I have thought about many different things. And reading that book and normalizing that experience has been very amazing. But then he did another one called The Comfort Book. And in that he has small reflections, right? And one of those small reflections is around, you know, somebody asking him, okay, how do I stay alive if I have no one? And then he describes that you stay alive for the other versions of you, the future versions of yourself that you are yet to meet. And now that I'm in a really good stage in my life and that I'm in a really good place and that I know what it took to be here, I can see that like I recognize that version of myself in the mirror, that future version of myself that I did all of these things for. And it's, oh, it's fascinating. So I think that book, any of his books, but those two books to me are life changing.

Gabi Carachilo: It sounds that way, absolutely beautiful. At Fairygodboss, we believe that women are sometimes disadvantaged because we may not be good at taking credit for our accomplishments, and we can only get better if we practice. So I'd love if you could brag for us right now and share an accomplishment, personal or professional, anything that stands out or comes to mind. 

Mariangel Maldonado: So many things <laugh>, um, because I, I'm a strong believer in celebrating the big and the small. But I think I love that I have things that, that are particularly relevant today. So professionally, yesterday we had our Movember moment in the office to recognize the importance of men's health. And why I like to talk about this is because in our program we have focused on a lot of identity and wellbeing, right? But men don't have an ERG in our company. So it was a bit of like, okay, we need to talk about this. When is the right time, when it's the right moment? We also wanted this to be received the right way. And we started last year and we started small, and we got a lot of good feedback. So then we did it again this year and it was heartwarming. We had a lot of people come in and joining the conversation, the reflection, making donations, shaving their beards, starting to leave their mustache to grow throughout the month. And everyone was positive about it, about the importance of talk about this topics and recognizing them in the workplace. And that to me just felt like from that little conversation in the back of a room with my colleague around, can we have one day where we talk about this to building a whole program, to be in a place where we can talk about these topics at work, I find it really special. And I feel really proud that we have built all of this together.

And I think personally, it's my home, which we in Mexico is “me casa tu casa”. So if anybody ever around the neighborhood, you're more than welcome, <laugh>. But it's the anniversary of when I moved into this house. I think to me that it's a huge thing because I connected a lot to building a safe space and a meaningful space for myself and working with my own hands on rebuilding things and remodeling and doing stuff, which I also know nothing about. But I have found a community of support. I have learned a lot about what I'm capable of and how can I challenge myself and how can I build something beautiful, which is the same way that I have approached my mental health journey. So I feel really proud of something physical that I can touch and share with others that I have put a lot of good effort on.

Gabi Carachilo: Amazing. Two things that you should absolutely be very proud of. Congratulations and kudos to you. On both of those accomplishments. You shared so many insights, so many impactful takeaways. I wanted to wrap our conversation to see if there was one final piece of advice that you would like to leave our audience with.

Mariangel Maldonado: I think it's that idea of knowing that whatever you're going through, no matter what it is, no matter how challenging it is, you are not alone in two ways. There is definitely someone out there that is rooting for you. And you also truly, really, not in a lonely way, but in a positive way. You have yourself and you have no idea of the incredible power that exists inside of you to take care of yourself, put you in a good place, advance your career, get to a place where you feel like you can start supporting others, where you can help other people, anything like that. So I think is that you're not alone in any way either because others are there for you or because you're also there for yourself, and in the reality it's always a combination of both.

Gabi Carachilo: Thank you. I appreciate your time, Mariangel, it was a wonderful conversation. I appreciate all of the insights and takeaways that you brought to our audience here on Fairygodboss Radio, and for those tuning in. We're looking forward to the next episode and we'll see you there.