Claiming Your Seat at the Table: Community-Building, Journaling and Living Your Vision

Season 5, Episode 11 

Guest: Aracelly Delgadillo, Senior Account Manager, International Sales, Metro Toronto Convention Centre

How can you live a more empowered life? Aracelly Delgadillo, senior account manager, international sales at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, discusses the importance of community, the power of journaling and intentionally investing in yourself. 

Listen now:

 

Listen to more Dare to Interrupt podcasts: www.MeetingsToday.com/Dare-to-Interrupt.

Meet Our Guest

Aracelly Delgadillo is a dynamic senior account manager for international markets at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and a passionate co-founder of HER Seat at the Table, an initiative dedicated to building community and empowering women within the hospitality and meetings industry. 

With a natural curiosity and a commitment to continuous learning, Aracelly has carved a successful path in the hospitality sector, leveraging her skills to foster collaboration and develop high-performing teams. Known for her collaborative spirit, Aracelly has a proven track record of working with top Fortune 100 companies, crafting key strategies that drive organizational success. 

Her impressive portfolio includes pivotal roles in developing the Hotel X brand in Toronto, where she was instrumental in establishing the hotel as a premier destination. Additionally, she has worked closely with industry giants such as Hilton and Marriott, further solidifying her reputation as a strong achiever in the field. 

Aracelly’s dedication to lifting women in the industry and her commitment to building inclusive communities resonate throughout her career. Her ability to navigate complex challenges and create innovative solutions has made her a respected leader among her peers. 

Outside of her professional endeavors, she is deeply involved in mentorship and community-building initiatives, driven by her belief in the power of collaboration and shared success. With her unique blend of expertise, passion and leadership, Aracelly Delgadillo continues to make significant contributions to the hospitality industry, inspiring others to reach their full potential.

Connect With Aracelly: 

LinkedIn
Instagram: @aracellydelgadillo
Website

More About Our Host

Courtney believes that transforming past experiences into impactful conversations through raw, authentic storytelling challenges the status quo, connects people from all walks of life and results in great change for the world.

Courtney is the youngest member to have ever been elected to Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) International Board of Directors.

She is the recipient of Smart Meetings’ Entrepreneur Award, MeetingsNet’s Changemaker Award, the Association for Women in Events (AWE) Disruptor Award, the MPI Chairman’s Award and MPI RISE Award.

Named Collaborate and Connect Magazine’s 40 under 40 and a Meetings Today Trendsetter.

Recognized as one of the event industry’s most impactful change-makers, Courtney serves on the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, AWE’s Board of Directors, MPI’s Women’s Advisory Board, is a Meetings Mean Business Ambassador and is the co-founder of the award-winning movement, #MeetingsToo.

Courtney was named as a 2020 Meetings Trendsetter by Meetings Today.

Connect with Courtney:
Website
LinkedIn
Instagram: @courtneyonstage
Twitter: @courtneyonstage
Facebook

Transcript:

Editors note: The following transcription was facilitated by AI program Otter.ai and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Courtney Stanley

Hello, everybody. This is Courtney Stanley, and welcome to another exciting episode of Dare to Interrupt, the only podcast made by women for women in the world of events, hospitality, tourism and beyond. 

We hope you feel empowered as you listen in on honest, unfiltered conversations with leaders who are considered to be the most influential, inspiring and innovative women in business today. Throughout their careers, these leaders have dared to interrupt conversations, their own comfort zones and sometimes even societal norms, to hustle toward their greatest levels of success. 
I am really, really, really excited to welcome today's guest to the show. Here with us, we have Aracelly Delgadillo, senior account manager, international sales at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Welcome Araceli. How are you, My friend?

Aracelly Delgadillo

I'm doing great. Very grateful to be here sharing time with you and your audience today.

Courtney Stanley

Me too, and what the audience doesn't know is that we just came back from Abu Dhabi from ICCA’s Annual Congress, and we had some adventures in the desert together, which was so much fun.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

It was, it was. It was an amazing experience, and a really great opportunity to get involved in a world community and see what everybody's talking about.

Courtney Stanley

Yes, yeah, it was truly a global conference, which I think was one of the most beautiful parts about that experience. And I know that you are doing wonderful work at the convention center, but you're also a co-founder of Her Seat at the Table. Would you tell us more about what the mission of the group is and how it came to be.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

Well, my co-founder, Connie Kay Santos, who is brilliant and amazing, and I've known through the industry for quite a few years. One moment, we just met each other and decided that I had the shared vision of what we wanted to put out in the world. And so her seat at the table was born, literally from that moment on. 

And really, her seat at the table is about honoring, empowering and resilience for women. It's an opportunity for us to create a unique community where women can come together, a have share their ideas, their thoughts, be heard and be seen, and really be able to create that unique seat that sometimes is not always about sitting in where someone else said. 

It's about creating your own experience and really curating opportunities for them to be able to have access to mentorship, to opportunities for maybe the next step in their career, and just a platform where we can have really great conversations that are very candid about everyday life and challenges and how we can together create community around that and support them each other.

Courtney Stanley

And I know you gave me a little peek at the group chat when we were together, because there's a group chat for this amazing community of women. If somebody were to just jump into the group chat, what would be some of the questions or comments that they might see from community members?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

It could be from, oh, my God, I'm going on an interview. You know, can someone help me prep for an interview? Or it could be from somebody saying, I'm a first-time speaker. I'm not sure what money, how much to charge for or had prep for it. It really could be somebody entering the country for the first time and really wanting to get more involved in in the community and learn and network. 

It really is platform for everybody, whether you're new or you're following a thread of someone talking about something else, we spot you right away, and we welcome you and you can begin to have instant connection with our community. 

Currently, we have 50 members that are active in through that social chat. So, any given day I can look at from wishing happy Diwali, you know, Merry Christmas, to whatever is going on. On that day, the women are chatting. They're changing ideas, which is brilliant. 

So, we don't have to wait to be connected through a conference. This was something that came off of one of our original meetings that they wanted to have access through a chat. And so immediately we created that, and it's really working beautifully as we continue to design what that was going to look like moving forward. So, it's been a great space for people to share.

Courtney Stanley

So, yeah, a lot of times when innovation happens and a new project is created, it's because the founders see a missing piece, or they see that there's a gap and a need that they want to fill or create a solution for. Was that where this began, where you and Connie thought that there was something that was needed in the community?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

Absolutely. I think, you know, there are lots of incredible associations out there that you buy memberships into. This is a free membership that allows anybody to get as little or as much involvement as they can. As we continue to develop different opportunities for programs, for meetings, there's still that, we still make it accessible for them to have access to our library and connections and opportunity to engage in community and conversations.

So, you don't have to buy a membership. We just want to make sure we understand the reason behind before you become a member. We ask you to fill out a survey, just allowing us to understand, what are some of your requirements? What are you looking for?

Instead of us telling you we do this, and that is, we want to understand, what are some of the gaps that we can help you navigate in our community. Can support you on or do you want to be a mentor for upcoming people who are coming out of school? Where do you see yourself? Where is your seat? And we don't design it for you. We get to give you that opportunity to tell us, what you want to be in that community. 

And so organically grow from that aspect. So, everybody has a unique experience to what you want to take out of it and how much you want to put into it. And it's a fresh perspective where your voice is heard, your ideas are heard. And moving forward, it's really about creating, again, curated experience, versus us telling you want to hear more about AI, we want to hear what's mattering to you today.

What are the conversations that you're wanting to be in or that you want to contribute that could really help you navigate the next step, whether it's personally or in your career? So, it's a very different. It's definitely a very different perspective than you're typically organizations that you would be a member of.

Courtney Stanley

What I appreciate is that, really, there are no boundaries. There are no guardrails. You've created a space where people can come and if they're having a difficult day, if they're preparing for something that's stressful, they're able to get real time support. 

So, it's not only a space for vulnerable conversation, but it's also a place where people can actually feel like somebody's giving them advice that they need in the moment or that they need in the next 24 hours. It's you know, you don't have to wait until the next meeting or the next conference, but I know that you do host meetings too outside of this group chat. And just to be clear for the audience, this is a group of women in our industry, so this is really a community within our space. 

Now, when you were telling me about one of the meetings that you hosted, you talked a little bit about a seat exercise, a chair exercise, that I thought was really cool. Can you just reiterate what that experience was like, what a meeting might be like if people were to join this particular community?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

Of course, yes. So, our first meeting really was about determining, where are you at in your in the moment in your life, right now, right? We're all at different spaces. And so, Connie and I design in a visual where we created different chairs, from, if you can imagine, the Iron Throne to like a royal chair, to a chair that was very modern and sleek, one that had more cushions. 

So, really, the exercise that we broke all the teams into was about explaining what chair resonates with them and why. And it just was so interesting to hear them explain themselves through that picture of a chair. And I remember one of them, one of the ladies, said that her chair wasn't in the picture, and her chair had wheels and could move around everywhere. 

And so, she was explaining how it was flexible. And then I remember one person was saying, sharing that they were in the Iron Throne, and it wasn't so comfortable. But she had really worked really hard to get to that space, but now she was like, How do I maintain that position, but then grow and learn more from that and be more comfortable in that chair. 

So, it was just really eye opening to have women describe what chair belonged to them, or some of them said, there's no chair. There's no chair that I can see that I fit, and so then you ask them to describe, so if you were to describe a chair, what would that look like? So, it's really such an interesting yet so simple exercise, because so often we take positions on that have specific parameters of what those roles are, that there's always sometimes opportunity to make it your own and to be able to grow into that as well give yourself confidence to grow into those next roles that you're looking for. 

So yeah, it was quite meaningful, and it opened such great conversation with everybody in the call.

Courtney Stanley

I'm curious to know what your chair would be. What is the chair that you're sitting in right now? What does that feel like?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

For those that know me quite well, I definitely would describe myself as an adventurous “yes” person. So, my chair is comfortable yet is always in transition. 

So, right now, I'm in a learning process. Started my new role at Metro Toronto Convention Center in the international market about five months ago. So, I'm in the learning stage. So, for myself, being vulnerable, yet also knowing what I know in the experience that I bring to the table are very important, but I'm also very open minded to learn. So, my chair is comfortable, but yet it's open, because I'm in open stage of just learning a lot about the industry and as I move up and do many different things. 

So, it's comfortable, but it's not a forever chair. It's comfortable, but not a forever chair for sure.

Courtney Stanley

Yes, okay, I love that, and I think that's such a fun exercise.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

How about your chair?

Courtney Stanley

Oh, I knew you were gonna ask, but I also was, I was like, I don't know, I feel like the chair that I'm sitting in right now feels too comfortable.

So, I think I worked really, really hard to get to this chair. And I think over this year, I've kind of sunk into the chair a bit too much. So, the cushions are getting too squishy. I'm leaning back, and it's gotten so squishy that I feel the need to climb out of it and get to a new chair. That's kind of how I'm feeling right now. I need a challenge, but I need to do it. I need to climb out of the chair to give myself a new challenge. That's where I'm at. 

I love this exercise. I want everybody who's listening to this episode to describe to us what your chair is. Send us both a LinkedIn message, because we would love to know what chair you're sitting in today. 

But also, you know, most chairs are by tables, depending on what the chair is, and I know this whole community is called Her Seat at the Table, so I'd love to just know what that means to you. Not necessarily the name of the group, but what does having a seat at the table actually mean to you?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

For me, as a Latina woman, in coming into the industry, I've had the privilege of being in the hospitality and meeting [industry] for over the past 25 years, and through that journey, it also it hasn't always been easy, and often times I've had to create my own chair. 

You know, create my new door. Open my doors. So for me, this is truly a passion project, and for someone who has lived through it, I want to make sure not only that I pay it forward personally, but I leave that door open for other women to walk through that's very, very important for me and share the experience of what that looks like, and dare to dream and to push forward, even if their door doesn't exist or chair doesn't exist for you at that table, create your own damn table and invite whoever you want to have those conversations with, because community exists in all places, and you belong somewhere. 

And so, her seat at the table is a place where we really want everybody to have a sense of belonging. And so, it's really very much comes from my own personal experience, and where I want to create a safe space where women feel heard and seen, and that they know that they matter. And so for me, it's a very personal project, a passion project for that.

Courtney Stanley

Aracelly, have you ever struggled to feel like you deserve a seat at the table?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

Absolutely, I've had, you know, good and really amazing experiences throughout my career and life in general, and you know, and I want to focus on the lessons that I've learned when I've had to struggle with those experiences, because I've always had to work really, really hard. My VP of sales currently, Susan—shout out to Susan, yes!

Courtney Stanley

Susan, we love you.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

She is I'm very lucky to have a woman like that, someone to look up to and at that, I have not always had that luck to have incredible humans supporting you where you really have to prove every step of the way that you're worthy of sitting in that chair or having that job or having that promotion. 

And so for me, have someone see my value and recognize the hard work and see me as someone who can contribute and be innovative and bring it the organization to the next level, is such an important thing and such an amazing thing for me to have someone like Susan recognize that. So very, very lucky to have a woman like that and in an organization that, such as Metro Toronto Convention center.

So yeah, it's been challenging, but that has definitely not held me back at all. I think it's fueled my fire to know that I can do better, and then I will be doing better as I move forward, and sometimes, too, wanting to be at a specific level or in an organization you don't know something until you start working for those organizations. And you think something looks really great from the outside, and you come inside and you're part of that team, and you realize, wow, like, I really don't belong here, and it's happened to me where I've left, you know, opportunities after a year, because they weren't the right fit, but they look really great on paper. 

And when you start those jobs and those roles, but also having the courage to really look into it and say, Oh, well, wait a minute, this is not the right fit for me. I think I need to look at another place. And that's okay to say that, too, because often, you know, we were so eager to take those roles, but then once you get there, the story changes, and that's okay if that happens. I find that a lot of us go through that.

Courtney Stanley

I do think a lot of us go through that, but I don't think a lot of us talk about it, you know, especially when it is a scenario where it feels like it's a golden opportunity, and when you step into it and you realize the inside of that opportunity is not what you expected it to be, and may not actually be a healthy environment for you. 
It's tough. It's tough to walk away and to explain to people why you're walking away. I think that's such a taboo conversation that people really, really avoid is when they have a negative experience or a toxic experience, or potentially, you know, they're working with colleagues that don't treat them well, or their boss doesn't treat them well. I think I've had so many people say to me, How do I explain this? How do I explain that I left this amazing opportunity after six months or a year without, you know, divulging all of the internal information about this particular company and bad mouthing them. How do I do that, but stay authentic to myself.

I don't know if you've been through anything like that, but I'd be curious to hear what your advice is to somebody who may be sitting in that place would be.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

For me, it's really about doing what works best for you and where you are. Yes, I have been through places where I've left, and people feel like that was so amazing. It looked amazing. And I said, yeah, it was amazing, amazing team. But I think it was time for me to find something that best fits where I'm looking to go. And I think it's important to take a high road for me, because ultimately it's a small community.

Courtney Stanley

Sure is.

Aracelly Delgadillo 
And somehow we find each other. And sometimes people are great leaders, but they themselves, let's say, if you're reporting to director of sales or general manager, but they're in such big pressure that they're having to cave into what's happening in the culture of that company organization. 

And so, for me is, I've always taken the high road, and I think it's, you know, it's more important to do the pre work. I've learned to do a lot of in the interviewing process. Like, for me to I had an incredible team at Exhibition Place, which I loved, and I was there for six years. 

So, for me taking that step forward and say I'm interested in this new opportunity, I really, through the interviewing process, they made fun of me in a good way, because they're like, we've never seen a candidate who comes in with 20 questions every time we interview her. Because I was like, no. so tell me about this. How do you feel when this? How do you get supported if this happens? What happens if I don't do this? What happens? 

So, I was really engaged, because, to me is I took control of the experience for me in the interviewing process, and I also asked a lot around other people who had worked with that organization, not just from the stand form of a customer, but also from like, if you, you know, knew somebody who worked there, could you ask some questions on my behalf? 

So, really diving into, do I fit in? Doesn't make sense for me. And really the biggest, biggest portion was at the end, when I met Susan, and I was very already excited, and it was the last interview I had, and her and I had the opportunity to have coffee at a Starbucks, and we had such candid conversations about race, about support. 

We never talked about the job. We talked about her style. We talked about a lot about community and about vision, which was very important to me, that I understand her vision, and where is she looking to take us to the next level, and how I can be supportive and also being vulnerable. To say, I've never done this market. I am a very resourceful person, but I've never done this market. So, what tools? How can I get support? What are some of the areas that you can support me? 

And it's really being vulnerable to saying, I'm very excited about the opportunity, but I'm going to need some help in order to ramp up to what I know my potential is, are you willing and open to giving me that support along the way? And the answer was yes. 

So, there was a lot of magic. I felt a connection that happened with Susan, because she understood where I was coming from and saw the value and real good conversation around how do we support you coming on board and making sure that you're successful for yourself and for the organization. 

So, I think just being more engaged in the process could help you better determine if it's a fit. 

Never just go for the money while it's great, while attire is great. Really understand your vision for yourself of where you see yourself in the next year, two years, three, four years. And is this organization something you want to be a part of? And you'll be proud to say that you work there, so a lot of more work behind the scenes, I think, in questions asked. So that's what I would recommend.

Courtney Stanley

Yeah, and I'm a firm believer that the person that you report to, the leader that you report to, will greatly determine the experience that you have, whether that's a good experience or a not so great experience. 

So, I really appreciate you sharing what some of those things are that you do and the questions that you ask in order to determine not just is this a good organization, but is the person I'm going to be working the closest with, and the person that's setting expectations for me, is that person going to be somebody that I have a good relationship with and that I admire and want to be more like, because I do feel that not everybody who's in a position of senior leadership should probably be managing people. I think people leadership is a very specific type of leadership, and there are so many amazing leaders out there, but there are also a few leaders that probably would be better at doing the job instead of managing people's lives and their experiences. 

So, I do think that it's amazing that you have found a place that has the most amazing leader that you truly admire and respect.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

I do, and I get got a kick out of going and working with her, because I'm like, a little sponge. I always want to, like, be like, What is she doing? What is she saying? Oh, what? How is she looking at that? What is her perspective on this? 

So, I'm about to go on to the next travel experience, which is the IBTM World, which is again in Barcelona, and she is my partner in crime in this experience. And so, we are very excited. We're meeting clients, and I can't wait to spend some time with this woman and really soak in her knowledge and just have that really good vibe of like we're both looking for the same outcome, which is for people to feel good about meeting with us and for us to understand what are their needs and seeing if it's a fit.

So, just organically sharing more time with her and being able to kick some butt and showcase how beautiful our city is. And so we're excited about that, that trip coming up soon as well.

Courtney Stanley

I'm excited for you, too, and I'm excited for people to learn more about Toronto, because Toronto is my favorite city in the world, so that makes it a beautiful city. And I have a great question for you, and it's something that I really admire about you, and I want to learn from you, and I also want to give our audience a chance to learn from you as well. 

So, one of my favorite things about you and getting to know you over this past month or so is your directness. And I know you know that because I've told you that before, you are one of the most honest people that I've met, and I really value that. 

But I also know that I struggle, and a lot of other people that I know struggle with people pleasing and with sacrificing our own needs and sometimes our voice in order to appease the people around us. So, if someone that's tuning in—or even me—struggles with being direct and just being super transparent, what advice would you give them?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

I think it's intention. I always think about intention. My intention is to be able to communicate something and be able to be honest about when we are going through, for example, when we go people travel out for their work, or where you're with your friends and you just are running out of energy because you just can't focus on that conversation and things like that. 

I think it's important to be honest and say, you know, I really want to hear what you have to say. Can this wait? For example, I really want to give you the focus that you need me to give you, and I've had a really long day. Is it okay if we connect, let's say next morning and so forth. 

I think it's important, because I realized that if someone's asking for my time or my energy, it's important for them, and I want to make sure that they feel heard and seen. And so by me saying yes to them in that moment may not serve me or them in that conversation, because I want you to have the best that I can give you in that conversation and be present. 

So, I think that's kind of what I where I come from when I'm saying no to certain things. And if I can give a some shout out to my age, I think, you know, the older I've…. the more mature, I've come… I've come to understand that saying no allows for better conversation and yes to some of the things that I really want to be engaged in. When we go to tradeshows or when we go to conferences, there's so much happening. I'm naturally an introvert, and so when I'm in those conversations, I want to be present, and I want to give you my best of everything, but then it also drains me a lot. Right at the end of the day, I'm like, oh my god, I just need, like, 10, 15 or an hour just to recoup from those, from that. 

And so, for me to be able to say somebody, you know, can we reconnect tomorrow? Or can I have some time as I just need to be able to balance and ground myself? I think that's honoring you and the person that wants your time, which is key. 

I think it's, it's saying you're important enough for me to be wanting to be present in that moment and be able to give you my full attention, versus trying to cram so much and like wanting to talk to them, so I think that would be my recommendation. 
If anything, I’m by far not perfect, but I think I've come to an understanding of what fuels me and when I have to give energy and when I need to take the time to pause and just sit there and people watch, which is exactly what happened to me. 

Erica, yeah, I share that with you. One of the days I was so exhausted, I was like, I can't, I can't. So literally, I said, sat down at a cafe and was eating ice cream watching people go by as I or I just needed to calm myself down and be like, I need to recharge, because this is a lot, which I love, but at the same time understanding, are you someone who recharges when you meet people? 

My husband's like that. He gets charged as more conversations, he gets more charged. For me, I give out energy. So, for me, it's the opposite. So, just understanding what type of individual you are, and if you need a break, take that break, honor yourself, and also honor the people, the person or the people you want to have those conversations with, to say, I want to be fully present when we talk, so let's schedule that for tomorrow, and then I think that people appreciate that.

Courtney Stanley

And I really do…have you ever had a moment where you do put yourself first, but then you deal with kind of that internal dialog of, like, I feel bad, or I, you know, maybe I should have spent more time with them? Is there ever an aftermath of internal dialog when you set these boundaries, and if so, how do you work through that?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

I'm going to say no. That's good. That's healthy. I'm going to say no, because I think if, if I'll circle back with an individual, and even if I don't hear back that they said yes to reconnect, and I'll reach out back to that person. And I said, I didn't hear back from you. I'm happy to have that conversation. Were you able to find the answer to what you were looking for? I don't just like, leave it like that. If I don't hear back from that individual, I will go back and make sure that I close the loop, per se, and they're like, Oh yeah, I got the answer. Great. Thank you. I said, Okay, wonderful. 

I think it's giving yourself grace. It's giving that other person, just closing the loop on, do you have what you needed from me? And if you're able to get it somewhere, fantastic, you're good with that? Yes, excellent. And moving on from that, I think again, grace is such a huge and important word that I've come to learn grace for yourself, grace for others. Just give yourself that space to go. I'm human. I want to give you the best of me. I want to show up as the best version of myself. And right now, that's not it.

I'll tell you a really funny story. I was a single parent for a very, very long time with my boys, and I used to give myself time out from my kids. Sometimes, when there was a lot, I used to say, Mommy needs time out. Can you give mommy 15 minutes? She'll be back and they will sit outside of the door. Wait  15 minutes, and “Mommy is it time yet.” I mean, it's another five minutes. 

Regulating yourself is so important, and then I would come out, they give me hugs and be like, okay, yay, mommy's back. It's just knowing when you reach that minimum, that maximum, where you're like, I need some moment for myself, giving yourself that opportunity, and great to go. I need five, and that's okay. I need a 10. That's okay, and things like that. 

So that's what I would say in regards to having to say no at times, and it's okay to be able to say no.

Courtney Stanley
I love that, and I loved even where you began in this conversation, in talking about your intention. So my I think taking us that would be helpful for me. I think taking a step back before I am choosing to put myself first and say My intention is doing this. This is what I choose to do for myself, and I think that clarity and intention setting at the beginning of setting a boundary is just as important as if you were to struggle with feeling anxious, with feeling guilty because you didn't put someone else first or didn't give them what they want, to revisit that intention and remind yourself of the importance of grace, that was the other part of your response that I just think is so important, and just being able to take a breath and recenter yourself and re regulate or regulate.

I do want to ask you a question about your rituals, because I know that you have rituals, and when I say rituals, I'm talking about mostly your journaling, because journaling is not something that I do, and it's something that I think every person that I really admire in my life does. So talk to me about your practice of journaling. 

What does that look like? How often are you doing it, and what are you journaling about? How does it help you? Just tell me all the things.

Aracelly Delgadillo 

So journaling is something that it really is so key and important in my success. It helps me set goals. It reminds me to be humble. It reminds me of abundance. It gives me perspective on experiences, and it also gives me the opportunity to is there something that I want to work towards? So it really is such a good ritual that I've really honed in and learned a lot from my oldest son. He journals a lot, often, and in those journals sometimes, you know, it could be one sentence, you know, I'm very grateful that that today is a really beautiful, sunny day, and I can take, you know, my dog for a walk and get some fresh air or and there's a lot of times where there'd be more things. 

There are times where I would write when I'm struggling for that day. It could be, you know, I'm struggling to connect with this, or I'm having a challenge with a partner. And so when I go back to it, maybe a day or two after, and I go read it, and I realize whether do I need to action towards something, towards fixing that? Because I don't want things to forever, continue on and be mad at something, for example, or at a situation forever. 

One of the things that's very important to me is to let go. I've, you know, I've learned that holding on to things for me are not a good thing. I think that letting go and giving yourself permission to forgive is not about what has happened or for others. It is for me. It is for me to find peace and to be able to move on to the next thing I need to become and be so forgiveness and writing journals, and it's also honoring my goals and looking back on them and saying how grateful gratitude is plays such a huge part on every day, because gratitude can be from someone share the lunch that they brought, and I forgot my lunch at work, something silly like that. 

And it could be something much larger, that I'm healthy, I'm able to move my body, I'm able to go to the gym or have amazing, you know, boss. It could be, you know, journaling could be so many different things. You can really use it in so many aspects of your life. I also use it for goal setting—that's very important. And for envisioning. I've had, you know, the fact that I wanted to be in a podcast and share, you know, a little bit about my story and all that I've had that in my journal. And so when I met you, I was like, Oh my goodness. How closer Am I to this room, and it was just such a beautiful thing to know that I've journaled about this experience of being able to be in not just anybody's podcast, but yours Courtney, which is such a phenomenal platform for a lot of what I believe and what I'm trying to work towards and be a part and build that community, and be able to create that voice for a community for women, and now here I am sharing this. 

So, this is all part of my journaling, and creating those visions and those goals, and so it's a little bit of everything in those journals. But yeah, I highly recommend it for people. It allows you to take a step back. And I read somewhere where, when you write something and repeat it and see it and put it in the universe, you're now taking that first step towards that goal, because now you've you, you've created that physical writing it in your book says, I'm going to do this, and now you gotta think about what's going to be the next step? 

And then you go, okay, maybe the next step is, I'm going to meet somebody like a Courtney, and maybe the third step is going to be, she's going to ask me, and then the step is going to be, so really, it's just some days, one step at a time towards those goals generally, can lead you to those things. So I love journaling. I'm a big advocate for it.

Courtney Stanley

Well, I have to say it's such a gift to be able to provide and to serve somebody a piece of a dream that they've been manifesting. When you said that you have been manifesting, and you'd been, one of your goals was to be on a podcast. Immediately, I was like, Oh, well, I can help. You know, do you want to be on my show? To have you on my show? And I think that's that's such a gift to for all of us to be in a position of influence and support for those around us, and I think that we all play a part in helping to support another person's dream. 

You know, even the people that are in your community her seat at the table. I'm sure that there were so many members that were saying, I just need a space to be myself and to feel like I have community and support, and all of a sudden, you're opening these doors for them to make that desire and that manifestation come to fruition and be their new reality. And I just, I think that that's such an important thing for us to remember as we go through our day. And it can be something so small, like your example of giving someone lunch because they forgot it, you know, like maybe they just really needed to have a good day, and that was a part that you played in their day. 

So, I think it's such a gift to be able to have you on this show, and I'm just so grateful that you're here.

Aracelly Delgadillo 
it speak about the power of connection, really, that's the other part of it that you and I talked a lot about. We did not, I did not know how close you were in my circle, into the mastermind. The key holder of this is Connie. Yes, when we met at IMEX, I did not know that you were just one, one connection away. And that's the whole also when you allow yourself to open up and be vulnerable and. Your dreams, or want to authentically connect with someone else because you value something that they're talking about, or you see that you could, you know, collaborate together whatever that is that you're working on. 

Don't just hold it to yourself. Share that dream, put it out there, build those connections I did not know with again, I've heard of your you. I've seen you from afar, but it was always from a farm. And really it only took that one connection from Connie and IMEX in Las Vegas to then the universe already had said, because I said to you, are you going to Abu Dhabi? You're like, Yes, oh my god, let's continue that, and then we've had such an incredible journey, and just seeing ICCA for the first time together in sharing that unique experience, and then having those really awesome conversations that led to where we are now. 

So, I encourage everybody to step outside of their comfort zone, to see, share their dreams, see it can be connected to something else, because the universe is very kind. It will always provide you with the right connections along the way. But you gotta want it, and you gotta speak it, and you gotta write it, and you gotta be able to dream it. And that's what all about vision is, right? The vision is to like, I want to do this. Well, who can help me, support me in that vision? 

And that's what we love. Her Seat at the Table, because that's what we are there for. We're there to support you in your dream. We're there to lend a hand or connect you to somebody who else we may not have that connection, but if we know about a dream that we can help you make that dream happen. Oh, my God, to witness that is a beautiful thing. I mean, like you know, so that is, that is truly a beautiful memory to have. 

So, I encourage people to do all those things in life that will allow them to have a bigger and much rich life when it comes to just in general, connecting with people.

Courtney Stanley
Yes, and sharing your dreams with other people gives them an opportunity to serve their purpose as well. You just don't actually realize that. So, I think that's really, really cool. If people want to learn more about Her Seat at the Table, how do they do that?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

So, HER Seat at the Table…we want to take one platform at a time. We don't want to be in platforms that we're not able to be proactive in or be able to answer questions. 

So, currently, we are in LinkedIn. You can find Her Seat at the Table and follow us and follow the different programs that we're launching, whether it is networking events, virtual or the ones that we're doing in person that are coming up. 

You can also Connie's k7 if you follow Connie, you can find us through her website. We have a bit of a chapter in there telling you about who we are as a community, how to get involved. And you can also grab that always. You can contact Connie LinkedIn, with her in LinkedIn, as well as myself, and just send us a message. We're happy to send you the form so you can go through it and tell us a little bit more about what your dreams are, what your goals are, how we can support you as a community. 

But, yeah, we're looking to grow our community. I mean, it really is about growing organically, which really we've only started this maybe at the most, maybe two months ago, and really we've had a tremendous impact, and what's most important is women and having very important conversations through those chats, through those conversations and seeing what they want to be doing next, because really, it's about what's coming next, right? 

Innovation is not about where we are in conversations about what is coming next, and that's what we're wanting to go with our community is we want to grow it and understand what is coming next for those people, and how we can have those conversations and create the space for them to be able to succeed and be a part of community that brings something in a bigger picture, more than just us. So that's beautiful. Be a part of the change.

Courtney Stanley

Yes, yes, be part of the change. And that's Connie K. Santos, just for anybody who wants to look Connie up on LinkedIn. Otherwise, Aracelly’s information will be on the podcast, in the podcast notes. One final question for you. If you could leave the audience with one piece of wisdom or something to think about, or an action item, what is it that you want to share with them for your final words of this conversation?

Aracelly Delgadillo 

Invest in yourself. Believe in yourself. Take that one step, whatever that is today, whether it is you wanted to sign up to go to the gym but you haven't worked out for a while, go sign up. Reach out to somebody in LinkedIn that you really wanting to, you've been seeing their feed, and you think, Wow, I love what they're saying. I really want to be a part of that conversation. Send them a message. Tell them you want to connect with them. 

And that's what I would say, take that one step. Believe in yourself because you can. Because if I can, you can so I'll leave you with that as my final word.

Courtney Stanley

I think that's perfect. Those are great words to leave everybody with. And I just want to thank you so much, Aracelly, for sharing all of your wisdom with us today. 

And audience, of course, thank you all for tuning in. Please share what you learned from this episode. Make sure you tell us what chair you're currently sitting in. We want to know on social media by either DM’ing us on LinkedIn or by following at @MeetingsToday and @CourtneyonStage, and be sure to never miss an episode by subscribing to Dare to Interrupt on any major podcast platform. 

Dream big. Invest in yourself and keep daring to interrupt my friends. Until next time.