Empowerment Series: Award-Winning Technology Leader, CEO of Mariposa Blanca and Author, Latina Madrina, Julissa S. Germosén on Being a Brown Latina in Tech

When powerhouse author and tech trailblazer Julissa S. Germosén sat down with me on the AW Confidential Podcast, it was clear this wasn’t just going to be a conversation—it was going to be a movement. Julissa, a former exec at Microsoft and Salesforce and the CEO of Mariposa Blanca, dropped wisdom, hard truths, and Latina fire as she unpacked two decades of navigating the tech industry as a woman of color.

With her book, Latina Madrina: Stories, Lessons, and Hard Truths from a Brown Latina in Tech, Julissa is on a mission to shatter silence and shake the table. And let’s be real—when someone says “brown Latina in tech” in the title? You know she didn’t come to play.

But here’s the kicker: while Latinas make up a big part of the consumer market, we barely exist in the rooms where products are made. Less than 2% of Latinas hold leadership roles in corporate America, and less than 1% make it to the C-suite. Julissa knows this all too well because for years, she was the only one in the room. The only woman. The only Latina. The only one who looked like us—and she felt it.

Throughout our raw and friendly exchange, she got real about the cost of “code-switching,” the pressure to dim our light, and how many of us have been conditioned to “keep our heads down, work hard, and stay humble.” Sound familiar? Yeah, me too. It’s that internalized silence that stops us from rocking red lipstick in the boardroom or speaking up when it counts.

Her advice? “You are enough—exactly as you are.” Period.

She didn’t just talk about the barriers, though—she offered blueprints. From learning to advocate for herself during performance reviews to calling out microaggressions with grace and strategy, Julissa’s leadership is rooted in authenticity and action. And the real flex? She’s not gatekeeping any of it. Her book is more than inspiration, it is a how-to guide for the next generation of Latinas climbing ladders not built for us.

We also dove into a money mindset because, let’s face it, many of us were raised to think wanting wealth was greedy. Julissa flipped the script: “Money isn’t bad. Stability is necessary. Success isn’t shameful.” She’s rewriting the narrative for first-gen daughters everywhere.

So what else is on tap for this Dominican dynamo? A TEDx Talk on Latino wealth, building her consulting firm, and maybe turning her book into a Netflix special (yes, universe, we said it out loud!).

Julissa closed our conversation with the perfect Madrina mantra: “You are enough. Just as you are.” It’s the kind of reminder every woman, especially those feeling unseen in spaces never meant for us, needs to hear on repeat.

And for the record, Julissa said she’d get along with her clone. Honestly, same.

Would you like to hear the full story?
Julissa’s episode is available on AW Confidential Podcast, streaming on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music. Don’t forget to share this with someone who needs encouragement today.

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