Revisiting: Itzel Castaneda Talks All: Advance Parole Through DACA, Having Twins, SAHM, Chisme & MORE!!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Noche de Pendejadas with Alannized Episode: Revisiting: Itzel Castaneda Talks All: Advance Parole Through DACA, Having Twins, SAHM, Chisme & MORE!! Release Date: February 28, 2025

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Introduction to Itzel Castaneda

In this heartfelt episode of Noche de Pendejadas with Alannized, host Alannized welcomes Itzel Castaneda, an inspiring influencer and stay-at-home mom (SAHM). The conversation delves deep into Itzel's personal journey, exploring her immigration experience, challenges with DACA and Advance Parole, the joys and struggles of raising twins, and navigating the complexities of social media fame.

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Early Life and Family Background

Itzel begins by sharing her poignant childhood story, highlighting the complexities of growing up with immigrant parents in the United States. She reveals a significant revelation from her early years:

[06:50] Itzel Castaneda: "I just remember my mom comes to me and tells me, it's because Darovina is not your dad. He's your stepdad. He stepped up over your real dad."

This discovery of her stepfather's role over her biological father set the foundation for her resilient character. Itzel discusses the emotional turmoil of learning her biological father's absence and the subsequent impact on her family dynamics.

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Immigration Journey and Overcoming Adversity

Itzel shares the harrowing experience of her family's immigration to the U.S. under challenging circumstances:

[15:24] Itzel Castaneda: "We really just came. Just the car, like we just drove."

She recounts the financial struggles her family faced, including job losses and eviction, emphasizing the sacrifices her parents made to provide for their children. These early hardships instilled in Itzel a strong sense of responsibility and pride in her heritage.

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Navigating DACA and Advanced Parole

A pivotal part of the conversation centers around Itzel's experience with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and obtaining Advance Parole to visit Mexico as a DACA recipient. She details the emotional and bureaucratic challenges involved:

[17:51] Itzel Castaneda: "I was terrified because my other sister, when she's three, three years older than me, she got pregnant at 19 in Mexico, and my mom got pregnant at 19. I'm just kidding, but ended up telling her."

Itzel discusses the fear and uncertainty she faced when traveling to Mexico for her father's funeral, highlighting the critical role of her lawyer and supportive family in navigating the process safely.

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Embracing Social Media and Building a Career

Transitioning into her role as a social media influencer, Itzel explains how she began creating content as a coping mechanism during Mike's time working out of town:

[74:33] Itzel Castaneda: "So I started making videos with my girls' goodie bags... Then I started making videos of me cleaning... until Mike was back home."

Her passion for cooking led to her breakthrough, with her chorizo tostada video garnering significant attention. This success propelled her into a full-time career in content creation, allowing her to financially support her family and invest in future ventures.

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Pregnancy and Raising Twins: A High-Risk Journey

Itzel opens up about her high-risk pregnancy, delivering twins amidst financial and emotional stress. She recounts the heart-wrenching experience of a sudden C-section:

[50:03] Itzel Castaneda: "They sent me home, so I went home. But not everything was okay. So whenever I come back to the doctor, they tell me, you need an emergency C-section."

The ordeal of preeclampsia and the rapid birth of her daughters Bella and another twin brought immense challenges. Itzel reflects on the exhaustion and fear she endured, emphasizing the critical support she received from her mother and the eventual steadfast presence of her husband, Mike.

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Balancing Parenthood and Personal Identity

Navigating motherhood, Itzel discusses the struggle of maintaining her identity while dedicating herself to raising her twins:

[69:01] Itzel Castaneda: "I lost myself in motherhood."

She details the sleepless nights, the demands of being a stay-at-home mom, and the realization that self-care is essential for a happy household. Itzel encourages other mothers to prioritize their well-being to foster a positive family environment.

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Relationship Dynamics and Compromises

The podcast delves into Itzel and Mike's relationship, highlighting their journey from young parents to partners who overcame disagreements to build a unified family:

[63:25] Itzel Castaneda: "I think a lot of compromising. I think if you don't understand each other's feelings, it won't work."

They discuss the importance of communication, understanding, and mutual support in sustaining their relationship amidst the pressures of young parenthood and social media responsibilities.

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Dealing with Social Media Challenges

As a prominent influencer, Itzel addresses the dual nature of social media—its ability to empower and the toll it can take on mental health:

[84:51] Itzel Castaneda: "I started using the block button. I block people."

She shares her strategies for coping with negative comments and the emotional strain of online harassment. Itzel emphasizes the importance of focusing on positive feedback and maintaining resilience in the face of adversity.

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Future Aspirations and Empowering Others

Looking ahead, Itzel outlines her ambitious plans to expand her influence and invest in meaningful projects:

[87:17] Itzel Castaneda: "So in five years, that is my goal. Maybe a baby."

She aspires to publish a cookbook, develop her own seasonings, and invest in real estate. Itzel's story serves as an inspiration for aspiring content creators, demonstrating that with determination and passion, it's possible to turn personal challenges into successful ventures.

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Notable Quotes

• Itzel on Family Resilience:
  “I feel like I'm doing great. I love my girls, even guys watch me. So I mean, I'm just thankful...”
  [04:58]

• Itzel on Social Media Impact:
  “There's so much backlash on content creators... they just get so mad that someone's being so successful in it.”
  [78:52]

• Itzel on Self-Care:
  “Don't listen to anyone... If you're not happy, you're not going to have a happy home...”
  [69:48]

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Conclusion

Itzel Castaneda’s candid storytelling on Noche de Pendejadas with Alannized reveals a journey of resilience, love, and transformation. From overcoming the hardships of an immigrant childhood to embracing the challenges of young motherhood and carving out a thriving career in social media, Itzel exemplifies strength and adaptability. Her insights offer valuable lessons on the importance of family, self-care, and perseverance, making this episode both inspiring and relatable for listeners navigating their own life challenges.

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Follow Itzel Castaneda:

• Instagram: @itzelcastaneda
• Twitter: @itzelcastaneda
• TikTok: @itzelcastaneda

Subscribe to Noche de Pendejadas with Alannized: Stay updated with the latest episodes and exclusive content by subscribing on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

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[Itzel Castaneda]

We're so done with New Year. New you. This year it's more you on Bumble. More of you shamelessly sending playlists, especially that one filled with show tunes. More of you finding Geminis because you know you always like them. More of you dating with intention because you know what you want. And you know what? We love that for you. Someone else will too be more you this year and find them on Bumble. So I've never been open about this, but me and Mike actually had. We split up.

[Alan]

What is up everyone? Your host alanized and this is no deas, your favorite talk show turned podcast. And on Theo Atus Influencers Alol. Please help me welcome my guest tonight. It's Castaneda. Hola. Hola.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Good. I'm good.

[Alan]

Welcome to LA Orange County.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes, I'm here. Last time I was here for work and then you know. You know what?

[Alan]

Actually that's how I found you.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes. Cuz people were tagging you and I was here.

[Alan]

So she had posted a video on the Los Angeles and a lot of the comments I was getting tagged left and right like oh my God, you're going for Alan's podcast. You're going for Alan's podcast. I was like, like who's coming to my podcast? Cuz I was getting tagged like by. It wasn't like 1, 2, 3. No, it was lot of people. I'm sure you saw your whole comment section.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, cuz I was in the airplane, so it was southwest. I didn't have like a lot of connection. So when I got off I'm like, I didn't even know I was going. I'm like, okay. And then that's when you reached out.

[Alan]

To me and I reached out to her, you guys. And I was like, hey, you know, I saw you're going to be in la, like let's get together, let's film. And we tried, you guys. We really did try.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It was crazy. Like we tried. But I think we were just trying too hard.

[Alan]

Yeah, we were trying too hard to make it work. That I remember. I still remember you called me. Cuz we were trying to figure out her flight back and I think it's.

[Itzel Castaneda]

A, it was $1,000 for two more days or something like that. I was like, that's impossible.

[Alan]

You guys. It was insane. And I literally was like, you know what? I feel like we're trying to make it happen. Too bad that. Let's just postpone it. I'll fly you out next month, we'll figure something out.

[Itzel Castaneda]

You know what? It's actually my second time flying. It was so much better than my first.

[Alan]

Was it smoother?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, well, it was rougher but felt more comfortable that I was in airplane. My first time I was freaking out, but it was a good flight.

[Alan]

Pro.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, I think so too. I'm like, first class, please. I was like, first class or whatever.

[Alan]

You're like, I'm sorry. I'm like, we don't have the budget for that yet. I'm so excited to have you here. I was looking at your stories and you did a lot yesterday.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, because the first time we came we really didn't do nothing. So she was like, we're going to go eat. Literally, that's all we ate. We ate back to back. And today we're like, we're done. No starts today now because we're going home. Back home today. But yeah, we just ate. We went to Sant Santa Monica, I think that's how you say it. And it was beautiful. LA is really beautiful. Let's not talk about the traffic.

[Alan]

No, traffic in LA is crazy, you guys. And you know what's funny? That's why I used to get. Well, not used to. Cuz I only did it for like two people. I got two of my like old guests, a hotel in la. And then when it came down to like, okay, they're like, oh my God, traffic is horrible. So that's why I was like, you know what? But I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I've been seeing you on social media. You're literally on a rise right now. Like, have you been noticing that yourself too?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes, I have. I do sometimes feel like everyone else. I'm pretty sure you sometimes feel like that you feel like, damn, like, you know, just overthinking. But yeah, I feel like I'm doing great. You know, I love my girls, even guys watch me. So I mean, I'm just thankful and I, I love them so much. I wouldn't be where I am here without them, so I'm really grateful.

[Alan]

I'm gonna go ahead.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So my name is Itzel Castaneda. I do blog. I do Instagram a little bit. But I guess I would consider myself an influencer. I do a lot of cooking, family vlogs, and just a little bit of everything.

[Alan]

Any video you upload, it lands on the for you page. I really have been seeing your growth. I see your comments. Your girls are so connected. How are you growing up?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, I think growing up, I would say I had a good childhood and a bad childhood. There's just so many things that I learned growing up. So I would say it's more my teenage years that I found out, just so much more. But I grew up with immigrant parents. It was. It was really, really tough. I have three sisters, one brother. Also have a. Well, had a twin brother, but he passed away when I was 2 years old. So just growing up was just. I was just a little girl having fun, not knowing much about life. Then eventually I just ended up learning that my real. My. Well, the one I thought was my real dad wasn't my real dad. He was actually my stepdad.

[Alan]

Oh, my God.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah. So I ended up finding that out, and he would think that I probably took it very upsetting. Very, like, oh, my God. I felt lied. Well, I found out when I was, like, 6, 6 or 7, because I would always use my mom's phone for, like, everything. I would always use it. And my mom got a call one day, and I answered. I was like, oh, hola. And then he's like, hola, mi. And I'm like. He's like, no. Yo soy to papa. And I'm like, who's this? Like, hey, he said his name. And then I go and I run to my mom, and I'm like, mom? Like, my mom takes the phone, and I don't know what happens after that, but I just remember my mom comes to me and tells me, like, it's because Darovina is not your dad. He's your stepdad. He stepped up over your real dad. And I think I probably just felt happy that there was someone else who took that role. I was not upset at my mom. I was not upset at my dad. I just feel more connected to him than ever because I'm like, who raises four kids that is not yours?

[Alan]

After you know, that call, did you have any type of communication with your biological father?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, now I started having memories. I remember a guy always being in our apartments, trying to just cause problems with my stepdad and I just have flashbacks now. I have flashbacks of us going to his job. My mom would like, try to have him in our lives, but in Okeria. So my mom would be like, come on, let's go see your real dad. So now I have memories. I was going to his job. I remember he gave me like $5. But you know, it's so weird that I don't even see his face. Like I just remember a conversation.

[Alan]

Or like you just. It's very foggy.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, very foggy. And then I remember another one where he's trying to see my other siblings. And my dad, my stepdad doesn't let me go. He's like, no, you're not going. And he went off at my dad for like, she's my daughter. My dad's like, no, like, she's my daughter. So I remember that conflict in street. And now that I tell my mom, like, mom, I remember, she's like, that's crazy.

[Alan]

You know, do you feel like obviously, you know, that's alo fuerte, you know, Is it really, you know, your biological father? Do you feel like that affected you in any way? Because that's a big like puzzle piece that you were finding out at 6 years old.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think the wor part was sometimes I just wondered why did the person I was supposed to love me didn't. I never really wondered who I really was. I was just wondering like, well, how does my real dad look like? Yeah. Or like, why did you leave us? Like, why did you not care so much? And so I started growing up. My mom started opening up to me because I had questions. I would ask her questions and she was always honest. Even my older sister. I look up so much to my older sister because she went through hell. Well, other my other siblings, because they're much older than me. I'm the baby. So you don't need help.

[Alan]

Old are you?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I'm 24.

[Alan]

Okay.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Okay. And my oldest is 31. So when my real dad and my mom were together and when they officially split up, they were like, she was like 10 years old. My brother too, I have another sister's like three years older than me. But on my older sister, I felt like she went through it. Cuz my mom was abused. My dad was an alcoholic. My real dad. So my sister saw my dad, my mom get beat up. She's the one who snitched my real dad out. And that's when CPS got involved and told my mom, you have to leave. Like you have to. You cannot stay in that kind of, like, environment for your kids. So my mom esco se fuel. I feel like, my sister anger growing up because maybe I had the childhood that she didn't get too high. I thought she just hated me. I thought she just, like, hated me.

[Alan]

Like, how was your guys's relationship growing up? Did that get in the way a lot?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, I did, because I remember there's times, and I know now she's grown, she has her baby. She regrets it. Like, she. Me and her are so close. So I know it's a lot of her just having a lot of mommy issues, a lot of daddy issues. So I had to understand her point of view because avecia no estu papa. Like, stop calling him dad. I'm the only one who calls him dad. And she'll tell me that. And I would just cry and cry and cry. I'm like, he is my dad. He is my dad.

[Alan]

She would tell you this about your stepdad or your mom. Okay, okay, okay.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Like, to not call him dad because he wasn't my dad. I wouldn't understand my sister. Why, like, why are you so mean? You know, so it was really tough. Also, she was really close to my twin brother, so I think she also kind of missed that part of him, you know, Like, I have a brother, my older brother, and he would take care of me a lot in Mexico. My sister would take care of my twin brother a lot. So I feel like she just probably just had so much, like, a reset.

[Alan]

Meant, like, maybe because you guys were twin siblings. Maybe at the time she was like.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Maybe, you know, I think so. I. That's how I felt for a long time. And I think she just had so many, like, issues till this day. She was working on it, but she's such a complete different person. And I think that took a lot on me to accept and understand because I had my dad, you know, I had a dad, and she didn't until, you know, till this day. She. They also for, like, daddy issues.

[Alan]

Daddy issues, yeah.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I'm not gonna lie. My dad saved me. My stepdad, he saved me, because I think if I wouldn't have that, then I'll probably be in their shoes, you know?

[Alan]

And you were really fortunate, too, to get a man to step up, not just to be with your mom, but to really take the place of a father. Because escuchas. Oy munchundia. Oh, my stepdad. My stepdad. Is that. No me kai bien. I don't talk to him. And you were able to. You were one of the Lucky ones to get someone that loved you as if you were their own.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, I agree. You know what? I remember there was times where my. My sibling, my older sister was really rebel right towards my dad. And she would tell him, like, well, you're not my dad. Like, you're not my dad. You can tell me this? And I would feel so bad for my stepdad because he's. He's 10 years younger than my mom.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So my mom was 30, and my dad was 20, raising four kids on his. Like, who's 20 raising four kids? I remember at the time, he would just cut yard. But honest with us, you know, $50 is a lot. $100 was a lot. So my dad really. My stepdad really stepped up and took care of four kids. And so they say I'm always grateful for him, you know, Like, I really, really am. So if you would say there's anything maybe that I lack on, it's maybe just affection. Affection. Affection. Yeah. My mom is very old school. She had so much going on that she never really showed so much affection to us. Like. Like, I know she loves me, but she won't say it often if it makes sense, you know, like, it's very.

[Alan]

Like, special occasion vibes, like, birthday.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Probably just my birthday. Well, see, I also didn't find out I had a twin brother until I was, like, right after 7 years old. 7. I saw pictures and I asked, and I'm not gonna. I'm gonna be honest. I never really asked much other than I had a chin brother. My mom was like, yeah, your twin brother passed away when he was little. As I said, go. I never asked more until now. Growing up, I wanted to know more, like, how did he pass away? Who was with him? Because he passed away in Mexico, and my mom was obviously over here in the United States with all of us. She tried to bring him for so long, he never would be able to pass because Yorava, he was crying. He'll have seizures. And when my mom finally decided, well, I'm gonna go back, and I'm gonn myself, he passed away. And I remember they told me that story that I was really sick. So I went to the hospital. And then my brother was in the hospital at the same time. So my mom was crying, like, telling God, like, dios que tara uno. Like, please, like, just leave me one. At least you can't take both. And my twin brother ended up passing away.

[Alan]

Do you feel like now, as an adult, does that affect you knowing that you could have had a twin brother with you today?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Now that I have my twins, yes. Like, I see their bond. Like, yeah, they fight so much, much. But it's beautiful.

[Alan]

Like, it's like you wish you could have had that, you know? You know? You know what I think?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Where are you from?

[Alan]

I'm from, but a lot of my uncles were from. Around what time did you come?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I was like, six months.

[Alan]

Oh. To check babies.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I lived in US for my whole life.

[Alan]

Do you know a little bit of the story of how you, you know, migrated to the States?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah. Well, my mom said that back in the day, it was freezing. You can just go through the border and, like, you just go through the border and they would pass. So that's how really we really just came. Just the car, like, we just drove.

[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

And we passed. So I came at six months and ever since I've been here. I did go to Mexico recently. Like a few months ago I went because I'm a DACA recipient. So I was able to get advanced parole to go visit back to where I am from. And now I'm in the. I'm trying to fix my paperwork now finally. So how was that?

[Alan]

That's amazing. You know, it's, it's crazy. And I'm a DACA recipient and I've always have thought about, you know, doing the advanced parole super fast because you no longer have to leave to like get the approval. How was that experience for you? Basa Mexico. Walk us through at least the process too, because I feel like I've talked about this briefly with other guests, but we've never really have talked about like the process that goes into advanced parole.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, see, I have an amazing friend. Her name is Jacqueline Gonzalez. She is my lawyer at the moment and she has helped me so much because around the beginning I never wanted to fix my paperwork. I didn't want to do advanced parole. I was so scared of just going to Mexico and not being able to come back. So I would always say, no, no, no. My mom would tell me, do it, do it. I'm like, no, mom. Like I can't. Like just thought of not leaving my girls behind and never coming back just really hurt me. So I would always say no, no. Until the lawyer convinced me. She made me feel very safe, like very comfortable and safe. And she's like, it's going to be okay. She's like, you're just going to apply for advanced parole. If you have any family member over there, get malitas or anything like that, they can help you, you know. So I do have aa. She's by herself over there and she has medical issues to give me a note from her doctor saying that she was really ill and that, you know, she would like for me to go visit her. So I got my advanced parole. We submitted the form, I got approved really, really fast. I got approved. And then they send you a date letter and they tell you you can only go from these days to this day and you can have like a whole so busy and you have to leave whatever you're doing to go to that.

[Alan]

Like you have to drop whatever you're.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Doing, whatever you have to go. So I remember Mike's diagonal had passed away and we were going to her funeral. It was like so chaotic. We just, it was just too much. My father in law still, he's like, you know what? I know we're going through it, but we're gonna take you, like we're gonna make this possible for you. So we drove and I think we went to Acuna. We crossed through Acuna. It was really scary. I was so scared to not be able to come back. I was really, really scared. And then going on the way over there, you just see like people crossing, you know, to try, I guess. And it really broke my heart. I was just like, oh my God. Like I just thought about my mom thought about like, you know, because I know people come here for a better life. So it just broke. And as soon as we cross a whole different world, like I'm like, oh my God. One little border just separates. I'm like, oh, this food is good. Yeah. It's just so crazy. I told Mike like, dude, I can't believe I have been on this side this whole time. And this is how Mexico looks.

[Alan]

How long were you in Mexico for?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Honestly, just for hours. I had to go and come back for the funeral so we couldn't really stay there for so long. But I could have stayed there for a whole week.

[Alan]

A whole week.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It just. You get.

[Alan]

It's so crazy because I've looked into the process, I've looked into, you know, and one of the things that scares me because I recently just found this out. I don't know, maybe you can confirm. Yes, yes, take it back. Like that's the craziest thing.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Like, you know what, you're a lot like me. I overthink about everything.

[Alan]

Yeah, I always think about that because I've been wanting to do advanced pero tiempo. Like it's been in my mind, I'm like, oh my God. Like it's just going to make my whole process easier. Just so they can have like, okay, I'm here legally, like I'm good or alopasa. You guys. It is very scary. Were you scared when it came down to like coming back? Like you had your papelito and the officer was like looking at it through your mind when that was going on.

[Itzel Castaneda]

You know why when we were coming back, we. Well, we stopped by to eat really quick. My father in law didn't even let me leave my folder in the car. He's like, like, bring it so we had it with us eating. We had it with us. Cuz I did not let go of that paper. I was like, I'm not, there's no way I'm staying here. So when we were going back, you get down to the immigration little office that they have and AAs, well, first you give them a paper when you're crossing and then they send you to that room and then they tell you to get down and they interview you. They interview you, why are you here? And then you just tell them, I'm here to see my DIA that was really sick. And they're like, you know, this is for just one day pass, you can't come back. Like they're so strict on that. And I'm like, yeah, yeah, I know. And it was so easy. I had the smoothest experience. I know everyone has experiences different, but I think I had such a great experience.

[Alan]

Aside from Dhaka. Because when you have daka migas, you're here legally, like they can't take you out. Advanced parole, you're, you've entered legally. So it makes your process so much quicker and smoother. You know, growing up as an immigrant child with immigrant parents, not just for you, but maybe seeing your parents, you know, trying to make a living, trying to make a life for you and your siblings in a country necessary, it.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Was really, really tough. Obviously my parents are not from here, so it was really, really tough to, to see my dad get up really, really early, find a job before they started asking for like socials and stuff like that. We used to be good, you know, my dad used to make good money and stuff like that. And then the moment they started asking for like socials and stuff, my mom lost her job, my dad lost his job, we lost our apartment. I remember they locked, they used to put like little locks outside your door when you don't pay your rent. So they did that to us. And I remember my mom. See, I was just a little girl living life to me, going in through the window because they've made me go through the window to be able to open the lock and take stuff out. That was just me having a little good childhood. Like I felt like they tried protecting me as much as they could. But now that I'm older, I realize what they were doing. So they'll just put me through window, take all the things out, all our furniture. And we had my mom's good friend that let us stay at her apartment. We were there for mostly a year in one little room. All six of us were just locked up. In that little one bedroom apartment. So it was tough. My mom couldn't find a job, my dad couldn't find a job.

[Alan]

They were very, very, very broken. Can affect, you know, Auno really, really bad.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I used to say when I was little and they were going through that, what is having papers a big difference? Like, you're just born in Mexico. What's the big deal? I think I started realizing maybe when I was like 15, when I was now seeing my parents struggle financially and know that they couldn't buy things because they were from here, they couldn't buy a house, they couldn't, they didn't have money or they couldn't apply for this job. So that's when I started realizing when I, I would see my mom stressed out and crying and I did my own research and I'm like, well, damn, you can buy a house if you're not from the U.S. you know. So that's when I realized that it's important, like all of those things, you know, it just affects you a lot.

[Alan]

I said, you know, you're 15, you're in high school at this point. Did you know, not having papers affect you and kind of made you like, oh my God, like I can't tell people that I'm not from here. Like that. Did it cause any type of like, maybe insecurity?

[Itzel Castaneda]

You know what, that's one thing about me growing up. I was always straight up for that. I was from Mexico. I did have kids make fun of me that I was Mexican and that, you know, I was. I didn't have papers. They'll call me like a wetback. So I was, I grew up hearing that a lot. And I think it just made me like me more proud of who I am. Because now look, now we have a house. I just think I have always been very proud from where I am, Even though I don't remember much, But I'm grateful.

[Alan]

And that's something beautiful because, you know, with my story, it was a little bit different. Like growing up ashamed, I always felt like I. I didn't belong or like I wasn't as a good of a person compared to someone that did have papers like kindergarten, you know what I mean? So I feel like the difference with you and me is like you started, you were here a los messes. So like you learned English at the same level at the same pace as everyone else. When they were learning, it was elementary. So I mean, the kids are ruthless. You know, one word in English, they introduce you, like, oh, we have this new, you know, Student. No. So please, you know, communicate with him if you guys speak Spanish, yada, yada, yada. I kind of like left that part of me kind of like in the back, like, and I would kind of do whatever it would take to kind of dodge the question. Like, oh, the key. Like, oh. Like, you know what I mean? Like, as a child, because, you know, growing up here in the States without having papers because it's hard, you know, this is.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Right. Well, you know what? My mom was really like on top of just things, Immigration stuff. So my mom thought that DACA was available, and as soon as we I was able to applied. Well, my sister applied first. She's three years older than me, so she got it first and then I got it. And my mom was just on top of it. She's like, no. And I'm telling you, we couldn't afford much things, but I don't know how my mom did it that she saved up every dime. Because I think it's like five. It's 500 to renew. Yeah.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Itzel Castaneda]

But I don't know how much it was.

[Alan]

That is. Yeah, it's always been over $500. Yeah.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes. So I remember just a lot of money for us. And my mom saved every single dime she could. We took it. I had no knowledge. Picture with this really was, I just knew I was able to work. Like, oh, I can make money. You know, I was like, that's. That's cool. I didn't realize I could not have a driver's license without my daca. So now that I'm older, I have a lot more knowledge. But I remember going to the office, my mom took us, we did all paperwork, I got approved, we got my DACA. And at this time, I was like 16 and about to be 17, and I was like, I can work. Like, I'm gonna work. You know, I saw my parents struggling a lot, so I'm like, they don't have to buying my school stuff. They don't have to worry about anything. So I'm going to work for myself. So I got a job at a retail store and it was my first job ever. I loved my co workers. It was just amazing. It was a hourly wage. I believe I got 750, but to me, that was a lot. I've never seen money. So I remember still my first check. What I did was give it to my parents. I remember my mom was struggling, and my mom was like, miha, can I borrow $400? Like, I'll pay you back. I'm like, how am I going to ask my mom to pay me back those $400. I had nothing to spend, like, you know, so I'm like, yeah, mom. So I remember I gave them to her and it was just a bittersweet moment that I was able to like, help or that I could pay for my own stuff. They didn't have to worry about, you know, I still have Paola, cuz that's my middle name. That's what they call me. I still have Paula. I still had to buy her stuff. So it was a little stress relief for them.

[Alan]

And I feel like that's great that you, right away, you know, you saw this opportunity because for those of you guys that don't know, DACA is a program for, you know, kids that came to the States, you know, at a very young age, where you're able to live a working life like your average American. And it's a great opportunity, you know, I feel like I wouldn't be here working as much as I do if it weren't for that. You start making your money, do you start helping out your parents more? Does that kind of help out with like the whole financial situation? Situation?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think more about them not having to worry about pay for my stuff, even though sometimes they still would. Obviously we went to go eat. They'll pay for me. But it felt good to be like, don't worry, I got it, or I'll be able to take my mom out on dates. Because me and my mom were so close when I was in high school. I'll be like, mom, let's go eat a tutti frutti, some ice cream and stuff and we'll go and I'll be able to pay. So it just felt really good to then not have to worry about paying for me, you know, at all times.

[Alan]

How are you in school at this time? You're in high school? Eras, the shy girl, the popular girl. Have you ever been in a fight?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I have.

[Alan]

Shut up. I want to know why. What happened?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I was like in middle school, I remember this. Some little girl that I little girl. I was close to her in the limit in middle school and she was getting bullied by some other girl and I confronted the bully and we just fought in the.

[Alan]

Who won?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I don't think no one won. I remember when my dad picked me up, my mom was so mad and my dad was like, it's okay. And I'm like, I don't know, I don't know. But my parents were always like, different for what's right. So they Were never, like, upset, but it was a small fight.

[Alan]

After that little fight, was the bully like, okay, yeah, well, see, we were.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Just able to fix things. They just stopped messing with her.

[Alan]

That's good. That's. I mean, that's a good first fight. Like, I feel like you had, like, a good story to, like, when it comes to getting down. Because nowadays we hear people getting down, and I'm like, because that happens. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe, like, now where you're, like, staring at someone, but, like, it's nothing malicious. Like, it's like, oh, my God, they're so pretty. Or, oh, my God, they look so good. I'm like, I wish you could hear my thoughts, dude.

[Itzel Castaneda]

That's so true. Because sometimes I zone out, and I mean, I'm. I'm a girl. A girl. Like, if you're so beautiful, I will keep staring at you. If you have a big butt, I'll be like, damn, you have a big bug. I mean, yeah. Why not? So that's my little thing that sometimes I'd be staring too hard and. But because you're pretty. Like, it's not because I think something else.

[Alan]

Yeah. Like, it's not like, I want to get down. I'm like, no.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It was our junior year, and we actually had a mutual close friend. And my. He was my close guy friend. He was his close guy friend, but I never realized that they were closed. And he was just telling me, oh, I'm gonna ride with Michael after school. And I'm like, michael? Who's Michael? And he's like, the guy with the red tr. I'm like, damn, a red truck. I don't know what that is. So I brushed it off. And then somehow I just kept hearing of Mike, Michael, Michael, Mike.

[Alan]

The red truck.

[Itzel Castaneda]

The red truck. And Michael was the guy who gave everyone a ride to school. Like, his truck was full of people, full of his guy friends, and he'll take you to school, pick you up. Like, he was so nice, right? And I'm like, damn. Like, not even for me. But he was that guy. So that's how I met him. And we just. He ended up following me on Instagram, and I was like, whatever. I'll follow back. And we followed back, and he would just blow me up trying to get my attention. We switched numbers, and we went on a date to Wings. We went to Grab Wings, and I remember said, ya gusta Bone Bone.

[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

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[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

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[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

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[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

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[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

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[Alan]

Edu.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Oh Sheet. Honey, chill. It's just laundry.

[Alan]

Not that I'm talking about these Arm.

[Itzel Castaneda]

And Hammer Power sheets. All the power of Arm and Hammer.

[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

Oh, sheet.

[Alan]

That's what I'm saying.

[Itzel Castaneda]

And Arm and Hammer power sheets deliver an effective clean at a great price. Think of all the laundry we'll do.

[Alan]

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[Itzel Castaneda]

Oh, sheet.

[Alan]

Arm and Hammer. More power to you.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Boneless. And I like boneless. And I got boneless because that's what I really eat. And he got bone in. I mean, boneless to not get dirty because so, yeah, that's how we met and everything. We just.

[Alan]

How did you guys make it official?

[Itzel Castaneda]

You know what? Our story remembers December 19, and he asked me out in. I was like, I don't want a boyfriend. Like, I don't want a boyfriend. I don't. I don't. I just don't want one. He's like, he was the sweetest. He would like. He was so gentle, so polite, and he was just very patient. And I'm gonna wait for you. Like he waited for me and we would still talk. And then he never really asked me out again. We just knew. What's up?

[Alan]

Did you ever ask him como seintio when you rejected him? Because. Because me and my boyfriend have been together. When I first asked them to be my boyfriend, he rejected me because that's like his favorite place. We had just had dinner. Like, we were talking. Like it was like legit, right? And I'm like, hey, do you want to be my boyfriend? Because the date was ugly and I'm like, boy, bffr you. I'm moving on. I really was like, ah, check out some island. On to the next. Because at the time I was young, you know, Like, I had a lot of pretendientes. And I remember I was like him, like, whatever. Two days later, he asked me out. Two days later, because we had gone out and funny story was at like the Lego store. El Muchacho was like, gay and he was hitting on me. Like, my boyfriend would like, ask him questions. He would talk just to me. He'd be like, oh, you look so good. Like, it was like a random. Like he. Even me, I'm like, looking back, I'm like, I swear to God, like my boy would have thought like, oh, you paid him to be this nice. Because I swear to God, even I feel uncomfortable because I'm like, bro, like, you see me with my partner.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Realized what he was losing.

[Alan]

He's like, how did Michael react when you rejected him?

[Itzel Castaneda]

He never stopped. He kept going. I think for me was more. I was just a sad teenage girl in high school that. That I just didn't want to suffer another heartbreak. So I think for. He understood my reason. It wasn't because I was like, no, like, you know, no quiero. It was just. I was just a really sad girl. So I think.

[Alan]

In what way?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think I just had a lot of insecurities, a lot of insecurities about myself. Just knowing we struggled a lot financially at home. I know my mom had a lot of problems with my older sister, you know, so I just had a lot of family problems growing up that I just. I was just a sad little girl. I don't know why I never understood why if I had my stepdad. I just suffered like a lot within myself.

[Alan]

But I feel like a lot has to do with maybe like the things were happening to you, but whatever happens in your home consumes you as a child. You know what I mean? Like. Like it almost makes you, like, gives you anxiety, gives you, like, because it's so chaotic, you know, whether it's toxic or it's like, you know, money problems. It's, you know, it's a toxic, like, household in a way and oriente that rubs onto you and that's why maybe it made you insec. Do you feel like your insecurities have gotten less over the years?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes and no. I think once I started social media, it made me a lot more insecure because I didn't know I was insecure about certain things until people point them out. They're like, oh, you do this. You look like this. That made me more insecure. But I think that's probably the only part. But I mean, I think everyone fights their own insecurities every single day. So that's why I'm always like, don't judge people. You know, people look the way they look. That's how God brought them. And it's okay. And especially if people like to change how they look, I'm a for it. Go get that bb. Go get those Botox. Do what you got to do to make yourself feel good.

[Alan]

That's the thing with social media. You have insecurities. I've never understood what's up with people quando they like to attack people on their insecurities. And I'm like.

[Itzel Castaneda]

They don't even have a picture exactly right now.

[Alan]

That's crazy. So a year later, after meeting Michael.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So obviously me and Mike were never safe. But I don't know, just pregnancy didn't cross our heads. I guess it was for a long time. Like, you know, it just never crossed our heads. And I mean, we probably shouldn't have been surprised when we found out. But whenever I found out, I remember I was late on my period for, like so long, I was probably like over 30 days. But I would take pregnancy pregnancy test back to back. Negativos, negative, negative, negative. So at this point, me and Mike were having issues. We were in senior year now, so all his friends were partying and I was more of. I'm a more homebody person, so you must get on dates. And he was like, well, let's go to the club. I'm like, dude, like, I was. I'm older than Mike and I was able to get in a club, but he wasn't. So I'm like, how are you going to get in the club yet? Like, you're not even like.

[Alan]

And I'm pregnant.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, well, I wasn't pregnant.

[Alan]

You weren't pregnant at the time?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I was pregnant. But, oh, before I found I was pregnant, he was trying to like, oh, okay, I was pregnant. Well, whenever I found out I was pregnant, me and him were broken up. Like, we weren't even together, but we were still text and I told him, there's something wrong with me. And I was like, I don't know what you gave me. You probably gave me STD or something. I was blaming him and he's like, dude, I'm only with you. Like, what do you mean? And then that's when we went to the doctor and we took a test. It was time for, like, A real extra test, because those pregnancy tests were not working for me. So when we went and I took the pregnancy test, it came back positive. I was having really heavy bleeding, like, maybe like a week before. No, maybe like four days before my appointment. And I was having a miscarriage or something. So I was like, oh, my God, maybe I was pregnant. I wasn't taking care of myself, and I just had a miscarriage or something. So whenever I got approved for. I mean, whenever it was positive for my test, they told me to do an ultrasound to confirm that I was still pregnant. So. So I got an ultrasound, and it confirmed I was pregnant. Baby.

[Alan]

Oh. At the time. Oh, okay. Because you're twins, which we'll get into that a little bit.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Honestly, Mike wasn't in the room with me. Like, was like, no, you're not coming in with me. I'm gonna go by myself.

[Alan]

You're like, we're broken up.

[Itzel Castaneda]

We're broken up. Stay over there. You broke up with me. So he was over there. And then I go, like, dude, I'm pregnant. He's like, dude, you're lying. I'm like, no, I'm pregnant. He doesn't text me back. I walk out of the room, and he's paying for the visit, and he's all paying, and then he's like, what do you mean you're pregnant? I'm like, what do you mean I'm pregnant? And he's. And he's just in shock, and I'm in shock. And we're laughing in the car. When we get in the car, we're just laughing, and we just. We're just laughing like we're in shock. But the next day, it kicked us, and we started crying. Like, he cried and I cried.

[Alan]

What was, like, your initial thought? Obviously, you were 19. Did you ever feel like, oh, like, what did I do?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes. I felt like I didn't realize what I was doing. Like, I knew my parents suffered a lot financially. I knew I wasn't set. I knew I wanted to go to university. I knew I wanted to do so many things for my. For myself. And I'm sure he did, too, that I just felt like, damn. But I tried to not have those feelings a lot because I was already 19. I knew what I was doing, you know? Like, I should have taken care of myself. So I couldn't really, like, think like that because I should have just been careful.

[Alan]

Papas, like, did they take it well or.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, see? And I didn't. I have made a story time, but I didn't include that in my story time. But priors to me telling my mom, I had already known I was pregnant. I ended up having, like, my nephew was so close to me, so attached to me. You know, they say those mids, like, so attached to me and Michael and my mom be pregnant. I'm like, mom, no. And I'm like, why would I say no? Like, I was pregnant.

[Alan]

Oh yeah, I was already know the.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Week after I found out, I would.

[Alan]

Have been like, no.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I was so terrified because my. My other sister, when she's three, three years older, older than me, she got pregnant 19th at me. So number my mom got pregnant 19. I'm like, mom, we're following your footsteps. Nah, I'm just kidding. But ended up telling her. And when I got home from school, she was taking care of my nephew. And then I told her. I'm like, mom, like, I need to tell you something. She looks at me like, and I'm like. She's like, she said it for me. I'm like, yes. And she's like, porque paola, I told you. Like, she was so disappointed because like I said, we were so broke that my mom, I would do college classes in high school and my mom would save every single dime to still be able to pay for my college class classes. So I just. I think that's where she was hurt.

[Alan]

Did you feel like you disappointed your parents, especially with everything that was going on in your guys's life?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes, I think big time. I think especially my dad. I was my dad's little girl. I think that's. I love my mom, but I think I hurt my dad a lot more. With me coming out pregnant.

[Alan]

What was the convo? He was like, well, it is what it is. We have to do it. Or what was the initial combos at the beginning?

[Itzel Castaneda]

You know what I remember I told him, like, you don't have to be in the picture if you don't want to be. Like, I understand. Like, and he, he was very mature about it because I still remember he was like, I knew what I was doing. We both knew what we were doing. Just never happened for a long time. So it was just. It was consequences, right? So he was very like, no, I'm gonna step up. It's just hard. It's a hard situation that we just have to grow out of, you know, like, understand that this is our life now.

[Alan]

At the time of you finding out you were pregnant, it was one sack, one baby. First of all, how do you find out about this big news? Because I'm sure you know, okay, we're having a baby. And then you're like, oh, no, babes, you're having two babies.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It really was. So since, you know, they said the men severe twin, it either skips a generation or you'll have a twin. So I would always say, growing up, whenever I found out I was a twin, I would always tell my mom, mom, I want to have twins. Like, uno. Yeah, right? I'm like, I want to have twins. I want to have twins. Well, whenever I met Mike and we would, like, have little conversations, I would tell him, dude, I hope I have twins. He would tell me, you're never gonna have twins. People who want it like that, they never have twins. Like, one in a million chance. And I'm like, like, you ruined my bubble, right? So whenever I found out I was pregnant, it was just a one little dot. You can't even see if it like the baby. So then I go to my 8 week OB GYN appointment and then they insert like the vaginal one. And other doctor tell, as soon as he inserts it, I see two. Like, it was so clear. And I'm like, is that twins? And he's like, oh, congratulations. And Michael was sewn out. Like, he was just staring at me. He. He's like, why are you crying? Because it happened so fast. I'm like, dude, we're having twins. He's like, what? I'm like, yes, look. And I point at the camera. And that's when he saw the two babies. And he was so speechless. Like, he was speechless. I was crying, my mom. And I'm like, my mom was right.

[Alan]

At that time, you guys were super young. O. You guys didn't have the income, you know, at the time, was that hard, you know, preparing for two babies instead of one. You guys were like, was, you know, that convo after finding out.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So when we found out, I worked in retail and Mike worked at Home Depot, and obviously I was still in high school and he was still in high school. I had. I was so close to my teachers and my counselors. And I remember I went and I told her I was pregnant with one baby. And I told her I wanted to graduate early because I had all my credits. I could have graduated. And she would try to convince me to, like, just finish it. There's a lot of girls who have gotten pregnant. They still walk, they still go through them. So I'm like, you know, you're right, right? And then I go and I found out twins. And I go back to my counselor. I'M like I need to graduate asap. Like there's no way. So I end up graduating early and Mike does too. He follows my footsteps. So then he gets his first big boy job at the plants at the refineries and he hates it. He completely hates the job that he was doing. And I had to call off work because I was already like four months pregnant. And I was high risk since I was four months. So they had to always be in bed rest or just not be working a lot. So he was just taking care of me finally nationally. So it was really, really tough even till after the girls were born. Like I probably lived my parents life whenever, you know, with me. So it was really tough on us. We were just young, trying to survive.

[Alan]

I feel like for young parents it's always so hard because you're like, like I don't know what to do, how to do this. No, you had a high risk pregnancy.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think. I don't want to say it was horrible because I. It was amazing raising two babies in my tummy. But I just suffered so much. I had pre clamp that I was always just in bed. I never wanted to do anything. I never realized how severe preeclampsia was until I gave birth. I was always at doctors every week. Ever since I turned four months pregnant. I had a high risk that I was at doctors every single week getting ultrasounds. If not one doctor was the other doctor. So it was really tough on me. I just felt tired and draining and my whole body changed. Like I got so swollen that I didn't even recognize myself. I remember in. And I think that's my biggest fear getting pregnant now. Like I, you know. But I didn't know better at the time. You know, like I would eat whatever because I was pregnant. I used to eat the jack in the box, the chicken sandwiches like those with two jack in the box tacos and you like. But I never realized pre cl my doctor my was never open about what clumps it was.

[Alan]

What is that? If you can explain a little bit because I'm not knowledgeable and I'm sure lot of people at home might not know what it is.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So preclampsias is usually whenever you have high blood pressure throughout your whole pregnancy it's really, really severe because one, your babies don't get oxygen other and then when you give birth, you know, having your blood pressure when you're pregnant is not good. Like it's just not good. So it just suffer. It just doesn't let your baby get all the Nutrients and just a lot of stuff like that. Honestly, I don't know detail by detail, but I just know what I learned after I gave birth. It's just. It's really severe.

[Alan]

Was it scary in the way of, like, during your pregnancy paso algo where you're like, oh, my God, like, I don't know if my babies are gonna make it because it's hard for the babies to get the nutrients?

[Itzel Castaneda]

No, it happened towards the end when I was about to give birth. That's how I deliver the girls early. But because I am 100% feel like my OB GYN wasn't more open about preeclampsia and didn't give me an not enough knowledge about it because I didn't take it serious. I just knew I had it. But they never told me, you can't do this, you can't do that. You need to watch yourself. I never got told any of that, so I never realized how serious it was until I was giving birth.

[Alan]

So you were living your pregnancy like, oh, I have pre clampsia, pero comocin.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I could have died. And I didn't even know how was.

[Alan]

Your, you know, your giving birth? No, especasque, you didn't realize and you didn't see how hard or how it can affect you till you gave birth. How, like, what did you realize or what was going on in your birth that made it hard and made it finally sink in?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, whenever I was giving birth, I was 34 weeks pregnant. And the day that I was about to give birth, I turned 35 weeks, and I knew the girls were like four pounds, right? They were so little. I go on my normal regular checkup and they see an ultrasound that baby A is not getting no oxygen. Like, she's not getting any oxygen. But they don't tell me anything until I drive off, we're leaving, and they call me, hey, can you come back to the office? I'm like, why? Like, I was just there. They're like, well, it seems like baby A is not getting enough oxygen and we need you to come back immediately. My heart dropped. My heart sank. I'm like, I was just there. Like, usually what they do is they do the ultrasounds, take it to the doctor, they confirm that everything's good, and then they send you home. So that's what they did to me. They sent me home, so I went home. But not everything was okay. So whenever I come back to the. To the doctor, they tell me, you need an emergency C section. Like, babies are not getting oxygen. So I freak out, and I'm like. Like, first, I don't want surgery. Second, like, I ended up finding out, like, you can die giving birth with precampsia or just giving birth. No health issues at all. You can always just die, you know, giving birth. But knowing that I had preclampsia was so scary. And I gave birth to the girls that day. That day. It was literally so fast. Within two hours.

[Alan]

Had you gone to the doctor's appointment?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Sola, My mom would go with me every single.

[Alan]

Like, Mike, they were going to rush you to give birth.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Mike didn't know. I ended up texting him, and I'm like, dude, they want me to give birth right now. I knew with twins, it's accurate to give birth early, but he was at work, and he was like, do you want me to leave? Do you want me to leave early? And I'm like, no, it's okay. And he's like, what? You're crazy. Like, I'm on my way. And he left, and I gave birth within two hours.

[Alan]

That giving birth is dangerous. You know, that you can lose your life. Did you ever have a convo with Mike? De Quesa Salva las girls. Was that ever a combo that you guys had, especially because of how high risk it was?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Honestly, no, I never did. I think I was all about my mom at the time, because, I mean, I was pregnant. My mom knew more. I was all about my mom. That whatever my mom wanted to do, it was up to her. But being a mom and when I was pregnant, I would always say I would save my babies first. I've always said that. You know, I know there's different opinions, but just for me at that time when it was a scary moment. Moment, I just couldn't think about my babies not being here.

[Alan]

So you give birth.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes.

[Alan]

Okay, so how was that? You know, wow. Now I have my babies.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So the first night, whenever I gave birth, I remember. I'm not gonna lie. Mike was horrible. Like, he was so tired. He did not stay up. He just couldn't let his. Yeah, mom, help me, mom, help me. Until my mom was like, y'all need to learn. Like, y'all gonna have to learn today. We're gonna leave the room, and y'all gonna have to learn. And I think that's the day that it kicked in when everyone left us alone, that it kicked in, like, oh, damn. Like, we're parents to two. And it was tough because baby B, which is Bella, she had a lot of spit up, and I would not sleep the whole four Days. Cuz I was there for four days. I did not sleep cuz my blood pressure was still high. But I would not sleep because I would be scared of Bella choking on her milk. So I would couldn't sleep. It was so draining. I remember they tried to wake me up because I finally fell asleep the last day when I was about to get discharged. They tried to wake me up and they couldn't. All I hear is my mom screaming like and the doctor walked in. She was like, she's just tired. Like she's resting, exhausted.

[Alan]

I was actually seeing a tick tock which is I, I it was like a whole, it sparked like a whole conversation within myself. It was actually a video of when D and Evelyn, the twins Wendy was giving birth. It was like a clip where Evelyn was crying that no one was paying attention to the mom, you know what I mean? After giving birth, which is very true. You know, familiares to meet the baby, like you kind of disregard the mom. It's kind of like oh they have. Oh my God. Obviously you're excited. But I feel like a lot of the time we tend to forget that the women that gave birth is exhausted is going through it. She literally just pushed out a baby. What was your mental state at that point? Obviously you had been exhausted. You were drained. You had just given birth to two twins. Como like after I was so drained.

[Itzel Castaneda]

That all I knew that everyone else was going for the babies. Obviously I knew my mom was just there for me though. Like yes, she loves her granddaughters, but my mom's baby. So I knew she was there to take care of me. It was really hard. That, that's the hardest me my question I went through because he has a huge family where we're from, like in Houston, everyone is so close to him that he was so excited. His whole family was so excited that they were just showing up, right? And I was like, and I love them, you know. But I was like Mike, look how I look. Like I felt so ugly. I feel disgusted. I just felt like I don't want no one to watch me. I didn't even want my dad like to be there. Like.

[Alan]

And you just went through a whole labor. How many hours were you in labor?

[Itzel Castaneda]

It was quick cuz it was a C section. Two hours. Two hours. It was so quick. I had.

[Alan]

But you were in pain.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Like ugly. Like I was like bab, I don't want it.

[Alan]

You know what's funny? I actually just had that convo not too long ago with a friend because to like put boundaries because you don't want family to be like, oh, why is she being weird? Why is she not wanting us to come? And just as a couple, to, like, have those moments in the hospital as a breather, you know what I mean? Like, I remember when my best friend had her baby, she was, like, telling me about it, you know, like, oh, I don't want you to come. But she was telling me kind of like that, like, all the family's coming. I'm overwhelmed, you know? Like, I just want to relax. Like, I don't want to feel like I have to entertain because. You know what I mean? Like, go. Like, girl, I don't want to hear it. Like, I don't want to talk. Like, I want to chill. Hey, friend, like, I know you're overwhelmed. You know, you're going to give birth. If it's a week out, I'll go see you. A week out. Was that kind of something you wish you could have done?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think so. I think maybe just until I was out of the hospital, at least for sure. Just because, again, I didn't sleep those whole days, so people were coming, and I just felt very. Not because I don't like them or anything like that. It's just I felt very overwhelmed within myself. Like, had to check on the girls, and then, like you said, entertain guests, you know? So I just told Mike it wasn't the time for people to come. Because when I tell you, it wasn't just two people. Okay. It was like, my family, like, El. So I'm like, I can't do that right now. Like, baby.

[Alan]

Even the whole newborn baby. The latter. I want to meet the new baby.

[Itzel Castaneda]

That's crazy. That's what I just.

[Alan]

It's a very Hispanic thing, though. Like, I will want to say that I feel like now. Yeah. Y. Like, I do want to say. Like, whenever my friends have babies, like, I'm very respectful. I try not to go visit them at the hospital. Which sounds very bad, you guys, because I know a lot of you guys are going to be like, oh, my God, like, why don't you go? But, like, if we're being honest, like, enesos, momentos. Momentos. On not to bother you, but it is kind of bother. You're over here recovering. You're over here. Like, I just gave birth.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Unless she tells you, hey, come on.

[Alan]

Come on over.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alan]

And I feel like, you know, Abe says, uno hermano, como primo, como. Like, someone that loves a person that just gave birth, you know? But, like, sometimes that, like, is it the right Time. Did they approve? Are they okay? Did they invite us?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes. And that's what I told Mike, because I didn't mind. I didn't mind his brother being there or his mom or his emergency family. I didn't mind. I just told him, like, babe, let's just wait till we go home. Yeah. You know, know, because it's tiring.

[Alan]

So you go home, you start motherhood. O. Was that hard, obviously, adjusting, you know, to, like, now having two babies at home. How was, like, the beginning, months before you actually adjusted to, you know, being a mom?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Being a mom. So whenever we went home, I remember my mom did help me the first two weeks. She helped me do the night feeding because it's every three hours. But it was time for Mike to go back to work, and my mom stopped helping me. Me at night because, I mean, I told my mom, one of us has to be rested. You know, there's no way. So my mom would sleep the night shift, and Mike helped me for a whole week, and it was time for him to go back to work. So that's where it kicked my butt. Like, I had to have one twin here, the other one here, and then with the bottles and having to keep them at the same schedule, because that helped me till this day saved my life with the girls, keeping them in the same routine. So it was really tough. Sometimes I would cry, so. So tired. Like, I just couldn't sleep.

[Alan]

Like, you were overwhelmed. Did you ever get, like, postpartum depression?

[Itzel Castaneda]

No, I don't think that I suffered postpartum. Maybe just within how I look myself. I was really insecure, obviously, because your belly is floppy and, like, I don't look the same. But I don't think I suffered of any postpartum because, I don't know, I just don't think I did.

[Alan]

Like, you were just like, I love my girls. Like, I'm here. But you know what's so crazy? Like, I. I've talked to a lot of Mom. Mommy is about postpartum. I feel like even, like, how you felt that can be a postpartum, maybe, like, it didn't get grabbed to the point where you're like, I want to harm my babies or I want to harm myself. But that postpartum period is very normal for, you know, women to not feel themselves, for them to feel like, you know, their body. A lot of women feel like, wow. But it's important that you knew that you had just given birth to two babies, to two beautiful babies. You know, as a family, what do you feel like, was the hardest thing that you guys went through or that you guys had to adapt to when it came to, like, being a family?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think the hardest part was deciding what kind of family we wanted to be, you know, because obviously, I grew up. To me, my parents are together because my stepdad's my dad. He grew up, and he's okay with me saying this. He grew up with divorced parents. So his parents were together, and they divorced when he was. Was like, I believe seven. And then they did get back together. So when we were trying to build a family, they were together, and he was used to seeing them a certain way, and I was used to seeing my parents a certain way, which my family was very family, connected, orientated. Like, we do everything together. He wanted more like, well, you can do this, and I'll do that. And I'm like, I want to do it as family. You know, like, we need to do this as family. So we bumped heads along. Like, how do we want to be a family? What's our rules? It's our family rules. What's our family goals? Yes, our goals. Like, just, you know, like, I. I understand that my. My family's a certain way, and I understand your family's a certain way, and we don't have to be like them. I was like, but we can create our own and agree to that, you know? And that took us a long time to realize and be okay, because that was mostly of our arguments. Like, he wanted a certain way, and I wanted a certain way. So I think it's a big part of, you know, once you have family and kids, you have to always understand you each other and be so understanding within one another, because they're not.

[Alan]

It won't work with young parents, you know, o you guys had your babies at a super young age. You know, you can have fun. But yos, what do you feel was like, that moment where you guys finally synced together and you guys were like, you know what? We both are seeing eye to eye. We both know that we don't want to be out. Like, we have a family now. What was that moment for you guys where you feel like, okay, like, est.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So I've never been open about this, but me and Mike actually had. We split up for a while before I even did social media. It was not even a while. It's probably a month. But to us, it felt like eternity, you know, especially as parents. Yeah, we split up, and it was very tough. Like, I knew that's not what I wanted, and he knew deep down that's not what he wanted. And I think the moment we realized is when. When that whole month when we weren't with each other, like, we realized, like, you know, screw everything else, like, let's. Let's just do it together. Like, we. We got this, you know, especially por.

[Alan]

I'm sure that you guys were able to, like, go do what you guys wanted to do, like, go have fun, whatever it was. And then you realize, like, no, that's not what I want to do. Like, I see myself being a father, like, I have my kids, like, or do what, whatever it is, like, when I want my family. Was that, like, a thing for you guys? Right?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Honestly, we never really went out that whole month. Like, when you see most nada, I think just sleeping by ourselves. Well, he said that his biggest hurt that he had was whenever he wasn't with us or the girls. Like, he knew that that's all he wanted, was just me and the girls and nothing else mattered. And also, I think it has to do with a lot of who you connect yourself with, you know, who you surround yourself. Because I feel like you can be married and hang out with single people, but they're single people that don't respect. Respect that fact that you have a family now and you have kids and, you know, so I think that us changing who we hang out with and surround ourselves with had a lot to do with how well we work with each other now.

[Alan]

It's really hard for, you know, young parents to get on the same page and be like, okay, we need to do this for our family. We're doing this for, you know, our girls. Is that any young parent watching this that is maybe struggling with creating a family, with making their family feel like a family.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think a lot of compromising. I think if you don't understand each other's feelings, it won't work. Because I've always told Mike and he has always done the same thing to me. He might think my point is so invalid and so dumb, but he's so understanding. And he'll be like, you know what? I know that hurt your feelings things. So I understand and I won't do it again, or I understand this won't happen. And same vice versa. Like, I might think what he's upset about is so dumb, but I had to understand that his feelings are so much different than mine. So a lot of compromising. I think that's the biggest thing in a relationship, compromising, even if, I mean, obviously love too. But I think the compromising is my biggest one on My list because that's what helped me in life see the.

[Alan]

Same discoma I was sharing. What do you feel like was your biggest compromise? Like, something that you're like, okay, know, maybe I don't agree fully, but I can live with it.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think maybe his work industry, he worked a lot out of town. It was really tough because he. He's a welder. So El want to be a welder. Want to be a welder. And we suffered a lot financially as well the first three years trying to be parents because he want to be a welder. He want to be welder. So I told him at the it's not that I'm not supporting your dream. It's just he will go months without working. Like, we need to back up you, you know, But I tried to just compromise and understand that that was his dream. And I had to keep going until he realized that.

[Alan]

Because I feel like sometimes. But you were perfect in the sense of, like, you know what? I don't think it's going to benefit us in the long run. I'm working so hard and no. So yes.

[Itzel Castaneda]

And you know what? He used to work out of town. He used to work crazy hours. I started doing social media and I would do it for fun and, you know, and ended up working out that thankfully, I think, like maybe eight months. He ended up telling me, you know what things, time for a career change. And I'm like, do it. Gracias. Adios. You can be off for work for a while. And we got. I got it. Like, you do it. You know, we're a team. It's no pays the bills. Who's no? It's just word team. My money is your money, and your money's my money. So he did that. He ended up changing career paths. Nole gusto. Nole gusto.

[Alan]

What did he choose?

[Itzel Castaneda]

He was doing the CDO driving, right? Because his dad has his business. So he's like, let me do it with him. He has to take classes, do the practicing classes. He's like, let me do it. We can. Probably because that's one of mine. My extreme is own a CDO company because they make money. So I told him, you know what? We can. We can do it. You can drive if you want. So that's why he was off for a good six months. And he was like, babe, I can't. I don't like it. So I'm like, you know what? Then okay, go back to welding, like, if that's what you like. But he's like, I promise I'm just gonna find a job that doesn't work crazy hours. Because he was never home with the girls when he worked those crazy hours, he would just get home, sleep, and the girls would just always miss daddy. And my dream was always like, no, I want to be able to have a family and like, have the dad.

[Alan]

Be present, you know?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah. So now, thankfully to social media, we're able to do that.

[Alan]

While you were raising your children, was it hard for you to raise your baby while he was gone?

[Itzel Castaneda]

A lot of the time, I think because it was two, it was tough on me. We, when we lived alone in our apartments, I had to take them to doctor's appointments, had to take them here, take them speech therapy, because my girls did a lot of speech therapy. So we would go and it was the same routine over and over. And at the time, I was struggling with one twin. She was very. A crybaby and stuff. So I felt very lonely at home. Like, I just felt like, what am I even doing? You know? So I just felt very lonely. I think that times I would just cry at night and just. I was thankful, you know, I know I'm not a single mom and I know he's making money, but I wanted so much more than that again. I grew up with my dad and my stepdad and my mom being together all the time that I knew that's what I wanted. I knew him to. I wanted him to be part of parties, I wanted him to be part of family functions, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and just things like that. So I always wanted to make sure that he was home with us. And thankfully, now he is.

[Alan]

You make a great point. And it's actually. I had seen a Tik Tok. I'm bringing up no, but I had seen a tik Tok. It was a podcast on the S about being a stay at home moment. I feel like I, much as Personas, don't see being a stay at home mom as something like, oh, it's hard. And it is hard. You know, I have a lot of friends that are mothers that I feel like they don't get the credit they deserve because it's a lot. I feel like stay at home moms never get like time off. Did you ever feel like that overwhelmed with like.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yeah. So I remember at the time I used to stay up to like 12, 13 in the morning because that was my only time off. You know, the girls, I always had them in a strict schedule, so they would always be asleep by like 9. So I had all those hours that I didn't have throughout the day, a week at night, and then the next morning I would regret it. So I would stay up from like 9:00 to like what, 2, 3 in the morning because it was the only times I had off throughout the whole day. And I don't want to say off because being a mom, you're always a mom. And my girls were really, really good. So what I mean, it was just. I'm always on my feet.

[Alan]

Yeah, always.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Always on my feet. Always on my feet. Cooking, cleaning, always on my feet.

[Alan]

Changing diapers.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Changing diapers. I just want to.

[Alan]

Like, it's your distress time, I feel like. And it's very normal. And you know what's funny in that? Tick tock. Yeah. Like my distress time is anytime after 10pm, like I go to sleep late because I gotta do what I gotta do for myself.

[Itzel Castaneda]

And I lost myself in motherhood. That's one thing I can say. Like, before I had the girls, of course I would work, I would buy myself clothes, shoes, and maybe I didn't have the best style, but I would always buy myself stuff. And then once I became a mom, like I barely bought myself bras after like 5 years. Like it because I just felt mom guilt. Like I wanted to buy them stuff before me. Like I want to make sure Mike was okay before me. So it was just a mom guilt that would eat me. I knew I could buy myself stuff, but I'm like, I could rather pay a bill with this money than do that. So. And you know what? I remember growing up and seeing my mom in as mismas garas in the same clothes. And I would never understood like why she was wearing the same thing until I became a mother.

[Alan]

Did you have a lot of help from Mike? Muy cansado.

[Itzel Castaneda]

No, that's. Mike is amazing. Amazing. I can't even describe how amazing he is. He is a present father. Like he knew I was so tired that he'll be like, babe, I'll give him a bath. Oh, babe, don't worry, I got this. Or I'll put him to sleep, even though he'll fall asleep with him. But he was so present to this day that I'm just so blessed to the kind of husband and father I got.

[Alan]

Being a stay at home mom is a hard job. And it's not for everyone. It's not for the week that's a stay at home mom now. They're not doing enough. It's not that hard being a stay at home mom.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Don't listen to anyone because at the end of the day, I want you to put yourself first. Because if you're not happy, you're not going to have a happy home, you're not going to have happy kids, you're not going to have a happy husband. You're always going to be so unhappy if you're not happy within yourself. Take care of yourself by yourself. Bras, buy yourself shirts, buy yourself whatever you want. Makeup, your family will be good as long as you're good. So just don't lose yourself. Because I think you being happy will make everyone else happy. And that was. That was me.

[Alan]

You lost yourself in el processo of being a moment. Your thingo gets that in a good state of mind. Was there a moment for you that was like, I need to switch it up?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Actually started when I did social media. I remember Mike was working out of town in Louisiana and I was making the girls their birthday party and I just felt so lonely at home making their goodie bags and just stuff like that. And I was just always sit on the couch. I always had headaches. I would not even do my bed. Like I was just in an unhappy place until I was just like, you know what, what am I doing with myself? Like, I do not want to be like this. This. I don't want to just my daughters remember me. Like my dad was always working. I wouldn't even like do nothing. So I just got up the next day. I started waking up at 7am before the girls woke up, got ready, did my makeup, did my bed, made the girls breakfast, we ate, took them to the park. I started, I started to do a whole routine and it made me feel so great as a mother and as a wife and as a person.

[Alan]

Just myself, which is super normal. Like, and it's not to shame those that are still in that stage, you know, you lose yourself, you know.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So Mike proposed to me. When Covid was going on, he proposed to me. It was Mother's Day actually and we were. My mother in law just got everyone together and actually my mother in law's birthday is also on Mother's Day say. So I'm like, you took her light away. So I remember just. He was acting shady. And I remember my friend too. Like I didn't, I didn't understand. Like I like they were being weird. Like, yeah. And I didn't understand. I'm like, let me find out. I was like, why are they being so weird? Like they're not letting me do this or do that or I don't know what. And then they ended up putting a blindfold on me. I guess they were decorating outside and end up putting a blindfold on me. I'm like, he's proposing. I had already know. I'm like, let me find out. He's proposing. And as soon as I walk out, there's music. And he plays our song. Song. And there's music playing in the back, and there's a heart shape, and it just says, will you marry me? With candles on. And he just gets on his knees and he just proposes to me.

[Alan]

Are you like. And I said, yes. What is your guys's song?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think at the time it was that song. Honestly, I. It was. You make it easy, you Make It Easy by Jason Aldi.

[Alan]

Huh? Like, I've never heard that song. Oh, my God.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I'm like, break it.

[Alan]

It was like, I never heard it. I think.

[Itzel Castaneda]

You don't have to sing it. Like you say you. You make it easy. Loving you. Make it see. Loving you. Something like that. He's going to be like, babe, really?

[Alan]

He's like, it was. We've moved so we don't listen.

[Itzel Castaneda]

That was our high school song the last time I heard that song, you know.

[Alan]

How was that?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, we actually just got married through court.

[Alan]

Okay.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So he does tell me, you want to have a wedding. I'm like.

[Alan]

That'S crazy. So all over social media, what made you start country content creating?

[Itzel Castaneda]

So I started social media when Mike was out of town working. And I remember it was just my safe place. I was so bored at home that I was just like, let me just make videos, you know? So I just started making videos with my girls goodie bags. And then I stopped. And then I started making videos of me cleaning. And I stopped. Like, I couldn't find the one thing that I kind of wanted to not just focus on, but, like, start off with, I guess, like something I really truly liked. And I would always click. Like, I always click. But I never recorded myself, so until Micah back home. And I was like, baby, you want some Chipotle bowls? I still remember the video. And he's like, oh, yeah, Like, I want some. I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna make some. And I made Chipotle bowls and I decided to record. I remember that day I told Mike, can you go to the room, though? Like, I don't want you to watch me record. And he's like, really, babe? I'm like, I'm serious. Like, I don't want you. I don't want you to watch me. And he goes to the room and he stays there until I'm done cooking. It probably took me like two hours. And he was in there.

[Alan]

He's like, can I come out?

[Itzel Castaneda]

He was, tell me, like, are you ready? And I'm like, no, like, stay over there. So I recorded it, I edit. I remember my editing skills was so horrible. And I posted it and I saw like, I used to always just get 100 likes and then I saw it was like 2000. I'm like, oh, okay, people like this. So then I started recording every single meal I would make because I enjoyed cooking. Because Mike, before I even did like the reactions, he always gave me good reactions. Like he would always compliment my food. So I think that was just a little trend going on that he would react to my food.

[Alan]

What was that moment or that video where you were like, what the fuck? Like, I can actually make this my full time job?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes. I actually made a chorizo tostada. That's Mike's favorite breakfast. I still remember I made him a chorizo tostada. I had chorizo, sour cream, salsa verde. And I made him four. And that one took off like big time. And I was like, oh crap. I'm like, you know what, Let me keep doing it. I didn't think it would be a full time career at the time. I just was like, well, let me keep making these people like it until maybe three months later. Later I got like the first brand deal ever and I was like, damn, like this, I can do this.

[Alan]

You get really good brand deals like promotion, but you be getting them. Because I'm talking about brands that are so like staple like that. Like you see at Target, you'd see like at your local stores where you'd feel like, ah, they don't need promotion. How does that feel, El, that you've grown so much on your social medias to where you're like, you know what? Like there's people out there that love my work that want to sponsor me.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It feels amazing. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I do doubt myself. Like, I. I'm sure other influencers can relate, but I do doubt myself a lot. But I always just think about how grateful I am to be where I'm at and I'm so blessed. And I always thank God every single day because life is just so much different now. Like, it's so much different.

[Alan]

Was there ever like people in your life in principas and pesando that maybe doubted you or like social media, like, especially for Hispanics, like they're like, did you ever have people in your life, friends, family that doubted you?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I had my husband's friends. Like, they would kind of like make jokes about it, but my mom was always supportive. If I had like 100 likes, she'll make 101 likes. Like, they were actually, actually very supportive and they understood, you know, So I did get made fun of by like my husband's side of the guy friends. But other than that, people were very supportive and they'll reshare my stuff and they're just so kind, you know, you.

[Alan]

Start going viral social media.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It changed my life for the better. I can't even think about my life then to now. Just Mike is able to stay more time home. You know, now that I make income, you would think that I would spend my money, like I would like, let me go and buy myself stuff. And I still struggle to this day to. To buy myself stuff because I just think about the hard times that we had that I'm so good at saving money. Like, I'm just like, no, I'm save it. What if we go broke next month and I save it? And you know, me and Mike are at the point of our lives that I'm like, let's invest. Let's make money. And like I said, I have a good friend of mine, Jackie, that she's a lawyer and she's a boss lady. Like, she invests and she shows me and she, you know, and I told Mike, obviously, social media won't be forever, but we'll have another investments, you know, so I'm just thankful before you started.

[Alan]

Doing social media, you weren't working, right?

[Itzel Castaneda]

No.

[Alan]

You're a stay at home mom.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I used to work at a chiropractor office when Covid hit.

[Alan]

Okay.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Because Mike was laid off.

[Alan]

So then you went back and then you stopped going to work. Right. So going from not making an income from being a stay at home mom to where you kind of felt like you really couldn't help economically. Atumarido, you know, contribute. How do you feel now that you feel. Feel like, wow, like I'm making my own money too.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I used to feel very useless whenever I didn't work. I didn't realize that being a stay home mom is a full time job. You know, it is a full time job, but I just felt like, oh, because I couldn't bring 50 bucks, 100 bucks when we were struggling financially, it made me feel like crap. So. No. So now I think it's just a blessing. Like I feel so happy where I'm at right now in life. I do want to keep going and do more things. Things and you know, I want to be able to show other people who want to be content creators how to do this. But I think nowadays there's just so much backlash on content creators that I feel like people don't understand that you can make this a full time career. And yeah, I know social media won't be full time, but how you deal with your money, it's your choice. You know.

[Alan]

I feel like you're such a success story in the sense of social media and they're like, oh, they've been doing this for so many years, that's why they got it so good or that's why they're making money, you know, but you've only been doing this for a year and a half. Casidos anos and you know, obviously you've seen the growth you've put in the work and it really is a thing of like, you know what, there's no excuse why people can't, you know, because I feel like social media is especially now, I feel like now it's more accessible because like you said, even influence influencers like share like YouTube says, long time ago, even though I was making a good, not a lot of money, like I'm making money, you know what I mean? Like even me, I remember in the beginning of my social media career, like I, when I first started, I always would make jokes about me being broke because at the time I was broke, you know, but obviously, like I kind of like I would say those jokes but I'm like, okay, I'm not really broke. Like I would just say them but then I start started feeling bad because I'm like, okay, these people probably think I'm broke, but I really am not. But then I also don't want to be like, oh, I make all this money because I'm flaunting it or I'm like showing it off. I feel like now social media has become a place where like it's okay to be like, I'm making money, y'all, like, I can do this, y'all can too. Especially with TikTok. Because I feel like that's where you blew up.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Yes, I agree. I feel like some of I would like to be able to speak up on that. Like, you know, if I can do it, you can do it. I just feel like right now, at least with some people don't understand that you can make this a full time career that if you were to share, oh well, I made this amount of money brand deal, there's so much hate from it too. You know, like, they just get so mad that someone's being so sexist successful in it, which is, you know, because guys, people just think it's a simple video, which, I mean, yeah, it is, but it's work, you know?

[Alan]

Exactly. What you said is like, what I think too. Like, it's very hard to open up, especially about finances because, like, you want to be real, you want to be raw so these people can see how lucrative, like, the social media business is. I was on a podcast, Chins and Giggles, Love the Girls. And I opened up about, you know, money. I opened up about how much I had made back then on YouTube. I opened up about, like, my biggest sponsorship, you know, just kind like in. Because me, I was like, you know, like, it's real. It's like, I want people to know, okay? Like I said, alo the social media. And I swear to God, people started clipping these videos like, alan, I made all this money. And it's funny because days later I was talking about money on. On my Tik Tok about, like, oh, like, you know, I just paid for this. It's expensive, or like, kind not complaining, but just, you know, talking. And there was a lot of people like, shut the up. Like, you. You made all this money. You make this much and this. And it's like, okay, I make all this money or I've made all this money at the beginning, o I was like, you get all this money and you're like, ah, swipe here, swipe there. But it comes a time where you're like, okay, I gotta be smart because it's not guaranteed. Gracias. I've been doing this almost for 10 years, and I haven't been stopping any. And I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. Like you said, what if Tik Tok gets banned next month and your biggest income is cut? You know, what do you. How do you feel about, you know, now that you do social media full time? Like, just sharing your daily life, you know, being a mom, because that. That's literally your content. Being a mom, being a wife now makes you an income.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I think it's mostly my girls. Well, like my followers. It makes me happy to see comments saying, like, you motivate me to record. You motivated me to get up and do my bed. Like, those comments is what keeps me going. And regarding all the mean comments that there is, I love to see that I'm making an impact, at least in some people's Lives because I used to be there, you know, so it makes me feel really, really happy where I'm at now. And I want to keep going. You know, I want to keep doing. I want to do a cookbook, seasonings. There's just so many things that I have planned for myself that I'm just. I don't plan on stopping.

[Alan]

You know, with social media now, you get a lot of hate comments as well as a lot of positive comments. And you also mentioned earlier that, you know, growing up, you were very insecure. And then as you, you know, started posting on social media, you became a little bit more insecure. How do you deal now with the haters, all the negativity, and really focus on the positive?

[Itzel Castaneda]

I started using the block button. I block people. I used to not or I used to just kill them with kindness because just, you know, it's better. Why react. Sometimes I do react mean to comments because it's hurtful and people don't understand that, you know, But I. I understand that I'm putting my life out there, and regardless, you're gonna get hate comments. But at the first year, I would cry. I remember my biggest mean comment, and I was just crying and crying, and I wanted to just give it up. I wanted to just give up social media. I was like, I can't do this. Like, affecting me and my husband's like, even if you don't do social media, there's going to be people, friends, family that are gonna do this. Like, you know, you keep going if that's what you want to do. And I just kept going. And now I just block people. Like, it doesn't affect me as much sometimes if people are mean about my daughters, I am, I. I get hurt. But you're like, yeah.

[Alan]

Do you feel like, you know, there was a time where you wanted to stop because, you know, was it anything specific with, like. Like, anything that you already felt insecure about that people were like.

[Itzel Castaneda]

It wasn't more insecurity, it was. I got a threat comment on my Instagram, someone messaged me, and I felt like it was probably someone I knew or I'm not sure because I never. I've always been open about having a twin brother, but I don't know, it just seems sketchy. But I got an Instagram message saying, I hope one of your twins die the way your brother died. And that was what I said. I can't do this no more. Like, I told him, like, I can. Like, I know as much people like me. There's gonna be people and you don't know what they can do.

[Alan]

It's scary.

[Itzel Castaneda]

So I. I feared for my girls. I was like, I post them, but sometimes I don't. But they love it. Like, I'll try to send you a video, but my girls just put their phone and they do what I do. Hi, guys. Today I'm gonna be doing this. And it's just so sweet. Like, they love it, but it took me a long time.

[Alan]

Do you feel like after you know that threat, do you feel like now that you go out in public, especially with the girls, like, oh, I gotta watch out. Like, because it really is like that. You know, I've gotten threat comments before, too. Or even messages, especially, you know, when you're getting cancelled. It's happened to me a lot of times. But, like. Like, even in the moment, you're like. But then you're like, you're out and you're like, oh, like, I just got threatened yesterday. Like, was that. Has that ever happened to you where. Like, now when you go out with your girls, you're, like, cautious?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Definitely. I remember once I got a message saying, is your daughter's ever with you? Like, I never see them and you never take them to the store. Because I'm scared. Like, if their dad's home, I'll just leave them. If I have to take them, then I'll take them with me. Or if we're all together as a family, then I'll take them. But it's the only reason I don't take my girls. Even before I would do social media, my older sister used to tell me, why don't you take them to the park or do this when you're by yourself? I'm like, I'm scared. There's an awful world. What if I look away and one of them runs the other way and I miss out? Like, you know, like, I just can't. I have two. It was really, really, really tough to do things on my own in public with my anxiety of something happening to them. So I never really did. To this day, I'm really, really. And my girls are so friendly. They'll talk to the strangest person ever. And I've already told them you can't talk to strangers. So I'm. I'm always terrified if Mike's not with me. I'm terrified everybody.

[Alan]

But I feel like that's also something great because, like you said, like, you got to be cautious. You got to be careful. Like, there might be a lot of people that love your girls. There might be that one Person that has ill intentions, there might be that one person. So it's better to be cautious.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Five years, I do want to be able to have my own cookbook, maybe seasonings. And I do want to invest in like real estate a lot. So. So in five years, that is my goal. Maybe a baby. Because Mike is asking for a baby now. So in five years, that's where I see myself.

[Alan]

Is that a thing? Is that possible?

[Itzel Castaneda]

Well, my, my family runs twice but.

[Alan]

Like back to back.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Back to back. No, the first ones were twins and then she had another one, it was boy. And then she had. The other ones were.

[Alan]

How crazy would it be if you have twins again? I know.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I'm going come back to this video.

[Alan]

Going to come back. I made it happen, you guys. But that's crazy. See, But I'm so happy. I really enjoyed getting to see you a little more.

[Itzel Castaneda]

I want you to know that I saw a comment right when you did Fabiana, you did theirs and there was a rude comment that said not him bringing just strangers or people. At this point, I want you to know that you are changing. Beginning influencers are barely starting life. Like this was a big opportunity. So I don't want you to ever see like, oh, they're just random people because you're, you're starting our career.

[Alan]

I see like. Cuz I do get them a lot. Like, oh my God, Allen is bringing nobodies and I'm like, girl, like, what do you mean? So I get a lot of people. Bring your fans. Bring people like your average person. And I'm like, okay, like the people that I'm bringing on that have followers are your average people. And I love the fact that I'm able to sit down with you. And to me, like me, a thousand, two thousand, five hundred thousand, a million. I've had people here with like 10 million. I've had people here with like 100,000 followers. And to me it's like Victoria and we've all gone through it and I feel like personitas that can relate so much to you. And I'm really happy. I see them all the time. And all I want to say, you guys, amino importa. This is not the podcast where we're just doing people with a lot of followers. I have got into the point. People ask me about the fans, like bring a fan. I would always say no, only because that's something that I want to do. I really appreciate you, you taking the time. I know you were nervous, I know you were shy. We got on the call, you guys I was like, let me get on a call with her. But I really do appreciate it.

[Itzel Castaneda]

This is such a smooth process. So thank you.

[Alan]

Thank you. I love you. I love your story. If you guys want to go ahead and follow, it's down below as well as on the screen to follow me on all my social medias so you guys won't miss any future episodes. And with that being said, thank you once again.

[Itzel Castaneda]

Thank you. Bye guys and thank you guys so.

[Alan]

Much for listening and we'll see you guys in the next one. Bye guys. Yay. You did so good. I loved it.

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