Have a Cup of Johanny
Where every "oops" is a gateway to "aha!" Join Johanny Ortega, the dynamic host of this one-woman show, as she takes you on a journey through the transformative power of self-reflection and learning from mistakes. In Have a Cup of Johanny Podcast, Johanny shares her personal experiences, from embarrassing moments to life-altering missteps, and shows you how to pivot and thrive through adversity. Each episode is packed with valuable insights and practical tips for self-improvement and personal growth that you can apply in all aspects of your life. Whether you're looking to boost your resilience, enhance your communication skills, or simply find inspiration, this podcast is your go-to source for motivation and empowerment. Don't miss out on these inspiring and actionable episodes to help you turn every setback into a stepping stone to success!
Episodes
177 episodes
Is Your Identity Chosen… or Inherited?
How much of who you are did you actually choose?In this episode, I explore the quiet but powerful ways identity is inherited long before it’s examined. From family roles and cultural expectations to survival patterns formed in childhood,...
Identity as a Tool and Not a Trap
In this follow-up to my episode on the dangers of attaching our identity to political figures and rigid ideologies, I explore the other side of the conversation: the healthy, intentional way identity can transform our lives.Drawing from ...
When Beliefs Become Identity
A single question I saw online stopped me in my tracks: Why do people defend certain public figures so fiercely, even when evidence suggests they may not be acting in their best interest?This episode isn’t about politics or part...
Lessons in Letting Go: Guilt Isn’t Guidance
Guilt is sneaky. It disguises itself as responsibility, love, duty, and “being a good person.” But for years, guilt ran my life—and I didn’t even realize it. From the guilt of my childhood to mom guilt, military guilt, and creative guilt, I car...
Lessons in Letting Go: Control Isn’t Clarity
I’ve spent most of my life believing that control equals safety. The Army taught me that structure keeps everything running, and for years, I carried that same mindset into my creative life. Every project, every book launch, every to-do list—I ...
Lessons in Letting Go: Perfectionism Isn’t Protection
Perfectionism loves to lie to us—it says, “If it’s flawless, you’ll finally be safe from criticism.” But the truth is, perfectionism doesn’t protect you—it prevents you.In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I share ...
Lessons in Self-Doubt: Escaping the Comparison Trap
Some days, self-doubt doesn’t shout—it whispers. It sounds like “You should be further along by now.” It looks like scrolling through someone else’s success and wondering why you’re not there yet.In this episode of Have a Cu...
Lessons in Self-Doubt: Proving Myself Wrong
This weekend, self-doubt tried to take the wheel. While creating all the preorder goodies for The Ordinary Bruja, I caught myself thinking, “My creativity only goes as far as writing.”My husband’s quick, “No, it doesn’t...
Lessons in Self-Doubt: The Mother I Feared I Couldn’t Be
When I first found out I was pregnant, fear was the loudest emotion I felt. Not because I didn’t want my baby, but because I was terrified I’d mess it all up. Growing up in an unconventional household, raised by my grandmother after my parents’...
Lessons in Self-Doubt: What My First Feedback as a Writer Taught Me
In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I open up about one of the hardest lessons I learned as a new writer: how self-doubt shaped the way I received my very first feedback.Like many new writers, I just wanted people to love ...
If I’m Not Good, Let Me Get Good: Choosing the MFA
After a painful experience at a writer’s conference, I stopped writing for a whole year. Doubt crept in, and I convinced myself maybe I just wasn’t cut out to write fiction. But the thing about silencing something you love? It never really leav...
What About Me? Choosing Joy Over Practicality in Higher Education
By the time I was nearing retirement, I had climbed as far as I could in the Army. I no longer needed points, promotions, or another degree to advance. And that’s when the question hit me: What about me? What have I done for me?...
The Military, Motivation, and Doing College All Over Again
After dropping out of college the first time, I figured higher education just wasn’t for me. Then I joined the Army—and suddenly, there I was, back at it again. Only this time, the motivation was completely different. Providing for my son lit a...
When Your First Steps into Higher Education Become Life Lessons
In this first episode of my September series on higher education, I open up about the tug-of-war I felt as a teenager—caring for my grandmother while craving freedom, being accepted to UMass Amherst but landing at community college instead, and...
Resistance Is the Road: What I Don’t Want to Do Is Exactly What I Need
Why is it that the thing we resist most… is usually the thing we need most?In this episode, I reflect on Day 9 of my 75-Day Soft Challenge and the moment I almost hit pause, just because I was “off” from work. That tiny urge to delay rev...
Mind Your Mask, Mind Your Business
Five comments in one day—just because I wore a mask.In this episode, I share a fresh, real-time reflection on what happened when I returned to work after recovering from both COVID and the flu. Spoiler: it wasn’t the illness tha...
She Whispers Before She Screams
Have you ever ignored the quiet signs your body was sending until it had to scream to get your attention?In this raw and reflective episode, I share what getting hit with both COVID and the flu taught me about self-trust, resist...
The Art of Returning to Self
What if the key to moving forward was actually going back—to the routines, the rituals, the habits that once grounded you?In this episode of Have a Cup of Johanny, I share how 43 taught me the power of structure, and why “wingin...
The Good Immigrant Myth: How Respectability Politics Divide Us
What makes someone "deserving" of citizenship? A perfect GPA? Military service? Paying taxes and never making a mistake?In this episode, we unpack the myth of the “Good Immigrant,” the notion that only exceptional, obedi...
The Immigration Line Myth
“Why don’t they just do it the right way?”That question often arises in conversations about immigration, and this episode breaks it down. Because the truth is: there is no single immigration “line,” just a maze o...
Invisible Prisons: How We Let This Happen
Immigration detention is supposed to be civil not punishment. But across the U.S., immigrants are being held in jail-like conditions under a patchwork of outdated and inconsistent standards, many without ever being charged with a cr...
The Myth of Anchor Babies
The phrase "anchor baby" slices through political discourse with cruel efficiency. You've heard it—perhaps on news channels, debate stages, or even from the mouths of those who share our heritage. It transforms a newborn child into a tactic, a ...
Beyond Papers: The Human Cost of Immigration Policy
"They knew what they were doing" - five words that cloak inhumanity in the disguise of justice. Every time I hear this phrase used to dismiss the suffering of immigrants caught in our broken system, something inside me recoils. Not just because...
Disassociation is Complicity: Breaking the Cycle of Ignorance
The smoke is already in your lungs, even if your house isn't on fire yet. This powerful metaphor frames our deep dive into disassociation—that subtle, pervasive mindset that whispers "if it's not happening to me, I don't care." While our brains...
Self-Hating Latinos & the Internalized Logic of Borders
The words we speak reveal the fears we carry. When fellow Latinos say "I did it the legal way" or "they're not like us," what's really happening beneath these statements? This raw, unflinching exploration of internalized anti-immigrant attitude...