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
169 episodes
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’...
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Season 5
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Episode 31
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22:36
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 ...
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Season 5
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Episode 30
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38:21
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 29
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23:45
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?...
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Season 5
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Episode 28
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25:52
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 27
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21:30
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 26
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27:08
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 26
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19:00
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 25
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13:48
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 24
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15:01
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 23
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12:01
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 22
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21:22
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 21
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15:13
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 20
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18:31
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 ...
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Season 5
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Episode 19
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17:14
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 18
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22:59
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 17
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18:20
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...
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Season 5
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Episode 16
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30:14
Language is The First Step Towards Dehumanization
Words have the power to reshape how we see each other. They can strip away humanity or restore it, depending on how we wield them. This raw, urgent episode dives deep into how language becomes the first battleground where human dignity is won o...
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Season 5
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Episode 15
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25:01
The Healing Power of Stillness
Have you ever felt that sinking feeling of anxiety when things aren't going as planned? That's exactly what happened to me at Latina Fest, standing at my author table watching people walk by without glancing at my books. My stomach tightened as...
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Season 5
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Episode 14
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19:06
Marisol Is Me — Hesitant, Haunted, and Holding On
The journey of radical self-acceptance often begins in the most unexpected ways. For me, it started with a grandmother's stern warning: "You'll get a hump if you keep walking with your head down." What began as fear—fear of adding a hunchback t...
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Season 5
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Episode 13
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18:20
Brujas, Mothers, and the Complicated Women Who Raised Us
Raw, tender, and profoundly honest—this episode peels back the layers of maternal relationships that shape not just our lives, but the stories we tell. "I was raised by women who loved me and hurt me, and that's who I wrote." With ...
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Season 5
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Episode 12
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20:33
The Post That Broke Me
A thoughtless comment about Dominican identity became the catalyst for an unexpected journey into memory, heritage, and the stories we choose to forget. What began as a simple observation about how Dominicans often embrace their Spanish roots w...
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Season 5
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Episode 11
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19:24
From Pandemic Isolation to Magic: Creating The Ordinary Bruja
Magic doesn't always arrive with a flash and fanfare. Sometimes it emerges quietly from our darkest moments, when we're hiding from the world and even from ourselves.During the silence of pandemic lockdown, when the world outside my win...
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Season 5
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Episode 10
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19:38
Finding Your Way Home: The Messy Journey Back to Self
Have you been pouring from an empty cup? This raw, unfiltered conversation dives deep into what it truly means to find your way back to yourself—and it's not the Instagram-worthy journey you might expect.Forget the sage-burning rituals ...
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Season 5
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Episode 9
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36:38