We are excited to introduce the Sex, Love and Being Latina blog with the world! But to do so, we first need to take it back to 2018 to how our story of friendship first began. Irma decided to take a big step and bring together her three very close friends for a group outing; we went on a Chicago lakefront boat cruise together. The cruise itself wasn’t so great, but we had the best time together and ever since, we have shared so many wonderful moments filled with laughs, tears, deep conversations and have built an amazing bond.  

Yvonne, Irma, and Selena (left to right) and Cristina (front)

Meet Irma (age 41)

Irma is the “central friend” even though we all knew one another. A few years ago, she had the idea to start a podcast with her best friends and everyone was immediately on board. Through many informal conversations and hang outs, they came up with the concept – Sex, Love & Being Latina. The word sex is a bold word that is used intentionally because we talk about EVERYTHING together; and as Latinas, we recognize how taboo that word can be. We want to empower each other and other women to have real conversations about whatever topic they wish without fear or shame.

Meet Selena (age 43)

Irma and Selena have known each other the longest, having first met while working part-time at a bank in college. At first, like so many young girls in their early 20s, they didn’t like each other, but it was really only because they didn’t know each other. They would barely say “hi” to each other and just kind of look at each other briefly until one day they started a conversation. The next thing they knew, they were hanging out all the time, going out to dance, partying and staying at each other’s houses–while still living with their parents. They were always asked if they were sisters, to which they would laugh and immediately say “yes”.

Meet Yvonne (age 42)

Irma and Yvonne met during college, joining a Latina sorority together during their junior year. Yvonne was in a serious relationship with her boyfriend, who is now her husband of 18 years. At first, Irma could not wrap her mind around it, but now Yvonne’s husband is like a brother to her and is really great friends with Irma’s partner—they call themselves one big happy family, including the kids. Yvonne and Irma have always complemented each other and just get each other—they both have strong personalities and have no problem giving each other the hard truth when needed.

Meet Cristina (age 40)

Irma met Cristina when Cristina joined the sorority a year after she did at a different university. They didn’t really become close until about 10 years later, to be exact, when they were part of the sorority alumnae chapter and worked directly together on events and activities. One day, they decided to have lunch at Spinning J’s and it lasted for almost 5 hours! Ever since, they have grown a beautiful friendship and can talk about anything and everything, openly and without judgment.