Lisa Medina grew up and continues to live in Los Angeles, California. She is a mother in her early 30’s to her five year old son, Noah. In this interview, she talks about growing up with her mother and sister. She reflects on her dreams, her past job at Universal, and her newfound relationship with religion. She further explains her motivation is life and her views for the future.
TRANSCRIPT:
Julie Doroteo: My name is Julie, I’m going to be interviewing my older sister, Lisa. So, Lisa, what are your interests and hobbies?
Lisa Medina: My interests and hobbies are working, I-I actually enjoy my job. I love what I do. Uhm other hobbies I have are y’know like painting, I like to color, I like to write. I feel it’s very, uhm. It’s a very special time to, uh take time for yourself as well, so, yeah.
JD: Alright, next question, where did you grow up, as a kid?
LM: I grew up in Los Angeles, I have been.. Living in Los Angeles actually my entire life, I’ve never actually gone anywhere else, really.
JD: Alright, if you could travel anywhere, besides here, where would it be?
LM: If I could travel anywhere I would, go to Mexico. The reason would be to get to know the place where I uhm, y’know, where my parents were born. It would be nice to know more of the culture, y’know, uhm even like their type of foods, and the types of dishes that I never knew about, y’know and stuff that people do over there would be interesting for me.
JD: [Clears throat] W-what part of Mexico?
LM: Well I know that my dad is from Jalisco, so that’s one place y’know that I would like to visit. Jalisco. I’ve never been there. Uhm, it would be nice to go there.
JD: [Clears throat] Uhm, who’s inspired you during your childhood?
LM: During my childhood, when growing up, the person who inspired me would be my mom. Uhm, y’know she was always a great influence in my life, uh she always gave me the best advice, uhm and I think I took that into consideration, uhm y’know growing up. The way she worked hard really inspired me as well y’know and uhm motivated me to, to also y’know be the best version of myself, because y’know it was very inspiring to see my mom working hard for me and for siblings, yeah.
JD: [Clears throat] How many siblings do you have?
LM: I ha- so we are a total of five. Uhm, I’m the second oldest, and uhm, I have two brothers and two sisters.
JD: Oh, okay. Uhm [clears throat again], when growing up how did you treat yourself?
LM: Uh, growing up… I think, times, I was a little, uhm… I could say, maybe I was a little, to tough on myself. Uhm, because, y’know I always wanted to strive to be better, uhm so I always pushed myself, so that’s one thing, y’know, but, in the other hand, I was always, y’know, telling myself that I could y’know, do anything as well, that I would put my mind to, y’know, despite like, negative things, or negative situations in your life. Y’know there’s always, uhm, a positive thing in everything, I think.
JD: [Clears throat] If you could time travel, what’s a thing you would tell yourself, or remind yourself about?
LM: If I could time travel, uhm, I think, so one thing I think I would tell myself is to not give up. Y’know because sometimes, in life it can be, in school, with family, y’know, sometimes when we go through things, sometimes we just wanna give up, but we never grow, and we’re, nav-, we’re not able to see how far we can go, if we do, y’know, give up, so one thing I think is, to not give up and is to keep pushing forward, because I think, from not giving up, brings out the best part of yourself.
JD: [Clears throat, again] About this message, would it be about like, what you said, would you, tell yourself it, or would you tell, uhm, people to inspire and motivate them?
LM: Yes, it’s definitely something that I would say, uhm, y’know to someone, who feels… like they can’t, y’know, go on with something, y’know like when they say, maybe like, “Hey like, this is too hard for me I cannot do it.” I would, I would tell them that they can, that they are able to, because sometimes, we have so much, negative influence, or maybe we grew up hearing y’know that we were not gonna be able to do certain things, so maybe that’s something that stuck with us, y’know, but, there’s, there’s always something to look forward to, if you just believe within yourself that you can do it, I’m sure that every person would be able to.
JD: Alright, [clears throat] what was your first job, and did you enjoy it?
LM: So my first job, I, used to work at Universal Studios Hollywood, and I actually did enjoy it very much, I met a lot of great people, uhm, I was able to grow within the company as well, y’know, and, I think, my social skills, really advanced in that area. Y’know and it helped me a lot to be able to speak to others, and be confident in myself as a person.
JD: Alright, [clears throat], okay, uhm, do you have any kids?
LM: I do have kids, I have one boy, he’s five years old, and he is an amazing kid. He is really funny. He’s really smart. He’s really bright. He’s… he’s super, outgoing, y’know he’s very very friendly. Anywhere that we go, he speaks to everyone, and I take y’know great, [chuckles], great admiration from that, ‘cause he’s so little, but he’s very outgoing, and very friendly, so I think he makes, y’know a great impact, uhm, where he goes.
JD: Alright, that’s awesome, [clears throat], uhm, what do you do during your free time, Lisa?
LM: So, during my free time, so if it’s not working, I actually y’know spend some time reading, uhm, I also am involved in activities with the church. I help with the youth, y’know I… also am, in the youth band from our church, I’m one of the singers there, uhm and I really, enjoy what I do, and I think, it’s uhm… very important, also y’know the type of influence, that you do, in your free time, so that is what I do in my free time.
JD: [Clears throat] That’s nice, what are you most grateful for in life?
LM: I’m most grateful for, for my family, uhm, my, my child involved, uhm, my siblings, my parents, uhm, y’know, because they’re healthy, I still have them here, uhm. So I’m very grateful for that because I can keep learning, from each and every one of the, and I think that is super important.
JD: Uhm, would you like to add anything else, so people can know more about you, or myself?
LM: Uhm, so one thing, that I would say to encourage you, uhm, as well as others, is to not be afraid, uhm, to try new things. Y’know whenever you feel like, like, the light is completely on you, and your afraid you will mess up, at times, y’know, always have a positive mind, and always think to yourself, like, “No, I will be able to do it, y’know because this is only momentarily,” and looking back to it, you will, be very very proud, that you pushed yourself to do this.
JD: [Clears throat], that’s wonderful, thank you for letting me interview you and learn more about you, Lisa.
LM: You’re very welcome, thank you Julie.
