While working flexible, hands-on roles in retail (supermarkets) and home care to support my family during the adjustment period, I simultaneously launched and grew my blog ourfamilylifestyle.net and years later, my podcast Nuestro estilo de vida. These projects allowed me to continue writing in Spanish and English, interview inspiring voices, create meaningful content about family, resilience, gratitude, and everyday joy, and build an authentic audience from scratch — all while navigating immigration, cultural adaptation, and raising two teenagers who are now successful professionals.

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This period was not a gap; it was a deliberate pivot. It taught me discipline, self-motivation, audience empathy, content strategy, SEO basics, audio/video editing, social media management, and how to turn personal experience into value for others. Those same skills later fueled my return to professional journalism and the creation of my book El arte de vivir: La alegría en los pequeños detalles (available on Amazon).

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Far from a pause, this chapter was the foundation of everything I do today.