Latino Book & Family Festival Featured Speaker Erica Alfaro Shares Hope through Storytelling
By Melanie Slone
When Erica Alfaro graduated with a master’s degree from San Diego State in 2019, she told her mom, “Mamita, lo logramos; we did it.”
Her mother cried. “All those hours working in the fields, all those sacrifices were worth it.”
Erica took her graduation photo in the fields with her parents, “to honor their sacrifices.” When the pictures made headlines around the world, she was overwhelmed. “It was scary at first because I’m a little bit shy sometimes when it comes to speaking English.”
But she felt she had found her purpose, later writing three books and becoming a keynote speaker and a mentor to other authors. “I want to share my story to inspire others, to give hope to others. If I can make a difference one person’s life, that means everything I went through was worth it.”
A Story of Sacrifice and Strength
The main message in my story is that people can succeed despite adversity, says Erica.
Born in Fresno, Erica moved to Tijuana when her mother was deported. She was 13 when her family of five moved back, to a 2-bedroom apartment in Oceanside they shared with another family and a couple.
Her parents, who could not read and who worked 11 hours a day, six days a week in the fields, wanted their kids to get a US education and learn English.
When Erica became a teen mother at 15, she dropped out of high school and moved in with her son’s father. That was when she became a victim of domestic abuse. When she and her nine-month-old baby were forced to sleep outside, something snapped. “You can handle when someone hurts you; when you feel that someone is also going to hurt your children, that’s when you do something about it,” she says.
Erica moved back in with her parents in a one-bedroom apartment and slept every night on the sofa with her baby. “I was terrified, but I was very determined to give my son a better life,” she says. “Every day I would promise him, hey, baby, one day Mom is going to have a career; we are going to buy a house and have a puppy.”
In high school she met a teacher named Mr. Lee, who told her, “Promise me that you’re going to college. You’re capable and I know you can do it.”
At MiraCosta College, Erica met a counselor, Candelaria Owens. “She became my first role model because she was the first Latina professional that I was very close to,” she says. “I would tell myself, one day I want to be like her, to encourage others to believe in themselves, to dream big.”
After Erica was accepted to the psychology program at Cal State San Marcos, her son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. “I asked the specialist what causes cerebral palsy,” she says. “As soon as he said, ‘brain injury during pregnancy,’ I remembered my child’s father used to hit me when I was pregnant.”
Erica blamed herself and fell into depression. “In a Hispanic family household, we don’t talk about emotions,” she says. “My parents don’t know how to read and write, and all they knew is, work hard.”
She began neglecting her studies. “I was academically disqualified. For a year and a half, I stopped going to school. I just didn’t care anymore.”
One morning when she was getting her son ready for school, he asked, “Mama, remember you used to say one day you were going to have a career, that we were going to buy a house and have a puppy? What happened, Mama?”
Erica returned to school, but her health suffered. “I remember the only thing I was looking for in all my years in college was hope, a story that would inspire me to keep going. I couldn’t find books in Spanish where I felt I could see myself, that my dreams were realistic.”
She finished her degree in 2017, when she was selected to be the commencement speaker. “Graduating from Cal State San Marcos, sharing my story, and seeing the impact it had on other people, it was the moment I realized that a story is powerful, it can give hope to others…a lot of students approached me and said, thank you so much. This is what I needed.”
A business owner reached out to her and paid for her master’s program in education with a concentration in counseling at San Diego State University.
The Power in Our Stories
Erica received thousands of messages from people who said she inspired them. “That’s when I realized it was no longer about me, there was someone out there that really needed to hear the story.” In 2020, she started writing her autobiographic book Harvesting Dreams, published in 2021.
When Erica was a guest speaker for a college for Hispanic Heritage Month, they asked what her speaking fee was. She began charging $300–500.
One day at Southwestern College, she was told she connected better with the students than a speaker who had charged them $7500. She says by not valuing her work, she was affecting all the people who came after her, so she learned to charge what her experience was worth.
Erica started a mentorship program for writers when she learned that less than 8% of authors in the United States are Hispanic. After a woman she had mentored published her first story, Erica posted on Facebook that she would be guiding five people in writing their first book. “I received 45 messages in less than 10 minutes!” she says.
She has mentored 45 people so far, 25 of whom have successfully published their books.
“It all started because the younger Erica was looking for role models. She was looking for books that would inspire her. She didn’t have a lot of guidance in the profession of being a Latina speaker or a Latina author,” she says. “I had so many doubts, and the journey felt very lonely, and that’s the reason I created these groups, so that all the new writers can know that they’re not alone and that their stories matter.”
She works with anyone who wants to share their story. “I used to think that I could only inspire my Latino community, but then I realized there are so many universal feelings in a human that I can inspire anyone.”
Today, Erica is a full-time keynote speaker, mentor, and corporate trainer, having delivered more than 400 presentations in the last seven years, including to corporations like McDonald’s and Disneyland.
But she says it hasn’t been easy. “If everything was perfect, it would be boring, so I understand that hard moments in life are not there to stop us but to make us stronger,” she says.
“I make goals for myself, and I just start working towards them, but I know that even if I don’t make it, the person I will become will be what truly matters.”
Books in Our Lives
“My house is full of books,” Erica says. “Everyone in my house reads. I would tell parents to make sure they have bookshelves with a lot of books…not only tell their kids to read books but make sure their kids see them reading books.”
She says parents can show their kids stories of hope. “Their kids are capable of accomplishing a lot more than they think they can.” The Latino Book & Family Festival is a place “where kids can see role models and where they can get inspired to dream big… explore a wide variety of books, meet authors, and see that they can also become an author.”
Finally, Erica encourages families to focus on things they can control. “If they feel attacked or feel they’re not being appreciated as a community, understand that there are people that do appreciate them. Focus on the positive and on people that that do care because it’s not what happens to us; it’s how we react to it.”
Meet Erica and get her autograph at the Latino Book & Family Festival at MiraCosta College on April 25!
To get mentorship as an author, visit ericaalfaro.com and fill out a contact form.
