Lola Mendez

Dora the Explorer is officially back on screen. The fictional Latina heroine is returning to TV, and Kathleen Herles, who originally voiced Dora, is returning as Dora’s mother.
It’s been over two decades since Herles first lent her vocals to Dora. “I remember sitting in front of my TV, watching the show for the first time. Hearing my voice was surreal. I immediately started to cry,” she says.
Herles was only seven years old when she was cast on the series. “I saw so many similarities between ...

French Polynesia is one of the most spectacular places on the planet. Yes, it’s well-known for honeymooners, but forget all that. Speaking personally, I find it empowering to achieve your travel bucket list purely because it’s what your heart desires.
Among the many bungalows-on-stilts options found in French Polynesia — and there are tons — The Brando stands out due to its dedication to environmental stewardship through a partnership with an on-site ecological nonprofit. It doesn’t hurt that...

Going on a safari is at the top of many travelers’ bucket lists — and for good reason. Getting the chance to see wildlife in their natural habitat up-close-and-personal is phenomenal and for many travelers, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Obviously, safaris are often unpredictable and are dictated by weather and the whereabouts of the wildlife — which is part of what makes them fun but has also led less ethical companies down a path of controlling variables by manipulating natural conditions...

After lusting after the Maldives for over a decade — and feeling like I was seemingly the only travel journalist who hadn’t visited the ultra-luxe beach destination — I finally experienced what the hype was all about while staying at one of the newest properties in the region. I spent a few blissful days frolicking around on the serene heart-shaped Baa Atoll (a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) at Avani+ Fares Maldives, located on the western edge of the atoll and encircled by a reef that’s home to v...

Wine festivals all over the world celebrate various aspects of viticulture, but one niche has gone blatantly overlooked—queer wine. Remy Drabkin, the lesbian winemaker behind Remy Wines, was frustrated that her community was not being recognized for their contribution to wine culture, so she created the world’s first queer wine festival. Since 2022, Queer Wine Fest has been held in McMinnville, Oregon, annually on the last Sunday of June.
Drabkin was born and raised in McMinnville, where she ...

Laura Lopez is a Latina powerhouse in the travel sector—an industry oversaturated with white, non-Latino leaders despite Latino folks spending almost $114 billion annually on domestic leisure travel, according to the 2019 MMGY report Vistas Latinas: A Landmark Study on U.S. Travelers of Hispanic Descent. But Lopez is looking to change that as she fosters strong relationships with some of the largest travel brands and aims to revolutionize the industry by uplifting more Hispanic and Latino voi...

Patty Arvielo didn’t exactly dream of a career in the mortgage industry.
“I’d be lying if I said I was motivated to pursue a career in the mortgage business. I don’t think I’ve met anyone in my forty-two-year career who purposely got into the mortgage industry,” says Arvielo, cofounder and CEO of mortgage lender company New American Funding (NAF). “I fell into this industry when I was sixteen and took a job at TransUnion Credit, which paid me the most per hour of all the jobs I’d considered. ...

As the Northern Hemisphere ushers in the new season, a contagious urge to dust off cobwebs and toss out clutter emerges. Spring cleaning, a deep cleanse of one’s home, is a tradition ingrained in societies worldwide, with roots tracing back to ancient times.
It also holds symbolic significance. Viewed as a fresh start, the tradition symbolizes the transition from the dormant winter season to the vibrant growth of spring. By purging the home of accumulated debris and organizing its contents, i...

The Swedish capital is well worth a visit in Spring of 2024. The city is brimming with fascinating history, unique museums, idyllic islands, an excellent craft cocktail scene, LGBTQ+-friendly establishments, and a whole lot of delicious food.
Moreover, Stockholm is beautiful. There’s almost endless interesting architecture — some dating back eight centuries — spread across the 14-island archipelago that makes up the city. Add in mild weather in the summer and true winter wonderland winters an...

Welcome to Two Days Away, our series featuring weekend-long itineraries within a five-hour drive of your city—because sometimes we all just need a little adventure fix.
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Amidst sprawling desert landscapes, the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and Lake Tahoe (America’s largest alpine lake) is Nevada’s Reno Tahoe—a year-round destination with storied Western heritage. Reno Tahoe is located on the traditional homelands of the Wa She Shu (Washoe), Numu (Northern Paiute, Newe (Western Shoshone), and...

Elena Rodriguez is diversifying Oregon’s wine industry. The award-winning winemaker and innovative viticulturist runs her family-owned biodynamic organic winery—Alumbra Cellars—in Dayton, Oregon. She chose the name Alumbra for the business as she wanted to “shine a light on the work being done in the vineyard and my Mexican roots,” she explains. “Alumbra means to shine or ignite a light in Spanish.”
No one in the Rodriguez family had previous experience in the viticulture industry. Elena’s fa...

Heading to Phoenix? Take a travel writer’s word for it and skip Arizona’s heavily populated capital city for its nearby little sister — Mesa. Just 25 minutes outside of the Phoenix metro area is an oasis of nostalgic lodging, epic hikes amongst endless cacti, wild horses, and so much more.
The downtown Mesa strip is significantly less chaotic than Phoenix’s city center and is quickly becoming a leader in the craft beverage scene. Better still, Mesa is now home to a surf park — yup, you can ca...

I came out as bisexual when I was 30, and now identify as pansexual, but it wasn’t the result of some “aha” moment. I had known for 15 years that I was attracted to more than just cisgender men, but as a Latina woman, I was wary of going public about having yet another marginalized identity. I didn’t need statistics to tell me that I’d be “othered” even more than I already am. So at the time, I felt that staying quiet about my sexuality would be my best bet.
As one of the only Latinas at my K...

Latina entrepreneurs are taking over the intimate wellness space despite not having the access to capital and resources of their non-Latinx counterparts. Latina founders are the fastest-growing cohort of entrepreneurs (running nearly 2 million businesses across the US), yet they receive less than 2 percent of venture capital funds. These Latinas are breaking barriers and bringing intimate wellness to the masses.
One key Latina player in the intimate wellness category is Danielle Levy. She’s t...