Inspiring Conversations with Cheryl Samson Ramirez of Pilipinx in Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheryl Samson Ramirez.

Hi Cheryl, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In April 2021, alongside Registered Nurse + Health & Wellness Consultant, Riann De Los Reyes, we launched Pilipinx in Wellness. It started as a forum in the Clubhouse mobile application with the support of Founder & CEO of SoCal Filipinos, Jason Lustina. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who was not practicing within the realm of my professional licensure, yet I wanted to find a way to use my training and acquired professional skills within the field of health and wellness for the global Filipino/Pilipinx community. Initially, Riann and I wanted to address the prevalent challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic which included, but was not limited to: widespread grief & loss, our Filipino nurses who were working on the frontlines and Asian hate crimes. Coming out of years of community organizing, I also wanted to address the burnout that so many of my peers had experienced in filling others’ cups before our own. I wanted to find a way to return to service within the Filipino/Pilipinx community in a way that resonated the most for me, personally.

Having acquired a 200-hour yoga teacher certification along the way, reiki training, and a personal network of healers and wellness workers from all the healing & wellness work that I committed myself to throughout the years, launching Pilipinx in Wellness made the most sense. I was also inspired by the late Soraya Medina, who was a dear family friend, community organizer, policy advocate and health educator throughout Los Angeles and felt called to honor her legacy through this work. Simultaneously, I was inspired by Chelsey Luger and Thosh Collins of Well for Culture, who were dedicated to revitalizing and reclaiming indigenous health and wellness, based out of Arizona. Riann and SoCal Filipinos continued to move forward with their growth and on February 2, 2022, we launched our first podcast episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Our team has evolved along the way, but it is important to know that it was always a team and community effort of advisors, volunteers, guests, musicians/artists, a partnership with Therapin*y and community supporters that have led us into our 5th season today with more to come!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The Pilipinx in Wellness podcast to be honest has never been a smooth road. When you form a team or a project, everyone has different visions, methods, working styles, personalities, strengths and limitations that impact the direction of any project or team. Sometimes those visions diverge into different directions. That is normal as teams evolve.

I would say some of the struggles that our podcast have and continue to face along the way includes contributing our personal time, volunteer, non-paid time to build the podcast into our fifth season. No one, at the moment, is getting paid for what we’re building or creating. In fact, I still hold down a full-time day job that has funded the podcast for the past 5 years. I am thankful for partnerships with organizations, like Therapin*y, who have helped to financially support our operations and paid opportunities from organizations like UNAC/UHCP, but our seven member team is doing this out of our love and common vision for the health and wellness of our global Filipino/Pilipinx community. We are hoping to change this with our Patreon and Ko-fi accounts, as I believe that our team deserves to be compensated for the time they contribute. I would also ideally like to invite the community to partner with us in helping to sustain our operations with the belief that everyone plays a role in prioritizing our collective health & wellness enough to invest in it.

We also have been asked to conduct in-person interviews at different venues but have not been able to do so because of financial limitations and the lack of equipment. We hope that with what we are able to raise both on Patreon and Ko-fi, we will be able to purchase the equipment that will allow us to take our podcast off the internet and in person, as we continue to support community events both locally and globally.

Another struggle is having to balance both the podcast operations, my day job, my personal life and own health & wellness practices. Managing a podcast is like managing two separate jobs. I call the podcast “my child” because it also takes a lot of time and sacrifice to build, but it is the legacy I would like to leave behind for the next generation to take up and hopefully continue when I transition out. Sacrifice is important in creating a strong foundation for the podcast to stand on.

Lastly, the Filipino/Pilipinx global community is very diverse. Not only are we diverse linguistically and within our dialects, but even in coming from completely different regions within an archipelago. On top of that, we are a very migratory people that have been shaped by different values, political views, religious or spiritual beliefs, socioeconomic classes, compounded by intergenerational trauma, impacted by colonialism, imperialism, military presence and multiple wars. Even though we are all named after a Spanish king, we do not always agree or think alike. This can be challenging when representing various viewpoints on health and wellness for a diverse global diaspora. Not everyone will get along or agree, but at the end of the day, if our guests are contributing to the overall health and wellness of our community and our allies, then I believe there is a story and perspective that is worth listening to even if I find it challenging to agree myself. That is where the growth and change can begin.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Pilipinx in Wellness?
Pilipinx in Wellness is a health and wellness resource sharing platform and podcast that officially launched in April 2021 on the Clubhouse mobile app. for our Filipino/Pilipinx global diaspora and allies. Our first podcast episode aired in February 2022. We are now halfway through our fifth season. We have also facilitated workshops and tabled at various community events in Los Angeles and Long Beach. We are officially partnered with the Filipinoa/o/x global directory of healers, Therapin*y: www.therapinay.com

Our Vision: Pilipinx in Wellness envisions a world where culturally-rooted wellness is accessible to all, activating the diaspora and beyond to maintain health, connection, and collective healing.

Our Mission: Pilipinx in Wellness centers culturally-rooted health and ancestral healing within the Filipino/Pilipinx diaspora and its allies. Through accessible tools, conversations, and community partnerships, we invite individuals to reclaim health & wellness practices that honor identity, heritage, and holistic balance.

Disclaimer: All views discussed in each episode are for informational and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be medical advice nor does it constitute therapy or professional advice. Always consult with your health care practitioner, especially before starting any exercise or new health program, or a qualified mental health professional for your particular condition.

Please follow us on our social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook and Threads @pilipinxinwellness. You can also subscribe and listen to our episodes via YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Stay tuned as our website will be launching soon: pilipinxinwellness.com. Please share or directly support our operations & sustainability via our Patreon (www.patreon.com/c/pilipinxinwellness/membership) and Ko-fi (ko-fi.com/pilipinxinwellness) accounts. Every bit helps. We are nothing without our community of advisors, team volunteers, past guests, musicians/artists, and supporters and we thank all of you for believing in us as we continue to grow.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Yes, I would like to give a shoutout to our co-founder, Riann De Los Reyes, Jason Lustina, Founder & CEO of SoCal Filipinos who helped us launch. I would like to thank Therapin*y, our official partners. Please consider joining their global directory of providers or one of their chapters at: www.therapinay.com. We’d like to acknowledge our guest speakers, musicians, and artists who have been featured on each of our episodes, our Creative Lead, Ritchie, our Video Editor, Harmonie Tangonan-Kwan, our Social Media Strategist and Development Coordinator, Kathleen Torio, our Outreach Manager, Maya Custodio, our advisors, Alison Dela Cruz, Riann De Los Reyes, and Sapho Teologo, our co-hosts, Sheena Katz and MarKing, our community partners, SoCal Filipinos, This Filipino American Life, Rising Filipinas, Kubo Long Beach and ALL of our community members for their support, named and unnamed. Our website developer is Christal Reese, brand focused E-Commerce, Digital Marketing, and Performance Marketing leader. I would like to thank Dr. Lee Ann Wang, UCLA professor, who introduced me to UNAC/UHCP where their public speaking opportunities contributed to our operational growth and to all the community organizations that have invited us to partner, facilitate workshops, or table at your events. Shoutout to the late Soraya Medina for your vision and blueprint that you have left for me to continue and to Well for Culture for the inspiring work that you continue to do to reclaim and revitalize indigenous health and wellness.

We are constantly learning, growing, and evolving. Thank you for your patience, your belief in us, and the health and wellness of all the lives that we hope to inspire and transform.

Image Credits
Image credits: Ritchie Ramirez, Harmonie Tangonan-Kwan