Ximena Larkin, Deputy Director of Latino Media for The Biden/Harris Campaign
Ximena Larkin’s story is one that’s rooted in hard work, persistence, and confidence – three qualities that remain ever-present in her personal and professional life. It’s those same qualities that helped Ximena launch C1 Revolution, her own communication consultancy, after years of working in public relations, most notably for the White Sox and AT&T. She even finds time to put her journalism degree to use by pitching and successfully placing her own story ideas in publications like Cosmopolitan and the New York Times.
“You just need to believe in yourself and you can survive almost everything,” says Ximena, who – with her mom and older sister – came to the US from Mexico two months before her 2nd birthday. “That doesn’t mean that you’re going to become a multi-millionaire or anything, but you’re going to have a good life if you believe in yourself and you keep doing the things you want to do.”
Currently, she’s serving as the Deputy Director of Latino Media for the Biden/Harris campaign, where she’s handling media relations to encourage fellow Latinos – many of whom are first-time voters – to exercise their constitutional right on Nov. 3, also known as the most important election day of our lifetimes.
I’m so proud to call Ximena a friend and am in awe of everything she does, especially this most recent endeavor. Keep reading for our chat below.
Grace Gavilanes: I know your mom is so important to you – can you tell me more about her?
Ximena Larkin: I always tell people you only need one person to believe in you, and that person can be yourself. I know that because I see it in my mom. My mom is self-made. She is self-made in how she takes care of her health and how she educates herself. She comes from a very poor family that is poor in finances, in mental health stuff – it was not a great environment. But she never let it get in her way.
Ximena and her mom, Liz.
My mom is human, she’s not perfect, but what I really admire about her is she’s taken the time to learn and educate herself. She hasn’t used her ignorance to stay where she is or to justify her behavior. When I look back at my childhood – we were Mexican immigrants living in a predominantly white neighborhood, and she never allowed us to eat fast food even though that was so common. Every day my mom would make us jugo de savila (aloe vera juice) and now you look, and you see so many places do that. She’d juice all the time and she was organic all the time and was really intentional about food. And every day she would go running! And I think about that: She was a single mother dealing with immigration. She didn’t really speak the language, and yet, she still found time for herself. She would be like, “Well, I knew if I got sick, who would take care of you and your sister?”
For me, my mom is absolutely my best friend and she helps me with so much, but that’s not always going to be your parent. For her, she doesn’t have that relationship with her parents or siblings. You just need to believe in yourself and you can survive almost everything. That doesn’t mean that you’re going to become a multi-millionaire or anything, but you’re going to have a good life if you believe in yourself and you keep doing the things you want to do. Now at 33, I see my mom and it’s just like consistency. She’s still running. She’s still taking care of herself. She’s still learning and trying to become a better person. She’s learning Instagram and learning to do webinars. She’s not like, “Oh, I’m 60 and that’s it for me.”
She is so special to me because she is absolutely authentically herself. Again, if she had more of a nurturing environment and a more welcoming environment, I think she could have done incredible things, but my mom isn’t bitter about it. She’s like, “I did a lot and I’m happy and the most important thing I did is be here for you and your sister.” She leads by example and that’s made all the difference.
Ximena and Michelle Obama in 2018.
GG: Is there a career lesson that sticks out to you?
XL: I have this great friend and mentor. Something she’s said to me in the last few years we’ve known each other is, “It’s time for you to stop surviving and start thriving,” and I was like, wow, that’s so real, because the first part of my career was just non-stop working and hustling and doing whatever, and I was angry and anger fuels me. Proving my ability fuels me. Showing I was smart – that’s what kept me going. And now I’m kind of at this point where I don’t have to be angry. If someone is rude to me or dismissive, I’m just like, okay. That’s who you are. That’s a reflection of you. It’s not me. I’m also just like, I don’t know those things, so I’m going to ask someone who does. Before, I used to be like, what? Oh yeah, I’m going to figure it out. I’m trying to be present and trying to be here.
GG: How did you get to the point where you felt more connected to your culture?
XL: I had been on this search for identity for a really long time, and now I’m in a place where I feel everything. It was many years of searching. I was angry at my dad for leaving us. I loved my stepdad then I learned to be mad at him. My mom, again – I feel like she’s very revolutionary – she suggested A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle in 2012. I started reading it and I finished it right before the cultural uprising began. It really helped me process everything that was going on. Writing has really helped me because I think of how I felt really proud to be Mexican and once I started digging into La Virgen De Guadalupe and food and culture, I realized that part of that is there’s a lot of heritage from other places like Spanish, colonizers – and that’s part of my heritage, so to say I’m Mexican and speak Spanish, what does that really mean?
Home is Chicago but it’s also Mexico City. I can choose to see it as a miracle that I fit in these two places and I see the deeper roots of it that my ancestry is Spanish. My ancestry is also indigenous Mayan and Aztec and I can’t really be anything other than everything.
GG: I want you to brag. What would you say is your proudest accomplishment?
XL: Honestly, I think it’s getting to this point. My biggest accomplishment is putting one foot in front of the other. When I was younger, my teachers would say I had a lot of potential but that I didn’t apply myself. Or they would straight up not like me. I wasn’t disciplined at all when I was younger. I had no interest in school. Where I am right now is where I’m meant to be. I don’t think there’s any secret to it other than you literally have to keep crawling forward. I think it’s the fact that I haven’t given up. I’ve been knocked down quite a bit and I have definitely stumbled.
““Being Latina is like I’m a part of this cool club ... It’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m fucking Latina.’ It says nothing and everything at the same time.””
GG: I know we touched on this before but how do you stay connected to your culture?
XL: I read. I take the time to educate myself. You want to want to learn about yourself. It’s not easy because once you do, you realize, “Oh shit, things are a lot more complicated than I thought.” Speaking Spanish is also really important to me.
GG: This is a loaded question, but what does being Latina mean to you?
XL: To me, being Latina is like I’m a part of this cool club. That’s what it is at the end of the day. It’s like being a part of Soho House. It’s like, “Yeah, I’m fucking Latina.” It says nothing and everything at the same time – to say, “I’m Latina.”
GG: Are there any content creators that you’re currently obsessed with right now?
XL: I don’t really follow anybody that I don’t personally know. Part of it is I think it can breed this weird envy in people. There was a point where I was envious of Ellie Goulding! [Laughs.] And I’m like, I don’t freakin’ know this girl! She seems so sweet. This is ridiculous. Also, we live in The Matrix and nothing is real, so for me these people who post online all the time – I’m just not about that life. I have taken a lot of steps to wean myself off of Instagram scrolling because I want to live my life. I don’t want to see it through a screen. A mentor, who’s also Latina, said to me, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with focusing on being the most interesting person in the room.” When you start focusing on that, it’s like, oh, these things that you think people will find weird are not actually weird. They’re actually pretty cool things!
GG: What can our community do more of to make a Biden/Harris win happen?
XL: Fucking voting. Vote! Make your plan to vote. That’s the least of it. That’s the first step. Ask your friends and family how they’re voting. Then from there, start looking at how you can get more involved. A lot of it is participation. What are you going to do about [80% of people in power being white]? I’m not saying the system isn’t fucked up, but at the same time, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to be someone who complains? Are you going to run for office? Are you going to start your own business? And who do you bring up with you? The point isn’t to change the world. It’s to change your world, your mentality.
This interview was condensed and edited for length and clarity.
