Billboard Latin Music Week

Billboard Latin Music Week Photo Booth

Photo Team | Mary Beth Koeth, Samantha Xu, Jenny Sargent, Javier I Sanchez, Violaine Capra

Joanna

I’ve struggled to love myself most of my life. I’ve never been happy with the reflection in the mirror.

I saw someone who was weak. Someone who allowed themselves to be abused and harassed. I saw someone who was never good enough or deserving of love. The person in the mirror was too tall. Too big. Not American enough. Not Filipino enough.

Enter a diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer and the way I saw the world, myself, completely changed.

In the past 6 weeks I’ve received an outpouring of love and support that I never expected. Whether it was providing dinner for my family or sending words of encouragement, each gesture has meant the world. It’s the love and encouragement that motivates me to fight each day, but it has also taught me to love myself.

For the first time in 35 years, when I look in the mirror, I love who I see. I see a mom who loves her girls and a wife who adores her husband. I see someone who loves her community and all those in her tribe. I see someone strong and deserving of love.

A good friend once told me, “It’s the best kept secret in the universe. Love starts within. Once you figure that out and love yourself in a real way, love you didn’t even know was possible starts pouring in.”

Call me crazy, but cancer was the best thing to ever happen to me.

-Joanna Paredes, 35

Mary Beth Koeth Promotes Pay Parity with Alex Morgan for Adweek

“Like a true nerd, I googled ‘athletic drills’ before the shoot and had my assistant, Javier, practice in front of the camera. We showed Alex a few side-to-side drills that worked, and she got on set and nailed it. If you look at the images of Alex next to the images of Javier, it’s clear who the world-class athlete is. I say that with love. Javier is fit, but he’s not winning a World Cup anytime soon”

Read more about our shoot with Alex on the .Wonderful Machine Blog

ADWEEK Magazine | Alex Morgan

Why U.S. Women’s Soccer Star Alex Morgan Won’t Settle for Anything Less Than Equality — Adweek Magazine Written by T.L. Stanley; Photographs by Mary Beth Koeth; Styled by Mila Gonzalez Kastari; Glam by Christina Cherbonner and Karla Serrano