Womxn in Progress: Mikayla Ruvalcaba

Every Wednesday in March 2022, I am sharing one #womxninprogress, detailing the work of a creative, inspiring womxn in my life. If you’d like this series to continue after March, click here to learn about these spotlights and/or submit a spotlight.

Over the last 4 Wednesdays, I’ve highlighted friends and colleagues, and I’m thrilled to share my family this week! My cousin Mikayla Ruvalcaba may be my potentially last #WomxnInProgress (here’s the direct link to the form if you’d like to be spotlighted and keep the series going). I am consistently inspired by Mikayla, as she’s paved her own path, figuratively and literally, from Wisconsin to California. She is nerdy, generous, and fun. Read on to learn about Mikayla’s journey to self-publishing the bilingual book Waiting For You / Esperando Por Ti, launching THIS Friday, April 1.

Mikayla: “I’m proud to be taking the plunge, telling everyone my dreams and goals to write and share my writing.”

When Mikayla and I were kids, we pen-palled dreams, often ripping pages from coloring books or Nat Geo magazines as inspiration. Nerds at heart, we both love the discovery process, leading her to a career in chemistry and me, marketing. When she landed a lab tech position in 2013 in California, she couldn’t pass it up, despite preferring beer to wine. (As a fellow Wisconsin native, I can relate.) She says, “I like the science behind the making of wine!” Woodland, CA became home. She started a Mexican-American family, and she and husband Chilo will soon have 2 kids under 2. 1-year-old Sam can’t wait to play the role of older sibling.

Kaylie: “You can be both a scientist and a creative!”

Mikayla has since become the lab director of that same company in CA, and though she’s the data fiend, she also tackles compliance and safety. Perhaps more impressively, she’s multi-passionate, in and outside of work. Finding moments to create matches her personality of INTJ-A (similar to my INFJ-A type). Just like fellow Womxn in Progress and mom Amy, Mikayla’s gotten creative in “stealing minutes here and there”, whether it’s scribbling notes for book #2 on her phone or listening to Bill Nye via podcast. It’s no wonder self-publishing was the right choice; it was efficient and empowering.

Mikayla: “This book took about 2 years, and that’s actually much shorter than traditional publishing.”

Mikayla’s book started as a poem, lovingly framed in then-newborn Sam’s nursery. After he was born, she continued to think about the words, eventually asking family’s advice. Mikayla knew she had something good when her mom said the poem belonged on a shelf. Despite knowing next to nothing about publishing, Mikayla researched promoting, printing, and pricing. Understandably, Mikayla wanted greater profit margins and more power in making creative decisions, leading to sole-proprietorship of Ruvalcaba Publishing, starting her own business in the process. Her mom lended emotional and practical support, too, in the form of a website.

Kaylie: “Staying curious means being open to new experiences, whether they’re virtual or in-person.”

While Mikayla has been in California for nearly a decade, I’m almost a year into my new home of Colorado. I am so grateful for interactive media to find Covid-conscious activities, and most of my Womxn in Progress interviews have been virtual. Mikayla too has taken advantage of this increasingly interconnected, virtual landscape, connecting with fellow creatives for tips. In fact, Mikayla found womxn from across the globe who understood her vision and were within her budget, leading to an all-female team for editing, illustrating, and translating the book. The finished product still has some of the poem’s original rhymes, and pictures even nod to Mikayla’s characteristic glasses. And it’s fun to read both in English and Spanish.

Mikayla: “You can’t please everyone, so do what you like, and what interests you, and what you think is right.”

When Mikayla “took the plunge” and first posted the news on her private FB page, she was naturally nervous. Wasn’t she a scientist? Yes. But Mikayla’s isn’t shy of her many talents and interests: “getting (my intent) out there that I’m going to be an author was the hardest part, but I was surprised by my friends’ likes and comments.” This support from real human beings is encouraging, especially when first starting. As a creative, putting yourself “out there” is challenging because who knows how others (or you) will react? You get what you give, and Mikayla’s keeping the momentum going, now encouraging other creatives to follow their dreams, making connections on social media and emailing personalized feedback.

Kaylie: “By doing and defending what you think is right, you’ll learn who your audiences are and are not.”

As a marketer trying to unlearn people-pleasing, neutrality actually means not standing for anything (such as my use of womxn in progress). Taking some risks in your work is good, especially when standing up for yourself, such as Mikayla self-publishing, standing by her decision to publish bilingually, and separating her private life with public profiles on Facebook and Instagram. Being human also means adapting, so Mikayla’s also considering a new-to-her medium of Twitter for its Picture Book Pitch, such as another book idea on her everlasting passion for dinosaurs. As Mikayla says, “I get to do my childhood dreams through writing.” Check out Waiting For You / Esperando Por Ti on Amazon, to be released this Friday, April 1. Grab a copy, write a review, or leave a comment here!

Here’s to Mikayla, and all the wonderful womxn of Womxn in Progress, thank you for showing up, chasing passions, and honoring the process, as well as the products, of good work. You encourage me to keep writing. You have all influenced readers to learn and create, too. You are inspiring!