Why Latinas Are Losing $1M to the Pay Gap (And What Actually Fixes It)

Let's talk about the conversation that sends me over the edge every single time: the gender pay gap, and what it REALLY costs women of color. This week I'm joined by Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families, to break down what's actually driving the gap (spoiler: it's not "women's choices"), why the national averages hide what's happening to Latinas and Black women specifically, and what policy changes could put real money back in our pockets. We get into the wealth gap math (we're talking a MILLION dollars over a career, mi gente), the motherhood penalty, why DEI rollbacks are making things worse, and what you can actually do right now if you find out you're getting paid less than your coworker.

WE GET INTO:

00:00 — Intro: Why we're still talking about the pay gap in 2026

02:15 — What are we actually measuring when we say "pay gap"?

04:17 — Debunking the "it's just women's choices" myth

06:37 — The real numbers: 76 cents, 54 cents, and what the average hides

08:24 — Why education alone doesn't close the gap

10:35 — The unpaid care work baked into how workplaces are built

11:47 — The wealth gap: what losing $900K–$1M actually looks like

13:23 — Finding power in a hopeless-feeling conversation

16:27 — The motherhood penalty, explained

19:46 — Why so many moms are choosing entrepreneurship instead