We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be successful. Society tells us that failure is something we should be ashamed of; that it means there’s something wrong with us. However, some of the most successful people have had to overcome failure and hardship before getting their big break.

Whether they were rejected from jobs, limited in their opportunities or hindered by personal trauma, these Latinas were all able to rebound. They picked themselves up and showed the world that failure doesn’t stop these mujeres poderosas.

Here are some of the famous Latinas who didn’t let failure stand in the way of their success:

1. Naya Rivera

Instagram / @nayarivera

Linda Ronstadt is one of the most popular female artists of the 70’s and 80’s but this came after a lot of trial and error. In the beginning, the singer found little success with her band Stone Poneys. She was later inspired to pursue a solo career and released several albums in the process of finding her sound. Despite her work, she didn’t hit it big until the 1974 single Heart Like a Wheel. 

Naya Rivera is best known for her role as fierce cheerleader Santana Lopez on Glee. However, the actress almost didn’t get the part. In fact, she didn’t pass her first audition. Still, producers must have seen something they liked because they brought her in for another audition. After crushing that one, she got the part. Rivera also was an American Idol reject. Pre-Glee fame, she was eliminated in the first round of auditions.

2. Joseline Hernandez

Instagram / Joseline_hernandez_bish

Singer and television personality Joseline Hernandez is a familiar face thanks to her time on Love & Hip Hop. Despite this fame, she has tasted failure. In 2007, Hernandez filmed a TV pilot for Showtime that revolved around Miami’s Diamond Cabaret and its dancers. Unfortunately, the show was nixed and it would take five years before she would have her big break.

3. Rita Moreno

Instagram / @ourlatinas

Before she starred as Anita in West Side Story, Rita Moreno was stuck with stereotypical roles. The actress hoped that this would change after her Oscar-winning performance but that wasn’t the case. Refusing to take these roles, Moreno was forced into a 7 year exile from Hollywood as she waited for parts that were worth her talent. That small period of hardship had nothing on the success that life had planned for Moreno. She made a series of acclaimed movies in the 60’s and 70’s as well as starred in decades of highly-praised television and theater. The talented actress’ work went on to earn her a Tony, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and 2 Emmy Awards.

4. Jennifer Lopez

Instagram / @jlo

When Jennifer Lopez first decided to pursue her dream of stardom, it caused a huge rift with her parents. They thought it was a waste of time for their high school aged daughter. Disagreeing, J.Lo moved out on her own and began acting in regional musicals. She was soon hired with the chorus of a musical touring Europe. However, the star was terribly unhappy because she was the only member to not have a solo. Leaving this job led to work in Japan as a singer, dancer and actress but nothing brought J.Lo any success until she landed her role as a Fly Girl. This led to over 25 years of fame and success beyond her parents’ wildest dreams.

5. Lupe Vélez

Instagram / @here_comes_the_classics

Nicknamed the Mexican Spitfire, Lupe Vélez had the talent and personality to transition from Silent Film to the Talkies during Hollywood’s Silver Era. Still, her road to success was full with failure. When she first started performing, her father violently opposed it. Having to change her name to continue entertaining, Vélez found some success in Mexican vaudeville but faced issues being paid fairly. When she switched to a new revue, she was quickly fired for her feisty attitude. In 1926, an American stage director had Vélez fly out to LA for her first movie role. However, once she arrived, the actress found the part had been given to another. Still, her time in the states led to a screen test that landed her a role in a Laurel and Hardy film. The rest is Hollywood history.

6. Shakira

Instagram / @shakira

It’s hard to think of international star Shakira as a failure but she had a hard time in the beginning. In second grade, she was rejected from her school’s choir because of her strong voice. In fact, the choir director said she sounded like a goat. Still, Shakira continued her singing and dancing. As a teenager, she auditioned for a record executive who was impressed by her sound. However, when he passed her audition on to the artist director, they labeled her a lost cause. Still, the music executive knew she was special and organized another audition. If not for her talent and the help of that executive, Shakira’s future success could have been lost to rejection.

7. Salma Hayek

Instagram / @salmahayek

Salma Hayek is a big name star now but she wasn’t exactly popular in the beginning. In Mexico, she was rejected by the entertainment industry and was told she’d never have a career in acting. After finally finding work in telenovelas, she tried to make in in Hollywood. However, Hayek was told that the parts she wanted didn’t exist for Latinas. Even after she made it big as a movie star, the Mexicana was rejected 3 times by networks when looking for a home for Ugly Betty.

8. Becky G

Instagram / @iambeckyg

Before her role as the Yellow Ranger in the Power Rangers reboot, Becky G faced difficulties reaching stardom. Her single Shower proved to be a popular hit, but followup singles went nowhere. Also, after 3 years of working on it, her debut album never materialized and was scrapped. Despite this setback, the singer found success as a Cover Girl representative, actress, and was able to successfully crossover to Spanish music.

9. Dascha Polanco

Instagram / @sheisdash

Dascha Polanco knew from an early age that she only ever wanted to act. Unfortunately, the realities of societal norms and fat phobia held her back. Polanco feared the rejection she could receive because of her weight and stopped herself from pursuing her acting career. It wasn’t until she was an adult that she decided to face her fears and audition. Ironically enough, she landed the very first role she ever auditioned for; becaming Orange Is The New Black‘s Dayanara Diaz.

10. Cardi B

Instagram / iamcardib

Today, Cardi B is a musical superstar but her beginnings didn’t make it easy on her. As a teenager, she worked at a grocery store as a way to keep herself feed and housed. When she was 19, she was fired but not before the manager told her she should become a stripper. Whether this was a mean spirited comment or a friendly suggestion, it proved to be a great idea. Cardi credits her stripping career for helping her return to school and giving her the financial freedom to pursue music.

11. Selena Gomez

Instagram / @selenagomez

Before Selena Gomez was the star of Wizards of Waverly Place, she started her career as a child actor. Unfortunately, her big break didn’t last long. After being cast as a regular on Barney and Friends, Gomez was released from her contract after only 13 episodes. The reason? Show runners said she was getting too old. The actress had the last laugh, though, when she traded up to Disney stardom and a music career.

12. Christina Aguilera

Instagram / @xtina

Christina Aguilera is well known for her overwhelming vocals but they weren’t enough to keep her from rejection. The singer competed in Star Search at the age of 9, singing an Etta James classic. However, Aguilera lost to her 12 year old competitor. Despite the loss, she soon went on to be a regular on the 90’s reboot of the Mickey Mouse Club and the star hasn’t slowed down since.

13. Camilla Cabello

Instagram / camilla_cabello

Camilla Cabello now has a successful solo career but she started out as a member of girl group 5th Harmony. Before they found success together, they were individual contestants on The Xfactor. While competing, the five were first named Lylas and then 1432 before rebranding as 5th Harmony. However, the group lost their competition; coming in 3rd place. Though they lost, they were later signed by Simon Cowell and found success with their debut album. When Cabello struck out as a solo artist, she faced her share of uncertainty but has had hit after hit.

14. Christina Milian

Instagram / @christinamilian

Christina Milian has made a name for herself as an artist but it didn’t come without years of hardship. She moved to LA at the age of 16 to pursue music. After 6 months, she met a producer who claimed to want to help. However, she spent a year and a half fighting to break into music business with little success. The producer Milian worked with would’t give her a copy of the demo she recorded and also wrote lyrics she didn’t agree with. She ended up having to cut ties with the producer and writing, recording and promoting her demo on her own. It proved to be a success though and, in 2000, she got her big break.

15. Dolores del Río

Instagram / @mariafelixdiva

One of the most important actresses of the Mexican Golden Age of Film, Dolores del Río was the quintessential movie star. However, her early life was full of hardships. Her family was a part of Mexico’s aristocracy but troubled in Mexico caused her family to lose all their money. Later, after she married, her husband also faced financial ruin. Things changed, however, when a Hollywood film maker met and fell in love with her. In an attempt to be closer to del Río, the film maker convinced the couple to seek fame with him in Hollywood. Even with his backing, it took several years of bit roles before the Mexican actress got her big break.

16. Melanie Martinez

Instagram / @littlebodybigheart

As a child, musician Melanie Martinez was a prodigy; writing poetry in kindergarten and teaching herself guaitar at age 15. However, all that musical talent wasn’t enough to win her first tastes of success. In 2012, Martinez competed in a televised talent competition but was eliminated in the second round. Later that year, she found a bigger audience as she competed in season 2 of The Voice. Unfortunately, the musician was eliminated in the fifth round. After the rejection, Martinez released her debut single and quickly developed a loyal fanbase.

17. Sonia Sotomayor

Instagram / @hardworkinglatino

The first Latina to ever serve on America’s highest court, Sonia Sotomayor is an example to girls and women everywhere. However, it wasn’t an easy path to the Supreme Court. Sotomayor had difficulties adjusting to college life at Princeton University. It was after she failed her first midterm that she decided to buckle down and turn things around. That failure inspired her to seek help in her studies and become the kind of student she needed to be to later make history.

18. Linda Ronstadt

Instagram / @mountainwinery

Linda Ronstadt is one of the most popular female artists of the 70’s and 80’s but this came after a lot of trial and error. In the beginning, the singer found little success with her band Stone Poneys. She was later inspired to pursue a solo career and released several albums in the process of finding her sound. Despite her work, she didn’t hit it big until the 1974 single Heart Like a Wheel. 

19. Yaya Decosta

Instagram / @glamourdays_champagnenites

Yaya Decosta has found fame as an actress and model but not before she faced failure in the latter. She was a contestant in season 3 of America’s Next Top Model. Decosta even made it to the finale but was eliminated at the end. Still, the model decided to pursue acting and found recurring roles on Chicago Fire and Chicago Med. She even played Whitney Houston in the Lifetime biopic of the late diva.

20. Aimee Garcia

Instagram / @aimeegarcia4realz

Actress Aimee Garcia now makes a living doing what she loves but it took her a while to get there. While in college, the Latina acted in local productions. However, she stopped in order to pursue her career in finance once school was over. For a year, Garcia worked as a mutual fund analyst but quit her job after a year because she was unhappy. She returned back to acting and made her big break in the entertainment industry.

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Bullying and discrimination can make school feel impossible for transgender students. In Chile, many queer youth stop attending class to avoid intimidation, often falling behind or even dropping out. Amaranta Gomez School, an institution for transgender students in Santiago, Chile, is trying to change that.

Founded by the Selenna Foundation, an organization in the South American country protecting trans rights, in 2017, the school offers youth between the ages of six and 17 courses on math, science, history and English as well as workshops on art and photography. About 22 students attend the school, with an additional six expected to join soon. They are assigned to one of two classrooms based on their age.

“I’m happy here because there are many other kids just like me,” Alexis, a 6-year-old student who was bullied at his previous school, told the Associated Press.

A 2016 report by UNESCO said that in Latin America, school violence against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity harms “the development of the affected people, school coexistence, academic performance and, consequently, their permanence in school.”

Teachers at Amaranta Gomez, which was named after muxe activist and anthropologist Amanranta Gónez Regalado, work pro bono. In its first year, all school expenses were paid the Selenna Foundation’s president Evelyn Silva’s and the institution’s coordinator Ximena Maturana’s personal savings.

Starting in March, families will have to pay about $7 a month for their child to attend.

“We try to reduce the costs to the minimum (for families) so that they don’t say that (kids) are not attending because they don’t have pencils, and it becomes a reason to leave school,” Silva said.

Even with limited funds, the foundation has created a summer school program that offers dance and additional workshops to about 20 children, including some who do not attend Amaranta Gomez.

The school, the first of its kind in Latin America, is creating a safe space where children can learn, feel affirmed and have community.

“I feel free and happy here,” said Felipe, 15. “The environment is very good. Everyone who arrives is simply accepted.”

Read: Latinx Kindergarten Teacher Pens Bilingual Children’s Book To Teach Youth About Gender-Neutral Pronouns

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