I quit my job as a banker and found my flow as a vegan blogger.

In positive psychology, flow refers to the feeling of being totally in the zone. It’s when you are so deeply involved in an activity of enjoyment and creativity that you lose track of time. Our #BeintheFlow blog series explores how real and inspiring people find their flow. 

My name is Valera Hinojosa and I’m a vegan and eco-conscious blogger. I also own my own agency that works with conscious influencers worldwide. Four years ago, though, I used to be a private banker. After five years in banking, I realized it wasn’t aligned with my passions or dreams. I was frustrated and depressed. I started analyzing everything that was going on around me, and that’s where my blog came to life. I just needed a place to vent and put all my feelings and emotions in writing, and connect with who I was as an individual.

After blogging for a year and focusing on a conscious lifestyle, which is what I’m truly passionate about, I quit my job in banking and have been dedicating my time to my blog, travelling around the world, and writing about eco-friendly hotels, sustainable fashion, vegan food, yoga, protecting our planet — anything that is good and kind to everyone.

My blog focus was first on veganism, and then I realized that veganism is an entire lifestyle, not just what you eat. Then I started writing about sustainable fashion and eco-friendly travel. Just like that, my blog started growing and doors started opening. That led me to start an agency, which works with conscious influencers and brands worldwide.

“I don’t take any calls before 11. That gives me enough time to enjoy my breakfast, do yoga, meditate, breathe and start my day fully.”  

My motto is that you need to flow with life. I apply that every day, from the moment that I wake up to when I go to sleep. I get on my yoga mat and flow for a bit every morning, and take that energy off the mat with me. It’s these first few minutes that shape my entire day.

Being in the flow for me is when I feel most like myself. It’s hard to explain. We human beings struggle everyday with feeling comfortable in our own skin. So it’s this idea of self-love; how do we create it when we lack it, how do we connect and have those moments where you flow with yourself? When I’m in my flow state, I understand what I’m all about and I blend in this pool of love. I feel connected with my mind, my body and my soul. I don’t think there’s anything more rewarding or beautiful than that.

I feel happiest when I travel and when I’m surrounded by nature. I just got back from the jungle, the Amazon and Bali. In nature, I get to disconnect and connect with myself fully. But when back home in Miami working, my mornings are my “me time.” Something I learned as a banker and now as an entrepreneur was to schedule meetings and calls after a certain time, so I get to enjoy my morning and begin my day with a smile, instead of stress and frustration. That’s my “flow time.”

“Being in the flow for me is when I feel most like myself.” 

Something I didn’t have as a banker, of course, were my mornings. I was rushing from breakfast to the office to meetings and it was straight out of bed, grab your coffee, run into the office. Then, when I quit banking and I became a blogger, I had to find the right balance between “me time” and working —and actually working, because if you don’t have discipline as a blogger, you don’t make a living! Now that I’ve founded the agency and became an entrepreneur, it was learning to say, “no” to certain things. That’s how I discovered that my mornings were so precious. Even at the office, I told them, “You will not see me before 11 am.” I need my mornings. I don’t care if I have to stay here longer, but I don’t take any calls before 11 am. That gives me enough time to enjoy my breakfast, do yoga, meditate, breathe and start my day fully.

It all started with the vegan diet, and then I realized it’s not so much about what you eat but also the way you talk, what you wear, what you think. It’s the entire lifestyle. The more I researched, the more I learned that our actions have an impact, and it can be a negative or a positive impact. And within this journey to become a wiser, better, kinder human being, I began to grasp the idea of acting in ways that have a positive impact on everyone around me and our planet. That includes basic things like sustainable fashion, the brands that you’re supporting, eco-friendly travel, the hotels you are supporting, the food that you’re eating, the yoga / the energy that is going through your body, and the love that is going through your body. It’s all connected and you can’t separate them.

I think we all wait for the stars to align or a door to open and magically open. That is usually not the case. You need to open the doors for yourself. You need to take the first step. Once you take the step, the universe has your back. I feel we’re so afraid, that we wait for things to come to us. You have to become your own hero. You have to open the doors for yourself. And once you do that, you discover there’s an infinite world of possibilities out there, and everything will come your way if you truly truly believe in yourself, if you have good intentions, and you don’t stop.