Hispanic Heritage Awards

REA ANN: Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

I mean, okay, thank you, hi.

This is my whole family over here.

We have a big Mexican family.

They're here to support me, but I just, I wanna say thank you Lisa, so much.

Um, Lisa and I have been friends for, like she said, for almost 30 years, and I'm so grateful for having to share this amazing life journey with her and her beautiful family.

Girl, I can't believe it's been so many years.

Like, oh my God.

The parties, the work, the funny, most memorable family moments and vacations.

Oh my God.

We've celebrated life's ups and downs and everything together, and I'm just so honored that she's here with me today.

And you continue to be such an inspiration to me and, and not only me, but millions of Latinas, if you've seen her work and you know, all over the world.

And, uh, she's an amazing mom, wife, friend, activist.

She embodies what it means to be a Latina.

100% And I'm humbled by you.

Thank you so much.

Oh, okay, wow.

We're at the Kennedy Center.

This is like really wild.

Yeah, I know.

I'm breathing, I'm breathing.

She tell, she's been telling me for like three days now, "Just breathe."

So I'm breathing.

So I wanna say a huge thank you, uh, to the Hispanic Heritage Foundation for this amazing honor.

I mean, I am so incredibly grateful and, you know, wow, again, I can't believe I'm sitting here in front of you, but I have to say God is good.

And without Him, I wouldn't be standing here.

So thank you so much.

And I never imagined, as a single parent, a single mother living in a small apartment in Van Nuys, California, that one day I would be standing here on the stage, not backstage, but on the stage at the Kennedy Center.

So again, being honored is such a great honor, and standing on the shoulders of greatness to receive this award is really something I could have never imagined.

I mean, Rita Moreno, Anthony Quinn, mom, we have an Anthony Quinn on above our fireplace, the, the Virgin Mary.

I mean, this is like crazy, I know.

That's my mom right there.

And I remember my mom and dad when I was growing up, they, they told me something that I couldn't really appreciate till now, but they said it was their job to give us a better life than what they had.

And that was going to be my job as I got older.

And I think that's what we're all here to do today.

I think it's our job to do better for the next generation.

And... (audience applause) And the, the stories and the conversations that I've had over the last couple of days, tell me that we're on the right track.

So thank you to everybody here.

When I started Beautyblender, uh, as a celebrity makeup artist over 20 years ago, I knew I had a good idea.

My hope is that I could make a little extra money so I could send my kids to school.

I mean, that was basically my whole M.O.

Um, and by the way, my, my daughter went to Marymount Manhattan.

My son is here in D.C. at American University.

(audience cheering and applause) Yes.

And I'll say it again, God is good because those are really some expensive schools, I'm just saying.

Yeah.

So the other really amazing thing that I realize that is so important for us to know about the future is that one in every four millennials is Latina, and that means that we have a lot of power coming towards us, and a lot of entrepreneurial dreams are gonna come our way, and it's our job to support them.

The other thing that is kind of crazy that I, I hope will change in the future is that only about 3% of CEOs and board members, um, are held by Latinos.

And it's time for that to change.

(audience cheering and applause) Yeah.

And I'm, again, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm sitting here shouting the praises of my girlfriend Lisa, but her Latinas Acting Up is really, uh, an example of an organization that, you know, boots on the ground fighting for equal pay and representation.

And we just, we need more of that.

I'm so proud of her for doing that in equality.

But we're gonna get there.

We're gonna get there.

And as long as we keep supporting each other with organizations like the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and all the other wonderful businesses, SBA, and oh my God, I met people from Wells Fargo last night, I just have met so many people.

I mean, we, we're gonna, we're gonna be able to support and create more opportunities for the future.

And that's really what is at the root of my heart and soul.

So thank you for this incredible honor.

And, um, yeah, just keep bouncing.

Thank you.

(audience cheering and applause)