E130: Selene Ricart doesn't want to be your perfect immigrant

In this episode, I’m speaking with Selene Ricart, who moved from Argentina to Canada five years ago.

There’s this unspoken rule about being the good and perfect immigrant. Don’t say too much. Stay in your box. Be grateful. And if you ever step out of line, if you ever start speaking up about stuff you think could be better, someone will curtly remind you to go back and fix your country.

And sadly, it happens to immigrant women more often than not. It happened to Selene on LinkedIn.

But after five years in Canada, here’s Selene’s biggest lesson: belonging does take time, but you can’t wait until you belong to use your voice to advocate for good. And I agree. Your voice matters. And if you’re going to make Canada your home, you need to shape what that home becomes.

There’s this quote Selene loves that captures this sentiment beautifully: first understanding, then adjustment. As immigrants, we’ve already done the first part.

We’ve listened. We’ve observed. We’ve learned how things work here. We’re more empathetic, more adaptable, because we’ve had to be. Now comes the adjustment part. And that requires you speak up and offer perspectives that come from a place of understanding.

That’s the advantage you have as someone who’s lived in multiple cultures.

Selene and I also chat about:

• Language as identity

• Why she always makes pasta from scratch

• Words as emotion, not just communication

• How immigrating forces us to start thinking of things we took for granted, and more