Power is one of those words we all understand until we stop and ask what it actually means.

For many, it can mean a title, a position, a corner office, a seat at the table, influence, or financial independence.

Power has historically been something we were taught to earn, prove, or wait to be given. But today, power is built.

And there is a Spanish word that captures this shift particularly well- poder.

Poder means power, but within many Latin communities, and especially in Miami, the word carries a meaning that extends beyond authority or status. It speaks to agency—the ability to act, to make decisions, to create change, and to have a say in what happens next.

It isn't simply about having power; it is about having the power to choose.

That distinction matters more today than ever before.

Recently, I was in a strategy session with an extraordinary woman- a ROCKSTAR at what she does. She also had a TEDx talk with nearly one million views and more than 40,000 connections on LinkedIn.

By any traditional measure, she had already built significant influence and power.

And yet she came to our session frustrated. Like so many, she wanted to take her brand to the next level. She wanted the paid speaking opportunities. The brand deals. More ways to monetize the influence she had built.

But the more she looked at the landscape, the more crowded it felt.

“There are so many speakers and so much competition,” she said. “There’s so much noise and blood in the water. Where’s the blue ocean?!”

What struck me most was the paradigm underneath the question.

She had built enormous influence- the kind so many struggle to achieve- and was still looking for someone else to give her access to something she already had.

She was still waiting to be chosen. For the stage. For the partnership. For the opportunity.

That is the old paradigm. A paradigm where power belongs to someone else.

For most of modern history, media companies, journalists, publishers, broadcasters, entertainment companies, and event hosts owned visibility.

They owned the distribution—the access to the people and the ability to be seen and known. They even owned what you became known for.

They decided what stories got told, how they were told, who got heard, and what made it into public conversation.

Then the internet happened. Social media happened. And everything broke.

So, I said something to her that completely shifted her perspective:

“In a world where everyone wants to be the speaker, be the host.”

Instead of competing for someone else's audience, build your own.

Instead of borrowing visibility for 30 minutes as a podcast guest, create the show.

Instead of submitting the article, publish the newsletter.

Instead of competing for the keynote, host the industry-leading event everyone wants to speak at.

Because today, we can and should build and own our platform.

And when you own the platform, the paradigm shifts. So do the possibilities. You have the power. You have agency. You have poder.

The currency of the future is influence, but the leverage of the future is ownership.

And I know this because I have lived it.

I was just a girl who grew up in Boca Raton. I got decent grades, graduated from the University of Miami, and got a corporate job right out of school as so many do, until I eventually went into business. I volunteered. I networked. I showed up in my community. Got married. Had kids.

There was nothing particularly extraordinary about the path I was on.

Until I recognized that the rules had changed and had the audacity to change with it.

That’s when I attracted a partner who believed in me, believed in the vision, and understood the magnitude of the mission.

Our platform grew and attracted a community of some of South Florida’s most dynamic power players—leaders who continue to challenge me, motivate me, inspire me, and expand my own thinking.

Referrals, endorsements, speaking engagements, and opportunities continued to find me and fuel our growth.

Until eventually, I found myself with a seat at the (domino) table with the Mayor of Miami Dade County, Daniella Levine Cava.

And I didn’t get it by waiting to be invited.

I didn’t get it by becoming someone different.

I got it because I finally understood the power of what I already had- my voice- and learned how to own it.