Samantha Ramirez-Herrera is a radical creator and a trailblazer in every sense of the word. Born in Mexico with a legacy lived, made, and growing in the US, she has become “her ancestor’s wildest dreams”—something I heard her describe from stage in the mountains of Montana.
 Sam is who I go to—as my North Star—to track the narratives being created in media that support the movements that support the people. Her work is provocative in that it represents resistance and progress all in the same sweep. Her mantra is “F-ck fear.” And, to top it all off (not even kinda), Sam is an Emmy Award-Winning filmmaker, a self-made entrepreneur, and the founder & CEO of OffThaRecord—a creative studio with the mantra “We are creatives who give a damn.” She is a DREAMer who grew up in the United States undocumented, but what we learn without hesitation from her is that there is not a single DREAMER who’s out here wasting their opportunity. She says, “I am labeled as a DREAMer, but I am way more than that. I am a DOer. And I am a chain breaker for my family.” I’ll take a DEEP breath to that one. 
It’s that quote, and all the stories she's lived to date, that brought us the name for this episode: “BEYOND DREAMER.” This conversation is a repeat listen for those moments when we need to remember that we can make new rules for ourselves, our society, our future. It's not possible to leave this listen without a hunger for equity, determination to “fuck fear,” (visualize those words in Old English, please) and a drive to love yourself radically. Grab paper and a pen. Your hands are about to be busy grabbing lines like this: “Being an immigrant in this country is difficult. Because every day you’re attacked with words… and if you don’t love yourself radically, if you don’t love yourself in a revolutionary way, they can break you. But I choose to be unbreakable. And I choose to love myself.” - Samantha Ramirez-Herrera