Maryalex Rios (she/her) is a 22-year-old Mexican-American and Latinx/Chicanx/Chicana who recently graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in International Studies & a concentration in Latin American Studies.
She currently works at her parents' small local trucking business, 2 Rios Mobile Repairs LLC, and creates content on the side, providing commentary on media, fashion, and politics.
Maryalex loves to give her personal recommendations of products she truly stands by and prefers to highlight small-owned companies. Meanwhile, she manages her personal blog, Her Vibe Is Pretty, on Milkshake and is working on creating a podcast that will soon drop!
“I am currently just going with the flow of life," Maryalex shares.
"I was always someone who was planning what the next step should be in my life and how I needed to get there. However, after graduating college and during a worldwide pandemic I really told myself that I was okay being lost.
"I truly just want to enjoy life and work on bettering myself so that I can be in better conditions to make bigger steps in my life.
"I think ever since I graduated I have been carrying this shame and guilt -- that because I didn’t get everything figured out like I always do, I won’t ever amount to the goals I have and one day have a career I’m truly passionate for. [But] when I am ready for that journey, I will gladly give it my all.
"In all honesty I am so happy I can take this opportunity to heal myself and work on having a stronger sense of myself so when I know what I want, I won’t stop to achieve it."
When asked about what her work means to her, Maryalex shares the following:
“[My work] is honestly an outlet for me when I want to connect with others and share with others just the random crafts that have come to me. I honestly work on my content when I can and I am in a good headspace.
"Last year I found myself pushing myself hard to have projects done when the deadlines I was creating were limiting my creativity. This year I push out work when I can and I want to, I have noticed it helps make my projects and content to be enjoyable when before it felt like work.”
‘My blog helps me organize the kinds of subjects and information I like to share online. I love to link information, products, websites, anything that could be useful or from my own recommendations.
"I think this first began back when I would post songs and playlists on my social media, and then having personal friends and people I met online ask me about how I did a certain makeup look or where I found my outfits. I finally took the courage to go forward with making more personal and constant content last year when I worked for an online small shop boutique, Houseofgoodies__, from a personal friend, Natyely Soza.
"She truly encouraged me and had sought out my help because she liked what I was doing online -- and I had never given it a thought that my content was interesting to more people. So I’ve been giving it a shot and so far it has been a great journey of self-expression and exploration."
For Maryalex's upcoming projects, she points to the podcast as something that has been on her mind since last fall.
"I felt like I wanted to get out more of my ideas and start conversations with people -- podcasts are my personal form of consuming ideas and learning about subjects and I thought it could be cool to start my own and grow a personal community from that and my blog.
"I have hopes of creating episodes with guests, about research projects I do, and funny media tea from internet gossip, weirdly interesting news to very important discussions. I don’t have an exact date of when the podcast will be live but I am hoping to have more things in motion by the end of the summer!”
You can follow Maryalex on Instagram (@hervibeisprettyy__) and stay informed on any updates about her upcoming podcast here!
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Sacrosanct is a community blog that amplifies the voices and art of LGBTQ2IA+ BIPOC. As a digital space for marginalized folks to self-define, self-actualize, and heal, Sacrosanct is firmly situated at the core of intersectionality while also providing mental health and community resources made for and by LGBTQ2IA+ BIPOC. To fund these LGBTQ2IA+ BIPOC artists for their contributions to the platform, consider leaving a donation here and follow Sacrosanct on Instagram and Facebook.