I build worlds where women grow their dreams without self-erasure.

Build The Dream. Honor The Human.

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Build The Dream. Honor The Human. ✳

VANESSA SANTOS

Strategic Business Architect. Storyteller. The Audacious Mirror.

Vanessa Santos helps accomplished women build without breaking—where wealth, impact, and embodied wisdom aren't in competition.

She's from Washington Heights and the Bronx, daughter of young immigrant parents who gave her grit, resilience, and the understanding that if she wanted something different, she'd have to build it herself. No generational wealth. No safety net. Just her.

So she built. For 20+ years.

At Mastercard, she co-developed platforms serving millions across Latin America and won innovation awards for her work. At Gilt.com, she expanded reach to 120+ countries and inked multi-million dollar partnerships that changed how brands connected with consumers globally.

Then she became CEO & Partner of #WeAllGrow Latina—and that's where everything shifted.

In less than 4 years as CEO, with a skeleton crew, they co-built something extraordinary. Multi-millions in revenue. 30,000+ professional pathways created. $20M+ in economic impact. A movement that proved what happens when women come together with purpose.

And then her body said: stop.

THE CHOICE

I built #WeAllGrow to multi-millions in revenue. We launched game-changing ecosystems and frameworks. Everyone on the outside saw success.

But my body was telling me a different story.

We sacrificed well beyond our means. I got pneumonia. Then I got it again. My nervous system collapsed. I'd wake up and realize: there was nothing left of me to give.

And then I had to face the hardest truth: I had betrayed myself.

I had abandoned myself in small ways—for the sake of service, for the sake of community, for the sake of everyone else having a piece of me.

And I loved myself too much to keep doing it.

Baby, your body is not punishing you. She's PROTECTING you.

She forced me to stop because I wouldn't stop myself. That's not weakness. That's wisdom.

When the industry shifted and partnerships disappeared, my partner and I made the hardest decision leaders can make: We sold the company.

I walked away with no financial gain. But I walked away with something the Universe knew I needed more: self-love.

I had spent nearly four years of my life fully dedicated to something I deeply loved. A community I believed in. A mission that mattered.

For a moment, it felt like failure.

And that's exactly why I didn't jump to the next thing to prove I still had it.

Because I knew I did.

I just knew I had forgotten who I was. And I needed to remember—by letting go of everything so I could come back to myself.

So I chose differently.

I left my marriage. I came out. I rebuilt my nervous system. I lost friends who couldn't understand.

Not because everything fell apart—because I chose healing over forcing. Sovereignty over proving.

Because my body was coded to survive through suffering—until I broke the pattern.

“Say it OUTLOUD with me: My worth is not defined by my suffering. I am valuable because I EXIST. Abundance is my birthright.”
— VS
A woman with long wavy hair, wearing a beige sleeveless top, red pants, and colorful high heels, is sitting on a modern white chair against a plain white wall. She is smiling and looking slightly to her right with her chin resting on her right hand.

WHAT I KNOW


You're accomplished. You've built something significant. People see you as successful.

But internally? Your body is keeping the score.

You've given pieces of yourself away so everyone else could have something. You measure your worth by how much you produce, not by who you are.

I know because that was me.

And here's what I learned: You aren't the problem. You are the pattern.

The systems that reward your success are designed to break you. They mask martyrdom as service. They teach you to abandon yourself in small ways until one day you look up and realize you've built something beautiful for everyone but yourself.

Growth is watching everything fall apart and fall into place at the same time—without judgment, without shame.

This is where your purpose grows its roots.

Let's Do Cool $hit

I don't coach. I witness.

I see you—the patterns you can't see in yourself, the brilliance you're afraid to claim, the places where your body has been screaming and you've been too busy producing to listen.

Then I help you architect your business, your brand, your next chapter—from a place of embodied wisdom, not depletion.

Because here's what I know after 20 years of building and one complete dismantling:

Success is meaningless if your body pays the price.

The dream is not worth it if you lose yourself in the process.

Build the dream. Honor the human. No self-erasure. Ever again.

HOW I HELP

WORK WITH ME

  • 90 minutes to witness yourself, see your patterns, and reclaim the parts of you that you've given away—so you can build your dream without abandoning yourself.

    BOOK HERE.

  • 3 hours to architect the business that's been living in your heart. You don't need permission. You need a plan.

    BOOK HERE.

  • You've outgrown your own brilliance. Your brand no longer mirrors your evolution. You don't need to start over—you need someone who can see who you're becoming.

    BOOK HERE.

  • Board-level thought partnership for leaders navigating scale, expansion, or major transitions. High-touch counsel for women building empires that honor their humanity.

    → Work with me

THE HUMAN

Taurus 🌞, Cancer 🏹, Capricorn 🌕

First-Gen Dominicana & Ecuatoriana, NYC born & raised

Reflector in Human Design — my sensitivity is my superpower

Two fur babies: Elvis & Teddy 🐾

Creative peak: in nature — mountains or by the water and slow mornings

I light up when I speak—but I'm selective with my energy

Big sis energy in business - we don’t gate keep lessons here

Queer. Multifaceted. Uncategorizable.

I'm not one thing, and that's my power.

THE RECEIPTS

Former CEO & Partner of #WeAllGrow Latina (acquired 2025)

Co-led transformation contributing to $20M+ economic impact, co-created 30,000+ professional pathways

CES Innovation Award winner for an IoT shopping app (Mastercard)

Co-Developed a digital API platform serving 12M students in 6 Latin American markets (Mastercard)

Inked first and largest multi-million dollar brand partnership (Gilt.com)

Co-Led global expansion to 120+ countries (Gilt.com)

Inaugural Entrepreneur of the Year, Kennedy Center (Nationwide x Hispanic Heritage Foundation)

Keynote: Forbes Most Powerful Women of Latin America

Board Member: Wellness For The People Foundation

Investor: Bloomi, Nopalera, Lil' Libros, Earth Rides

  • Creating spaces where women build without self-erasure

    WHAT DRIVES ME

  • Researching connection, women's circles, and collective power

    WHAT DRIVES ME

  • Fierce advocacy for queer rights, women's rights, economic empowerment

    WHAT DRIVES ME

  • Teaching women that wanting wealth isn't toxic—but building it by erasing yourself is

    WHAT DRIVES ME

You don't have to choose between building your business and becoming yourself.

You don't have to break apart to prove you're worthy.

You don't have to be loyal to who you were when you can choose who you're becoming.

I'm building it. In real time.

With 20+ years of proof that I know how to build—and the cosmic audacity to do it without self-erasure.

Come with me.

The in-between isn't empty. It's where transformation happens.

Every month, I write Letters from the In-Between—unfiltered insights on building, leading, and becoming in the space between who you were and who you're meant to be.

Join 30K women in the In-Between →