In this introductory solo podcast episode, host Valeria Itriago shares a personal letter that explores her struggle with perfectionism and the pressure to present a polished, scripted persona as a content creator. She reflects on the futility of chasing an idealized version of herself, describing the emotional roller‑coaster of the "creatorpreneur" lifestyle, and emphasizes the importance of authenticity, self‑love, and curiosity. Valeria argues that perfection is a myth defined by external expectations and that true growth comes from action, failure, and honest self‑questioning. She invites listeners to embrace uncertainty, share their stories, and start creating now rather than waiting for a perfect moment, concluding with a call to subscribe and engage with her "Questioning" podcast series.
Chapters
Hi and welcome. And I was thinking, should I do a script to introduce my podcast and give the perfect form for me to do my podcast? And it's like I was just pretending to be someone that I'm not. I thought I needed to have everything figured out or talk or speak like other content creators. It was so funny. You had to see me like speaking like other people and just dressing like other people. Valeria Itriago. I realized that that shit won't serve me in any way. And welcome to my podcast. This is Questioning, and the reason why I call the podcast like this is because I'm constantly questioning myself, everything that you can ever imagine. And this is also the content that I've been doing and I'm going to be doing here in this platform. But today, to introduce you a little bit what my content is going to be about, I want to read just a letter I wrote to myself. Um, it was very enlightening to have that, those insights from just writing my feelings. And I think this is gonna exactly explain what I'm gonna be doing here. Like if you like this and share it if you just enjoy it. Perfection is a noun, but it's also an adjective. For me, now it's just a word that doesn't define me anymore. And honestly, It never did. I know you don't have to be perfect or have everything figured out to put your content out there. Today I want to share a letter of my last experience, the one I am having right now, because I am becoming the writer and the creator of my own thoughts. And I am building this so-called creatorpreneur lifestyle, which in fact is a total emotional roller coaster. And I love it. But I have this self-imposed pressure of being someone successful, someone likable, worthy of listening to. And I'm so attached to the outcome that I can barely be true to myself. Who I am? I've always been asked this question, and today in Questioning, my podcast— this already sounds like an Inception movie— the question is related to the fact that the world in a way is always expecting you to know what you want to be and who you want to be. And it sounds like something so easy to answer to, but Fuck, it's so hard for me. I think there's no way to really answer these all the time, because what if I don't know? Am I less perfect because I don't know? Oh, I've been playing roles that are not related with the person I am being right now. I've been creating this excessive obsession with perfection that always brings burnout and mental paralysis. More times than I would like to admit. Why do I have, like, coffee instead of tea, or like dogs more than cats? What does that say about me as a person? Who told me that I need to be or like certain things? We are consuming what we should be all the time on social media, and we are so distant from ourselves. Perfection is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as the state of being complete and correct in every way, or the quality of being perfect. It's something that is really well planned and executed accordingly to the plan. It sounds cool, but to me it's fucking awful. So I think life is about doing and learning from that place of action, this action mode that is necessary to understand so you can learn how to fail and make things better, how to stay humble and how to heal and learn from your mistakes, because we will never be linear beings. And the more we try to control our ups and downs, the less we will be investing time in what's really important— being true to ourselves. So no, you don't fucking need perfection, because it's just a myth. What does it mean to be perfect or enough? Perfection truly exists when you are able to answer to the question who you are and honest I have no idea, but I trust that the place I am right now is exactly what I need to be. Perfection happens when you stop playing the game of pretending and when you accept that you might not know the answer and realize that not knowing is never a mistake or a problem but an opportunity. I don't know how to tell you what the perfect formula is to put content out there, and I don't want to do that with my content nor the podcast. But I will— and I will be a liar if I tell you how, because I, I don't have that figured out yet. But I can share a couple of things I understood and have been working on myself lately. No one is you. No one. My journey really started when I accepted that I still need to heal things, and that's totally fine. It started when I realized that there's just one Val in the world, and no one can really do content as I do or tell my stories as I do, as I can. And there's no one like you either out there, in case you forget. People experience life in their own way. And the more we try to understand someone else's reality, the more we distract ourselves from our own journey, which in the end is the only that matters the most. Because we understand from the place of honesty. Because if we don't love each other and if we don't love ourselves How can we even think that we can understand and love others? Your experience of the world is not only yours because we are all connected. I told you already that without self-love and compassion, it's extremely hard to connect with others. And we are constantly putting ourselves out there— dating apps, new jobs, new challenges, new trips, new whatever you want to put in this blank space. But we do it because we aim for connection with ourselves, of course, but ultimately with other people. We want to share experiences, stories, feelings. We want to create momentum and instance. We want to feel heard and hold by others. I love to be curious about others, and listening is the skill that I've acquired a while ago, to be honest. And it's fucking fantastic. Not having always the last word means that you learn how to contemplate people's and world's natural beauty and sounds. It's another reality. Someone else is probably facing what you're facing right now, or what you faced in another moment, or are just connecting with another energy that you connected before. But they're waiting for you to share your story. They would like to remember or just to know how to go through that experience with your help. They just want a place where they can feel they just can be themselves. The last thing I would like to say before I go is that don't forget that we are transformative beings. And so will be our content. So it's okay if you don't know everything right now. It's okay if you like a bunch of stuff. It's okay if you like to talk a lot, but please never lose intention. So if you ask me again, no, Val, you don't need to wait to start doing content. You can do it right now. This is the reason my podcast exists, and this is the reason why I am doing Questioning, and I am creating this space on my YouTube channel. I just love telling stories, and I want to fall in love with my life, and I want you to fall in love with yours. That's what I will bring people here to talk about, many things that I've learned in my journey. And I want you to get closer to who I am right now, even if that means that I had to share a lot of my life and the things I've learned. Thank you, and if you like, just subscribe and check whenever you want. And if you want to create, there's never a perfect moment. So do it. I trust you.
