Erika Del Pozo, MS, OTR/L -

What is your passion and area of practice in OT?

My passion and area of practice in occupational therapy began in outpatient pediatrics. I love working with that population and their families. More recently, my work through my brand Joy Energy Time is meant for healthcare professionals. My passion in creating content and community for healthcare professionals arose from my personal journey through burnout as an OT. My work there doesn’t involve traditional occupational therapy services- I have stepped into my ‘OTpreneur’ role and work on providing high-quality media content and soon-to-be community events for healthcare professionals.

What is your cultural or racial background? How does this influence you as a person and/or as an OT?

I was born and raised in Miami, FL to Cuban-immigrant parents. I am a light-skinned Latina with a Miami dialect or the “Miami accent.” This has influenced me as a person because I am proud of my heritage and where I come from. I’ resonate with the ‘ni de aqui ni de alla‘ especially when I left Miami and people weren’t quite sure what to categorize me as.

What is like being a minority in this profession? Any advice for minority students pursuing a career in occupational therapy?

I practiced in Miami and Broward county for a long time, where the Hispanic/Latin community is the majority minority. I felt right at home working in those settings, but as soon as I began working in Palm Beach county, I was ‘the Latina’ that came with some stereotypes that made me uncomfortable. I think that if you don’t ‘look the part’ or ‘sound the part’ of what people expect a Latina/o/x to sound like, they are surprised. Advice for other minority students in the field of occupational therapy? You can use those opportunities to educate people and proudly own your heritage. Don’t try to play down or up your heritage or your ‘Latin-ness’ to make someone else comfortable. Be you 100% and people can accept it or not and that’s not your problem.