Post by NAWIC El Paso

“You cannot pour from an empty cup.” That’s what Guest Speaker Ariana Castanon Leos, EIT reminded us during Mental Health Awareness month —and we’ll never forget it. She’s only been a NAWIC El Paso member for 3 months, but the impact she’s made? Lifetime-level. Her story is filled with every kind of twist—love, loss, leadership, and healing. Raised by young parents and grandparents, Ariana learned early how to step up. Her first dream was dance—ballet and belly dancing. But flat feet forced her to trade the stage for something more grounded. In high school, she found passion in science, collecting water samples from the Rio Grande and purifying them using solar power. That led her to study environmental science in San Antonio… until finances pulled her back home to El Paso. She enrolled at UTEP, unsure, but ultimately chose civil engineering. She shared at the age of 22, while working a roadway project in a mining town in Arizona, her lungs were damaged —she nearly ended up in ICU. When her mom had a stroke, Ariana became a second mother to her little sister. She assisted her father through his serious health issues. She worked. She led. She pushed forward. She lived in survival mode for years. Until 2024, when she finally said: enough. She realized that being strong doesn’t mean breaking silently. That it's not about “balance”—it’s about boundaries. She began focusing on herself. She says it’s ok to say no. She reminds us to reclaim our joy through hobbies, healthy habits, and most importantly, therapy. Because, as she powerfully put it: “It’s not fair to dump everything on our friends and family—therapists are trained, they get paid, and they’re equipped to handle the heavy.” Today, Ariana is a Infrastructure and Civil Project Manager at Jordan Foster Construction LLC . She leads her crews, coordinates with subs and vendors, and is still dancing—literally, while mentoring the next generation in construction. She is grace, grit, and truth in motion. Ariana—thank you for your raw honesty. Your voice is the one we didn’t know we needed—but now will never forget. #NAWICElPaso #SheBuildsSheHeals #MentalHealthAwareness #BoundariesNotBalance #YouAreNotAlone #WomenInConstruction #StillDancingStillBuilding #BalletAndBlueprints #MentorInMotion

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