Redefining Your Identity on Your Own Terms with Sonia Deccarett

What happens when you don’t fit into a single identity—and no one can tell you who you are?

In this week's episode, Besty sits down with Sonia Daccarett, who shares what it means to grow up without a clear label, navigating life as the daughter of a Christian Palestinian father and a Jewish mother, raised in Colombia during a time of cultural tension and political unrest.

From a young age, Sonia was forced to confront questions most people never have to ask:

Who am I? Where do I belong? What do I believe?

While others were handed ready-made identities, she was given something far more difficult—and far more powerful: the freedom to decide for herself.

This conversation explores:

•  The hidden pressure to “fit in” and why it feels so urgent as a child 

•  How identity is shaped by culture, family, and environment—and what happens when those conflict 

•  The tension between wanting answers and being forced to find your own 

•  Why oversimplifying identity strips away our humanity 

•  How to hold space for contradictions and complexity within yourself 

Sonia also shares the deeper story behind her book The Roots of the Guava Tree, and how writing it helped her reconnect fragmented parts of her past into a more integrated sense of self.

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t fully belong anywhere—or like your identity doesn’t fit into a clean narrative—this episode will challenge how you think about who you are.

Because maybe the point isn’t to find the right label.
It’s to build one that’s actually yours.