My Story

I am Christina Geri Jogoleff, Xtina Geri for short. Any day of the week, I can be caught dancing on the grass of San Diego’s Waterfront Park with my preschool aged old son. I smile knowing he will never live the reality I was born into, even though we faced our own set of challenges. As a single mother since before his birth, I firmly believe the best way to empower him is to be present, lead by example, and encourage him to have his own voice and thought (although at times I may regret this – wink - not really).

I was the first to attend a university in my family of six, graduating magna cum laude from University of California, Santa Cruz with a dual Bachelors of Arts in Feminist Studies and Political Science. I went on to graduate school at University of California, Riverside earning a Masters of Arts in Ethnic Studies after working in the non-profit world creating alternative pathways to incarceration.

As a white skinned Chicana born and raised in urban Southeast San Diego, I was born into a family ridden with alcohol, narcotic, and physical abuse. Gang and drug violence engulfed the lives of my uncles and cousins; I experienced death (murder) at a young age, and witnessed the systemic power of racism in my family. In times of need, we sought donations of food, clothes, and other necessities. Despite my family’s financial hardships, we helped organize free immunization drives, door to door campaigns to distribute information on healthcare access, and political demonstrations addressing (in)adequate care for San Diego families living in poverty. Through these efforts, and despite the fact that neither of my parents received their high school diploma, I understood how our lives are impacted by forces outside of our home, and that something could be done about it.

While a doctoral student at UC Riverside I was the first in the Humanities to receive both the Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. I am an innovative leader and my passion inspires others to fall in love with life. I was honored when I was one of two UC Riverside graduate students selected to represent and advocate on behalf of the University of California’s graduate research at our state capitol. My research and volunteer work focused on decreasing recidivism and gendered incarnation. When I wasn’t conducting research on the history of California’s women’s prisons, I was lecturing on marginalized histories of the United States, or facilitating self-empowerment workshops at A New Way of Life, a re-entry home for recently incarcerated women in South Los Angeles.

Leaving my Ph.D after giving birth to Malakai, I began helping mothers across California with self-care and self-love. Losing oneself in motherhood is an epidemic in this country, if not world, and still needs much attention. It was in this work that I grasped the power of social media on the lives of women and conceptualized my newfound purpose to empower women and men through social media. Our society spends majority of their waking hours and lose much needed sleeping hours, connected to technology and on social media. The notion of one self is defined and informed by one’s relationship to social media, and this isn’t just for young girls. I developed a 6 week online course that shifts subconscious thoughts to change habits, identifies and removes limiting beliefs,  empowers you to change your relationship with yourself, so that you wake up happy, motivated, and in charge of your life. 

After working with me, I no longer receive messages from my clients about how do I stay motivated, because I give them the tools and they develop the new habits.

I speak, I write, and I am continually inspired each time I work with men and women. We are here to teach, learn, and live (self)love. I can be booked for speaking, workshops, and writing on self-love, spirituality, self-acceptance, managing stress, healing from heartache, navigating hostile co-parenting, and self-care.