By Hilda H. McClure, LPC | Founder & CEO, The Candela Collective
There are moments in life when you get to look back and realize that the work you've been doing, the choices you've made, and the things you've poured yourself into have mattered in ways you may never fully understand.
Being honored with the 2024 Young Leader Award by the Texas Women's Foundation was one of those moments for me.
As a therapist, so much of my work happens behind closed doors. I get to sit with people in some of their most vulnerable moments. I get to witness stories of pain, courage, resilience, and healing that the world will never hear. There are stories I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and stories that will remain between me and the people who trusted me enough to share them.
That is the nature of this work. It is deeply personal, often quiet, and rarely something that comes with public recognition.
So to stand in a room filled with remarkable women and community leaders, and to be recognized for work that is so often unseen, was incredibly meaningful.
I remember being asked during the EmPOWERing Wellness leadership forum what receiving this award meant to me.
I struggled to find the words.
Not because I didn't have anything to say, but because there was so much gratitude wrapped up in that moment.
What this award represented to me wasn't simply recognition of my career or accomplishments. It was the realization that the work happening in those quiet spaces is making an impact. That when we help someone heal, when we create an opportunity for someone to move forward, when we make room for someone to feel seen and heard, we are doing work that reaches beyond that single moment.
We are changing generations.
I Never Set Out to Be a Leader.
I Set Out to Serve.
My journey into leadership wasn't a straight line.
I actually started my career in education. I was a teacher for a very brief season before realizing that while I loved working with children, the classroom wasn't where I was meant to be.
That realization eventually led me into counseling, and along the way, I found myself in spaces that challenged me to grow into leadership.
One of those spaces was working in ministry while attending graduate school. I had a leader who saw gifts in me before I fully recognized them in myself. He gave me opportunities to lead, encouraged me to use my voice, and helped me understand that leadership didn't have to look a certain way.
I didn't need a particular title or position to contribute something meaningful.
I just needed to start.
That is something I shared during the forum that I wish I could go back and tell my younger self.
I spent a lot of time waiting until I felt ready. Waiting until I knew enough, had enough experience, or could do something perfectly.
But leadership doesn't begin when we have all the answers.
It begins when we decide to take the next step, even when we're unsure of what comes after it.
And sometimes, that first step is simply learning how to lead ourselves.
The People Who Taught Me What Service Looks Like
One of the most emotional moments of the forum came when I was asked about the people who influenced my journey.
My family was in the audience, and I found myself fighting back tears.
I grew up in Puerto Rico, in a home where generosity wasn't something we talked about as an abstract idea. It was simply how we lived.
I remember holidays when people we didn't know would show up at our home because my dad had met someone who didn't have a place to celebrate.
My parents taught me that what we have, whether that's our gifts, our resources, our home, our time, or our opportunities, can be used in service of other people.
They also gave me space to figure out who I was.
Even growing up within a traditional Hispanic culture, I was never expected to fit perfectly into a particular mold. There was room to explore, question, and discover.
That freedom shaped so much of the work I do today.
I believe people need spaces where they can be fully themselves. Spaces where their experiences are honored, their stories are heard, and they don't have to pretend that everything is okay.
And I learned the importance of creating those spaces long before I ever became a therapist.
Wellness Should Not Be a Privilege
During the forum, Kim Cummings and I spent time discussing something that has always been central to my work: accessibility.
“Wellness should not be a privilege. It should be a basic need.”
This message was also highlighted in the My Sweet Charity coverage of the 2024 Texas Women's Foundation Leadership Forum & Awards.
I believe that deeply.
When we talk about access to mental health care, we're not only talking about money, although financial barriers are very real.
We're also talking about whether someone feels safe enough to walk into a counseling room.
Whether they can find a therapist who speaks their language.
Whether they can have conversations about difficult experiences without feeling that they're betraying their culture, their family, or their community.
Whether seeking support feels like something available to them in the first place.
As a bilingual therapist, I've seen how important it is to recognize the cultural experiences people bring into the room.
In many Hispanic and Latino families, conversations about mental health can still carry stigma. Sometimes we're taught to keep difficult things within the family, to push through, or to avoid talking about what hurts.
I don't believe we change those patterns by dismissing the cultures we come from.
I believe we begin by creating an invitation.
An invitation to talk about what feels hard.
An invitation to be curious about our experiences.
An invitation to explore whether something different might be possible.
At the time of the award, I was helping lead a counseling organization and serving as a founding board member of a nonprofit focused on expanding access to mental health services. Through that work, we supported affordable counseling and helped bilingual clinicians pursue licensure and professional growth.
That work mattered because access to care isn't just about opening a door.
It's about making sure people can actually walk through it.
Today, that same commitment continues to shape the work I do through The Candela Collective's bilingual counseling and trauma therapy services.
Healing Is Bigger Than the Therapy Room
One of my favorite parts of the conversation was discussing what it really means to help people heal.
Therapy can be an incredibly meaningful part of that journey, but healing isn't limited to a clinical setting.
So much of healing happens in relationships.
It happens when someone shares a difficult experience and is met with empathy rather than judgment.
It happens when a child feels heard instead of being labeled as difficult.
It happens when someone begins to understand their own responses with curiosity instead of shame.
We don't have to be therapists to create those moments.
We can become more thoughtful parents, teachers, colleagues, leaders, friends, and community members.
We can learn more about trauma, practice regulating our own emotions, and become people who make it safer for others to be themselves.
I believe those small, intentional changes matter.
Because when one person begins to heal, the impact doesn't necessarily stop with them.
It can change the way they parent, the relationships they build, the boundaries they establish, and the opportunities they create for the people who come after them.
That is what makes this work so meaningful to me.
It's also why culturally responsive trauma therapy in Plano, Texas and bilingual counseling services in Mesquite, Texasare important parts of Candela's mission: creating spaces where language, identity, and personal experiences are respected.
Learning That Self-Care Is Also Leadership
Another important part of our conversation centered on self-care, particularly for women who spend so much of their lives caring for others.
In my book, Self-Care for Chingonas, I explore self-care through the lens of culture, identity, and personal values.
Because self-care isn't always a bubble bath or a quiet afternoon.
Sometimes it's deciding that your needs matter.
Sometimes it's choosing to live in alignment with your values, even when that choice is uncomfortable.
Sometimes it's giving yourself permission to rest, change direction, or begin again.
And sometimes it's recognizing that you can't continue giving to everyone around you without also making room to care for yourself.
I spoke during the forum about the importance of knowing what matters to us.
What brings us joy?
When do we feel most like ourselves?
What are the things we continue returning to because they give our lives meaning?
Those questions can tell us a lot about how to care for ourselves.
They can also tell us a lot about how we want to lead.
For me, teaching, connecting, learning, and creating opportunities for others are all deeply connected to my values.
And when I make choices that align with those values, I feel more grounded in who I am and the work I'm doing.
What This Recognition Really Meant
When Kim asked me what it felt like to receive the Young Leader Award, I remember feeling overwhelmed with gratitude.
The award wasn't something I had been working toward.
I wasn't sitting in counseling sessions thinking about recognition or wondering whether someone would notice what I was doing.
I was simply trying to steward the opportunities in front of me as well as I could.
Trying to serve people well.
Trying to create something meaningful.
Trying to make sure that as I grew, I was also creating space for others to grow.
And suddenly, there was this moment of recognition.
A reminder that the work matters.
A reminder that the small things we do consistently can create change far beyond what we can see.
A reminder to keep going.
The Texas Women's Foundation's official recognition of the 2024 award recipients highlighted the work being done to support wellness among Latina youth and single mothers and to help mental health professionals navigate the acculturation process.
To have that work recognized meant more to me than I could fully express that day.
What made the moment even more meaningful was having people I love there to experience it with me. My family has been such an important part of my journey, and being able to share that recognition with them was something I'll always carry.
But I also thought about the people who weren't in that room.
The clients whose stories I have been entrusted with.
The women and families who have taken incredibly courageous steps toward healing.
The clinicians who are working to create more accessible care.
The people who encouraged me when I wasn't sure where the road would lead.
And the generations that will come after us.
Because ultimately, that is why I do this work.
Not simply to create a successful career, but to help build a world where more people have the opportunity to live with dignity, connection, and hope.
Carrying the Work Forward
Receiving the Texas Women's Foundation Young Leader Award was both an honor and a reminder of the responsibility that comes with leadership.
It invited me to reflect on where I've been, but it also challenged me to think about where I'm going.
How do I continue to create access?
How do I continue to use my voice?
How do I support other clinicians and leaders as they find their place?
How do I make sure the work remains rooted in service, even as it grows?
Those are questions I continue to carry with me.
Through The Candela Collective, I have the opportunity to keep building spaces for counseling, education, connection, and healing. Spaces where people can bring their whole selves, including their culture, their stories, and the parts of themselves they're still learning to understand.
And while the work may look different in each season, my hope remains the same.
That more people experience what it means to be heard.
That more families have access to support.
That more women recognize the value of their own voices.
And that the work we do today creates opportunities for generations we may never meet.
I am deeply grateful to the Texas Women's Foundation for this recognition, to Kim Cummings for facilitating such a meaningful conversation, and to the family, mentors, colleagues, and community members who have been part of this journey.
This recognition will always hold a special place in my heart.
Not because it marked the end of something I had accomplished.
But because it reminded me how much more there is to do.
And what a privilege it is to get to do this work.
With gratitude,
Founder & CEO, The Candela Collective
About the Recognition
Hilda McClure received the 2024 Texas Women's Foundation Young Leader Award during the Leadership Forum & Awards Celebration held April 30, 2024, at the Omni Dallas Hotel.
Her EmPOWERing Wellness conversation with moderator Kim Cummings explored mental health accessibility, cultural identity, women's leadership, self-care, and community empowerment.
Media Coverage: My Sweet Charity — Texas Women's Foundation Leadership Forum & Awards
Explore More: Meet Hilda McClure | Candela Counseling | Candela in the Community