Fatimah Carmen Luisa Martinez Santiago founded Yaya Consultas to share her rich experience with a transformational coaching approach with individuals and groups, guiding them through exercises that promote self-actualization and resilience through connecting with ancestral and cultural heritage, their authentic selves, and community.
Great Spirit Fatimah of Yaya Consultas
Born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and raised in the South Bronx of NYC, Fatimah grew up among the relics of the infamous burning Bronx years. Her Grandmother Petra was a practitioner of Mesa Blanca, known as the ritual practice of Spiritualism. Many of Fatimah’s ancestors were spiritual practitioners. Fatimah’s maternal Great Grandfather, Don Pedro “Pellin,” was well known for his expertise in medicinal remedies. Cultivating and living off the land, sustainable fishing, and connecting with the spirit were practiced for generations in our family in Puerto Rico. Fatimah learned the rituals and practices of Spiritualism by watching her grandmother and other community members. Because of this exposure, Fatimah understood from an early age about connecting to the spirit, the land, and the community.
During the ‘90s, Fatimah attended an experientially learning-based and outdoor education school and would eventually launch many years of her professional career under this purview. Among her many treks, Fatimah has backpacked through the Catskills mountains of New York, the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina, and the rainforest of Costa Rica. At age 15, Fatimah was well-known within her network for leading a youth-run program in the South Bronx. Fatimah moved to Costa Rica in her early twenties after attending a wilderness expedition in the rainforest. She created a non-profit organization in Costa Rica that would serve homeless and drug-addicted youth by providing social services to the young people through housing, food, and counseling and connecting them with rehabilitation centers and community organizations. Upon returning to NY, Fatimah continued to work in experiential learning, where she was a part of a team that sphere-headed programming for youth and adults in the outdoors that provided transformational experiences centered on connecting with others through compassion, challenge, and discovery.
Fatimah has received several prestigious recognitions for her commitment and contributions to improving the lives of individuals. In 2019, Fatimah began to centralize her work locally in the community by serving vulnerable populations and supporting individuals with actualizing their best selves despite immeasurable trauma endured in their lives.
Fatimah has had the privilege of working closely with brilliant individuals who have offered expertise and specialization related to their anointed gifts and talents by the Great Creator. Fatimah is best known for connecting with others, holding space for individuals to envision their most pronounced potential, and activating the parts needed to take their lives to the next level.
Transformational Coaching 