Who Is Venus Raquel?
Venus Raquel is a globally-minded innovator at the intersection of culture, technology, and sustainability. With a deep expertise in AgriTech, AI, and extended reality (XR), Venus leverages cutting-edge tools to make plant wisdom practices and immersive wellness experiences accessible to everyone.
An international traveler and storyteller, Venus brings the rich tapestry of ethnobotany to life through her Ethnotrots—culture trips designed to demystify the relationship between plants, people, and traditions worldwide. Her work is fueled by a passion for merging ancestral knowledge with modern solutions to inspire sustainable living and cultural appreciation.
Whether she’s cultivating narratives around sustainable agriculture or exploring the transformative power of XR for wellness, Venus is committed to fostering a world where innovation and tradition thrive in harmony.
You’ll come to know her as prose and poetic. Carefree in her pursuits but a thrill chaser in the eyes of the village elders. When Venus falls, she gets up. If there’s blood shed, yarrow isn’t far. As she heals, she reflects. She believes her lived experience in life and in nature can teach others. Growing up, her auntie told her, “A smart person learns from their mistakes and a wise person learns from the mistakes of others.” – Rosita Salinas
Venus is the daughter of Zora, and just like her mother – she writes to capture the moment, to keep history, to teach you what she’s learned as a disciple of land and life. Read Venus’ favourite work of Mama Zora’s here…
Bloodline
As a young woman representing the northside of Minneapolis; looking at her, people would always try to guess her ancestral background. Many saw her, few actually knew her. Her mama was a rolling stone raised all over the United States by her Mexican abuela who immigrated from Mexico at the ripe age of 18. Venus’ father was born & raised in New Orleans, Louisiana; though he and Venus’ mother coincidentally met in Seattle, Washington. These two bloodlines full of culture covertly influenced her to be who she is today but it did take time and effort to affirm her complex cultural identities.
A younger abuelita Aurora used to sit in the back of the family pickup truck with her daddy (Santiago) in Chihuahua, Mexico, drinking fanta and looking across flat land at the El Paso city lights, dreaming about America. Aurora’s mama (Rosita) was a medicine woman, and community members would come to her for herbs and healing. This nurturing nature is strong in the women of the Salinas’ bloodline genes; as Aurora, her daughters, and her granddaughters all have taken an interest/served in the healthcare industry. Venus’ grandma never spoke much about Mexico & it definitely wasn’t centered in her mother’s upbringing either, thus she never knew about that part of her heritage. On her paternal side, she knew she was “black”. Growing up colorism in her childhood made it a point to notify her of her light skinnedness but she didn’t know anything about that creole business. To be honest, she always thought people said that to make themselves seem more exotic. As far as she was concerned; she was an African descendant of dark times and unyielding excellence. Where there was Willie Lynch and Jim Crow, there too was Harlem Renaissance and The Black Panther Party. It should be a known fact by now, that to be black in America is a constant struggle. The traumas caused by discrimination are immeasurably complex and it’s discouraging to seldom get justice. Yet, African Americans are a resilient people, capable of overcoming any type of adversity that comes their way. There is no greater influence than that of the African Diaspora, so no matter the challenges that arise within the black community, there is an undeniable sense of pride that comes with being black. This sentiment is reaffirmed perfectly by James Brown in the popular tune “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud!”
ETHNOTROT EMERGES
The melting pot that makes up her ethic background serves as a huge motivation as to why she created Ethnotrot. The media is powerful and at times it has made her feel hopeless about happenings around the world. However, traveling/lived experience is even more powerful, it allows you to see the world and its people for who they really are, who you really are. There are no political narratives or smear campaigns when you are face to face with new cultures, new people, new traditions; only opportunities to observe, learn, connect, & reflect. Proximity breeds understanding and love, distance breeds confusion and uncertainty.
Thus, Ethnotrot is a place for the culture(s). In the early years, Ethnotrot centered the expressions of the Caribbean and traditions in the southern US states. In 2020, at the age of 21, Venus traveled to Maroontown, Jamaica and stayed on a pineapple farm owned by a very successful Jamaican family. This is where she met her first plant experts; Jafud, George, & Gavin. Jafud is an old man that moves like a young boy, he has been working on this land and a banana farm up the road for over 30 years. Now he might not call himself an herbalist but the man knows herbs. George is an obeah man and taught her about the herbs and seeds used for protection and warning in the coveted Jamaican spiritual practice. Gavin is from Old Harbour, the countryside outside of Kingston. He is a chef and plant expert who assists Venus in harvesting many herbs from around the island.
Venus has never been the type to stay at a resort, her logic was she could do that back home, so instead she usually travels to rural areas where the locals reside. Growing up in the country gives you a different quality of life, it gives you stamina & strength that the city folks lack, and you emerge in society with skills of a self sufficient individual.
Though Jamaica is very dear to Venus, it was February 2021 in San Augustine, Costa Rica when the idea of Ethnotrot emerged. She was staying at an eco-village deep in the hills of the nation’s west coast. Her son accompanied her and she would log on to team meetings via zoom. She also happened to be a part of a technology mentorship program. One day the host asked all the mentees, “ How does your business interact with technology?”. She pondered on the question but unfortunately her business did not. At this time, she was in her 4th year of business, selling her natural handmade self care products. Most of her sales were made at pop ups and home visits. However, she knew that had to change. She needed an online presence. She had written and executed many program curriculums over the years, “Maybe I should use my travels as a way of educating folks about plant practices and different cultures.” , she thought and from that thought, Ethnotrot was born.
Between the Caribbean and the southern states, she learned a lot from everyday people, cultural bearers, and being in nature. For example, It was in Puerto Rico when she first met the cerasee bush while on a hike in El Yunque National Rainforest, but it wasn’t until her time in Jamaica that she learned who the plant was from those who knew it and brewed it.
To Venus, it was experiences in nature like this that made humanity better & brought us together. There’s beauty in the times where you allow yourself to be playful, present, and curious. Where you listened to an elder at the fruit stand’s reasoning for eating his paw paw (papaya) whole; skin, flesh, seeds and all. Shoot, for her, it was being in the Caribbean, tasting the deliciousness of papaya that her local grocery stores back home could never provide. Except for El Burrito, the Mexican Market in West Saint Paul. That’s where she would go to feel a piece of paradise when back in the Twin Cities. They had quite a few of the staple herbs, produce, and cactuses of the Caribbean. Though, if it weren’t for her ethnotrotting nature and everyone she met on those journeys, she would not know the value of these imported goods. Now, it’s her turn to continue sharing this knowledge with her community for a better, brighter, unified tomorrow.