Alli Frank and Asha Youmans | Conversations in Character with Antonia “Toni” Arroyo

Book Title: BOSS LADY

Character Name: Antonia “Toni” Arroyo

How would you describe your family or your childhood?

My childhood was defined by our tight knit Afro-Puerto Rican family of five and welcoming community events. We had little money so even small affairs at our church and around our neighborhood made big impacts on me. Some of my fondest memories include sitting on the couch trying to keep my younger twin brothers quiet while my parents entertained friends and danced salsa until I thought they’d tap and flick a hole in the living room rug to the music of Martin Santiago. Before my father died, our lives were simple and safe, and I never wanted any material thing more than I wanted the love of mi familia.

What was your greatest talent?

Curiosity is my greatest talent. I was a scientist even as a kid, and no one could tell me different. I remained a scientist as an adult even though I didn’t have letters of degree behind my name. Though I was forced to leave college because my family needed me at home, I never lost my sense of wonder and my urge to discover what knowledge lay beyond my grasp.

Significant other?

Now that’s a story you might want to read about! I was caught up in young love and an early marriage that produced beautiful twin daughters. But sadly, my husband had a wandering nature, literally. When he up and abandoned us one day to seek balance, he left me with a pitiful balance in the bank. Now that he’s come crawling back, he may be too late. An unrequited love interest from long ago has reentered my life, and it just might be time for me to make my feelings known.

Biggest challenge in relationships?

My biggest challenge in my romantic relationships is trust. My husband did a number on my sense of faith in others, but my friends have helped me heal from that hurt. I have teenage daughters so that relationship challenge really speaks for itself. I look after my mother and our relationship has ups and downs that fluctuate daily but I can’t give up on her despite her stinging passive aggression when it comes to my inability to snag a suitable partner and level my life up. She’s my mom and at the end of the day I love her, and I know she has my back.

Where do you live?

I live in East Palo Alto, California. The suburban city has its challenges, but its spirit is strong, and its people are real ones. Residing in East Palo Alto means I need to keep that gritty city edge to my personality but have a little more space to breath than the neighborhood where I grew up in San Francisco.

Do you have any enemies?

Yeah…time. I don’t have enough of it. I’m always trying to squeeze more out of it. And other people want a share of mine. I have been in a battle with the clock and calendar since I was compelled to join the rank of adulthood before I was ready.

How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are    particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?

Gratitude is a force of beauty that not enough people use the space in their minds to occupy. I have complaints about my life, but my list of pleasures far outweighs them. I have had deep sadness, but my happiness outshines any gloom. I have been lonely, but my friends buoy me every time. I have disappointments often, but faith in myself means I know a new achievement is on the horizon. I’m a woman starring in the second act of life, and I finally discovered that there is no deadline but death for dreams.

Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?

I have no pets, but I do have twin teenage daughters who tend to be a bit feral, so there is no room for animals in my home.

What do you do for a living?

I am a transportation specialist at San Francisco International Airport. I retrieve passengers around the airport and deliver them to their destinations. This means I often have elderly travelers and along their route I am entertained by their questions and stories. I find their willingness to engage in small talk a dying talent, and I am here to enjoy it with them. Driving my cart is how I met my good friend Sylvia Eisenberg and how she changed my life is but one miracle you can find in an airport.

Greatest disappointment?

My greatest disappointment is not finishing college. I was just learning to thrive and live my book-filled life out loud when I was called home to the news my father had died.

Greatest source of joy?

Being an example to my girls is a great source of joy for me. They don’t have to look for a mentor with a high IQ, or a woman who finds confidence outside of her beauty, or a strong female example of grace and grit. They have that right here at home and that makes my heart happy.

What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?

I have two of the most fabulous work friends, Zwena and Krish. They are both younger than me by a lot, so they keep me youthful and up to date on the latest dances and slang words and TikTok trends. We have a great time together and they are my biggest cheerleaders.

What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?

One of my failings is not protecting my heart. I know I couldn’t control the decisions my husband made when he left our family for an international sojourn. But a little part of me still kicks myself for hanging on, hoping he would change his mind and come home to me and his daughters.

What keeps you awake at night?

I worry about what most moms – especially single moms – stay pressed over: giving our children what we didn’t have. I’d like for my girls to be educated and to believe they can take care of themselves out in the big world all on their own. But what I really crave is their health and happiness.

What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?

I have too many problems to be pressed by just one, but I am juggling them and so far, I haven’t dropped any. If I can get my business in a healthy place, I hope to reward myself with a vacation. Maybe a lack of a tan is my most pressing problem.

Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?

The people closest to me don’t lack love and that’s the most important thing in life. Now…if I could find a guy with great shoulders and forearms, I wouldn’t turn him down.

Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?

I have had a ton of ideas through the years, but not one that has yet proved to have legs, and by legs, I mean a viable business that walked money right into my bank account and allowed me to retire from working in transportation services at San Francisco International airport.

BOSS LADY by Alli Frank, Asha Youmans

In this funny and inspiring novel from the authors of The Better Half, a mess of a heroine is desperate to resolve her past so she can finally rediscover who she was always meant to be.

Antonia “Toni” Arroyo’s protective mother has outdated notions for her daughter’s life: employ her natural beauty and marry young. But Toni has wholly different aspirations.

A promising inventor and budding entrepreneur, she fights to keep her passions alive as a financially strapped mother of twins with a job in airport transportation services that has her going in circles. One treasured frequent passenger is elderly traveler Sylvia Eisenberg, Toni’s sage but unofficial adviser and cheerleader. When Toni meets Sylvia’s grandson, Ash, a striking venture capitalist, luck just might bend her way.

With a game-changing new business endeavor in development, Toni hustles an opportunity to pitch her idea on TV’s Innovation Nation. Toni’s unexpected challenger? Her very own recently resurfaced, self-aggrandizing not-quite-ex-husband. As Toni’s interrupted past collides with her tenuous future, she is more determined than ever to follow through on her delayed dreams. Toni’s been clinging to “maybe” for so long—it’s finally time for “absolutely.”

Romance Comedy [Montlake, On Sale: July 2, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662514791 / ]

Alli Frank and Asha Youmans found literary soulmates in each other after working together as teacher and school administrator in Seattle, WA. They discovered a shared mission as educators and as authors— to use humor, joy and compassion to write stories that encourage candid conversations about issues such as race, religion, culture, class, privilege, parenting and education. Their debut, Tiny Imperfections, tackled desperate parents and their ill-fated misbehaviors with razor-sharp wit, followed by Never Meant to Meet You, which deftly mined the often comedic and underexplored common ground between Black and Jewish experiences in America. In 2023 their third collaboration, The Better Half, captivated Mindy Kaling, and Mindy’s Book Studio, her imprint with Amazon Publishing.

Their fourth book BOSS LADY, out July, 2024 is about a mess of a heroine who is desperate to resolve her past so she can finally rediscover who she was always meant to be.

Alli Frank and Asha Youmans bring their very different cultural backgrounds and perspectives together to write in one seamless, cohesive voice, united in their belief that humor and fiction can inspire empathy and learning, and that exposure to diverse experiences can only enrich one’s life.