Gina Rodriguez Shares Advice for Women: 'See Yourself in the Light That You’ve Never Seen Before'

Gina Rodriguez is revealing her best advice for young women finding their voice in today’s society.

The 32-year-old Jane the Virgin actress hosted and executive-produced the Marie Claire’s Young Women’s Honors last week – where she made her first public appearance with boyfriend Joe LoCicero – and she had lots of inspiring things to say after the event!

“I thought this would be a really great opportunity to use the platform that I’ve been blessed with by Jane the Virgin and the platform of so many other amazing women that helped me in this process to show young girls that not only are you capable of what you set your mind to, but here are amazing women that are doing it, that have done it, and now you’re not alone,” Gina told Bustle. “Now there are paths you can look at and there are journeys that you can follow, and you can see yourself in the light that you’ve never seen before.”

“I’m 32 years old, someone that’s going after my dreams and having a very clear vision of what I want to do in my life, but at the age of 15, I was very lost and very much in need of role models and anyone to grab onto that had done it before me, anyone to teach me the way, to make it not as daunting, not as terrifying,” she added. “So I thought, this is what we have to do for younger women.”

Also pictured inside: Gina stopping by Extra to chat with Mario Lopez on Wednesday (November 30) in Studio City, Calif.

Click inside to see what else Gina had to say on the subject…

“I think there’s nothing greater than to make, glorify, and uplift women doing work in fields that aren’t often spoken about in social media or pop culture,” Gina said. “The honorees [at the Young Women's Honors] have been fighting the good fight their whole lives – they’ve been trying to make their dreams become reality since they were little ones.”

“They’re insane women, like, legitimately,” she went on. “I was like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’”

“Jane has been a blessing in many ways for me – not only has it given me the opportunity to create [awards] shows like this, but it’s given me something to wake up to every day and love,” Gina added. “I go to work and even though we shoot 14-16 hours a day, and it’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”