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Mateo's family moved to Bergen County from Bay Ridge when she was in fourth grade, Sacco reports.
"Many of my childhood memories…learning how to ride a bike, taking my Big Wheel for rides down the sidewalk, watching the NY marathon and my accent are all New York," Mateo tells Sacco. "But my life lessons are New Jersey,"
Guests on "Celebrity Taste Makers," now in its fourth year, have included Rita Moreno, Spike Lee, Mike Tyson, Kristin Chenoweth, Penn & Teller and Chazz Palminteri.
Her heritage informs her work, said Mateo, whose parents moved to the U.S. when they were young.
"My father was raised in Brooklyn and my mother in the South Bronx," she tells Sacco. "Growing up, they only spoke English to my sisters and [me] at home, so we learned through school. I took it upon myself to continue it into college....My father always taught me that I had to work even harder in life as I was not only a minority but a woman, as well. My heritage is what makes me who I am."
Read Steve Sacco's entire post: http://newarknow.blogspot.com/2016/01/lisa-mateo.html?m=1
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