A toast to the women of San Antonio, especially Melanie Mendez-Gonzales. She is hosting the second season of original series ¡Salud! on KLRN, featuring local Latinas in leadership positions. The season premieres September 8, following up an eight-episode debut season with then-host Jenna Saucedo.

“I am excited to explore the stories and experiences that made these women into the leaders they are today,” said Mendez-Gonzales in a press release. “Although we come from a wide variety of backgrounds, we have so much in common when it comes to being Latinas in leadership.”

Mendez-Gonzales, a seventh-generation Tejana, comes from a blogging background, having launched Qué Means What, her award-winning lifestyle blog that covers entertainment, leadership, and family from cultural and local lenses. She is neck-deep in qualifications, including training from the Latina Leadership Institute and the San Antonio Independent School District, and work with the City of San Antonio.

More relatable, perhaps, Mendez-Gonzales did not arrive at her proud Mexican-American identity without a lot of legwork and at least a little internal conflict. The blog is named for her fourth-grade failure to define the Spanish word “qué” to her teacher, panicking as she hears “what” repeatedly and confronts the language that was not passed down to her naturally.

“This might have been my earliest encounter of ‘we hear what we want to hear,’” Mendez-Gonzales writes on the blog. “My teacher was giving me the answer and all I heard was interrogation.”

Now Mendez-Gonzales occupies this answer-giving role in a similar way — though hopefully with a little more clarity — gently steering influential local women as they tell their stories, whether that’s through handing out digital media tips on the blog, or interviewing them on ¡Salud! Some of those interviews this season include first lady of San Antonio Erika Prosper, county court judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez, and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.

Season 2 of ¡Salud!, premieres Thursday, September 8 at 7:30 pm. It airs weekly in the same slot on KLRN and streams online at klrn.org.