July 1, 2025 • 35 mins
Denise Cabello, a San Antonio native and UTSA graduate, discusses her career transition from local broadcasting to hosting "Hollywood Hits" on Quarter Moon Productions. The show, which airs on KCWX and is available on YouTube and as a podcast, reviews movies, series, and provides Hollywood headlines. Denise highlights the importance of relationships and adaptability in her career, noting the supportive culture at Quarter Moon Productions. She also shares her experience as an MC at the San Antonio Missions since 2015, emphasizing the community connection and the upcoming move to a new downtown stadium. Denise encourages flexibility and valuing employees in the workplace.
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(00:00):
As a fourth generation entrepreneur and business owner,
I know the grit and grind that it takes to run a business with
Qingon SA. We're capturing stories from
other local business owners and sharing them with you, our
Querigo community of San Anton, from the culture for the
culture. What's up everybody?
Bien Benitos, welcome back to another episode of Qingon SA.
(00:23):
Super excited to welcome you guys back and of course our our
guest. Some of you may know who she is,
Denise Cabello, formerly of San Antonio living fame, of course,
but Denise is a San Antonio through and through.
She's a Marshall High School grad and a UTSA grad.
(00:44):
Go runners. They just, they just won a big
baseball game recently. Yeah, they're still in it right
now. Are they?
It's a tournament, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But while she was there, she shecheered and then also was an
instructor for UCA. She's worked in local broadcast
since 2012, obviously at San Antonio Living Yolo, Texas.
(01:08):
And her most recent project, which we're really excited to
talk about is Hollywood Hits. And she's also a commercial news
anchor for Quarter Moon Productions.
That's it. She's and you can catch her a
lot of times at the San Antonio Missions is an MC, an infield
announcer MC game in this. Yeah, yeah.
OK. Well, it all fits.
(01:28):
It all fits. And of course, she is a wife, a
mom of two beautiful little girls and two dogs.
What kind of dogs are they? I have a little Chihuahua and I
have a big lab and they're both rescues.
Little Chihuahua, his name is Elvis, Big Lab.
We found him on the side of the road, so we just called him Big
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Dog because I was going to find a home for him.
He stayed in our home so he is Big dog.
Yeah, the name stuck. The name stuck.
Yeah, that's awesome. So let's talk about what you're
doing at Hollywood Hits. Tell me about the show.
OK. So Quarter Moon production is
the production house that we it's a, it's a commercial
production house. So that's the bread and butter.
(02:11):
But we host shows as well. So we have Hollywood Hits, we
have a Sports weekly, bunch of different shows that air mostly
on KCWX here in San Antonio. But Hollywood Hits has been
around for a long time. It's been around for like 8
seasons, but this year we revamped it.
So we just took over Ariel to Will is the she was the host for
(02:35):
the past seven seasons. So now we're together, me and
Ariel, and we made it more like a a talk show, like a lifestyle
show. So we review the movies that are
coming out for the weekend series that are coming out.
And then we find all the behind the scenes details, like fun
anecdotes that you might not know.
(02:55):
I'm the type that if I'm watching a movie, I'm like,
where do I know that actor from?It's basically that for you go.
Down a rabbit hole. So it's basically that for 30
minutes and we just review what's coming up.
We've got some Hollywood headlines when big news is
coming out, we'll do fun games, different stuff like that did.
You, Tom Cruise, came to San Antonio a couple weeks ago.
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Did you guys do anything? No, we didn't get, we didn't get
Tom. He didn't come on the show or
anything like that. No, but yeah, that would have
been that. That's like goals.
We're like freshly off for this revamp.
So little by little our we did have an interview a couple of
months ago with a guy named Sauger Sheikh.
He's on Hulu's deli boys. There's a show called deli boys
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on Hulu's really funny. He's a San Antonio kid.
We went to high school together.So it was cool to catch up with
him and see like, you know, his progression here, how he did it,
how he got to Hollywood and stuff like that.
But that's that's the idea of the show and it's been a lot of
fun, you know, just getting to to work a little more creatively
and flex that muscle and then just, you know, literally have
(04:02):
fun with it. You.
Know so is it a is it a podcast or is it a TV show?
First and foremost, it's a TV broadcast show.
And so like, so when you introduce me and you're like,
you may know her if you watch broadcast television, which is
not many people anymore. So it's like your grandma
probably knows me, but that's about it.
But so it's a broadcast television show at Airsline
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KCWX, which is Channel 2 here inSan Antonio, and it airs
throughout South Texas as well. But from that, we post the whole
show to YouTube. OK?
And then we pull the audio for podcast.
Nice. Yeah.
And so that's been my first, like, venture into podcast.
And it's podcast world is fun. Yeah, it is.
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I like it a lot. Yeah, yeah, I'm also a data,
like a big data guy. So I love like reading the data.
Yeah. Once the show goes live on the
streaming platforms and like, you know, the demographic stuff
and and all that and just kind of diving into it.
Surprisingly, we have a lot of younger folks that listen to the
show, and I think that's just the nature of podcasts.
In general, right, I was, I was so that you said that when you
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get that data, have you manipulated the show to like
adjust to what you found? Not yet, I don't think, because,
you know, we're, we're still fairly new.
Like I think we just released our 10th, 10th episode, I think.
So I, I, I just don't think thatwe have enough data to to kind
of like, maybe like figure out where we want to go.
(05:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, definitely that's,
that's something that that I want to do as we kind of, you
know, grow our audience and justkind of figure out like, OK,
what's working, what's not working?
What guests do we want to bring on?
So far I've, I mean, I, I've brought on people that I know
and that I really like and that I think we're doing like really
cool stuff in the community. Like Samantha I saw.
(05:53):
Yeah, Samantha, Yeah. Samantha, she was I, I've known
her, gosh, for almost 20 years, I think.
Yeah, yeah, she's she's great. She.
Went to the Marshall also, did she?
Yeah. Oh yeah, she did.
We didn't. We weren't the same year, but
I've known her just through like, yeah, you know, broadcast
world and stuff like that, yeah.Yeah.
I've known her for 20 years. So we got to know each other at
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the West Side Y when we were volunteering on the board of
directors there. Cool.
And I sat on the board of directors for 9 years, I think.
And I think she was, she came inmaybe like a year or two after I
did. Yeah.
And so we've just stayed connected ever since.
Yeah, but I knew when I started the podcast, I knew she was one
of the people that I wanted to have.
(06:38):
On the show and she definitely she's.
She's always fun to talk to you anyway.
She's so willing to share her knowledge too, which is, I
think, I think San Antonio is unique in that way since it is
such a, you know, a small, big town, right, that people are
willing to share their knowledgeto help you get where you need
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to go. And then as we like, when I
started in broadcast, it was kind of like that, but guarded,
you know, like I'm going to helpyou, but I'm not going to, I'm
going to make sure you're not better than me.
And I think that has kind of shifted to now it's like,
especially with the social worldopening up, it's like there is
room, there's room for both of us to have success.
(07:21):
And so that's been nice. I.
Feel like that's the same in my industry too.
And I think just in business in general is that I think when
people have the scarcity mindsetas opposed to like the abundance
mindset, yeah, I think you'll find that people, business
owners, entrepreneurs that have that are willing to share their
(07:41):
knowledge, that are willing to be more open to friendly
competition, sure. But also just like other people
maybe doing things different than than they are, I think it's
so much, it's so much more beneficial for the consumer, but
also for the business as well, right?
As opposed to like having the scarcity mindset where like, no,
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I'm not gonna share with you my knowledge.
I don't want you to come into myindustry.
You're not gonna be better than me.
To your point, I think that justis a detriment for not just for
the business, but I think society in general if it makes
any sense. Oh, for sure.
I think it, I think it stunts your personal growth too.
Like if you are unwilling to open what you've learned, then
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you're not going to learn anything else either.
So it's, yeah, it's twofold, butit's, yeah, the, I feel like the
industry has changed quite a bitin that, in that aspect, what
I've seen since since I started,it was pretty.
It was pretty, you know, like survival of the fittest at the
beginning. Yeah, yeah.
No, I, I can, I can totally see that.
(08:49):
So I'm curious, like what, why journalism?
How did you get, how did you getthere?
Was that something that you'd always wanted to do?
Did you study journalism in college?
Well, in college I my degree is in communications and it will
focus in public relations, whichif you are in college watching
listening like go I I would suggest go as a general as you
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can. Like just you don't have to get
hyper focused into one thing because it's going to lend its
hand to to many other things. Political science major.
Yeah, yeah, right. It would be general
communication, mass communication.
That's fine. But so since I was little, I
wanted, I like idolized Oprah. I was watching Oprah and I was
(09:33):
like, I will be Oprah one day. Like I loved Oprah.
I loved her style. I loved her graciousness.
I loved I loved all of it. Then I did cheer for a long
time. So I was a cheerleader, like
hardcore cheerleader, like competitive cheerleader.
And then when I worked with thatcompany, UCA, so they're the
company that hosts the ESPN competitions.
(09:57):
So I was a part of that for a long time.
And that was like, I'm going to be a cheerleader forever, you
know? Like, that's what I knew I was
going to be a cheerleader forever did.
You watch that show on Netflix. Cheer yes, I've watched all
every cheer show you can think of.
I'll say yes, yes, I know all the words to bring it on still.
So I loved cheerleading and, andI appreciate everything that
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that world gave me. It helped me with my public
speaking. It helped me with my
interactions, confidence, all ofthat stuff.
But there was a point with that company that I, there was no
more room for growth. And it was like, OK, what's
next? Where, where am I going to go?
And I was probably like mid 20s at this point.
And, and I was like, Oh, I remember I wanted to be over one
(10:43):
day. Like let's let's go back to
that. So this was after I had
graduated with my undergrad. I wanted to get back into like
the journalism world, but I didn't know what where to start.
So it was like internship. Let's go back to that.
I couldn't get into an internship unless I was in
school. So I started going back to
school for my master's degree. Full disclosure, I did not
(11:06):
finish my master's program, but I went to school so that I could
get into an internship, which isa crazy cycle in itself, right?
Like if you're willing to learn something as an intern, like you
should be able to do that without having any stipulations,
but neither here nor there. So then I started interning at
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OAI while I was going to school and that's when I got into the
lifestyle show, San Antonio living.
And I had done an internship prior with sports.
And I love sports, but I love football and I love baseball and
that's basketball. Spurs.
So then I'm like golf. What am I going to say?
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I don't like golf, tennis, I don't know anything about
tennis. So then I was like, OK, let's
try something else. That's when I got into lifestyle
and it really it fit. Like I loved lifestyle.
I love interviews. I love figuring out like what
someone is passionate about. I love finding out like what
makes us different and what makes us the same.
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I loved all that. So lifestyle was it.
And so I started with the internship.
I was the oldest intern there. Everybody else was like 1819,
you know, I had bills like it was already, it was like, OK, I
need this to work. So I worked really hard and
showed them that I wanted to be there.
And so I was hired as a production assistant at this
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time. It was a production assistant
ran those big old cameras. That was back before automation.
So we had those huge studio cameras.
I was running one of those big cameras as a part time
production assistant making like$7.50.
Yeah, as a college graduate, right?
Crazy, right? But I'm like, no, this is my
dream. I have to and going to.
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Be Oprah. Yeah, I'm going to be Oprah.
I'm sure she started like this. So I just kept working and kept
like climbing the ladder, so to speak.
And so from I went from production assistant to editor
to associate producer to producer to reporter to host,
like just worked my way up, keptdoing it, kept doing it.
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And, and then just eventually like got to where I wanted to
be, you know, and, and it was all about that, that phrase,
like it's not what you know, it's who, who you know, 100
percent, 100% in, in like the journalism, television, film
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production world, it's 100% who you know.
And, and your work ethic will show and it will get you, you
know, get you so far. But those connections are really
important. They're so important.
Well. Relationship in general, right?
Like, relationship in general issuper important.
And yeah, I think that's the same in most industries, Yeah.
(14:03):
So yeah, no, I totally hear that.
Do you remember your first day, like on camera?
Were you like, super nervous or were you excited?
Were you all the above? Yeah, my first day on camera, I
think my first official day on camera was when I first started
appearing on camera, I was called the Facebook girl.
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So this was when social media reporting like wasn't a thing
yet. And so we, we were like starting
this new thing where we had a Facebook page.
So makes me sound so old and I'mnot that old y'all.
But we had, we like, started ourFacebook page and started
interacting with viewers, telling the viewers on the show
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to go to our Facebook page and comment on our topics.
I remember like kind of growing up, if you wanted to interact
with the anchors, you had to call in.
Yeah, right on a landline. Yeah.
So now this was the whole new medium.
Social media was like starting and it was like, OK, we're going
to call out to the viewers, havethem interact.
How are we going to show it? OK Denise, you're going to be
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the Facebook girl. You're going to go on TV and say
we asked y'all this question. Luis is saying his favorite food
is, you know, macaroni and cheese, whatever.
Dom says his favorite drink is whatever.
Back to you. That was like my initial job and
I did that for a while. I was the Facebook girl for a
while. And then that led to like, you
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know, showing like my personality and stuff led to
more reporting and hosting. And my first, so that was like
my first time on camera. But the first, my first live
shot where I was out in the fields, it was at SeaWorld.
And I remember so distinctly, I was trying to think of the word
amusement park. And I couldn't think of the word
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amusement park. So I was just like, tell us
what's going on in this place. Like I could not come up with
amusement park. So I was a little deer in
headlights for that. But but I will say like when I
started, I had the people that Ilooked up to and I liked their
style. So that was, you know,
nationally it was Oprah, but like locally it was people like
(16:18):
Tangi Patton, Shelly Miles. I loved their style and the way
they opened they the way they could get someone to open up to
them. So that was, that was initially
how I started emulating like little things they did until I
found my own voice. And then it's like, OK, this is
how I want to do it. How?
This is me? Yeah.
You worked with Shelly for a long.
(16:40):
Time. Yeah, for a long time.
That whole time on San Antonio living.
Yeah, yeah. She was on San Antonio Living.
Yeah. Is she still on the show?
No. Right.
She is. Yeah.
No kidding. Yeah.
I I'm embarrassed to say I have not turned on the TV like local
TV. And I'm pretty sure nobody has
nobody listening either. That's it's OK, yeah.
(17:01):
So you left News 4, you left SanAntonio living went over to
Quarter Moon productions like how did how did that connection
happen? What was the sort of like
catalyst to to making the move over?
There. Yeah, well, when I left WOAI, it
was at the end of 2020. So it was when COVID happened
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and everybody started working from home.
We they sent us home and we weremaking television from home.
So we were like holding up our phones.
It was like ragtag, just get whatever on air that you can,
right. And so it was, it had so many
ups and downs, but it was I got to do some segments with Izzy.
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Like I she's screaming in the background.
I'm like, you might as well get on show with me.
So we came up with our segments and stuff.
It was a lot of fun, but it gaveme so much perspective.
So when I went back, when we, they sent us back in studio for
OAI and I realized there were parts of myself I was
compromising for this job and holding myself back for this
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job. And there was like COVID just
like opened so much perspective in my mind of like where I want
to be, who I want to be, how I want to be.
And so once the end of 2020 happened, my contract was up,
renegotiation, all that. I wasn't happy with what they
were giving me. And it was finally the at that
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point I was like, I don't have to be unhappy.
Like I can, I can go, I can go and try something new.
And I want to say that because like it's net.
It's never too late to change your career to try something
different or to like stand up for yourself.
So just wanted to, you know, like make sure people hear that.
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But after, so after I left all of those connections that I had
made through the show, they werethey were blessing me.
So it was all this freelance work for a while and it was like
I left San Antonio living and I didn't know what I was going to
do. I didn't have anything lined up.
So I'm like, oh crap, I have a family too, you know, like, what
(19:11):
am I going to do? And it was like all those
connections just blessed me withwork, with freelance work at
that time. And I'm so appreciative of of
all of those people that had my back in that time too.
And then I was doing freelance for a bit.
And then Vanessa Macias, when a friend of mine, she she
(19:32):
introduced me to my boss at Quarter Moon Production, Smiley
Garcia. She's connected us and said
y'all need to work together. And so that's how it kind of, it
got the ball rolling. And that was specifically for
Yolo Texas when I started working with Quarter Moon
Projection and Yolo Texas was such a good show.
Oh my gosh, it was so fun. It was a travel show.
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We got to go around Texas. We we went to to restaurants, we
went to events we like just explored Texas and it was such a
good show. Unfortunately, it got cancelled.
Yeah. And so that, what do?
We need to do to put that back on the.
Air, I know sponsors, sponsors call it.
And then that's so that's what transitioned to the news
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commercial hits and Hollywood hits and yeah, stuff like that.
But like literally every, every transition in my career, I have
relationships to thank for stillbeing in the job that I mean,
otherwise, like, I, you know, I don't know what I would be.
(20:41):
I'd probably be teaching, I think.
Probably really. Yeah, I mean, I could see that.
I mean, you know, you were a cheer instructor for for a
while. Yeah.
Yeah, I could, I could see how that would easily translate.
I mean, you already talked to anaudience as it is, right?
Because as a journalist doing what you're doing.
So I I could see how that that translates.
But I also could see like it wouldn't necessarily make you
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super happy doing that. Probably not, yeah, but I'd have
the summers off, so that would be great.
True. True, I'm sure your daughters
would appreciate. That yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So kind of, you know, thinking,
thinking to your, your position at at Quarter Moon, I'm curious
like what is some of the, what is one of the biggest challenges
(21:25):
that you're facing right now? How are you guys navigating that
challenge, you know, as you knowin production with clients like
what what does that, what does that look like for you guys?
Yeah. So I think the big difference
between working for WOI, we wereowned by Sinclair Broadcast
(21:50):
Group, which is the biggest conglomerate broadcast entity
across the nation. And so there was with local
broadcast, there's that. The industry is changing so much
and everything's going automated.
So there's always a chance of like your position not existing
(22:11):
anymore, right? But otherwise being in this big
company, your positions pretty solid, right?
You don't have that fear of likelike the company's going to go
under anything like that. Quarter Moon production is a
small, medium to small production house.
So it was a totally different world.
I will say in the most beautifulpositive way, like quarter the
(22:36):
the company that I work for, Quarterman production, like
values employees so much. And when you get to that big
conglomerate, you lose that yeah, they value each and every
one of their employees, but you have so much uncertainty.
So when Yolo, when Yolo was cancelled, when when we decide
like when the powers that be decided to invest in other sides
(23:01):
of the production house, Yolo was cancelled.
It meant it meant changes, right?
Like, and it meant losing, you know, losing XY and Z and losing
staff. And so it was a big change and,
and figuring out like how to navigate back through that, Like
it, it, you know, it took a while, but but it's been, it's
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still my, the company that I work for, my boss, my bosses, my
direct bosses are so mindful of like continuing those
relationships. So even through all of that
change, some of the people that weren't no longer like full time
employed, they brought back every opportunity they could for
like production shoots or like, you know, whatever, freelance
(23:47):
shoots and stuff like that. So I'm really like, really
grateful that that's the company.
That's my company, you know? Yeah, yeah.
But but production world is, it's so it can be so finicky,
you know, like you have a clientone day and that's your, your,
the majority of your income and then the next day gone, they're
gone. Yeah.
(24:08):
So I'm hearing two things from that and correct me if I'm
wrong, but number one, you have to be nimble, right?
Like you have to, you have to bewilling to do several parts of,
of the, of the work of the job. And then the other thing that
the other thing that I think, I think that a lot of business
owners, small, medium, large need to understand is that
(24:30):
culture is super important. 100%yes.
And that's not to say that you didn't have culture at Wai or
Sinclair or that it's any betterhere, but being cognizant of
that, I think for business owners, for management, for
executives, needing to understand that how you make
(24:54):
your employees feel is super important.
Super important. Is that is that fair to say?
100% yes. So first the the thing that you
mentioned being nimble. So I never wanted to do news
like I knew I I wanted to do sports, I wanted to do
lifestyle. I was like, never will I do news
now I'm doing news. So yes, be nimble and know
(25:14):
everything. Like I, I wasn't a strong editor
going into QMP and now I'm a very strong editor.
So like learn everything, know everything, have have your
goals, have what you want. But, but, but that ability to,
to be flexible like it would, itreally does help leap leaps and
(25:35):
bounds. And then the second point, 100%
the culture matters. The how you show your employees
that you appreciate them does not go unnoticed.
And, and it can be something as simple as just literally tell
verbally telling them that you appreciate them.
It can be a, a doughnut, like it's not big things that make a
(26:00):
person feel valued, you know, And so the people that I worked
with at WOAI were are to this day, some of my best friends.
They're why I stayed, not the company.
The company is not why I stayed.It's the people that made me
stay. Right now.
(26:20):
It's, I'm very fortunate to havethe best of both worlds.
The company that I work for seesthese things like they know
these things. They, they do little things like
we have a movie club where all the employees watch a movie like
once a month and we go and talk about it, you know, little
things that, that don't cost anything It it'll take a lunch
(26:44):
break once a month, you know, And so like, if you're, if you
can understand that that value is going to get you so much
further than like saying, no, you got to clock in, clock out,
give me your time, then it's going to change the way people
work, you know, and. I think it's important.
I mean to, to really keep in mind or to really keep top of
(27:06):
mind that a lot of times the, the team members that we have
spend more time in the office than they do with their own
families. Yeah, yeah.
And so that that in and of itself, it says a lot for the
environment that you're working in and that you're helping to
create for those that are comingto do work for you.
(27:28):
Right. Yeah, 100%.
Yeah. So, yeah, that's, that's that,
that's always, that's always topof mind for me.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
What about your time at, at the missions?
I know you've been doing that for a long time, right.
Yes, as an MC. 2015, I was unmarried, no babies when I
(27:48):
started that job and they've kept me around, which is
another. So I'm very grateful to to my
employers and my boss there, Mickey Holt, like he has opened
his family to my family. So even like when, when his
daughter grows out of her clothes, he'll send me a box of
(28:09):
clothes. They'll let him and Emmy will
send me a box of clothes. Like I'm so appreciative of them
as well, which is another reasonwhy I've been there so long, You
know, like they, they make it easy to work there.
And I'm, I'm the old one again, you know, and they're still
letting me work there. But, but no, it's, it's super
(28:29):
fun. It's what I do over there is
seasonal. Like they have their full time
staff, but I do seasonal just during the, the baseball season.
But it's been, it's a different challenge in the sense when
you're in studio and you have your body language and you have
your voice and you're presentingyourself a certain way.
(28:51):
When you're out in an open stadium, like an open field,
people drinking, yelling at you.I mean, oh, it's, I mean, it's,
it's so much fun. But like, what's really fun
about that one is that to understand that and then to play
off of it. So I, I know like I have to be,
(29:12):
I have to have my voice has to carry a certain way to be heard
throughout the whole place. And then I know people are going
to be yelling at me. So it's fun to just like, give
it back to them, you know? So that's like, that's a whole
different side of the MC host world, but it's a lot of fun,
yeah. My next question is be very hard
hitting. OK.
Shoot, you might not want to answer this question.
(29:34):
OK. Who is the man inside the suit?
Ballopeno. Ballopeno Henry puffy Taco.
I want it. All I want names.
You probably know them, actually, but I can tell you
they're brought to life by PartyPals Entertainment.
Not a, Not a. Sponsor of this show yet?
(29:55):
Not a sponsor of the show. Could be a good guest though.
Yeah, might. Be you have to connect.
This. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for
sure. No, it's, it's always fun.
I, I love taking my son to the games.
We as a team, we've done a couple of family nights where,
you know, we pay for our staff and their families to come out
(30:17):
and, you know, sit on the deck and watch a game.
I think the, the last time we went was Star Wars night last
year. So it was a lot of fun.
That's a good business move, by the way.
What's that? Taking your team out to the
game? Yeah.
So we are intentional about that.
We have, I think a total of 23 staff, not all of them are here,
(30:40):
but you know, we, we've got the majority of them are here
locally. And, you know, kind of going
back to that culture conversation.
Like we have a big team buildingevent where we close down the
office for half a day. And, you know, the last time we
did it, we, we painted each other.
We went to painting with A twistand yeah, we did that.
(31:03):
And then, you know, like I said,we'll, we'll, we'll do one big
like family night where, you know, we, we, we pay for
everybody and their families to come out.
Because again, we appreciate thefact that, you know, our, our
team is taking away time for their families to be with us,
right? So we try to give back that in
that way, but that's great. Anyway, I don't know why I got
(31:26):
off on that tangent, but but yeah.
And so it's going to the missions game is always fun.
Yeah. I can't wait to see what they do
when they move downtown. I know there's big changes
coming for us for sure. I.
Yeah, I'm really excited about the changes.
I hope to see AAA Ball back oncethey move downtown.
My heart is with double AI. Love AA.
(31:46):
Do you really? Yes, I saw triple.
A Were you there? I mean, you were there when they
were the AAA team for a little while before we got relegated
back to AA. Yeah, but that was a lot of fun,
like seeing the seeing the the up and coming players.
Yeah, you see, you definitely see a lot more like more names
that are going to hit the show pretty quickly, right?
(32:08):
But there's something about AA players that especially in San
Antonio that that makes such a beautiful connection because
they they're good, but they don't know how good yet.
You know, like they're on the cusp.
They're are they going to, are they going to be pulled up?
Are they going to stick around AA for a while?
They're so humble about it and they're willing to invest in the
(32:32):
community. AAA was not quite as humble.
They were not quite as willing. So they were just a little.
And I mean, I get it. They want to, they want to make
it to the majors. Like, I get it.
No, no. Like no shade against them.
But for San Antonio and especially where the stadium
isn't now right to, the only wayyou'll get the fans back is if
(32:57):
you connect with them, you know?And so AA guys are real good at
that. All right, that's fair.
I'll give you that. I'll give you that, yeah.
But I'm I'm a huge baseball fan.Yeah, I'm a big Red Sox fan.
Go Red Sox. They're playing, they're playing
the Yankees this weekend. So I'm excited about that
series. But no, I mean, I've always been
(33:18):
a Missions fan. I mean, even back in the day
when they were at VJ Key Stadiumover at Saint Mary's, you know,
that's. Crazy.
Yeah, I remember. So my mom worked at Saint Mary's
for a little while, and that waswhen the missions were
affiliated with the Dodgers. And Tommy Lasorda came down one
year and visited the team. And, you know, I I was there at
(33:43):
the stadium. Yeah.
And that was just somewhat. It's like a core memory.
Yeah. Yeah.
Being a kid and cool, loving baseball.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm a huge fan.
Yeah. So yeah, it's super.
Fun. Yeah, I'll be back.
I'll be back to see them this year.
It's. Perfect.
It's summer. Come on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kinda go to a baseball game.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
(34:05):
Well, Denise, thanks so much forcoming on the show.
It was a lot of fun. We're, we're definitely gonna
have to put your information like in the show notes.
But if people wanted to connect with you, what's the best way
for them to to connect with? You, yeah, absolutely.
Social media. So me personally, I'm Denise
Cabello. TV on everything.
And then our show Hollywood Hits.
(34:26):
Same social media, Hollywood hits TV.
So yeah, follow us. Follow along.
Check this. We'll we'll put the the links in
the show notes so people can find you guys easier.
And yeah, thanks so much for coming on the show.
Really appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely.
Guys, thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of Chingon
Essay. Hope you guys enjoyed it and
(34:47):
we'll see you next week. This has been an MIG Studio and
Serafina digital production. Be sure to follow and subscribe
the show on your favorite streamplatform and tell a friend about
the show by sharing this episodeon your Facebook and TikTok.
Last, if you're a business owner, entrepreneur or someone
doing something really cool in San Antonio and want to get your
(35:09):
story on our show, e-mail me at louise@myinsurancegroup.com.
As a fourth generation entrepreneur and business owner,
I know the grit and grind that it takes to run a business with
Qingon SA. We're capturing stories from
other local business owners and sharing them with you, our
Querigo community of San Anton, from the culture for the
culture. What's up everybody?
Bien Benitos, welcome back to another episode of Qingon SA.
(00:23):
Super excited to welcome you guys back and of course our our
guest. Some of you may know who she is,
Denise Cabello, formerly of San Antonio living fame, of course,
but Denise is a San Antonio through and through.
She's a Marshall High School grad and a UTSA grad.
(00:44):
Go runners. They just, they just won a big
baseball game recently. Yeah, they're still in it right
now. Are they?
It's a tournament, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But while she was there, she shecheered and then also was an
instructor for UCA. She's worked in local broadcast
since 2012, obviously at San Antonio Living Yolo, Texas.
(01:08):
And her most recent project, which we're really excited to
talk about is Hollywood Hits. And she's also a commercial news
anchor for Quarter Moon Productions.
That's it. She's and you can catch her a
lot of times at the San Antonio Missions is an MC, an infield
announcer MC game in this. Yeah, yeah.
OK. Well, it all fits.
(01:28):
It all fits. And of course, she is a wife, a
mom of two beautiful little girls and two dogs.
What kind of dogs are they? I have a little Chihuahua and I
have a big lab and they're both rescues.
Little Chihuahua, his name is Elvis, Big Lab.
We found him on the side of the road, so we just called him Big
(01:50):
Dog because I was going to find a home for him.
He stayed in our home so he is Big dog.
Yeah, the name stuck. The name stuck.
Yeah, that's awesome. So let's talk about what you're
doing at Hollywood Hits. Tell me about the show.
OK. So Quarter Moon production is
the production house that we it's a, it's a commercial
production house. So that's the bread and butter.
(02:11):
But we host shows as well. So we have Hollywood Hits, we
have a Sports weekly, bunch of different shows that air mostly
on KCWX here in San Antonio. But Hollywood Hits has been
around for a long time. It's been around for like 8
seasons, but this year we revamped it.
So we just took over Ariel to Will is the she was the host for
(02:35):
the past seven seasons. So now we're together, me and
Ariel, and we made it more like a a talk show, like a lifestyle
show. So we review the movies that are
coming out for the weekend series that are coming out.
And then we find all the behind the scenes details, like fun
anecdotes that you might not know.
(02:55):
I'm the type that if I'm watching a movie, I'm like,
where do I know that actor from?It's basically that for you go.
Down a rabbit hole. So it's basically that for 30
minutes and we just review what's coming up.
We've got some Hollywood headlines when big news is
coming out, we'll do fun games, different stuff like that did.
You, Tom Cruise, came to San Antonio a couple weeks ago.
(03:16):
Did you guys do anything? No, we didn't get, we didn't get
Tom. He didn't come on the show or
anything like that. No, but yeah, that would have
been that. That's like goals.
We're like freshly off for this revamp.
So little by little our we did have an interview a couple of
months ago with a guy named Sauger Sheikh.
He's on Hulu's deli boys. There's a show called deli boys
(03:38):
on Hulu's really funny. He's a San Antonio kid.
We went to high school together.So it was cool to catch up with
him and see like, you know, his progression here, how he did it,
how he got to Hollywood and stuff like that.
But that's that's the idea of the show and it's been a lot of
fun, you know, just getting to to work a little more creatively
and flex that muscle and then just, you know, literally have
(04:02):
fun with it. You.
Know so is it a is it a podcast or is it a TV show?
First and foremost, it's a TV broadcast show.
And so like, so when you introduce me and you're like,
you may know her if you watch broadcast television, which is
not many people anymore. So it's like your grandma
probably knows me, but that's about it.
But so it's a broadcast television show at Airsline
(04:24):
KCWX, which is Channel 2 here inSan Antonio, and it airs
throughout South Texas as well. But from that, we post the whole
show to YouTube. OK?
And then we pull the audio for podcast.
Nice. Yeah.
And so that's been my first, like, venture into podcast.
And it's podcast world is fun. Yeah, it is.
(04:44):
I like it a lot. Yeah, yeah, I'm also a data,
like a big data guy. So I love like reading the data.
Yeah. Once the show goes live on the
streaming platforms and like, you know, the demographic stuff
and and all that and just kind of diving into it.
Surprisingly, we have a lot of younger folks that listen to the
show, and I think that's just the nature of podcasts.
In general, right, I was, I was so that you said that when you
(05:09):
get that data, have you manipulated the show to like
adjust to what you found? Not yet, I don't think, because,
you know, we're, we're still fairly new.
Like I think we just released our 10th, 10th episode, I think.
So I, I, I just don't think thatwe have enough data to to kind
of like, maybe like figure out where we want to go.
(05:31):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, definitely that's,
that's something that that I want to do as we kind of, you
know, grow our audience and justkind of figure out like, OK,
what's working, what's not working?
What guests do we want to bring on?
So far I've, I mean, I, I've brought on people that I know
and that I really like and that I think we're doing like really
cool stuff in the community. Like Samantha I saw.
(05:53):
Yeah, Samantha, Yeah. Samantha, she was I, I've known
her, gosh, for almost 20 years, I think.
Yeah, yeah, she's she's great. She.
Went to the Marshall also, did she?
Yeah. Oh yeah, she did.
We didn't. We weren't the same year, but
I've known her just through like, yeah, you know, broadcast
world and stuff like that, yeah.Yeah.
I've known her for 20 years. So we got to know each other at
(06:16):
the West Side Y when we were volunteering on the board of
directors there. Cool.
And I sat on the board of directors for 9 years, I think.
And I think she was, she came inmaybe like a year or two after I
did. Yeah.
And so we've just stayed connected ever since.
Yeah, but I knew when I started the podcast, I knew she was one
of the people that I wanted to have.
(06:38):
On the show and she definitely she's.
She's always fun to talk to you anyway.
She's so willing to share her knowledge too, which is, I
think, I think San Antonio is unique in that way since it is
such a, you know, a small, big town, right, that people are
willing to share their knowledgeto help you get where you need
(06:58):
to go. And then as we like, when I
started in broadcast, it was kind of like that, but guarded,
you know, like I'm going to helpyou, but I'm not going to, I'm
going to make sure you're not better than me.
And I think that has kind of shifted to now it's like,
especially with the social worldopening up, it's like there is
room, there's room for both of us to have success.
(07:21):
And so that's been nice. I.
Feel like that's the same in my industry too.
And I think just in business in general is that I think when
people have the scarcity mindsetas opposed to like the abundance
mindset, yeah, I think you'll find that people, business
owners, entrepreneurs that have that are willing to share their
(07:41):
knowledge, that are willing to be more open to friendly
competition, sure. But also just like other people
maybe doing things different than than they are, I think it's
so much, it's so much more beneficial for the consumer, but
also for the business as well, right?
As opposed to like having the scarcity mindset where like, no,
(08:04):
I'm not gonna share with you my knowledge.
I don't want you to come into myindustry.
You're not gonna be better than me.
To your point, I think that justis a detriment for not just for
the business, but I think society in general if it makes
any sense. Oh, for sure.
I think it, I think it stunts your personal growth too.
Like if you are unwilling to open what you've learned, then
(08:28):
you're not going to learn anything else either.
So it's, yeah, it's twofold, butit's, yeah, the, I feel like the
industry has changed quite a bitin that, in that aspect, what
I've seen since since I started,it was pretty.
It was pretty, you know, like survival of the fittest at the
beginning. Yeah, yeah.
No, I, I can, I can totally see that.
(08:49):
So I'm curious, like what, why journalism?
How did you get, how did you getthere?
Was that something that you'd always wanted to do?
Did you study journalism in college?
Well, in college I my degree is in communications and it will
focus in public relations, whichif you are in college watching
listening like go I I would suggest go as a general as you
(09:12):
can. Like just you don't have to get
hyper focused into one thing because it's going to lend its
hand to to many other things. Political science major.
Yeah, yeah, right. It would be general
communication, mass communication.
That's fine. But so since I was little, I
wanted, I like idolized Oprah. I was watching Oprah and I was
(09:33):
like, I will be Oprah one day. Like I loved Oprah.
I loved her style. I loved her graciousness.
I loved I loved all of it. Then I did cheer for a long
time. So I was a cheerleader, like
hardcore cheerleader, like competitive cheerleader.
And then when I worked with thatcompany, UCA, so they're the
company that hosts the ESPN competitions.
(09:57):
So I was a part of that for a long time.
And that was like, I'm going to be a cheerleader forever, you
know? Like, that's what I knew I was
going to be a cheerleader forever did.
You watch that show on Netflix. Cheer yes, I've watched all
every cheer show you can think of.
I'll say yes, yes, I know all the words to bring it on still.
So I loved cheerleading and, andI appreciate everything that
(10:20):
that world gave me. It helped me with my public
speaking. It helped me with my
interactions, confidence, all ofthat stuff.
But there was a point with that company that I, there was no
more room for growth. And it was like, OK, what's
next? Where, where am I going to go?
And I was probably like mid 20s at this point.
And, and I was like, Oh, I remember I wanted to be over one
(10:43):
day. Like let's let's go back to
that. So this was after I had
graduated with my undergrad. I wanted to get back into like
the journalism world, but I didn't know what where to start.
So it was like internship. Let's go back to that.
I couldn't get into an internship unless I was in
school. So I started going back to
school for my master's degree. Full disclosure, I did not
(11:06):
finish my master's program, but I went to school so that I could
get into an internship, which isa crazy cycle in itself, right?
Like if you're willing to learn something as an intern, like you
should be able to do that without having any stipulations,
but neither here nor there. So then I started interning at
(11:28):
OAI while I was going to school and that's when I got into the
lifestyle show, San Antonio living.
And I had done an internship prior with sports.
And I love sports, but I love football and I love baseball and
that's basketball. Spurs.
So then I'm like golf. What am I going to say?
(11:50):
I don't like golf, tennis, I don't know anything about
tennis. So then I was like, OK, let's
try something else. That's when I got into lifestyle
and it really it fit. Like I loved lifestyle.
I love interviews. I love figuring out like what
someone is passionate about. I love finding out like what
makes us different and what makes us the same.
(12:11):
I loved all that. So lifestyle was it.
And so I started with the internship.
I was the oldest intern there. Everybody else was like 1819,
you know, I had bills like it was already, it was like, OK, I
need this to work. So I worked really hard and
showed them that I wanted to be there.
And so I was hired as a production assistant at this
(12:35):
time. It was a production assistant
ran those big old cameras. That was back before automation.
So we had those huge studio cameras.
I was running one of those big cameras as a part time
production assistant making like$7.50.
Yeah, as a college graduate, right?
Crazy, right? But I'm like, no, this is my
dream. I have to and going to.
(12:57):
Be Oprah. Yeah, I'm going to be Oprah.
I'm sure she started like this. So I just kept working and kept
like climbing the ladder, so to speak.
And so from I went from production assistant to editor
to associate producer to producer to reporter to host,
like just worked my way up, keptdoing it, kept doing it.
(13:19):
And, and then just eventually like got to where I wanted to
be, you know, and, and it was all about that, that phrase,
like it's not what you know, it's who, who you know, 100
percent, 100% in, in like the journalism, television, film
(13:41):
production world, it's 100% who you know.
And, and your work ethic will show and it will get you, you
know, get you so far. But those connections are really
important. They're so important.
Well. Relationship in general, right?
Like, relationship in general issuper important.
And yeah, I think that's the same in most industries, Yeah.
(14:03):
So yeah, no, I totally hear that.
Do you remember your first day, like on camera?
Were you like, super nervous or were you excited?
Were you all the above? Yeah, my first day on camera, I
think my first official day on camera was when I first started
appearing on camera, I was called the Facebook girl.
(14:26):
So this was when social media reporting like wasn't a thing
yet. And so we, we were like starting
this new thing where we had a Facebook page.
So makes me sound so old and I'mnot that old y'all.
But we had, we like, started ourFacebook page and started
interacting with viewers, telling the viewers on the show
(14:49):
to go to our Facebook page and comment on our topics.
I remember like kind of growing up, if you wanted to interact
with the anchors, you had to call in.
Yeah, right on a landline. Yeah.
So now this was the whole new medium.
Social media was like starting and it was like, OK, we're going
to call out to the viewers, havethem interact.
How are we going to show it? OK Denise, you're going to be
(15:11):
the Facebook girl. You're going to go on TV and say
we asked y'all this question. Luis is saying his favorite food
is, you know, macaroni and cheese, whatever.
Dom says his favorite drink is whatever.
Back to you. That was like my initial job and
I did that for a while. I was the Facebook girl for a
while. And then that led to like, you
(15:35):
know, showing like my personality and stuff led to
more reporting and hosting. And my first, so that was like
my first time on camera. But the first, my first live
shot where I was out in the fields, it was at SeaWorld.
And I remember so distinctly, I was trying to think of the word
amusement park. And I couldn't think of the word
(15:55):
amusement park. So I was just like, tell us
what's going on in this place. Like I could not come up with
amusement park. So I was a little deer in
headlights for that. But but I will say like when I
started, I had the people that Ilooked up to and I liked their
style. So that was, you know,
nationally it was Oprah, but like locally it was people like
(16:18):
Tangi Patton, Shelly Miles. I loved their style and the way
they opened they the way they could get someone to open up to
them. So that was, that was initially
how I started emulating like little things they did until I
found my own voice. And then it's like, OK, this is
how I want to do it. How?
This is me? Yeah.
You worked with Shelly for a long.
(16:40):
Time. Yeah, for a long time.
That whole time on San Antonio living.
Yeah, yeah. She was on San Antonio Living.
Yeah. Is she still on the show?
No. Right.
She is. Yeah.
No kidding. Yeah.
I I'm embarrassed to say I have not turned on the TV like local
TV. And I'm pretty sure nobody has
nobody listening either. That's it's OK, yeah.
(17:01):
So you left News 4, you left SanAntonio living went over to
Quarter Moon productions like how did how did that connection
happen? What was the sort of like
catalyst to to making the move over?
There. Yeah, well, when I left WOAI, it
was at the end of 2020. So it was when COVID happened
(17:22):
and everybody started working from home.
We they sent us home and we weremaking television from home.
So we were like holding up our phones.
It was like ragtag, just get whatever on air that you can,
right. And so it was, it had so many
ups and downs, but it was I got to do some segments with Izzy.
(17:42):
Like I she's screaming in the background.
I'm like, you might as well get on show with me.
So we came up with our segments and stuff.
It was a lot of fun, but it gaveme so much perspective.
So when I went back, when we, they sent us back in studio for
OAI and I realized there were parts of myself I was
compromising for this job and holding myself back for this
(18:07):
job. And there was like COVID just
like opened so much perspective in my mind of like where I want
to be, who I want to be, how I want to be.
And so once the end of 2020 happened, my contract was up,
renegotiation, all that. I wasn't happy with what they
were giving me. And it was finally the at that
(18:28):
point I was like, I don't have to be unhappy.
Like I can, I can go, I can go and try something new.
And I want to say that because like it's net.
It's never too late to change your career to try something
different or to like stand up for yourself.
So just wanted to, you know, like make sure people hear that.
(18:50):
But after, so after I left all of those connections that I had
made through the show, they werethey were blessing me.
So it was all this freelance work for a while and it was like
I left San Antonio living and I didn't know what I was going to
do. I didn't have anything lined up.
So I'm like, oh crap, I have a family too, you know, like, what
(19:11):
am I going to do? And it was like all those
connections just blessed me withwork, with freelance work at
that time. And I'm so appreciative of of
all of those people that had my back in that time too.
And then I was doing freelance for a bit.
And then Vanessa Macias, when a friend of mine, she she
(19:32):
introduced me to my boss at Quarter Moon Production, Smiley
Garcia. She's connected us and said
y'all need to work together. And so that's how it kind of, it
got the ball rolling. And that was specifically for
Yolo Texas when I started working with Quarter Moon
Projection and Yolo Texas was such a good show.
Oh my gosh, it was so fun. It was a travel show.
(19:54):
We got to go around Texas. We we went to to restaurants, we
went to events we like just explored Texas and it was such a
good show. Unfortunately, it got cancelled.
Yeah. And so that, what do?
We need to do to put that back on the.
Air, I know sponsors, sponsors call it.
And then that's so that's what transitioned to the news
(20:18):
commercial hits and Hollywood hits and yeah, stuff like that.
But like literally every, every transition in my career, I have
relationships to thank for stillbeing in the job that I mean,
otherwise, like, I, you know, I don't know what I would be.
(20:41):
I'd probably be teaching, I think.
Probably really. Yeah, I mean, I could see that.
I mean, you know, you were a cheer instructor for for a
while. Yeah.
Yeah, I could, I could see how that would easily translate.
I mean, you already talked to anaudience as it is, right?
Because as a journalist doing what you're doing.
So I I could see how that that translates.
But I also could see like it wouldn't necessarily make you
(21:02):
super happy doing that. Probably not, yeah, but I'd have
the summers off, so that would be great.
True. True, I'm sure your daughters
would appreciate. That yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So kind of, you know, thinking,
thinking to your, your position at at Quarter Moon, I'm curious
like what is some of the, what is one of the biggest challenges
(21:25):
that you're facing right now? How are you guys navigating that
challenge, you know, as you knowin production with clients like
what what does that, what does that look like for you guys?
Yeah. So I think the big difference
between working for WOI, we wereowned by Sinclair Broadcast
(21:50):
Group, which is the biggest conglomerate broadcast entity
across the nation. And so there was with local
broadcast, there's that. The industry is changing so much
and everything's going automated.
So there's always a chance of like your position not existing
(22:11):
anymore, right? But otherwise being in this big
company, your positions pretty solid, right?
You don't have that fear of likelike the company's going to go
under anything like that. Quarter Moon production is a
small, medium to small production house.
So it was a totally different world.
I will say in the most beautifulpositive way, like quarter the
(22:36):
the company that I work for, Quarterman production, like
values employees so much. And when you get to that big
conglomerate, you lose that yeah, they value each and every
one of their employees, but you have so much uncertainty.
So when Yolo, when Yolo was cancelled, when when we decide
like when the powers that be decided to invest in other sides
(23:01):
of the production house, Yolo was cancelled.
It meant it meant changes, right?
Like, and it meant losing, you know, losing XY and Z and losing
staff. And so it was a big change and,
and figuring out like how to navigate back through that, Like
it, it, you know, it took a while, but but it's been, it's
(23:25):
still my, the company that I work for, my boss, my bosses, my
direct bosses are so mindful of like continuing those
relationships. So even through all of that
change, some of the people that weren't no longer like full time
employed, they brought back every opportunity they could for
like production shoots or like, you know, whatever, freelance
(23:47):
shoots and stuff like that. So I'm really like, really
grateful that that's the company.
That's my company, you know? Yeah, yeah.
But but production world is, it's so it can be so finicky,
you know, like you have a clientone day and that's your, your,
the majority of your income and then the next day gone, they're
gone. Yeah.
(24:08):
So I'm hearing two things from that and correct me if I'm
wrong, but number one, you have to be nimble, right?
Like you have to, you have to bewilling to do several parts of,
of the, of the work of the job. And then the other thing that
the other thing that I think, I think that a lot of business
owners, small, medium, large need to understand is that
(24:30):
culture is super important. 100%yes.
And that's not to say that you didn't have culture at Wai or
Sinclair or that it's any betterhere, but being cognizant of
that, I think for business owners, for management, for
executives, needing to understand that how you make
(24:54):
your employees feel is super important.
Super important. Is that is that fair to say?
100% yes. So first the the thing that you
mentioned being nimble. So I never wanted to do news
like I knew I I wanted to do sports, I wanted to do
lifestyle. I was like, never will I do news
now I'm doing news. So yes, be nimble and know
(25:14):
everything. Like I, I wasn't a strong editor
going into QMP and now I'm a very strong editor.
So like learn everything, know everything, have have your
goals, have what you want. But, but, but that ability to,
to be flexible like it would, itreally does help leap leaps and
(25:35):
bounds. And then the second point, 100%
the culture matters. The how you show your employees
that you appreciate them does not go unnoticed.
And, and it can be something as simple as just literally tell
verbally telling them that you appreciate them.
It can be a, a doughnut, like it's not big things that make a
(26:00):
person feel valued, you know, And so the people that I worked
with at WOAI were are to this day, some of my best friends.
They're why I stayed, not the company.
The company is not why I stayed.It's the people that made me
stay. Right now.
(26:20):
It's, I'm very fortunate to havethe best of both worlds.
The company that I work for seesthese things like they know
these things. They, they do little things like
we have a movie club where all the employees watch a movie like
once a month and we go and talk about it, you know, little
things that, that don't cost anything It it'll take a lunch
(26:44):
break once a month, you know, And so like, if you're, if you
can understand that that value is going to get you so much
further than like saying, no, you got to clock in, clock out,
give me your time, then it's going to change the way people
work, you know, and. I think it's important.
I mean to, to really keep in mind or to really keep top of
(27:06):
mind that a lot of times the, the team members that we have
spend more time in the office than they do with their own
families. Yeah, yeah.
And so that that in and of itself, it says a lot for the
environment that you're working in and that you're helping to
create for those that are comingto do work for you.
(27:28):
Right. Yeah, 100%.
Yeah. So, yeah, that's, that's that,
that's always, that's always topof mind for me.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
What about your time at, at the missions?
I know you've been doing that for a long time, right.
Yes, as an MC. 2015, I was unmarried, no babies when I
(27:48):
started that job and they've kept me around, which is
another. So I'm very grateful to to my
employers and my boss there, Mickey Holt, like he has opened
his family to my family. So even like when, when his
daughter grows out of her clothes, he'll send me a box of
(28:09):
clothes. They'll let him and Emmy will
send me a box of clothes. Like I'm so appreciative of them
as well, which is another reasonwhy I've been there so long, You
know, like they, they make it easy to work there.
And I'm, I'm the old one again, you know, and they're still
letting me work there. But, but no, it's, it's super
(28:29):
fun. It's what I do over there is
seasonal. Like they have their full time
staff, but I do seasonal just during the, the baseball season.
But it's been, it's a different challenge in the sense when
you're in studio and you have your body language and you have
your voice and you're presentingyourself a certain way.
(28:51):
When you're out in an open stadium, like an open field,
people drinking, yelling at you.I mean, oh, it's, I mean, it's,
it's so much fun. But like, what's really fun
about that one is that to understand that and then to play
off of it. So I, I know like I have to be,
(29:12):
I have to have my voice has to carry a certain way to be heard
throughout the whole place. And then I know people are going
to be yelling at me. So it's fun to just like, give
it back to them, you know? So that's like, that's a whole
different side of the MC host world, but it's a lot of fun,
yeah. My next question is be very hard
hitting. OK.
Shoot, you might not want to answer this question.
(29:34):
OK. Who is the man inside the suit?
Ballopeno. Ballopeno Henry puffy Taco.
I want it. All I want names.
You probably know them, actually, but I can tell you
they're brought to life by PartyPals Entertainment.
Not a, Not a. Sponsor of this show yet?
(29:55):
Not a sponsor of the show. Could be a good guest though.
Yeah, might. Be you have to connect.
This. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, for
sure. No, it's, it's always fun.
I, I love taking my son to the games.
We as a team, we've done a couple of family nights where,
you know, we pay for our staff and their families to come out
(30:17):
and, you know, sit on the deck and watch a game.
I think the, the last time we went was Star Wars night last
year. So it was a lot of fun.
That's a good business move, by the way.
What's that? Taking your team out to the
game? Yeah.
So we are intentional about that.
We have, I think a total of 23 staff, not all of them are here,
(30:40):
but you know, we, we've got the majority of them are here
locally. And, you know, kind of going
back to that culture conversation.
Like we have a big team buildingevent where we close down the
office for half a day. And, you know, the last time we
did it, we, we painted each other.
We went to painting with A twistand yeah, we did that.
(31:03):
And then, you know, like I said,we'll, we'll, we'll do one big
like family night where, you know, we, we, we pay for
everybody and their families to come out.
Because again, we appreciate thefact that, you know, our, our
team is taking away time for their families to be with us,
right? So we try to give back that in
that way, but that's great. Anyway, I don't know why I got
(31:26):
off on that tangent, but but yeah.
And so it's going to the missions game is always fun.
Yeah. I can't wait to see what they do
when they move downtown. I know there's big changes
coming for us for sure. I.
Yeah, I'm really excited about the changes.
I hope to see AAA Ball back oncethey move downtown.
My heart is with double AI. Love AA.
(31:46):
Do you really? Yes, I saw triple.
A Were you there? I mean, you were there when they
were the AAA team for a little while before we got relegated
back to AA. Yeah, but that was a lot of fun,
like seeing the seeing the the up and coming players.
Yeah, you see, you definitely see a lot more like more names
that are going to hit the show pretty quickly, right?
(32:08):
But there's something about AA players that especially in San
Antonio that that makes such a beautiful connection because
they they're good, but they don't know how good yet.
You know, like they're on the cusp.
They're are they going to, are they going to be pulled up?
Are they going to stick around AA for a while?
They're so humble about it and they're willing to invest in the
(32:32):
community. AAA was not quite as humble.
They were not quite as willing. So they were just a little.
And I mean, I get it. They want to, they want to make
it to the majors. Like, I get it.
No, no. Like no shade against them.
But for San Antonio and especially where the stadium
isn't now right to, the only wayyou'll get the fans back is if
(32:57):
you connect with them, you know?And so AA guys are real good at
that. All right, that's fair.
I'll give you that. I'll give you that, yeah.
But I'm I'm a huge baseball fan.Yeah, I'm a big Red Sox fan.
Go Red Sox. They're playing, they're playing
the Yankees this weekend. So I'm excited about that
series. But no, I mean, I've always been
(33:18):
a Missions fan. I mean, even back in the day
when they were at VJ Key Stadiumover at Saint Mary's, you know,
that's. Crazy.
Yeah, I remember. So my mom worked at Saint Mary's
for a little while, and that waswhen the missions were
affiliated with the Dodgers. And Tommy Lasorda came down one
year and visited the team. And, you know, I I was there at
(33:43):
the stadium. Yeah.
And that was just somewhat. It's like a core memory.
Yeah. Yeah.
Being a kid and cool, loving baseball.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm a huge fan.
Yeah. So yeah, it's super.
Fun. Yeah, I'll be back.
I'll be back to see them this year.
It's. Perfect.
It's summer. Come on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kinda go to a baseball game.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
(34:05):
Well, Denise, thanks so much forcoming on the show.
It was a lot of fun. We're, we're definitely gonna
have to put your information like in the show notes.
But if people wanted to connect with you, what's the best way
for them to to connect with? You, yeah, absolutely.
Social media. So me personally, I'm Denise
Cabello. TV on everything.
And then our show Hollywood Hits.
(34:26):
Same social media, Hollywood hits TV.
So yeah, follow us. Follow along.
Check this. We'll we'll put the the links in
the show notes so people can find you guys easier.
And yeah, thanks so much for coming on the show.
Really appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely.
Guys, thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of Chingon
Essay. Hope you guys enjoyed it and
(34:47):
we'll see you next week. This has been an MIG Studio and
Serafina digital production. Be sure to follow and subscribe
the show on your favorite streamplatform and tell a friend about
the show by sharing this episodeon your Facebook and TikTok.
Last, if you're a business owner, entrepreneur or someone
doing something really cool in San Antonio and want to get your
(35:09):
story on our show, e-mail me at louise@myinsurancegroup.com.
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