June 20, 2025 • 47 mins
Undocumented creatives have helped shape the American brand but we’re only good for the brand until we speak up. Rarely are we trusted to shape our own narratives.
In this episode, America Castillo sits down with Miriam Frutos, an influencer marketer, to talk about what it means to be a DACA recipient working in media and marketing and navigating an American workforce that often benefits from our creativity while quietly pushing us out.
In the first half, Miriam shares her immigration story crossing the border at age nine, growing up undocumented in a predominantly white neighborhood, and pushing through community college, state college, and grad school with little support and a lot of persistence.
In the second half, the conversation shifts to the challenges of being let go from jobs where they were praised one moment and dismissed the next. Despite showing up with ideas, care, and commitment, both Miriam and America experienced what most undocumented creatives risk when being outspoken about your status.
Journalism taught them to question what they were told. Branding taught them that speaking up can cost us everything.
Whether you’re a DREAMer, a creative of color, or someone genuinely trying to understand how the system works, you’ll want to hear this.
Help shape future episodes!
Leave a voicemail or shoot us a text. I actually wanna hear from you! I like constructive criticism.
Follow along on TikTok and Instagram: @la_ameriquita, @lachismosadelvalle
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
I saw that TikTok.
And I wanted to ask about that.
What happened?
Okay, first of all, maybe weshould introduce you for a
little bit.
Hi, Miriam.
Okay, when I introduce myself inSpanish, it's America Castillo.
(00:21):
So how do you introduce yourselfin Spanish?
Miriam.
Miriam.
Yeah.
Sorry, Miriam Fruzzo?
Yeah, like exactly like how yousee it written.
It's the same, the same thing.
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
So this is going to be a funconversation because I think,
well, you and I are experiencingliterally the same thing and
(00:43):
we're in the same industry.
And it's I think we're bothbeing affected by this because
everything right now is likechanging and it's all over the
place.
So let's start.
Tell me a little bit.
Tell us a little bit more aboutyourself.
Why did you choose journalism?
(01:06):
I mean, I met you in mypodcasting class.
What made you want to be in thisfield?
So I have always been a firmbeliever that journalists are
the watchdog of space.
the people and that they havethe power to shape public
opinion.
So, you know, growing up here inthe U.S.
(01:28):
and what is it, like 20, over 20years that I've been here now,
like I've seen how journalismhas changed very slowly the way
that immigrants, especiallyundocumented immigrants, are
depicted.
And I wanted to be in a positionwhere I was like, I want to be
part of that narrative because Iknow that the way that our
communities are being portrayedright now, that's not who we
(01:49):
are.
In fact, if you look at stats,most crimes get committed by
U.S.
citizens.
So it's like, where are yougetting your information from?
Like, please show me the numbersbefore you go and speak badly
about my community.
Yeah, I think one of the reasonsyou and I were able to kind of
relate right away is because weboth have DACA, right?
(02:10):
You still have DACA?
Yeah, I do.
Yeah.
When did you come to the UnitedStates?
I was like nine years old when Igot here.
So, you know, I was a littlechild.
Like I had no idea what wasgoing on when I came here.
Yeah.
Do you remember any of it?
I do remember when my mom...
(02:32):
Because my dad was already inthe US.
So we drove to an airport andthen we met a couple.
It was a man and a woman.
And they were just like, okay,you and your sister are going to
go over with a couple and thenthey're going to drive you
across and you'll meet with yourdad in a few hours.
Honestly, compared to...
(02:52):
other people's experiences.
I want to say mine was a reallypositive one.
Both the guy and the lady wereextremely nice to us.
You know, they were very caring.
They were making sure that wewere okay, not just physically,
but like emotionally as much asthey could reassuring us, like,
you know, it'll be okay.
You're going to meet your dad ina few hours.
(03:13):
We were traveling alongside withthe baby.
So I can only imagine what thatmom felt like having to give up
her baby to like, to strangersbut overall it was like I don't
want to say it was a niceexperience because I still have
a lot of negative emotionstowards that because of what I
did see like going across yousee all of these crosses which I
came to find out later were ofpeople that had died crossing
(03:34):
the border and I'm just like howis how is there so much death
and like no one's thought tolook at the bigger picture and
be like what can we do toprevent this like how can we
facilitate you always hear comethe legal way but like Have you
tried making that a possibility?
So it was a mix of emotions.
(03:56):
It was good, but it was also badbecause of what I remember
seeing.
And I forgot to ask, but whereis your family from?
So we're from Saguayo,Michoacan.
Okay.
Which is, you know, I love thefood.
That's the one thing that I'mjust like, I love that food.
And something that was...
(04:18):
Well, but that was a dumbquestion.
I'm going to ask the samequestion that everybody asks me.
Oh, have you ever gotten achance to go back?
And I was like, sir, I justexplained my status.
When you crossed the border, didyou ever go through like a bit
of a silent phase, like whereyou just didn't talk?
Yeah.
So we actually crossedovernight.
(04:39):
So we have been given like thealias we were posing as this
couple's three younger children.
And the lady was like, hey,like, you know, we gave you guys
the alias.
However, it would be preferredif you just like pretended to be
asleep, which made it super easybecause we were crossing in the
middle of the night.
So like ultimately I ended upjust falling asleep.
(05:02):
I remember like roughly wakingup while we were closed.
Like a phone had rang and it wasthe other mom from the baby.
And she was just like, hey,how's my baby?
The lady's like, your baby'sfine.
You know, I do have to let yougo because we're approaching the
actual crossing.
So like, I don't want to be onthe phone.
And when she said that, I waslike, OK, I'm gonna go back to
sleep.
(05:22):
I closed my eyes.
I was like, OK, I have nobusiness being awake right now.
So it was like it was quiet, butit was it was also at night.
So it felt somewhat normal.
Yeah.
And at what moment did yourealize like what was happening?
Like, OK, this is what'shappening.
I'm crossing the border.
Or was that not even crossing?
Like, were you not even aware ofwhat was happening?
And no, see, I didn't I didn'tknow why we were doing this.
(05:45):
I knew we were moving to adifferent country, but I didn't
understand why it had to be thatway.
Like I could I couldn'tunderstand why we couldn't just
all get on a bus or get on a andlike drive over and then meet my
dad.
It was just weird to me that ithad to be done in that way.
So it was a little bit scary.
But I was like, I was reallyexcited to see my dad after, you
(06:06):
know, like about a year and ahalf of not seeing him.
So that was the thing on mymind.
I was just excited to see mydad.
I didn't know we were like notsupposed to be doing that.
Yeah, no, I don't think any ofus are kind of aware.
What about your first night inthe U.S.?
Like, do you remember your firstnight in the U.S.?
UNKNOWN (00:00):
?
SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
your first, when you finally came here, do you
remember that feeling of?
Yeah, so I think we got herearound like 3 a.m.
So, you know, we drove to thisperson's home, which was a
beautiful, beautiful home.
The lady was like, hey, feelfree to go into one of the
bedrooms if you feel morecomfortable.
If you want to stay out here,we're going to wait for your
dad.
I just ended up staying out withthem.
(06:47):
And then a few hours later, mydad shows up.
And at that point, it's likewe're all...
And I'm sorry.
I'm tearing up right now.
We're all in tears at thatpoint.
It was just a very, veryemotional moment.
Yeah.
You know, the couple kind ofstepped down and they just let
my dad and us have our moment ofjust reconnecting with each
(07:11):
other.
And then afterwards they werelike, OK, well, here's the
remaining because basically likethey paid half up front.
And then my dad handed over theremaining half for us to be
there.
At that point, we were just Iwas I just remember being really
sleepy, but like being excitedthat I was there.
We drove over to my aunt's houseand then we had to wait like
(07:31):
another 24 hours for my mom tocross because she didn't cross
with us.
Okay.
Okay.
So do you guys cross alone or?
Yeah, it was just, um, thatcouple that was crossing us,
myself, my sister, and thenanother baby.
Um, cause we were posting as ourkids.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Uh, wow.
And what was your, um, no,that's, I get it.
(07:53):
I, same.
I, well, mine was like, I justcrossed alone.
My mom was already here, but,um, that's, little baby similar
stories yeah but little um I wasgonna say and what was okay so
then you got here and what wasyour what do you feel like your
experience growing up in theUnited States has been like
(08:14):
especially you you grew up inthe valley um I grew up outside
of the valley in Burbank so itwas I mean it still is a
predominantly white neighborhoodso I was out of my entire like
When I got here, I got here whenI was nine.
By the time it was time toenroll in school, I was already
10.
So I enrolled in fifth grade.
(08:35):
It was really tough.
Like that first year wasprobably the toughest year I've
ever experienced because Ididn't have anybody else that
spoke Spanish other than mysister.
But because she's like fouryears younger than me, we
weren't, you know, we didn'thave races together.
So at first, I was the onlySpanish speaker in my entire
life.
(08:55):
school not even just like classwell outside of my sister um and
they would send me to like ELDclasses which is you know to
like learn English um I don'tthink those classes helped a lot
or at all the lady was actuallyreally mean I know I was like
what's happening here yeah soit's like um eventually two more
(09:17):
kids who one of them was alsoundocumented I came to find out
later um enrolled in that sameschool and we kind of just I
kind of just started hanging outwith them because it was like I
don't I can't talk to the restof the kids and that's just kind
of how that first year playedout towards the end of the year
I remember understanding thelanguage but not being able to
(09:39):
speak and I recall this becauseit was like promotion or
graduation from like fifth gradeand I had gone to get like you
know those body condresses thatyou know fit like not tight but
like you know, sort of tight.
So I remember we were getting inline to go to lunch, and then
the teacher that I had in fifthgrade, mind you, I was 10.
(10:01):
She had no business making thiscomment to a 10-year-old.
She was like, girls, don't eattoo much because your bellies
are going to pop out of yourdresses.
Oh, my God.
And I was just like, ma'am.
Like, you know, back then, myfirst reaction was like, suck it
in.
Yeah, that was my reaction.
(10:22):
Like, oh, my God, suck it in.
Mind you, I was I was also likea heavier child growing up.
But now that I think about it asan adult, I'm like, OK, that
that was totally uncalled for asa fifth grader.
You had no business.
Yeah, I know.
That was such a crazy time.
Like just growing up, I justfeel like everybody was always
(10:43):
that like they didn't have alike they didn't have a filter
when it came down to anybody'sweight comments.
Yeah.
It was insane.
Sorry.
Somebody was walking.
I was walking and I gotdistracted at the same time,
making sure that they didn'thear what was like, what was I
going to say?
We were kind of distracted.
(11:03):
I don't know.
We were just like talking aboutlike the first, like first years
being here.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay.
Because that was going to be mynext, okay.
Different times.
That was leaning into my nextquestion.
Okay.
You, Okay, you're a little bitolder than me, right?
Like not that far, but a littlebit older, which means you...
Hold on, how do I write this?
(11:28):
I got DACA like right when Iturned 17, which I feel like I
got lucky because it was likeone of those things where it was
like, oh my God, I'm getting outof high school and finally get
my work permit.
So I don't really have to dealwith all the legal complications
that come after high school.
But I'm assuming because of thetime in the year that you may
(11:49):
have had to deal with a littlebit of that.
Yeah.
Can you explain like thedifferences of what you've seen,
how much the conversation ofDACA has changed from your
perspective?
Because it was a different time.
Like, you know, there was abunch of kids who got caught up
when DACA passed in 2012.
(12:10):
Yeah.
Everybody thinks like, oh, DACAis just like this.
Everybody can get it.
And it's, you know, there weresome people that the ages, they
just didn't fit.
From your point, from yourperspective, how have you seen
DACA and the conversation growin the media?
So firstly, I think people don'tunderstand that there's a lot
(12:31):
outside of like, law-abidingissues, there were a lot of
requirements.
I mean, you had to havegraduated, if I'm not correct,
from a U.S.
high school.
You had to have proof that youhad been residing here before a
specific year.
I don't recall the year off thetop of my head.
And I believe you had to beunder 27, which, you know, as
(12:52):
somebody who's about to turn 32,I feel like that's a really,
like, why are you cutting peopleoff at 27?
Actually, why is there a cutoffAs long as people meet the
requirements, they should beable to apply, in my opinion.
Because again, we're trying todo things the right way.
So when I turned 18, DACA wasnot a thing yet.
(13:13):
I turned 18 in 2011.
So I graduated high school.
And obviously, you startthinking, well, what am I going
to do with my life?
I went and got myself a fakegreen card.
And I just want to like for therecord, this fake ring card and
Social Security is not stealinganybody's identity.
(13:35):
They are two separate things.
This is a set of numbers thatdoes not exist and does not
belong to anyone.
So just for the record, for therecord, guys, it is not the same
as identity theft.
Yeah.
So, you know, I went and got andthat was a very like weird
process because it's one ofthose like if you know, you
know, like people will be like,hey, do you need a passport
(13:56):
photo?
And then be like, yeah, I need apassport photo.
And then they give you like akeyword where you go into like a
random store and then they takeyou to the back and you get a
picture.
And, you know, after a fewhours, there you go.
You had a green card and asocial security number.
Yeah.
So, you know, that's how Istarted working.
Like, I'm not going to lie andsay I've never done that.
Like, yeah, that's what I had todo.
(14:17):
So the weird thing for me wasthat, you know, after I got
that, I was able to get a job atlike pizza restaurants.
And then 2012 came around when Igot my DACA.
So it was so weird for me tohave to go up to my employer and
be like, hey, I need you tochange my social security
number.
UNKNOWN (14:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:39):
I actually don't have a green card.
But the fact that he was sochill about it kind of told me
it was one of those words like,it's unspoken, but you know.
Yeah.
Like, you know, clearly theseare real documents.
Yeah.
Which you can add on to thecurrent climate right now.
It's like everybody's going outafter people who are working
with false documents or nodocuments.
(15:01):
But like nobody's reallypersecuting the employers.
And I'm not talking about yourmom and pop shop.
I'm talking about those likemultimillion dollar companies
like, you know, hotels, farmers.
Like, yeah, you're taking theiremployers, their employees away.
But like.
That's it.
There are no consequences.
So it just kind of adds on whereit's like now that we have this
permit, you know, we've beenable to get different jobs that
(15:25):
are better paying, where wedon't have to face harassment or
as much discrimination.
Like, you know, discriminationis still a thing, but we have a
protection against it.
And I kind of think that's kindof where the conversation
shifted.
Before it used to be just like,oh, allow these kids to work.
Now it's just like, These kidsare or adults now, you know, in
(15:46):
our case, these kids, these kidsare part of that economy.
There are adults in health careand teaching and all sorts of
different jobs like they'rebusiness owners.
I did.
I did my thesis and Iinterviewed about like 10
business owners on theirjourney.
And some of them started out asundocumented and still are
undocumented.
(16:07):
Others, you know, got married orgot citizenship through some
other kind of way.
But it's like ultimately.
It's a huge stepping stone.
DACA is and has been a hugestepping stone.
And the fact that there arepeople that aren't able to get
it right now, it's just beyondconcerning.
Yeah, no.
(16:27):
And Because that was my nexttopic was college and grad
school.
It's not easy.
I think everybody assumes,especially because I feel like
usually it's the media that isalways presenting like, oh, all
of these dreamers are gettingall these scholarships.
At least that's how it's likefrom, I'm assuming from the
(16:47):
white perspective, it looks likewe're getting all these
scholarships just kind of handedout to us.
And we know that it doesn't,What was your experience getting
into college?
When it came to the finances,when it came to the support
(17:08):
system, because we usually needa better support system, what
was your experience with all ofthat?
So because of the cost, Iactually started out in
community college.
I started out at LABC.
For the first year and a half, Ihad no idea that there was any
sort of financial reliefavailable to us.
Anytime I would ask about it,they were just like, sorry, kid,
(17:31):
we don't know how to help you.
So I was paying out of pocket.
I was working full time makinglike At most, I was making like
$8.50,$9, and using all of thatmoney to pay for a few classes
at my community college.
It was until the last semesterthat I was there that the
(17:51):
counselor was like, okay, well,you're about to graduate.
Are you planning to attend afour-year?
And then I kind of explained mysituation.
He was like, oh, no, don'tworry.
He's like, go to the DreamCenter.
They're located at thislocation.
They can help you out.
And it was then that I found outlike, oh, I can get some sort of
help.
And it's not help.
They're not actively depositingthousands of dollars into my
account.
(18:12):
What they're doing is they'rejust waiving the tuition fee.
That's all I qualified for atthat point.
Which, if you think about it, isnot a lot for somebody making$9
an hour.
But it still made a hugedifference because then I would
only have to pay for the books.
So then eventually Itransitioned into CSUN for my
bachelor's and I just...
(18:33):
They were like, hey, you havetwo years to complete the
program, even though our programwas like two and a half years.
I just kind of had to take extraclasses to make sure that I
didn't run out of that aidbecause they were only going to
waive my fees for those twoyears.
And that's how I was able to getmy education.
But like everything book-wise orany other materials that were
(18:54):
needed, that was out of mypocket to pay for.
And the thing that changes iswhen you get to grad school,
That's no longer a thing.
So for my grad school, I wasable to get my fees waived for
the first semester because I hadbeen unemployed because of
COVID.
(19:15):
Okay.
So they were able to waive it.
But for the second, third andfourth semester, I'm paying out
of pocket.
I had to take out a loan duringmy last semester that I'm paying
back, which...
you know, it's really toughright now because I'm
unemployed.
We'll get to that.
So it's like, you know, it's notwhat certain media outlets paint
(19:39):
it out to be.
We're not getting all of thesethousands of dollars and all of
this help.
We're getting very like minimalhelp that somewhat allows us to
enter these spaces that are notreally meant for us or were not
designed for people like us tocome into it's just giving us a
little bit of an opportunity tobetter ourselves and better our
lives for not just us but futuregenerations yeah and then um do
(20:05):
you feel like you had enoughresources in high school to help
you with getting into college orlike just like even in college
do you feel like the People thatwere supposed to be helping you
were helping you.
For example, for me, it did takeuntil I went to the Dream Center
for me to actually start gettingmore help.
(20:25):
I feel like when I was going toother counselors, I wasn't being
taken as seriously or it wasmore like, oh, you know this.
And then finally, someone alsoredirected me, hey, the Dream
Center.
And then I was able to get help.
Uh, do you, did you go throughthat?
Like either in high school andcommunity college where you felt
(20:45):
like, okay, I'm gettingfrustrated because I'm not like,
I don't feel like I'm gettinglike the right direction and to
find someone.
So I actually took a, uh, longbreak after high school from
college.
I did not go directly intocollege.
When I went and asked my highschool counselor, I was like,
hey, initially I wanted to be anurse.
I don't know why.
(21:06):
I was like, I'm going to be anurse.
So I went and asked her aboutlike, you know, what are some
things like Every other 12thgrader was going in there during
that time.
It was like, OK, what collegesare you going to go to?
What do you have an idea?
What do you want to do with yourlife?
And I just went in there and shewas very blunt about it.
She was just like, well, I don'treally see you going into
college.
Like people like you don'treally go into college.
(21:28):
And that kind of just like shemade she made the choice for me
right then and there.
I wasn't given the choice of, Iwasn't even told like, hey, you
can go.
It's going to be extradifficult, but you can go.
Like she had made it clearlythat I wasn't going to go.
So after that, you know, I just,I didn't go.
I just started working minimumwage jobs.
And it wasn't until a few yearslater that I was talking to a
(21:51):
former manager and he was like,no, he's like, you shouldn't let
that stop you.
He was actually like my formermanager at that pizza restaurant
was a person that reallyencouraged me to just, Get back
in there.
He's like, just go get someinformation.
Start with a few classes like,you know, you could do this.
I believe in you.
So it's like I had no support inhigh school in regards to higher
(22:12):
education.
Yeah, I know.
I always bring that up because Iknow that there's I'm sure
there's a ton of other, youknow, Latinos in high school who
probably also feel like, hey,wait a minute.
I also want to go to school, butwhere's the help?
OK, so now let's get into it,because you recently just
graduated and then.
lost her job like the next dayand then so now we can actually
(22:36):
get into losing our job duringthis time and how we feel
because that's how I know Iforgot to do a check-in how are
you oh I mean honestly like Ifeel like I just got hit with a
brick so it went from being likethe highest of highs you know
walking across the age to likethe lowest of lows of being
unemployed so about two weeksprior to me being let go my
(23:00):
Former colleague, because shewas also let go.
She was like, hey, I want tostart an agency and I've seen
your work.
And like, if I got some clients,would you be interested in
helping me out with like doingsocial media work?
And I was like, sure.
I was like, you know, I couldalways use a little bit extra
money.
So she started this agency.
Right.
She was like, let me get apicture of you so I could put it
like, you know, for forreference for people.
(23:23):
And then I don't know how HRdepartment found out about it.
And that's the reason they letus go.
They were like, it's a conflictof interest.
And I'm just sitting here like,how is it a conflict of
interest?
You're a multimillion dollarcompany and hospitality.
I'm one person with like$3,000in my bank account.
(23:43):
It's not the same, right?
And the reason I say that todayit feels like I got hit with a
brick is after we got let go, Iapplied for unemployment here in
California.
We're lucky to have that.
So I was like, it's not thesame.
It's like 50% of what you wouldnormally be making.
But I was like, it's something,right?
I got off the call with theunemployment department and they
(24:04):
were like, hey, you actually,you got denied.
Your job is saying that youwere...
It's not breaking companypolicy.
It's some other thing.
Let me see.
I have it.
I have it somewhere right here.
Because again...
Again, both my boss and I arefrom a misconduct.
(24:26):
So he's like, yeah, because youguys got like go for misconduct.
And I was like, well, can youexplain that a little bit?
Um, cause again, I didn't workon company time on any personal
projects.
Uh, we currently have nopersonal projects.
So like, there's no, there's noincome.
Um, I didn't use any of theirtech.
I didn't use any of theirequipment.
Like I have my own laptop, myown phone, my own, you know,
(24:48):
selfie light.
Um, So like, where's this comingfrom?
They're like, well, you know, atthis point, like the decision
has been made.
You're going to get a letter inthe mail and then you're welcome
to apply for what is thatcalled?
An appeal.
And then like once you file foran appeal, it'll be sent to a
judge instead of theunemployment office.
(25:08):
So I guess that the person thatmade the choice and saw us
apparently being an issue wassomebody at the unemployment
office, which not to throw anyshade, but I'm like, How am I
qualified to make that choice?
Or like, you know, anybody justlike, but like, what are their
qualifications?
So like, now I'm having to waitfor this appeal to see if they
(25:31):
would give me unemploymentbecause based on them, it was
misconduct.
But I'm like, I never signed anynon-competes.
And in California, non-competesare not even a thing.
They have banned them a whileback.
Deep down to my core, I feellike this was just...
A reason to get rid of me.
Yay.
(25:52):
Real quick, for those who maynot know what a non-compete is,
what is a non-compete?
So a non-compete basically saysthat if I work for company A
doing marketing, I cannot gowork for company B and do
marketing.
Because they're competingagainst each other.
(26:35):
half of their employees getfired because most of them do
have two jobs doing the samething, just setting up their
property.
And that's when the guy goes,he's like, well, yeah, that's
why you have to take it to anappeals court and like actually
see a judge.
I'm like, great.
Oh my God.
All of these things.
And you, you work in influencermarketing, right?
(26:59):
Yes, I do.
Yeah.
With everything going on rightnow, like how, what do you,
first of all, what, like aboutinfluencer marketing what
frustrates you about influencermarketing and where do you see
the future of influencermarketing now that you have you
guys are going to start your ownagency So honestly, like that's
(27:22):
not something I had ever thoughtabout.
It was just we started doing itand for my former employer.
And that's where my boss waslike, wow, you're really great
at this.
So it's a lot of just relationslike going back and forth,
emailing back and forth, goingover.
Honestly, it's not somethingthat was in my plans.
Again, I really wanted to be ajournalist, but it's really
(27:42):
tough in LA.
I'm a little fish in a big pond.
And this was an opportunity thatI was like, you know what, let
me take it.
Like, I see potential in this.
Also, Daka being on the line,being your own boss is really,
you know, like, that's your onlyoption if Daka gets killed.
You know, that's so true forpeople.
(28:04):
Like, that's another thing,like, Nobody wants to sponsor.
Again, my former manager hadasked this company.
Mind you, I was at this companyfor over 10 years.
I had never been written up.
I had never had any verbalwarnings.
I had never so much as left adirty cup on a table.
And when she was like, hey, Ireally want to sponsor Miriam.
(28:26):
Like, she's really great.
And we're like, no.
And then like now being fired,it just it brought up a lot of
emotions as to like, I see whyGen Z reacts the way they do
when they say like, oh, youknow, fuck companies.
Excuse my language.
You can blur that
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
out.
No.
It makes
SPEAKER_01 (28:43):
sense though.
And like as a millennial, yeah,I was told like, you know, be
loyal to the company.
Stay with one company.
Like it's going to pay off.
And not only did I get fired forlike trying to make extra money,
but then they went and denied myunemployment claim because they
felt that that was misconduct.
It really shows you.
(29:04):
And I have been going into thiscompany every day and hearing
managers be like, we value you.
We love you.
You are great.
You're amazing.
We're lucky to have you on ourteam.
And it's like, I was nominatedthis past year for like employee
of the year.
Yeah.
Oh, congratulations.
Yeah.
So it's like, where is all thatnow?
Where's that love?
No, that, no, I...
(29:26):
It was the same way.
You sent me a voice memo acouple weeks ago, and I remember
listening to it, and I was like,wait, are we dealing with the
same thing right now?
Because how is it that we'regoing through it?
Because in my case, reallyquick, I started working as a
(29:48):
bartender, and they were like,oh...
Well, by then, the head brewerand the bar manager were really
emphasizing that they were nothappy with the way that their
marketing manager was handlingtheir account.
I was already taking a marketingclass during that time.
And you know how in class,sometimes you're just like,
(30:09):
oh...
Check out this page and see whatyou know.
So I was just like, oh, yeah,like, you know, your page is one
of those kind of pages that Ikind of like look through in
class and just nothing,literally nothing serious.
I was just me going through likeevery page I knew through like a
class assignment and was like,OK, I can, you know, doing my
homework assignment and justcasually like talking about this
(30:30):
at the bar or being like, yeah,like I'm taking a marketing
class right now because when Igot hired, I was in the process
of like ending my that marketingclass.
And so through a conversationwith the head brewer and the bar
manager, they find out that I'man artist.
And so they're like, oh, well,are you good at editing?
(30:51):
And I'm like, yeah, I know howto edit.
Editing is not like my, I don'tknow how you all do it, but
editing is not my thing.
I know you have to really sitdown and be focused, right?
But I can do it, you know what Imean?
And I'm like, yeah, I know howto do it.
Like I know how to do that.
I can construct like a story.
You can tell me blah, blah,blah.
Like I have the ideas, but I'malso at the same time, like I'm
(31:15):
the same way.
Like I didn't sign up to be amarketer.
You know what I mean?
I went into this field.
What did I go?
Well, when I started likejournalism, my, I don't, my goal
was like, yes, obviously I wantto be there for the people and
everything.
But also it was like, I, I don'tknow, want to work in
(31:35):
entertainment at the same time.
And I know that there is usuallylike it is very common for
people in journalism to end up,you know, going into writing or
the development side ofentertainment, which is usually
what had always been my goal.
And so I already like went intothis company, like letting them
(31:55):
know, like, hey, I'm here oneday.
I do want to go back.
But at the same time, like thatdoesn't seem realistic.
For a really long time,especially I have no money, you
know, I'm like, so I'm here, I'mwilling to work with them.
And honestly, I'm the kind ofperson that like, once you hire
me, and I start working for you,like I will give you like my all
(32:17):
right.
But along the way, just witheverything that I have gone
through in my very short 29years, I had learned just how
quickly like you said, you know,you can work for a company and
give them your all.
And at the end of the day,they're just gonna toss you out,
right?
And I'm coming back from like aleave of absence from working
(32:38):
with like a big corporation thatgave me PTSD for other reasons.
And I am slowly making my wayback into like the workforce and
the work, you know, because Idid take a leave of absence that
was a while.
And so I'm back and feelinglike, okay, bartending is
probably okay right now.
(32:58):
This is a good slow pace to getmy foot back into the door.
They along the way are like,yes, help us with their
marketing.
And I'm like, sure.
So it gets a little trickybecause I would say that I still
don't really know my worth, youknow?
And so when it came down tobeing like, okay, they're asking
(33:20):
for pictures of an example of mywork to see how they were like
and everything.
And eventually I get down andI'm sitting with the business
manager and they're like, okay,how can you help?
And I'm presenting this thingbut as I'm talking to them I'm
starting to notice that it'sbeing framed like I'm the one
coming up to them and asking canI help you when in reality it
was the head brewer and the barmanager that were like asking me
(33:44):
for help like we don't they werethe ones that were complaining
about their current social mediamanager I didn't want to
overstep because I'm like heyshe's the social media manager
this is her job you know likeshe should be the one doing all
of this so I feel like when Icame in I ended up just becoming
like more of a consultant andbeing like actually well this
(34:05):
and this and this and this ishow I feel this could work they
you know I first loved it andwere same thing oh my god you
are amazing you're the best blahblah blah like I was being
praised and then I don't knowwhat happened like I just went
into like a functional likefreeze or like I don't know if
it was imposter syndrome orsomething but eventually like I
(34:28):
just couldn't like like it's notthat I couldn't do my work but I
had realized like oh my god Idon't know if my partnership
with this brewery is going towork out because the head brewer
and I think very verydifferently especially when it
comes to content and so he's alittle much older different
(34:48):
generation and I'm a millennialwhich I want to say is like
perfect for right now but likewe were not seeing eye to eye
with certain things.
Right.
And I was like, okay, this isgoing to get a little messy.
Um, and I was already kind ofafraid to be working with him
just based on the way he wastalking about his social, the
current social media manager.
(35:09):
I was like, okay, this is goingto be a person that like, I
really have to like, gonna haveto work extra hard and please,
because he's not gonna, he'sgonna be very picky about the
work and everything.
And so maybe I oversaw theentire situation.
Um, I can admit that.
And so then, um, We're working.
And then along the way, I'mnoticing, like, okay, so one way
(35:32):
that I realized, I don't know ifwe're going to, like, DIY any
content was, for example, SuperBowl.
I wanted to do something with,like, our$3 beers that we had
and use some sort of, like,Hendrick Lamar.
Because at that time, what wastrending during the Super Bowl
was the Not Like Us thing.
So I was like, ooh, that wouldbe, like, a nice sound or
something.
But then I was like, hmm.
(35:53):
Maybe not because this is notthe crowd that actually likes
Kendrick Lamar.
I've heard them talk, you know?
And then as I'm, like, hearingthem talk and trying to create
more ideas, I'm like, oh, thisis not working because I don't
appeal to the white audience.
You know, like, I'm not...
Like, I don't know.
(36:13):
So now I'm realizing that I'mfinding my niche as something
completely different.
Like I'm finding my niche ineither like the strategy part of
the consulting part, but like,I'm like, okay, I like, I'm
basically in this process, likefinding what I'm good at and
what I'm not good at.
Right.
And I am trying to communicatewith the business manager.
Like, Hey, I'm really sorry thatlike, if this isn't, if I'm not
(36:35):
doing a good job or if this andthat, and for the most part,
they'd be like, yes, or don'tworry about it.
Or like, you're doing great.
And I'm like, Okay, maybe I'mjust overthinking.
So it gets to the point wherethere's three beers where the
head brewer names them.
And it's just problem afterproblem.
And one of them, I didn't even,I wasn't even that, I didn't
(36:57):
even cause that problem.
One of them was the name of thebeer that he was making for
February.
It was like a, it was calledCherry Poppin' Daddies.
It was like some sort of like,Very sour goes the beer, right?
And see, this is where like I,it was my first, that was my
first kind of like beer project.
(37:17):
So I didn't even catch the name,right?
I just went straight to like,okay, let's just start like
filming and doing content forit.
And then somebody, somebody elsewho used to work with us was
like, hey, that name, probablyyou should take it down.
This person, by the way, iswhite.
And I have to say this because Ijust feel like the bar was
really emphasizing on how I wasthis like woke, liberal person.
(37:39):
Mexican.
I was like, no.
This girl is like, hey, maybe weshould change the name of the
beer.
And so they're like, yeah,you're right.
We should change the name of thebeer.
So I'm like, okay, cool.
Then the next beer is like asoftball themed beer.
And the brewer names it after asaying from a near nurse, like
(38:02):
spokesperson or something.
Right.
And then they're telling melike, oh, we want original audio
for this content, blah, blah,blah.
And I'm like, okay, well,there's going to be like legal
issues, copyright issues.
So let me at least make surethat we get some sort of like
permission or something.
Right.
I don't know.
I'm also like overthinking thisentire thing.
And so then I just send out likea quick permission to use
(38:25):
content, email, whatever, justto make sure that we're good.
Right.
And then I walk into work andthe head brewer and all of his
friends are like standing there.
And the head brewer likebasically is like, I don't think
you should have done that.
We're going to get a season toseason letter.
And now we're not going to beable to promote it.
And I'm like, okay.
And I'm already not doing well.
(38:45):
So I started like bawling myeyes out because I'm like, I
don't know what to do.
I feel like if I, do my job thenthey're like you're doing too
much but then if i don't do myjob then they're telling me
you're not doing enough andhonestly i'm not getting like
paid any extra for this i'm justi just ended up going with the
negotiation of like 18 hours andhours because i felt like i was
(39:05):
entry level when it came tocontent creating so i was like
sure you know um Eventually, Iwas like, you know what?
I felt very embarrassed in thesituation.
I don't even know if I reallywant to work with you guys at
this point, but I'm still goingto push it.
I'm still going to try.
Their next beer release is aCinco de Mayo beer, right?
(39:27):
And I'm like, this is soexciting.
This is my time to shine.
I am Mexican.
I am from Puebla.
We could do something super funwith it.
The head brewer is like, yeah,except it's not really a Mexican
beer.
It's got Canadian hops, NewZealand hops.
um and I'm like okay so whatwhat we're gonna have to make
(39:47):
fun of this because in my headit's like kind of ironic because
like Canada is all about likeFrench and Mexico and Puebla and
I'm like this is kind of funnylike we should probably make fun
of it they didn't like that andI was like you guys have to
learn how to make fun ofyourself at one point and I was
they were like no like theybasically felt like I was
calling them like you know,these racist people.
(40:09):
And I'm like, well, if you'renot, then you're not.
But along the way in theprocess, I had been telling,
like, I didn't want to tellguests my status, but when we
were getting into deepconversations or they like, they
would be like, no, like, whyweren't, why aren't you
traveling?
I'm like, well, this is it.
And if I felt comfortable enoughto like talk to them, I'm like,
okay, this is somebody who I canlike, she could probably help me
(40:30):
in the future or something ifneeded.
I don't know.
But, um, It turned into adisaster.
Eventually, some of the barmanager's friends and the head
brewer's friends would try tocome in and intimidate me or
question me more about my statusthat it made me feel like, ooh,
okay, maybe I made a mistake orsomething in the wrong crowd
(40:53):
here.
I learned my lesson for sure.
But it just turned into a wholemess.
And then when it came down tothe Cinco de Mayo beer, I was
just like, what's up, guys?
I get it.
you guys want to market thisbeer and we can do it.
But if we're going to do it, Ithink that this is how we can do
it.
I think it'd be really fun.
And they didn't like it.
And we're like, no, we're not.
(41:14):
And then after that, everythingjust kind of went downhill.
Like I could just tell that thetensions were there and that we
weren't clashing based off like,like brand.
Like they just felt like I wasjust too political for them.
And in my head, I was like,well, this beer was also
accidentally political.
So I do feel like this, thisyear and also Cinco de Mayo is
like very serious to me rightnow because during this Trump
(41:37):
era like what the heck it's justa lot and so eventually I we've
just been going back and forthon a lot of things and I went on
a trip I came back and then theywere like oh yeah you just
didn't meet expectations we'regonna let you go which sucks
because I had like a whole planof like okay actually I realized
(41:59):
I don't really want to work atthe bar but I do want to do more
things behind the scenes and Ihad a plan and a structure
because they had two businessesand two spots and with the
market research I was like waitI have something but never mind
oh my god I'm sorry no you'regood no but yeah that's that's
insane and honestly like comingfrom a big company that's run by
(42:21):
a lot of Older people.
It's a very common thing.
You're going to clash.
Like my, my former boss was GenZ and she would always, and I
would see those common, likeoverhear those conversations
where she'd be like, no, we needto do this.
And they'd fight her back.
Be like, no, we don't want to dothis because of X, Y, Z.
And it's like, okay, we're theones with the experience and
(42:44):
you're not wanting to listen.
And then when we do things yourway and they fail, you get upset
at the marketing girls.
Yeah.
Marketing is changing.
And I understand that you guysdon't want certain things pushed
on that.
Or I get it.
You're like, well, we're just anolder generation.
We're not going to look into it.
And I'm like, yeah, I understandthat.
(43:05):
So let me work with you guys fora little more while I try to
figure out a way to get this aswell.
I think they think it's sosimple as a post.
Just post it.
Just do this.
Just do that.
And then they wonder, well, whyisn't the strategy working?
Why isn't the sales going up?
And I'm like, well, because...
And I'm seeing them do thismistake already.
(43:26):
By the way, after they decided,like, oh, let's just embarrass
her and tell her that it was abad idea to reach out to the
Mariners, they ended up scoringa deal with the Mariners anyways
for them to, like, brew a beerwith their pitcher.
I meant to say catcher.
So I was like, all of that, youguys were stressed out.
We literally fought all of that.
And then you guys end up withthis contract.
(43:49):
And then you fire me.
When you guys signed thecontract because I don't fit
your image.
Allegedly.
I know you guys told me that itwas because I didn't fit
expectations, but the day beforethey let me go, I was listening
to the head brewer talking abouthow he was looking to hire
people and how he was looking tohire people that fit more of his
imagery and stuff for thebrewery.
(44:11):
Allegedly.
And that was kind of the thingthat would piss me off about the
head brewer because I'm like,this isn't your...
This is not your brewery.
You are the head brewer, but youdo not own this place, you know?
And also, reviews say that yourbeer sucks and that people only
come here for the people I waspeople so you know and so I
(44:32):
don't know what to tell you butat the same time I was like very
happy because I was I could justfeel myself like my creativity
like draining and just beinglike oh my god this girl I'm not
understanding they think art isone thing and they don't they
think oh my god she's being sopolitical but like literally
sports is political art ispolitical music is political and
having a fucking fight with themon touch tunes all the time over
(44:57):
like music oh I don't like yourmusic so I'm just gonna and
that's like not even with me itwas just with other guests too
and it's like just let themenjoy their music too like oh my
god they're paying for this andlike you guys are just I can go
on and on and then there's morebut it's like I don't know my
other question with you is likeare you and I know we only have
(45:18):
10 minutes right now but like doyou feel frustrated with like
journalism and influence rightnow?
What are all your thoughts withall of that right now?
I have a lot of thoughts onthat, actually.
Okay, first of all, the wholeTrump administration being like,
we're going to open up the spaceto influencers to come and be
(45:38):
the ones asking the questions.
Again, no shade onto theinfluencers like you do, Yubu,
but these are people who getpaid to promote a product and
say it's my favorite and it'sgood.
And There's no objectivity inthat, in my opinion.
They don't have the necessaryskills to verify facts, which is
(46:00):
something that's very embeddedto us as journalists.
You have to verify.
You can't just take...
everything at face value andassume it's right.
You have to do your research andmake sure.
So it's like I personally, like,yes, influencers are great for
like product marketing, forexperiences, you know, to
promote.
Like as an advertisement source,they're amazing.
(46:20):
They got their stuff down.
Like kudos to them.
Like they put a lot of effortinto their work.
As journalists, I think thatthey should be kept separate.
And I get it.
They're like, oh, well, we'retrying to like appeal to the
younger audience.
Okay, that can be...
Simply done.
Just hire newer people in all ofthese news agencies.
(46:43):
You don't necessarily have tosource from influencers, but
they're a lot easier tomanipulate than journalists ever
will be.
So that's where I stand on that.
And again, influencers are greatfor advertisement, for
marketing, things like that.
Amazing.
But as far as hardcore newsgoes, especially during this
(47:04):
time, I do think that they don'treally have a place.
If they came from a journalistbackground, great.
Yeah, by all means.
I know at least one influencerwho works for the New York
Times.
She does both.
She does the New York Times andthen she does her influencer
stuff.
Her?
Great.
She has the background.
She has a track record of beingable to produce...
(47:26):
accurate stories so it's justlike you can't let everybody in
there just because they have afollowing yeah no I agree
especially because so one of theanother influencer I feel like
has done a great job at likewhen he started off he was more
of a comedian influencer andthen actually took the time to
get some sort of journalismdegree background certificate oh
(47:48):
my god Shay you GuerreroGuevara?
Yeah, I love him.
Yes, he, that's why I reallyfollow him.
And I only say this because I'veseen, especially here in
Seattle, other, like, Seattlecontent creators that are
getting bigger here, especiallyin the Lyme community, who, and
I love that, are announcingwhere the protests are
(48:09):
happening, where it's going tohappen, and all of this.
And then some people in thecomments would be like, oh my
god, you're doing the greatjournalism work, and it's like,
okay, but you're not out there.
And I know because I saw themwhen I was at the protest.
Actually, why was I not TMZ?
I swear to God, because I havethe perfect video.
But I was at the protest, andsomebody screamed out the
influencer's name, and theinfluencer was just at the
(48:32):
corner like kind of like justlike killing and everybody was
like dude like you're on heresaying like oh come on here come
on here and you weren't evenlike protesting with us in my
head I was like okay I know he'sprobably at work he did say he
had like a nine to five butthat's where I'm coming in where
I'm saying like the influencersare just announcing and I'm just
going and taking the content andthen posting it whereas the
(48:55):
reporters are like okay let meinterview this person let me go
here let me try to see that Andit's like, there's a little more
extra work that goes into itthan just this is where it's
going to be and this is thestuff.
And it's like, I actually doappreciate that all of that is
happening and that you guys aredoing that.
(49:17):
But that does not someone enoughto be like, I'm a journalist.
You know?
And even I have a hard timebeing like, I'm a journalist
because I'm like, I still haveso much fortune that I need to
be doing, you know, to considermyself a journalist.
But it's just, it's such a weirdtime to be a content creator and
(49:38):
a journalist.
Yeah, no, it's, again, I thinkwe all have a place that we can
fit into.
Like, that's not the problem.
Like, yeah, influencers aregreat for dispersing information
because they have a much largersocial following than most
journalists do.
But again, their reach is only,or the facts of their, if
(50:01):
they're facts, the informationthat they're spreading is only
so much.
You still need somebody to go inthere and, like, talk to them.
Like, you know, you've seen inLA how it's been for the past
week.
Yeah.
I had a while back, I had thepleasure to meet with, what's
her name?
Carmen Marquez.
She used to be a Telemundojournalist, so now she's
(50:23):
independent.
She's been out there.
She has been out there withanother person, and her producer
actually got shot by a rubberbullet while they were just
recording, and she has a presspass.
She shows that she's part of thepress, even as an independent
journalist.
So those are the people that areactually being out there,
(50:44):
putting their lives, honestly,at danger because things can go
wrong really, really quickly.
And actually gathering the factsand trying to speak not just to
the protesters, but you alsohave to get the other side of
the story.
Try to talk to the agents ifthey want to share their
thoughts.
They might not want to sharetheir thoughts.
So it's like we all have a placethat we can fit into.
It's just like you've got tofind where you fit.
(51:07):
Yeah, that's right.
And then maybe...
right now would be a good timefor us to work together and not
try to pin each other.
That's what I'm seeing a lot onTikTok and that's why I have to
leave and be like, you knowwhat, I can't read these
comments.
Now can I look at these rightnow because it's frustrating.
(51:28):
That's exactly what thisadministration wants.
They want that divide betweenevery single community.
It's not just between brown andblack people.
It's between everybody becauseif we're united, We're
unstoppable because at the endof the day, a lot of us are
facing the same thing.
They love to say like, well,this immigrant took your job.
When in reality, it's like, no,this massive corporation wants
(51:51):
to underpay someone.
You're not going to want to getunderpaid as a citizen because
you know you're supposed to paymore.
So what do they do?
They go and pick somebody elseout of wherever that doesn't
have their papers.
And then they're like, hey, doyou want to do this for$7?
And they'll be like, yeah.
Why?
Because they need the money.
So Honestly, at this point,everything from content to
(52:14):
working is political.
And if I were to think ofsomething, it would be really
hard for me to work with someonecurrently that's okay with the
situation that we have going on.
I think that this is not amoment to stay quiet.
I think this is a moment tospeak up.
And if that breaks workingrelationships, then you know
what?
I'm not even sorry.
(52:34):
So be it.
Because...
As you mentioned the brewery, Iwould not take them on a client.
I think I would have realizedand be like, you know what?
It's not that I'm not a fit foryou.
It's that you're not a fit forme.
Your values don't align withmine.
And I literally, honestly, Isaid that to the social media
manager when we were gettinginto it.
I was like, don't even worryabout it, girl.
(52:56):
You're got like the company'svalues.
They don't even align with me.
You got like, I, it's too, it'stoo, honestly, it was so
perfect.
It was like, That brewery wasjust the perfect embodiment of
like how America works and howthey like to pin Latinos against
each other because it just sohappened in the social media was
manager was also Latina.
(53:17):
And then we got into it.
And then I was like, hold onthis.
I can't allow this to happenbecause I know what's happening.
And it's the white man that'strying to make us fight.
And it should not be like that.
And yeah, I mean, it was just,yeah, because no, I, what I was
expecting is for the company tobe like, okay, this is what
we're going to do.
This is what we want to offeryou for your work at least.
(53:38):
And then we can start thenegotiation instead.
It was like, I sure.
I don't know.
I feel new.
I'll just take like hourly rightnow.
I don't know.
That's on me.
I've definitely learned.
And now I'm going to be likemuch better on negotiating and
much better at like all of thisbecause yeah like I don't ever
(53:58):
want to feel like that anymorelike being an underpaid like I
think that's why I was gettingso frustrated we have almost
three minutes let me just do afew last words just to you but
to anybody that's out there likethinking like am I in the wrong
for having my opinions no you'renot in the wrong for having your
opinions you're going to clashwith people and you know what
unfortunately speaking outagainst I'm just going to call
(54:20):
it the man because, you know,since we're being called woke.
Speaking out against the manwill get you in trouble.
It will get you fired.
People love saying, oh, we loveemployees that speak up.
They don't.
For the most part, they don't.
They want somebody who's goingto be submissive and quiet and
okay with whatever they'redoing.
That is not either of ourpersonalities from what I've
(54:42):
seen.
We didn't go into realism forthat.
We didn't go into realism forthat.
It's like I am going to be loudand I am going to ask those
questions that are going to makeyou uncomfortable.
And if, you know, being firedis, you know, what ends up the
consequences of my actions, aspeople like to call it, then you
know what?
So be it.
Because at the end of the day, Ican be at peace with saying I
(55:02):
try to stand up for myself anddo better for myself.
And they just didn't want to seethat happen.
And if that's, if that's howthey want to feel and they want
to let me go, you know, cool.
But I do don't, I don'tappreciate them following me on
my LinkedIn over and over andover again.
Cause it's like, get a life.
Yeah.
You already let me go.
So those are my final thoughts.
Leave me alone.
(55:22):
I will be taking my ideas to anew brewery who I know will have
fun listening to it because I'vemet other people and they like
my ideas.
So.
And reach out to that team, themariners, whoever.
Like, if you already have theircontact information, that's
really all you need.
Be like, hey, you know, like,I'm doing marketing stuff, blah,
blah, blah.
Just connect with him.
And even if it's not for them,if he can get you connected with
(55:43):
somebody else, like, that'sliterally how it starts.
Yeah, it's just a team.
So, you know, good luck to youbecause you deserve a lot better
than that place.
So do you.
And I'm honestly so excited forus because who she was dealing
with, they were big.
And trust me, they're big.
Yeah, we're not going to say thename because I don't want to get
another cease and desist.
I already know we won't.
(56:03):
But they were big.
Yeah.
So thank you.
And I'll see you soon.
And thank you for picking me upat the airport.
SPEAKER_00 (56:15):
All right.
No problem.
Bye.
I love you.
Bye.
I saw that TikTok.
And I wanted to ask about that.
What happened?
Okay, first of all, maybe weshould introduce you for a
little bit.
Hi, Miriam.
Okay, when I introduce myself inSpanish, it's America Castillo.
(00:21):
So how do you introduce yourselfin Spanish?
Miriam.
Miriam.
Yeah.
Sorry, Miriam Fruzzo?
Yeah, like exactly like how yousee it written.
It's the same, the same thing.
I love it.
I love it.
Yeah.
So this is going to be a funconversation because I think,
well, you and I are experiencingliterally the same thing and
(00:43):
we're in the same industry.
And it's I think we're bothbeing affected by this because
everything right now is likechanging and it's all over the
place.
So let's start.
Tell me a little bit.
Tell us a little bit more aboutyourself.
Why did you choose journalism?
(01:06):
I mean, I met you in mypodcasting class.
What made you want to be in thisfield?
So I have always been a firmbeliever that journalists are
the watchdog of space.
the people and that they havethe power to shape public
opinion.
So, you know, growing up here inthe U.S.
(01:28):
and what is it, like 20, over 20years that I've been here now,
like I've seen how journalismhas changed very slowly the way
that immigrants, especiallyundocumented immigrants, are
depicted.
And I wanted to be in a positionwhere I was like, I want to be
part of that narrative because Iknow that the way that our
communities are being portrayedright now, that's not who we
(01:49):
are.
In fact, if you look at stats,most crimes get committed by
U.S.
citizens.
So it's like, where are yougetting your information from?
Like, please show me the numbersbefore you go and speak badly
about my community.
Yeah, I think one of the reasonsyou and I were able to kind of
relate right away is because weboth have DACA, right?
(02:10):
You still have DACA?
Yeah, I do.
Yeah.
When did you come to the UnitedStates?
I was like nine years old when Igot here.
So, you know, I was a littlechild.
Like I had no idea what wasgoing on when I came here.
Yeah.
Do you remember any of it?
I do remember when my mom...
(02:32):
Because my dad was already inthe US.
So we drove to an airport andthen we met a couple.
It was a man and a woman.
And they were just like, okay,you and your sister are going to
go over with a couple and thenthey're going to drive you
across and you'll meet with yourdad in a few hours.
Honestly, compared to...
(02:52):
other people's experiences.
I want to say mine was a reallypositive one.
Both the guy and the lady wereextremely nice to us.
You know, they were very caring.
They were making sure that wewere okay, not just physically,
but like emotionally as much asthey could reassuring us, like,
you know, it'll be okay.
You're going to meet your dad ina few hours.
(03:13):
We were traveling alongside withthe baby.
So I can only imagine what thatmom felt like having to give up
her baby to like, to strangersbut overall it was like I don't
want to say it was a niceexperience because I still have
a lot of negative emotionstowards that because of what I
did see like going across yousee all of these crosses which I
came to find out later were ofpeople that had died crossing
(03:34):
the border and I'm just like howis how is there so much death
and like no one's thought tolook at the bigger picture and
be like what can we do toprevent this like how can we
facilitate you always hear comethe legal way but like Have you
tried making that a possibility?
So it was a mix of emotions.
(03:56):
It was good, but it was also badbecause of what I remember
seeing.
And I forgot to ask, but whereis your family from?
So we're from Saguayo,Michoacan.
Okay.
Which is, you know, I love thefood.
That's the one thing that I'mjust like, I love that food.
And something that was...
(04:18):
Well, but that was a dumbquestion.
I'm going to ask the samequestion that everybody asks me.
Oh, have you ever gotten achance to go back?
And I was like, sir, I justexplained my status.
When you crossed the border, didyou ever go through like a bit
of a silent phase, like whereyou just didn't talk?
Yeah.
So we actually crossedovernight.
(04:39):
So we have been given like thealias we were posing as this
couple's three younger children.
And the lady was like, hey,like, you know, we gave you guys
the alias.
However, it would be preferredif you just like pretended to be
asleep, which made it super easybecause we were crossing in the
middle of the night.
So like ultimately I ended upjust falling asleep.
(05:02):
I remember like roughly wakingup while we were closed.
Like a phone had rang and it wasthe other mom from the baby.
And she was just like, hey,how's my baby?
The lady's like, your baby'sfine.
You know, I do have to let yougo because we're approaching the
actual crossing.
So like, I don't want to be onthe phone.
And when she said that, I waslike, OK, I'm gonna go back to
sleep.
(05:22):
I closed my eyes.
I was like, OK, I have nobusiness being awake right now.
So it was like it was quiet, butit was it was also at night.
So it felt somewhat normal.
Yeah.
And at what moment did yourealize like what was happening?
Like, OK, this is what'shappening.
I'm crossing the border.
Or was that not even crossing?
Like, were you not even aware ofwhat was happening?
And no, see, I didn't I didn'tknow why we were doing this.
(05:45):
I knew we were moving to adifferent country, but I didn't
understand why it had to be thatway.
Like I could I couldn'tunderstand why we couldn't just
all get on a bus or get on a andlike drive over and then meet my
dad.
It was just weird to me that ithad to be done in that way.
So it was a little bit scary.
But I was like, I was reallyexcited to see my dad after, you
(06:06):
know, like about a year and ahalf of not seeing him.
So that was the thing on mymind.
I was just excited to see mydad.
I didn't know we were like notsupposed to be doing that.
Yeah, no, I don't think any ofus are kind of aware.
What about your first night inthe U.S.?
Like, do you remember your firstnight in the U.S.?
UNKNOWN (00:00):
?
SPEAKER_01 (06:25):
your first, when you finally came here, do you
remember that feeling of?
Yeah, so I think we got herearound like 3 a.m.
So, you know, we drove to thisperson's home, which was a
beautiful, beautiful home.
The lady was like, hey, feelfree to go into one of the
bedrooms if you feel morecomfortable.
If you want to stay out here,we're going to wait for your
dad.
I just ended up staying out withthem.
(06:47):
And then a few hours later, mydad shows up.
And at that point, it's likewe're all...
And I'm sorry.
I'm tearing up right now.
We're all in tears at thatpoint.
It was just a very, veryemotional moment.
Yeah.
You know, the couple kind ofstepped down and they just let
my dad and us have our moment ofjust reconnecting with each
(07:11):
other.
And then afterwards they werelike, OK, well, here's the
remaining because basically likethey paid half up front.
And then my dad handed over theremaining half for us to be
there.
At that point, we were just Iwas I just remember being really
sleepy, but like being excitedthat I was there.
We drove over to my aunt's houseand then we had to wait like
(07:31):
another 24 hours for my mom tocross because she didn't cross
with us.
Okay.
Okay.
So do you guys cross alone or?
Yeah, it was just, um, thatcouple that was crossing us,
myself, my sister, and thenanother baby.
Um, cause we were posting as ourkids.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
Uh, wow.
And what was your, um, no,that's, I get it.
(07:53):
I, same.
I, well, mine was like, I justcrossed alone.
My mom was already here, but,um, that's, little baby similar
stories yeah but little um I wasgonna say and what was okay so
then you got here and what wasyour what do you feel like your
experience growing up in theUnited States has been like
(08:14):
especially you you grew up inthe valley um I grew up outside
of the valley in Burbank so itwas I mean it still is a
predominantly white neighborhoodso I was out of my entire like
When I got here, I got here whenI was nine.
By the time it was time toenroll in school, I was already
10.
So I enrolled in fifth grade.
(08:35):
It was really tough.
Like that first year wasprobably the toughest year I've
ever experienced because Ididn't have anybody else that
spoke Spanish other than mysister.
But because she's like fouryears younger than me, we
weren't, you know, we didn'thave races together.
So at first, I was the onlySpanish speaker in my entire
life.
(08:55):
school not even just like classwell outside of my sister um and
they would send me to like ELDclasses which is you know to
like learn English um I don'tthink those classes helped a lot
or at all the lady was actuallyreally mean I know I was like
what's happening here yeah soit's like um eventually two more
(09:17):
kids who one of them was alsoundocumented I came to find out
later um enrolled in that sameschool and we kind of just I
kind of just started hanging outwith them because it was like I
don't I can't talk to the restof the kids and that's just kind
of how that first year playedout towards the end of the year
I remember understanding thelanguage but not being able to
(09:39):
speak and I recall this becauseit was like promotion or
graduation from like fifth gradeand I had gone to get like you
know those body condresses thatyou know fit like not tight but
like you know, sort of tight.
So I remember we were getting inline to go to lunch, and then
the teacher that I had in fifthgrade, mind you, I was 10.
(10:01):
She had no business making thiscomment to a 10-year-old.
She was like, girls, don't eattoo much because your bellies
are going to pop out of yourdresses.
Oh, my God.
And I was just like, ma'am.
Like, you know, back then, myfirst reaction was like, suck it
in.
Yeah, that was my reaction.
(10:22):
Like, oh, my God, suck it in.
Mind you, I was I was also likea heavier child growing up.
But now that I think about it asan adult, I'm like, OK, that
that was totally uncalled for asa fifth grader.
You had no business.
Yeah, I know.
That was such a crazy time.
Like just growing up, I justfeel like everybody was always
(10:43):
that like they didn't have alike they didn't have a filter
when it came down to anybody'sweight comments.
Yeah.
It was insane.
Sorry.
Somebody was walking.
I was walking and I gotdistracted at the same time,
making sure that they didn'thear what was like, what was I
going to say?
We were kind of distracted.
(11:03):
I don't know.
We were just like talking aboutlike the first, like first years
being here.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay.
Because that was going to be mynext, okay.
Different times.
That was leaning into my nextquestion.
Okay.
You, Okay, you're a little bitolder than me, right?
Like not that far, but a littlebit older, which means you...
Hold on, how do I write this?
(11:28):
I got DACA like right when Iturned 17, which I feel like I
got lucky because it was likeone of those things where it was
like, oh my God, I'm getting outof high school and finally get
my work permit.
So I don't really have to dealwith all the legal complications
that come after high school.
But I'm assuming because of thetime in the year that you may
(11:49):
have had to deal with a littlebit of that.
Yeah.
Can you explain like thedifferences of what you've seen,
how much the conversation ofDACA has changed from your
perspective?
Because it was a different time.
Like, you know, there was abunch of kids who got caught up
when DACA passed in 2012.
(12:10):
Yeah.
Everybody thinks like, oh, DACAis just like this.
Everybody can get it.
And it's, you know, there weresome people that the ages, they
just didn't fit.
From your point, from yourperspective, how have you seen
DACA and the conversation growin the media?
So firstly, I think people don'tunderstand that there's a lot
(12:31):
outside of like, law-abidingissues, there were a lot of
requirements.
I mean, you had to havegraduated, if I'm not correct,
from a U.S.
high school.
You had to have proof that youhad been residing here before a
specific year.
I don't recall the year off thetop of my head.
And I believe you had to beunder 27, which, you know, as
(12:52):
somebody who's about to turn 32,I feel like that's a really,
like, why are you cutting peopleoff at 27?
Actually, why is there a cutoffAs long as people meet the
requirements, they should beable to apply, in my opinion.
Because again, we're trying todo things the right way.
So when I turned 18, DACA wasnot a thing yet.
(13:13):
I turned 18 in 2011.
So I graduated high school.
And obviously, you startthinking, well, what am I going
to do with my life?
I went and got myself a fakegreen card.
And I just want to like for therecord, this fake ring card and
Social Security is not stealinganybody's identity.
(13:35):
They are two separate things.
This is a set of numbers thatdoes not exist and does not
belong to anyone.
So just for the record, for therecord, guys, it is not the same
as identity theft.
Yeah.
So, you know, I went and got andthat was a very like weird
process because it's one ofthose like if you know, you
know, like people will be like,hey, do you need a passport
(13:56):
photo?
And then be like, yeah, I need apassport photo.
And then they give you like akeyword where you go into like a
random store and then they takeyou to the back and you get a
picture.
And, you know, after a fewhours, there you go.
You had a green card and asocial security number.
Yeah.
So, you know, that's how Istarted working.
Like, I'm not going to lie andsay I've never done that.
Like, yeah, that's what I had todo.
(14:17):
So the weird thing for me wasthat, you know, after I got
that, I was able to get a job atlike pizza restaurants.
And then 2012 came around when Igot my DACA.
So it was so weird for me tohave to go up to my employer and
be like, hey, I need you tochange my social security
number.
UNKNOWN (14:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:39):
I actually don't have a green card.
But the fact that he was sochill about it kind of told me
it was one of those words like,it's unspoken, but you know.
Yeah.
Like, you know, clearly theseare real documents.
Yeah.
Which you can add on to thecurrent climate right now.
It's like everybody's going outafter people who are working
with false documents or nodocuments.
(15:01):
But like nobody's reallypersecuting the employers.
And I'm not talking about yourmom and pop shop.
I'm talking about those likemultimillion dollar companies
like, you know, hotels, farmers.
Like, yeah, you're taking theiremployers, their employees away.
But like.
That's it.
There are no consequences.
So it just kind of adds on whereit's like now that we have this
permit, you know, we've beenable to get different jobs that
(15:25):
are better paying, where wedon't have to face harassment or
as much discrimination.
Like, you know, discriminationis still a thing, but we have a
protection against it.
And I kind of think that's kindof where the conversation
shifted.
Before it used to be just like,oh, allow these kids to work.
Now it's just like, These kidsare or adults now, you know, in
(15:46):
our case, these kids, these kidsare part of that economy.
There are adults in health careand teaching and all sorts of
different jobs like they'rebusiness owners.
I did.
I did my thesis and Iinterviewed about like 10
business owners on theirjourney.
And some of them started out asundocumented and still are
undocumented.
(16:07):
Others, you know, got married orgot citizenship through some
other kind of way.
But it's like ultimately.
It's a huge stepping stone.
DACA is and has been a hugestepping stone.
And the fact that there arepeople that aren't able to get
it right now, it's just beyondconcerning.
Yeah, no.
(16:27):
And Because that was my nexttopic was college and grad
school.
It's not easy.
I think everybody assumes,especially because I feel like
usually it's the media that isalways presenting like, oh, all
of these dreamers are gettingall these scholarships.
At least that's how it's likefrom, I'm assuming from the
(16:47):
white perspective, it looks likewe're getting all these
scholarships just kind of handedout to us.
And we know that it doesn't,What was your experience getting
into college?
When it came to the finances,when it came to the support
(17:08):
system, because we usually needa better support system, what
was your experience with all ofthat?
So because of the cost, Iactually started out in
community college.
I started out at LABC.
For the first year and a half, Ihad no idea that there was any
sort of financial reliefavailable to us.
Anytime I would ask about it,they were just like, sorry, kid,
(17:31):
we don't know how to help you.
So I was paying out of pocket.
I was working full time makinglike At most, I was making like
$8.50,$9, and using all of thatmoney to pay for a few classes
at my community college.
It was until the last semesterthat I was there that the
(17:51):
counselor was like, okay, well,you're about to graduate.
Are you planning to attend afour-year?
And then I kind of explained mysituation.
He was like, oh, no, don'tworry.
He's like, go to the DreamCenter.
They're located at thislocation.
They can help you out.
And it was then that I found outlike, oh, I can get some sort of
help.
And it's not help.
They're not actively depositingthousands of dollars into my
account.
(18:12):
What they're doing is they'rejust waiving the tuition fee.
That's all I qualified for atthat point.
Which, if you think about it, isnot a lot for somebody making$9
an hour.
But it still made a hugedifference because then I would
only have to pay for the books.
So then eventually Itransitioned into CSUN for my
bachelor's and I just...
(18:33):
They were like, hey, you havetwo years to complete the
program, even though our programwas like two and a half years.
I just kind of had to take extraclasses to make sure that I
didn't run out of that aidbecause they were only going to
waive my fees for those twoyears.
And that's how I was able to getmy education.
But like everything book-wise orany other materials that were
(18:54):
needed, that was out of mypocket to pay for.
And the thing that changes iswhen you get to grad school,
That's no longer a thing.
So for my grad school, I wasable to get my fees waived for
the first semester because I hadbeen unemployed because of
COVID.
(19:15):
Okay.
So they were able to waive it.
But for the second, third andfourth semester, I'm paying out
of pocket.
I had to take out a loan duringmy last semester that I'm paying
back, which...
you know, it's really toughright now because I'm
unemployed.
We'll get to that.
So it's like, you know, it's notwhat certain media outlets paint
(19:39):
it out to be.
We're not getting all of thesethousands of dollars and all of
this help.
We're getting very like minimalhelp that somewhat allows us to
enter these spaces that are notreally meant for us or were not
designed for people like us tocome into it's just giving us a
little bit of an opportunity tobetter ourselves and better our
lives for not just us but futuregenerations yeah and then um do
(20:05):
you feel like you had enoughresources in high school to help
you with getting into college orlike just like even in college
do you feel like the People thatwere supposed to be helping you
were helping you.
For example, for me, it did takeuntil I went to the Dream Center
for me to actually start gettingmore help.
(20:25):
I feel like when I was going toother counselors, I wasn't being
taken as seriously or it wasmore like, oh, you know this.
And then finally, someone alsoredirected me, hey, the Dream
Center.
And then I was able to get help.
Uh, do you, did you go throughthat?
Like either in high school andcommunity college where you felt
(20:45):
like, okay, I'm gettingfrustrated because I'm not like,
I don't feel like I'm gettinglike the right direction and to
find someone.
So I actually took a, uh, longbreak after high school from
college.
I did not go directly intocollege.
When I went and asked my highschool counselor, I was like,
hey, initially I wanted to be anurse.
I don't know why.
(21:06):
I was like, I'm going to be anurse.
So I went and asked her aboutlike, you know, what are some
things like Every other 12thgrader was going in there during
that time.
It was like, OK, what collegesare you going to go to?
What do you have an idea?
What do you want to do with yourlife?
And I just went in there and shewas very blunt about it.
She was just like, well, I don'treally see you going into
college.
Like people like you don'treally go into college.
(21:28):
And that kind of just like shemade she made the choice for me
right then and there.
I wasn't given the choice of, Iwasn't even told like, hey, you
can go.
It's going to be extradifficult, but you can go.
Like she had made it clearlythat I wasn't going to go.
So after that, you know, I just,I didn't go.
I just started working minimumwage jobs.
And it wasn't until a few yearslater that I was talking to a
(21:51):
former manager and he was like,no, he's like, you shouldn't let
that stop you.
He was actually like my formermanager at that pizza restaurant
was a person that reallyencouraged me to just, Get back
in there.
He's like, just go get someinformation.
Start with a few classes like,you know, you could do this.
I believe in you.
So it's like I had no support inhigh school in regards to higher
(22:12):
education.
Yeah, I know.
I always bring that up because Iknow that there's I'm sure
there's a ton of other, youknow, Latinos in high school who
probably also feel like, hey,wait a minute.
I also want to go to school, butwhere's the help?
OK, so now let's get into it,because you recently just
graduated and then.
lost her job like the next dayand then so now we can actually
(22:36):
get into losing our job duringthis time and how we feel
because that's how I know Iforgot to do a check-in how are
you oh I mean honestly like Ifeel like I just got hit with a
brick so it went from being likethe highest of highs you know
walking across the age to likethe lowest of lows of being
unemployed so about two weeksprior to me being let go my
(23:00):
Former colleague, because shewas also let go.
She was like, hey, I want tostart an agency and I've seen
your work.
And like, if I got some clients,would you be interested in
helping me out with like doingsocial media work?
And I was like, sure.
I was like, you know, I couldalways use a little bit extra
money.
So she started this agency.
Right.
She was like, let me get apicture of you so I could put it
like, you know, for forreference for people.
(23:23):
And then I don't know how HRdepartment found out about it.
And that's the reason they letus go.
They were like, it's a conflictof interest.
And I'm just sitting here like,how is it a conflict of
interest?
You're a multimillion dollarcompany and hospitality.
I'm one person with like$3,000in my bank account.
(23:43):
It's not the same, right?
And the reason I say that todayit feels like I got hit with a
brick is after we got let go, Iapplied for unemployment here in
California.
We're lucky to have that.
So I was like, it's not thesame.
It's like 50% of what you wouldnormally be making.
But I was like, it's something,right?
I got off the call with theunemployment department and they
(24:04):
were like, hey, you actually,you got denied.
Your job is saying that youwere...
It's not breaking companypolicy.
It's some other thing.
Let me see.
I have it.
I have it somewhere right here.
Because again...
Again, both my boss and I arefrom a misconduct.
(24:26):
So he's like, yeah, because youguys got like go for misconduct.
And I was like, well, can youexplain that a little bit?
Um, cause again, I didn't workon company time on any personal
projects.
Uh, we currently have nopersonal projects.
So like, there's no, there's noincome.
Um, I didn't use any of theirtech.
I didn't use any of theirequipment.
Like I have my own laptop, myown phone, my own, you know,
(24:48):
selfie light.
Um, So like, where's this comingfrom?
They're like, well, you know, atthis point, like the decision
has been made.
You're going to get a letter inthe mail and then you're welcome
to apply for what is thatcalled?
An appeal.
And then like once you file foran appeal, it'll be sent to a
judge instead of theunemployment office.
(25:08):
So I guess that the person thatmade the choice and saw us
apparently being an issue wassomebody at the unemployment
office, which not to throw anyshade, but I'm like, How am I
qualified to make that choice?
Or like, you know, anybody justlike, but like, what are their
qualifications?
So like, now I'm having to waitfor this appeal to see if they
(25:31):
would give me unemploymentbecause based on them, it was
misconduct.
But I'm like, I never signed anynon-competes.
And in California, non-competesare not even a thing.
They have banned them a whileback.
Deep down to my core, I feellike this was just...
A reason to get rid of me.
Yay.
(25:52):
Real quick, for those who maynot know what a non-compete is,
what is a non-compete?
So a non-compete basically saysthat if I work for company A
doing marketing, I cannot gowork for company B and do
marketing.
Because they're competingagainst each other.
(26:35):
half of their employees getfired because most of them do
have two jobs doing the samething, just setting up their
property.
And that's when the guy goes,he's like, well, yeah, that's
why you have to take it to anappeals court and like actually
see a judge.
I'm like, great.
Oh my God.
All of these things.
And you, you work in influencermarketing, right?
(26:59):
Yes, I do.
Yeah.
With everything going on rightnow, like how, what do you,
first of all, what, like aboutinfluencer marketing what
frustrates you about influencermarketing and where do you see
the future of influencermarketing now that you have you
guys are going to start your ownagency So honestly, like that's
(27:22):
not something I had ever thoughtabout.
It was just we started doing itand for my former employer.
And that's where my boss waslike, wow, you're really great
at this.
So it's a lot of just relationslike going back and forth,
emailing back and forth, goingover.
Honestly, it's not somethingthat was in my plans.
Again, I really wanted to be ajournalist, but it's really
(27:42):
tough in LA.
I'm a little fish in a big pond.
And this was an opportunity thatI was like, you know what, let
me take it.
Like, I see potential in this.
Also, Daka being on the line,being your own boss is really,
you know, like, that's your onlyoption if Daka gets killed.
You know, that's so true forpeople.
(28:04):
Like, that's another thing,like, Nobody wants to sponsor.
Again, my former manager hadasked this company.
Mind you, I was at this companyfor over 10 years.
I had never been written up.
I had never had any verbalwarnings.
I had never so much as left adirty cup on a table.
And when she was like, hey, Ireally want to sponsor Miriam.
(28:26):
Like, she's really great.
And we're like, no.
And then like now being fired,it just it brought up a lot of
emotions as to like, I see whyGen Z reacts the way they do
when they say like, oh, youknow, fuck companies.
Excuse my language.
You can blur that
SPEAKER_00 (28:40):
out.
No.
It makes
SPEAKER_01 (28:43):
sense though.
And like as a millennial, yeah,I was told like, you know, be
loyal to the company.
Stay with one company.
Like it's going to pay off.
And not only did I get fired forlike trying to make extra money,
but then they went and denied myunemployment claim because they
felt that that was misconduct.
It really shows you.
(29:04):
And I have been going into thiscompany every day and hearing
managers be like, we value you.
We love you.
You are great.
You're amazing.
We're lucky to have you on ourteam.
And it's like, I was nominatedthis past year for like employee
of the year.
Yeah.
Oh, congratulations.
Yeah.
So it's like, where is all thatnow?
Where's that love?
No, that, no, I...
(29:26):
It was the same way.
You sent me a voice memo acouple weeks ago, and I remember
listening to it, and I was like,wait, are we dealing with the
same thing right now?
Because how is it that we'regoing through it?
Because in my case, reallyquick, I started working as a
(29:48):
bartender, and they were like,oh...
Well, by then, the head brewerand the bar manager were really
emphasizing that they were nothappy with the way that their
marketing manager was handlingtheir account.
I was already taking a marketingclass during that time.
And you know how in class,sometimes you're just like,
(30:09):
oh...
Check out this page and see whatyou know.
So I was just like, oh, yeah,like, you know, your page is one
of those kind of pages that Ikind of like look through in
class and just nothing,literally nothing serious.
I was just me going through likeevery page I knew through like a
class assignment and was like,OK, I can, you know, doing my
homework assignment and justcasually like talking about this
(30:30):
at the bar or being like, yeah,like I'm taking a marketing
class right now because when Igot hired, I was in the process
of like ending my that marketingclass.
And so through a conversationwith the head brewer and the bar
manager, they find out that I'man artist.
And so they're like, oh, well,are you good at editing?
(30:51):
And I'm like, yeah, I know howto edit.
Editing is not like my, I don'tknow how you all do it, but
editing is not my thing.
I know you have to really sitdown and be focused, right?
But I can do it, you know what Imean?
And I'm like, yeah, I know howto do it.
Like I know how to do that.
I can construct like a story.
You can tell me blah, blah,blah.
Like I have the ideas, but I'malso at the same time, like I'm
(31:15):
the same way.
Like I didn't sign up to be amarketer.
You know what I mean?
I went into this field.
What did I go?
Well, when I started likejournalism, my, I don't, my goal
was like, yes, obviously I wantto be there for the people and
everything.
But also it was like, I, I don'tknow, want to work in
(31:35):
entertainment at the same time.
And I know that there is usuallylike it is very common for
people in journalism to end up,you know, going into writing or
the development side ofentertainment, which is usually
what had always been my goal.
And so I already like went intothis company, like letting them
(31:55):
know, like, hey, I'm here oneday.
I do want to go back.
But at the same time, like thatdoesn't seem realistic.
For a really long time,especially I have no money, you
know, I'm like, so I'm here, I'mwilling to work with them.
And honestly, I'm the kind ofperson that like, once you hire
me, and I start working for you,like I will give you like my all
(32:17):
right.
But along the way, just witheverything that I have gone
through in my very short 29years, I had learned just how
quickly like you said, you know,you can work for a company and
give them your all.
And at the end of the day,they're just gonna toss you out,
right?
And I'm coming back from like aleave of absence from working
(32:38):
with like a big corporation thatgave me PTSD for other reasons.
And I am slowly making my wayback into like the workforce and
the work, you know, because Idid take a leave of absence that
was a while.
And so I'm back and feelinglike, okay, bartending is
probably okay right now.
(32:58):
This is a good slow pace to getmy foot back into the door.
They along the way are like,yes, help us with their
marketing.
And I'm like, sure.
So it gets a little trickybecause I would say that I still
don't really know my worth, youknow?
And so when it came down tobeing like, okay, they're asking
(33:20):
for pictures of an example of mywork to see how they were like
and everything.
And eventually I get down andI'm sitting with the business
manager and they're like, okay,how can you help?
And I'm presenting this thingbut as I'm talking to them I'm
starting to notice that it'sbeing framed like I'm the one
coming up to them and asking canI help you when in reality it
was the head brewer and the barmanager that were like asking me
(33:44):
for help like we don't they werethe ones that were complaining
about their current social mediamanager I didn't want to
overstep because I'm like heyshe's the social media manager
this is her job you know likeshe should be the one doing all
of this so I feel like when Icame in I ended up just becoming
like more of a consultant andbeing like actually well this
(34:05):
and this and this and this ishow I feel this could work they
you know I first loved it andwere same thing oh my god you
are amazing you're the best blahblah blah like I was being
praised and then I don't knowwhat happened like I just went
into like a functional likefreeze or like I don't know if
it was imposter syndrome orsomething but eventually like I
(34:28):
just couldn't like like it's notthat I couldn't do my work but I
had realized like oh my god Idon't know if my partnership
with this brewery is going towork out because the head brewer
and I think very verydifferently especially when it
comes to content and so he's alittle much older different
(34:48):
generation and I'm a millennialwhich I want to say is like
perfect for right now but likewe were not seeing eye to eye
with certain things.
Right.
And I was like, okay, this isgoing to get a little messy.
Um, and I was already kind ofafraid to be working with him
just based on the way he wastalking about his social, the
current social media manager.
(35:09):
I was like, okay, this is goingto be a person that like, I
really have to like, gonna haveto work extra hard and please,
because he's not gonna, he'sgonna be very picky about the
work and everything.
And so maybe I oversaw theentire situation.
Um, I can admit that.
And so then, um, We're working.
And then along the way, I'mnoticing, like, okay, so one way
(35:32):
that I realized, I don't know ifwe're going to, like, DIY any
content was, for example, SuperBowl.
I wanted to do something with,like, our$3 beers that we had
and use some sort of, like,Hendrick Lamar.
Because at that time, what wastrending during the Super Bowl
was the Not Like Us thing.
So I was like, ooh, that wouldbe, like, a nice sound or
something.
But then I was like, hmm.
(35:53):
Maybe not because this is notthe crowd that actually likes
Kendrick Lamar.
I've heard them talk, you know?
And then as I'm, like, hearingthem talk and trying to create
more ideas, I'm like, oh, thisis not working because I don't
appeal to the white audience.
You know, like, I'm not...
Like, I don't know.
(36:13):
So now I'm realizing that I'mfinding my niche as something
completely different.
Like I'm finding my niche ineither like the strategy part of
the consulting part, but like,I'm like, okay, I like, I'm
basically in this process, likefinding what I'm good at and
what I'm not good at.
Right.
And I am trying to communicatewith the business manager.
Like, Hey, I'm really sorry thatlike, if this isn't, if I'm not
(36:35):
doing a good job or if this andthat, and for the most part,
they'd be like, yes, or don'tworry about it.
Or like, you're doing great.
And I'm like, Okay, maybe I'mjust overthinking.
So it gets to the point wherethere's three beers where the
head brewer names them.
And it's just problem afterproblem.
And one of them, I didn't even,I wasn't even that, I didn't
(36:57):
even cause that problem.
One of them was the name of thebeer that he was making for
February.
It was like a, it was calledCherry Poppin' Daddies.
It was like some sort of like,Very sour goes the beer, right?
And see, this is where like I,it was my first, that was my
first kind of like beer project.
(37:17):
So I didn't even catch the name,right?
I just went straight to like,okay, let's just start like
filming and doing content forit.
And then somebody, somebody elsewho used to work with us was
like, hey, that name, probablyyou should take it down.
This person, by the way, iswhite.
And I have to say this because Ijust feel like the bar was
really emphasizing on how I wasthis like woke, liberal person.
(37:39):
Mexican.
I was like, no.
This girl is like, hey, maybe weshould change the name of the
beer.
And so they're like, yeah,you're right.
We should change the name of thebeer.
So I'm like, okay, cool.
Then the next beer is like asoftball themed beer.
And the brewer names it after asaying from a near nurse, like
(38:02):
spokesperson or something.
Right.
And then they're telling melike, oh, we want original audio
for this content, blah, blah,blah.
And I'm like, okay, well,there's going to be like legal
issues, copyright issues.
So let me at least make surethat we get some sort of like
permission or something.
Right.
I don't know.
I'm also like overthinking thisentire thing.
And so then I just send out likea quick permission to use
(38:25):
content, email, whatever, justto make sure that we're good.
Right.
And then I walk into work andthe head brewer and all of his
friends are like standing there.
And the head brewer likebasically is like, I don't think
you should have done that.
We're going to get a season toseason letter.
And now we're not going to beable to promote it.
And I'm like, okay.
And I'm already not doing well.
(38:45):
So I started like bawling myeyes out because I'm like, I
don't know what to do.
I feel like if I, do my job thenthey're like you're doing too
much but then if i don't do myjob then they're telling me
you're not doing enough andhonestly i'm not getting like
paid any extra for this i'm justi just ended up going with the
negotiation of like 18 hours andhours because i felt like i was
(39:05):
entry level when it came tocontent creating so i was like
sure you know um Eventually, Iwas like, you know what?
I felt very embarrassed in thesituation.
I don't even know if I reallywant to work with you guys at
this point, but I'm still goingto push it.
I'm still going to try.
Their next beer release is aCinco de Mayo beer, right?
(39:27):
And I'm like, this is soexciting.
This is my time to shine.
I am Mexican.
I am from Puebla.
We could do something super funwith it.
The head brewer is like, yeah,except it's not really a Mexican
beer.
It's got Canadian hops, NewZealand hops.
um and I'm like okay so whatwhat we're gonna have to make
(39:47):
fun of this because in my headit's like kind of ironic because
like Canada is all about likeFrench and Mexico and Puebla and
I'm like this is kind of funnylike we should probably make fun
of it they didn't like that andI was like you guys have to
learn how to make fun ofyourself at one point and I was
they were like no like theybasically felt like I was
calling them like you know,these racist people.
(40:09):
And I'm like, well, if you'renot, then you're not.
But along the way in theprocess, I had been telling,
like, I didn't want to tellguests my status, but when we
were getting into deepconversations or they like, they
would be like, no, like, whyweren't, why aren't you
traveling?
I'm like, well, this is it.
And if I felt comfortable enoughto like talk to them, I'm like,
okay, this is somebody who I canlike, she could probably help me
(40:30):
in the future or something ifneeded.
I don't know.
But, um, It turned into adisaster.
Eventually, some of the barmanager's friends and the head
brewer's friends would try tocome in and intimidate me or
question me more about my statusthat it made me feel like, ooh,
okay, maybe I made a mistake orsomething in the wrong crowd
(40:53):
here.
I learned my lesson for sure.
But it just turned into a wholemess.
And then when it came down tothe Cinco de Mayo beer, I was
just like, what's up, guys?
I get it.
you guys want to market thisbeer and we can do it.
But if we're going to do it, Ithink that this is how we can do
it.
I think it'd be really fun.
And they didn't like it.
And we're like, no, we're not.
(41:14):
And then after that, everythingjust kind of went downhill.
Like I could just tell that thetensions were there and that we
weren't clashing based off like,like brand.
Like they just felt like I wasjust too political for them.
And in my head, I was like,well, this beer was also
accidentally political.
So I do feel like this, thisyear and also Cinco de Mayo is
like very serious to me rightnow because during this Trump
(41:37):
era like what the heck it's justa lot and so eventually I we've
just been going back and forthon a lot of things and I went on
a trip I came back and then theywere like oh yeah you just
didn't meet expectations we'regonna let you go which sucks
because I had like a whole planof like okay actually I realized
(41:59):
I don't really want to work atthe bar but I do want to do more
things behind the scenes and Ihad a plan and a structure
because they had two businessesand two spots and with the
market research I was like waitI have something but never mind
oh my god I'm sorry no you'regood no but yeah that's that's
insane and honestly like comingfrom a big company that's run by
(42:21):
a lot of Older people.
It's a very common thing.
You're going to clash.
Like my, my former boss was GenZ and she would always, and I
would see those common, likeoverhear those conversations
where she'd be like, no, we needto do this.
And they'd fight her back.
Be like, no, we don't want to dothis because of X, Y, Z.
And it's like, okay, we're theones with the experience and
(42:44):
you're not wanting to listen.
And then when we do things yourway and they fail, you get upset
at the marketing girls.
Yeah.
Marketing is changing.
And I understand that you guysdon't want certain things pushed
on that.
Or I get it.
You're like, well, we're just anolder generation.
We're not going to look into it.
And I'm like, yeah, I understandthat.
(43:05):
So let me work with you guys fora little more while I try to
figure out a way to get this aswell.
I think they think it's sosimple as a post.
Just post it.
Just do this.
Just do that.
And then they wonder, well, whyisn't the strategy working?
Why isn't the sales going up?
And I'm like, well, because...
And I'm seeing them do thismistake already.
(43:26):
By the way, after they decided,like, oh, let's just embarrass
her and tell her that it was abad idea to reach out to the
Mariners, they ended up scoringa deal with the Mariners anyways
for them to, like, brew a beerwith their pitcher.
I meant to say catcher.
So I was like, all of that, youguys were stressed out.
We literally fought all of that.
And then you guys end up withthis contract.
(43:49):
And then you fire me.
When you guys signed thecontract because I don't fit
your image.
Allegedly.
I know you guys told me that itwas because I didn't fit
expectations, but the day beforethey let me go, I was listening
to the head brewer talking abouthow he was looking to hire
people and how he was looking tohire people that fit more of his
imagery and stuff for thebrewery.
(44:11):
Allegedly.
And that was kind of the thingthat would piss me off about the
head brewer because I'm like,this isn't your...
This is not your brewery.
You are the head brewer, but youdo not own this place, you know?
And also, reviews say that yourbeer sucks and that people only
come here for the people I waspeople so you know and so I
(44:32):
don't know what to tell you butat the same time I was like very
happy because I was I could justfeel myself like my creativity
like draining and just beinglike oh my god this girl I'm not
understanding they think art isone thing and they don't they
think oh my god she's being sopolitical but like literally
sports is political art ispolitical music is political and
having a fucking fight with themon touch tunes all the time over
(44:57):
like music oh I don't like yourmusic so I'm just gonna and
that's like not even with me itwas just with other guests too
and it's like just let themenjoy their music too like oh my
god they're paying for this andlike you guys are just I can go
on and on and then there's morebut it's like I don't know my
other question with you is likeare you and I know we only have
(45:18):
10 minutes right now but like doyou feel frustrated with like
journalism and influence rightnow?
What are all your thoughts withall of that right now?
I have a lot of thoughts onthat, actually.
Okay, first of all, the wholeTrump administration being like,
we're going to open up the spaceto influencers to come and be
(45:38):
the ones asking the questions.
Again, no shade onto theinfluencers like you do, Yubu,
but these are people who getpaid to promote a product and
say it's my favorite and it'sgood.
And There's no objectivity inthat, in my opinion.
They don't have the necessaryskills to verify facts, which is
(46:00):
something that's very embeddedto us as journalists.
You have to verify.
You can't just take...
everything at face value andassume it's right.
You have to do your research andmake sure.
So it's like I personally, like,yes, influencers are great for
like product marketing, forexperiences, you know, to
promote.
Like as an advertisement source,they're amazing.
(46:20):
They got their stuff down.
Like kudos to them.
Like they put a lot of effortinto their work.
As journalists, I think thatthey should be kept separate.
And I get it.
They're like, oh, well, we'retrying to like appeal to the
younger audience.
Okay, that can be...
Simply done.
Just hire newer people in all ofthese news agencies.
(46:43):
You don't necessarily have tosource from influencers, but
they're a lot easier tomanipulate than journalists ever
will be.
So that's where I stand on that.
And again, influencers are greatfor advertisement, for
marketing, things like that.
Amazing.
But as far as hardcore newsgoes, especially during this
(47:04):
time, I do think that they don'treally have a place.
If they came from a journalistbackground, great.
Yeah, by all means.
I know at least one influencerwho works for the New York
Times.
She does both.
She does the New York Times andthen she does her influencer
stuff.
Her?
Great.
She has the background.
She has a track record of beingable to produce...
(47:26):
accurate stories so it's justlike you can't let everybody in
there just because they have afollowing yeah no I agree
especially because so one of theanother influencer I feel like
has done a great job at likewhen he started off he was more
of a comedian influencer andthen actually took the time to
get some sort of journalismdegree background certificate oh
(47:48):
my god Shay you GuerreroGuevara?
Yeah, I love him.
Yes, he, that's why I reallyfollow him.
And I only say this because I'veseen, especially here in
Seattle, other, like, Seattlecontent creators that are
getting bigger here, especiallyin the Lyme community, who, and
I love that, are announcingwhere the protests are
(48:09):
happening, where it's going tohappen, and all of this.
And then some people in thecomments would be like, oh my
god, you're doing the greatjournalism work, and it's like,
okay, but you're not out there.
And I know because I saw themwhen I was at the protest.
Actually, why was I not TMZ?
I swear to God, because I havethe perfect video.
But I was at the protest, andsomebody screamed out the
influencer's name, and theinfluencer was just at the
(48:32):
corner like kind of like justlike killing and everybody was
like dude like you're on heresaying like oh come on here come
on here and you weren't evenlike protesting with us in my
head I was like okay I know he'sprobably at work he did say he
had like a nine to five butthat's where I'm coming in where
I'm saying like the influencersare just announcing and I'm just
going and taking the content andthen posting it whereas the
(48:55):
reporters are like okay let meinterview this person let me go
here let me try to see that Andit's like, there's a little more
extra work that goes into itthan just this is where it's
going to be and this is thestuff.
And it's like, I actually doappreciate that all of that is
happening and that you guys aredoing that.
(49:17):
But that does not someone enoughto be like, I'm a journalist.
You know?
And even I have a hard timebeing like, I'm a journalist
because I'm like, I still haveso much fortune that I need to
be doing, you know, to considermyself a journalist.
But it's just, it's such a weirdtime to be a content creator and
(49:38):
a journalist.
Yeah, no, it's, again, I thinkwe all have a place that we can
fit into.
Like, that's not the problem.
Like, yeah, influencers aregreat for dispersing information
because they have a much largersocial following than most
journalists do.
But again, their reach is only,or the facts of their, if
(50:01):
they're facts, the informationthat they're spreading is only
so much.
You still need somebody to go inthere and, like, talk to them.
Like, you know, you've seen inLA how it's been for the past
week.
Yeah.
I had a while back, I had thepleasure to meet with, what's
her name?
Carmen Marquez.
She used to be a Telemundojournalist, so now she's
(50:23):
independent.
She's been out there.
She has been out there withanother person, and her producer
actually got shot by a rubberbullet while they were just
recording, and she has a presspass.
She shows that she's part of thepress, even as an independent
journalist.
So those are the people that areactually being out there,
(50:44):
putting their lives, honestly,at danger because things can go
wrong really, really quickly.
And actually gathering the factsand trying to speak not just to
the protesters, but you alsohave to get the other side of
the story.
Try to talk to the agents ifthey want to share their
thoughts.
They might not want to sharetheir thoughts.
So it's like we all have a placethat we can fit into.
It's just like you've got tofind where you fit.
(51:07):
Yeah, that's right.
And then maybe...
right now would be a good timefor us to work together and not
try to pin each other.
That's what I'm seeing a lot onTikTok and that's why I have to
leave and be like, you knowwhat, I can't read these
comments.
Now can I look at these rightnow because it's frustrating.
(51:28):
That's exactly what thisadministration wants.
They want that divide betweenevery single community.
It's not just between brown andblack people.
It's between everybody becauseif we're united, We're
unstoppable because at the endof the day, a lot of us are
facing the same thing.
They love to say like, well,this immigrant took your job.
When in reality, it's like, no,this massive corporation wants
(51:51):
to underpay someone.
You're not going to want to getunderpaid as a citizen because
you know you're supposed to paymore.
So what do they do?
They go and pick somebody elseout of wherever that doesn't
have their papers.
And then they're like, hey, doyou want to do this for$7?
And they'll be like, yeah.
Why?
Because they need the money.
So Honestly, at this point,everything from content to
(52:14):
working is political.
And if I were to think ofsomething, it would be really
hard for me to work with someonecurrently that's okay with the
situation that we have going on.
I think that this is not amoment to stay quiet.
I think this is a moment tospeak up.
And if that breaks workingrelationships, then you know
what?
I'm not even sorry.
(52:34):
So be it.
Because...
As you mentioned the brewery, Iwould not take them on a client.
I think I would have realizedand be like, you know what?
It's not that I'm not a fit foryou.
It's that you're not a fit forme.
Your values don't align withmine.
And I literally, honestly, Isaid that to the social media
manager when we were gettinginto it.
I was like, don't even worryabout it, girl.
(52:56):
You're got like the company'svalues.
They don't even align with me.
You got like, I, it's too, it'stoo, honestly, it was so
perfect.
It was like, That brewery wasjust the perfect embodiment of
like how America works and howthey like to pin Latinos against
each other because it just sohappened in the social media was
manager was also Latina.
(53:17):
And then we got into it.
And then I was like, hold onthis.
I can't allow this to happenbecause I know what's happening.
And it's the white man that'strying to make us fight.
And it should not be like that.
And yeah, I mean, it was just,yeah, because no, I, what I was
expecting is for the company tobe like, okay, this is what
we're going to do.
This is what we want to offeryou for your work at least.
(53:38):
And then we can start thenegotiation instead.
It was like, I sure.
I don't know.
I feel new.
I'll just take like hourly rightnow.
I don't know.
That's on me.
I've definitely learned.
And now I'm going to be likemuch better on negotiating and
much better at like all of thisbecause yeah like I don't ever
(53:58):
want to feel like that anymorelike being an underpaid like I
think that's why I was gettingso frustrated we have almost
three minutes let me just do afew last words just to you but
to anybody that's out there likethinking like am I in the wrong
for having my opinions no you'renot in the wrong for having your
opinions you're going to clashwith people and you know what
unfortunately speaking outagainst I'm just going to call
(54:20):
it the man because, you know,since we're being called woke.
Speaking out against the manwill get you in trouble.
It will get you fired.
People love saying, oh, we loveemployees that speak up.
They don't.
For the most part, they don't.
They want somebody who's goingto be submissive and quiet and
okay with whatever they'redoing.
That is not either of ourpersonalities from what I've
(54:42):
seen.
We didn't go into realism forthat.
We didn't go into realism forthat.
It's like I am going to be loudand I am going to ask those
questions that are going to makeyou uncomfortable.
And if, you know, being firedis, you know, what ends up the
consequences of my actions, aspeople like to call it, then you
know what?
So be it.
Because at the end of the day, Ican be at peace with saying I
(55:02):
try to stand up for myself anddo better for myself.
And they just didn't want to seethat happen.
And if that's, if that's howthey want to feel and they want
to let me go, you know, cool.
But I do don't, I don'tappreciate them following me on
my LinkedIn over and over andover again.
Cause it's like, get a life.
Yeah.
You already let me go.
So those are my final thoughts.
Leave me alone.
(55:22):
I will be taking my ideas to anew brewery who I know will have
fun listening to it because I'vemet other people and they like
my ideas.
So.
And reach out to that team, themariners, whoever.
Like, if you already have theircontact information, that's
really all you need.
Be like, hey, you know, like,I'm doing marketing stuff, blah,
blah, blah.
Just connect with him.
And even if it's not for them,if he can get you connected with
(55:43):
somebody else, like, that'sliterally how it starts.
Yeah, it's just a team.
So, you know, good luck to youbecause you deserve a lot better
than that place.
So do you.
And I'm honestly so excited forus because who she was dealing
with, they were big.
And trust me, they're big.
Yeah, we're not going to say thename because I don't want to get
another cease and desist.
I already know we won't.
(56:03):
But they were big.
Yeah.
So thank you.
And I'll see you soon.
And thank you for picking me upat the airport.
SPEAKER_00 (56:15):
All right.
No problem.
Bye.
I love you.
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.