I’m so excited to be a speaker at the first ever Latinas in Podcasting Virtual Summit. I love supporting this space, experience and the creatives it serves. Learn why Paulette Erato decided to create and launch Latinas in Podcasting and the virtual summit in 2024. Recently I shared why we must support Black and Brown events and the spaces we’re creating to serve these communities. Make sure to give that episode a listen as well.
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Free and paid subscribers will get immediate access to the From zero to 500 a month in recurring income workshop to begin getting started on building recurring income in your brand. Go to creators, getting paid. com forward slash newsletter today. Again, that is creators getting paid. com forward slash newsletter.[00:01:00]
Paulette: Hi everyone. I’m Paulette. I’m the host of Chévere, a podcast about child free Latinas, and also the founder of Latinas in Podcasting, which is for Latinas in podcasting. Um,
Michelle: we’re going to get into it and already, I feel like we’re going to laugh a lot, uh, in this conversation, which is always great. I think before we really get into the conversation, I do want to talk a little bit about how you got into podcasting and just if you could also share your podcast project and why it’s so important to you, that would be great.
Paulette: Now, will the audience know that you were my mentor through most of my podcasting journey? Well, let’s let them in on that secret because you and I met at my very first podcasting conference [00:02:00] and I had a completely different focus. I had a completely different mission. It’s still revolved around child free Latinas, but because my last name is Erato, it was about like inspiring people, like a muse would to find their creative center, to find their creative spirit, to help adults get back to that part that has been crushed by, you know, living in this society of ours that, you know, creativity usually isn’t considered productive.
So it doesn’t. matter. And I had a real problem with that idea. So one day in the middle of lockdown, all of a sudden I had this inspirational idea. Let’s just turn it into a podcast. So I spent some months researching it. I finally launched it in March of 2022 and didn’t know what I was doing. I had zero clue.
Went to a conference because it was here in Los Angeles. And I was like, Oh, okay. Well, I have four episodes out. And it was my first event out of lockdown. It was my first event in many years because [00:03:00] I had left my career. I used to be an event planner. I had walked the halls of that, like the Back halls of that hotel.
I knew it intimately. I had done, uh, events there. So it was just kind of like, this is my new, this is the new palette, new chapter. And I didn’t know anybody and I was kind of nervous, which was weird to me because I’m a hyper extrovert, but anyway, I go to this thing and there’s a very few people who looked like me.
And there were also very few indie creators there as well. And so that was kind of weird to me. I go to this session titled something about monetization of your podcast without ads or something like that. And there’s this woman who is just given us this real practical advice for indie creators like me.
And I was like, Oh, I need to connect with her. And her name was Michelle Jackson. And Michelle Jackson was like, Hey, are you part of BIPOC podcast creators? like, what is that? She goes, there’s a Facebook group. You’re going to join it. So I did. And then I learned about the podcast [00:04:00] academy and all of these other things.
other resources that were out there for people exactly like me, independent podcasters who don’t have budgets, who don’t have a network backing them. And this was kind of before the big explosion of, you know, networks now monetizing all of these celebrities and things like that. It was just before that happened.
And I learned that TPA had a, um, a mentoring program. And I was like, that sounds like something I need. And so I took advantage of it. It was free for members. And who was I matched with? Michelle Jackson. You can’t get rid of me. I can’t get rid of you. So I was like, I’m going to lean in. And a year later, I was still trying to make the maker muse happen.
Uh, I was interviewing people who were child free Latinas. That was, that was the one criteria, but also creative. I wanted to talk about creativity, but from the child free creative, the child free Latina perspective. And then I [00:05:00] realized how much more important to me, the conversations were becoming around being the child free Latina and less the creative.
So I knew I needed to pivot and going to more podcasting conferences and trying to do the elevator speech just became awkward. I’m like, well, it’s called the Maker Muse, but it’s for child free Latinas. And it, that didn’t make any sense to anyone, including me. So finally, one day we’re sitting in a zoom call, me, Michelle, the other mentees.
And I was like, I keep up with it. Michelle was like, should I get off the pot pallet? It’s going to be called La Vida Más Chévere. And she’s like, that’s great. What does it mean? Because Michelle does not speak as much Spanish as I do. So, um, that was the very long version of why it’s called La Vida Más Chévere.
It’s about designing your best life from the child free perspective. That’s what La Vida Más Chévere loosely translates into. It’s that you get to create your life as a child free Latina. That’s what I am doing. [00:06:00] Here’s how I can help you do it for yourself. And here are all of these examples of women and men who are thriving in non conventional lives.
They didn’t follow the exact life script that we are taught from a very young age equates happiness. We see it all around us that the people who followed that path that really believed this was the only path to happiness are not happy in this day and age. So what are our other options? Well, I’ve got 74 episodes that can give you other options with real life examples, not just me, but other.
women and men who, and non binary people who just are doing something different. So maybe there’s an idea there for you.
Michelle: You have a really beautifully designed newsletter. That’s a part of this project. Could you share why you decided to add that component? What your hope is for that piece of the project and, um, kind of some [00:07:00] thoughts about the experience of building that out.
Paulette: Yeah, so on the advice of my mentor, I started a Substack newsletter, which serves as also a blog because it is delivered to people via email, but it also lives on a site without me having to do anything extra. I write one piece and it’s up, it’s evergreen, it’s going to, you know, it’s SEO’d properly, so it’ll be caught by the Googles.
And part, it started as just a way for me to transcribe the conversations I was having with people. people or transcribe the episode itself. There is a separate transcript. It’s not just that. And it has grown into this vehicle of we need to fight the patriarchy. These are the things that are going wrong.
This is why we need to vote. So it’s, it’s, it’s grown legs of its own and it’s taking on a life of its own, but it’s still a compliment to what’s happening with the podcast. And it’s a, it’s a very small community. You know, there’s only a few hundred, what, not even a hundred. There’s [00:08:00] just over a hundred people who, you know, follow me and, and want to read what I have to say.
Every week I do that. I put out a podcast I, or an episode, I still do a, Hey, new episode, just in case you aren’t subscribed yet. But then there’s also. offshoots from the topics we may have talked about. For example, I did an episode on self care, so, or self love, really, uh, and self care, people want to shove into this box of it’s going to the spa and it’s having your nails done, it’s doing a face mask.
No, it’s not just that. It’s about getting up in the morning and believing that you’re worthy of being here and taking breath. And it’s going through your day knowing that if something bad happens, you’re going to be okay. And, and that’s a hell of a lot deeper than getting my nails done. You know what I’m saying?
Which for me is actually a chore. I don’t love having my nails done. It’s just something I feel that needs to get done every once in a while. So that’s not self care. Not to me, and it might be for other [00:09:00] people and their self care might look different, but self love is a much deeper, deeper topic. So that is an example of some of the things I’m doing with the newsletter.
Another one is I’m using it as a vehicle to spotlight other. Indie Latino podcast or Latina podcasts. And I started that in during Hispanic Heritage Month last year. So in 2023, because I was like, where are we again? That question I asked at the very first conference I went to, where are we? Well, as I, you know, and, and I don’t have all the answers to where they are, but every week I’m finding new ones and trying to, and even shows that are no longer active, they still deserve a little bit of attention because someone went through the work of putting them together.
So, I just try to do that. I just try to amplify voices of people who look like me, people who might need someone who looks like me, and just trying to do my part here to, to lift all the boats. So
Michelle: what I’m curious [00:10:00] about is you found resources and you found spaces to be a part of, what was missing in those spaces that, or maybe it wasn’t that there was something missing, what was the opportunity that you saw that wasn’t being leaned into that.
to design Latinos in podcasting. And what is that?
Paulette: What was missing that led to me creating Latinas in podcasting? I’m going to tell you a story. Okay. So I’ve already started when I said, you know, I went to this conference and I didn’t see a lot of people that looked like me. There was one. Vendor there that had a huge banner that said Latinas.
And as I got closer, it was actually a banner for her show Which is called Latinas from the block to the boardroom. Teresa Gonzalez is the host of this really great podcast He also happens to be a child free Latina And I ran up to her and I was like, where is everyone? She goes. Well, [00:11:00] there isn’t a lot of us here at a networking function later during the conference, I gathered as many of us as I could.
And there were 17 of us in the room together in this one group. I counted. I’m sure there were a few more floating around that didn’t make it to my little circle, but we weren’t easy to find in this room or this conference of a thousand people. And that made me sad because we’re smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles.
If there was any place that we should have been found, it should have been in the place where whose name is in Spanish. So. The following year, kind of the same thing. So the third year, this past year, March of 2023, Teresa and I decided to start something. So we decided to have a networking event called Latinas we talked to the organizers and they had given us a range of dates that you could do a networking event.
And then we pitched it and they told us no. You have to now be under this structure that we’ve [00:12:00] decided all networking events are going to be on and we really didn’t like that. They also combined our networking with another group’s idea and then shoved us in a room with a third group. Because there weren’t enough spaces for everyone or there weren’t enough people to fill a room for each of those three individual things.
Which only goes to further prove the point that we aren’t drawing. the crowd because they’re not being advertised to primarily. They’re being shoved into a room. If you show up, cool. There’s your corner. And we see this play out in other ways at conferences across the board, sessions that are in Spanish or for, uh, A non English speaking audience are up against super hyper popular ones like the, the human YouTube one was up against a show that was talking, or it was up against a session that was talking about bilingual podcasts.
[00:13:00] When. our own friends who are, uh, people of color doing podcasting pitch events. They’re either super early in the morning when no one wants to go after a night of partying, or they’re on the expo floor. So no one can really hear. And I’ve seen that happen over and over. So I was like, well, if they’re not going to make space for us at our, at the table, if they’re going to put us at the kiddie table, let’s build our own damn table.
A kiddie table. I mean, I don’t need to be shoved in the room with the D& D podcasters. Oh, they deserve their own area. We deserve our own area. And we had a lot of people come to that event. And it, so, because we were able to advertise about it. So, That just, it’s, it, it, it planted the seed or it further validated for me that we’re doing something right.
Let’s, let’s, let’s grow this into something beyond just a networking session at someone else’s podcasting event. [00:14:00] And because I used to be an event planner, like I mentioned, one day another spark of inspiration hit. And I was like, Oh, let’s make it a virtual conference. I’ve done that. Well, I’ve been in one.
I did the event planning landscape post COVID is different. I’m not going to pretend to know what that’s like to put on in real life events, but I could do a virtual event. I knew, I knew what was out there to build it. So I’m building it. And here we are.
Michelle: What is the goal of a virtual event such as Latinas and podcasting?
Like, what do you hope for the attendees to leave with?
Paulette: My goal was always. Two things. One was to lower the barrier of entry to even attend a podcasting conference. My first podcasting conference was local. It still cost, I don’t know, something close to 500 to attend in parking. I mean, that’s not just the ticket.
It’s parking, it’s gas, it’s tolls, which we have in Los Angeles. It’s, um, [00:15:00] food. They don’t feed you at these things. You have to go buy your own food. And the options are limited and they’re expensive. So that was a lot. And again, as a conference planner, it was in the back of my mind, like, what all these things cost and didn’t, you know, the, the line items that were crossed out of the event manager’s budgets in order to make this conference happen.
So, Attendees got, you know, a little bit of a lesser experience, like having to buy your own food three days in a row adds up. So a virtual event removes that barrier and but still allows us to connect with people like yourself because you’re a speaker too. You know, you’re gonna give a monetization presentation and You know, still be able to make that information available to people and they won’t have to pay 300 to be there because it is virtual.
They’re not going to get to stay and talk with you after, they’re not going to get to [00:16:00] take pictures of you in the hallway after, but they also didn’t have to pay. to be there. So that was one to lower the barrier of entry in terms of cost. The second one was to connect, collaborate and amplify. Those are the three main tenants of this event.
You’re going to connect with people who are in the same boat as you. You’re going to be able to collaborate with people who are growing just like you, who have similar missions. And at the end of all of that, I want us all to be able to amplify the voices that are new. to this space, because we need more of us.
And there are many organizations and forces working towards this same goal, but we need to follow through. That’s all.
Michelle: I wasn’t planning on asking this question. I, I did another interview this week and, and I decided to ask what I feel like is a very uncomfortable question, but I think it’s actually really important, especially because of the type of communities and spaces that we are building that are focused [00:17:00] on amplifying voices and, and expanding the space for folks who look like us to be, be there.
Right. We are recording this conversation. So yeah. It’s likely that this episode will be published after the U. S. election. So we don’t know what’s going to happen. I have an idea, but I don’t want to jinx myself. Okay. Um, and so we’re in this very contentious moment in time here in our country. And Part of what’s so contentious about it is this underlying view of who should be seen and who should be heard.
And what I love about independent media, such as podcasting is no one can interrupt me. I could get my words out. I can be seen if it’s video and audio, I can be heard. And one of the things that I have quietly been thinking about is. [00:18:00] If the unthinkable happens, what does that mean for the spaces that we curate?
And if The, the outcome we hope for, and sorry, guys, I’m very progressive. So, you know, when I’m thinking, um, you know, the outcome we hope for happens, how do we not take these spaces for granted moving forward? Like, I think about this, like, I never want to have this experience again. And so part of, you know, I’m looking at my, my, uh, vision board actually, and, Not everything has, has happened kind of the way that I envisioned.
I’m going to, but one of the things that has been, that’s on my board is make an impact. Um, and just really like focusing on expanding the voices of others. Like this is something that’s really important to me because I, I just feel so [00:19:00] concerned that. Our voices will be taken away. So in, in designing this space at this moment in time, what are your thoughts like about what’s going on and, and this mission that you’re, you’re on what’s, what’s next?
Like what, I don’t even know how to, like, it’s a hard question to ask. Like, I don’t even know how to like, And the question, just go with whatever you want to say. Sure.
Paulette: Here’s what I’ll tell you. I am building this regardless of what happens, who becomes president. I have made at least two podcast episodes about our election.
And like you, I’m also very progressive. I’m a childless cat lady, if that’s what you want to call me, because the nuance is lost between childless and child free, not important. We have to keep building because whoever is leading this country, whether it’s our lady [00:20:00] or their guy, the day to day is still the day to day.
We still have to live this life. And, you know, it might be colored in a different way. Our lenses might be a little less rosy than they could be. That’s what I mean by colored, like the lenses we see through. But. We can’t lose hope. And the last episode I did was about making sure we mean maintain hope because again, the president is only in term four to eight years.
So this is going to change again in four to eight years and four years ago. And four years before that, yeah, it was all kind of surprising and disappointing, but we’ve moved forward. I personally have grown and I know the people around me have had growth as well. Is it the growth that we were expecting?
Was it the move forward we were expecting? Maybe not. But at the end of the day, I’m paying more [00:21:00] attention to the stuff that’s happening locally. Because whoever the hell is in Washington, cool and all, but it’s the people who are in my city council, who are mayor, who represent my district, that really impact what happens here at home.
And home is where I live. I don’t live in D. C. I don’t, Their politics and their infighting are one thing, but the day to day, the stuff that impacts me every day, like whether or not we have water running, whether or not the buses and the, the transportation is running on time, that is not affected by who’s president, that is affected by who we elected locally.
So I’ve been able to reframe. my world view by thinking and acting locally and still moving forward with the plans that I’ve made to continue to amplify the voices of other Latinas, women of color, non binary people, [00:22:00] because the stronger that we are together, the less they can ignore
Michelle: us. I love this answer so much.
Um, so again, at the time we’re recording this, the, the Latinas in podcasting event has not happened yet, but. My question is, do you see yourself? And I think I know the answer, but I’m going to ask it. Do you see yourself doing this next year?
Paulette: Absolutely.
Michelle: And, um, so, you know, people, we need to get you on that list.
What are your hopes for expanding this vision and getting people to know about the work that people are doing and, and how can we get in the know? Like, how can we support your work? How can we? Connect with you so that we can expand this vision of amplifying voices that aren’t being heard enough.
Paulette: Right.
Well, one of the ways to amplify these voices [00:23:00] is to make sure that you listen to them. These people all have all the people, except I think one or two who are business owners, instead of podcasters, or in lieu of being podcasters, they’re all Doing they they all that’s what I’m looking for. They all contributed to Latinas and podcasting even existing follow them rate their programs Review their programs because every review plucks that podcast out of obscurity and closer to the people with the money Quite frankly, the people who pay people to do what we’re doing.
So every review counts, every rating counts. That is the least we can do. Listen to people’s shows and embrace them. The other thing you can do is follow us on socials. You know, it costs nothing to be on the two platforms that we’re on, Instagram and Threads, and to repost that content, to make it available to your audience.
A heart of gold. Is great. [00:24:00] Liking a post is wonderful. Sharing it beyond. Our little audiences, because our audiences are not big, they’re not, but your audience is bigger than mine, because it’s an audience I can’t get to yet until you share me with them, until you share our vision with them, and then we can bring them all into the fold.
And that’s how these grassroots efforts gain momentum. People learn. They’re intrigued and then they become the people who then bring others into the fold and intrigue others and, and get that message sent out. You want to support Latinos in podcasting, get on our newsletter, follow us on social media, but more importantly, listen to the shows of the people who contribute, listen, rate, and review.
Please
Michelle: pluck them out of obscurity. You have a beautiful website, by the way. Could you share the website so that people know to go there as well?
Paulette: Yeah, it’s Latinas in podcasting.com. It’s very easy. Latinas in podcasting [00:25:00] is the handle on Instagram and threads. I, I have the handles on other social media platforms, but I don’t actively put any content there.
I’ve gotta focus .
Michelle: Um, I think probably my last que question is this, um, what. In addition to doing the conference next year, what are some of the goals that you have for yourself in 2025?
Paulette: You know, I haven’t really given allowed myself to give it much thought. I am so laser focused on what’s on making this a success this year.
But if I’m being honest, I want this to be an event that other people have to plan their events around. I want it to have such a. strong presence that no one wants to compete with our audience. And that does not, is not just limited to, and that is not just limited to other podcasting conferences. I purposely put this at the end of Hispanic Heritage Month to not compete with all [00:26:00] of the other messaging and all of the other events that people are tied to from September 15th to October 15th.
The event is October 24th a week after Hispanic Heritage Month ends. We are continuing the celebration. And that’s important to me to not, I don’t, I don’t believe in competition. You know, I don’t, I’m only competing with me as far as I’m concerned. I want us to collaborate so that the next time, you know, I make up another event.
Uh, is like, is looking at their dates and maybe September, October, they’re like, wait, no, Latinas and podcasting is happening that weekend. Let’s push it back. So it’s because we want to support them too.
Michelle: Well, there you have it. I’m super excited. And we’re going to continue this conversation elsewhere.
Thank you for listening to my conversation with Paulette. I hope that you’ve left inspired and with some tips and strategies to apply towards growing your own brand, community, or space. Take up room, be [00:27:00] bold, create the thing. It might start small, but then it grows from there. Sign up for Latinas in Podcasting today.
There’s still time go to CreatorsGettingPaid. com forward slash L I P lip again, that’s CreatorsGettingPaid. com forward slash L I P. And if you’re listening to this episode after the first virtual summit, your name will, will be added to the wait list for the upcoming 2025 virtual summit. Looking forward to seeing you there.
