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We All Grow

There’s so much I want to say about my position at Latina Bloggers Connect (LBC), I just don’t even know where to begin. It all started some time in 2010 when I met Ana online and then in real life at an LA event that focused on the lives of American Latinos. Being new to blogging, I hit it off with her and we continued to chat here & there about random things until one day she called and said she needed an intern for her new business venture. At that time, I was at a crossroads. I was working as a museum lecturer and acting (a creative experiment, if you will, after over a decade of museum work) but missing the pulse of community I once felt when I lived in NYC. In addition to lecturing, I developed and executed museum education programs for a long time. I was at the heart of local and national communities, and let’s face it, the museum field as a whole in NYC is like no other when it comes to collaborations and discourse. After she explained what the internship was I replied “that’s not an internship, that’s a job.” I started out with 10 hours a week managing campaigns (my first one was for PBS Kids), and things grew from there. One day, while driving to a conference, Ana presented me with a box of business cards with the title Account Executive. I was very excited about my new position, but still not sure what it all meant. You see, the museum world is an old one. It’s set in stone. I knew it like the back of my hand. And although community building was my specialty, it took a bit of homework to translate my non-profit experiences into the fast paced world of the blogging business, which involves marketing, public relations and brand partnerships all with the ultimate goal of empowering a community online and making sure voices are heard – In many ways like museum education but with a different time-frame and medium. The company was a start-up, which meant one of two things: 1. It can fold 2. It will blow up. Fortunately, the latter happened and my ten hours a week was no more. Brands kept coming back, the Latina/o community online was making beautiful noise and doors started opening more and more. Between working on incredibly rich brand campaigns that sparked much needed conversations to traveling all over the country, my life has completely transformed and there’s no turning back. Our mission is to share what we learn in the trenches, which has fulfilled my once aching “I miss collaborations” heart. The magic of small groups with little budgets and big dreams was back in my life again and I can’t tell you how many lives I’ve seen transform because one person wanted to make a change. Whether it was bringing art to kids who live in at-risk communities or supporting a blogger’s business endeavors, I’m incredibly proud of all my career experiences. I’m currently “teching” out as the Social Media Director at LBC and am honored to work with an amazing team and a mentor/boss/friend who is a powerhouse in the digital space. But it’s time to take the art of empowerment to the next level. Today, I’m excited to announce that Latina Bloggers Connect has launched a summit called We All Grow.
WAGCOMP
We All Grow it set to be the go-to professional conference for Latina digital content creators and social media influencers who specialize in parenting, lifestyle, fashion/beauty, food, entertainment and more. More importantly, the mission is to create long-lasting relationships between bloggers, brands and PR professionals. That magic is scheduled to happen February 26th – 28th in Los Angeles, where it all began. I hope you will join us and follow the We All Grow team on Twitter for the latest! Between now and February, there will be tons of unbelievably awesome updates. Community building, empowerment through the arts and teaching has always been my passion and I can’t wait to share all that is coming up. Join us on the journey! Because when one grows, we all grow!

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5 Comments

  1. Even though I know the story, it’s so beautiful to read it from you. I see it at a different level know and it’s touched me deeply. I can’t thank you enough for following your gut that day and jumping into the opportunity. Actually, you created it because I was too afraid of commitment! I had been running LBC on my own for seven months and knew I couldn’t do it alone but had no idea how. And look at us now!
    You’ve brought vision, passion and so much style to LBC! You’ve grown and we’ve grown. And now it’s time for all to grow even more.
    Let’s do this, girl!!!
    love you!

  2. Great story, I love to hear “how you got here stories”. Felicidades on working with such a great company. I am crossing my fingers, I get to make the trip there.

  3. wow!….being myself part of that very special World of community empowerment, i couldn’t help but love those expressions so full of meaning such as: the pulse of community of NYC, collaborations and discourse, building communities, non-profit experiences, little budgets and big dreams, share what we learn in the trenches, the magic of small groups, if one grows we all grow, plus education and challenges, just the perfect resume and opportunities to be able to make it big in this fast paced World of ours……….bless you.

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