In The Business with Juan & Anjelica

In the business today, Juan sits down with entrepreneur, public policy advocate, and investor Gary Acosta. He is the Co-Founder & CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), co-founder of L’ATTITUDE, and co-founder and partner of L’ATTITUDE Ventures. Throughout the conversation, Juan and Gary discusses his personal story, his work with the Latino community, and his multiple business ventures. Get ready to be empowered as Gary shares invaluable insights on chasing your dreams, refining your skills, and nurturing meaningful connections.

As an agancy, my team and I here at Big Oak Tree Media are fully committed to elevating diverse voices and communities - and our work through the Latina Leadership Podcast is just one way we are turning our commitment into action. So far this year we have celebrated two events under the Latina Leadership Podcast umbrella, and we have plenty more to come. In May, our inaugural Mind, Body, and Latina Soul event culminates, and in October, the annual Latina Entrepreneurship Conference is back! Tune in to learn more about these events and about our why for this work. 

On this week's episode, Juan Alanis sits down to speak with Eric Salinas Nebel, a native Houstonian and writer, to discuss his personal life story, cultural upbringing, and writing journey. They also dive into Eric's debut book, Hispanic in the Box: Inside the Power of Latin-Americana. The book was written in the midst of a historic Hollywood labor strike and the first months of first-time fatherhood. The labor of love is a true testament of the importance of culture. Check out his book at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMJTF8HL?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

In the Business today, Juan Alanis sits down with Robert Burns, the Home Region Program Director for the Walton Family Foundation. The Walton Family Foundation is a family-lead philanthropic organization that focuses their attention on education, environmental conservation, and improving local communities in the home region of the Walton family, Northwest Arkansas, and the Arkansas- Mississippi Delta. Robert goes further into depth about the philanthropic efforts the Walton Family is passionate about, including promoting equity through means of education and financial security, and helping to build a more vibrant and inclusive economy for their local community. Tune in to learn more about the granting processes at the Walton Foundation, and listen as Robert gives the audience more insight into the Northwest Arkansas region as a whole.

In the Business today, Anjelica Cazares sits down to interview Co-founder Juan Alanis and CEO of Speke Podcasting, Freddy Cruz, to share the details of their journey from a 9-to-5 job, to successful entrepreneurs. Juan and Freddy discuss the importance of believing in yourself, putting yourself out there, and learning when complacency becomes hazardous to your authenticity. The truth is, no one ever knows where they’re going to end up. Try as you might, even after 400+ job applications, you can never predict where life wants you to go. If you think 400 applications is crazy, tune in to hear more about that from the man himself, and how he never let that stop him from chasing his bigger purpose.

Housekeeping and organizing your priorities are very important, but what comes next? I use a variety of effective techniques to make sure I figure out how to effectively handle the day-to-day tasks in my personal and professional life. 

On this week's episode of In The Business, Juan chats with Fidel Martinez, Editorial Director for Latino Initiatives at the L.A. Times. Fidel is originally from Texas, having grown up in the RGV, where Juan is also from. There is a lot of Latino pride that comes to play in this conversation and the importance of harnessing that pride to make our voices heard. They discuss the changing times and how increasing representation and visibility of Latinos in media is at the forefront of what Fidel does at De Los, the new media platform from the L.A. Times focused solely on highlighting Latino stories. Find their trailblazing work at delosangelestimes.com to learn more and to reach out to Fidel with an idea you may have for a Latino story.

Watch and listen to all our podcast episodes here: https://linktr.ee/juanofwords

On this week’s episode of In The Business, Juan chat’s with Jose Avalos, co-founder and CEO of TECH23, a media and entertainment company for the advancement of Latinos in tech. TECH23 is helping to bridge the gap between technology and the Latino community - all 23 countries. Juan and Jose discuss the meaning behind TECH23 and why this number was so important to them. Jose has a vision for the broader Latino community through his work at TECH23, and Juan and Anjelica, being “padrinos” for the startup, are excited to see what’s next for them.

In this special episode, Juan chats with former NASA Astronaut, José Hernández - the inspiration behind Amazon Prime's new film "A Million Miles Away." José shares his inspirational story from starting out as a migrant farmworker to becoming an astronaut for NASA, and he gives credit to his father for passing on some important words of wisdom that shaped his destiny.