Back in the day, I worked for a non-profit as a community organizer. I went to over 300 meetings in two years, and one thing stood out—there was no way to get information out to the Latino community. Most everyone knew I was Puerto Rican and spoke Spanish, so I kept getting asked, “How do we reach the Latino community?” Honestly, I had no idea.
Then one day, I got a call from a guy who said he’d heard I was a “mover and shaker” in the Latino community. I laughed to myself. I didn’t see it that way. I just liked my job and was good at getting people motivated. This guy worked for a big radio company and wanted to offer me a radio show. I had zero clue how to run a radio show, so I told him straight up, “If you want me to do this, you’ll have to hold my hand like a two-year-old.” And he did.
He walked me through it all. I had to start a business, get sponsors, and put together a team. Within six weeks, I had a radio show called El Sabor Latino (The Latin Flavor). My friends and I ran it together, cramming as much music and info as we could into an hour. People loved it. Our first show was featured at a Breakfast in the local Hispanic Center with the blessing from many in the Latino community.
But not everyone. We had our haters. They felt El Sabor Latino sounded like the name of a restaurant, not a radio show. Well it’s apparent that it means you’re doing something right when you have haters or so they say. Early on, I made a rookie mistake: I told the wrong person about my plans to move to another radio station for more airtime. That person turned around and tried to take my spot, pretending to represent me. Let’s just say, my team and I were not happy when we found out. But we kept going and made the show a success. (More on this in a later blog.)
After a while, I decided our community also needed a newspaper. I met with a local printer who spent three hours walking me through everything. In less than a month, with the help of some college students and community volunteers, Hablanews was born—our local, bilingual Latino newspaper. Within a year we had added a website Hablanews.com. It felt amazing to offer the community a radio show, a free newspaper, and a bilingual website. On top of that, my team and I organized events. We were the go-to group for anything Latino in our small town.
The memories from that time are incredible. We made so many connections with people within the Latino community, but also looking to reach out to them. So, if you’ve got a dream, make it happen. Don’t wait. If you want advice or suggestions on how to get started, email me at dannagmcintire@gmail.com.