How to Get Paid as a Content Creator and Build Community| Dean Huertas
This week we welcome Activist & Content Creator, Dean Huertas, who has garnered 20 million+ views on social media for his unique history lessons on Latino culture.
In this episode, Dean shares the bochinche on how to make money as a Content Creator, negotiating deals, and strategies to create viral content on TikTok.
Dean also gives us a history lesson on how birth control pills were tested on women in Puerto Rico without their consent.
In this episode:
00:10:31 - Fame Vs. Authenticity: Navigating The Game Of Attention, Brands, And Staying True To Yourself
00:16:51 - Play Their Game Or Play By My Rules?
00:24:37 - Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
00:34:28 - Mastering Social Media: How To Be Strategic On TikTok
00:39:15 - Honoring Puerto Rican Women Affected By Birth Control And Forced Sterilization
Full Transcript:
What's up everybody? Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez and you know here we like to celebrate the vibrancy and complexity of Latino culture, entrepreneurship and of course all the bone ginger in between. And today's guest is heavy on the cultura mixed with business. So this is going to be good. I'm going to let him introduce himself in a little bit more detail. Pero Dean has been featured in Time magazine, NBC, New York Magazine. He has an IG following of 126,000, a Tik Tok following of 950,000.7 with 20 million likes. Like imagine if your content had 20 million likes. That is insane. So Dean Huertas is a content creator and advocate focused on bringing the diaspora Isla back together. I love that. Welcome Dean. Welcome to Banking on Cultura. Wow, what an intro. I'm so blown away. You did your research. Yes. Listen, you are doing incredible work in the community and for the cultura. So it is a real honor to have you on the show. So thank you so much. Things means very much a lot to be here with you and I'm very honored that you chose me to bring you to bring me on your show. So it means a lot like the just being here is a blessing overall. So thank you. Oh thank you. Well listen my my my you know God put me here to be a blessing you know that's what that's what he does. So okay so let's start here because I actually had to ask this question of a girlfriend of mine cuz she kept using the word diaspora and I was like what does that mean? So can you explain to the people like what that means? I would say to sum it up make it being a royal choa diaspora would mean to when there's a native population that lives outside of their native land. So we uh as Newicans, Jersey Ricans, whatever Florida that we got going on now, all of Puerto Rican descent that don't live in Puerto Rico anymore. So that would be a good sum up of what the word diaspora is overall. Got it. Okay. Amazing. And I see how you bridge the gap because you actually do a lot of you actually educate the community a lot of the historical context with Puerto Rico, the connection between New York and Puerto Rico. You even touched on something really interesting with everything going on with Palestine and how you made that connection to Puerto Rico and just our community overall, which I thought was really dope, by the way. Thank you. Thank you. It means a lot. Yeah, man. I was like, "Oo, this is good. This is good." Because a lot of people look at that situation as like, oh, that has nothing to do with me. Right. Right. It's happening across the globe. Has nothing to do with me. I'm not part of that community. They want to get involved, but then when you start realizing the similarities, you're like, "Wow." Like, we went through these similar things in our own country. So, it's hard for me not to identify what's going on all the way across the world. The world. Yeah. I love it. So, you know, we on baking are about boniche. So, give us some bon. Oh, man. My big bon I have right now is that this is going to be this upcoming Puerto Rican day parade is going to be my last for a while. This is going to be my last. Wow, that's huge. Yeah. Well, cuz you've been doing the parade for how many years? A long time. But we'll say with the agency for three years. Three years in a row. Um, and before that I was either with my fraternity or I was with activism community groups, but I'm now going to step back after this one. It's going to be my last one. So, I'm going to step away for a while. Wow. The end of an era. Yeah. Is there a reason why? Um, quite a few actually, but I think one of the biggest ones is that I just feel like there's a higher calling for me right now and I want to tap into untapped potential that I have. Um, I want to start going into the movie industry in Puerto Rico. And I actually just filmed my first uh cameo in a film that's going to be releasing in Puerto Rico in September. So what? Yeah, y'all. We got a movie star. We got a movie star. I'm making a certa. That's amazing. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So I think it's time for me to start tapping into something I've always wanted to do as a kid. That is so cool. So you always wanted to be an actor as a kid. I was too shy. I felt like the the spaces for the actor community was not really my type of community. So, I just never took that leap of faith and now I think it's time for me to get out of that comfort zone, you know, and just do it. Just do it and stop wasting time, you know? Yeah. And I think probably a lot of that has to do with the fact that you like are famous. That's one way to put it. So, tell us about like that journey because you know you kind of like blew up on social media after you took a stance, right? Right. Right. Right. So it just my platform started when I just wanted to make a point overall of saying if there's three million people on the island like then there's something there in Puerto Rico because you know you get told your whole life there's nothing there no in Puerto Rico that's why everybody left that's why there's more people living outside of Puerto Rico this that the other I'm just like it didn't make sense to me I was always a rebellious person I'm just like I need to verify why isn't there right so I was just like if there's 3 million then that means there's something there whatever it is career-wise like life-wise It's like whatever it is, I need to live life on my terms. So I just said screw it. I went just to say I'm a New Euran. I live in Puerto Rico. Nobody can tell you tell me otherwise. And from there I just started getting into the activism things like that. But and that that was how I got my start, you know. And then I think what the blow up was was when I had to call this guy out who was a gentrifier in Puerto Rico that said all his friends that left Puerto Rico during a hurricane that all his friends that who displaced the local population, they up and left. So that left me with the question of what happened to the locals? Where are we going to be during the hurricane? Where you left us without a roof and now you're just going to leave us? Like it's like things like that that just I'm just like all right. Like so that's when I called this guy out and that's when Dwayne Wade's wife liked my video on Twitter. Like it that went everywhere. Super controversial. Super controversial. But it was to make a point that gentrification is harming us in several different ways. And if nobody's going to talk about it, I'm going to talk about it. Wait, Dwayne Wade, like what's his wife's name? Uh, I'm trying to remember right now. Is it Gabrielle? Gabrielle. Yeah, Gabrielle. Yes. She liked it. And then Bad Bunny's girlfriend at the time, um, Gabriella, shared my video on her social media page and it just I was like, "Okay." Oh, wow. I'm about to get a lot of heat. Yeah, that is amazing. You were talking about like the crypto boys, right? That were It was a lot of them was crypto. A lot of them was just either like uh passed down generation millionaires that just bought up land and decided to leave during the hurricane, you know, which I don't blame them. Obviously, we got to take refuge for our own safety purposes. But if you're buying people out of their homes and then you leave when it's time of natural disaster, like what happened to the people that you bought them out of? You know, where are they going to go? Do they have a safe roof the way you took them out of their own safe roof? You know, things like that of what got me to just blow up and interesting. Okay. So you making the decision to relocate to Puerto Rico was because what you felt like there was something there that you needed to explore. Yes. I feel like I always I you know being born and raised in the Bronx I love where I come from but my life my dream was always to live there always live on the island just see what's out there and I was just like I need to know why people don't live well why people say there is an opportunity and a lot of the times people say that it's just they're used to what they know already we build a lifestyle here or in Florida California we don't see it anywhere else so I get that but I see people who are working 9 to5s two jobs, living the similar lifestyle of what a New Yorker would in San Juan. I'm just like, okay, so there's work. You just got to work a little bit harder because the pay is not where it could be. But sacrifices have to be made and just budget, right? But you can live a decent life, you know? And I felt like I don't want to live the top millionaire lifestyle. I want to live in Puerto Rico, whatever that looks like, whether I have an apartment or a home, whether I have a family out there. I will have a family out there eventually. I'm not there yet. I I got to find Oh, cuz I wanted some of that [ __ ] cuz now you you center stage, you famous, you about to be a movie actor. Like you know the goofpies going to be outside. Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm single. Uh ready to mingle, pop like a Pringle. And you heard it here, baby. Okay. Okay. So, yeah. Might have to auction you off. No, I'm just saying. Um Okay. So, moved to Puerto Rico. you decided to become opinionated. And did you speak the language fluently when you moved to Puerto Rico? No. No, I didn't. Okay. That was another thing. That was another thing. I lived in Panama for 3 months. So, that kind of helped me like push myself to get out of my comfort zone because at least in Puerto Rico, you can get by with Spanglish. Yes. And in Panama, it's just like Spanish first. You're like you either you with us or you against us. So, I had to like go through hell and learn. So I feel like after a year and some time of just throwing myself in the mud, messing up in public or just having conversations, it came naturally after just many errors. But now I feel more way more comfortable speaking in Spanish now than if you would ask me like three, four years ago. Oh, interesting. Okay, so you moved to Puerto Rico. you took a stance of these kind of like finance bros and just people with money moving to the island, right? Um, you went viral. You started getting all this attention. Were you happy about that? Were you nervous about that? I that's I was actually very um happy medium because I knew it was going to go viral, but I don't want my face to be the face of like an angry person, you know? But I feel like I just had to let off some steam. I couldn't just let it fly because um you see me right now, we're having a nice conversation. I'm very chill for the most part, but I feel like that kind of set the stamp of what people see me as online, how I'm going to attack everybody like I will fight and I'm just like I'm I am a fighter, but I'm a lover too, you know? And I knew that was going to come back with some backlash. I knew probably some brands that probably saw me and then just were turned off by it or other brands that came on. They just wanted to see what I'm about, see how they can work with me, other companies, businesses, podcasters in Puerto Rico. Like it was like uh one door closed, but several more opened at the same time. Interesting. You know, this is something that we try to drive home here on the podcast about like authenticity and being comfortable in your own skin and how that will allow your people to find you, right? You know what I'm saying? So when you said that you had brands that left but you also had opportunity that came in uh I think that's really important because one of the brands that you had the opportunity to work with you had shared with me that you felt was inauthentic. Can you share that story? Right. Right. So what's up mi? Are you looking for mentorship and the plays to secure the big bag? Have you ever watched me here on the Banking on Cultura podcast and thought to yourself you know what I want to work with Victoria Jenn? Or maybe you thought to yourself, I want to be a part of her network of badass women and entrepreneurs. Well, guess what? You absolutely can. Join me this November, November 15th through the 16th, in the heart of New York City for my 7th annual Secure the Big Bag and Wellness Summit. Let's face it, so many of us are tired, burnt out, ready to throw in the towel, honey. And quite frankly, we want to dedicate ourselves to the soft life. But what if there was a way for us to achieve both time and financial freedom and also have a healthy well-balanced life? What if you could secure the big bag, build a business that fuels you versus drains you, as well as build a solid network of business besties who want to support and motivate you while also centering self. This summit is the premier destination for the latest marketing, sales, and AI tools that can 10x your business while also nurturing your well-being. Learn from top experts from both business and wellness, including executives from the corporate sector, so that you can explore corporate level opportunities that can elevate your business to new heights. Ensuring you're not just prepared, but fully equipped to dominate in 2025 and beyond. This is your opportunity for your business to thrive while you do too. Head over to securethepigbag.com to check out the agenda and all the heavy hitters that will be in the building. I cannot wait to see you in New York City. Mente, it's go time. Um, and this is all love. Axe, by the way, when I grew up in high school, Axe, well, my first big brand was Axe body spray. And they were very upfront. They said, "We would love to collab with you. Do just do one video. we'll give you x amount of dollars. Um, I'll get back to you on the the price. I don't remember. Oh, because we got to show we got to share dollars here. Yeah, we got we got we got to be money transparent. I got you. I got you. But I feel like at the time when I was, you know, working, I just got laid off one job and I was in transition to another. So, I was really dependent on that check that was going to come through, which was enough. Um, it was my first time dealing with like a reputable brand. So, I was like, how do I still stay true to myself, but also market this brand that they gave me? Because they just they mailed me um can of spray of Axe, body spray, and they said, "Do something." They had they had a theme, too. They had a theme. They they wanted to pay me x amount of dollars to do something they want their way. And they were asking for a lot of editing after the first attempt. So, I think maybe I could have asked for more. Maybe I could have gotten paid more, but because it was a lot of work for just one video and it was like they paid with the the W4, the W9, whatever. So, it took like 30 days after the video to get posted to then get paid. So, it was like a big gap in between. But, it was my first time. I was nervous. They actually sent me suggestions of what I could do to sort of like fit the theme, the ad. And in doing so, I felt like I lost a little bit of like my authenticity, trying to like put on a character who I wasn't at the time. And I feel like that's what kind of like maybe dropped a little bit of my following, a little bit of like putting on a What was it like? What did you have to do that was? It was It was just like me being in a in a workplace like how to be successful like and just putting on Axe body spray without saying like try out Axe body spray. You just have to see me putting on the spray and then just all of a sudden your ego is boosted or you have a better vibe or something like that. So it was like putting on the skin. Yeah, that doesn't I probably would have worked better if like you just got off the baseball field or something and you put it on, you know. That's what I'm saying. I always think about it. So it's like I could have done so many different things after, you know. Yeah. Yeah. But it was like a I was like for me I felt like it was a good experience. It was a little bit of a crash and burn. Now I know when I do other brands and other content moving forward how I can stay true to myself, but how I can also sponsor this brand. So I've I've seen so many content creators, they get super creative. I'm just like, damn, like I could have done that. I could have done that. I see so many people interviewing in the streets or give a little historical contacts or being like a little comedy skit. There were so many different ways and I feel like I was just so focused on just trying to be the perfect image when I was in doing so negating my true self. M I love that. I think we all have those learnings that come up where we have to happen like where we're tested and we're challenged like our identity and we have to decide like okay am I going to play their game or am I going to play by my rules because that's what got them to come to you in the first place. Exactly. Your style, right? And your outspokenenness and all the things. Um, so what were some other lessons learned? Like so how are you having conversations with brands now given what you've learned from that? Now it's more like I'm conscious of how they see me because with Axe they just saw the numbers I have. They didn't know the type of content creator I was in terms of now when I have other brands that want to reach out to me. They're more they're conscious of who I am being the Latin phrase, the Latin dollar. They're conscious of what I can bring to the table and my energy that they want. And now they're asking me what are my rates and I set the rate. I feel like I can do more. Right now I would say for I oh this is something you should keep account in mind too. I'm mention this. I do I have a rates for let's say $2,500 for one video. 2,500. But when it comes to local brands in Puerto Rico, I understand every like the local businesses are struggling out there, you know, they don't have financial means. So, I give them I give them a break, okay? I give the local brands a break in Puerto Rico because I understand that, you know, they don't have USA money even though they have their own money. So, I always try to make it have a medium. So, in terms of brands in USA, they'll get full amount, but brands in Puerto Rico like half, sometimes even a quarter. But I'll make sure that there's going to be some setbacks with that. So, okay. Okay. So, $2,500 a post and like what does that come with? Like comes with a one-time video um in terms of a share on my story and then that same video will be posted on Tik Tok as well. Um and a share on the story as well on Tik Tok. We got to increase that. Yeah. I I I realized over time we definitely got to increase. We definitely got increase. I think I think more I would be like it's 5,000, right? 5,000 off the bat, right? I think I think it's time to because your engagement is also very high which is going to push the awareness even more. You will have credibility with your audience. Like there's like a trust factor there that brands die for. Right. Right. And want to be a part of. And you know what I've learned and it's the same thing like I do a lot of corporate contracts, right? And when they ask me for my pricing, they always like have this face. And what that tells me is that my peers in the business is giving them a lower price. And what that does is it brings the overall market value down. So even though it might be your first opportunity, so you're like, "Oh, I don't know what to, you know, price this as or my first one. I don't want to be greedy." Right. Right. Right. Right. You price yourself low and you think, "Oh, well, so what? I got my first brand." That's the that's the cultural mindset that we're taught to be humble in the Latin community that we have to be humble like don't be asking for too much, you know, because we're always taught to like have a set standard. But in this industry, I'm just like why not just reach for the stars? What's wrong with that? You never hurt, you never know until you try type stuff. So, I think it's something that is a learning that has to be unlearned, undone at the same time. It's a scarcity mindset um for sure because a lot of us come from humble beginnings. So, we're not used to asking for $5,000 for a 30 second video. Like, we're not used to making those type of ass. So, it's like crazy when you get a brand to like pay you that. I remember when I locked in my first six figure contract. I was like, "Holy [ __ ] I can't believe I pulled this [ __ ] off." Like, I used to make this in a year and now I just did it like here in less than a year. I'm like, "Oh shit." Like, this is crazy. But, right, once you do it once, then you know, you can't go back. You can't go back. Yeah. Then you know, oh [ __ ] this is possible. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But you're never going to know if that's possible. And you're going to get nos. Like if you increase your price to 5,000, I'm pretty sure you're going to get nos. But you're going to have such a strong business case that there's going to be a brand that's going to say yes. Especially with Hispanic Heritage Month coming up. That's right. That's right. That's right. Especially with Hispanic Heritage Month coming up because that's when brands want to really get in front of the community. And it's like, oh, okay. You want to leverage the community during this time where it is the premium time to be in front of our community. And I don't see you doing this all year round. So, you know what? During Hispanic Heritage Month, it's 8,000. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Twice the price. Yeah. Exactly. Because we are the prize. Like, right. So, Latinos have a 3.4 trillion buying power. We are the largest community that's consuming content. We're the largest community that are making purchases online and we tend to make purchases when we see somebody who looks like us. Yeah. Okay. And we're the largest consumer of video content. So if you think about it, like we are the prize. Yeah. Like you hold the bag. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like you hold the value. That's true. So, you got to you got to up those prices because what that will do will not only put more money in your pocket, but it will also raise all the content creators up cuz now they know like, "No, this is the minimum price." Right. Right. For so long, they've been I feel like they've been trying to set the price for us and we've just been like, "Okay, cuz we're just so like gassed to like work with a brand and we're like, oh [ __ ] like this crazy like ask what?" Yeah. Right. But really like we have the power to set the price. That's true. Right. I I they I feel like this is a motivational speaker. It means a lot. No, it really does mean a lot because sometimes I just get so caught up in like what if they say no or it's just like but I had to realize that just because you can work with it, but it doesn't mean you have to, you know, like if you know your value, know your worth, don't settle for less. Totally. And like yo, I would [ __ ] die for your community. like you have such an amazing community that like supports you, that engages with your content, that like looks forward to the education that you provide them. Like that's powerful. Powerful like double down into that for sure. Listen, and you could call me if you need a pep talk before. No, you better ask them for eight grand. You better ask them for eight grand. I got you. I got you. See it. Okay. So, I want to go into what would be your advice for content creators. What's up, Mi? Are you looking for mentorship and the place to secure the big bag? Have you ever watched me here on the Banking on Cultura podcast and thought to yourself, you know what? I want to work with Victoria Jenn. Or maybe you thought to yourself, I want to be a part of her network of badass women and entrepreneurs. Well, guess what? You absolutely can. Join me this November, November 15th through the 16th, in the heart of New York City for my 7th annual Secure the Big Bag and Wellness Summit. Let's face it, so many of us are tired, burnt out, ready to throw in the towel, honey, and quite frankly, we want to dedicate ourselves to the soft life. But what if there was a way for us to achieve both time and financial freedom and also have a healthy, well-balanced life? What if you could secure the big bag, build a business that fuels you versus drains you, as well as build a solid network of business besties who want to support and motivate you while also centering self. This summit is the premier destination for the latest marketing, sales, and AI tools that can 10x your business while also nurturing your well-being. Learn from top experts from both business and wellness, including executives from the corporate sector, so that you can explore corporate level opportunities that can elevate your business to new heights, ensuring you're not just prepared, but fully equipped to dominate in 2025 and beyond. This is your opportunity for your business to thrive while you do, too. Head over to securethepigbag.com to check out the agenda and all the heavy hitters that will be in the building. I cannot wait to see you in New York City. It's go time. My advice for content creators, I would say you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. As cliche as that may sound, but you have to start learning new things. Just because you are set in your ways, just because you know some things work this to your advantage doesn't mean that there's new ways that you can learn how to be better at certain things at what you do. you know, and it's going to have to cost you to sometimes speak in front of Time Square, like where a million people are watching you pass by as you're recording yourself. It's going to have to come with sacrifices, but at the end of the day, those sacrifices are the ones that going to put you on the pedestal that you want to see yourself at, you know? So, that that requires sometimes digging through mud. That requires saying no to a lot of things. That requires you to have to learn something you're never taught before. That's something you never taught at school, something you never taught in college, universities, but something that only you know will this will work for you and that's going to propel you to the next level. So, I would say don't be afraid to learn new things. Don't be afraid to take that risks. And if you're like me moving to Puerto Rico that you didn't speak Spanish first, but you're willing to learn at the same time, you're going to elevate your status, you're going to elevate your resume, and you're going to be a better person than you were the first time you walked through through that door. Yeah. So, and it's not just content creators. It's like if you're a business owner, like you need to be on the content scene in some way, some way. Especially if you're like the face of your brand and that's how you're starting. Like you need to be outside. Like people need to see you. They need to know what you're about. Where do you get inspiration for your content? That's a good one. Um, you know what this and this is is we've gotten better with it now, but I I feel like in the beginning when you know Instagram just started or Facebook just started and we see these Viners, these creators or like these these like Puerto Ricans be like posts, I died at some of the cringe that I saw with our representation on social media. I hated it so much. I was just like it was just like we wear like there was this one meme I'll never forget that was um what was it? Puerto Rican whole batele like it's drug money. I was just like, do we have to like what? Yeah, I know. It was a guy holding patella like that was funny at the first bit. I was just like, we need to do better. And then the little representation that we had of like some of the content creators that have now elevated their status today at the beginning, it's like there wasn't that many. And I didn't like the representation that we had on social media. That was my inspiration. I was like, if nobody's going to represent our community the way I want to see it, then I'll have to step up to the plate. That was my mindset as terms of if I don't see nobody doing it, all right, I'll do it because I want to see that we're not just like go, you know, ghetto ghetto trashy, nothing like that. We are educated, we are elegant, you know, we have something to offer to the table, you know, and I love, and it's not to downplay, you know, our upbringing cuz as somebody from the Bronx, you know, I'm not one to talk, but I want to see like a great representation being English and Spanish representation. I want to see it all but on a grand scale where it's just like everybody knows that this is a funny Puerto Rican that we're reputable Puerto Ricans that we're not just regos that we are also businessmen and we're hustlers too you know I think that was my drive that I didn't like what we had in the beginning so I was like all right we're going to be educated at the same time you know so that was like my niche to starting I love it and now like where where do you get your inspiration for your videos like what what is your thought process when you're thinking about like what you're going to talk about. I think it's just that when I see a lot of misinformation, these AI bot videos, they want to it's like non-reans talking about my history, but it's going to fit their political propaganda, all that stuff. I'm like, whoa, whoa, where do you get the balls to talk about my people? No, you don't know all the facts. Like, I'm going to correct you. And it's been happening more and more like these new um AI generated videos where they think they talk about my history. I'm like, sorry, no, no, no, no. I will put you in your place. I'm actually a Puerto Rican and you're spitting misinformation. It's is that I think that's what drives me more now. It's that's my inspiration to because there's so many false information out there that a lot of Puerto Ricans want to be a state. A lot of Puerto Ricans um like live off food stamps. I'm like, "No, no, no, no, no, no. We are workingass people. Not a lot of us want to be a state. And if you're going to talk about our people, make sure you talk to me first. I want to be that. I want to be the guy that you talk to first before you say anything about my community." It was a passion drop. O my goodness. Okay. So, first inspiration comes from misinformation that you're seeing out in the marketplace, right? But like how do you creatively like think about like like do you think about like is this going to engage my audience? Is this going to pop? Is this going to like I think of what are fun facts like did you know X Y and Z? Did you know uh we did this? Did you know that we're contributors to that? Because it's like we don't always see ourselves on the front lines. So I'm like, okay, we are we are also we broke a lot of Guinness World Records. Did you know that the number one stream uh song in the world, Despacito, will be um a Guinness golden world record? We have not one but 20 Guinness World Records broken because of that one song, Despacito. Oh wow. Okay. A lot of that. And did you know what's another one? I'm just spitting random fun facts. Did you? You're like Snapple facts right now. It's got like random facts. Another one. Did you know um there is not one Olympic gold medalist that is a male? The only gold medalists for Puerto Rico are only females. Oh, I did not know that. Okay. So, one of your strategies are did you know hooks? So, what's another strategy? Um, I would say the did you know hooks are the best? But also when it comes to international representation, how can I link Puerto Rico like I did with Palestine? How can I hook international? Because when you start bridging the gap of the communities together, it's like the flags, the colors are what's catching the audience first. Because when you have the red, white, and blue Puerto Rican flag, then you have the Honduran flag, the Dominican flag, the Palestinian flag, I think colors are like key to catching the eye first. So then how can you catch those colors and bring some facts that come with the flag, the history, keynotes, all that together. And I think that's been one of my biggest strategies to how to catch the eye first because that's why I use my background images because a lot of people, they can't just sit in a classroom and be educated. Oh, this is 1898 this that the other on a chalkboard. It didn't it never worked for me. It never worked for me. But if you got pictures, you got images, you got videos, I learn better that way. And I feel like if I can is that going to work for me? That could work better for my audience, too. So, you do a lot of like visual components on the videos. What software are you using to edit your videos? Actually, Tik Tok is um majority of my videos, but I also have this app called Villow. Um and I would love to work with them. Villow, I'm coming for you guys. I got they had this app called Villo. I do all my editing, like if it was a full-blown computer, but it it works right off my phone. Anything you want to do with video editing, audio, software, all that stuff is in that app. Villo. V I L E Oo. V L L O. V L O. Mhm. Villo. I pay I pay a monthly subscription of like uh like five six7 and it's bueno bonito and it does the job. Everything I want to do, I have full access to do it. And what's the spelling again? V V L L O V L L O. Interesting. Okay. I've never heard of that. I'm going to check that out. Look into it. Okay. But Tik Tok is also good for a lot of your a lot of when I have to do the face uh cameras or if I have to chop some things up, I'll do it on Tik Tok. But uh Villow is my best friend. Yeah. Okay. Are you finding yourself loving Tik Tok more than Instagram right now or? Um, I'm going to have to start cutting the strings soon because whatever happens with the United States and Tik Tok, I might have to say very soon, you know. So, that's something that I unfortunately have to come to terms with. I love Tik Tok more because I I feel like it's just I feel free. I can express myself. Nobody cares. And if it bops or flops, I don't care. It's like I just want to say whatever I want. Now, in terms of tech Instagram, I've already built a reputation of being the historian and the education man. And I want to keep that light going, but I also want to be a little comedian once in a while. I want to be doing collabs. I want to be a little cook like when I work with Beatric. Shout out to Beatatrice. Things like that. Um, but in terms of Tik Tok, I do I post a million videos like a day a week. It's like I can express myself freely there. Whatever happens happens. And I take those. But strategy wise, whatever best video I have from Tik Tok, that goes on Instagram. Oh, interesting. You know what I'm finding? Like videos that I think are gonna pop on Instagram, never. They pop on Tik Tok, but videos that are popping on Tik Tok doesn't pop on Instagram. It's like I got this lovehate relationship right now. It's an algorithm. Yeah. It's so annoying. It's like and it'll really mess with like your mental health cuz it makes you feel like you can't create good [ __ ] content because it's not getting seen and you internalize it and you're like, "Yo, like what the hell?" Or you start like me. I'm like, "Yo, what's all my community? Like they don't love me no more." Right. It It could honestly feel like that. It could feel like an existential crisis. Yeah. I'm like, "Yo, what's happening? You guys don't love me." Yeah. Right. Like, "What happened, guys? I thought we were cool." Right. I thought you was here. I'm having a light skin. For real. I'm like, "Yo, am I going to have to see a therapist about this?" No. It's like It is annoying. It is trying to like keep up and manage. But I do believe in the power of building a brand on social media. So regardless of how much I complain or how I feel, like I'm still gonna show up. And it's like whoever's meant to see it freaking sees it. Exactly. Exactly. That's that's just a lot of the videos I have on Tik Tok that we'll never see on Instagram. It's just like whoever sees it, it doesn't matter anymore because at the end of the day, there's several factors um to being a content creator on TikTok because the for you page is usually the fa the page where you first open and it's a random person's video. That's the page you want to be on. However, it's a random selection. That's one of the key things. I've been on Tik Tok when it was called uh Musically. What? Used to be called Musically. Used to be called Musically. Oh, wow. I didn't know. Then it got bought bought out by another company. and then they transitioned it into Tik Tok. But unfortunately with how it works for the for you page, it's a it's like a AI per se and it randomly selects what could be the best next best hit, next best video or that's one factor. The other factor is that if your like you mentioned earlier, if your followers are supporting you or if they're sharing it or if they're sending it off to other people, um or if you're controversial like me and I have a lot of problematic followers, which I love them so much, that if I say uh do my controversial videos, they send it to people on the opposite wing or the people that have opposite views of them like look at this, you're wrong. He said it because he's wrong. So it starts like a coaching match in a box of fireworks. So, a lot of my growth and momentum has been to a lot of my followers. So, I appreciate y'all because they like me. They want to start some problems. So, they just start sending videos to like their family members, people they hate, and they're like, "Yo, look at this. Look at this. Look at this." And even people who hate me, they started sending it to people who hate me even more. And it was like, "Ah, look at this guy. Look at this schmuck over here." And things like that. So, it works in my favorites where shares and controversy in my favor. It helps. Yeah, I think that's a strategy. Like I feel like controversial content always performs better. It does. It does. I've learned how to now play my part in doing it a little. I'll still throw my little jabs in there once in a while, but I still like to be very informative. I still want to make sure my message gets across, you know? Interesting. Interesting. So, how how can we be controversial but informative? I would say take three facts, three important facts that are rel relative to each other and use it as a story that you can tell and as but also make it your foundation to why you stand for what you stand for, you know, and that what you stand for is going to be the controversial part because if you believe whether left, right-wing, whatever uh ideologies, but if you have three facts that prove it, that's what's going to sort of gain the momentum because nobody can deny facts. You know, you can't deny his history that has been proven for thousands of centuries. When I talk about independence movements of Puerto Rico, this happened, this happened, and this happened. You can't say, "No, that didn't happen because I have the proof, and this is my proof is why I stand on my beliefs." So, I think when you have at least three, all you need is three three facts, three solid like damn like you can't argue it. You're gonna get somebody mad and they're gonna start throwing lobos at you, but it doesn't matter because they're just throwing anger. They're speaking with passion and emotion. You're speaking with facts. That's the key. Interesting. And what if it's like not fact based? That's the hard part. That's the hard because then you got sometimes you got to take the L. Then some you got to take the L. But if you still believe in what you want to believe in, there's alternatives to how you can go about it. I think if there's like one mistake out of the three facts, at least you got two, right? Two out of three. You know, that's why I say you can't just have one. You need three. Overall, can folks make a living off of content creation? Like, do you think it that like would you advise someone to do that? I would say it's it's a hassle. It's a hassle if but if you want you know what you want and you want to put your best foot forward, it's possible. I know a lot of people who quit their jobs just to take this full-time. I got fired from my last job, which was like almost two years ago, and that boosted me into just becoming something who I am today. And it required me doing the sacrifice of not having to work, having to go out less, having to budget more. Is that why you're single? Yeah. Yeah. I think that's probably the best way to go about it. It's probably Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's just baby maybe baby I haven't gone outside as much like listen are you cheating I'll go outside and not sorry I can't babe can you take care of the tab I got you the next one hilarious okay let's go into the talk that talk segment where we address something taboo in the cultura is there anything you would like to address here I'll give you a fact and this is a good because he's like historian so this is a good one Um, did you know in June 23rd of 1960, that's when the birth pill uh was originally released? Right. The birth control pill. Birth control pill. Uhhuh. Do you know how they they got it though? I don't. So 10 years before that, they were experimenting and euthanizing and sterilizing Puerto Rican women before that. And they had to do non-stop tests and they sort of coerced our woman, our ancestors into sterilization, forced sterilization. And through years of like uh testing um failures, all things along the lines like that is what led them to the 1960 the official release of when these birth control pills started working. And so that's when they were FDA approved. That's when they were able to distribute it to women who wanted to take birth control pills or had a slip up, things along the like that. But it was our Puerto Rican woman first that had to go through the sterilization, force sterilization, being coerced into being euthanized to have to sort of population control on the island um of things along the lines of not being able to have kids anymore. We would have had a population today of maybe 10, 11 million Puerto Ricans today, but because of the 1950s for sterilization that took place in the island, um we are now at only 9 million Puerto Ricans today. Little fun fact. What? Yeah. Wow. I didn't know that. Yeah. So when it comes to our women being on the front lines of a lot of things, I have to give a lot of Puerto Rican women credit because there's like they went through the sacrifices. I think of stories like that, it makes me sick to my stomach to believe that they were coerced into being forced to be sterilized, couldn't have kids anymore. Some of them wouldn't even know if they were already pregnant and didn't even know it. But how they do that? like what they there were some sort of stands tests that were being ran sort of by a lot of corporations. I'm not going to say but needless to say that they used us as guinea pigs first and see how they could work on our woman first and then once it was FDA approved then they were able to distribute on a international level. But those now that I'm thinking about it, aren't there like a lot of pharma companies that are like have offices even headquarters in Puerto Rico? Quite a few. Quite a few. You look at the co vaccines, they got their initiation, their start in a lot of uh headquarters in Puerto Rico. Interesting. A lot of the three, what was it? The three brands, Johnson and Johnson, Fizer, and Madna. Madna. Yeah. all being made to be our first. Interesting. Huh. Okay. Wow. So, I think something that's taboo in the cultura or even not even outside of our individual cultura, but just American civil civilization is understanding the significance that have played like in this country. When they say we don't export anything, that's not true. We actually sacrificed our woman to make sure that you guys are able to now um have safe sex, have uh a population control or if you don't want to have kids, you don't have kids, birth control. That's because of our woman. It's it's hard because nobody ever wants to talk about it. But that that's a that's a fact that needs to be taught in school, I believe. I believe so, too. That's like a part of history, right? And it's something that is used to this day. You know what could be some good content and could be your did you know that's linked to what's happening right now are all these states who are trying to take away women's rights as it comes to how they control their body or how they choose to um how they view having children etc like I could see that being like yeah there was there was a time too that even then after every that was said in the 50s there was actually a law that was attempted to be passed has to um prevent abortions in Puerto Rico as well because referring to that we have our own judicial system but even then a lot of the political leaders were following that ideology and were trying to implement it in Puerto Rico too. They failed because we're a bit more progressive than that because it's a woman woman's body woman's choice. So they that sort of failed but they they did attempt that for a little bit too unfortunately. Interesting. Wow. See what happens when we have a historian taking out like you get all these facts. I love it. I love it. So tell the people where they can find you. Mhm. Uh you can find me on Instagram PR. That's H U R T A S D E A N P to the R. P to the R. And what's next for you? I think the next step, I mean, besides being a movie star, I think the next step is um I'm in talks right now of going to possibly represent Puerto Rico on social media in the Olympics in Paris 2024. What? That would be [ __ ] sick. Yeah. Yo, so Oh my god. Fingers crossed. You should tell them that you need a guest pass. You need to like bring someone on your team to help you. Plus one. Yo, I'll pay for myself to go. Don't worry. Gotcha. Gotcha. Why? We'll coordinate. We'll coordinate. Oh, no. We'll make them pay. I'm pretty sure they pay for you to Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure we can work some details out. You know what I'm saying? For real. Like, we should coordinate. They said Spanglish uh content creator. I said, exactly. Like, let's go. You know, female male perspective like that could fly. Like, I could see that being a thing. Oh, yeah. Um anyway, thank you so much for being on Banging out and hold that phone. Okay. Okay. Because Oh, [ __ ] It's directly from Puerto Rico. I wanted to give this to you. What's cafe deoro? Oh my goodness. Straight from our backyard at patio de Puerto Rico that TSA tried to fight me with it. That's why you see the wrap on it. Sticker. But made sure that I was able to send this over to Puerto Rico in time from from Puerto Rico to New York to you. So, oh my god. That's my little gift, too. This is my little thank you gift right here. Thank you so much. That's why you asked if I like coffee. That's I asked her earlier before we started recording. I was like, "Do you like coffee?" She said, "I do." I was like, "Good to know." Yes. Good to know. Cuz if not, I would have kept that underto. Yes. So, thank you so much. Okay. So, you know, little sips. Oh my god. I'm so excited. I'm very excited about this. Like, you have no idea. Yes. Like, I love So, how do I make this? I put it in like the thingy. Yeah. You got to do either. Do you have a Ga still? I actually don't got to get you on that. I'm bougie. am modernized now. I mean, you got the OG coffee maker, too. They have these They have these uh Kurig uh cups that you can like pour a little bit of like dirt coffee in there, too. And like I have a French press. A There you go. There you go. That That's going to be strong. People don't That's going to be mad strong. So, if you need a boost kick to your day. Mhm. Ooh. I feel like this is like a family affair. I got to bring this to like my family's house and after dinner, I'm going to be like, "Let's make some coffee for Puerto Rico." That's for my That's for me to you. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Um All right, guys. Well, thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode and I'll see you in the next one. We outside. [Music] What's up, Mi? Are you looking for mentorship and the place to secure the big bag? 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