Going Viral To Get Paid: How to Quit Your 9-5 and Become An Influencer ft. Ken Starrrz
This week Victoria Jenn sits down with viral sensation Kenneth Reyes aka Ken Starrz, who has built his career making people laugh and helping them find happiness within. In this episode prepare to laugh while learning how to create viral content, stay consist, and close brand deals. You can also catch Victoria Jenn coaching Ken Starrz live in real time. If you’re thinking about quitting your 9-5 to become an influencer, or want to market your business using social media, without spending tons of money, this episode is for you!
In this episode:
06:27 - From Viral Video to Brand Strategy
10:01 - Building Your Social Media Brand: Partnering for Expansion and Management Success
13:27 How to Stay Grounded Through Social Media Challenges
18:39 How Can You Leverage Your Virality into Exclusive Opportunities
29:16 How to Be Prepared in Case Your Instagram Gets Deleted
35:00 Advice for Aspiring Social Media Influencers
47:22 Ensuring Equal Treatment for the Latino Community in Hollywood
Full Transcript:
Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host, Victoria Jenn Rodriguez, and we're here for yet another episode with a guest. Why did you have to say and we're here? Like, how am I supposed to say it? We here we can start like, you know, I thought you were like tired cuz I did reschedule. I You did reschedule same day minutes before our interview, but it worked out. No, we had. You made it happen. So, since your presence is here, let's give the folks insight into who you are for those that don't know you. I got to give you nah, I'm not going to give no bio. If you're in New York City and you know and you know who I am, Ken Stars, you know who I am. Okay, but what if we have somebody outside of New York City who wants to know who you are? Well, then come to New York City. Come to New York City. You want to know who I am? Come to New York City. There you go. This is Kenneth Reyes. Actually, this is who this is. Whoa. Okay. That's how I want to introduce since you don't want people to know who you are. Yeah. Yeah. My name is Kenneth. Yes. My name is Kenneth. Your name is Kenneth. But people know him as Ken Starrrz. Yes. Very major in the New York tri-state area. You could say tri-state. You can even say global. Oh, now we global. I mean in some parts of the world like Pakistan, Yemen and [ __ ] That's it. You look like you could be like have family there. I do though. Oh, that's amazing. You I do. No. No. about where I'm where I'm at in Spanish Harlem. Like I grew up around them. Oh yeah. Yeah. In Spanish Harlem. Yeah. Oh, interesting. Okay. I mean they own all the bodeas over there. So Well, that's true. That is true. Okay. Amazing. So Ken Starrrz. Yes. Viral sensation. Okay. Meaning that if you're on the internet and you frequent the internet often and Latino, more likely than not, you have come across one of his skits. You did. And I'm sorry. So we like to start this show with some chin. So tell us something that we cannot find on the internet about you. What? Yeah.
Nothing. I think everything I do is on the internet. Everything you do is not on the internet. I I swear I'm dead serious. That's impossible. When I got arrested, when I got arrested like two years ago, I threw it on live. Okay. So everything I do is on the internet. Recording it. I think it was my girl at the time. Really? You was like go live by cuz you were afraid of police brutality or Okay. Yeah, that too. I was in No, no, it wasn't even content. I was in Jersey and like the weed laws in Jersey are like very crazy and very strict. So I didn't know what was happening. Yeah. Yeah. This is before it was legalized and [ __ ] So Oh, so you was smoking outside and they stopped you? Yeah. Yeah, they made me clip my my little blunt and then they made me No, they made me pick it up after I threw it out and then arrested me. What? Pick it up and put it in the garbage. Yeah. A I don't know. But yeah, I don't I mean I'm the same person on and off IG. I really don't. The most I am is private. That's it. The most you are is private. The most I am is private. Like that's like the most thing you What do you mean the most you are is private? Like that's like probably the most thing I ask for privacy. Like when I'm home and [ __ ] with my kid and stuff, I'm with my dog and [ __ ] People like showing up to the house, you mean? Or No, I mean that's just the only time I have privacy. Oh, because so much of your life is online. Yeah, everything I do is online. So every time I'm home, I'm with my daughter with my dog chilling. My mom's Mhm. Uh so what is something you're struggling with right now? Um can I speak for all men or just for me? Well, it's your story, so you choose. Well, I'mma speak for everybody. I think men's mental health should be more um advocated. Okay. So, you have some mental health stuff you're going through. I think everybody does. Facts. I think everybody does. It's just it's just it's just how you control it and how you uh project it, you know. Okay. So, what do you find is helping you manage it? um not manage it but keep me grounded. I would say my my daughter, you know. Okay. My kid. Okay. Keep the reason it's the reason why I'm here. Okay. And doing what I do. It's also the reason why you canceled on me last minute. But now you're here. So that's what matters. Well, we can't talk about that cuz she'll smack me when I get home. Uh okay. Amazing. All right. So, we'll get into that. I have a feeling a little bit more in this interview because I really want to drive home how you became this viral sensation and what started it and get into some of the nitty-gritty related to the business part of it. So, how did this start? Um, I was on bind. Okay. I was working at Juicy Couture at the time. Okay. Okay. So, I used to make fun of people's outfits when they come in to work cuz people be at, you know, when you work at a retail store, everybody swears they're a fashion fashionista. So, anyway, that's all I was doing. So, you used to wear Juicy Gouts? No, I was in the stock room. Oh, okay. I wasn't wearing no nothing on my butt that said Juicy. Oh, okay. I'm just for clarification purposes. But no, I was at a stock room. I was working regular. Even though there was nothing wrong with that. No, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just my [ __ ] ain't juicy. Okay. All right. All right. All right. All right. So, you're in the stock room. I'm in the stock room. I was doing that and then Vine uh Vine was like 5 seconds, six second videos. Then Instagram got longer with you mean longer time with their videos. Okay. Moved on to Instagram. Okay. And um let me So you started getting hype on Vine like Vine. Yeah. I started getting a little hype on Vine. Then I got more hype on IG, but I kept getting deleted because the content. Yeah. Some people were like reporting the content. I did a lot of Ranchy stuff. Oh. Yeah, I was I was testing the waters and I drowned a few times. Okay. Got deleted at least nine times. Wow. Okay. Okay. Then um Wait, so you got deleted nine times and had come back every single time. Yeah, it's a free app. [ __ ] is wrong with y'all? It's free. No, but I think that that's like a very good takeaway for people cuz like resiliency is what led to your success? Consistency. Yeah, like it was something that I wanted to do. Watching myself um make videos and project my ideas and like actually see them come to life was a was a dope thing. Okay. So, what started to happen when you were going viral? All right. Uh I was working at a I was a social worker. Okay. This was after Juicy. This is Yeah, this is after Juicy. This is like my last job. Okay. Your last job before you went completely fulltime? Yeah, I was a social worker. Um and my boy hooks me up. Shout out to AJTV. They're like, "Yo, we need somebody to act hood and smack somebody in the casket. We doing a video. It's called 10 things not to do at a funeral." And I'm like, "All right, cool. I'll be there." Uhhuh. Even though I was late. I got there. It was like 8 in the morning. We at the YouTube space. And basically, I did a video where I slapped a dead dude in the casket. He wasn't dead. It was my boy Jose. Okay. Um, I posted it as like, "Yo, look, check the link. The whole episode is out. Whatever." I had like 30,000 followers. I woke up to like 400,000. What? Wow. Everybody thought I smacked somebody in the casket and then uh I got fired from my job, right? Because they're like, "We can't have It was a conflict of interest." Yeah. I couldn't be helping people and smacking people at the same time. So, I was like, "All right." Okay. And then um and it's crazy. The day I got fired, it was um I did another video. It went viral. And I was like, "You know what? I'm going to do this for a while." Mhm. And I decided to take a chance. I'm still broke. Okay. But I'm I'm call it a happy broke, okay? cuz I'm I'm happy doing what I'm doing. I'm still getting money. It's not what I want, okay? But it's more than what I had doing these 9 to5 stuff, okay? Not knocking anybody doing 9 to5 cuz I did that all my life. Okay, so let's talk about this because I think there's a misconception in the marketplace that if you constantly go viral, you're making money. Ain't no Let me tell you something. Ain't no money because after you go viral, you should ask yourself, what are you going to do next? That was my problem. I'll go viral, go viral, then like what else? I'm gonna keep going viral. like I wanted more. Mhm. So, how have you been able to position yourself now? Well, um after like 8 years, nine years, I got management. Okay. Um my page grew. Um it was easy to get small businesses um to work with you and build their pages and new artistes and stuff like that. But I still didn't have management. I didn't have direction. And I didn't just wanted to just stay on Instagram. I needed I wanted to expand more. So when I got management, uh ended up getting a deal with a liquor company uh with a tequila company. I ended up doing commercials for them, getting paid through them then. Okay. But how much how much you getting paid though? What do you mean for like videos? Like No, tell me what are you asking? So you're getting a brand deal. Okay. A brand deal, right? And you're doing commercials and stuff like that. Like how much money we talking? Let's say for the for the liquor. My my first check was like three. Okay. 3,000. Yeah. 3,000. I didn't do that much. It was a quick quick snippet. But then they wanted me to do it every Friday and um and be a part of the brand then I for more money. Okay. Okay. And how did you advocate to get more money? Like what was that process like manager for you? Okay. But they already saw what I was doing as far as videos and creativity. I wasn't doing the the regular stuff that everybody else was doing. So Okay. So guys, have you grabbed your ticket for the 7th annual Secure the Big Back and Wellness Summit? We literally have less than 15 tickets left and you want to be in the room, honey, cuz we're going to show you all the strategy that you need to build a real business, no longer a hobby that brings in consistent revenue. So, we're teaching you the latest on marketing, on sales, on AI, and we're also going to hook you up on the wellness front because it's no fun collecting these coins out here if you're feeling sucky all inside, right? We want to make sure that your wellness is in tow as well while you're securing the bag and dominating in 2025. So comment the word summit or go to securethebigag.com to lock in your seat today. I'll see you there. How do you enter these deals now? Because now you have more pedigree. You like should be at premium pricing because you have a high likelihood of going viral. So now what what what does your pricing look like? Um, I've been in doing this for so long. I would say like I'm g say 10 years now. I probably say 10 years, but like in a week it would be like 10 years. Everybody that I know, you know, I've I've met through the industry and created relationships. To me, the money will always come. Okay. So, when when you when you ask me about what what's it like right now and [ __ ] it's okay. It could always be better. But um as far as pricing, sometimes just because of what they got going on and what they are what they're um supporting, my price will come down or I'll probably even do it for free, you know? So what I never been about the money I was always I always been about the content because content is king to me. And do you find that that is why you have been successful because you're focusing on content or how do you actually how do you define success for you in this moment? Happiness. Happiness. Okay. I love that. I'm I'm happy doing what I do. Like I said, it's not really about the money cuz that that that [ __ ] will always come. Money comes and go. It'll come one day or leave the next. But your uh your health your your your mind state that has to stay intact so you can make so you can see that money. So let's talk about how you are staying at peace because being so viral there's a lot of eyeballs on you and I'm sure a lot of comments coming your way. So how how did comments a lot of diddy comments? A lot of diddy comments. Yo because cuz I was I was working with them. I I got to deal with Revolt TV to get a TV show. Okay. Shout out to Revolt TV. Um but uh I guess being associated with the with the with the man, you know. Mhm. People was already like, "Oh, he was at a party." Another [ __ ] at a [ __ ] party, bro. I met the dude twice, three times. It was all [ __ ] work. Yo, I made a bag and I left. You know, that's that's what it was. Y um I don't condone anything that he did, you know? I really don't respect it, but um to each your own. Okay. But my question was, how do you manage through the negativity? I don't care. You don't care. It's like, if you comment and I don't know you, have a good night, bro. Yeah. What do you What is it that you're going to do? Yeah. That's going to bother me. Okay. Except for type type in the comments like it's nothing. It's people talk no matter if you do good or bad. Mhm. Okay. So your rule of thumb for people if somebody's interested in creating a brand online and getting attention going viral a couple of things I want to touch on. So your recommendation consistency okay consistency I swear to God just be consistent and I need to I need to practice that now because now that I'm you know I got a little lazy you know I've been sitting on my high horse and I need to get back to it. But consistency, I swear to God, when you do, I know people don't like to hear it, but when you do something repetitive over and over, something's got to give. Okay? Whether it is you give up or you get more out of it. Okay? So, that wasn't where I was going, but I know, but I had I had to throw it in. I got you. I got you. So, consistency. Yes. Core takeaway. But what I the advice was that if you want to build your brand online, you're going to get negative comments. So to build basically like this armor where you just don't care if you don't know them. Don't take it. That [ __ ] don't work for everybody. It don't. It don't, you know. Um I would even say don't even comment back to people because what I realize now is people could uh report your comments and that'll [ __ ] up your page. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. Like if you say like, "Yo, bro, don't talk to me like that. You stink." Just because you said he laughing, but just because you called a dude you stink, they're going to report you. So, um, ignore it as best as best as you can. You know, ignore it as best like unless you see it that it's getting personal, then you probably know who that is. But besides that, like who are they? Nobody. Okay. So, I really want to dig into the money part of this because a lot of people again think that there's money in this space and I believe that there is, but okay. So, you're saying there there isn't. Well, for example, your reaction, for example, like me, when you get um reported a lot or when you get uh these reprimands for posting stuff that you're not supposed to or you get reported because you said something you're not supposed to, they take that away. Or you think you're getting money, they they they give you they put you on suspension for like two, three weeks. You're talking about like the platform. Yeah, the platform itself, Instagram, they'll put you on suspension or they'll just take that away. And but you don't really make money on Instagram. don't make money at all on Instagram. To be honest with you, the only time I get money is because I'm hosting, small business hits me up or somebody wants a shout out. That's it. Yeah, that's it. Off of Instagram. Off of Instagram. So, but with that said, because your clips are going viral, you are in rooms that you have possible opportunity to take from, right? So, from the platform itself, oh, I'm not going to lie to you. Um, I travel the world through Instagram. Uh, sometimes I can't believe that a [ __ ] app changed my life. Yeah. It's hard to I cannot I'm waiting. I'm I'm going to get an Instagram tattoo soon. But it's very is is it gives me goosebumps because I I would never thought a free app would would help me out in my life. Yeah. Yeah. How has it helped you? How hasn't it helped me? um seeing my dreams unfold, being on stages that I've never would imagine meeting people that you wouldn't even expect, you know? I was at Philippes having dinner with the president of Dominican Republic. What? Like, who would have knew? Like off of off a video. Yeah. You know, so yeah, I mean that's what I really want to drive home for people. It's like if you have the opportunity to go viral and have that consistent push because you're creating amazing content, you're going into rooms you've never been in before. You're shaking hands with people that have influence. Like, how are you leveraging those moments so that you are actually thinking about this as a business? I mean, we we all know when we get into a room, we network. Um, as far as leveraging those moments, I I take it in for what it is. Like I enjoy it. I enjoy I I'm there for the moment. Mhm. Because you're not going to get these back. Yeah. As But like as far as um what was that you said? Was the last word you said? Meaning like as far as leveraging it for business purposes. For business purposes. Um people always need uh promotion for their small businesses. Mhm. So like that hookah thing that I got there. Mhm. That's how I got into Phips. Okay. So, I get into the restaurant, the owner of the the vape, he's like, "Yo, bro, can you promote this that that?" I'm like, "Yeah, I could do that. Promote this." You know, whatever. And it's it just Damn. I don't know how to explain it. It's just So, what is the owner of Phipps or? No, no, no. The people owner of Phipps [ __ ] with me. I did a video for them a while ago. Okay. By the way, that's a very well-known restaurant here in New York City. Yeah, it's very good, too. But the dude who owned the vape. Even though I don't really like the food. Just saying. [Music] She just wants chicken tundas and French fries. No, that they had chicken wings or whatever. I went there and I was like, "All right, I know why the hype. It's the hype because everybody comes here and it's a vibe. It's not because of the food. The food is good. I don't care what she says. The food is good." Well, you got to say that. The food is good. It's good. It's good. That's it. Okay. So, anyway, you get to Phipe. How do you get in through this? Oh, I was working. I was Well, the dude who who owns the vapes or whatever um invited me over to have dinner. They wanted to have a meeting and the president was in the in the building. Okay. So, that's how that went. That's how he was there. So, I was there like, "Damn, this dude looks familiar." And I was like, "This man secret service around him." But I already knew like the UN, everybody from the UN was in town and [ __ ] So, I went up to his table and I introduced myself and I threw a vape on the table. I can't. I cannot. No, but the dude took a picture with us and everything. He was mad cool. Yo, I even told him I was Dominican even though I'm not. I was just going to say that. I know. Yo, my boy pass though. Don't tell nobody. So, even the the dude was like, I thought he was Puerto Rican, man. I was like, nah, I'm Dominican sometimes. I'm in Uptown Dyke, man. I'm a Dominican. Right. Right. Right. But you're BUAN Colombian. Yes. Okay. Okay. So, let's get back into this because I don't know. I feel like you're not leveraging the spaces you're in to its fullest potential because maybe it's like you're just so happy that you're in that space that you're thinking about just being on that high. But like how how much can you do at these spaces? How much leverage can you have? Okay. Would you like coaching right now? I'm listening. So, how I would approach it is if I know I'm going into a room and I know who's going to be in that room, okay? I would think about given the work that I do, how I can actually add value to what it is that they're doing. All right, I'mma stop you right there. Okay. What people don't know is as influencers, a lot of celebrities, artistes, music artists, they'll hit us up, promote this, promote that. Mhm. For us, you know, for free tickets, for a shout out, you know. Okay. It's not like that anymore. Really? No, it's not like that anymore. It was it was before like you remember when Drake had Shiggy on when um it was a bunch of artistes that used to bring uh influencers on on Okay, I'm going to need you to stop saying artistes. It's artists. Artistes. I don't care what she says. I'm going to say artistes. We need we need we need engagement. So people going to be like, "Yo, that's not how you say artist." So, you know, now anyway, celebrities Um, well, me personally, I' I've been in this for nine, 10 years, yo, and I know most of these celebrities already. I've gotten to the point where I got their personal numbers, they call me, I pull up, you know, but as far as um, okay, but what I'm trying to tell you, you're saying, All right. What I'm saying to you is you are a marketing expert beyond being an influencer. Meaning you have strategy insight that you can offer these people, right? So going beyond just the regular stuff that influencers do like thinking from a macro level about a particular brand and being like I know something that can push this. I know something that can take it to the next level. Right? bringing in your Latino flare into it as well. Thinking about it from I would say uh as I said a macro level versus just you being an influencer because it could be I don't know that people look at you and they're just like oh you know he's this funny guy. If we need to push something real quick we'll hit him up. But that's what they all look at us for. That's who we are. We're influencers. We're here to influence the people. That's but that is the ultimate power. Whoever has the attention has the most power. So what I'm saying is but the thing is with with with Instagram and influencers it's a revolving door. Every day it's another person that's coming up on the internet. Another day person is going viral and it just like I hate bringing this up but like the Hua girl come on bro. I'm sorry. I congratulations sweetie but hakua and you go viral is [ __ ] crazy to me bro that does not tell me you're creative it doesn't I sound like a hater yo but it is not creative bro I'm sorry bro like I'm here writing ideas scripts producing directing and doing all that shorty spitting the mic and went crazy like but then you think about that and you're like what the [ __ ] is up with society You know, I know everybody wants head. I know. It's also how I think about like everybody responds so much more to controversy. Controversial sex. And negativity. Yes. Yeah. And that's what gets the people going and like what does it say about us that that's what we comment on? That's what we tune into. Yeah. It's [ __ ] weird, bro. It's [ __ ] scary, man. So, with you knowing, right, that it's a revolving door, how are we positioning ourselves to make sure that there's like a plan? You know what I'm saying? I stick to my guns. I've been doing the same thing for years, you know? I don't I don't when people go that way, I go the other way. I don't do what's trending. I like making up my own trends. I like creating from the bottom and watching it flourish. Mhm. You know, I don't I've been at 533,000 followers probably for like a year. My [ __ ] does not grow. I did not because of Instagram. That is not trust me. And also people I don't know they're like it takes a lot for you to follow somebody now. Whereas before people would like follow you no big deal. Whereas now is like almost I don't know people are like guarding their some people are just too cool. Yeah. Too cool to follow and people not there's a lot of gateway gatekeeping and too cool [ __ ] Yeah. And but if you think about it like now followers don't even matter. Like, yes, it's a good stat to throw out there, but you have I'm going to disagree with you. Really? You go to auditions right now, how many followers do you have? [ __ ] how many plays or scripts you've read or monologues you've done? How many followers you have? Your engagement. Oh, engagement. What? The comment system. The comments. Yeah. The shares that has more power than your followers. No, definitely. No. Because And agencies know that because agencies know you just got to go to the app store. You could buy followers, likes, comments, and views. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. So, yes, that is true. You can buy your followers. Just make sure your comments match up, please. Cuz they be buying followers and forget to buy the comments and they got like two comments with 800,000 followers. Like, something's happening. Yo, that's how I feel about my page cuz I have like 113 followers and I'll have like five comments on something and I'm like, damn. Sometimes you gota um with Instagram is like a car. It's like four wheels, the doors, the windows, all that. So you got stories, live um a regular post, a real carousel, carousel. Make sure you're touching all of that and and that'll keep your [ __ ] moving. Okay, let's get some plays. Let's get some plays on how to like use your Instagram to I don't use it like that though. That's the What do you mean you don't use it like that? I post I don't post selfies like that. I post videos. I'm working. I I I post a post. Okay. But Okay. So, you're saying if I don't grow if I don't No. No. Yeah. I do reals. If I don't grow, I don't grow. I mean, I'm like, it's okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, you're saying you don't utilize all of the things. I've used it, but not the way Instagram wants you to use it. Okay. Okay. Okay. And plus, I get I talk crazy sometimes when I'm on Instagram. So, I get I get chopped. Yeah, you get chopped. Have you ever thought about cleaning it up a little bit? I did. I have. Okay. I used to do a lot of sexual runchy [ __ ] Uhhuh. I don't do that no more. Uh I just literally saw a video from you with a whole bunch of ladies at a strip club. No, outside on a sidewalk it looked like with a whole bunch of They were all facing the camera. Their booties were facing the camera and you were like in the middle. But I wasn't doing nothing. Oh, no. No. That was at the strip club. Oh, that was for a movie I'm in. Shout out to Jim Jones at the church steps. I play a pimp. Okay. And those are my hoes. Oh, I didn't smack no ass. I didn't hump nobody. I just What do we pray for, ladies? The money. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. But before I used to be humping and be a be a whole dummy. Okay. Okay. You was balling out. I was I was I was going crazy. But did you But were did you consider that more a success then or No, I knew what a lot of people wanted to see. They wanted to see the girls and [ __ ] you know? They wanted to see the girls made fun of or doing stupid [ __ ] Okay. And the views were there, but the engagement started slowing down. Okay. So, how are you thinking about what's next? Let's circle back to that cuz it is the revolving door. It is kind of like you're hot, you're hot, then you're not, you're not. So, like how are you how are you um what is the word I'm looking for? How are you not mitigating, but how are you um leveraging your bets so that you're safe if um don't work out? Well, me, I'm never safe cuz I I this is my 10th Instagram page. That [ __ ] could go any any second. Yeah. But that's the thing though, like are you prepared for your page to be deleted after you have a million followers, you know? Are you? Yeah, I'm It's It is a free page. It is free app. So, how are you prepared? How you're not You don't Your [ __ ] dies. That's it. Let me ask you, are you prepared? And you said yes. Yeah, I'm prepared to to start a new page. That's it. Oh my god. What am I going to do? I recently just got verified. Oh, okay. No, don't tell me. Okay. That what? You didn't have to pay for it? I don't know what happened. Well, if you didn't pay for it, then they verified. I don't know what happened, but right now I can't even change my name. They got my government name. Oh, okay. So, I don't even know. Yeah, usually that's how it goes. But, um I mean, you can go into your tools and you can figure that out. No, it doesn't let you. I'll show you right now. Are you serious? It does not let me for a month like I have to wait. Oh, I don't know what's going on. Maybe because you got the papa. Probably. Maybe papa's good. Okay, but we need another plan besides starting a new page. So, let me tell you what's my plan. I write every day. Okay. I have another platform on YouTube. Okay, hold on. Can we talk about this? Because this is another asset that you bring to potential clients. You can write out skits. You can write out scripts. Like, continue. I have another platform, uh, YouTube. Shout out to YouTube, which they verified me before Instagram. I love YouTube. Oh, that's How many subscribers you have? I don't have a lot. I have two YouTube pages, but the other one got locked out. So, right now I got like 3,000 subscribers. Okay. And you got verified off of 3,000 subscribers? Yep. Oh, that's cool. Okay. The person who verified me uh knew my potential. No, but um meaning like what? Y'all was dating or something? No. What the Oh, okay. No, I don't know. Nah, they knew my work ethic. Oh, okay. There you go. They knew my work ethic. They knew what I was about, but it was a female. No. Oh, it was a guy. Okay. It was a guy. A Latino. Shout out to my Yes. Shout outs to Latinos. Shout out to my boy Dion. I don't think he's with Google anymore, but Love that. Okay, that's awesome. Okay, so you have YouTube. All right. Then what do you do on YouTube? Like, what are you crazy? YouTube. I I do my podcast. I do long form skits. Um, right now I'm working on a few movies. Okay. Some short short films for Halloween and then I'm gonna present them at a theater and then fund my next project. Okay, that's awesome. Are you aware of the New York Latino Film Festival? Yeah. You know, Kixo? Yeah. Okay. Just saying since you want to do scripts. Kixo knows me. Oh, shout out to the Latino Film Festival. I bro, I didn't go this year at all. I was busy. Yeah. So, uh, I got to go next year, but next year when I go, I want to have I want to have something presented. Yeah. I want to show some [ __ ] Yeah. So, all right. So, we have YouTube, we have writing, scripts, actor as well, right? Cuz you do a lot of acting. So, it's more than just an influencer for sure. I hope this conversation, you're going to watch this conversation again, I hope. And you'll be like, you know what? I should listen to Victoria again. I am listening to you. I haven't said nothing. Okay. I'm just saying I'm always listen. That's why I'm here because I I I like your podcast. Oh, thank you. I do. Thank you so much. You listen to the podcast sometimes. Sometimes. Oh, yeah. The last two episodes you sent me, I saw them. Oh, you did? I did. It was with Eric Adams. I was like, let me see what this [ __ ] had to say. Oh my god. No, but I'm always um I always try to big up the the Latinos out here. I feel like in in this industry, we don't we're the gray area. Yeah. Yeah, it's black, white, and then in the middle is just Latinos. Mhm. Yeah. So any anytime Latino X, Latin X, whatever it is, I am for it. Yeah. Yeah. We interrupt our program to bring you this important message. Ooh, this is really good. You should know about this. So, I don't know about you, but I've been known to procrastinate, especially when things scare the hell out of me. 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Don't you think it's time you stop playing small and tap all the way into your powers? Click on the link above or below this video to learn my three-step process. The exact three steps that I took to make the transition from corporate to entrepreneurship. And this is helpful even if you don't know what type of business to start and have only one source of income. And this is absolutely free. It is my gift to you. I want you to win. It's winning season. In fact, what's that? It smells like winning season. Okay. So, tap in and I'll see you inside the training. Let's go. So, let's get some advice to people who want to enter the space. You said consistency. Mhm. Try your best to not take the negative comments to heart. Start again. Take them negative comments, use it as fuel. Drop a fire video. That's my video. Okay. Oh, can we talk about how you think about your concepts? Like, how do you do that? I smoke weed. Okay. You got Let me stop. Let me stop. No, I write I write every day. I try to use um everything relatable with my personal life. Okay. Okay. Um, I got crazy ass friends too that they got some crazy ass stories, you know, but I I try to write every day. Like even in my sleep, I got my notepad next to me. Jot something down and go back to bed. So, what does that look like? Like what exactly are you writing down? Damn, it's like words, key words, okay? Or like it'll be one line. It'll be the the video. It doesn't even exist, but the first line of the video exists, but that right there will just like set me off and I'll Right, right, right, right, right. Okay. So, you're actually like planning for your content ahead. It's not like off the whim. No, no, no, no. I never do nothing off the whim. Unless I'm with my friends and we just finished shooting and we're all talking and we're like, "Yo, let's y let's just do this real quick." That's that that's how that happens. Do you have the best time that you post on Instagram? Um, after 5, after 6. But what I learned is it's never a right time. Yeah. It's either And you never know. Your [ __ ] hits or it don't, right? That's it. Yeah. I've learned that as well. Yeah. And now I used to like post stuff and take it down because like, oh, it's not hidden. I'm just gonna leave it up there because eventually it'll it'll increase. I have um a piece of content that I posted last year that is now going crazy. See? And it's just it's so annoying cuz it's like you can't even plan for it. Like it's like it's so so so annoying. It's so weird. Um but okay, so okay, you write out the content. Do you plan for the content? Do you be like, "Okay, like do you have a content calendar?" No. Okay. Okay. So, you just you're like, I got a hot piece of content. Everything is just like, you know, I'll wake up and just go through my notes and all right, what I'm doing today, let me make some calls. Okay. Who's available? Let's shoot. Let's talk about that cuz you do collaborate a lot. Yeah. So, is it just like everyone is kind of on the same page doing the same thing, so everyone's like, "Yeah, let's collab. Let's do it." Or how does it work? This is I mean,
what is that? It's like you Yeah. Look, you work with who you work with. Yeah. Okay, that's it. You know, if y'all connect, y'all connect. You build, you build. It's not It's not We don't Me personally, I don't try to shoot with everybody. Okay. Cuz everybody doesn't do what I do. Okay. And I don't think everybody's funny. Oo. Okay. No, but that's that's nothing. That's naturally cuz I don't think some of y'all might not think I'm funny, but Right. Right. Right. Right. Interesting. Okay. Okay. I look I like what I like. That's it. That's So, what is like your assessment before you decide if you want to collaborate with somebody? They got to be funny. No, it don't even got to be funny. It's got to be a good idea. Just got to be a good idea. Yeah. Okay. It doesn't matter how many followers you have. Even though if you have a lot of followers, yes, that does help cuz you know, it benefits me, too. But if it's a good idea where um we could both be, you know, equal amount of funny and it'll go viral, then let's do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. All right. So, this is just me because I know there's other people that be like, "I work with everybody. I don't care who you are." Yeah. Yeah. No, you got to protect your energy. You can't you can't just um be everywhere. Sometimes you got to keep yourself exclusive. Yeah. Why is your leg shaking like that? Cuz I'm a leg jiggler. You're a leg jiggler. Not to be confused with jigalow. No. Was that dry? No, it was all right. I I mean, I really wasn't going hard. That's the first thing that came to my head. But no, it's okay. Jiggler Jigalo kind of came. Anywh who, uh, all right. No respect for me. No respect for me, bro. Content calendar. Well, you don't have a content calendar, but you are writing. I need one though. I do need one. A calendar. It probably will. Yeah. It It'll keep me working. Save some anxiety. Yeah. Yeah. Help you. Okay. What What else? What else? What else? So, you got the scripts, you're writing it out, you're dropping it when you feel like it, basically. And where were we going? What other advice you have for people? Right. What other advice I have? Be you, please. Mhm. Don't be copying other people that's on [ __ ] Instagram cuz you're going to look stupid. Okay. But how can you Okay. If you know, so what I'm realizing is that there are certain things that you know are going to get attention. Like if you're dancing in a video, you're going to get attention, you know, which is kind of like what everybody's doing. Um if you post something controversial, you know, it's going to get some attention. So like, how do you You don't You just do. You just do it. I'm I swear to God, I don't know when shit's going to go viral. Okay. I do not know what you said be you. So what And don't do what everybody else is doing. Better if you see there's things that are working that everybody else is doing. That's perfect. Then you know what you do? You add a little twist to it. Your your own twist to it. Your own. That's that would that's what I would say. Okay. Cuz that's what I would do if I copy something that's trending. All right. It's trending. I know it's going to get views, but how can I switch it up to make it me? Like the deure. Did you do the De Mo trend? I did the Demure, but I didn't But what I did was Uhhuh. I did another video and I just added the word the mure and I changed it up to like the mure. You keep talking about the mirror. I'm going to kick your ass. Oh. So I I slipped it in there. It wasn't Okay. Okay. So, have you been a funny person like your whole life or did you grow into this? Okay. Grow into this. It's crazy. I don't know. Some people like like prey. They grow into the next version of themselves. Maybe you were a shy person and now you grew. I never been shy. I've always been a funny dude. Okay. Always been a funny dude. I've been a dumbass for all my life. A dumbass? Yeah. That's what my pops used to call me. He be like, "Look at you making these girls laugh, you dumbass." You know what? That's actually smart. No, not really. Making girls laugh. That's like the fastest way. You make them laugh and then what? Then what? What's next? You got to pay the bills. You got to give them money. You got to buy them a bag. You got to take them out to drink and all that [ __ ] So So you're basically setting yourself up to spend money. No, I don't want I don't even want to talk about this. I don't even want to spend money. I don't want to do nothing. I'm broke. All right, that's it. Right now I'm trying to Banking on Cultura.
Well played. Well played. So let's talk about groupies. So you've grown this persona. Yes. And you're getting a lot of attention. Sometimes. Sometimes. Yeah. Sometimes. So you don't be outside and people don't try to like me. No. Like damn. I was going to say kick it to you, but kick it to me. Yeah. Sometimes you do. Yeah, this is going to be a very interesting episode for my people. I actually have to send you an episode that I did with the amazing ladies from the Horrible Decisions podcast. Um, yeah. And Whezzy. It was actually one of our most popular podcast and also one of our most um liberating com episodes. I'll send it to you. Liberating what? Liberating episodes. Okay. By the way, you guys should check that out. It was actually really good conversation. But anyway, are you asking about my goopies or I'm asking like how is that me personally or what do you mean me personally? Oh, like Oh, listen. I already know you get attention. I mean, if you're like in that spotlight. Well, as far as groupies, n I don't I don't be like, nah, I'm grown. Yo, I don't Hoes do not excite me. I'm sorry. Yo, give me a girl with a good job. Okay, but you can have a groupy that has a good job. Hoes do not excite me. I'm not worried about groupies. I love, trust me, I love the love, y'all. I I appreciate y'all when you stop me or I still be um how do you say I still be surprised and humbled that people still ask me to take pictures. I've been doing this for a long time. So, it is it's like one of the dopest feelings in the world. It is. I remember one time I was um Hold on. Yeah, I love I got to I got to take care of the throat. So anyhoo, I remember I was in Ulta. I remember I was in Ulta and this girl came up to me and I was shopping with my girlfriend. She was like, "Oh my god, are you Victoria Jenn?" And I'm like looking like a hot ass mess. I'm like, "Yeah, I am." She was like, "Oh my god, I love your stuff. I can't. Can I take a picture with you?" And it was just such a beautiful moment. Like every time that happens, it is really cool. It is. And it's like random, too. I'll be in the airport and I'll be like, "Oh [ __ ] so people are seeing my concert cuz I'll be feeling like nobody sees me." You know what? I don't even want to call them groupies. No, that's not how I would my people. But given the entertainment arena that you are in, groupies come apart like they're a part of the culture.
No. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I mean that's what makes you popping if you got a whole bunch of groupies. I mean, even if I wasn't popping, I still have groupies. Okay. So, he I'm just saying though. I don't I don't want to say. So, you was a puppy chulo on the block? No. Oh. On my father's block. I was a puppy chul. Oh, but don't you live with your father? No. I thought your media kit says you live with your father. All right. I live with my father. Sometimes I live with my sister cuz my father be kicking me out.
But um yeah, the groupies. I don't want to call them groupies. It's got to be something else. Okay. Um, fans. Nah, not even fans. Something more personal. I'm gonna come up with something. You should You should have like a community name. The Stars family. No, that's crazy. I don't I like the Stars with the Star Crew. That's the name of my show called Seeing Stars. Oh, yeah. And it's a bunch of people from New York and you could see stars. Oh, that's so cool. Does their podcast or what show is this? This is the one for Revolt. Oh, once it drops. Seeing stars. When is it supposed to drop? Next week I get my my date. So hopefully from my mouth to God's ears, they're going to be like, "Yo, that was amazing." How much you got paid for that? A lot. Not a lot. Like six figures. Put it like this. Okay. I got paid. Okay. But I had to use my own money to get everything. So did you make money? Like did you break even? Did you get a profit?
I was left with a few dollars, you know? Okay. But I I I came in knowing that I would go broke to make have this succeed. Okay. Like I would I don't care. That was a risk you were willing to take. That was a commitment. What? Give me Give me a loaded gun. I'm going to shoot all my shots. You know what I mean? I'm never I'm never gonna not take a shot. Yeah. Yeah. So even if I go broke, you know what? Something came out of it. Yeah. I love that. Okay. There's a lot of strong qualities here regard like that's related to entrepreneurship [Laughter] like the resiliency, the consistency, you know, shooting your shots all the time. Don't keeping them, you know, in the chamber. That goes with anything, you know, with life in general. Shoot your [ __ ] shot. You know, you don't want to be [ __ ] old and like I wish I did this or I wish I did that. That [ __ ] that [ __ ] that [ __ ] will kill you. That [ __ ] will kill you fast. Mhm. So, let's talk about something taboo in the cultura that you would like to see changed. HBO Latino. What the is HBO Latino? Why we can't just be HBO, bro? Um, I hate that. Uh, when you go on Netflix, the only Latins that they have are Mexicans. Yes. Talk about that. What's up? Yeah. Well, that's because advertisers Washington Heights. What's up? They think we're all Mexicans. I know. I know that I've been to Cali. They thought when I was talking like this, you black. I was like, "What?" [Laughter] Interesting. I just I just want to um I don't know. I guess I don't like how Latinos are mistreated in Hollywood, you know? Like, I [ __ ] hate it. Yeah. Talk about that. What What is it like? Have you experienced it? Um have I experienced it? I don't know. I mean, no. Damn. I really don't know. Okay. I really don't know. You just hear that. I hear And um it's been some stuff I don't really want to talk about it, but uh it made me feel a certain way. And if it made me feel a certain way, I can't like I don't know. I don't know. It's unjust if it made you feel a certain way. But you know what it is? When I speak about it, I know everybody around me who's Latino sees that. Sees that. You know what I mean? I know they don't have a HBO Black or HBO Egypt. They don't have HBO Dominican Republic or whatever like that. You know, it's just I don't know. I just want a fair shot. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. That's all that's all I really want. I mean, even if I if I lose, give me my shot. Mhm. Well, one of the one of the things I learned like entering this podcast space and like working a lot with advertisers and just learning that game is they first of all they don't understand the community. Like they think we're a monolith, meaning they think we're all the same and we're all Mexican. So that's one. Also, they think that we're a part of like the general population. So they'll loop us into what they're running for Americans in general and think Latinos are included into that instead of making a specific budget that's catered to Latinos in particular. Like they don't know. And a lot of that has to do with them not being educated on like our purchasing power. Do you know that Latinos are the highest group that consumes content? What do you mean? Meaning they're the ones who consume the most content online. Latinos. Wait, wait, wait. Latinos are watch content or Yeah. consume content. Yeah. Yes. Latinos. Latinos are the largest ethnic group that consumes content online. Why? Yes. Why? Maybe because Latinos are the youngest generation in this country. So, meaning that that demographic, what do they do? They grew up online. That's what they they live online. That's all they know is online. So, they're consuming the most content online. We're the second youngest generation actually in the world. Oh [ __ ] So we got that going for ourselves. But not only that, Latinos are also the main purchasers of online products and services. We're spending the most money online. You know, it's cuz we lazy. We don't want to go to the supermarket.
No, but it's That was a shout out to Spanish people. I love it. Like I'm sorry. My fault cuz that's everybody. Everybody paying those crazy Uber fees. That's everybody. It don't matter if you're Latino, white, Asian, orange. It don't matter. I love Uber. It don't matter. Shout out to Uber. Um, yes. Shout out to Uber.
So, um, with that being said, we also have 3.4 trillion buying power. So, we are a force to be reckoned with, but they they're not educated. They don't know. So, it takes people like you and I to educate them and be like, "No, this is why you need to pay attention to Latinos. This is why you need to have a budget that's dedicated to Latinos beyond Hispanic Heritage Month. This is why for all these reason because the data shows them that if they're not in front of our audience, they're actually leaving a lot of money on the table. Which brings me back to my point of you having so much leverage. Yes. Having the Latino attention. Yeah. But let me let me tell you something about that too. I haven't spoken to I haven't spoken to you in Spanish. Okay. Pero, pero. Being from where I'm from, I fall in between. I'm not too Spanish and I'm not black enough. You understand what I'm trying to say? I fall right in between because I don't speak Spanish like that. I'm not that dink type of Spanish dude. I live in Harlem. I'm from the projects and [ __ ] whatever. I live in the hood. And then I'm not black enough, you know, for the for the black comedians or whatever. So, you know, you're not the only Latino to to share that perspective and feel that way. It's like they try to like make you choose between, okay, you're either black, you're either white, you're either I was on a TV show, I'm not going to say the show, but they put me to the side and they said, "Hey, can you sprinkle some of that Latino stuff?" I said, "Adobo in my hand or song [ __ ] What the are you talking about?" Right? And like I took that like who did you bring here? You brought me here because I'm Spanish or because of my my my work ethic or because of what I do or is it because of is it's a race thing that we got to fill in the slot and yo, we need Latinos on on this episode or some [ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. So, I could see how that would turn you off. However, I would think about it as that's your competitive advantage. Like, yeah, you got me here cuz I'm Latino. Yeah, you got me here cuz Latinos run this [ __ ] Yeah, you got me here because you need Latinos to support you. I did. I I trust me, I was on that type of time, but it couldn't be me. I couldn't be, you know, hood hood hood Ken stars. They wanted me to be like, "Oh yeah, they wanted me. They wanted me to be the dance." They want to be the the token Spanish guy. That's not me. Okay. So, okay. Interesting. Well, they wanted you to be what they think a typical Latino is, looks like, talks like, etc. Imagine what if I wanted you to be the typical black person or white person. [ __ ] Okay. Okay. I I could see how you think about that. I personally haven't had that experience because I think I own my Latinad so much that it's very difficult for me to like turn down my Latinness. And I also don't speak the language fluently. That's why ata we speak Spanish. that is our native language on the show. Um, and actually there are a large number of Latinos who don't speak the language in this country who feel like they don't belong because they don't speak the language. I don't want to say I don't feel like I belong because I'm everywhere. Like I'm at the DR parade. I'm at the PR parade. I'm at the Colombian parade. I'm at every I was at the Haitian parade. Shout out to Golden Corral. I was at the Haitian parade. You know, I'm like I'm not worried about that. It's just Yeah, I think everybody deserves a fair chance without being a being racist without being a racist thing. So interesting. Interesting. Well, Seenor, what do you want to leave for the people? What should they Wait, actually, before we end, I need to know what these chains are about. Oh, great. What are these? Okay, you got a picture. Oh, that's your daddy. Oh, okay. That's my father. Okay, that's This is one of my Shout out to Loud Nose Meds. one of my um marijuana sponsors. Oh, that first sponsored me. They give out chains. Yeah. Oh, like but I had to work for you know. Oh, okay. I basically promoted them throughout the whole year and stuff. Okay. Got paid, you know, free stuff. Have you got it appraised? What? The chain? No. Why? How do you know it's real? Oh, I know it's real. It's from the hood. It's from the hood. So, what does that mean? The fact you asked me if my chain is real is crazy. She said, "Did you get an appraise? Is it real? How do you know it's real?" [ __ ] it's real. No, it's real. It's real. This shit's heavy. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. It's heavy. It's heavy. I believe you. No, I'm asking because like if you promoted them the whole year and this is something they gifted to you, like what if you you get into a buying and you need to sell it? You want to know what the value of it is? No, I would never sell this. Nah, this is uh this is my first time getting you know seeing the fruits of my labor and like actually getting a big check you know and it and a chain and a chain. Okay. Okay. So, shout out to Loud Nose Meds. Shout out to Heavyweight Moving Company. Shout out to California people humble. Amazing. Okay. Incredible. Well, thank you so much for being on Banking on Cultura. I know we could talk all day. I I feel like we got that energy. Okay. Are you married, boyfriend? No. No. Why? Why are you focused on God's plan? Oh, you just like if it comes it comes. That's how I have to think about it. Yeah. You focused more on this. I'm focused on my happiness just like you. Okay. Anything else? What's your sign? I'm a Taurus. Nice meeting you.
Yo yo hilarious. I cannot Oh, you doing another She said I'm a toys to the side. Oh my god. Causing all types of trouble here. Anybody the Okay, tell the people where they can find you. Uh, find me at Ken Starrrz. Okay. K N S T A triple R Z. This is my 10th page. I started out with one R, then three Z's, two Z's. Now I'm like 1 Z, three Rs. Okay. Okay. And that's on YouTube. That's on Instagram. Tik Tok. I'll be on T. I'm got to start getting back online on Tik Tok. Tik Tok. Good. Cuz I feel like Tik Tok just gives you more. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm going to tell you right now, Tik Tok pays. Okay, I haven't got paid yet from Tik Tok, but my boy who's a meithead, shout out to Loopy, he's killing it right now on Tik Tok, bro. Oh, wait. Ly the Ly the blogger. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's that's like my that's my brother right there. Okay. So, um he was telling me like, "Yo, we got to get on live together, bro." He's showing me the check that he got from live. I'm like, "What the fuck?" What you got? He got on live for like was it like two hours? Got like a thousand something. Oh, nice. Yeah. I was like, "Shit, what the fuck?" Yeah. Okay. Um All right. So, you can reach out to him on the Grams, on the YouTubes, and then you also have your show coming out. I don't know when's the date, but a date. It's coming out next week. I got a meeting. We're going to see what Revolt got for me. All right. So, when this airs, hope I hope it's not baby oil, but and we'll put it. You in there. You in there. Um anyway guys, thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you on the next episode. Ciao. Ciao. Hey guys, if you enjoyed this video, I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one. So, make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.
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