We recently connected with April Monterrosa and have shared our conversation below.
April, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I have been a business owner for over 12 years. My first business was owning a spa, which Covid forced me to close. While I owned my spa, I became a travel writer as a side hustle and my niche was highlighting small Texas towns which gave me the idea to start a blog highlighting my Southside San Antonio community. To gain more insight, I connected with others in the community by going to more events and networking. When Covid hit, I could not be out and about networking and highlighting my community anymore since we were all put in quarantine. As a creative outlet and a push from my mentor, I decided to make my childhood dream come true and create a publication tied to my blog and social media platform highlighting and helping residents and visitors find things to do on the Southside of San Antonio and throughout Texas. My goal is to improve and expand community relationships through promoting positive stories, interesting people, and businesses. I didn’t allow all the changes Covid had on all of us affect my creativity, motivation, and stop me from continuing my mission in making my childhood dream come true.
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Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Here is my bio:
April Monterrosa is a San Antonio, Texas native, an entrepreneur, a published author, and the CEO/Editor in Chief of Live From The Southside, the first Latina-owned publication in South side San Antonio.
She is listed as an influential Latina in San Antonio by KSAT12 News, and was honored by the 87th Texas Legislature for her achievements as a civic leader and community advocate. (These are the 2 things I am most proud 0f.)
April has a passion for giving back to the community and serves as a board member of the San Antonio Water System’s Community Experience Committee, of the Palo Alto College Cosmetology Committee, San Antonio District 4 Small Business Committee, and a board member of Brooks Give Back and Mitchell Lake Audubon Center nonprofits. April also serves as the Director of Community Development for The Pink Berets and the media sponsor for Fin Addict Angler Foundation.
She is also a Certified Tourism Ambassador for the City of San Antonio, a member of the Texas Auto Writers Association and Texas Motor Press Association, one of the founders of the Southside Book Fair, founder of the women empowerment group Wonderfully Wise Women, and Southside Market Days.
Monterrosa’s writing career began 12 years ago with a niche for travel, small Texas towns, self-care, and inspiring her readers to make time for adventure, self-care and fun.
As a writer, marketing and social media professional, April works with brands locally, throughout the state of Texas, and nationally. Connecting others through travel, business, social media, and events is April’s passion.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Something my readers do not know is, while I was going through a rough divorce and beginning my journey as a business owner, I lost everything and my home was about to be foreclosed. In that time, I wrote a book which helped me get the funds I needed to get my home out of foreclosure and me back on my feet. I think once you pull yourself out of something as stressful as this, while going through a heartbreak at the same time, motivates you in some way to keep on going. It makes you stronger.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I funded my current business with what I brought in financially with my previous one. I worked hard and just put away as much as I could and slowly built my current one.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://southsidesanantonio.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilmaemedia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aprilmaemedia
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilmaemedia/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AprilMaeMedia
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/SouthsideSATX https://www.instagram.com/southsidesatx/ https://twitter.com/SouthsideSATX
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