We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alejandro Catano a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alejandro, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
My name is Alejandro Catano, I go by Alexx for short. The idea of being a podcast host was never my childhood dream, however over time I grew to love the idea of people around 2015 when I heard about a podcast called ‘Talk Is Jericho’. A podcast where one of my favorite wrestlers, Chris Jericho, would bring fellow wrestlers to his podcast and talk behind the scenes about the business, matches or storylines within the world of wrestling. I had a huge passion for movies and I thought that getting into that business would be cool. I graduated from Hoover High School in 2017, and started college right away. I took Radio courses, and I even got the chance at San Diego City College to participate with SDS Radio, a course where we got the chance to be live on the air, play music and host our own podcast. October 4th, 2019 I was live on the air for the first time, sharing about my love for movies, and other news films related around that time. College and SDSRadio was flowing perfectly, until March 13, 2020. The pandemic happened, we were on home lockdown, with no access to our stations. Sure enough, SDSRadio eventually shut down, and I felt I had no chance in appearing on a podcast ever again. Fortunately I got another chance once I became a barista employee for Cafeina Cafe in City Heights San Diego. At some point I saved my unemployment checks which I received throughout the pandemic, and decided to invest in creating my own Podcast. The name Catanation Studios was quite simple, it was my last name attached with Nation in the title. However initially I wanted to go back to a movie based podcast where I would also invite previous SDS Radio hosts and friends back to doing podcasts. March 16, 2021 was the first show I ever uploaded for Catanation Studios, and honestly not a lot of people cared about movies given that we were still in quarantine and not much was really open. This was where Cafeina Cafe came into the picture. The cool thing about working in a coffee shop is talking to different people and personalities from all over San Diego. I really enjoyed hearing people’s stories and I thought to myself, “People need to hear these stories, but nobody is giving them a platform”. Since I had the podcast, I started asking customers and friends to share about their small business or non-profit organizations, even Andrew Benavides, the manager from Cafeina Cafe, was on the show. Over time the numbers picked up thanks to guests sharing shows with their friends and families, and also getting recommendations from other friends and/or previous guests. Now I have interviewed artists, musicians, teachers, therapists, sheriffs, best selling authors, and even other podcasters in San Diego, but also from time to time going outside of the San Diego bubble and exploring different parts of California, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Alexx Catano, and I have a huge heart for hearing different people’s stories and knowing what people are up to. I had a lot of experience in the world of Radio thanks to my time in SDSRadio back with San Diego City College, and I started using the skills I gained there to help the guests who’ve appeared on my show. Given that I have struggled to ask friends or family for help, I can see a lot of it in other people, no matter if they’re older or younger than me. Catanation Studios is more for a show that gives individuals a platform to be heard and inspire other people. Let’s say I interview a musician, and then after months go by and someone who wants to learn how to get into the music industry finds my show and that podcast. I now have helped the musician who was on the show as well as the person who heard that show. Traveling is a struggle for everyone, so I have had almost all my shows through Zoom, while sometimes I’ve had an interview in person. The way I help my podcast stand out among others is by not comparing myself to everyone else. I have been inspired by many other podcasts not just in San Diego, but all over the world. I always want to make my show unique and stand out. One thing is a podcast episode goes roughly around 15-30 minutes, unless I create a special, such as my 1 Year or 2 Year Anniversary Podcast, and those shows went an hour. Another thing I do is I try to make every show feel different from one another with the music I play being different from the last. In all honestly the thing I would be most proud of Catanation Studios would be the fact that the show has helped create new circles for everyone and has helped everyone connect with each other, and for my personal side of things, it made me feel relevant as the show introduced me to the people in my life I can always consider a friend, and in some cases, my family. Part of the reason why my slogan at the end of every podcast is “We Are Catanation” is because we are not alone in this world, we are slowly building a community with this podcast, and together we help push each other to the next part of your life.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What helped my reputation in this market is to go the extra mile for myself and for potential guests. I can easily email someone or find someone on social media platforms and send a message, however I like to explore in the process. I have gone to countless events, such as pop-ups, concerts, or restaurants just to meet people, because you’ll never know who can be there. I really don’t have to, but I want to because I love interacting with people, part of it is my anxiety. I need to be around people to be happy sometimes, yes I have those moments to be alone, but it’s always great when I can interact with people, and meet new friends along the way. The other thing is to not only have Catanation Studios as a podcast to benefit others, but also myself. In the process of my time at Catanation Studios, I became Director Of Professional Development with City Heights Rotaract for 2022-2023, and now running again for 2023-2024. It’s helped me find a good therapist to help me in my struggles through mental health. I own amazing art and merchandise that I wouldn’t have found if it wasn’t for the people I met on Catanation Studios. Had great advice on becoming a better podcaster through other fellow podcasters. I also got my logo created by Luz Maria Clayton, a wonderful artist and owner of Arte De Luz, who over time has become one of my best friends. The way I show how valid Catanation Studios is by showing up to places, show how much Catanation Studios is benefiting my guests, my listeners, and myself, but more importantly be nice and have a good time.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
The most I have struggled in creating Catanation Studios, now going into almost three years of this podcast moving forward in the next step of your career. As people, we can be very comfortable when we’re happy, or when we’re not struggling in life. Growing up, I was never considered the popular kid in High School, I was always just another student on campus. I had friends, but not relationships that I knew weren’t gonna last forever. After creating this show, I’ve met people who I love and care so much about, and to this day, 90% of guests I’ve worked with on this show as a guest or even co-host, I like to stay in touch with, sometimes I feel like a burden to other friends. As an individual who is so giving, I don’t see if what I do can be too much, that I can get depressed. I love Catanation Studios, and what the podcast represents, but I don’t like to feel alone. A digital art piece was made of me called, “The Burden Of Anxiety”, because I see how far I’ve come a long way from who I was at the beginning of Catanation Studios, versus who I am today. In Season 4 of Catanation Studios, I met a woman by the name of Blanca Lucia Bergman, the founder of Mental Wellness For Artists, which I joined in September of 2022, and she helped me see my flaws, but most importantly see my purpose in my life, and taught me to accept myself and others for who we are. Sometimes as business people, we need to take a step back, reflect on ourselves, and see how we can grow as people, and at only 24 years old, I am still learning this lesson as I go. Really, while my goal has been to help people around me, even answering this question, I see this as another lesson to love and cherish who I am right now, and who I will become tomorrow and years to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wearecatanation.buzzsprout.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearecatanation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alejandro.catano.14
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@catanationstudios5141
- Other: https://linktr.ee/catanationstudios