We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alfredo Leano. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alfredo below.

Alfredo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project that I worked on was my first book, “Representation Over Pure Visibility: Stories of Pilipinx-Americans in San Diego.” I had an idea to highlight the stories of Philippine Americans in San Diego who’ve made some kind of impact in the community, but I wanted to also make it personal for me.

So over the course of ten months, I interviewed various people that have either mentored me or have been an inspiration to me, and put those interviews together in one book. The fact that I had the opportunity to interview people I looked up to was what made it special. Along with this project being a love letter to my community, I also wanted this to be an opportunity to show my gratitude to the people that have made an impact on my life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Alfredo Leano, and I am an artist and content creator. I primarily create through my brand, Pilipinx-American Stories. To give an outlook of what it is all about, I’d like to present my brand’s mission statement:

“The mission of Pilipinx-American Stories is to create an educational space that engages and educates people on topics such as culture and community for the preservation Philippine / Philippine American history.”

I utilize various storytelling platforms including books, interviews, vlogs, and social media to tell these stories that have been left out or watered down in mainstream media. As it continues to evolve, I want it to be a tool I can use to highlight and preserve both long-standing history and the history that is made before our very eyes.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

One thing I learned from my mentor and sister-figure, Lauren Garces, is that building an audience on social media goes beyond the apps that we use. We have to emphasize the social aspect of social media. Rather than just narrowing our thinking down to just using social media apps, we actually have to get out there build relationships that end up increasing our audience.

In my opinion, an audience truly turns into community when you build connections with them. It may not always be accessible for people to do, but if you are able to, take the chance and connect with people offline.

If there is any advice I can give for people looking to build on their social media presence, try to get out there and show up for people.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is that, while I do this to create, I have the power to make a positive impact in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pilipinxamericanstories.weebly.com/
• Instagram: https://pilipinxamericanstories.weebly.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pilamstories

Image Credits
Kirin Macapugay