We recently connected with Benjamín Perez and have shared our conversation below.
Benjamín, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
As I reflect on my journey as a creator, I think it came at the perfect time in my life. Now I’m in a place where my mind, soul, heart, goals, dreams, doubts, and moment are aligned and balanced. I think it would have drained me if it happened in college and I would have lost control. Let me tell you how it all started for me. Social media has been part of my life since it became a thing. No surprise there, but content creating became a reality for me as the world told each of us that we had to isolate due to the pandemic. This pushed me to become intentional with my career. I work with students in their pursuit of their dreams after high school. Now I had to lean on technology to get the job done, but I wanted to take it further, I wanted to utilize social media as a strategy to inspire my students, any student. It is when I launched my video podcast series called, “Find Your Purpose” and I rebranded myself to become Perez The Advisor. So yes, I started at the right time in my life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am son of Mexican immigrants. I am first-generation. I am Latino. I am from Salinas, CA. I am the first in my family to go to college. I help others. I am not perfect. I continue to evolve. I am breaking generational cycles. I am redefining masculinity. I am an advocate of mental health. I am an educator. I am a father. I am Benjamín. I am Perez The Advisor.
I create content under @pereztheadvisor on social media that touches on the topics of my identities that you just read. My content is inspired by my life experiences, my accomplishments, my mistakes, my wins, my doubts, my journey, my family, my students, my job, everything that has to do with me. I share about me because I have a story to tell, mine. I feel that by sharing about me, I get to connect with my community and I hope I get to inspire them. My intent is to show my community that they’re not alone in whatever they’re experiencing because life can be cruel especially when you feel like you’re alone. So yes, I’m transparent, unapologetic, and authentic with my followers.
HOWEVER, this page is also an inclusive page. Under my video podcast series: Find Your Purpose, I bring guests to share their story, and their purpose to motivate, educate, and create change in my community. That series is one of the things that I am most proud of because I get to talk about all kinds of topics with my guests such as: culture, masculinity, therapy, education, money, mental health, the Latinx diaspora, anti-blackness in the Latinx community, etc.
So honored, humbled, grateful, and excited for the love that my community shows me.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
My community. I do not like to call them “followers”, but my community who is joining me on this journey. They’re the most rewarding aspect of being a creative. I get inspired by them with every private message they send me sharing an experience in their lives that connects to mine. Every comment they make on my posts, all the times they have shared my content, and seeing reaction to my content that brings them a smile.
Muchas gracias familia, un abrazote!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
By simply being authentic, having a purpose, and having fun. Así nomás.
Contact Info:
- Website: lnk.bio/ThePerez
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pereztheadvisor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pereztheadvisor/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-f-perez
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/pereztheadvisor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pereztheadvisor