We were lucky to catch up with Leo Araiza recently and have shared our conversation below.
Leo, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I held a “regular job” for many years, I wouldn’t mind if I had to retake that road at some point. I’ve worked in enterprise IT for nearly 20 years and I’m pretty damn good at it. In fact, that was my seed money to start LVX Media. But I have to say that since I’ve been having a go with my creative outlet, I’ve been able to do so much more with my time since I don’t have to be “on the clock” for the majority of my day. I’ve fostered and socialized nearly two dozen kittens and have dubbed it Leo’s Kitten Academy. I spent some time catering private parties and found out that creating meals that kill conversation (because it’s so good) is very gratifying and lucrative. I’ve had trips to Vegas and LA to cover boxing matches (my favorite sport) ringside and have made a few great friends along the way. I can say certainly that I am much happier working in the creative field, but it’s definitely not nearly as financially rewarding.
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.
LVX Media is a holistic media outlet that started off as a personal project to analyze and discuss my favorite sport — boxing. We’ve grown to include shows about MMA, mental health and culture, politics, and even some tarot/astrology stuff. What makes this work so enjoyable is that everything we do is grassroots, with a lot of panelists and input being sourced from the sizeable Discord server we have for boxing. What I think sets us apart from the myriad of podcasts and youtube channels is that we don’t take ourselves very seriously. We create great shows, make no mistake, but so many shows I listen to that are small-time/non-corporate seem to enjoy huffing their own farts. Pardon the crass analogy, but to give you the best example of what I mean, our tagline is “serving up the worst podcasts you’ll ever hear”. Are they terrible? Absolutely not. But we’re having fun. We’re friends enjoying each other’s company while talking about our favorite subject matter. I’ve had someone (an American) who legitimately doesn’t know where Philadelphia is on a map try and talk down at me because I struggled to pronounce a very Uzbek name. If you want to listen to shows with people who think they’re better than you, you can find plenty of them. But listener input is an integral part of how we get down.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I mentioned previous the person who didn’t know where Philly is but snubbed me because I had to sound out a long Uzbek surname. Well, I actually worked on that person’s outlet for a few years – I got my start there. It was a good fit for a while but I became too ambitious and started to dislike asking for permission, be rejected, then see my ideas put to use later. As one would imagine, I was dismissed from that group and went on to start my own. One lesson I had to unlearn in multiple parts was that it’s okay to be ambitious, it’s okay to try new things, it’s okay to experiment, it’s okay to take input from the listening public. The biggest lesson I had to unlearn, though, is that I was pushed down and made to feel small and ineffectual. As Marianne Williamson put it: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” It took a bit of time to regain my confidence but when I did, I shot out of a cannon.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
What I find most rewarding about being an artist is the feedback I get. Constructive criticism is welcomed, derision is mostly ignored if it’s baseless. When someone tells me that something I made really spoke to them or put into words their own experiences and ideas that hadn’t found a way to say, it’s moving. I know what it is to feel small and unseen. I also know how hard the road is to break out of that. When someone finds their own voice because they heard or saw something I created, I feel it’s the greatest achievement for which any creative should strive.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lvxmedia.net
- Instagram: lvxmedianet
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/lvxmedianet
- Twitter: lvxmedianet
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lvxmedianet
- Other: Any and all socials are “lvxmedianet”. If you can’t find us, we’re probably not on it.
Image Credits
I took or created all photos, no attribution necessary.