We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Our Vibes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Our Vibes, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
We recently launched the Our Vibes Podcast. As content creators who got our start on social media, we have been working to build a platform to talk about representation in media and issues that matter to us in the Latine community, but there is only so much you can do in short-form video content such as reels and TikTok… you only get 60 seconds, even less if you are trying to keep an audience engaged.
Launching the Our Vibes Podcast has given us a chance to open up and be vulnerable about our personal lives and the lessons we have learned as creatives; as well as to connect with our audience and do a deep-dive into topics such as mental health, toxic work environments, and our mission.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Our Vibes is a media brand creating content by and for Latina Gen Z and Millennials, We are a group of Southern California-based filmmakers, artists, marketers, and designers on a mission to create our own representation in digital media. Our content serves to inform, entertain, and uplift the Latina community.
We’ve created comedic and informative videos on TikTok and Instagram with over 9M views across platforms. We’ve been featured on pages such as Mitú, We All Grow Latina, My Cultura Podcast Network, Pero Like, Se Habla USA, and more. We’ve also had the privilege to partner with brands such as Crest/Oral B, Experian, The México National Football Team, and Spanish Sin Pena.
Our current team consists of Caroline Salinas, Jennifer Cruz, María Fernanda Chica Parrales, and Vanessa Resendíz. We’re a group of Latina creatives from Southern California with a passion for storytelling and each met through school at Cal State Fullerton and Mt. San Antonio College.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
You’ll get better with practice and by putting yourself out there. That’s how we were able to start building our community. We created consistent series and personalities that people could look forward to.
Specificity is universal! Look into sharing personal stories. You’d be surprised how common your unique experiences actually are. We found a community through those who related to our experiences as Latinas with quirky families and big responsibilities. We ignite conversations and interact with comments to strengthen that community.
Another big tip from us is to network with like-minded creatives. You learn so much from that personal community, stay motivated, and discover new opportunities through them. Stepping out of your comfort zone will be rewarding.
It took us a while to figure out what worked for us, but the first step was to start. Just do it! Accept that your content won’t be perfect and you’ll suck at first. Everything takes practice and effort. Waiting for the “right time” may keep you waiting forever.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
We started Our Vibes out of the need to see a more diverse representation of Latinos in media and to share our own stories outside of the stereotypes we’ve been expected to fit into.
Being able to share who we are authentically and our stories, and seeing how they resonate with the people in our community, has been the most rewarding part of this experience. Our mission was to create our own representation in digital media, and that is exactly what we have accomplished.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ourvibesmedia.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourvibesmedia/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OurVibesMedia
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourvibesmedia?lang=en
Image Credits
Nicole Godinez Medina