We were lucky to catch up with Ricky Martel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ricky, appreciate you joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

Back in 2019 things were going great for us. We secured the hottest Country Music radio station in Chicago as our sponsor for the Pride Parade and we were ready to take that momentum into the 2020 season.

But the pandemic hit and everything was canceled. No street festivals. No Pride Parade. We couldn’t even get together and practice.

It lasted for much longer than any of us anticipated, Thanks to social media allowing for communication and networking, we were still able to do fundraising since we are a 501 c3 non-profit community organization.

We worked to secure sponsors. We worked with our graphic designers to create our hand out cards. And we did lots of recruiting. Most of our team from 2019 had gone through life changes as a result of the pandemic. They ended up moving to different cities and were no longer able to practice and perform with us.

At the start of 2022 we found ourselves in the wonderful position of being fully ready to get back into action.

Ricky, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Second City Outlaws takes great PRIDE in being a mainstream Country Dancing Performing Group that is OPEN and inclusive to ALL country dancers regardless of age, race or gender identity.

In our performances, we are proud to represent the best of country music old and new.

We love to involve audience participation by getting the crowds up on their feet to enjoy some fun and easy line dance lessons before we perform.

The Second City Outlaws are happy to extend the offer of collaboration to any and all entities who want to partner and celebrate country music and country dancing.

As a 501 c3 non-profit community organization we are able to fundraise and have sponsors. For example, our uniforms are provided by a local western-wear store.

At each performance we hand out information cards that showcase all of our sponsors. We strongly believe that as a community it is our responsibility to be supportive of each other. We are stronger together.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

If you don’t like social media, or you feel you need to take a break from social media it’s because you are using it wrong. Social media is a wonderful way to share the good, creative, artistic and country fabulous things in life for free!

We use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep people informed of everything we are doing and to recruit new and different people to join us and be a part of the fun.

We take pictures of the team at practice to share. We post promo posters about upcoming performances. We post pictures and videos after each performance. We share information about all of our sponsors.

Everything we do is an opportunity to create content that we can share on our social media. We have some wonderful volunteers and board members who work diligently to make sure that they are capturing all of the moments in pictures and videos.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

There are two very important goals that motivate us. Number one is that we want to be a fun social group that is inclusive. A group where all are welcome. The world is way too divided and segregated and everyone stays with their own kind. We strive to be a group where the entire LGBTQIA+ community is truly leading by example and thriving in diverse harmony.

Secondly, we want to deliver a fun and entertaining show. We want the audience to be inspired by the fun they see the performers having so much so that they want to join the group and perform with us. Or at least be an advocate for us telling their friends that they should join!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.secondcityoutlaws.org/
• Instagram: @secondcityoutlaws
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secondcityoutlaws
• Twitter: @2ndcityoutlaws