by Linda Castillo
This past Thursday some Latin life came to the Bay Area. The LatinLife launch party took place in the recently renovated Glass House in Downtown San Jose. This new website showcases local events, entertainment, culture and empowerment for the Latino community. The founding partners shared their vision for the website including more launches in top major cities in United States and then taking LatinLife to Latin America.
Modern Latina caught up with Mariah Martinez, the Chief Marketing Officer to learn more about LatinLife.
Q: Congratulations on your new position as the CMO for LatinLife. Tell me how your personal and professional experiences have prepared your for this new role?
A: Thank you! I am very excited to be a part of such a great team and represent an amazing brand. Like many young Latinas, I’ve had my ups and downs in life, experienced both success and failure, all of which have prepared me for my role here at LatinLife. I am proud of my Mexican-American culture, and I want to be a part of showcasing the beauty in Latino culture, and hope to be a role model for other young Latinas who have big dreams of their own. I am passionate about technology, information, and my community, so it’s as if this role was made for me!
Q: How did the idea of LatinLife come to life?
A: There are 54 million Latinos in the US, 35 million of which were born here and prefer to communicate in English. If you look at the media targeting Latinos, much of it isn’t targeted towards this demographic. In addition, a lot of Latino culture is often presented in a negative light. Our voice is missing. LatinLife Co-Founder Eric Osuna saw this as a huge opportunity to make a change. He teamed up with Mario Cruz, who founded LatinBayArea.com, and they began LatinLife to finally give our community a voice. The voice of the new Latino!
Q: Tell me about the founding partners?
A: I can’t say enough great things about each of them. Eric Osuna has had an impressive career in Media, from National Sales Manager at Univision, to VP of Sales at Spanish Broadcasting System. He is passionate about representing the beauty of Latino culture and his passion is infectious! You can’t help but get excited about our community when talking to him. I feel so lucky to have him as a mentor, I’ve already learned so much and been so inspired. He lives and breathes Latino culture, which is inspiring in and of itself.
Mario Cruz founded LatinBayArea.com, which was the catalyst behind the idea for LatinLife. He ran the site all on his own, featuring local SF events and content. It’s truly amazing what he was able to do. Eric saw the potential in what Mario began so they joined forces and LatinLife was born! Mario’s energy is electric and he is brilliant when it comes to knowing what users want to see on the site. It’s so fun working with him; he’s a genuinely down to earth person who is passionate about empowering the Latino community.
Mauricio Mejia is the person I have to thank for introducing me to Eric and Mario. I’ve been friends and business associates with Mauricio for quite some time now, and his vast knowledge of so many things is astounding. He knows how to grab people’s attention and add that extra “it” factor to any project. He is a serial entrepreneur who has a diverse and impressive background. From running a successful nightclub, to starting his own staffing company, and recently running for San Jose City Council District 3, Mauricio’s knowledge and expertise has been the extra spark that’s really breathed life into LatinLife so far.
What is next for LatinLife?
A lot of exciting things are in store for LatinLife! We continue to work on improving the website to ensure that our users are getting the quality information they want and need, whether it’s an inspirational article, or a fun local event like El Ultimo Baile. Once we’ve established a strong foundation with our community here in the Bay Area, we plan on scaling to the top 10 cities in the US, starting in California and then moving East across the country. It is our dream to be a global brand, THE online destination for our beautiful Latino community, and ultimately change the world. ♦
Linda Castillo is the Founder and Executive Editor of www.ModernLatina.com. She writes on topics that empower and inspire Latinas including art, motherhood, green living, culture, travel, and issues transforming the Latino community. Linda has earned a B.S. in Business and a M.S. in Mass Communications from San Jose State University.