Behind The Scenes of Festival of Books with Latinas Who Hustle

When we got the invitation to participate with Los Angeles Times en Español I got super excited. As a producer and community manager, I have been investing endless efforts on uniting traditional media with digital content creators and I must say that not many publications were as welcoming and open to innovation as the team of Los Angeles Times en Español.

In my career, I started as the president of a Latina-led community called “Niñas Bien” (@ninasbien_community). My vision was to promote collaboration among small business owners through meetups and Instagram campaigns. After that I partnered with Annie Grijalva (annie_grijalva) to launch “Latinas Who Hustle” (@latinaswhohustle_), a network that not only promotes collaboration but also brings funding and partnership opportunities to Latina-led startups. This past Saturday, we got the opportunity of bring Latinas Who Hustle to cover the Festival of Books in partnership with Los Angeles Times en Español.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the event so you can only imagine my surprise when I arrived to the largest festival of books in the country! There were people of all ages, families, students, publishers, authors and journalists. There were many activities and interesting panels happening along with multiple food vendors and book signing opportunities. I learned a lot from meeting fellow Latinas in the area of LA Times en Español and I could see that the other bloggers/instagrammers did as well.

I asked Florencia Ornerlas (@florenceof), one of the members from LWH that we invited to cover the event, about her feedback of the event and this is what she wrote:

“The fact that there is a section just for the Latin community in the largest Festival of Books it’s a huge step towards representation, and being part of this event was truly a privilege! As a Mexican girl born and raised in a small town, Digital media has always been the door to the world and having the opportunity to show my audience this event, full of talented and diverse people was an experience I will never forget. There is a long way to go but thanks to LA Times for making this event every year more inclusive and diverse.”

I completely agree with her. I felt very comfortable talking to authors and other Latino creatives when I was networking. I am grateful with the team of Los Angeles Times en Español for providing this amazing opportunity to me and to our community.

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