Yvette Walker
With 91.9 KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Today, we've invited Richard Sandoval, president of Hispanic Lifestyle. Thank you for being with us today, Richard.
Richard Sandoval
Thank you for having me, Yvette.
Yvette
Richard, tell us about Hispanic Lifestyle.
Richard
Hispanic Lifestyle, we actually started out as a black and white newsletter called Hispanic Business Update. And just down the road here, at the Arrowhead Credit Union executives offices at the time, we launched our magazine in 1997. So, we're a little over 26 going on 27 years old. But our purpose really was to highlight the achievements of Latinos in our community.
Yvette
Richard, what is the Hispanic Lifestyle experience?
Richard
Over the years it's been several different things. I know, originally, when we started Hispanic lifestyle, it was about the image. I wanted to showcase Latinos that were professionals, the doctors, the lawyers, you know, the community leaders, you know, the executives. And so that was really our focus for many years. Because I think at the time when we started, the portrayal of Latinos were very similar to today, you know, the blaming a lot of the woes of our communities, a drag on society, you know, their immigration problems that we still face today were very similar to them. But we wanted to celebrate our community and acknowledge excellence, if you will. And so, from mayor's to business owners, to elected officials, when we think about 27 years ago, it looked a lot different. There weren't as many at the time.
Yvette
Will you share with us Hispanic Lifestyles other activities?
Richard
Well, because I'm a small business and have been doing that for many years, as you well know from this economy is that we're in the shadow of Los Angeles, they're a major media market. So, selling advertising, sponsorships, and such was extremely hard for a small company, a small business. And so, we decided to branch out. So, almost from the beginning, we started producing events, and Hispanic Image Awards, a Latina conference, a BizCon. And so just recently, this year, or this last year, the last 16 months, we've been taking our Latina event, which is now called Connecting Latinas throughout the United States. We were in Dallas, this year we will go to New York, New Jersey and Miami. And we did have our Latina Conference last year right here in Temecula, in the winery. So that's how we're putting it all together for us.
Yvette
What do you think of Latino Media and the future of Hispanic Lifestyle?
Richard
You know, we started out as a newsletter, evolved into a magazine, and we have a television show… had a television show that was airing here on KVCR. And so, during the pandemic and the involvement of my participation with other organizations, we streamed events online. And so, I really think, like all of us, is that digital media access to the information so we have stories and resources. So, I think it is online. That seems to be the, levels the playing field if you will. So digital media is I believe the way to go for Latino Media and all media, to be honest with you.
Yvette
Richard, how can people connect with you?
Richard
Well, hispaniclifestyle.com has all of our content there. It has videos, it has our articles, and heck, a lot of our 27 years of content and photos are up on our website. So, thank you for asking.
Yvette
Thank you so much for being with us today, Richard.
Richard
Thank you Yvette.
Yvette
Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/ielatinovoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE’s Latino community. For KVCR News, I’m Yvette Walker.