La Verdad Podcast

“Quien dijo miedo,” meaning “who said fear,” is a quote that Christian Alequin’s grandmother used to tell him and is now his advice to anyone that is trying to pursue their dreams and goals.

Christian Alequin and his friend Carlos Martinez launched La Verdad’s podcast and blog in 2016 where they began documenting and telling stories from the point of view of two Urban Latinos. However, the journey began before that in 2015 when they started creating apparel designs. As time went by their customer base grew as well.

The idea of having apparel was driven by 2 single fathers Christian and Claudio who is no longer working with them. “We also had an idea to help out other single fathers and show them personal development through workshops,” said Alequin.

Soon after Carlos joined the group, their apparel line evolved and they began selling shirts that said “Cultivo” meaning “Cultivation,” onto their website Laverdadltd.com

As Claudio left the group to do his own thing Christian and Carlos revamped La Verdad into a podcast and began selling more apparel onto their site. As their site says, “La Verdad is focused on being true to our roots through originality.” 

Their 6 fundamentals are:

1. Culture
2. Tradition
3. Art
4. Community
5. Inspiration
6. Scholarship

La Verdad recently grew from 2 to 4 when Vanessa Figueroa, also known as Vfig, and Natalie Reyes, known as Nati, joined the podcast. The ladies give their perspective from a woman’s point of view. 

The group is mobile therefore, they do not have a set location. Carlos lives in Michigan and takes the time to drive out to Chicago to do their podcast recordings and Christian will also drive to Michigan so that the two can take turns traveling. The two have become dedicated to their work and keeping their fan base up to date with new shows. At one point during the summer the team went on a hiatus due to their lives and careers outside of the podcast. During that time their fan base would ask where is their show and what has happened. The amount of people who showed their interest in the podcast has given the group inspiration to continue on with their podcast/blog. 

Although the group has relied on viral marketing which has been working well for them, they have also thought about doing a street team and passing out flyers about La Verdad. Another idea that they had was to have a family podcast.

La Verdad has had a few special guests from Abel Muhammad a Student Minister who is devoted to helping out communities of color. Also, Adriana Almanza who you might remember, posted an “open letter” to Facebook as a response to what Donald Trump said about undocumented immigrants. These are just some of the podcast’s special guest to name a few. The group continues to reach out to individuals as a way to not only help their podcast grow but to also give their audience something new each time.

“Align yourself with positive people and go for it but have a plan,” said Carlos. 

By: Lucia A. Crespo

You can listen to new shows on LaVerdadltd.com and make sure to subscribe to their website. 

• As well as follow them on the social media outlets listed below.
• Facebook – La Verdad Ltd 
• Instagram @Laverdadltd 
• Twitter @Laverdadltd 
• From left to right: Carlos, Me (Lulu), Vanessa, Natalie, Christian.