The Similarities Between An Online Magazine and the Taquero

Online Magazine Taquero BELatina Latinx
Photo courtesy of BELatina.

Every Latine deserves to work in a passionate space in their chosen industry. They deserve to thrive and excel in their dream job and make a living out of what makes them happy. 

On the surface, each of us — from musicians to writers, engineers to astronauts, and beyond the ever-evolving career spectrum — seem to be completely different. However, we all experience similar situations at our core that ultimately connect us back to our communities. At the end of the day, we are all striving to do our best and putting every inch of our passion into our chosen labor of love.

Writing for an online magazine such as BELatina News, I see many connections between the media industry and other industries like the culinary — more specifically, a taquero. 

It might sound silly to compare both since they are entirely different endeavors, but media outlets, especially independent ones, are as resilient as your local vendor. Personally, this resonates with me on a deeper level being a freelancer. It means that behind it all, it’s up to me to schedule, prepare, and meet my goals in order to stay afloat, the same way your local vendor has to. 

In a recent conversation with my mom (who has a vague idea of what I do on a daily basis), she casually asked me to call “out of work.” She didn’t realize that, as a freelance writer, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. I don’t have paid time off as my siblings do. To this, I responded: “si no trabajo, no como, ma [if I don’t work, I don’t eat, mom],” and this (dramatic) statement is something I kept thinking about. It’s a phrase that I’m sure many use, especially your local vendor. If they aren’t out working, they aren’t making money. Simple as that. 

In solidarity with my local small-business community, I wanted to explore more of our similarities; in hopes that one day people (like my non-tech-savvy family) find empathy and actually understand more of what independent workers experience. 

Here are similarities between an online magazine and your local taquero:

We always hope for the best

As an online magazine, we show up writing at our best ability, researching the most accurate information we can, and delivering the most entertaining yet compelling content we can, such as the taquero or local vendor who offers you the best taco or food item that they are capable of creating. We always hope for the best but do the work behind it.

Preparation is a must

Between scheduling my interviews, articles, pitching, and setting aside much-needed research time — I am sure to be prepared (much like ‘mise en place’ in food spaces) and ready to go before the week starts. In such fashion, a taquero also has to do preparations such as finding suppliers, training their staff, maintaining a clean kitchen, and marketing their product. If we fail to prepare, we most likely won’t reach our goal.

Budgeting is key

Of course, online magazines would love to cover everything — new music releases, interview all your influencers, CEOs, etc. But we have to think of our budget, similar to that of a local vendor. Like your favorite taco shop, we have to realistically budget each expense and account for it all. As far as online magazines go: we budget ad space, marketing, editorial spaces, and promotional techniques (among other areas); while taco shops take in budget considerations for each food ingredient needed, cleaning supplies, overall store supplies they may need, as well as promotional expenses as well. There has to be a form of profit to make the numbers work.

We are passionate and resilient in our craft

Asi es! In delivering online magazine editorial content, we always are passionate and remain resilient even if we know that there are constant massive media industry layoffs — yet we remain positive! According to Pew Research Center, “U.S. newsroom employment has fallen 26% since 2008.” We remain resilient, though. Similarly, taqueros are aware of many aspects surrounding their product, such as constant gentrification in small areas, competitors based on the next viral phenomenon, etc. However, believing in your craft will keep you working. Passion will prevail.

We give it our all

As we previously said, we succeed because we give it our all. As Latines, what is crystal clear is that we give our one-hundred percent towards anything we believe in. We are dreamers, over-achievers, and hard-working badasses. It doesn’t matter what career field you belong to; you know that these five similarities also apply to you. That’s the beauty of our strong culture!

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