Tag Archives: Mexican American

Becky G profile for Rolling Stone’s New Latin Hot List Issue

Posted in Celebrity Interviews, Media, Music by

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FOTO (Fresh Out The Oven)!

Yours truly wrote a profile on 16-year-old Becky G for Rolling Stone‘s new #LatinHotList issue, on stands November 8. I saw something special in her when I first met her two years ago in the RCA offices. She told me about her musical idols growing up (Left Eye, Selena), how her ‘Lita (grandma) taught her Spanish and always reminded her how important it is to honor her Mexican heritage, her plans to build a movement and take over the world, among other things. Somehow it didn’t come across as over-confident; I always believed she’d make it. Ask Dr. Luke what it is that he first noticed about her and he’ll say the same thing: her confidence and charisma. Because if you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

Then I collaborated with her on her blog, “Being Becky G,” for Fusion (ABC/Univision) late last year and that was super fun. It’s great to see how far she’s come in that short amount of time. She’s now CoverGirl’s youngest spokesperson and her #Beaster following on social media just keeps growing. In other words, she’s a marketer’s dream.

The RS cover line says it all and this is only the beginning…read the article here.

Comida Caliente: an awesome new cooking show

Posted in Food & Drink, Videos by

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I’m just loving Comida Caliente, a new web series from my friend and executive producer, Stefani Vara.

It’s a fun cooking show centered on a matriarch (the hilarious Dene) and her 3 gorgeous daughters (Danielle, Stefani and Diana). I think a lot of Latinos will see themselves in this Mexican American family from Houston. I know I do.

Stef was my roommate at CU Boulder, where we were both really useless in the kitchen. Our idea of cooking consisted of making cornbread from a box, busting open a can of refried beans or driving over to Wendy’s. And I don’t know that our sorry asses have gotten much better since, but man, did we have a blast! She taught me about all things Selena and I schooled her on New York hip-hop.

I’m just so impressed with Stef and how she put this whole thing together, even getting Goya to sign on as an official sponsor. She’s always been so driven – whether it’s related to her singing career, her modeling, and now, this.

Watch these gals heat things up in the kitchen every other Tuesday on the Comida Caliente YouTube channel. My favorite episode so far has been “Sucking Bones,” which is as  awesome as it sounds. You may even see me in the kitchen trying one of their recipes (the operative word being trying).

Check it out and tell me: what’s not to love about Dene & her daughters?

 

Can you tell Julian and Joaquin Castro apart?

Posted in Politics by

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I was with the very impressive Castro twins (Julian and Joaquin) and their fellow Texican Eva Longoria last night at a fundraiser and had a hard time telling them apart. Back in 2010, I interviewed Julian, the mayor of San Antonio (and the youngest mayor of a top 50 American city, at that) for a special ad campaign that Chanel was doing around a new men’s fragrance, Bleu de Chanel. The campaign was called “Be Unexpected,” and it consisted of profiles of extraordinary black and Latino men (you can read the profile, titled “The Great Brown Hope” and check out the ad). I also interviewed Junot Diaz and Laz Alonso, among others, for the same campaign.

Since then, I’ve been able to call his press office and get a quote or two for different stories, including this one for Fusion (ABC/Univision),  which I really appreciate.

I’ve been a fan of Julian Castro since and have high hopes for him, politically. His profile went through the roof last year at #2012DNC after his awesome speech, even if his adorable daughter Carina kind of stole the show.

Hanging on to this pic because I know there will come a day when I’ll say “I knew him way back when…”