How To Monetize Your Content As A Latinx Creator With Team RIO | Ep.02 Hispanic Heritage Month

Rebeca Huffman, Ivelissa Rios, and Omi Hopper, aka Team RIO, have figured out how to use their cultura to build a massive audience of close to 2 million followers across social media. What started as a way to kill time during the COVID pandemic by sharing recipes of their favorite foods on Instagram, Team RIO has grown into a profitable business working with some of the most iconic brands in the world. In this episode, they dish out the secret sauce on how they came together to build a successful partnership, consistently close high-paying influencer deals, and how they're using their cultura as a competitive advantage.

In this episode, Victoria Jenn and Team RIO discuss:

• How to use the power of authenticity to build an engaged community on social media
• How to negotiate influencer deals and set your rates
• How to identify your values and build a brand that speaks to your mission
• Why it's important to take frequent mental breaks as a content creator
• Appreciating the value of Spanglish as an inclusive form of communication within the Latino community
• Why unity and mutual support among content creators within the Latino community is important
• Ultimately, this episode highlights the strength of unity within the Latino community and how content creators can shape a positive representation while embracing their differences.

Follow Team RIO on Instagram:

@rebecahuffman

@ivelissariendoycomiendo

@cooking_con_omi

Follow Team RIO on TikTok:

@rebecahuffman

@ivelissariendoycomiendo

@cookingconomi

Resources:

Free Training: 3 Secrets to Make the Transition From Corporate to Entrepreneur - www.victoriajenn.com/training

Work with Victoria Jenn: www.victoriajenn.com

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How To Monetize Your Content As A Latinx Creator With Team RIO | Ep.02 Hispanic Heritage Month

Welcome back to the show where we talk about the vibrancy and complexity of Latino culture, business, and all the bonchinche in between. I have the esteemed honor of being joined by three of my Boricua hermanas, my sisters. They’re going to talk about what collaboration looks like amongst Latinas and women. We’re going to talk about the business of influencership. We’re going to get into bonchinche per usual.

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Welcome to my guests. We’ve got Rebeca Nieves Huffman, Ivelissa Rios, and Omi Hopper. I’m so excited to have you guys on the show. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s do a quick intro of each of you. Rebeca, you first.

I’m Rebeca Nieves Huffman. You already know that, but your audience doesn't. I am a twenty-year nonprofit executive turned social media influencer among other things. It is a joy to be here.

Ivelissa?

Mi nombre Ivelissa Ríos. Ya tu me conose. Soy la CEO, la owner, la prestiay, la everything from my social media page.  Para su información, from Corozal, Puerto Rico y vivo lando en Florida. Thank you for having me here.

Omi?

Ola mi gente. Thank you so much for having us here. This is going to be so much fun. My name is Omi Hopper. I am a social media content creator by the name of Cooking Con Omi. I was formerly a professional makeup artist and pivoted my career to create content after the pandemic like a lot of people did. We pivoted life altogether. It has been an amazing ride. We were on TV, and we will continue to be on TV after this.

We like to kick off the show by asking each of our guests to give us some bonchinche. It wouldn’t be us if we didn’t talk about the bonchinche. It could be personal. It could be business. Tell us what’s the latest bonchinche.

Omi had a really good story to tell right when we were getting ready before we started. It was around understanding how women should truly run the world because of how we make things easier and smoother when we’re implementing projects or initiatives. I’m going to toss the ball over to you to tell that story.

I’ve had multiple careers. I’m on my third career, which is content creation. In my careers, I felt, many times, in a room full of the opposite sex that does not understand what I’m trying to do or say when it’s very simple. It’s so simple. I get another woman in the room and they know exactly what I’m talking about. We could solve world hunger. Sometimes, it’s frustrating to feel heard, feel understood, or feel like your input is valid. I’ve also learned that sometimes, it’s a matter of me saying it and then allowing the other person, the opposite sex, to believe that they came up with it. I’m going to allow you to believe that you came up with it. At this point, it’s like, “I’m not going to argue with you.”

I don’t know if you ladies go through this too. In that process, when you’re saying, “I’m going to give some probing questions or whatever,” to make them think that they came up with the idea, I hate that we have to be in a position to stroke egos in order for us to get stuff done and get things done right. Omi and I, and this has happened many times before, when we’re on a call or on a Zoom, we’re texting each other like, “This isn’t that hard. Why aren’t they getting it? Maybe they’re visual learners. Let’s send them like images. Let’s do a follow-up email with specifics and step by step.” That can be very frustrating, but that’s part of the bonchinche of what it’s like doing this work.

This is good bonchinche. You said stroke the ego. My belief is that the reason why this continues to happen is because we continue to stroke the ego. We can say men. I know we’ve been saying the opposite sex.

Everybody is clear that we are talking about men.

We love men. They’re our allies. We love you, but like there are certain things ladies can improve upon, there are certain things men can improve upon as well. I truly feel like because we continue to stroke the ego, we continue to allow this nonsense to go on thinking that we have to. That’s the only way for us to make it. How do we create that shift?

Here’s the thing, Victoria. Sometimes, you’re in a position where you have to stroke the ego because it’s related and tied to you getting your money. It’s related and tied to your brand. Let’s say, for example, you have a big event that’s coming up and you know that it’s a beeline to disaster because the people that are setting things up are not going to present you in the way that you want to be presented. Eyeballs are going to be on that. I have to protect my brand. What I think is going to remedy that is more female CEOs and more women that are in positions of power to truly have boards and staff. This is not to knock all men, because I have been in spaces where there are men that are multitaskers. They understand logistics. They understand how to get stuff done.

We’re also married to them.

Exactly.

We have the perfect example. We have really nice husbands. If you are organizing something big like a business, an event, or something like that, get the proper staff. Believe me. When we are organizing staff for us, we are making sure that we have the right logistics. In this situation, to them, sometimes, tu tiene que piensa el como que manda solo hala termina creal. Ya be soy no jamon feminista pero no que samo feminista. E conosa tra e le puehta. No so tro bucamo la formade. Figure out things. Pensar cosa so tra y nata la mujeres. Let’s go for it. Common sense. Intiende.oved "Rebeca was givingus the skinny that your hubby holds you down. I love it.

This is some hot bonchinche. I like this topic.

We find ourselves in this work, Victoria. We are gravitating towards women in particular who know how to execute well. I’m not going to mention her by name because she hasn’t given me permission to do this. There is a woman who is our inspiration that we started collaborating with. This is a boss jefa. Ivelissa was a guest speaker at one of her events. She got a front-row seat to see how she runs things and how she uplifts and empowers women.

That’s another thing too. Our followers on social are amazed at the female empowerment that we persistently perpetuate, not just with each other but with the women we come in contact with. We’ve always, from day one, on our pages support small Latina-owned businesses. It’s like a shocker to some people. They’re like, “All I see is cattiness amongst women in my community or in my workplace. It’s refreshing to see that.” I’m going to be unapologetic. I’m going to continue to try to exclusively work with women who know how to get things done and are about that value.

That’s a great point, Becky.

Is that your nickname for Rebeca? Is this hot of the press that only you can call her that? I know her as Rebeca. Is Becky VIP?

She is a VIP of my life. Up until I went to college, I was Becky. When you go to college, you have that light bulb and that awakening. It’s a formative time. I was like, “I don’t want to be called Becky anymore.” Plus, that song came out with, “I like big butts.” I want to be called by my given name. I established a career. People in my career know me as Rebeca, but then they hear my family calling me Becky. They’re like, “You’re Becky?” I’m like, “No. Only my family and people in the hood who grew up with me could call me Becky. Family and people that are close to me, that’s what they call me.”

Got it. Ivelissa, continue your thought.

She was talking about the way that we support each other and the way that our followers, the small business on our page, and everything. We were talking before we started this interview about how amazed our community is with our relationship and how we connect, how different we are, and how we help each other in our brand. To me, they are a blessing in my life because they are like mentors. They are giving me directions. They are giving me purpose. People say that I have this beautiful energy. I feel very empowered to have them around me. If you see us as the most organic, we are organic. My content is very raw and organic.

She does the best among the three of us. Can I give a little bonchinche?

We are here for bonchinche.

We advise each other. I love that she calls us mentors. There are times when she’ll say, “Becky Omi, what do you think about this reel? When should I post it?” We’ll give her advice, and in the end, she still does the thing that we told her not to do.

She’ll say, “What caption do you think?” We’ll give her the caption and she’s like, “No.” She will do her own thing. We’ll give her the advice, but Ive is still going to be Ive. She’s still going to do what Ive does.

Do you know what I like about them? They treat me as part of their life instead of diminishing me. Como criticarlo e llamo esa como compliment. I love that.

That’s constructive criticism.

That’s something out there that people don’t understand about us. I’m so sorry. I don’t have to be sorry. In our community, most of them, there are a lot of insecurities and a lot of lack of attention. They take things personally. I’m talking about it because I was like that. We were talking about it, me and Omi. That’s why the community out there is very impressed with us. They don’t understand. They said how Ivelissa is very loud, Becky is all business, and Omi is between. We have values and we respect each other.

We have different personalities, but we share a lot of the same values. Like all things that you cultivate, you cultivate friendships. We have been cultivating this friendship since the beginning of the pandemic slowly but surely. The very first time that I ever talked to Ive was probably a month and a half into my making videos on TikTok. She gave me her number and I was like, “Why is this lady giving me her number?” I called anyway. Which one is crazier? The one who gives the number or the one who calls a complete stranger?ving this. This happens to us every day. It’s fine.

That was contagious because when I reached out to you, you immediately gave me your cell phone number. I had the same reaction. I’m like, “She doesn't know me.”

By the time we met in person and physically got to hug each other and see each other, we already knew everything about each other’s lives in terms of family and what our day looked like. We’re FaceTiming. It felt like a family member that I finally got to connect with. For me, when it comes to having a relationship with these women, it’s not just the fact that we are colleagues. It’s more so that we connected on another level that feels so much like family to me.

It feels like home.

It doesn’t feel forced. It doesn’t feel like work. It’s so organic. That is the reason why. Can I do this with anyone else? I can work with anyone else, but to have this kind of relationship is different. It is special.

Let’s talk about that a little bit. Interestingly enough, I was sitting with my girlfriend, Liz. I was letting her know I was interviewing you. I told her I wanted to talk about collaboration amongst women because it is hard to find that connectivity and magic and have it work so seamlessly and have it be fun, not always work. She said, “That’s because they’re Latinas.” I said, “Really?” She said, “Not only Latinas, but that’s because they’re boricuas.” I said, “Interesting.” She also said you connected over one of the things that brings Latinos together, which is food. I said, “That is right. That is a formula for collaboration.”

You mentioned values. That’s key and a good takeaway. For anyone in the audience reading this, when you are looking at a partnership or collaboration opportunity, make sure your values are aligned because it allows for that fluidity to happen. It allows for you to have a good, successful collaboration. Let’s hear the story of how you came together. We know it was during the pandemic. We know we shared numbers with each other. Who had the idea of, “We should make this a thing.” How did that come about?

Our followers.

We were with the flow. We never talk about collaboration. We never talk about having this trio together and having all of this opportunity. We never talk about this.

It happened organically. Most importantly, the people who watched us, our community, the first time they ever saw us together, which was when these ladies went to Rhode Island to come see me in December 2021, it was the best time. When I tell you our social media collectively blew up. People have given us a nickname. We’re Team Rio. Me, Ivelissa, and Omi, we’re Team Rio because of our followers. They gave us that. To me, the beauty of it all is how whenever we do come together, we organically create content. We also do the very best we can to include each other in each other’s plans.

You’re masterful at that, Omi.

We share whatever. Whatever I’m doing, if I’m doing something by myself, I’m like, “I have two more girls that you really need to look at and need to consider for this opportunity. If we do this together, you will be able to get the visibility that you want.” Vice versa. Rebeca has given us opportunities with brand deals. With Ivelissa, I did an entire media tour in Puerto Rico thanks to Ivelissa because of her connections on the island. I was able to go on all three major channels in Puerto Rico because of her.

That is hard to do.

It’s very hard to do because it’s all in who you know. She knows everybody. This is what we do. We are not only sharing and wanting to be inclusive in that, but we want to make sure that as one wins, we all win together. Who else do we bring on the boat with us?

We are more powerful.

We’re more powerful when we come together. If there is someone that I don’t bring with me or if there’s a group that I say, “I’m not about that,” it’s because they’ve put themselves there. They put themselves in a position where I cannot associate with that. I have to look out for my brand. I have to look out for my values. If those values don’t align, then I don’t mess with it. I wish you all the best, but I will not be there to be a part of it.

That’s where that ancestral wisdom comes from in our community.

Since the very beginning with Omi, when the door starts opening for her, we start at the same time. She always said, “Ivelissa, if I’m blessed, the blessing is around.” That’s one of my values on my page, teaching them that if she’s successful in her way, I can be successful in another way. Becky, too. People are like, “What about you, Ivelissa? When is your turn?” or something like that. I’m like, “It’s fine. I’m not here for that. That’s her opportunity. I will have another opportunity.”

My path is way different than Rebeca's and then Omi's. I have to follow that path. I have to bless people with my expertise. They want a relationship like this. Are you willing to work on a relationship like that? We have to deal with that con selos, con evidia, como comentario negativo? We had to deal with that. If you let those emotions be over you, it controls you.

Let’s dive a little deeper into that because I aspire for this. I’m watching you and I’m like, “This is amazing. I can see it right here.” Rebeca and I met first, and that’s how I got introduced to Ivelissa and Omi. What drew me to Rebeca was how she was so humble and consistent with promoting other businesses and talking about other women. She was doing it like it was second nature. It was not a problem. She was like, “Go check this person out.”

I feel like ego plays such a huge role, especially in this world of social media, where everybody’s like, “Pay attention to me. Put the spotlight on me,” where they don’t understand how you are more powerful together. Let’s offer the people some tips. We said a couple of things. We spoke about the same values, which is really important. We talked about being able to be emotionally intelligent and not let your ego get in the way.

How else can people get this? How can they find this magic in their community? It is rare and very unique. What’s so powerful about your story is not only do you have a relationship that brings in business and there’s lucrativeness to that side, but you can generally see that on the personal side, you all love each other. What are some tangible things? How can people find this in their life?

I cannot pretend to be her. People will notice that. When you are fake, they notice that. We experience that on our page. I don’t want to imitate Omi. You never heard me say, “Ola mi gente.” you never sent me that. “Ola mi gente. Buenos dias,” I don’t say that.

To piggyback off of what Ivelissa is saying, we have always respected each other’s platforms aside from being friends, we have always respected each other’s platforms. We talk every morning. If we can’t FaceTime or be on the phone, we will send a quick good morning text. You do that with people you love and care for. We say, “Good morning.” If we know that one is posting, I’ll wait until next week. I’ll put it another time. That’s a level of respect.

It’s professional courtesy.

In our world, that is our content creation. In our content creation, it’s sharing documents. That’s our level of that. We respect that. We don’t step on each other’s toes. We’re not afraid to be open about something. If an issue comes up, I’m like, “I’m feeling like this about X, Y, and Z,” we’re not afraid of that within our professional realm.

That is something that if you are willing to work at that and you’re willing to be open to that, you find people with likeness. You attract those people. When you are out here, especially in this world where everyone is a social media influencer, they’re not doing it in a way where it’s collaborative or they’re not doing it in a way where it’s respectful of someone else’s platform. That’s very important. You can’t do that.

It’s really important especially if you’re in a business or you’re in the limelight. Whether that’s social media, you’re working with the press, or you’re the CEO of your company, you have to show up as your authentic self that is informed by your upbringing. I was born and raised in the states. Ivelissa was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Omi straddled. She started off in Puerto Rico. She was born and raised there, and at a certain age, at eleven, moved to the States.

How does that show up? I speak English dominant on my page and sprinkle some Spanish. I speak Spanglish. Omi is Spanish dominant pero she also does English recipes. She’s doing both. Ivelissa is Spanish-dominant. That’s one of the ways that we differentiate it because that’s our lives. That’s how we speak on a daily basis.

I have recipes that are Puerto Rican but with either a healthy twist, a vegan twist, or whatever. Why? It’s because I have a kid with food allergies. I have to do that at times. I’ve learned how to cook traditional meals but with that kind of twist. Do I get comments from time to time? Especially in the beginning, it was like, “Esu nohay autentico. No los sabes. That’s not the way that my abuela makes it.” That’s how I make it at my house.

Sometimes, those rules are informed by your life. It’s not good for you to show up on social media and pretend as someone that you’re not. Explore and cook different meals. That’s the joy and the adventure of cooking, but don’t present yourself as someone who has always done something. Followers have a very high BS meter. They know and they can feel when something is made up, fake, or whatever. Your best strategy in anything in your business is to show up as your authentic self because there’s no one like you. You’ll attract the people in your community that are like you.

It gives me joy when I’m at the airport and I see someone that graduated from an Ivy League school. They’re like, “I’m Puerto Rican. I also graduated from an Ivy League school and I feel so alone. Your page allows me to feel seen.” People downplay the power of showing up as your authentic self because we have these hangups about ourselves. I’ve learned through this journey that the way I grew up is a beautiful thing even with the little twists and turns. I have a group of people that can relate to that in my community.

I love that. I heard a couple of things. Those are beautiful insights. Being your most authentic, unedited self, no fakeness and have respect and professionalism. You have to respect those boundaries. By respecting those boundaries, being authentic, not being fake, and having respect, you’re able to have a partnership that continues to work. We like to get into the bonchinche here. With every good situation, there’s always an opportunity for improvement. What have been the challenges of the collaboration?

Let’s get into it. Rebeca said something while we were at the parade about to turn into Fifth Avenue. She looked at Iv and me and said, “We are who we’ve been waiting for.” We have been trying to set a table because the table doesn’t exist. We’re trying to create that table where women who are like us can feel like they have a team that they can trust. They can have an agency, PR, or manager.

We’re trying to create that table because the table doesn’t exist for us. They don’t know what to do with us. If we have to be the ones, then we’re the ones. It’s us. How do we use our influence and what’s happening in our lives for the better so that other influencers and other people like us don’t get taken advantage of by these fluky agencies who want to take for themselves and not give anything to the artist or the creator? That’s what we have to do. We can’t let them win. There’s no way that we can let that win because then, no cresemos. We’re not going to be able to cross over to the other side and, and show.

One thing that I really took on and I took it on personally was after leaving the show or after being on Next Level Chef. First of all, I went in there as a complete underdog. I didn’t know if I was going to last 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month. I lasted the whole month and I made it as a semi-finalist in a competition full of professional chefs all with the knowledge of my abuelita’s kitchen.

When I came back, I had already kicked into a gear that I did not know I had within myself. I was like, “How do I keep this gear going? This gear has to go to another level. How do I incorporate my mi gente not just from watching, but creating an experience for them where they feel seen, they feel heard, and they feel like they have power?”

How did they feel seen? It was by me being on the show. How did they feel like they were a part of it? I had an opportunity for watch parties and meet and greets in five cities. How do they feel heard? Fox knows who we are. It’s no longer going to be the Mexican cook or the only Spanish cook in a show because we bring a lot to the table.

I have to give you some credit, Omi. At those watch parties before the show would start or the episode would start, you told our people, “The only way they’re going to see and hear from us is when you’re posting on social, you are tagging Next Level Chef of tagging Fox.” She always had a call to action. This is a stumbling block for a lot of Latinas. They’re afraid to ask.

I’m always encouraging my community. People aren’t mind readers. It’s her giving that call to action to our community by saying, “Tag them.” When I took a screenshot of Next Level Chef’s page before it aired, the growth has been tenfold on their page. When you go to the comments section of their post, who do you see? I see the familiar names of my community.

I see the Puerto Rican flag all over the comments. I love it.

When she came back from the show, we were very amazed. I’m in that stage that I’m learning and looking at my page as something powerful. It’s my hobby, but it’s my business. Omi es mi inspiracion. They’re like, “Ive, I don’t know how to do it.” I’m like, “Forget about it. I don’t know what’s next pero let’s keep going.”

Your original question was around the challenges, right?

Yes.

I really want to talk about money.

Let’s talk about that.

Here’s the thing with money. Let’s call it what it is. The colonizers in this country have had a 400-year head start on building generational wealth, having businesses, and all that, so we’re playing catch up. This is media. Social media is a form of media. Ad agencies and companies have increased their social media buys by 50%. That’s huge. Less TV ads, less radio, whatever. This is media. This is a form of media. There’s money behind all this. We live between these two worlds of they don’t know what to do with us.

When I’ve had agencies reach out to me about Omi and Ivelissa, after we have that initial call, we’re like, “They don’t know what to do with us. They have no experience in working between two worlds. They don’t know what to do with us.” We get invited all the time to do different things that they see us do on social media, but then groups don’t want to pay us. When I say pay, I’m talking about the bare minimum of, “Pay for our flight and our hotel stay and give us a little speaker stipend. We’re down. It’s not a little commission to our rates.” They almost get offended.

People in our community are like, “Do you want money?” It’s like, “I’m married. This is my business.” Our husbands love that we go on these girls' trips and compartimos, but we’re being pulled away from our families to do this work. We have to get paid as if it is work. We’re having to change the mentality of our community around money as well as trying to convince the mainstream that there is value in our community and that there is buying power in our community. We are in this purgatory almost in the middle.

Our efforts in setting that table that Omi was talking about is creating something that’s never been done before. It’s having a space for those Spanglish speakers and people who live between those two worlds. On top of that, it’s having the money to build that generational wealth. That’s been the biggest challenge for us because we want to do so much. We want to show up for our community strongly, but at the same time, it has to make sense for us financially and with our time because our time is money.

In 2022 when I went away to do the show, I went at Hispanic Heritage Month. I left so much on the table to take a chance to go to London. God knows how long I was going to make it. I was taking it one meal at a time and one cook at a time, but that was a chance I took. Sometimes, it takes that leap of faith to allow yourself to say yes and do it. Most importantly, I have a whole family that depends on me. I have to be very smart about my choices. I can’t go with the next fulanito del a cina to manage my business. I can’t do that. I won’t.

How do you handle this mindset within our community around money? How are you balancing all of that? Give us an example of a conversation you have with an agency that’s trying to play you.

They’re like, “We want you in this event.” They help me, but I consult that with Rebeca. I’m like, “Rebeca, mira. They want me to do this. They don’t want to pay because they think that we are doing videito.” That’s why in our brand and our social media, we have to teach them that this is a job. We’re like, “This is your job. This is your money. You have to pay me because this is my time.” It’s not like I’m like, “Rise and shine, everybody.” I’m entertaining you and educating you with everything that I’m doing. A lot of influencers out there don’t know. They don’t know how to monetize. They don’t take this as seriously as we are taking it. We’re like, “You have to pay me.”

When you enter this world of social media and call yourself an influencer, let’s say one video goes viral for you. You got that one video that did really well and it got you millions of followers. You have to keep up with that trend of what made that video go viral. That’s one step. The second step is if you have a brand who wants to approach you and work with you, you have to provide this brand with this content, whatever that may be, and they’re going to put a price tag on you. Some people believe that whatever lowest number is given to them by this company or brand is an okay number. They accept it. Therefore, it gives brands and agencies the green light to say, “That’s how much we should pay everyone up.”

It’s like a comp. When you sell a house on the block and you say, “What are the comps?” That’s what brands do. They’re like, “We got this other Hispanic food influencer to do it at this rate. That’s what we’re going to set the rate for.” I love that some Puerto Rican food content creators feel comfortable enough to reach out to me personally and say, “I’m getting a call from this person or this brand. They’re offering me this.”

I vividly remember one in particular that I had a conversation with. He had a platform that was three times my size and he was getting paid not even 1/10 of what I was getting paid on my brand deals. When I told him how much certain brands were paying me, his mouth dropped to the floor. I’m like, “You have to set your rate and you have to advocate it.”

Can we talk about that number? I like to talk about numbers. It’s really easy to say, “There was a difference in price,” or, “You should go for the most.” If you don’t know what the most is and you don’t know what that ceiling is, it’s difficult for you to make that ask. On average, what do you believe influencers should be getting paid for?

It’s scaffolded because it all depends on some important indicators. What is your engagement rate? There are some people out there who have a huge page, but when you go into the comments, ten comments. You don’t even see the creator engaging with their community in the comments. There’s the engagement rate. People think that it’s about having the number of followers. It’s not. It’s the engagement rate.

You’re more valuable with engagement than you are with numbers. You’re more valuable with the audience that will save your content, comment on your content, and share that content as well. You are more valuable to the brands that way than you are with having a million followers. You don’t have to.

We were talking about the money behind brand deals. I really wanted to get into the numbers because numbers are important. Omi, you were telling a story about how folks need to understand that engagement is a priority and is more important and significant than your actual follower count. Rebeca, I know you wanted to build on that, so let’s break it all the way down for the people. We like to give tangible takeaways and things that you can execute right away to secure the big bags. Vamos.

Here’s the deal. When I first started getting interest from brands, I reached out to Omi and she gave me the best resource when I first started. I stopped this membership after I started getting more comfortable with advocating for myself on these brand deals. It’s SocialBlueBook.com. You go to that website and set up an account.

It will connect your various platforms and give you the value of not just a post or reel, but how much would it cost a brand to post on your stories and the rates that you should be charging. They give you the engagement rate. They say, “On Instagram, you have a little percent engagement rate. On YouTube, blah.” Brands don’t pay as much for TikTok as they do YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. It differentiates even per platform. I would encourage people to look at that.

My first brand deal was $2,500 for 1 video. I believe it was Hidden Valley Ranch. It was 1 video for $2,500. That was my first. I’m at a level where depending on what the brand is, I get paid anywhere from $7,000 to $15,000 a post. I’m being transparent because I know when I’m watching or listening to a podcast, I want specifics. What I tell people always is to set your comp. If Target is out here paying me equis amount of money, that sets my comp. That’s my rate.

Everything’s negotiable. When we were getting together with other content creators, there was this conversation with one of them. He was like, “That much?” I’m like, “Yes.” He’s like, “Meda miedo perdida.” I’m like, “Ask for the rate. The worst they can do is tell you, “That’s not how much we are paying.” Ask them, “How much do you have to work with in your budget?” I hate how people give up on the first try. Continue. This is the norm. I’ve observed that people of privilege do this ping pong with companies. It’s okay. We get uncomfortable with it because our culture teaches us to be humble and not value money as much as we do other things, but de la mano se vive solamente.

I believe there’s also value in not allowing yourself to work with everyone.

That’s another thing.

It’s very important to know when to say no and know when to make yourself exclusive.

How do you set that measure though?

You set that measure with what you really are passionate about, what defines your brand, who you are, and what you stand for. Whenever I get approached by a brand, a company, or whatever the engagement is, I will ask myself, “Is this something I’m going to learn from? Is this something that I am passionate about? Is this something that I stand behind?” If I don’t, then I won’t do it.

I do my assignment. I look at the page and the numbers.

That’s why I was laughing earlier because the two of you got the same offer. It was a female pleasure company.

There’s nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t line up with your brand.

Can you imagine one of us showing up with a dildo on our page?

How about a little rose? We’re like, “You want to enjoy the pleasures of life with your food and your rose.”

It doesn’t make sense.

Don’t get me wrong. I said, “I prefer to pass.”

That is such a good point.

That happens to me all the time.

Who do you attract with what you’re putting out there?

You guys know that everything that I spoke on and talk about on my page, basa mi experiencia. People get confused about that.

You can read between the lines. I’ve had brands contact me and I could tell they’re not looking at my page. They’re casting a wide net and seeing what catches. They’re seeing what desperate influencer is going to take a fight. I’ll never forget one time I got a brand deal opportunity from a breast pump company. I’m like, “I’m 46 years old. I’m way past the childbearing years. It’s a compliment that you think that I’m still bearing children, but I’m not.” It's almost insulting sometimes where I’m like, “You’re casting a net and seeing what catches.” You have to treat yourself with respect.

They don’t do their research. Sometimes, I feel like, “Why are they reaching out to me?”

We had a situation where a brand was working with Rebeca. Anytime you work with any brand, you will provide your content and then they will have feedback. There are multiple rounds of feedback that might happen for you to change the content. That part of the job is very tedious because they break it down to the seconds of the video. They’re like, “Between 4 and 5 seconds, can you edit that? Can you remove that clip? between 27 seconds and 29 seconds, Can you blur the brand name of such and such?” These things become very tedious.

Sometimes, depending on the brand and how much they’re paying you, you have to come to an agreement of saying whether or not this is worth that time, money, and effort because they didn’t do their research to know how you show your content or how you operate. Clearly, if I say, “Ola mi gente me paga de enseñan,” if you can’t hear me saying that on my videos, then you didn’t do your research as a brand. That is who I am. That’s how I’ve started my video since 2020. Why would I change because you want me to do a video for you? There are certain people and certain brands I won’t work with.

We talk to each other and we’re like, “That brand is horrible to work with. Mira otro. They pay on time.” Here’s another thing. You people that want to be out there and be an influencer, let me tell you something. You don’t get paid immediately. You get paid net 45, net 60, or net 90. You have to advocate for yourself and say, “Before the contract is signed, how am I going to get paid? Can I have a signing point?”

You should be like, “Before the contract is signed, let’s get 25% of that.”

When we are doing a collaboration request for a certain amount of money, there are two rounds of feedback.

I’m so glad you're bringing this up.

This is important.

We had this. They were in my country club. We were sitting by the pool. I got a second round of edits. I was on the phone with them and said, “I’ve already made the edits. We’ve done two rounds of this. I’m on my way to New York. I’m not going to be back until Tuesday. We’ve already made the edits, so I’m happy to walk away from this. This doesn’t seem like it’s a right fit. I would rather cut my losses now and be honest that I’m not going to provide you with more than what you’ve already asked for. That’s beyond the scope of work of the project.” La gente abusa.

Even not setting certain things in place. When a brand doesn’t set certain things in place such as, “I’ve given you the rounds of edits that you’ve asked for. You have not gotten back to me whether or not this content is good.” All of a sudden, out of the blue on a Tuesday, the brand said, “Go ahead and post.” Guess what? The conversation on my platforms is not about this.

I had a brand that while I was on my tour of these watch parties and meet and greets had not gotten back to me in weeks. When they finally got back to me, I was like, “I can’t post this today because the show airs tonight. The conversation on my platform is not going to be about this. I will post this on Sunday if you trust me with my platform and that I know my audience.” That’s another thing. How well do you know your audience? I know my audience well enough that if I had put that video on that day, they’re going to be like, “What about the show? What happened? We’re doing the meet and greet and the watch party.” That in itself, you are the expert of your platform.

I know we’re talking about all the challenges, but I’m an ambassador for Target. They give me complete creative autonomy. I don’t think I’ve ever made any edits. They love the way I produce my content. On top of that is the timing of the post. I tell them, “On this day, blah,” and they’re like, “Whatever you feel is best.” I love working with brands like that. If you truly love my page and you love what I’m about, you’re going to let me have creative control of my content.

You got to trust me. A couple of key things came up that I want to drive home. It is having your own terms and conditions and providing the direction. Don’t always wait for a brand or a potential client to tell you what they want. You’re the asset. You’re the value add.

They need me more than I need them.

Exactly. You set the terms of when you get paid, how you get paid, how many edits you’re going to do, what your intellectual property can be used for, exclusivity, and all those things. One of the tips that I use and that I like to offer a lot of the women that I work with is when we’re talking about payment, I always say, “Ask them for 50% upfront and 50% after the project, after the delivery, or after the execution. If they allow that to proceed, add an additional incentive and say, “If you don’t want to do the half and half, I’ll give you 10% off the whole price if you pay me in full.”

I like that.

It’s an incentive. Their first initiation was net 30. That was their first term. It could be net 90 or whatever it is. Everybody’s crazy about budgets and they want to save money. I’m like, “Here you go. Here’s a little carrot. Do you want some of this? Here you go.” Usually, 8 times out of 10, they’re paying in full upfront.

I’m going to use that tip, Victoria.

Use the tip.

Nothing beats a fail like a try.

These brands or organizations do have financial policies in place. They have their own terms and conditions as well. It’s usually being pressed by the financial department that’s setting those standards. Remember. They need you more than you need them. They’re coming to you, so you set those terms. You have to be like, “This is how I get paid. This is the formula, this is the process. You need to work on my framework, not the other way around.”

That’s a mindset shift. It’s the same thing around mindset money scarcity. That mindset money scarcity of not asking for your money in advance or not asking for too much, it’s the same thing as playing their game instead of understanding that you are your own entity. As they have their procedures and processes, so do you.

One thing that’s important is that when you are establishing your terms and conditions and you’re growing in your business, sometimes, you come to a point where you realize you have to hire help. You know what you know and you don’t know what you don’t know. When I started getting these thick contracts, I was like, “I might be negotiating against my own self-interest here.” For some projects, I hire an attorney. For some projects, I bring in an agent to do that. We have a social media manager because of the DMs. We love interacting with our followers. Up until a certain point, when you get a certain amount of followers and engagement, it becomes overwhelming.

We never shut it off.

We’re still commenting on our posts, our reels, and all that good stuff. When it comes to the DMs, sometimes, brands reach out to you in the DMs. You have to be pendiente on your requests and the general side of your inbox. I remember I was in the Dominican Republic chilling. I finally caught up to my DMs and some big brands reached out to me. It was Tory Birch or something like that.

What was it?

Kate Spade.

Thank you. I love how they remember more than I do.

Que cute.

I immediately reached out from the DR to the casting person. They were like, “We sent that to you a week ago. We had already cast the influencers we’re going to work with.” Some of this stuff moves quickly, so what did we do? We hired a social media manager. She helps flag those kinds of opportunities for us. When your reviewing contract is new for you, don’t be afraid to hire specifically an entertainment attorney because there are a lot of attorneys out there who are hustling. You have to get someone who knows this realm.

It’s really important, too, from the social media aspect. Hiring that social media manager was really important for helping us to keep track of what our performance is within our pages. I go through periods where life is life-ing and I may not post. What do I need to do? What should be my next post? What should I be worried about for the next week? That’s okay. It’s not because social media is our job that it means that it’s our life. We need help.

Another value of having a social media manager is when we were in Chicago there, that’s when the forest fires in Canada were happening and making the skies in New York untenable and orange . My social media manager said, “Everybody on all three of your pages and the DMs are asking, “Are you all still going to New York?” We were so busy engaging with our commitments in Chicago that we missed that, but she caught it. It allowed us to be responsive to our community. That helps your engagement rate for people to feel seen and heard in the comments and the DMs. That’s a little tip there.

I love that. A couple of things. What I love that you all spoke about was to not be thirsty. Don’t be thirsty because it might work against you than for you. Even though you’re struggling to make a check, understand that if you go in and you put in a rate that’s lower than what’s at the market or that’s lower than what these companies are used to seeing, they’re business so they’re going to go with the lower offer. They want to save money like you would in your business.

What you do is you bring the overall market value down. For this amazing mission that all of you are on, creating this space and the table for us to have the power to negotiate at that level, you are doing more harm than good. Reach out to somebody. Get the coaching that you need so you can go and ask for what you are truly worth and what your value is out here. I love that.

The other thing I love that we said was this engagement piece. I want to take a deeper dive into this because it’s so important. I know so many people who struggle with the engagement piece. They’re usually posting things because they want to go viral. This is back to being thirsty. They’re like, “I want to go viral.”

They see a trend and they’re like, “Let me hop on this trend. Let me do this because this seems to be working,” even though it may not align with their individual values, brands, or what their audience is used to. They want to get seen. Can you offer some insight into how you increase your engagement? What does that really look like? How do you break away from the natural urge to hop on a trend because you’re trying to get views because you believe that that’s how you’re going to drive engagement?

When my followers see me, they say, “I feel like you are my friend.” It’s because I’m connecting with them. They feel heard and they feel that they know me. That’s when I know that I’m doing something good. I don’t get overwhelmed by that. I’m consistent. How are you going to manage them? What are you going to do with them? Are you connecting with them? I don’t post anything. Since the engagement that I have with them is very good, they are still waiting for me. I’m not thirsty. I have a life. I need to take a break from my mental situation. They have me over there and that’s it.

People relate to videos and things that they feel like it’s their lives. When I first started, I didn’t know what the secret sauce was. I had no idea what the secret sauce was. I had no idea why I kept growing in numbers. I had no idea. I’m like, “What am I doing?” What I was doing, and I kept hearing it, was I was connecting to a part of someone’s life that reminded them of someone they might have loved and lost or I was connecting them to their culture.

Maybe they don’t know a lot about the kitchen, but it’s okay. You don’t have to have brand-new pots and pans to create a platform and start cooking on social media. My calderos are still the same calderos I had back then. I don’t care. My videos are not overproduced. I still do it with my phone. I figured out that what was connecting with my audience was the fact that they could see themselves in me. They could see themselves in the kitchen cosinando, cantando, bailando y gosando se en la cocina. We were on the convertible Jeep.

It was a Puerto Rican day parade. That’s what we’re talking about.

We weren’t supposed to bring it up.

It’s okay. That was a monumental moment. Shout out to you ladies for inviting me to be a part of that because it was amazing. I really appreciate you guys. Back to you.

We connected with the driver of the Jeep. First of all, she started crying when she hugged us and saw us. She said, “I lost my husband right before COVID and I thought my world was ending. You brought me back to life with your videos. He used to be the one who used to cook. Now, I cook and I remember him through the foods that you’ve taught me to make.”

This is the impact that we’ve had on our community that we didn’t even count on. I never counted on a dad saying to me, “Thank you so much for teaching me how to cook for my boys the same food that my wife used to cook for us before she passed from cancer.” I never counted on that. I met mothers and daughters who said, “We have a better relationship because we have you in common. We both watch you.” These were things that I never banked on.

To be truthfully honest, I never even said I was going to do Cooking Con Omi full-time until August 2021. When my grandmother passed away, that is when I said, “I am stepping away fully and completely from makeup. I’m no longer going to do this. I’m going to focus on Cooking Con Omi.” I wasn’t even banking in any way, shape, or form, but it was what was making me happy. It was what was giving me purpose. It was what was lifting my community. It was also the thing that brought me closer to my grandmother. For me, it was important to follow that and to really walk through that. That authenticity and walking in that liberation was what created that space for growth and that opportunity for more to happen. Sometimes, it takes that leap of faith to do it.

Engagement is really about connecting with people. I feel like in the same way that companies try to find a niche and do something that no one else is doing or talking about, I have experienced success in engaging with my community. That’s because I talk about things that are seen as taboo in our community, like dealing with the challenges of a loved one with dementia and making those tough decisions around, “When do we call it?” We’re taking care of them in our homes. We’re not like the blanquitos that put their parents in nursing homes. That’s not part of the culture.

People connected with me initially about my mom because she was showing up in a lot of my videos in the funny comedy stuff as well as the cooking. They saw the progression of the digression of my mom’s condition and how I had to deal with that. I was real about it. When you research who are the Hispanic content creators who are sharing their journeys about dealing with a loved one with dementia, which is ravaging our community, there’s only one other Latina that I know who is sharing her journey.

It’s filling a void in a conversation that we’re not having in our community. You have to do things con cuidado because you want to respect the dignity of your loved ones and know that you’re sharing your loved one with other members of your family who are not living a public life. Engagement is also about talking about things that need to be talked about because of the culture or whatever is not spoken of. It might be an embarrassing subject or one that may position you in a certain kind of light. Little do you know that there are people who are really hungry for that information and those resources.

What I’m hearing is to be a friend, act like yourself, because people will relate to that, and also take a break. If you need to take a break, take a break. Omi, you mentioned tapping into what people can relate to, something that’s happening in their lives. It’s something that they can have in common and speaking to that point to bring people together. Rebeca, finding something that nobody’s talking about is really important, significant, and critical in the community.

I want to get into the Talk That Talk segment. This is a spicy topic that I want to break down. Talk That Talk, first of all, is when we break down taboos in the cultura. Speaking about cultura is all about speaking Spanglish. We support Spanglish. We love Spanglish. We bring this to the forefront, pero in our community, we do create this disconnect for people who don’t speak the language fluently. It  makes them feel left out and disconnected from the community or the cultura. What are your thoughts on folks who don’t speak the language fluently? How can we release that stigma that exists?

I’m the perfect example. My English is not very good-looking. I have two options, to stay in my house and continue speaking Spanish or go ahead and go for it. It’s okay. No tetene que sentel menos por no habla el lenguaje fluent. Mi pasado mucho. I was born and raised here.

Another reason why you’re a perfect example, Ivelissa, is the way you’ve treated me in the trio. Spanish has historically not been my strength. A lot of first-gen Latinos that live in this country, how many times when we go back to our homeland countries that they’re like, “Tu trata el habla español. Tu tra afuera.” They start making fun of the way that you speak Spanish. It causes you to be like, “I’m not going to speak. If I sound like a payasa, I’m not going to do it.”

With the three of us, when we’ve been together, I will say something incorrectly and she’ll correct me in the most loving and playful way. Respectively, sometimes, she says things in English that I’m like, “You say it like this.” We’re not antagonizing each other or questioning each other’s Latinidad or Puerto Ricanness. It’s all in the spirit like, “We’re going to improve this. We’re going to try, you know.” That’s another reason why our following is like, “The three of you get along so well even though the way you guys speak and communicate is so different.”

SRebeca’s also open to that. If she’s struggling with a word, she’s like, “Como que se dice?” and then we’ll both jump in. She’s also open to that and so is Ivelissa.

I don’t care donde yo soy. No pretendiendo otra persona. Quere mos el Spanglish, Ingles y Español.

That’s a great way to wrap up this episode. One of the beautiful things about having you all on this show is the representation of collaboration and us being stronger together than not. It’s the same thing with our language. We are stronger together. If we speak Spanglish or the language fluently, it doesn’t matter. We have to be more accepting of our differences. It’s part of the complexity of our cultura. The reason why these brands don’t know what to do with us is that we don’t know what to do with us. We have to set the tone and the standard for how we want to be represented, but most importantly, how we treat each other. Thank you so much for being on the show.

This was so much fun.

It’s such an honor and a pleasure. Let the people know where they can find you guys and what they should be looking out for. Tell us.

On Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, I’m @RebecaHuffman.

On Instagram, Facebook, YouTube y TikTok, @IvelissaRiendoYComiendo.

You can find me @CookingConOmi on all social media platforms. I’m headed to Kitchen Nightmares with Chef Ramsey to go film an episode in Yonkers. That’s what you could be looking out for in September 2023.

I love it. Let’s go. Thank you so much again.

Thank you.

Abrazos. I’ll See you in the next episode. Thanks for being here.

Important Links

• Omi Hopper
• Instagram - Rebeca Huffman
• Facebook - Rebeca Huffman
• TikTok - Rebeca Huffman
• Instagram - Ivelissa Rios
• Facebook - Ivelissa Riendo y Comiendo
• YouTube - Ivelissa Rios
• TikTok - Ivelissa Rios
• SocialBlueBook.com