S2E 7 How One Woman Built North Carolina's Latino Media Empire Lizette Cruz Watko is President of Watko Entertainment Inc. and Watko Properties LLC, and founder of the Diamante Arts & Cultural Center. A longtime advocate for North Carolina’s Latino community, she has spent over 30 years creating platforms that foster cultural diversity, communication, and community engagement. She founded the first Spanish-language newspaper in the Carolinas and the Latino Diamante Awards, now in its 30th year. Cruz Watko is a NALAC Fellow, board member emeritus of Diamante, and serves on the boards of the United Arts Council of Wake, Arts NC, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Public Art advisory panel.

Picture this: 1993, North Carolina. The entire state has just 56,000 Latinos. No Spanish TV. Barely any radio. Zero newspapers. Lisette Cruz-Watka moves from Los Angeles to a one-bedroom apartment in Chapel Hill and thinks, "Well, I know a little bit about newspapers and PR, why not start one?" Thirty years later, North Carolina's Latino population has exploded to 1.1 million, and the infrastructure Lisette built from the state's first Spanish-language newspaper to the Latino Diamante Awards is still creating pathways for an entire community.

Why This Matters Now:

North Carolina wasn't a border state. It didn't have established Latino enclaves. When Lisette arrived, Latino residents couldn't even identify themselves on voting ballots. The work she did in the 1990s wasn't just about creating media. It was about creating visibility, safety, and economic access. From writing the state's first Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation to helping secure Spanish DMV tests and banking access for people without traditional IDs, Lisette proved that when you build infrastructure, communities can thrive. Her story shows what's possible when someone spots what's missing and simply says, "Sure, why not?"

Key Insights:

The Power of One Newspaper

When Lisette launched North Carolina's first Spanish-language newspaper from her dining room table, she wasn't just distributing information—she was creating a sense of "oh, I'm here too." People started coming out of the woodwork. The newspaper circulated statewide, connecting isolated pockets of Latino families and creating the foundation for organized community action.

Being in the Room Changes Everything

"If you're not in the room, nobody's gonna take it under consideration." Lisette served on 10 boards simultaneously—not for power, but for representation. Her strategy? Serve one term, then hand it off: "Hey, I have somebody for you." She built pipelines of Latino leadership rather than monuments to herself.

The 1990s Policy Wins That Changed Lives

The cohesive Latino community of the '90s accomplished massive policy changes: Spanish DMV tests, driver's licenses for immigrants, banking access, and official state recognition. These weren't symbolic—they were practical tools that made daily life safer. When people had IDs, banks could serve them. When banks served them, they stopped being robbery targets for keeping cash in mattresses.

"Sure, Why Not?" as a Life Philosophy

From television work to talent scouting to launching festivals to connecting Univision with a station purchase—Lisette's career was built on saying yes to opportunities that aligned with her values. "What's the worst that can happen?" She didn't pursue the limelight; she just did whatever work needed doing.

Representation On Screen Opens Doors

When Lisette created "Lisette Invita," an English-language cooking show featuring Latino cuisine, she was filling a gap she noticed: "I wasn't seeing anybody that looked like me on HGTV or Food Network." Now movie stars are doing her show concept. But she got there first because she understood: if you don't see yourself on screen, you can't imagine yourself in those spaces.

Build Things That Outlast You

The Latino Diamante Awards have been recognizing Latino leaders for 30 years, one of the longest-standing Latino award programs in the country. Lisette created it to connect isolated community members across the state: "Let's recognize Maria for the great work she's doing in the mountains, which in the Triangle, people would not know about." It worked because it was about the community, not about her.

Making It Work:

Start Where You Are

Lisette launched a statewide newspaper from a one-bedroom apartment while her husband was in grad school. She was a trailing spouse with PR experience and an idea. You don't need perfect circumstances. You need to see what's missing and take step one.

Embrace "Sure, Why Not?"

Hurricane Fran hit, and Univision asked Lisette to go on air. She wasn't pursuing a broadcast career, but she said sure. That launched her entire on-air presence. Most of her opportunities came from being willing to try things that aligned with her values.

Build Pipelines, Not Empires

Serve your board term, then say "I have somebody for you." Start the awards program, then hand leadership to others. Launch the newspaper, then sell it to someone who can take it further. Your legacy isn't about holding onto things—it's about what keeps going after you step back.

Turn Rejection Into Redirection

When Lisette couldn't raise money to buy a TV station, she connected Univision with the opportunity instead. Sometimes the doors that close are protecting you from the wrong path while opening better ones.

Connect People Constantly

Lisette traveled North Carolina distributing newspapers and kept thinking, "This person in the mountains is doing work just like this person in the Triangle, they should know each other." That connector instinct built a movement, not just a business.

Document the Journey

Lisette is now working on a historical observation book about her decades in North Carolina. The infrastructure-building she did was history in the making. If you're doing significant work, document it so that others will need the roadmap.

CHANGE THE REEL with Piper and Monique

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Executive Producers: Monique Velasquez and Piper Kessler

Producer: Arielle Morten

Director/Editor: Simon Beery

Copyright 2025 Monique & Piper

Monique: 00:00:00

Why is it important to see our culture, our faces, our accents on screen? Why is

Monique: 00:00:07

that important? If you don't see yourself, do you exist? You can imagine yourself

Monique: 00:00:14

over there. I could be a cook, I could be a chef. If you see

Lizette: 00:00:17

yourself, I

Monique: 00:00:19

can be a

Monique: 00:00:19

banker, I can be a entrepreneur.

Lizette: 00:00:22

I can be whatever I want if I see it in front of

Lizette: 00:00:26

me. Look, we weren't even in the voting ballots. You couldn't identify a Hispanic, Latino,

Lizette: 00:00:38

or whatever you wanted to call yourself. There was nothing. And one of the things that I ended

Lizette: 00:00:43

up doing was writing the first Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation for what was then Governor

Lizette: 00:00:51

Hunt.

Monique: 00:00:51

Change the Real, a podcast with Monique Velasquez and Piper Kessler. For over 20

Piper: 00:00:58

years,

Piper: 00:00:59

we've run a video production business that has achieved what only 3% of women entrepreneurs have

Piper: 00:01:04

done. Exceed

Monique: 00:01:05

$250,000 in revenue. We want to see business owners that look like us succeed. That's

Monique: 00:01:11

why we've started this podcast. Change the Real will drop twice a month. We'll release two types

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of episodes. One is with Piper and I kicking it and talking about using video in business.

Monique: 00:01:22

And the second features conversations with business owners using media to drive diverse

Monique: 00:01:27

perspectives. This is Change the Real. Representation starts here.

: 00:01:36

Hey, y'all.

Monique: 00:01:37

I'm Monique Velasquez.

Monique: 00:01:39

And I'm Piper Kessler. Today, we're excited to talk to our guest, Lisa Cruz-Watko,

Monique: 00:01:44

Way back in the 1990s, North Carolina's Latino/Hispanic population was being discovered by mainstream

Monique: 00:01:52

influences. Living in North Carolina as a Latino, the few of us back then looked around and thought,

Monique: 00:01:59

wow, the state is really changing. According to the census, from 1990 to 2000, North Carolina's

Monique: 00:02:07

the Hispanic population grew by 400%.

Monique: 00:02:10

From 2010 to 2020, the growth was closer to 40%.

Monique: 00:02:17

These numbers are impressive because we're not a border state.

Monique: 00:02:20

But I digress.

Monique: 00:02:22

What I love about Lizette is she jumps in when she sees an opportunity.

Monique: 00:02:26

She founded North Carolina's first Spanish language magazine and newspaper.

Monique: 00:02:32

This helped the Spanish-speaking community at that time find truth

Monique: 00:02:35

and a better path than living here in the state.

Monique: 00:02:38

She facilitated creation of the state's first Latin music, dance, and arts festival.

Monique: 00:02:43

She also established the Miss All-American Latina Pageant, which she sold the rights to later.

Monique: 00:02:51

And then in 1998, I think that's when, she became the executive director of Diamante Inc.,

Monique: 00:02:57

now known as the Diamante Arts and Culture Center, a nonprofit focused on community events,

Monique: 00:03:05

celebrating a flourishing Hispanic population and our culture.

Monique: 00:03:11

I think this is brilliant and so amazing because nearly 30 years later,

Monique: 00:03:15

it's still going strong here in North Carolina.

Monique: 00:03:18

But that's not all she's done.

Monique: 00:03:21

Lizette is the president of Wadkill Entertainment, Inc.

Monique: 00:03:24

and host Lizette Invita, an online talk show that features conversations and gourmet cooking.

Monique: 00:03:30

I can't wait to taste a little bit of your food later this month.

Monique: 00:03:34

She's a former board member and sometimes volunteers to the United Arts Council of Wake County and the Town of Cary Parks and Recreation Committee.

Monique: 00:03:42

I know I've missed something amazing she's done, but today I want to invite her to talk to our audience about representation in media.

Piper: 00:03:52

Thanks for joining us today.

: 00:03:54

Thank you

Piper: 00:03:55

guys for helping.

Piper: 00:03:56

Very kind of you who took cut out time.

Piper: 00:03:59

And we're here, and this is Change the Real, and representation starts here.

Piper: 00:04:05

so yeah so i was gonna the first thing that we always ask our guests is if you could hand out

Piper: 00:04:11

your flowers today to someone that helped you on your entrepreneurial journey who would that person

Piper: 00:04:19

be

Lizette: 00:04:19

entrepreneur i don't know but definitely my non-profit um was jaime leon i don't know if you

Lizette: 00:04:27

guys remember him. He was an engineer with CPNL when CPNL was around. Then it became

Lizette: 00:04:40

it became Progress Energy and then it became what we know Duke Power. And he was one of the

Lizette: 00:04:49

only Latino engineers at CPNL when CPNL was around. And he was all over the place,

Lizette: 00:04:57

But he was very influential to me on the whole arts and culture thing because he had been trying to do some work in that realm when they first moved here back in the 80s.

Lizette: 00:05:12

Yeah.

Lizette: 00:05:13

So he was like, you know, I'm looking for community, right?

Lizette: 00:05:17

You bump into him.

Lizette: 00:05:21

When I started the newspaper, I connected with a whole bunch of people.

Lizette: 00:05:28

And one of the people that I connected with was Jaime.

Lizette: 00:05:33

And, I mean, really early on, this is when I was publishing the newspaper in the living room.

Lizette: 00:05:39

Well, it was the dining room of our one-bedroom apartment while my husband was in grad school.

Lizette: 00:05:46

So he actually came and said, I'll look at if you need me to edit anything or whatever, and recruited me to be part of the Latin American Association back then.

Lizette: 00:05:59

I always asked him questions because he was very methodical and analyzed everything.

Lizette: 00:06:08

So I know that if I asked him something, he was going to give me three different points of view that I can go from.

Lizette: 00:06:16

What

Monique: 00:06:16

made you go into business?

Monique: 00:06:21

Like you saw this niche.

Monique: 00:06:23

So I would say that the newspaper is a business.

Lizette: 00:06:27

Yeah.

Lizette: 00:06:27

So what was a business disguised as a nonprofit, really?

Lizette: 00:06:32

But I mean, to be honest, I didn't make anything until I sold the paper.

: 00:06:38

The

Lizette: 00:06:39

reason I began the newspaper.

Lizette: 00:06:41

So I moved from Los Angeles with my husband who was going to grad school in North Carolina.

Lizette: 00:06:47

In Los Angeles, I worked in Latino PR, Hispanic PR, which was called back then.

Lizette: 00:06:54

One of the accounts that I used to support was La Opinion newspaper, which is the largest

Lizette: 00:07:01

daily in Spanish in the United States.

Lizette: 00:07:04

And it still is today.

Lizette: 00:07:06

They're still around, believe it or not.

Lizette: 00:07:09

So I'm like, okay, there's got to be, there's no TV.

Lizette: 00:07:14

There's barely any radio.

Lizette: 00:07:17

There's no newspaper.

Lizette: 00:07:19

Well, I know a little bit about newspaper and I know PR.

Lizette: 00:07:24

So why not see if we can start a newspaper?

Lizette: 00:07:28

But there was somebody doing a newsletter or she was just starting a newsletter

Lizette: 00:07:34

because I started calling everything and anything that sounded Latino.

Lizette: 00:07:38

And so, hey, you know, is there a newspaper?

Lizette: 00:07:43

No, there's no newspaper.

Lizette: 00:07:45

Hey, is there any, no.

Lizette: 00:07:46

So everybody was like, no, okay.

Lizette: 00:07:49

But this lady in Chapel Hill, who is no longer with us, she wanted to start a newsletter.

Lizette: 00:07:58

And I'm like, well, I want to start a newspaper, but I'll help you with your newsletter so I

Lizette: 00:08:02

don't have to do the newspaper.

Lizette: 00:08:04

That was my take, you know, if I don't have to do it, then heck, why not help?

Lizette: 00:08:08

Somebody else.

Lizette: 00:08:09

Don't volunteer.

Lizette: 00:08:10

She published one and passed away.

Lizette: 00:08:13

Oh, gosh.

Lizette: 00:08:14

So basically in her honor, we picked up where she left off.

Lizette: 00:08:22

When did this happen?

Lizette: 00:08:23

What?

Lizette: 00:08:23

Around what time?

Lizette: 00:08:25

This was in 93.

Lizette: 00:08:28

It was mid-93.

Lizette: 00:08:31

And then...

Lizette: 00:08:32

So what did the Latino population look like back then?

Lizette: 00:08:36

It was 56,000 stable population.

Lizette: 00:08:41

And it was 120 migrant population, like farm workers and stuff.

Lizette: 00:08:50

So the migrant population was way larger than the stable population.

Lizette: 00:08:54

And I'm talking statewide numbers.

Lizette: 00:08:56

It's not 56,000 in the triangle or anything like that.

Lizette: 00:09:00

It was statewide.

Monique: 00:09:01

Wow.

Monique: 00:09:02

And moving from California to here, I mean, you see a big culture shift.

Monique: 00:09:09

Oh, absolutely.

Monique: 00:09:10

But at the same time,

Lizette: 00:09:12

you did actually find a Latino community.

Lizette: 00:09:15

I did.

Lizette: 00:09:16

I mean, I had to hunt for it, but I did.

Lizette: 00:09:20

And I think not because it could have been any newspaper,

Lizette: 00:09:26

But the fact that a newspaper started circulating statewide, I think it created a sense of, oh, I'm here too.

Lizette: 00:09:38

You know, so people started coming out of the woodwork.

Lizette: 00:09:41

You know, people are like, I feel identified, you know.

Monique: 00:09:44

What did you see that was missing?

Monique: 00:09:46

And you saw this idea that you'd brought in.

Monique: 00:09:50

But in this industry and in this state, you thought there is a place for me

: 00:09:57

and

Monique: 00:09:57

there is community here.

Monique: 00:10:03

What was going to be different about what you did here versus what you saw in California?

Lizette: 00:10:09

Well, obviously, the issues here were completely different from California.

Lizette: 00:10:14

California at that time in the 90s, maybe where we are

Monique: 00:10:18

20 years

Lizette: 00:10:20

from now.

Lizette: 00:10:21

20 years from now.

Lizette: 00:10:24

Really, sincerely.

Lizette: 00:10:26

Because, look, we weren't even in the voting ballots.

Lizette: 00:10:33

You couldn't identify a Hispanic, Latino, or whatever you wanted to call yourself.

Lizette: 00:10:39

There was nothing.

Lizette: 00:10:40

And one of the things that I ended up doing was writing the first Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation for what was then Governor Hunt.

Lizette: 00:10:50

Because I called and I'm like, hey, there's this thing called Hispanic Heritage Month.

Lizette: 00:10:56

And they're like, oh, really?

Lizette: 00:10:59

And I'm like, yeah, can you guys write a proclamation?

Lizette: 00:11:03

And they're like, uh, why don't you write it and send it on in to us and we'll put it in proclamation form.

Lizette: 00:11:13

And I'm like, okay.

Lizette: 00:11:15

So I looked up some proclamations to see how in the heck do you write a

Monique: 00:11:20

proclamation?

Monique: 00:11:21

What prompted you?

Monique: 00:11:22

Because you're familiar with this because this is the Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts in the middle of September and goes to October.

Monique: 00:11:32

And what kind of celebrations were you seeing missing?

Monique: 00:11:37

Well,

Lizette: 00:11:39

believe it or not, back then, there was already a huge festival in Charlotte.

Lizette: 00:11:44

La Coalición in Charlotte has the oldest Latino festival in the state.

Lizette: 00:11:49

But what I was trying to do is say, hey, we're here.

Lizette: 00:11:54

So by me writing the proclamation, I was making known that, hey, there's a Hispanic community here.

Lizette: 00:12:01

There's a Latino community here, you know, and slowly but surely trying to change the mindset that all those people don't exist, which is what I was getting when I first got here.

Lizette: 00:12:13

You know, I went to a whole bunch of PR firms.

Lizette: 00:12:16

Oh, that, you know, your experiences in Latino, that's that doesn't exist.

Lizette: 00:12:22

So I was trying to say, hey, no, we do exist.

Lizette: 00:12:25

We are here.

Lizette: 00:12:26

You can ignore us, but we are here.

Monique: 00:12:30

Right.

Monique: 00:12:30

You can capitalize on this economic opportunity by opening a new market,

Lizette: 00:12:36

or you could just ignore us.

Lizette: 00:12:38

Right.

Lizette: 00:12:39

And, you know, it happened that as it stands and possibly even a little bit now, it may be a little bit more skewed.

Lizette: 00:12:48

But as it stands in the 90s, North Carolina was the perfect test market for any Latino advertising.

Lizette: 00:12:58

So a lot of times I would get these national advertisers and people are like, how in the heck are you getting these people when I can't get them in Texas or I can't get them in Florida?

Lizette: 00:13:07

And I'm like, because we have such a diverse demographic that they can test the ads in each market that they want to reach.

Lizette: 00:13:18

Right.

Monique: 00:13:18

Right.

Lizette: 00:13:19

And so this is this is fascinating.

Lizette: 00:13:22

But what I

Monique: 00:13:23

want to kind of get at the heart of here is why did it matter about the Latino culture here in North Carolina to you?

Monique: 00:13:29

What motivated you to pull on that?

Lizette: 00:13:33

Right.

Lizette: 00:13:34

Well, I mean,

Monique: 00:13:35

I'm Latina.

Lizette: 00:13:36

So I'm like, well, heck, I want to eat what I want to eat.

Lizette: 00:13:42

I want to, you know, dance what I want to dance.

Lizette: 00:13:45

I want to listen to and watch whatever I want.

Lizette: 00:13:48

You know what I'm saying?

Lizette: 00:13:49

Even though, yes, I'm born in the U.S. and I'm

: 00:13:52

very American,

Lizette: 00:13:53

I serve my country, all those things, it doesn't mean that I want to lose my Latinidad.

Lizette: 00:14:01

You know, and I'm sure at the time there was others like me.

Lizette: 00:14:05

So I'm like, well, we have to do something.

Monique: 00:14:09

Yeah, representation and being visible, I think, are the hallmarks here and what I call, you know, the amazing part of what you do because you weren't trying to be a role model.

Monique: 00:14:22

No, that wasn't what you were doing.

Monique: 00:14:25

You were just trying to live your authentic life.

Monique: 00:14:29

Right.

Monique: 00:14:30

And wherever it leads me and has

Lizette: 00:14:32

led me.

Lizette: 00:14:32

How did you end up at Univision?

Lizette: 00:14:35

Oh, so it so happens that when I was working Hispanic PR in California, one of my mentors there, she ended up leaving the agency we worked for and went to work for Univision and became the senior vice president of community relations.

Lizette: 00:14:57

When I was working on the newspaper, I also was trying to start a television station.

Lizette: 00:15:03

I didn't realize that.

Piper: 00:15:05

Of course you were.

Lizette: 00:15:06

I was working with a couple other folks that there weren't necessarily Latinos, but it so happened that the station in Fayetteville, the counterforce 40, I remember.

Lizette: 00:15:20

Yes, was up for sale.

Lizette: 00:15:23

But I couldn't come up with the money that we needed.

Lizette: 00:15:27

So I called her.

Lizette: 00:15:29

Her name is Evelice Estrada.

Lizette: 00:15:31

I called her at Univision and I'm like, Ivelis, Telemundo, which they were, is trying to buy this station.

Lizette: 00:15:41

Do you think Univision can buy it?

Lizette: 00:15:44

I'm trying.

Lizette: 00:15:45

I can't come up with the money.

Lizette: 00:15:47

But maybe you guys have the resources.

Lizette: 00:15:49

She's like, I'll call you back.

Lizette: 00:15:53

Without lying, two weeks later, she's like, we're going to buy this station.

Monique: 00:15:58

You know, these are all new stories to me. I had no idea. I just know that that's where I first got to work with you.

Lizette: 00:16:06

Yeah. But that's part of my thing. I don't search or seek or ask for the limelight. I just do whatever work needs to be done. And if it leads where it leads, it leads.

Monique: 00:16:23

You're just like noticing, hey, there's an opportunity here.

Monique: 00:16:27

Hey, let's connect some folks and see what happens.

Monique: 00:16:29

Yeah.

Lizette: 00:16:30

Right?

Lizette: 00:16:30

Yeah.

Lizette: 00:16:31

And I didn't seek out to work for an EBCO either.

Lizette: 00:16:36

But it just happened that I ended up being the community relations person.

Monique: 00:16:40

So you weren't necessarily doing it for your kids either.

Monique: 00:16:43

Do you think it made an impact on your kids to watch you have these journeys?

Lizette: 00:16:48

I'm sure in some way or another it has.

Lizette: 00:16:51

You know, they don't like talking about mom.

Lizette: 00:16:54

okay mom whatever mom you know the typical kid thing but i do know that culturally it has made

Lizette: 00:17:01

an impact in them even though they may not speak spanish very well um they are very culturally

Lizette: 00:17:09

connected now how do they feel about their mom doing all this crazy stuff all the time i don't

Lizette: 00:17:15

know that's something for them maybe

Monique: 00:17:17

right right i know you to um be part of the the latino de

Monique: 00:17:22

monte um having all these events how did you you know how did it impact the family were they part

Monique: 00:17:30

of that did they come in and help with the newsletter did they come in and help with the

Monique: 00:17:35

the the non-profit most of the time my family did not want

Lizette: 00:17:39

to help me they're like you know that's

Lizette: 00:17:42

your thing however my kids got dragged everywhere I was a working mom I stay at home mom most of the

Lizette: 00:17:53

time I whatever I did I did part-time so that I can take care of the kids because my husband

Lizette: 00:18:00

traveled a lot with work once he finished grad school and all that so it it was hard but I mean

Lizette: 00:18:08

there was occasions they they were kind of already groomed we carried books around you know and stuff

Lizette: 00:18:15

they would sit in the corner and just do their workbooks and stuff and they didn't bother anybody

Monique: 00:18:20

let me just back this up a little bit because i know your kids are older than you might think

Monique: 00:18:28

right looking at lizette she's a you know she has grown children um this is an unusual thing for a

Monique: 00:18:36

businesswoman in this culture in North Carolina, be dragging her children around. This does not seem

Monique: 00:18:44

inappropriate or out of bounds for me. And so what was that like for you to sort of...

Monique: 00:18:52

The

Lizette: 00:18:52

Latino culture is very common. And I'm not the only one that has done it or that will do it.

Lizette: 00:18:58

I'm sure a lot of the moms will. Latina moms, at least. In other cultures, maybe as well.

Lizette: 00:19:04

But back then it was.

Lizette: 00:19:06

And I would always say, I have to bring my children.

Lizette: 00:19:10

They're very well behaved, but I have to bring them.

Lizette: 00:19:13

And people were like, oh, okay.

Lizette: 00:19:15

They were a little, you know.

Lizette: 00:19:17

But then they were like, oh, they were so well behaved.

Lizette: 00:19:20

You know, which was like, I told you they were.

Lizette: 00:19:24

I wouldn't bring them if they were.

Lizette: 00:19:25

But my little one, my youngest one, my sales guy, Roberto Perez, if you guys remember Roberto, he was my salesperson at the newspaper.

Lizette: 00:19:40

He was also one of my biggest babysitters.

Lizette: 00:19:43

By

Monique: 00:19:44

osmosis and just being exposed to different things, I think this idea of your mom is in

Monique: 00:19:49

business and is going to work probably informs the kind of partner they're seeking.

Lizette: 00:19:59

Most likely.

Lizette: 00:20:00

I do have to say my young one, this is one indication that I have that there has been

Lizette: 00:20:07

some kind of influence.

Lizette: 00:20:09

One time he said, if I ever start a company, mom's going to be my CEO.

: 00:20:19

Or run

Lizette: 00:20:20

the office is what he said.

Monique: 00:20:25

We are talking about representation in media.

Monique: 00:20:30

In business, why do you think inclusion matters?

Monique: 00:20:33

Because you have been in North Carolina a long time.

Monique: 00:20:36

You've done a variety of businesses that have been focused on the Latino population.

Monique: 00:20:40

But at the same time, you're not just dealing with Latinos.

Monique: 00:20:43

You know, why do you think inclusion as part of a business structure, philosophy, mission is important?

Lizette: 00:20:51

Well, that old saying, you know, if you're not in the room.

Lizette: 00:20:56

So at one point, I felt strongly that we needed to have somebody in the room.

Lizette: 00:21:04

And I'm not lying.

Lizette: 00:21:05

I was like in 10 boards around town, some statewide, because I felt like, okay, somebody

Lizette: 00:21:16

needs to be in the room.

Lizette: 00:21:17

I mean, I don't necessarily care that it's me.

Lizette: 00:21:20

But at the time, I was the one, because being a publisher of a newspaper brought some kind

Lizette: 00:21:26

of

: 00:21:26

maybe

Lizette: 00:21:27

respect or...

Lizette: 00:21:28

You're a gatekeeper.

Lizette: 00:21:29

Yeah.

Lizette: 00:21:31

It just opened the door.

Lizette: 00:21:33

And what I did with a lot of these is that I would stay my first term and then I would say, hey, I have somebody for you.

Lizette: 00:21:43

Good for you.

Lizette: 00:21:44

I mean, I couldn't do them all.

Lizette: 00:21:46

You know, I figured if we're not there, if we're not saying what is important to us as a community, nobody's going to take it under consideration.

Lizette: 00:21:56

Right.

Monique: 00:21:56

I'm also thinking about how boards at the time, you know, as we've progressed, there are lots of advisory boards and having a diverse perspective, especially if you have a nonprofit that deals with different communities.

Monique: 00:22:12

And this is in the 90s, it was a growing community.

Monique: 00:22:16

In the 2000s, it's an established community.

Monique: 00:22:19

And now in the 2020s, we are definitely finding our role in leadership.

Monique: 00:22:28

And so, you know, having these perspectives on these boards helps the community and helps

Monique: 00:22:36

the nonprofit

: 00:22:36

get

Monique: 00:22:38

into the community in a trusted way.

: 00:22:40

And

Monique: 00:22:41

so for me, I think what you have done is by turning around and saying, I got somebody for you,

: 00:22:49

has

Monique: 00:22:50

helped the community be part of the fabric of the decision makers.

Monique: 00:22:58

And that you were generous and self-aware enough to know that you couldn't do it all.

Monique: 00:23:06

Yeah, no, I mean, especially when I started having

Lizette: 00:23:08

kids.

Monique: 00:23:09

What have you found is the most rewarding part of this journey of representation and what you've been doing here in your career?

Lizette: 00:23:18

I mean, come on. When I started with 56,000, we're over 1.1 million Latinos in our state now.

Lizette: 00:23:27

I mean, can you imagine? I couldn't have even foreseen such a thing.

Lizette: 00:23:31

um it it is now what i'm seeing is a more fragmented community which is sad compared to

Lizette: 00:23:42

in the 90s it was very very cohesive it was a very cohesive community in the sense that

Lizette: 00:23:48

we were very diverse you know and that's one myth latinos are not all the same

Lizette: 00:23:54

not every country has the same cultural customs or you know food or whatever

Lizette: 00:24:00

um even though we come from 22 different backgrounds back then we were very much one

Lizette: 00:24:10

community and i think that's what helped in the 90s in the 90s for us to move as fast as we did

Lizette: 00:24:18

because a lot got accomplished in the 90s a lot um in the government we changed a whole lot

Lizette: 00:24:27

we were no longer an other

Monique: 00:24:30

right we

Lizette: 00:24:32

the dmv had the test and spanish

Lizette: 00:24:38

we could get driver's license we made that change i mean a lot of things happened in the 90s

: 00:24:46

and

Lizette: 00:24:46

after 9-11 it just kind of all went away

: 00:24:50

yeah

Lizette: 00:24:51

but a lot of progress was made

Lizette: 00:24:54

and we're trying to catch up back to that right now.

Lizette: 00:25:00

Yeah,

Monique: 00:25:01

the efforts that I see were not just for one community.

Monique: 00:25:04

It was actually, you know, having a structured way to get a license

Monique: 00:25:10

made it safer for all drivers and to be able to have an identification card

Monique: 00:25:17

that is accepted across the state made it safer.

Monique: 00:25:21

And so those sort of initiatives, I think, are

Lizette: 00:25:24

likely to return at full cost.

Lizette: 00:25:29

I mean, I don't know if you remember, but the money in the sofa and the mattress was a thing.

Monique: 00:25:40

And

Lizette: 00:25:41

Latinos were getting targeted.

Lizette: 00:25:44

And that's one of the big reasons why the banks started asking for, can we get IDs for these folks?

Lizette: 00:25:54

So they can legally process and help people.

Lizette: 00:25:59

They saw a market.

Lizette: 00:26:00

Open a checking account.

Lizette: 00:26:01

Open a savings account.

Lizette: 00:26:02

You know what I mean?

Lizette: 00:26:03

Get a mortgage.

Lizette: 00:26:04

That's right.

Monique: 00:26:05

And so when we did the educational series, that was one of the things that we talked about.

Monique: 00:26:12

like having a capacity to be safe and not have your money in the mattress, that you are not a

Monique: 00:26:19

target. And, you know, having those changes, you know, I hadn't thought about the idea that,

Monique: 00:26:24

you know, having that ID actually helped facilitate the fact that banks could actually do business

Monique: 00:26:31

with somebody that they knew

: 00:26:33

who they

Monique: 00:26:33

were versus, well, there's money in the mattress. We don't know

Monique: 00:26:36

who we are, you know, we can't really process that.

Lizette: 00:26:40

Yeah. Those little milestones that made

Lizette: 00:26:43

a huge difference in the community growing as fast as it did.

Monique: 00:26:47

Now, we talk about the newspaper

Monique: 00:26:51

and I know you to use video effectively. Tell me about why that is a choice. I mean, you've got

Monique: 00:26:57

Univision, you've got, you know, Diamante with awards and you also have the Zet Invita. And so

Monique: 00:27:05

So talk about using video.

Lizette: 00:27:07

Like I said before, I was not planning on working at Univision.

Lizette: 00:27:12

It just happened that my friend told who was going to be the GM,

Lizette: 00:27:17

hey, you know, see if you like her.

Lizette: 00:27:21

And they offered me something.

Lizette: 00:27:22

And I'm like, well, I'm going to be part-time.

Lizette: 00:27:24

I still have to be part-time because I have my kids, you know, that kind of thing.

Lizette: 00:27:32

I was supposed to do community relations, but there was never supposed to be a show.

Lizette: 00:27:38

And then I was asked to do the show.

Lizette: 00:27:43

Actually, first it was, I don't know if you remember Hurricane Earth, maybe it was, or which one was it?

Lizette: 00:27:50

Was it

: 00:27:51

Fran?

Lizette: 00:27:51

Fran.

Lizette: 00:27:54

So that's when my on-air personality began.

Lizette: 00:27:59

You weren't pursuing a career.

Lizette: 00:28:01

I was not pursuing a career, just like I wasn't pursuing a career and being a talent scout for a TV show.

Lizette: 00:28:09

You know, I just and that was like on the side kind of thing.

Lizette: 00:28:12

That was a side gig.

Lizette: 00:28:14

So it just, you know, these things just happen.

Lizette: 00:28:16

And I just like, sure, you know, and a lot of my life has been sure.

Lizette: 00:28:23

And a lot of my husband's and I's opportunities have come from the sure, you know, what's the worst that can happen?

Lizette: 00:28:31

The food thing came because I was watching all these.

Lizette: 00:28:34

I love HGTV and the Food Network and stuff.

Lizette: 00:28:37

And I wasn't seeing anybody that looked like me.

Lizette: 00:28:40

And the ones that were doing, they were doing it in Spanish.

Lizette: 00:28:44

But there were other folks like me.

Lizette: 00:28:47

Not that I prefer English over Spanish.

Lizette: 00:28:50

No, it's not that.

Lizette: 00:28:51

But I knew that there were some that preferred English over Spanish.

Lizette: 00:28:55

So I was like, why don't I do something?

Lizette: 00:28:57

You know.

Lizette: 00:28:58

And I had some friends.

Lizette: 00:29:01

in LA, they're like, do it. Nobody's doing that. But now, believe it or not, there's like three

Lizette: 00:29:07

people, movie stars, doing the same, my same show concept. Yes.

Monique: 00:29:13

It's a good idea. Let's talk about

Monique: 00:29:15

how like representation on screen,

: 00:29:18

because you did

Monique: 00:29:18

say there wasn't anybody doing this,

Monique: 00:29:20

and now there's somebody doing this. Why is it important to see our culture, our faces,

Monique: 00:29:26

or accents on screen. Why is that important? If you don't see yourself, do you exist?

Monique: 00:29:33

Well, I think a little bit more about, you know, you can imagine yourself over there.

Monique: 00:29:40

I could be a cook. I could be a chef. I could be an actor.

Monique: 00:29:44

So if you don't see

Lizette: 00:29:44

yourself.

Monique: 00:29:46

I can be a banker. I can be an entrepreneur.

Lizette: 00:29:50

I can be whatever I want if I see it in front of me.

Lizette: 00:29:54

You know, if there's not that many people that take chances.

Lizette: 00:30:01

There are many people that once somebody else takes the chance, they're like, I'm going to take a chance.

Lizette: 00:30:06

I'm not going to be the first one through the door,

Monique: 00:30:09

but I'll follow you.

Monique: 00:30:10

And when I think

Piper: 00:30:11

of you, because I think of you as a serial entrepreneur, whether or not you think of yourself that way, because I think you see, oh, there's a little hole right there.

Piper: 00:30:20

And that's kind of, it seems like that's your little, almost I want to say game of like,

Piper: 00:30:26

oh, I see something.

Piper: 00:30:27

Because I know you've approached us about different things and like, I noticed this or

Piper: 00:30:32

I didn't notice this or whatever.

Piper: 00:30:35

So in that regard, what

Lizette: 00:30:37

is

Piper: 00:30:38

next?

Lizette: 00:30:39

Oh, my goodness.

Lizette: 00:30:41

I still have Wotko Entertainment and I do stuff for people.

Lizette: 00:30:46

It's not like I advertise myself or anything.

Lizette: 00:30:49

It's people that know me that need help with something, and I help them.

Lizette: 00:30:53

But I'm thinking with some of the things that I've lived in North Carolina

Lizette: 00:30:58

and some of the adventures that I've put myself through,

Lizette: 00:31:03

that maybe some kind of, not a memoir,

Lizette: 00:31:10

but more like a historical observation type book

Lizette: 00:31:18

that I might be working on.

Lizette: 00:31:20

Okay.

Lizette: 00:31:21

I don't know yet.

Lizette: 00:31:22

Well,

Piper: 00:31:23

then the newspaper

: 00:31:24

newsletter,

: 00:31:26

but the

Piper: 00:31:26

book format.

Piper: 00:31:27

The book

Lizette: 00:31:28

format, yeah.

: 00:31:28

Going back to writing.

Lizette: 00:31:30

I am still supporting the Latino Diamante Awards.

Lizette: 00:31:33

Yes.

Lizette: 00:31:35

And the Diamante Arts and Cultural Center.

Lizette: 00:31:38

And they're celebrating 30 years of the awards this year,

Lizette: 00:31:42

which is a milestone in any award program.

Lizette: 00:31:48

I mean, it's, believe it or not,

Lizette: 00:31:50

the Latino Diamante Awards is one of the longest standing

Lizette: 00:31:53

award programs for Latinos in the country.

Lizette: 00:31:56

That's amazing.

Lizette: 00:31:57

That's just...

Monique: 00:31:58

I know, I just, I love that it's still happening

Monique: 00:32:01

and I love that people are still excited

Monique: 00:32:04

to see who's on the list, to see who's being honored

Monique: 00:32:08

and what initiatives are out there and happening

Monique: 00:32:11

because things are getting becoming bigger like like the in what our community is doing here

Monique: 00:32:20

um has bigger impact correct

Lizette: 00:32:22

and you know that was the whole reason why the awards began

Lizette: 00:32:26

the whole reason the awards began is because i was going all over the state either dropping off

Lizette: 00:32:32

newspapers or you know whatever was speaking to let me need that so hey let me put my newspaper in

Lizette: 00:32:38

front of your store. I was going all over and I was meeting all these people doing great stuff.

Lizette: 00:32:44

And I'm like, but you know, so-and-so over yonder is doing very similar work. Oh, I didn't know. You

Lizette: 00:32:53

should connect and see how you can work together or whatever. So it became this, you know, me

Lizette: 00:32:59

connecting people thing. And I was like, you know, maybe we should do an award program that it can let

Lizette: 00:33:07

people know what everybody's doing around town by us saying, look, let's recognize Maria for the

Lizette: 00:33:16

great work that she's doing in the mountains, which in the triangle, people would not know who

Lizette: 00:33:23

Maria was. So that's why I really began the awards. And that was the whole purpose is to keep

Lizette: 00:33:30

connected and not only keep the community connected, but recognize the achievements and the work,

Lizette: 00:33:39

the hard work that a lot of these folks are doing in the community that nobody's saying thank you.

Lizette: 00:33:45

And this was a way of saying thank you.

Monique: 00:33:48

And, you know, I love having a chance to introduce our

Monique: 00:33:52

audience to somebody as amazing as you and that you're showing up authentically and making a

Monique: 00:33:58

difference. If folks want to know more about working with Lisette and want to know about how

Monique: 00:34:03

this book is going, how do people work with you? How do they find you? Oh my

Lizette: 00:34:07

Lord. And Instagram or

Lizette: 00:34:10

Facebook or whatever, or Watco Entertainment and Facebook. I don't even have like a website or

Lizette: 00:34:16

anything like that. Instagram works. People can find me. I don't even have an Instagram for Watco

Lizette: 00:34:21

Entertainment. It's just a Facebook page.

Monique: 00:34:24

There you go. Facebook it is. She just says yes.

Monique: 00:34:27

Things just happen.

Monique: 00:34:29

My thinking is, talk to Lizette.

Monique: 00:34:31

Maybe she can help you make it happen and get it off the ground.

Lizette: 00:34:37

If it's within my means, I'm glad to help anybody.

Monique: 00:34:41

All right.

Lizette: 00:34:42

The energy is there.

Monique: 00:34:44

It's just trying to conserve it a little bit

Piper: 00:34:47

more.

Piper: 00:34:48

Be focused and

Monique: 00:34:48

ready to go.

Monique: 00:34:49

Good plan needs to be in place.

Monique: 00:34:51

Well,

Piper: 00:34:51

we want to thank you for stopping in and listening to our conversation.

Piper: 00:34:55

We help businesses from underrepresented communities that look like us that want to amplify their brands using video and virtual and live events.

Piper: 00:35:04

If you're done with the DIY stress doing your own video content or maybe you just want to get your course out to market faster and less stress,

Piper: 00:35:13

then book a call with Monique to find out how to be a part of our VIP studio experience.

Piper: 00:35:20

We aren't just technicians for live streaming work.

Piper: 00:35:22

We have 22 plus years of experience with video production.

Piper: 00:35:26

We stream 80 hours of live content a month.

Piper: 00:35:30

And we've been doing that for the last 10 years.

Piper: 00:35:32

We know what it takes to get it done and with less stress and more confidence.

Piper: 00:35:37

So let's get you back to focusing on the fun part of work and leave the tech headache to us.

Piper: 00:35:44

Thank you, Lydia.

: 00:35:45

Thank you, Lizanne.

: 00:35:46

I'm really

Monique: 00:35:46

glad to have spent this time with you.

Monique: 00:35:48

Thank you for having me.

Monique: 00:35:51

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Change the Real.

Monique: 00:35:54

If you like the episode, or if you think you know someone that would also be interested,

Monique: 00:36:00

please review us over at podchaser.com.

Monique: 00:36:03

If you have any questions, you can connect with me or the guest

: 00:36:06

on LinkedIn at Velasquez Media.

: 00:36:09

Remember, representation starts here.

: 00:36:12

Hasta pronto.

: 00:36:13

See you soon.