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Latinx Creatives Lifestyle

We All Grow Summit 2019. Why you need to go!

I attended my first We All Grow Summit this year and in this blog post I’m sharing my experience and why you should attend next year.

First off, What is We all Grow?


“It is the go-to professional conference for Latinas in the digital space. They are a sisterhood of the most influential community of Latina creators and entrepreneurs.” -Words from the WAG site.The first time I heard about We All Grow (WAG) Summit was about three years ago, unfortunately, by the time I had heard of the event, it just passed. The next year came by and again I missed it, and by the third time tickets sold out. Fast forward to last year around this time I made sure I would not miss getting tickets. I had already planned on going with Ruby and Alice (my Co-founder chicas from Latinx Collective, more on that later) we waited for when the tickets went on sale and we got them. The tickets sold out within THREE MINUTES! #blessed

We All Grow Summit consists of three days full of opportunities to connect with other Latinx Creatives, Brands and Entrepreneurs. From panels, Latinx Vendors, to a bonus Wellness Day which did cost extra aside from the Summit ticket, but I think it was worth the extra money for the Wellness Day which I will breakdown later.

We All Grow took place in Long Beach, CA. Since they first started hosting this event, it has been at Hotel Maya. They did offer rooms at a discounted rate if you were attending the summit. If you plan on going with at least four people you could split the cost but it was still a little expensive. I found a cute Airbnb just minutes away from the hotel and split it with Alice and it was perfect!

About a month before the summit event, they asked all attending content creators what they were interested in for their Field Trip day. Once I saw the option for “YouTube” I knew that was the one I wanted to attend. They didn’t give us many details but once I was accepted all I knew was that we’re going to be visiting the Youtube Space LA.

Day 1 Field Trip y La Ceremonia!


We All grow Summit kicked off with the Field Trip Day. We got on a bus and headed toward the YouTube Space LA Offices. As someone who creates YouTube videos and watches Youtube daily, I was stoked to finally see the offices in person! We get checked in and we started with a tour of the offices. They showed us all the shooting stages that creators have access to depending on your subscriber count. Once you hit 10K you can use the public workspaces. When you hit 100K  you have a certain amount of hours a month you can use the filming spaces and their equipment from pre and post-production.

The closer you hit 1 million, the more hours you get monthly to film there. This was really inspiring me to get back to making videos that one day I could use these services! They also should us some virtual 360 video projects they are working on for content creators.

Afterward, we had lunch that was provided and I got to network with other Latinx Youtube Creators. We were then led to a room that was set up for an intimate panel but had no idea who would be speaking.


Then, Dulce, Jenny, and Doralys came out! I was surprised and happy because I have been following Dulce since I first started watching Youtube and I love Jenny’s Latinx content that she creates! During the panel, they spoke about their experiences being a Latina Creator in a Digital space, their accomplishments/struggles and what future plans they have. After the panel, they took some time to chat with us. I took this time to chat with Jenny because I love the way she edits her videos and how proud she is about her Cuban Heritage. Because of her content, I have been able to get more in touch with both my Mexican and Salvadorian roots. She is very sweet and down to earth and took the time to talk to everyone that was there.

Once we got back from the field trip we got our official We All Grow swag, some treats, and drinks!

Now it was time to get ready for the Opening Creremonia Fiesta! We All Grow knows how to throw a fiesta! Unlimited drinks, tacos, a flower crowns station, tarot card reading, and many photo-opts! Great music from DJ Chava to a live performance from Las Cafeteras!



DJ Chava!



Latinx Collective Founders

Day 2


After a great party, I was in need of coffee! Alice and I saw this cute coffee shop near our Airbnb and had to stop by to check it out! The coffee shop is called Viento y Agua Coffee House (Wind and Water) I got the Cafe con Leche and highly recommend trying it! With our coffee and bagels in hand, we headed back for Day 2 of WAG.

Day 2 started with the first panel of the day. The Beauty of Being Latina: Why Diverse Representation of Our Community Matters in Media & Ads, Presented by Dove. Dove was the official sponsor for We All Grow 2019. This panel they spoke a lot about the lack of Latinx diversity in the media and how we can change it. They had the following as guest speakers; Carolina Contreras (Social Entrepreneur, Activist & Founder of Miss Rizos Salón), Shakira Barrera (Netflix “Glow” Actress), Jillian Mercado (Activist & Model), Rosie Molinary (Professor, Author and Self-Esteem expert) and Nolwen Cifuentes (Girlgaze photographer).

Afterward, we have a great motivation segment with Maiah Ocando on her experiences with failing and her success now.

After the main panels. we broke out and we able to go to smaller panels or walk around where vendors had their booths set up. They had a Mercardito where Latinx Brands were chosen to set up shop for the Summit! I discovered so many Latinx small businesses and got some goodies!


I also checked out the Mitu Lounge which had some great photo-opts and free stickers!

Once I was done shopping, I attending a  few panels. There were so many informative panels but I chose the ones that interested me the most. I went to one about how to start a podcast, and everything to know about Instagram.



We got to meet singer Sofia Reyes!


My Latinx Collective Familia!

 

The next thing you know it was 6 pm headed went back into the main Pavillion for the Slam Poetry night. To be honest I was not too excited about this segment but by the end of it I was really happy I stayed. I felt moved, motivated and inspired by the stories of these women who poured the hearts and souls to everyone there. Check out these ladies on social media; Yesika Star, Melania-Luisa Marte, Kim Mercado and Melizza Lozado-Olivia with Nicoletta de la Brown. Great way to end Day 2.

As I mention earlier, Ruby (My Vida Style), Alice (City En Vogue) and I are the founders of the Latinx Collective in the Bay Area. With the Latinx Collective, our mission is Empowering The Latinx Creative through Cultura. We support any Latinx Event creating more visibility about these events to our community. We want to be a hub for Latinx Creatives to network and connect in a safe space. While we were at WAG, we wanted to meet up with other Latinx Creatives, Brands, and Entrepreneurs that are also from the Bay Area. We met up at a restaurant in Downtown Long Beach. It was a great way to connect with other Bay Area Latinx locals in a more intimate setting.


Day 3


The big panel of this day was the fireside chat with Yalitza Aparicio with Ana Flores. I love being able to hear Yalitza’s story and it reminds me that we, Latinx gente have lots of work to do, but we can achieve great things with hard work! Yalitza was also awarded the #WeAllGrow Changemaker award.
Yalitza Aparicio stared in the movie “Roma” that was nominated for Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards

Afterward, we broke out again to explore panels and vendor booth, checked out the Dove Suite, shopped around the market place and networking with other Latinx Creators. I even got to meet some of Buzzfeed’s Pero Like members!





Purchased Mariana Atencios new book Perfectly You

The day ended with the Storytellers Panel present by WordPress. Each year they select a few Creators to share their story. They had two bottles of wine at each table and dinner. I loved this segment because the stories that were told made you laugh, cry and feel motivated.


Bay Area Latinx Creators!

Wellness Day


I had no idea what to expect from this day except that it might be like a spa day, but it was much more than that! I woke up that day did no makeup and wore my gym clothes. They had yoga in the mornings but was too tired to wake up at 7 am. I arrived around 9:30 and got some of the complimentary breakfast they had served. The first session was all about reclaiming our ancestral knowledge to heal. They had us meditated and cleansed our minds and souls, it was quite liberating and relaxing.

After that, we had our first breakout session and I attended the Brujas of Brooklyn for their Workshop Yoni: Woke Womb Work. This session was very liberating on an emotional level. I was not expecting to feel the things I felt and did my best to let go of any negative energy I had built up. I highly recommend to check out the Brujas of Brooklyn.

Then we had a keynote lunch provided by HBO and the show Big Little Lies. This panel talked about the journey to a better you that was moderate by Christine Gutierrez.

To sum it up We All Grow has been the best convention I have attended, and I have been to my fair share of summits and conventions. I could be biased to the fact it’s geared towards female Latina audience in other words, that is what I loved about it. I finally got to bond with my people and felt very much at home. The WAG family is very welcoming, so if you are nervous that you don’t speak Spanish, no worries! Everything is spoken in English (besides the fireside chat with Yalizta, that was all in Spanish) So if you are even thinking about going next year… act fast! Join the We All Grow Newsletter to stay on top of all the news especially when tickets go on sale! Remember last year they sold out in three minutes!

Check out my Vlogs from this Summit


Visiting YouTube Space LA & WAG Fiesta | We All Grow Summit 2019
Watch this video on YouTube.

 

If you have any further question on We All Grow or about the Latinx Collective Group send me DM on Instagram or an email at hello@designbybrianna.com

 

2020 Update: Due to the Pandemic of COVID19, We All Grow Latina Summit has been postponed till 2021

Creative POV of a modern not so average Latina Mujer ??⁣|??|??

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