We recently had the chance to connect with Jeremy Rodriguez and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jeremy, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: Have you stood up for someone when it cost you something?
When I was a restaurant manager, I once stood up for the staff and ultimately walked away from the position after that.
This was back in the early reopening period after Covid when pressure to open quicker and seat more guest began overriding safety concerns. As anxiety grew among the staff, I advocated for the team by escalating the concerns and requesting protective barriers for employees who were anxious about exposure and unclear protocols, believing the company’s stated value of “overwhelming care and concern” should extend to the people on the floor.
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When that request was denied, I asked to meet with the company leadership. During that conversation my concerns for the safety of the staff were reframed as personal dissatisfaction.
That was a moment of clarity for me, a peek up the ladder I was climbing. I realized I could no longer be effective, or authentic, within a system that wasn’t willing to live by the values it claimed to believe in, ones that I help train and duplicate for new locations.
I chose to walk away from a career I loved, one that had taken me around the world and felt like home for many years.
While the decision was difficult and bittersweet, that decision became a defining moment for me. It reinforced the kind of leader I aim to be it expanded my skill set and talents and it prepared me for the work I’ve gone on to do since then; creating projects, events, and spaces rooted in self-expression, integrity and community.
Sometimes standing up for others means standing up for yourself instead.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello again Bold Journey!
I’m Jeremy, an entrepreneur out of Los Angeles by way of Texas and the creator and co-producer of all things Queer Here, including Queer Here Cinema, Queer Here to Laugh, & Queer Here Live!
Queer Here began as a monthly short film festival and has grown into a multimedia platform designed to spotlight emerging queer artists across film, comedy, music and live performance. At the core, our work is about creating safe, grounding spaces where queer people can gather, express themselves freely, and be seen.
Something really unique happened during this interview! It led me to feel more connected to my family, my path, and my purpose.
My ancestors created ‘Carpas Monsivais’ in 1912 after escaping the Mexican Revolution and settling in southern Texas, and they toured as a traveling family circus act until 1940s. For years, I thought of this as a fun family fact. Now, I recognize it as a blueprint.
In many ways I’m continuing what my family started, just with a different kind of circus. One filled with queer and ally comics, musicians, performers and filmmakers. The mission is the same; to build community and create safe spaces for people to exist fully.
Growing Queer Here has been one of the most challenging and rewarding chapters of my life. I started with no experience producing festival style-events, just a deep belief in the work and the vision. Each year has pushed me to learn, collaborate, and step into new arenas with curiosity and humility. The growth I’ve experienced, both personal and professional, has been transformative, and I’m excited about where this path continues to lead.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Bonds between people are very special, and also very tricky.
Most of the time they don’t break so much as they slowly fray or outgrow the original connection. From personal experience, they break at points where we outgrow spaces, learned habits, people, or when we begin searching for more out of life. When people go out and seek what calls to them, we may forget the other person is human like us, messy, trying, and doing their best to live their life as fully as they can.
Those growth moments can mark the end of a bond, or it can become the very thing that strengthen it.
Restoration usually starts small: a quick “hello,” a “hey, can we talk about…,” or a willingness to listen without needing to win anything. Repair really comes down to intention, shown through communication and follow throughs.
And then there are the bonds that aren’t meant to be restored. Some connections simply outgrow their shape, and holding on starts to cost more than letting go. I think of those as a controlled burn, letting go with care and with enough distance to still see each other happy and healthy in life.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
As a child I had two favorite trees I would climb whenever I was happy, sad or mad, and needing to process my feelings.
Outside my bedroom window was a tall tree with thick branches that I would race to the top of and sit until I felt ready to come down. The climb to the top was always scary but I liked the rush, pausing halfway with sweaty palms and then always committing to go one more branch higher, and finding a spot to just be. From there, I could see acres of land stretching out around me, and the solitude helped me breath.
In our backyard stood large willow tree, alone and almost “on stage.” That tree got all of my stories, arguments with my brother and sister, questions about everything I didn’t understand and the emotions I didn’t know how to say out loud yet.
It gave me shade and shelter and caught my tears when things got overwhelming. When we eventually moved away, I took a leaf with me. I still have it, tucked away inside an old journal.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
I believe strongly that having a positive mindset is a powerful survival tool.
I’ve learned that choosing optimism, especially in hard moments. can make people uncomfortable. When I didn’t agree with the doom and gloom mentality, or see challenges as unsolvable, I would be met with judgment or subtle isolation.
Over time, I learned to keep my thoughts to myself so I wouldn’t “disrupt the energy” of the room.
What I don’t talk about is that positivity, for me, isn’t naivete, nor has it ever meant ignoring the pain.
It means knowing that difficult things happen, that we’re sometimes unprepared for them, and still trusting that happiness and growth are possible on the other side.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I spent years doing what I was told would work, would be safe and sustainable. I started doing what I was born to do when I stopped trying to fit into systems that didn’t reflect my values. What I’m doing now feels less like a career choice and more like a continuation of my voice, my community and the linage I come from.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @adventuresofj.ro @queerherecinema @queerheretolaugh
- Other: @itsavibekaraoke
Image Credits
On stage at Queer Here:
Drag performers @JordanJayro and @Watson.side
Co producers of Queer Here to Laugh @Nicksteiner86 and @Leeanntooker
Director @Heatherturman
Musical guests @Paddythemagician and @superjemstar
