Today we’d like to introduce you to Estevan and Michael Avila.
Estevan and Michael, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We met in college in a gay fraternity and bonded over our love of tacos, pop culture and boys (not in that order). Michael is a reality TV producer. Estevan is a television writer. The two of us have worked in entertainment for our entire adult lives and we were looking to find a creative outlet that was completely our own, one that celebrated the intersection of queer pride and Latinx culture. From that, Your Gay Cousins, our weekly half-hour podcast was born. The day our first episode premiered, we realized that there is an entire community of people who weren’t hearing themselves reflected back to them. There are people all around the world who also live in that in-between space: who are LBGTQ+, who are Latinx, even those who may not identify, but can still relate to our stories.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We wear all the hats to produce this podcast. From the technical to the merchandising to our Instagram aesthetic, we’ve had to figure it out as we go. We want to give the impression to listeners that we have our shit together, but the truth is that there are no producers, no fancy recording studios, we barely have A/C. Despite the dollar store budget, we are proud of the show we’ve managed to create. Our “cousins” have really responded to the unfiltered, honest conversations that we end up capturing and we have the DMs to prove it.
Please tell us about Your Gay Cousins.
We describe the podcast as an unfiltered half-hour of chisme, pop culture commentary and stories that would make our moms *cry in Spanglish*. Though we aren’t actual cousins, we decided to call the podcast “Your Gay Cousins” because, well, everybody has a gay cousin (and if you don’t, surprise, you’re the gay cousin). Gay cousins, like our listeners, are always down for a little gossip, they know the latest about what’s going on in the family and in pop culture, they are the ones you want to sit next to at any family get together.
We pride ourselves on the fact that our conversations are authentically-driven, never rehearsed and always off-the-cuff. Colorful and casual, we want each episode of the podcast to feel like you’re hanging out with your closest friends. Nothing is off-limits. We’ve talked about everything including getting spanked as kids, dating horror stories, our favorite mall food court memories, our dream guest gay cousins, we even have an episode about our funniest fetishes.
We are most proud of the relationship we’ve cultivated with our listeners. We genuinely feel like we are one big podcast familia. Our cousins are just as much a part of the show as we are.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
All the credit goes to us. Just kidding, all the credit goes to our listeners who tune in each week and slide into our DMs with their personal stories and praise.
Contact Info:
- Website: YourGayCousins.com
- Email: YourGayCousins@gmail.com
- Instagram: @YourGayCousins
- Facebook: @YourGayCousins
- Twitter: @YourGayCousins
- Other: linktr.ee/yourgaycousins
Image Credit:
Mister Andrus (instagram: @misterandrus)
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