Check Out Natalia Estrada & Britney Conroy’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Estrada & Britney Conroy.

Hi Natalia & Britney, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We became friends in 2017, were each others yin and yang. During the Covid-19 lockdown, we would talk about how our mental health changed being home 24/7, being away from friends and family, navigating the new reality the world was facing. During one of our conversations, Britney mentioned that these topics would be great for our Latinx community to hear, then the idea of a podcast formed. Las Chicas Del Barrio translates to The Girls from the Neighborhood. Our focus for our podcast is community. Having those who listen to our episodes feel that they’re not alone, that they have a safe space to reach out to about anything. With the platform we have, we wanted to give back to our community. During the holidays, we did a toy drive for Lotus House Women Shelter. From there, community projects became a passion of ours. We’ve done Women’s Day in SkidRow, Project Heal the City for Miami and wrote Valentine’s Day Cards for those in nursing homes during Valentine’s Day.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our biggest struggle when we first started was vulnerability. Sharing parts of us that we have not shared before was uncomfortable because naturally, we are private people. However, vulnerability makes room for us to resonate with our community on a deeper level. The conversations we have with our listeners encourage us to keep growing, better our content to help more and more people out there. Another struggle we had was time management. We are on opposite ends of the county with different time zones, finding time to both sit down and record was a small struggle we had but we have gotten better at from when we first started.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are most proud of the impact we have made on our community. The projects enabled us to connect with other podcasters, community leaders, people in our community that come out to volunteer. For us, community is family! We love seeing the relationships we build grow and seeing the people we connect with start their own projects or accomplish goals they set for themselves. As we inspire them, they inspire us.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
In the next 5-10, the podcast industry will be huge especially in the Latin community. As of right now through TikTok, we see a lot more Latinx starting their own podcasts with friends or family members. The conversations are awesome! Growing up in a Hispanic household, it can be hard to have certain conversations about coming of age, politics, the difference between generations, etc. I think podcasting will help break the barriers of keeping things to ourselves.

Contact Info:

• Email: Laschicasdelbarrio305@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laschicasdelbarriopodcast/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKQggPy0LfoMSi8LCyMAgg