We had the good fortune of connecting with Paola Bayron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paola, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?In 2020, I lost my job and was one of the very lucky ones to have been hired within 24 hours after being laid off. However, after receiving the phone call from my previous employer, I felt a sort of emptiness. There was nothing to look forward to after. The dependency I had with corporate America was grand. And I realized that I needed to have something of my own. My job was my experience, it was the school I attended to train to do what I’m really supposed to be doing. And so now, as a new hire in my current job, I am also making plans to work on my project on the side. Obviously during a pandemic to start a business is a risk, but it has also provided a widening of imagination when it comes to creating businesses in the modern world. I decided to pursue starting my own podcast, become a host and tell stories, something I’ve always loved doing and was limited doing in my profession, but can start doing during my own free time. It might take no days off, but I think it’ll become worth it, one hundred percent.  

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

Oh boy! Well, how I got here professionally, was not easy at all. I spent my high school years doing college assignments so that I could finish my first two years of college by the age of 17 and go straight into my junior year in university. It was a lot of restless nights, early mornings and still after school, I did more school work and also took part in the arts by performing. It was a 24-7 process legitimately. While I was in college, I was preparing to become a performer full time, but needed a Plan B, so I got into journalism; my mother said communicating was in my nature. As I’m preparing for the biggest audition of my life, the one step I thought would get me into Broadway, my dad passed away that morning and I didn’t know until that evening. It changed me. I’d like to think it made me mature, grow spiritually and emotionally vulnerable in a way I wasn’t before. It provided admiration for journalism and I became more dedicated to my studies. Right before graduation, I got into an internship in Washington, D.C. I think it was the mentor I had who still scolds me today, and makes me give my very best to everything I do and it was also the adrenaline I’d get meeting new people, every single day and learning a little bit of everything from everyone I met. It was the storytelling that heightened my curiosity, it’s what made my heart jump waking up in the morning to get on the metro to go to work. Coming back home from D.C., I realized that maybe the career I chose as a Plan B, could be my Plan A. I got hired a month before graduation into the largest Spanish broadcast television network in the U.S., and understood that I was exactly where I needed to be. Over the years, after many positions, after being trained into the professional I am today, I admire having obtained so much knowledge, but I also know that what makes me sincerely happy, is learning from others, hearing their stories and being able to share it so others can learn something meaningful too. Although I’m an artistic person and enjoy very much performing still, I also have a passion for story telling and would like to do that for the rest of my life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Okay if you know me, you know that I would take them somewhere to have a nice Cafecito and omelets for breakfast, if they prefer French toast or pancakes, I’d make sure that was part of the menu. I would then take them around the city, somewhere you could enter a store that had vintage items or a museum to learn something for the day. Then we’d go somewhere for lunch by the beach and have a delicious drink, walk around town, visit some more stores and then, we’d probably go to something resembling a library or a garden to read something or enjoy another cup of coffee or bakery treat. To end the evening, we’d definitely go out dancing, somewhere where there are live musicians if possible. I also enjoy visiting family very often and eating out all the time, trying new meals or drinks. I always have to have something sweet in the day to just make it a bit better. I always love to dress up in the evening and dance until I’m dragging my feet to walk. I also enjoy museums and learning history; I think I picked up the habit after living in D.C. for three months and visiting a museum or two every weekend.  

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I believe that my family deserves a huge shoutout in everything I set my heart to! Their unconditional love for me and incredible support that has been given to me all my life, is something I do not take for granted. My husband, who has been supportive in the start of this project and has taken part in the creative process; for having the same love I have for story telling in different ways, through different lens and for being the best team mate I can have. The music that constantly keeps me going and makes me feel every bit of emotion I need to feel, to help me therapeutically. And to those who follow me on social media, although it is not a huge following, I am forever grateful to each and every one of them for supporting me from the start, from the moment we met up until now. It genuinely means everything to have such beautiful humans appreciate your work from afar and yet up close on a social platform.

Website: Working on this one- currently- when available- I’ll provide.com
Instagram: lulycurls
Youtube: youtube.com / Working on this one too-it’s not set up yet.

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