Churro 🥨 #1 : Hello <Substack> world

Yeah, this is my very first newsletter. Chispas! I’m still shaping the why behind it—and figuring out how to structure these little pieces of my random thoughts

Yes, just another dude writing a newsletter, precisely what you want! 🤦

For a long time, I’ve been reading about the benefits of personal newsletters and platforms like Substack: creating communities, building a flow of communication, and blah blah blah. Honestly, I resisted. It’s another app. Another thing to manage. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve signed up for plenty of things that, after a while, I didn’t even want to keep up with.

But here we are. Why? Because I realized I really do want to create another way to connect—with you, my community, friends, or whoever ends up reading this. This newsletter is for creating and maintaining a space where I can share more personal thoughts, stuff that feels like a conversation between friends, and a different vibe from what I post on my blog.

So this is La Churreria. Think of it as a cozy little spot where we can hang out. I don’t know exactly what this will turn into, but I’m excited to find out—and I hope you are, too.

Welcome, and thanks for being here. Let’s see where this goes. ❤️

(By the way, I searched for the word “Churro” in my Google Photos, and this picture in my dining room appeared in the found!)

---

Let me tell you a few things I’m learning, thinking, failing at, or experimenting with lately:

Creating a product is a hell of a job.

In December, I launched a side project, aka product: onerecord.club. It’s been both exciting and scary as hell. Why? Because there’s no one beside me saying, “Hey, that’s a bad idea.” And honestly? I kind of miss that. I love it when someone points out my mistakes—it’s how I learn! 😆

That said, this experience has been an outstanding learning process, especially when promoting the product. After trying different platforms and media, I’ve realized that Instagram works best for my target audience (though I’m also dabbling with TikTok).

And here’s the kicker: after years in marketing and business, I’ve found myself creating unboxing videos and other content I never thought I’d make as we say in Spanish, a la vejez, viruelas (better late than never, right?).

If you’re curious about what’s behind this product and why I launched it, I wrote more about it.

I’m excited about starting a mentorship program.

When I started my sabbatical, this was one of the top things I had in mind. I want somehow to give back to the community all the things it made me during the years of my career. I am a lucky guy, made with little pieces of people who helped me on my path, so I want to help any of “me in the past” just in case I have the opportunity.

So, I posted about it on Twitter and Bluesky, and suddenly, a few folks contacted me to learn more about it. It took me a while to reply because I wanted to have enough time for that, but now that things have started, I am learning more about them… and I am just lucky again for the fantastic people who reached out to me!

I hope to give them some points of view about things I learned or failed. Wish me luck! 🤞

Where the F should I post?

This is a question I’ve been grappling with. I have Twitter (or freaking X), Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon… and who knows what else. Each platform seems to have a slightly different audience, and I don’t want to be that annoying person posting the same thing everywhere.

So, using the poll feature for the first time (another chispas!), let me ask that question (in t-h-i-s social this time! 🤦):

---

Well, I have to admit this was refreshing.

Writing this newsletter was surprisingly refreshing. It felt natural and fun, and I enjoyed trying out a more personal tone than my blog.

Thanks for subscribing or just for being curious about what I’m thinking or doing.

When’s the next churro? Honestly, I have no idea. But this has been such a nice experience that I’d love to do it more often.