So, Why Advertising?

So, Why Advertising? a story about storytelling

Back then, I had no idea.

But 5 years ago, I started a journey.

this is where it all BEGAN.

Introducing Chilca

A peruvian SEASIDE town struggling for water

i'M NOT SURE HOW, BUT...

A year after dropping out of Law School, I GOT A JOB AS COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT AT A NON-PROFIT THAT WAS TRYING TO HELP THE COMMUNITY WITH THE WATER PROBLEM AND OTHER SOCIAL ISSUES. They were great people, but not very tech-savvy.

This was my first day at work

(I didn't know what I was doing, but to be fair, they didn't know either.)

aND SO... i HAD TO LEARN

i WAS first tasked WITH documenting their activities.

I always wanted to learn Photography,

so I got pretty excited when they told me to take pictures of their meetings with the leaders of the community.

And their meetings,

And their meetings...

And more Meet...

She gets it →

After a month, I had exhausted every single optic angle of that table and...

that made me ignore the table,

And just FOCUS ON the people

It made everything much more interesting

They were saying so much with every reaction. I felt like all these tiny clues were telling me their story. And that's how I truly got to know them.

(as creepy as that sounds)

Mrs. Maria,

for example, is the sweetest lady ever.

when she talks about something she really cares about,

SHE GETS THIS SUPER DETERMINED STRONG VOICE,

bubbling with passion and confidence

We need more leaders like her back in Peru.

Rosa

almost always wears pigtails. some people thought she was a bit crazy for adopting every street dog she crossed paths with. She would bring up Chilca's street dog problem at some point at every single meeting.

My boss would get annoyed sometimes,

I STILL THINK SHE'S CRAZY AWESOME.

Suddenly

these people I felt I had nothing common with, felt so familiar

Without noticing

I GOT WAY MORE

INVOLVED

I remembered my grandpa taught me how to make a kite when I was a kid,

so we did something similar for the kids around the area.

Once i started caring,

i kept seeing these moments everywhere like if time froze for a second.

Knowing some things meant so much to them,

made them mean something to me too.

The non-profit published a "newspaper"

since there was no local press in chilca.

I Thought it was a great idea.

SO I really worked hard on making it great.

It doesn't look like a big deal,

BUT FOR cHILCA, IT KIND OF WAS.

People read it and

Found OUT STUFF ABOUT THEIR TOWN THEY HAD NO IDEA ABOUT. we also were to blame for

the first ever Classifieds SERVICE in town

Now that I think about it, this might have been the first ad I ever made. (sigh)

In one of the articles,

we showcased a kid from there that painted murals

Ironically, he couldn't paint in CHilca, because people still saw graffiti as pure vandalism

So we got him paint and a wall

to paint a mural promoting an event called

"the peace parade"

His eyes lit up when I told him he could paint a wall on one of the main streets.

THat was only the beginning

He painted this last year

in belgium

This one in milan

He traveled all around EUROPE DOING WHAT HE LOVES

@hadok94

and most importantly

now they let him paint in his hometown

People would get so excited about their stories being shared

that i felt I needed to get better at it so i can do them justice

I STARTED TO REALIZE THE POWER OF

MEDIA AND ADVERTISING

TO make you feel something

TO SHARE AND INFLUENCE CULTURE

TO GIVE PEOPLE A VOICE

To create that connection

THAT MAKES US FEEL HUMAN

It gives us a feeling

WE CAN SHARE

So, 3 years ago, When i Came TO THE U.S.

I already knew what i wanted

i Enrolled in THE VCU ADVERTISING PROGRAM

And kept sharing what I saw,

the way I saw it

And the way I felt it

I had the opportunity to meet all sorts of people

And I've discovered that

EVEN THOUGH We might want to look different

And we are looking for different things

IN THE END, DEEP IN OUR CORES

WE FEEL THE SAME THINGS

DURING MY FIRST SUMMER IN RICHMOND

I volunteered at the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society

to create a promotional video For the Virginia Farmworkers Program, an outreach project they had recently started and that aimed to educate Farm employees and employers about labor regulations and labor rights.

we headed to one of the farms on a Saturday to conduct interviews.

Even though I was already aware of the facts

One of THe Farmworkers' testimonies made a strong impact on me

My dad migrated from peru to the U.S. when I was 5 years old and, As a kid, i never quite understood what was happening,

but hearing first hand about the sacrifices migrant workers must endure and their reasons to do so...

gave me the answers to questions I had been carrying around for years

RIght then and there I knew

I wanted to tell stories that meanT something to people

whether it was a silly commercial that made them smile or one clever enough to make them think

Music has always been a passion of mine

So my Roommate and I started a

YOUTUBE CHANNEL SHOWCASING LOCAL BANDS AND THEIR STORIES

This was the first episode

out of 6 we made

After a couple of months

BANDS STARTED INVITING US TO their SHOWS

Everytime I started a project

I used to ask MYSELF

"what's the problem"

Now I wonder

"Where's the story"

Because if there's something I've learn in these past 5 years is that an ad without it is selling you stuff

But a story that resonates with your audience

gives THEM the chance to

connect with something bigger

and in my book, that's a beautiful thing to be doing for 8 hours a day.

Appreciate