Talk to Your Crushes. They Might Just Save Your Life.
From Sesame Street to Award-Winning Podcasting: A Salvadoran Storyteller’s Journey
I’ve always believed in talking to my crushes. And I’m not talking about romantic ones (though those are nice too). I mean the people who stir something in you. The thinkers, the creators, the dreamers whose work makes you pause and say, “Wait, who is this? I need to know more.”
I’ve had many of these kinds of crushes in my life. Some turned into friendships. Some changed the way I saw the world. Because to me, a crush is someone you admire. Someone whose way of seeing and moving through life makes you want to see and move differently too. If you have the chance to know someone like that? Take it. Crush away.
Recently, I got to speak with one of mine: Jasmine Romero.
You might know her voice from Sacred Scandal Nation of Saints, one of the most powerful podcasts which investigates the religious murders during the Salvadoran Civil War. Or maybe you know her from her work on a little known street, Sesame Street, where she plays Sofia Sanchez. Oh, and did I mention yet that her work has been Emmy nominated?
She’s a storyteller through and through, and her earnest curiosity has cracked open new understandings of Salvadoran histories, U.S. imperialism, generational trauma, and the journey of identity-making in the diaspora.
On a chilly Tuesday morning in March, we hopped on a Zoom call. We talked about our respective projects—her award-winning podcast, my cookbook—but more than that, we talked about what it means to make art out of personal histories. The baggage. The transcribing and translating! The rookie mistakes. We talked about the mental health challenges that come with building a career based on emotional truths. About how hard it is to stay politically engaged while also maintaining a cultural identity that’s always evolving.
At one point, Romero mentioned the “butterfly effect” and how it came up while researching her family history and the war. Who hasn’t gone down that rabbit hole…thinking about how one person’s life, one decision, can ripple through generations? I think about that all the time, especially as we’re hit with wave after wave of overwhelming, painful news. In moments like that, it helps to remember: storytelling is its own kind of resistance.
I don’t mean to be dramatic, but listening to Romero’s podcast, especially the episodes that dive into history I always found too overwhelming to even begin unpacking, felt like being handed a life vest. History is an ocean. And those waters can be chaotic and turbulent.
I’ve talked before about those intellectual cultural vergazos—the kind that hit hard and leave you spinning. And while Romero’s podcast doesn’t shy away from the pain. The difference is, it felt like I had someone supporting me, and gently guiding me.
She gave language to wounds I didn’t know how to name. She offered details even my own family couldn’t help me piece together. That’s not just storytelling. That’s deep, intentional care.
“We, as women, as Latinas, go out there and take hold of these stories and tell them, that cycle is just going to continue. People are just going to continue to write stories about us. This story might have been told, but not by you and not in the way that you're going to tell it. And your perspective on things is just as valuable as anybody else's. We get to tell our own stories, too.”
You can watch and listen to our full conversation here.
If you’d like me to interview someone you’d like to know more about for Un Poco de Relajo newsletter, just let me know! I will email your crushes for you. ;)
The SalviSoul Book Club
No special updates on the book club except to say that due to the extreme level of distracting news (tariffs, White Lotus memes, news alerts) Gardenia and I are still more or less where we were last week. If you didn’t get a chance to catch up to this week’s reading, you have an extra week.
The Salvi Los Angeles Tote Bag
Beyond creating something fun to watch, I wanted to make a limited-edition product. I teamed up with Otis, a Salvadoran-Guatemalan artist, to bring this vision to life. We loved the idea of capturing iconic Salvi spots, places beloved by the diaspora in LA. Over weeks and months, we worked to get every detail just right.
We gave away many of these bags, and now, only a small limited quantity remains. Once they’re gone, they’re gone, at least in this colorway. As a subscriber to this newsletter, you get early access. Grab yours here!
SalviSoul Speaking Engagements & Events!
I’ll be speaking at this year’s LA Times Festival of Books. It’ll be my third year at the festival and it’s always a great time. Hope to see you there. I will be doing a book signing after the panel. Below are the details.
Session Title: Comida & Community
Day & Date: Saturday, 4/26/2025 12:45pm - 1:30pm
Stage/Venue: The De Los Stage in Association with L.A Times en Español - Signing Area 11
If you’d like to have me as a guest speaker, a panel, or event, please email at kvasquez@salvisoul.com
See you in the next one.
Con amor y SalviSoul,
Karla