From a Food Blog to a $500K-a-Year Media Business: How Jannese Torres Built Yo Quiero Dinero

In this episode, I sat down with Jannese Torres, host of the Yo Quiero Dinero podcast, to talk about how she went from a corporate career in engineering, pharmaceuticals, and consumer manufacturing to building a $500K-a-year media business. Jannese shares how getting laid off pushed her to take entrepreneurship seriously and how her food blog, Delish D'Lites, became her first profitable side hustle.

We talk about how she used her blog income to pay off her student loans, why she launched Yo Quiero Dinero in 2019 to create the personal finance show she wanted to hear as a Latina, and how the podcast became the engine behind her book, speaking engagements, brand partnerships, and other income streams. Jannese also breaks down the team and systems behind the business, why niching down helped her grow brand deals from $125 to more than $50,000, and how she separates the offers that pay the bills from the offers that let her experiment.

This is an honest look at what it takes to build a profitable media brand without depending on one platform, one offer, or one source of income. In this episode, you will learn: How a layoff gave Jannese the push to test entrepreneurship before she felt fully ready Why she treated her food blog like a non-negotiable commitment and learned SEO and brand partnerships How blog income helped her pay off her student loans and become debt-free in February 2020 Why Yo Quiero Dinero centers Latinas and the power of building for a specific audience How the podcast became the foundation for her book, speaking, brand deals, and other revenue streams Why a podcast team, online business manager, and talent agent are essential to the way she works now How she separates reliable 'pay the bills' offers from 'fun money' offers that give her room to experiment Highlights Include 01:07 - Being the first in her family to graduate from college and beginning her career in pharmaceuticals and medical devices 04:10 - How getting laid off became the catalyst for testing entrepreneurship 08:32 - Building the Delish D'Lites food blog and treating it like a non-negotiable commitment 09:52 - Learning SEO and brand partnerships through a food blogging course 11:33 - Using blog income to become debt-free in February 2020 16:32 - Why owning your platform matters more than building entirely on someone else's platform 17:32 - Moving from blogging to launching Yo Quiero Dinero in 2019 19:42 - Why the podcast intentionally centers the Latina community 26:01 - How the podcast became the engine behind her media business 36:51 - The team behind the business: a podcast team, an online business manager, and a talent agent 40:20 - Growing brand deals from $125 to more than $50,000 by niching down 48:07 - Managing cash flow with 'pay the bills' offers and 'fun money' offers Links and Resources Mentioned Yo Quiero Dinero: Connect With Jannese Instagram: @yoquierodineropodcast Hosted on Acast.

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