Many organizations make their presence felt during Hispanic Heritage Month, sometimes neglecting our community the rest of the year. Such is not the case with TikTok. The social media platform shines between September and October with several programs set to empower the Hispanic market and showcase the best of Latinos. Visionary Voices, Latinx TikTok Trailblazers, and the TikTok Latinx Creatives Grant are three such initiatives.
But more importantly, through Casa TikTok they work all year long ensuring we make the most of the online network.
We spoke with Casa TikTok’s Community Manager Kayla Zapata Fory to discover how they amplify Latino voices, and how creators can grow their brand and impact society.

HOMBRE: What is your role at TikTok?
Kayla Zapata Fory: I am a Community Manager for the Latinx community Casa TikTok. We have 650 creators across the US and Puerto Rico that I manage. They are all emerging creators and the idea is to develop the next generation of stars and give them the resources, the tools to get to the next step in their careers.

2022 Latinx TikTok Trailblazers

H: How do you select these creators?
KZF: We are always looking for creatives who have amazing personalities, looking for comedic storylines, people who have a lot of potential but maybe don’t have a team yet. That’s what I’m looking for, to nurture and develop those creators. 

H: Once you find them, how do you help them?
K: We have a number of different programs that we run. A lot of it is education and resources. A lot of people get on TikTok – it’s the hot new thing –  but they don’t have a plan as to how they can make their dreams come true. Whether that’s writing a book, or being on a show. We make sure we have the programming and curriculum so that creators understand how to put some of these pieces together. Not everyone is familiar with the industry or knows how to navigate this social media world so we help open those doors. But we also have other programs. 

Here are the 2022 TikTok Latinx Creatives Grant recipients:

H: What are some of those other programs?
KZF: We recently announced our Creative Grants program, the TikTok partnership with MACRO and UnbeliEVAble. That’s another way where we’re able to give away money by investing in their projects and giving them mentorship.
TikTok is where they can start nurturing these ideas, their content, their personality, and then we help bring that to real life.

H: When did this program come about?
KZF: Casa TikTok has been around for a year now.

Kayla Zapata Fory

H: How do you manage to oversee so many creators? I imagine you have a large team.
KZF: No, just me. I’m a team of Kayla, y Kayla, y la otra Kayla (laughs). Ese es el equipo mio.

H: How do you do it?
KZF: For me it’s really essential to figure out what are the most important aspects of developing one’s career as a creator, how do they brand, how they speak to brands, and the professionalism around negotiating. Also help them understand the industry, what are those core pillars. And then how do we break it apart into programing, events, a curriculum that is easy to digest and easy to understand.
We have virtual events with zoom. When I do a zoom, maybe I have 200 creators join in. We’ll do a seminar where we speak with artists, public figures, so they can understand what they did, or how they used TikTok. 

H: How is TikTok important in business?
KZF: I love TikTok because it’s an opportunity for anyone with a phone and data and Wi-Fi access to tell their story and build a community. You don’t have the gatekeepers of the past telling you that you can or can’t be on air, anyone can post. For me that is one of the joys of this role. I try hard to find creators from many different backgrounds. From South America, from the Caribbean, from Mexico, Central America, but also Afro Latinos, and LGBT+ community members. These are folks that haven’t seen themselves in traditional media, and now we help them nurture those stories and help them bring their aspirations to life through Casa TikTok. 

H: How do you see the future of Casa TikTok?
KZF: We’re such a large part of the US demographically, so to be able to have a space like this for the community is very important. I’m excited to grow our Casa TikTok page. You can follow us at Casa TikTok on TikTok and that’s where we’ll be sharing a lot of the highlights of what our creators are doing, and amplifying their stories. But also the cool things that TikTok is doing for the community year round.
Heritage Month is our time to shine but building that foundation is something that’s ongoing. 

H: What can you tell us about the Creatives Grant program?
KZF: We just launched the Creatives Grant program which is very exciting.  We have ten fabulous creators who were participants in our fall ten week incubator program. We gave them the opportunity to apply and pitch us their dream project alongside our partners at UnbeliEVAble Entertainment and MACRO. We went through a lot to figure out our finalists and we’re proud of them. They’re doing incredible things. 

Sofia Hernandez, Jorge Alvarez, Julissa Prado, Kenneth Pabon

H: How can someone be considered for the program?
KZF: Right now it is about building their story on TikTok, building their persona. That’s what we’re looking for. Enthusiastic talent that has a good personality.
I love a dance video, but the platform is adapting so fast. We encourage creators to think about what their story is, that’s uniquely them, and how to build a community. That’s what we’re looking for. If you’re trying to advocate and work with brands it helps that you’re a brand yourself and have a sense of what your values are.