324 - Managing Time in a Creative Journey with Carolina Acosta

Sep 10

324 - Managing Time in a Creative Journey with Carolina Acosta

Listeners, we are back this week with Carolina Acosta

In today's episode, we have the incredible Carolina Acosta joining us. Carolina is the creator of Tragos, a party game that celebrates Latino culture and traditions. We'll dive into the success of Tragos, being featured in Forbes 30 under 30, and how Carolina creates products that speak to Latinos with a dual identity. But before we get to that, we'll be sharing a personal story about struggling with different art mediums and the importance of time management. Get ready for an insightful conversation on identity, time, and the power of supporting small businesses. Let's jump right in!

Carolina Acosta is the founder and CEO of Tragos, the party game for Latinos by Latinos. She spearheads the Tragos product development and partnership initiatives, while wearing many other hats alongside her all-female and Latinx remote team.

After working with her friend, John Lim, to launch Azn Flush – the Asian card game equivalent to Tragos – Carolina launched Tragos in 2019 to build a product that spoke to her own interests and her identity as a US-born Latina. What started off as a fun experiment has turned into a passion that grows more each day, inspiring Carolina to build Tragos into a national brand and voice that will support and empower Latinos in the US through fun games and impact initiatives for housing, education, and entrepreneurship. So far, Carolina and her team have raised over $20,000 for community-driven organizations such as Black Lives Matter, Helping Hands of Puerto Rico, The Immigrant Worker Safety Net Fund, and more.

Carolina has a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons, The New School and was recently included in Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2021 for the creation of Tragos.

During our conversation we talked about:

Oldest daughter and oldest younger daughter syndrome
Learning to track time and manage it
Studying design
Getting to know and live in Colombia
How Tragos was born
Learning to run a business

Pam: Hello, everyone. This is Pam de Cafe con Pam, the bilingual podcast that features Latine and people of the global majority who break barriers, change lives, and make this world a better place. Welcome to episode 324 of Cafe con Pam. Today, we have a conversation with Carolina Acosta.
Carolina is the creator of Tragos, the ultimate and original party game for Latinos that celebrates and pokes fun at shared Latino cultural norms and traditions and Get Loud, a bilingual word guessing game that helps players learn, improve, or practicar español or English vocabulary. Tragos is available now in Target stores nationwide, and both games are available at target.com. Here's the commercial. I hope Target pays us one day. You can also find the games at tragosgame.com. And listeners, one thing to really get from this episode is Carolina is making history. Tragos and Get Loud are the first bilingual games available at Target.
Carolina was also featured in Forbes 30 under 30 for the financial success of the games and for pioneering products that speak to Latinos living in the US with a dual identity.
I think this conversation of identity is ongoing. I don't know if we'll ever get to a place of understanding and full clarity around what is identity. I think it's something that is nuanced and layered and flowing because Everyone's experience is different and similar at the same time. And so I love when creators come up with games or even any type of creation that touches those strings of identity exploration.
Listeners, this conversation was super fun with Carolina. We talked a lot about time, actually. And I think it's something that I am very curious about the use of her time. You've heard me talk about chronemics, polychrons, and monochrons, and the difference in how different cultures use time. And while we didn't touch on chronemics during this interview, we do talk a lot about the choices we make with our time. And Carolina's approach is fascinating. So I hope you enjoy that. Let me know what you think. Y bueno, sin más, here's my conversation with Carolina Acosta.
Pam: Carolina, welcome to Cafe con Pam.
Carolina Acosta: Hi, Pam. This is so exciting. Thank you for having me.
Pam: Yes. Thank you. Thank you for coming. So the first question that we always ask is what is your heritage?
Carolina Acosta: So my heritage is mixed. My mom is Colombian, and my dad is Dominican, but I grew up in America. So I'm also from Queens, New York.
Pam: How did they meet?
Carolina Acosta: So they met at a restaurant where my dad worked, and my mom would always go with her sister. And I think, you know, just as a waiter, he would see her often enough that he decided to ask her out.
Pam: And then the rest is history.
Carolina Acosta: And then the rest is a short history. Yeah. I think he was very charismatic. They met very young. He was, like, mid 20. She was maybe, like, 20, 21.
Pam: Wow.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. They they had my brother and me and in like, their first years of marriage, but they divorced when I was, like, 2 or 3. So You know, very short lived, but they're very much in my life. And I also have a stepdad just as much of a father too. So it all works out.
Pam: For sure. For sure. And, you know, they made you and your brother. So it's just you two?
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. It's just us two.
Pam: And you're the youngest.
Carolina Acosta: Yes. Yeah.
Pam: How was it for you to be the youngest and the woman in a Latino household?
Carolina Acosta: Oh, I was spoiled. I think my brother still holds, like, some resentment to this day because he was just a bad kid. Like, it was very, like, like, you know, always, like, in the way trying to, like, prank people. And my mom, you know, at the time, they were still very much about la chancla. And so he would get hit and I would get hit too. I remember very clearly as like a, you know, toddler almost during little tantrums, but mainly because he would get me in trouble by, like, go along with his little, like, you know, pranks and then my mom would find out and we'll both get spanked. But after some time, he ended up moving in with my dad and I stay with my mom. So we actually grew up pretty separated the rest of my childhood. And once he moved out, the spanking ended for me. I was a good kid. So, you know, he'd always be like, oh, well, you know, she didn't get hit as much as I did. It's like, well, you know, the house was a lot more peaceful. So—
Pam: That's so interesting. And was that a choice? Like, did you choose to go one with one and one with the other?
Carolina Acosta: It was actually my brother's choice. He felt that he, you know, got along with my dad more. You know, he was like the more chill parent, and my mom was very strict with us. So he decided to move out at ten years old, and I was much younger as 6. So I didn't really have a say, and I, you know, I stayed next to mom. You know, over the years, we've stayed very close, given that he lived with my dad and our family in Florida. And then we stayed in New York.
Pam: Wow.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. It's crazy. Like, you'd I don't really talk about it often because we still see each other, but we, yeah, that our lives, like, pretty much split up at that time.
Pam: For sure. I mean, I often have these conversations with my siblings. Because, recently talking to my brother, we were talking about my dad, and he has a very different perspective on my father than me because I'm the oldest in my case. And so one of the things that we talk about is how even siblings in the same family, we all have different parents because they show up different for us.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Especially with, like, enough of an age difference because the parents that raised him were very different from the parents that raised me. They were like kids, basically.
Pam: Right.
Carolina Acosta: And then when I came around, they're more mature, they're more patient, maybe. So I totally got that.
Pam: Yeah. Fascinating. But I love that you stayed close and still, you know, hang out because it could have easily been like, oh, well, he's my brother over there, and I never see him. And --
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. So—
Pam: it's good that that stayed. The bond.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. How many how many siblings do you have.
Pam: I have a brother and a sister.
Carolina Acosta: Okay. Are you you're the oldest?
Pam: I'm the oldest. Yeah. Eldest daughter syndrome. It's very -- Yeah. -- very real.
Carolina Acosta: It's a lot. It's a lot that you have on your shoulders.
Pam: Yes. Very real. We, that's a whole other podcast. Maybe one day I'll I'll record something about it. I did a retreat recently, and I was telling the women that they retreat that the other day, my mom was like, because my brother just came. He was living in Mexico, and so he finally got his green card. Yay. Oh, after, like, over a decade. And so, you know, I'm the oldest sister. And I was talking to my mom, and I was asking questions. And my mom was like, look. You need to chill. He's fine. Like, He's thirty years old. He's fine.
Carolina Acosta: You're like, stop momming.
Pam: Right. And I'm like, I got to thinking. I'm like, when my mom tells me to stop being worried about my brother. That's a problem. That's a problem. I need to, I really need to chill. You know? So, but it's funny. It's like this unsaid rule that I need to take care of everyone. It's something that needs to be worked through. Anyway.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. I mean, I kinda feel that way too just because I was always the more ambitious one. So my brother's, he's fine. Like, he's done well for himself. He's, you know, he's in hospitality. He lives in New York now, which is why we're much closer too. But to me, I'm always like, I gotta help my parents because he was he was with my dad, but I was helping my parents with rent in New York. And I was always working and I've kind of grew up as an only child in a way. And so I felt like as the daughter of immigrant parents, I would still have to help out if I was living with them. And so I kind of feel that same way. And even him in a way, I'm just like, Oh, well, maybe he didn't get the same opportunities that I did living in New York. So now that he's here, I wanna help him as much as I can. So it never ends. I think it's just being, like, Latina. You feel like, yeah.
Pam: For sure. It's the youngest, oldest daughter. It's also a thing.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah.
Pam: I've talked to friends who are the youngest. And they are the youngest-oldest. Many, I know at least, like, five people that are the youngest woman, I mean, it's it's a it's it's a whole podcast. It all always falls in the woman. So if it's the eldest daughter, it's eldest daughter thing, if it's the youngest and it's a woman, it's the youngest-oldest. Because one of my best friends, for example, she is the youngest daughter of, like, I don't know how many siblings. And she's the one who takes care of everything. Like, parents call her first. She's, you know, the first one to make sure your things are taken care, like yeah. So you're the youngest-oldest.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. You end up being, like, the most responsible, like, working on yourself more so that they, you can provide for them. But, you know, I am trying to break that cycle. I moved to Jersey about 3 years ago now living with my boyfriend, but mainly because of him and COVID, like, there was not much of a reason for me to say New York. So I was like, that's cool. Like, I'm still close enough, but having that distance makes a big difference because now it's like, oh, okay. I'm not there for my mom to drive her to the DMV, for example, now it falls on either my brother or her friends, and it's like, it was a big step back for me in a good way. Because then it's like, okay. I can focus on myself and, like, everything I'm trying to do because it's, it's just a lot.
Pam: For sure. It's so important. And I think that les cuesta trabajo sometimes, nos cuesta trabajo. Because we're so used to living in a multi generational households that when it's like, well, I'm going to take create a boundary in a way because I think it's a boundary.
Carolina Acosta: Basically. Yeah.
Pam: You know, it's like, oh, am I, like, I don't know if you felt that, but it many times, it could be like, am I leaving them behind? Am I choosing to, like, move away because I'm prioritizing myself, my well-being, my mental health. And am I also kinda, like, giving up on them? I don't know. Did that come up for you?
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Of course. You feel the guilt of just, like, oh, no. I can't be the person to drive my mom where she needs to go. Like, who's gonna take, and then you realize, like, she's a grown ass woman that made her way to the states, like, on her own, she's totally fine. And, you know, it's a learning, like, you know, process, but I think it's healthy in a way. Because then when we, when we hang out, then we have a good relationship, we act like friends that haven't seen each other in a while. And then every so often, she'd be like, Carolina, I need you to, you know, call T-Mobile because blah blah blah blah. And I'm like, ok, I got it.
Pam: Yeah. That will always be there. Which is, like, also an interesting dichotomy to navigate being a business owner and then, like, oh, wait. I have to pick up the phone and call the doctor for my mom. How do you navigate that?
Carolina Acosta: I think I've done a good job over the years to be very disciplined, like, with my own time. I'm a little OCD with it, to be honest, and a fun secret that not many people know about me. For the last, like, I think 3, 4 months, I've been tracking every hour of my day. Just to see what the hell I'm doing with my time. Yeah. Because I used to be the person where I'm like, there's no time in the day. There's too much to do. Like, I never have any time, and it's like, okay. Well, what am I doing? Because I just binge watched the whole series. So clearly, I have time for something. So I started, you know, color coding. I used, like, a toggle, like, a time tracker, for your time sheet and just, you know, to kinda, like, look at a summary. And I noticed that I spend a lot of time just, like, messing around, like, you know, on social media, on Netflix, a lot of time with friends and family, which isn't a bad thing. And then I also have client work that I do on top of my business. And so I try to keep track of how much work I do for them versus the business. Am I getting enough hours for my business? Because even up to a year ago, I was like, oh, things aren't moving as much as I want them to for for Tragos. And I was looking at my time sheet and realizing I only spent, like, 20, 30 hours on my business. Of course, I'm not getting very far. And so I would I started changing certain, like, habits and patterns and forcing myself to be like, okay, you need at least 15 hours of client work. You need at least 40 hours of your business work. And so that's how I've been able to discipline myself. And it's, I highly recommend it, even as just like an exercise. I'm not saying everyone's gonna be as crazy as me to do this, but it's very helpful.
Pam: I love that. So it started like a time study. You know, like, let's evaluate.
Carolina Acosta: Yes.
Pam: How is time being spent? And now you've kinda like, is this your a metric that you track every week?
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Yeah. I do. Even my weekends. And most of it's just like, you know, 6 hours with friends, family. I track how much time I travel, like, driving. Sometimes I drive, like, 13 hours 1 week. I'm like, what the hell? Like --
Pam: Wow.
Carolina Acosta: That's too much, you know, going back and forth, maybe even to see friends or for an event or to see family, So then I got, I know I got a real bad or, one other crazy thing I do is if I'm driving a lot or I know I will, then I'll get on a podcast, a book. And then instead of tracking that time as travel time, then I track it as research or hobbies. Which is much better spent than just driving, listening to music for me.
Pam: I love that.
Carolina Acosta: It's crazy.
Pam: No. I'm I'm I'm all for this. What I'm hearing is that you're taking full control of how you invest your time.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Yeah.
Pam: Because time is an investment.
Carolina Acosta: It it is. It's like a currency that I don't like to waste.
Pam: For sure. No. I, this is great. Listeners, take note. And you use a, like, a spreadsheet or, like, an actual app for it?
Carolina Acosta: I use this free website called Toggl, T O G G L, and it's totally free. And the best part is once you track all your time throughout the week, then you can go to the summary version. And that's where it tells me you spent this much time. So I'm not doing it manually. And yeah. Yeah. It's pretty helpful. I do, I do have a spreadsheet, that I then input. Because then I'll be able to see, how much client work if it's more than one client, how much Tragos work because I break it up into individual projects. That way it helps me consolidate. That's the only thing I don't do with with the website, but it's a system. It works for me anyway.
Pam: For sure. I mean, there's, like, the simple way, you know, use the toggl app and then there's a go above and beyond and add it to the spreadsheet and do the summary and all the things.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Whatever works for you. You know? It's just --
Pam: But I love the idea of, like, even doing it for a week. I did that with my coach, actually. Because it's similar. We're working on revenue. And so she had me track profit producing activities. Which, arguably, when you're running a business, like, arguably everything is. But we got really specific. And in in my case, we did it on a spreadsheet for a week, but I love the idea of, like, just do it all the time and just kinda see where your choices are going. For me, my weeks differ all the time. So there's no, not 1 week that's the same. And so I'm like, now you sharing this, I'm like, oh, was that time study that we did, like skewed because we only tracked, like, 1 week. You know?
Carolina Acosta: Oh, absolutely. Especially if you're in charge of your own schedule, and or have your own business every day, every week is going to look different. I would say do that study for at least a month.
Pam: I'll keep you posted.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. You'll start to see a lot of data that you might not have noticed about yourself. Yeah.
Pam: I'll be like, Carolina I fiddle too much. With my ADHD, I definitely fiddle too much. I'm aware I'm aware. This is like an awareness that. But I think keeping track of it might be like, woah. You need to chill.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. I know a lot of people talk about ADHD and how they kinda cope with it. I haven't been diagnosed, but I don't think I have it.
Pam: I don't think you have it. Someone that does that level of detail and commitment. You definitely don't have it. Because if you are able to stick with it, like, for me, things that I stick with, it's because I have to make them a habit. Otherwise, with ADHD is, like, let me find something more fun and exciting that releases the dopamine. Yeah. Because what my brain doesn't produces enough dopamine.
Carolina Acosta: Okay.
Pam: And so in my case, I get bored very easily. Because I kinda, like, reach my level of dopamine hit. And then it's like, alright. Next.
Carolina Acosta: Right.
Pam: And so you're definitely not ADHD, because you've stuck with it.
Carolina Acosta: I mean, I I've made it a habit, though. It wasn't something that I woke up one day and just started doing and didn't stop. I've tried to do this time tracking for about, I'd say, a year, then would get really busy with work. And then a whole week would go by and I'm like, shit. Like, I forgot to do all this. And then to go backwards is such a pain. And so knowing, like, what my end goal was, I was like, okay. If I'm gonna stick to this and I have to do it at least at the end of every day or else it's gonna be more painful to just go back every week. I'm not that disciplined. It it takes me, like, a few tries for anything.
Pam: For sure. For sure. Okay. So we're gonna fast forward to you studied design. So how did that come about? How did you decide to study design?
Carolina Acosta: I think it was fate. I never thought about doing anything else besides doing something with art. And by the time I hit high school, I went to an art high school, So I was doing all the painting and and, you know, fine arts for years. You know, I was in every every art class I could be in since I was a kid, I was in. And I loved. And when I was in high school, I think it was my art teacher that said, okay, well, you know, are you gonna be a fine artist, or are you trying to make a career, like like a corporate career or something? And she warned us in a in a sense. Like, not everyone can make it as a fine artist. Do you wanna struggle? And as a first generation, struggling was the last thing I wanted to do. It's like, okay. I want money. I wanna get out of, you know, not poverty. We weren't, like, super poor, but I wanted to be comfortable. So I was like, okay, fine artist, no. What else can I do? And I think it was great timing because this was 2011, I graduated, and graphic design was really starting to take over the world, like digital services and really just digital design. And I thought, okay, I have to get into this. I have to learn how to use Photoshop, and I kind of made my way into that program into my 3rd year because we had, sorry, 2nd year because we had foundation year, which is all fine arts. I went to Parsons. They kind of gave us a year to do arts, yay, still, and then be like, okay, go pick your major, go figure out your career. And so I definitely went into graphic design. My major was technically communication design, but that's where we learned about typography, illustration, all that good stuff.
Pam: What's your favorite medium?
Carolina Acosta: Oh my god. That's a hard question.
Pam: I know. What are your top 3?
Carolina Acosta: I think I'm really good at illustrator doing, like, typography and illustration in Illustrator and Photoshop. So to kind of just that digital medium. And then if I had to go analog, I would probably do, like, charcoal drawings. I still like to do that. So messy. I hate it. But but, you know, it just I guess I learned to work with it really well in school and just being able to carve out, like, shapes from, like, the darkness and then adding shading. It it's just I don't know. I love it.
Pam: It's fascinating. Charcoal is fascinating.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Yeah.
Pam: It's not my fave, but I support artists that do charcoal drawings. It's like an art for sure.
Carolina Acosta: Do you have an analog preference?
Pam: I love watercolors. But I'm not the best at them. So it's not like I'll become a water colorist at some point. Like, when I retire, I don't think so unless I probably would have to go do classes. My analog medium in college was oils. Oh, Yeah. I sucked at pottery. It was like the worst. I really could not ever, like, don't give me a wheel because I will throw up on it. It was like, I don't have the patience. That's where my ADHD comes in because I'm like, no. I'm not gonna sit here for 3 hours just putting my hands in the same position and, like, like, feeling the clay go, like, no. My teacher was so mad because he was, like, such a potterist, a potter, such a potter. And he would be like, why can't you sit still? And I'm like, no. And so he, I almost failed pottery class. He had me hand hand throw pots. He was like, you're just get off the wheel. You're just making a mess, like, partying too much. Yeah. It was it was fun. But watercolors and oils, but oil is the same with charcoal. Oils like It's not necessarily messy, but it's, like, long.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. I was gonna say if you didn't like pottery, oils just takes forever because you need to add layer, wait for it to dry, add another layer. I hate that. I'd rather be on a on a wheel for 3 hours, to be honest.
Pam: So funny. Yeah. For me, I think, I mean, I would make a painting in, like, 2 months. You know? And because you have to wait that long and, like, you know, I don't sit there in the studio all day. I think that was what was fun for me when it comes to oils that every day that you show up to the canvas is different. So you could, like, play with the paint that hasn't fully dried, or you can, like, go dry in the one that in the parts that have, I don't know. It was like this fun adventure every time, so I think that's why I fell in love with the oil.
Carolina Acosta: Okay. I see that.
Pam: But I haven't painted. Yeah. I haven't done. You're making me, like, wanna, like, pull up my, it's a lot.
Carolina Acosta: It's a lot. Yeah. I mean, there's there's so much we have to do every day. I imagine, like, with a podcast and--
Pam: I -- Something like this time travel. I mean, this time travel. This time study, where can I fit painting? I don't know.
Carolina Acosta: I mean, you might be surprised. You might realize like, oh, crap. Maybe I'll just give up on that show I'm watching, or. Oh, that's hard.
Pam: That is hard.
Carolina Acosta: Never mind. It's a bad idea.
Pam: I can paint while I watch, though. I can do that. You know, it's a dream one day to have a an art studio. Because that's the other thing, the setup.
Carolina Acosta: Yeah. You don't you don't have room for you to have pick up all the time. So in my head, I imagine I will retire doing what I do right now and then be able to have my own home and have a room dedicated to the artwork, the graphic design, all of it. The podcasting, you know, I'm dying for a cute corner like yours. But where I'm currently at, it's not my home just yet. It's my boyfriend's. So I'm, I have the whole vision. It's just, you know, it takes time. It's okay to, like, hold off on your hobbies because you have so much going on.
Pam: Totally. You have to build the capacity for them. Mhmm. Okay. Let's take a quick coffee break, and let's return to your story.
***
Pam: So, Carolina, you drink mushroom coffee. I was so excited to read that.
Carolina Acosta: Yes. I do.
Pam: Tell me about it. How did you discover it.
Carolina Acosta: I think I was just getting a ton of Instagram ads, to be honest.

Pam: You were targeted?

Carolina Acosta: I was super targeted. I don't know if how talking about how much I don't love coffee or how much it makes me like jittery, and I can have, like, maybe half a cup of regular coffee. Or else I'm just like bouncing off the walls and can't really sleep well at night. So I wanted an alternative, and I thought that the one that was being targeted to me was pretty pricey. So I just looked up on Amazon, different ones, and I found a brand called La Repulica or La Republica, because it's it's not like Latino owned. I checked. It's pretty good. And it has, like, you know, all the adaptogens and the lion's mane and all that stuff. And I started taking that, like, couple months ago, and I've stuck to that same brand because it really does everything it promises. No jitters. Super wide awake. I'm already a morning person. This makes me an even more morning person. So it's, it's done well for me.

Pam: Yay. I love that. I I'm a big fan of mushroom coffee for sure.

Carolina Acosta: But you you get, like, the roasted coffee, right, with the mushroom in it?

Pam: I do get the roasted with the mushroom. Yeah. You drink just the blend of different adaptogens and shrooms. Right?

Carolina Acosta: It's more like a instant coffee mix. So it's very, like, it's almost like watered down coffee, which I don't mind because I I don't love the taste of coffee. Sometimes it's too strong, but I appreciate it. So I would love to try, like, a coffee shop that knows what they're doing, but none around here I've seen sell, mushroom coffee.

Pam: So if you get a super jittery with regular coffee, maybe do half and half. Maybe do, like, a cup of roasted, like, half cup or maybe a quarter cup just to give it the depth of the coffee and then throw in the the blend of the shrooms. Because if you're super sensitive to coffee, I don't wanna be like, yeah, drink this one that has because it might still give you the things.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. But, I mean, honestly, I go work at many coffee shops just because I get cabin fever anyway. So I think I've just, you know, I do what I have to do.

Pam: You've built the stamina. Yeah.

Carolina Acosta: I think I've gotten a little better. So what what I usually get, like, regular coffee is like a regular latte. Which does have the espresso, but I'm like, okay. Whatever. We're doing it. And, yeah, that day, it's usually, like, because I'm moving around a lot, like, coffee then I have to go to storage and get some games and give send them to Amazon, then I gotta go here, post office. So it you know, as long as I stay active that day, but If I'm just sitting at my computer with a whole cup of coffee, that's when I can't really sleep

Pam: For sure. Okay. Well, let's go back to the show.

***
Hola manis, by the way, if you are enjoying this conversation and you wanna keep talking about it, if you have some comments and maybe some questions that you have. Follow me on social media, and let's keep that conversation going. This is your reminder to screenshot and tag me at cafeconpampodcast on Instagram and Facebook, and let's keep talking about it. Tell me what's resonating. Tell me what isn't. Tell me, what do you wish I asked the guest. This is your chance. And if you're on TikTok, I'm at cafeconpampod as well. Let's stay connected.

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Pam: Okay, Carolina. So you studied design We're gonna, like, keep fast forwarding. How did this, like, other game happened? Because that happened first. Right?

Carolina Acosta: Yes. This game happened. This was while I had my time, living abroad and another Instagram ad. I'm very targetable. It was my first time going to Colombia with my family. My mom and dad had never said like, hey, let's go to the motherland and, like, experience your culture, which is so funny because...

Pam: ¿Nunca?

Carolina Acosta: No. Nunca. Like, my dad had gone back to DR several times, but I guess because I didn't live with him growing up. He was never, like, been, like, yeah,

Pam: Vámonos.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah, vámonos. And my mom, she stayed away from Colombia for 37 years before she went back.

Pam: Oh my gosh.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah.

Pam: Did she leave when it was hard?

Carolina Acosta: Not really. She left when she was 12.

Pam: Okay.

Carolina Acosta: And she went to live with her family in Montreal. I still have family in Canada. She learned French. She went to high school there. And when she was eighteen, she decided to move to New York with my aunt. She was established in New York, so she told my mom, hey, come live with me. I'll get you a job, whatever. And that's how she got her roots in New York. But I guess because she left at such an early age, she--

Pam: --not much connection.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. I guess so. And she was like, well, I remember just being super poor. Why would I go back there? Like, I have a great life here. And so she never said, like, hey. Let's go. It was only after I went. I think I went to Colombia maybe 4 or 5 times before we plan a trip together with our family and was like, okay. Don't you wanna see, like, what Cali's like? And funny story. She actually did not like it. She was like, this is what I'm coming back to. Like, this is, like, I'll go, I'll stay in Queens. Like, take me back home. Like, no me falta nada aquí, like, I'm good. Yeah. It's so weird. And to me, when I first went to Cali, because that was my first time in Colombia. I had gone with my aunt and my cousin. I loved it. Like, I was like, oh, it's so different. It's so authentic. And I felt like so at home. Everybody was so chill there and nice, and people drank, like, light coffee every day. So they didn't give you the jitters and it was great. So when I came back from that trip, I was talking about Colombia so much that I got an ad saying, hey. I wanna go live in Colombia. And the ad was for a travel program that lasted, they had different itineraries, but I picked a 4 month one, just to just have a taste. And I went to live there against all odds, and that's where I met the friend who introduced me to the idea of a cultural drinking game, and that's where the story really starts.

Pam: The friend was also in this Colombian program in this, like, live abroad program?

Carolina Acosta: Yes. Yeah. It was about 25, mainly Americans, I'd say, but, like, we're all around the same age. And we all decided to do this. He was actually from, I think he was living in Seattle at the time. And, you know, there were people from all over the US and, like, an Australian and someone from Spain. And so it was super cool just getting to know a bunch of people, but I did have a leg up because I was one of the few that spoke Spanish in the group, and we spent 4 months there. So I was like, the go to translator and, you know, very much, like, I don't know. It's just a great time, made friends with all of them. And so a lot of us are still in touch today, including I'll call him John, the friend who introduced me to the idea. So we had met, and then he's he's great. He's actually Korean American. So while we were traveling, we I think we just bonded over our ethnic similarities just because a lot of people in the group were, I would say, mainly were like American or white. And so just traveling together. He also did a lot of marketing. And I was working on a design agency at the time, but I told him, hey. If you need any design help with your clients, come to me, and he liked my work. And he's like, okay, well, let's you know, connect. And I I think we started working with the same clients while we were on our trip. So that's how we got really close. When we came back to our respective homes and states, that was when he called me maybe like a month or 2 after we had ended the program and said, hey, what do you think of this idea? The reason why he told me was because he wanted me to do the branding, the design for the packaging of the game. I was like, I love that idea. He's like, no, my mom thinks stupid. I don't know if I should go through with it. I'm like, no. I would play it. Like, well, if it applied to me, like, I would totally play that game, but for my culture, he wanted to do it for the Asian culture. I was like, let's do both. So we got into developing, like, he got into the game mechanics. He came up with, like, the different categories in the game, and I was just doing, like, the branding. I helped him with his Shopify website. And once he was pretty much set up, I was like, I need to do the same, like, exercise for me. So I did my own, like, mock up on Photoshop, like, made up some cards. And he's like, I was like, what do you think? He's like, oh, throw these on Facebook. See if, like, there's interest before you go and make the game, and then, you know, that's what I did. And so I put the mock ups, not even the real game. Like, there was no game. I put the mock ups on a Facebook ad, started running those, and that's how it quickly started picking up and people being like, oh, I wanna play this game. And then that that's how basically Tragos came to exist.

Pam: I love the strategy of preselling it. So get buy in first. I went to a conference recently and we actually had this conversation because there was a man, a white man who was teaching this workshop. And he said, well, in order for your thing to work, you have to validate your idea. And if the idea is not validated, then it's not gonna work. Don't waste your time. And so it sparked this debate amongst our group because it's not the same to go mass market than to go with the the smaller type of market and the Latino market is so vast. You know, you have different generations. You have people that speak solo español. Like, it's it's different. All that to say, you did validate the idea with a Facebook ad. And so did you have a budget?

Carolina Acosta: Not really. But, yeah, we can talk numbers. Just because I wanna make it clear that it was actually pretty easy. If you have a product that you believe in and, you know, wanna go in this pre order direction, I think that's the easiest way to get something going without a lot of budget because I didn't even have a full time job by then. I had quit my agency job. I was just doing freelance. It was paying the bills, but that was that. And so there was nothing to fall back on. I had, like, somewhat of a savings account. I did have credit cards, though. So those ads went directly on credit cards. I think a a good credit score helps for sure. That was kinda where we started. I didn't wanna spend more than a $1000 on ads. So it started off with maybe, like, 500. And then once we saw the ads were working, we up to going, put a 1000 down. And by then, we had maybe 200 preorders. And that was enough to be, like, like, damn, I we we have to make this now because we didn't take these people's money. It's not like just sitting in Shopify for no reason. They're expecting a game and they expected it to come out within, like, 3 months. That was when the fun part started and kinda going back to what you said about, you know, validating a whole market that is diverse in its own way because there are different types of Latinos. One thing I really wanted clear was I want this to appeal to everyone within my age range. And I think the age range is what really helped kind of narrow it with that in mind, it's like, okay. Well, what do all Latinos have in common? It seemed like I had a lot in common with my Peruvian friends I made while living in Peru, obviously, the Colombian friends I made, and then the other city we lived in was Mexico City, which we also made friends. And we bonded so much about just la cultura so it's like, okay. There's definitely things that I grew up with and, you know, in understanding that I have a a Latino background, even though I never really felt that way, in traveling, it kind of opened up all these traits or, like, you know, experiences about myself that I never considered. Oh, that's Latino. But once I started talking to people, like, okay. I need a 100 cards. What do we all have in common so that it, like, really resonates with as many people as possible? That's when I started realizing, oh my god. It's everything. We have everything in common. The pots in the in the oven, like, the things that all mom say, it's insane how a Mexican mom and a Dominican mom say the exact same thing. Like, they were all raised in the same, like, mom Academy and in their, like, respective countries. Like, it's so funny. And so I think that was, that was really much what I leaned on asking everyone of any background, of any Latino background, you know, does this relate to you? Did your mom say this? And then really executing that.

Pam: How long did you run the ads for it? How long did it take for the 200 presales to come?

Carolina Acosta: I would say about a month.

Pam: Okay.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah.

Pam: So you did it well because ad creation is a whole art.

Carolina Acosta: I will say it was easier, though.

Pam: Back then?

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. This was in 2019. I don't well, yeah, 2019 at the beginning of 2019. I don't think I would recommend it right now. Because there's just, Facebook ads have changed with the iOS changes that happen in 2021. And we relied, like, very, very heavily on Facebook ads because they were working so well back then. I remember this so so well. We were talking to another game company, and they were thinking about partnering with us and, the Asian game that that John made, Asian Flush. And they had said, okay. Well, you know, we're willing to invest with you guys and, like, make this a whole partnership and help you guys grow. But what are you doing for your marketing? I was like, oh, Facebook ads. We're killing it. Crushing it. And they were like, that's it. I was like, yeah. Well, you know, if it's not broken, don't fix it. Kind of thing. It and it was just working so well. Our rows were super high. We were like getting a 5 x return at the time. But that's all we were doing. We're, like, doing a little social media here and there, but that's about it. We hadn't really tackled much else. And once the iOS changes happened, it felt like 2008 for us. Like, we just plummeted in returns, and that was a huge lesson in learning how to diversify my marketing strategy. And we haven't used Facebook ads in years now. So--

Pam: I love that clarification.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Yeah. So I would say now it's all about getting some type of organic audience. There is still ad spend you could you could work on, but I would say tread very lightly and really focus on the brand and the product and maybe just kind of like try a small batch of inventory because Amazon is a really great way to pick up traction if you kind of do the right things to set up your first product.

Pam: Oh my gosh. We're running out of time, and I have so many questions still.

Carolina Acosta: We did talk a lot about time sheets.

Pam: I know it did talk a lot about time sheets. I mean, I feel like this episode, it's very much about time because you know, you did the Facebook ads. It took about a month, you said, to get the 200 people. And then how did you know it was gonna take 3 months for delivery? While you were still validating.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. So I think at that time, it really helped having John there because everything I did, he was basically one step ahead. And so he had already had his preorders. He had already started fulfilling his orders. And so I used his printer. We were using, you know, like a third party that was then sending their orders to China, I believe. And then over time, we would start finessing our strategy together, I started looking into Alibaba being like, oh, you know, you can actually go directly to the printers and make it much more affordable and, like, doing all that together was really helpful. So, I think he is just a really smart person. And was doing a lot of googling himself and, like, figuring out his own vendors. And so I would just kind of, like, piggyback on that and help out wherever I could with like design, marketing, things like that. I would say I even remember asking him, like, how are you fulfilling orders? Like, what is that? What do you do? Like, what do I get a box? Do I get an envelope? Like, do I get bubble wrap? Like, he's like, okay. What you're gonna wanna do is order this printer. It prints with thermal heat, so you don't need ink. I was like, what? Like, so it was just a lot of learning from him, from, like, again, Google was very much, like, it was all hands on first time doing all of it. So that's how we learn, you know, production time. It takes about this much time for this many units. If you're shipping by air, it takes 2 weeks. If you're shipping by sea, it takes 4 weeks. It was all, like, a whole new learning process.

Pam: For sure. So Tragos came first. Yes. And then el otro, no?.

Carolina Acosta: And then Get Loud. Yeah. That one came out 2021.

Pam: Middle of chaos.

Carolina Acosta: Well, it was chaos for the world, but 2020 was our best year in business. I think because of the demand of at home entertainment, so we kind of thrived, but it was a big learning curve because that was when we were still on Facebook ads. We were spending like crazy. We weren't looking at numbers. I did not know what I was doing. I just thought, hey, look, we're making sales. Great.

Pam: Let's throw that into Facebook ads.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Let's, you know, let's spend here. Let's spend there. And at the end of 2020, we realized, I think we had spent more than we actually made. And then 2021 with the drop of Facebook ads was when I realized I don't know what I'm doing. And that was when I really learned how to run a business, looking at numbers, cutting back expenses, having a hire and fire, and that was probably the hardest year, I would say. 2022 was also really depressing, but I think This year is the 1st year where all that hard work really started to show and pay off.

Pam: All the learning curves. Right?

Carolina Acosta: Oh, yeah.

Pam: How many people are on your team now?

Carolina Acosta: One.

Pam: So you plus one?

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Well, I have some contractors I still work with here and there. But the person I, you know, the team I speak to on the daily, just one.

Pam: And I'm very curious as a designer because I'm a designer, and this is my crutch, is do you delegate design or you're are you still designing?

Carolina Acosta: I am still designing. You know, I don't know if you relate to this, but as a designer, I'm so picky.

Pam: I know.

Carolina Acosta: If I were to hire, it would have to be hiring the quality of talent that I want, and I'm not there yet. So It's still on me, but I am having some help soon. We are working with more people. So I would say my in house team is just one, but I am working now with a publisher that has design connections, manufacturing connections. And so they were the fur, like, literally just yesterday. They were like, do you want us to, like, send a designer to do this work? And I was like, you can do that. I don't know how it okay. I guess. Like--

Pam: Is it gonna be good?

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. So I'm trying to delegate as much as possible, but that's definitely, you know, I think as as a woman, as a Latina, like, perfectionist, trying to let that go, but it really depends on who is doing it. And, yeah.

Pam: Design is hard. Design is hard. I think that's, like, the crutch of the designer business owner.

Carolina Acosta: Yes.

Pam: I mean, some people have I know people that have mastered it, you know, where they're like, I just, like, I don't design anymore. Which I got to that point when I was running a, a branding agency, I did have a designer that would do the design. I was like the creative director.

Carolina Acosta: Nice.

Pam: But I never it was like, I never had touched the brand. You know, I was only strategizing it. So it was easy for me to just be like, okay. This is what I want. Like, go make it. Versus my brand. That's like, wait. I have this is like my fingers all over. So that's what I'm saying.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. That makes total sense. Yes. And I think that's why for this new project, the they offered the designer. I was like, I haven't even started, and I don't even know how I'm gonna start. So, yes, let them take the first stab. If anything, I'll clean it up, but that's a, yeah, that makes that makes total sense.

Pam: I'm glad, we're not alone. So, Carolina, tell me all the places and spaces where we can find you, where we can find the games and you.

Carolina Acosta: So Tragos game is the handle for everywhere. We're on mainly all social media, but we do we're primarily Instagram and TikTok. You'll find us on our website on tragosgame.com. You can find us and shop us on Amazon. You can find Tragos game there and also Get Loud. And most importantly, we are now in Target stores nationwide. So you can find, the newest Tragos game version that comes in English and Spanish in all Target stores on target.com. And just this week, we for Hispanic Heritage Month, you can now find Get Loud in Target stores for a limited run. And hopefully it goes on. Hopefully, it's successful enough. So definitely check out Get Loud, which is the the family friendly new game under the Tragos brand.

Pam: Yay. And when you say for a limited run, is this in limited locations or they just have less of.

Carolina Acosta: So when I say limited run, it's for Hispanic Heritage Month. They called end caps, and so they're basically those shelves that you see kind of in the front of the store that's like, all Latino products, not in the game section. And I believe it's nationwide as well, but you can always check on the Target store. On the target website to, check locations.

Pam: And this is important because listeners go buy those things because when, that's why I wanted to highlight the limited run thing, because if people buy them, then the buyers at these huge corporations will understand that we are actually buying, which then in turn will bring in more games into and add them into the game section. Right?

Carolina Acosta: Exactly. Yeah. I think it's a huge move on Target to have accepted both games, both like brands under our company because, you know, even just having one felt like almost impossible, but I think they understand that Latinos are huge, you know, in the market, but also just like wanting that representation across the board. So, yes, buying does really help, and it would definitely just kind of help us continue the the run of products and other games that we have going on, which are super exciting, and, yeah, hopefully, something that you'll see on shelves next year.

Pam: Yay. When I was in corporate, I used to sell to big corporations. And I know the POs are, like, wild, and the terms are also nuts. And so especially for small businesses. I know how important it is for people to buy the product as soon as possible. So there's no returns. So because I know the terms sometimes could be like could make or break a business.

Carolina Acosta: Oh, a 1000%. I mean, anything could ruin you in that whole process. But if you succeed, even just getting the games into the store, because in my head, I'm like, oh, what if they, like, crash and burn in overseas. You know? But the fact that we made it onto shelves safely, and now that we have Get Loud here, Yeah. It's up to our community and us to kind of spread the word. And also those reruns are really important. They say, Target always says it's not the hard part, like getting onto shelves. It's staying on them. So that's where really the fun begins and just kind of doing what we're doing now, just having fun spreading the word and letting people know about the game, which is really fun. We didn't really talk about how to play, but the game mechanics are so easy. They come in English and Spanish, and so it's It opens the doors for, like, bilingual families to play together, which is something I never really had growing up. It's a big deal for me anyway. And hopefully for our community.

Pam: I love that. I love that it's bilingual because earlier when you said, you know, I wanted to target people that kinda like around my age, I think making it bilingual opens it up for multi generations?

Carolina Acosta: Yes. Yeah. I think originally we came out with the game in English, and everyone was like, it's called Tragos, but it's in English, what the hell? And I was like, okay. Well, it's for me, like, people who don't feel comfortable speaking in Spanish all the time. And for people who don't know Spanish at all, like, you're still latino. That was that was the message I wanted to send, but over time and kind of getting to know our audiences and the community more and seeing how many people want to learn, improve their Spanish and or English, depending, like, where they're coming from, we didn't want that to be like the the deal breaker. Like, why not have it in both languages? So that's definitely where we're moving in all our products.

Pam: So you're working in another game. So game number three?

Carolina Acosta: Yeah.

Pam: Yay.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. The only thing I can say is that it's a mystery game, and that's it. It's, it is inspired by our culture, but the, you know, the way you play and and all that stuff and what it's about will have to come later and we'll have to see, like, how it does, and we're doing, like, artwork right now. So haven't really mentioned it much. It's very, very much like still big work in progress.

Pam: When can we expect it?

Carolina Acosta: If we can pitch it to stores this year, then we will be talking about it, like, fall next year. But if we see that it's something that we have to push out on our own, like, on our own website or on our own Amazon store, then it'll be much sooner. But I'm hoping to stay in the stores because, like you said, for small businesses, you really cannot compete with being on a in a big box store. It moves so much more inventory than you could ever imagine doing it on your own or through your own website. So, I'd be happy to just hold off and make it like the perfect game that you see on shelves for, like, next Hispanic Heritage Month or, yeah, around this time.

Pam: Yay. I can't wait. Okay. So the last three questions, do you have a remedio that you wanna share?

Carolina Acosta: My remedio that I learned from, I think, was, like, my grandma, like, on my mom's side, she would always do this. And it's not, okay. So this is for a stye. If you have like an a stye on your eye, this was almost like brujería type thing. But whenever you'd have it, so, like, say you have it on your left, you use your right hand to flick the stye away three times. So you take your right hand and, like, wrap it around your head from the back and then, like, slide it away from your eyelid towards, like, the end of your eye and then flick it away on the right side.

Pam: Three times.

Carolina Acosta: Three times. So you do that, like, three times. And it's it's proven. We've I've done it my whole life. Like, I don't get styes often, but, like, the once a year where you feel like it's coming, You do that that flick with the opposite hand, flick it away, and gone. Never even there.

Pam: Good brujería, though.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not too complicated.

Pam: Easy. Easy Magic.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. And then the other remedio. One thing I really swear by, and I actually just did this this week because I'm recovering from a cold, is taking just straight up a lemon like, a, like, half a lemon, squeezing it into a cup, adding a ton of honey, and then microwaving it for, like, 20 seconds, and then drinking it, like, really hot. And it's very sweet and very sour, and that just kinda goes down your throat. Like, like, it makes you, like, squint really hard, but it really helps, you know, sore throat.

Pam: Nice. That's a good one. Do you have a productivity tip, trick or tool that you wanna share? I mean, we talked about timesheets. Or, like, the time studies.

Carolina Acosta: Yes. Definitely the time sheet. And I think I've gotta go with the mushroom coffee on this. Just because not a lot of people have tried it, and I think everyone should give it a chance. And it it's it's made me the very, like, very consistent with my focus and energy.

Pam: I support that. And do you have a quote or mantra that you live by?

Carolina Acosta: "Live the life that you want". So I don't usually repeat mantras like that every day, but if people were to ask me for solid advice, I would say you have the power to live the life you want. And it comes from a state of optimism but also just seeing a lot of friends and family go through, like, their event sessions and seeing, you know, I've seen a lot of people be like, oh, well, life just doesn't go for me as easy as you or like, man, things just never work out the way that I want them to. And I am a strong believer of just kind of like, positive thinking, like, will lead to, like, positive outcome and your thoughts have all the power and, you know, the secret stuff and yadayada. So, I'm always trying to kind of push that. Like, imagine what you want, work on what you want. Like, don't wait for something good to happen. Don't rely on luck. Just know or just know that it's going to happen to you, and it most likely will because you're kind of in charge of your life in a way.

Pam: Well, Carolina, thank you so much for coming to Cafe con Pam. This was awesome. I still have a lot of questions, but maybe, maybe you'll come back in the last more question. Maybe when the other game comes out.

Carolina Acosta: Yeah. I would love to. I would, this has been so fun. Listeners, stay shining.

***

Pam: Okay. Listeners, that was the conversation. I hope you enjoyed it. I am curious to know if you are going to embark on this time study and if you are one like me that you do it for a week and you're like, alright. I know I'm fiddling too much, or maybe you're a little more disciplined like Carolina and you go into this experiment of months and months of exploring where your time goes. It's fascinating.

Definitely go get Tragos at Target. Definitely go support small businesses right now is we are at the tip of Hispanic Heritage Month. We're at the very beginnings, well, it's not kicked off quite yet. We're almost there. And one big box stores, when big corporations choose to bring in small businesses, I used to sell to big corporations and one of the most challenging ones, actually. And so, and I know for a fact that the terms that they do are pretty intense. And I say that to say every purchase counts. When it comes to supporting a small business. And I've done it for, basically, everyone who's come on Cafe con Pam, and they've gotten products into Target where I have gone and bought 1 or 2 things. One at least, because I know that, and I I've even done it in one time I was in Kansas City with my sister. And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go I bought a Millennial Lotería there, actually. And was like, you know, I'm I'm glad I'm in a, like, kinda like a random state where not, there's a lot of Latinos there, but it's not in, like, a big city, like, New York or LA. And I wanted to make sure that's the number showed. I mean, even with one purchase. Right? That we are choosing to support our people because it's important. And so if you are in a state that may not be as huge, I know a lot of you reach out from, like, Nebraska or Oklahoma. And if you're in those states, definitely go visit your local Target and buy Tragos. And by all the things that you can without going into debt, of course, from the Hispanic Heritage Month aisle because It makes a difference. Again, when the numbers show, then the buyers, the numbers will won't lie, and that will determine whether or not the products continue to stay in the store or, you know, just be like a temporary thing. So it makes a difference. And stay tuned for some fun stuff with Tragos that we'll do. We'll see. We'll see.

Definitely let me know what you think. Screenshot, tag us. I am curious to know if you are one of those people that got Tragos during the pandemic. I don't know. How fun would that be? So let us know what you think and make sure you follow Cafe con Pam on Apple Podcast, on Spotify, or whatever you stream your podcast. You can also download the Latina Podcasters network app to explore and find and uncover other amazing podcasters that are part of this network.

And, of course, this is the time when I ask you to leave me a review. Why? Because other people read them. It's a little bit for my ego. A lot of it for credibility for other people to be like, oh, this is why I probably should tune in or must tune in to this show. Quick questions that you can ask yourself that you can answer in the review: What was I expecting before I tuned in? What happened after? What did I learn from the episodes? And think about if you were recommending Cafe con Pam to your best friend, what would you say to them?

Let's connect on socials @cafeconpampodcast on Instagram and Facebook. Definitely go to our website, cafeconpam.com. We have a lot of fun things there. Many of you ask me for my podcast equipment. What do you use for whatever? I have a Pam's Faves page, and that's where you can find all of my affiliates with every purchase that you choose to check out. I get a little, a little cut from the company. You don't pay more. They actually give me money in support of me promoting their thing. So it's a win-win. You get a super fun product that I have already used, and I get paid for for recommending it for you. How cool is that? Thank you so much. I am so happy you are here. Tune into next week's episode. Go back and listen to previous ones. Y bueno, como siempre, stay shining!