Meet Jorge Alvarez | Advocate, Creator, & Social Impact Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jorge Alvarez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jorge, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
To be quite honest, although it’s been just over a year since I “entered” the creative world it still feels a bit odd to say that I’m now pursuing a career in this space because I didn’t come from a traditional creative background nor am I going down a traditional creative career path. To clarify, yes I’m a content creator and hope to always be but in addition hope to pursue a career in social impact preferably in the entertainment, media, and/or tech space. Essentially, I want to use corporate dollars to make change in the world and inspire people to take action. I also see myself possibly diving into film and documentary but we shall see! I only graduated in January 2022 so right now I’m at the point of my life where I want and think I can do everything. I know with time, I’ll find my lane and build my own beautiful path. If you’re curious about how I got here, the short answer is TikTok. But there’s plenty more to my story.

I started posting to TikTok in April 2021 to share my experiences as a first-generation Latino pre-med student who was struggling with classes but still pursuing his goal of becoming a doctor. Despite always wanting to build a community and grow a platform, when I began this wasn’t my goal. I simply wanted to help others by sharing what I learned as I grew and hey if people followed and content took me somewhere then cool.

Welp. Fast forward a couple months and when my first TikTok went viral (+1M views in 24 hours) my life forever changed. The video was about the guilt folks from collectivist cultures experience when moving out of their childhood homes or doing things without family. I’m so freaking glad that this was my first viral video because it signaled to me that I should talk more to my community, Latinos/BIPOC, about mindset, mental health, and what I’m truly passionate about beyond being a pre-med student– a career path I was slowly drifting away from but just didn’t know yet.

After this video, I started sharing more about what I learned in therapy, made educational videos that broke down complicated mental health subjects into bite size digestible conversation starters, and most importantly, HAD FUN! As one month turned into another, I tapped into the joy and excitement I’d been feeling and accepted that regardless of what I do with my life, it needs to have a creative component. As opportunities came up and I learned more about pop culture, content creation, entertainment, and storytelling, my idea around the definition of impact began to shift. Then after a few months I accepted that I no longer wanted to pursue a career in medicine but rather a creative career that allows me to embrace this joy and produce ideas that serve people but at the macro level. A challenging but liberating experience.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Like I’ve shared so far, my path is truly unique to me– a combination of a few different things I’m investing my time ad energy into right now. Currently I’m part of and am immersing myself further into the social impact industry where hope to empower and mobilize communities by combating stigma, sparking conversation, and educating communities. I plan to do this by driving impact and inspiring action through creative storytelling, strategic partnerships, building intentional campaigns, and developing accessible digital tools. If you think about it, I’ve already been accomplishing this through my own content but recently my career has been propelled to another level. I secured funding to build and launch my very own mental health campaign alongside my Executive Co-producer and partner, Jazmine, and secured a corporate partner to help execute another which I worked on with a team of other creatives and advocates. I’m simultaneously working as a freelance consultant where I hope to advice brands and organizations alike on creative and social impact strategy.

I also want to make it clear that getting to this point wasn’t easy. Like I mentioned before, just over a year ago I still thought I was going to be a medical doctor. But after lot’s of overthinking, existential moments, processing out loud with people around me, and maintaining an open mind when opportunities came my way, doors that just felt *right* began to open.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would honestly prefer to go for a hike or an aimless drive while blasting music, specifically mi rey Benito aka Bad Bunny 😉

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
One of the most important people in my life and who’ve contributed greatly to where I’m at today is my best friend and partner, Jazmine Alcon. Jazmine and I met my at the end of my first year of undergrad at Rutgers University in 2018 and have grown so much together since. We’ve quite literally seen one another “grow up” and become the ever-evolving best version of ourselves. When I reflect on our almost four and a half years together, I think about two moments that truly changed my life.

The first is with regard to my mental health. If it weren’t for Jazmine I may not have ever began therapy which was revolutionary to my personal development, healing, and growth leading to who I am today. After our first year, Jazmine began therapy and encouraged me to give it a shot. Whew am I glad I listened because since, I have done so much growing that sometimes I can’t even believe it at times. Getting professional help when I needed it, was truly the catalyst to the path I find myself on today.

The second moment that I think of was when I was three years back when I was sharing how I was missing and really desired connection to community, my Latino community, and was struggling to find it on campus. To which she said, “If you can’t find community, build it.” I’ve quoted her so many times, more than I can count lol but you can’t tell me that’s not a powerful quote!? It’s lived in the back of my head since and I credit her telling me this for why I was inspired to be vulnerable on social media and finally began posting content like 12 year old me dreamed of.

Now these are only two of the many pivotal moments that we’ve shared but the two that I always immediately think of. I’m truly blessed to have her in my life and will always be grateful to have grown alongside her.

Website: https://www.jorgealvarez.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ijorgealvarez/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jorgeluisalvarezjr/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ijorgealvarez_

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCckflpIOT65H23WxAih398Q

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ijorgealvarez