We recently had the chance to connect with Juan Re Crivello and have shared our conversation below.
Juan , it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I start work at 7:30 in the morning. First, I write my article (I publish it 5 days a week). Then, I act as editor of Masticadores.com. I first review what the 5 editors have published, sometimes making changes to the cover or the placement of topics or authors. Then, I publish the 6 authors I publish each day, Monday through Saturday (in Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese). Here, I feel the energy of the digital magazine, and this part of the morning captivates me.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Juan Re Crivello, and I’m the founder of a magazine made up of 20 blogs that appear in 10 countries and 8 languages. I founded it 5 years ago.
I live in a city near Barcelona, Spain, with 80,000 inhabitants, right by the sea. From here, I direct this unique experiment that publishes 420 writers from around the world and is visited by 500,000 people each year.
I’ve always thought this experience is almost unique. It doesn’t use advertising, and everyone loves it for accepting all opinions. Building an environment of tolerance and respect has always been my goal in life, and I prepared for it when I was about to retire.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
My first memory was born in a house where one of my Italian grandmothers—Francesca—kept a huge collection of Readers’ Digest Selections from the 1950s in her garage. That’s where I built my dreams. There I read countless stories. But I didn’t know it would take so many years to find the communication medium that would serve the general public and hundreds of writers. One day, Masticadores de Letras (Letter Masticators) came up in my head, and with that unreal and unconventional name, I founded the first blog. But we only published 20 articles a month; today, we publish 300-350 articles a month. That parking lot transformed me.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
A good question. In my case, I was a child of divorced parents who had left me in the care of my two Italian grandmothers. At those ages, it’s not so much that you’re scared, but rather that you’re lost, lacking clear direction, and you see adults as beings who command, but who rarely listen. My two grandmothers from Turin had the mental strength to accompany me into fantasy worlds, but at the same time, they knew how to say no. Limits and fantasy tempered my fears.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Respect for the ideas of others. Only in this way could Masticadores.com grow; if others considered this their place to express their opinions.
When one reflects after five years of work, perhaps this value remains a powerful intangible value among those of us who work day in and day out for this magazine.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Well, giving our best often depends on the work environment we live in. Before Masticadores.com, I owned a training company for 20 years. There I learned that if you feel surrounded by good ideas and a capable and motivated team, everything is easier. Praise makes us weak; the demands we place on ourselves give us incentive.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://masticadores.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/masticadoresdeletras/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanrecrivello?originalSubdomain=es
- Twitter: https://x.com/recrivello
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/recrivello.juan/?locale=es_ES
- Other: https://latinosenglishedition.wordpress.com/, https://masticadoresusa.wordpress.com/, https://chewersmasticadores.wordpress.com/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
