Jannese Torres, Host Of The Yo Quiero Dinero Podcast, Shares Her Entrepreneurial Journey

We heard J.Lo and Cardi B sing about wanting dinero in 2018, but Jannese Torres has taken that sentiment seriously since 2014.

After getting fired from her job that year at 25, Torres was all-in on creating a fulfilling life that revolved around freedom. She revisited her passion for culinary arts and started Delish D’Lites, a food blog that showcases her Puerto Rican heritage. The side hustle taught her a lot about earning an income online, and it became a six-figure business.

Torres job-hopped for six years to earn more disposable income but walked away from her traditional 9-5 in 2021. Her personal finance knowledge and expertise grew thanks to dedicated podcasts, but there was one thing she didn’t have in common with the hosts:

“I had been consuming finance podcasts for three years and noticed that I couldn’t find any Latina podcasters who were talking about dinero,” said Torres in an interview with mitú.

So, she started “Yo Quiero Dinero,” Torres’ award-winning podcast. Through it, she teaches Latinas to become financially independent and how to manifest the life of their dreams, all while building a legacy that will last generations. Keep reading to learn about who the money expert is and what she recommends to anyone starting a business.

Taking a personal finance journey

The first-generation Puerto Rican knew nothing about managing money, creating generational wealth, investing, or becoming financially independent. 

In Torres’ personal finance research, she learned about FIRE, a concept known as Financial Independence, Retire Early. According to CNBC, it aims to reach financial freedom by being very efficient with your money before retirement.

For an “accidental entrepreneur,” her determination is evident. Torres experienced the ins and outs of owning a digital business and used those lessons to become well-rounded in the field. Her side hustles allowed her to pay off her student loans in 17 months and leave her engineering career behind.

Her side hustle food blog was proof that she could take economic control, and finance podcasts were guiding her. 

Normalizing a taboo topic

It was important to Torres to create a space for marginalized communities to share their experience in entrepreneurship, investing, and more. She started her own podcast in an effort to destigmatize talking about money in most Latinx and BIPOC communities.

According to their website, the Yo Quiero Dinero podcast was created to “start the conversation about building wealth in the Latinx community.” 

“I was shocked that no one I knew was talking about how you can use investing to reach financial freedom,” Torres wrote on her website.

It’s hard to imagine, but she didn’t know how to start her successful podcast. Things like editing audio and knowing what equipment she needed were hurdles: “I had to teach myself all those things through trial and error,” said Torres.

Now, the podcast streams on all major platforms, has over 200 episodes, and over one million downloads. She focuses on topics like building credit, paying off debt, and conversations with different business owners to inspire listeners. The money expert also keeps up a corresponding blog, which features even more financial and career tips.

In addition, this jefa shares her wealth of knowledge through informative digital courses. From freebies like “The Financially Lit Latina: Your Free Dinero Guide” to an extensive blogging boot camp, she lays a foundation for anyone to create opportunities for themselves.

Money-making tips for new entrepreneurs

Torres has a straightforward plan for anyone starting any kind of business. Once you know your product or service, you need a way to tell people about it and a way to get paid.

“Don’t complicate things,” advises Torres. “Focus on proving your idea by making money before you start making big investments.”

As someone with multiple income streams, Torres knows what it takes to launch fresh ideas. Her culture gave her the gift of resilience, something she says is “so characteristic” of Latinos.