Hola Carolina Founder Adriana Chavela Celebrates the Latinx Community

By meg hale brunton

Photo credit: Ron Stamey

In 2013, Adriana Chavela, a single mom with two kids, had just recently lost her job with a Spanish publication out of Charlotte, NC. Adriana had a hard time finding another job and faced uncertainty about the future. “I think sometimes, we need to touch the bottom and realize other [options], and that was my moment.” 

Adriana then had a dream. In her dream, she recalls looking over a magazine in her hands with an overwhelming feeling of pride, and then handing a copy to her grandmother. She awoke from the dream with a bright, new vision. “I said, ‘We need to have a couple of newspapers here for the Spanish-speaking community.’ Usually the newspapers here say no good, positive things about the Latinx community, and I dreamed that this magazine will lift up our community with stories that are inspiring.” The next day, Adriana put together a media kit and started knocking on peoples’ doors. “I think my enthusiasm is what sold the magazine,” she says.  

In September of 2013, Adriana launched Hola Carolina Magazine, a Spanish-language lifestyle magazine designed to add tangibility to the faces and narratives of Latinx people. The magazine’s goal is to give a critical voice to, and celebrate the diversity of, the Latinx community and engage readers. Beginning as a bi-monthly magazine, the first issue was published in October 2013. “On a daily basis, we try to put together stories that uplift the community,” Adriana says of the publication. “The Latinx community brings hard work, and there are so many good things that we do. It is a community that is still living in the shadows.”

Hola Carolina shares who Latin people are and connects the Latinx community with local resources and events. This evolved into celebrating Latin culture through festivals. Currently, Hola Carolina produces four local festivals: Hola Asheville (June 10th), Fiesta Hendersonville (October 1st), International Childrens’ Day (April 30th), and Dia de los Muertos (October 31st). These events are free to the public and open to anyone who wants to participate. 

Hola Carolina received its 501c3 nonprofit status in October of 2017. Since then, it has created and sponsored countless programs to serve community needs and create resources and solutions for cultural challenges. 

One of the key goals of Hola Carolina is to reinforce the artistic identity of the Latinx people. In fact, the organization briefly changed its name to Hola Community Arts. At the end of 2019, the board voted to change the name back since the arts were only one of the many aspects of Hola Carolina’s work. Hola Carolina continues to host free bilingual art classes and events at the Hola Cultural Center that showcase the community’s talent and culture.

Hola Carolina is even an EMMY winner! Adriana had been documenting the community work of the organization since she started the magazine. She produced a three minute PSA video, submitted it to the National Academy of Television Arts and Science, and won a 2018 EMMY award in the Community/Public Service category. “It’s very beautiful,” Adriana says of the piece. 

Adriana says of building Hola Carolina: “It has been a beautiful roller coaster! This dream happened and it pretty much changed my life.” She continues, “It is very important for us to build bridges between cultures and embrace the diversity of our community. It is extremely important for us to make sure that the community comes out of the shadows.” 

For more information on Hola Carolina, visit their website: www.holacarolina.org