Mar Vallverdú: "I wrote to a lawyer because I didn't want to go to jail"

After studying journalism and humanities, communications professional Mar Vallverdú (1997, Sant Cugat del Vallès) knew she didn't want to present news programs or write for large newsrooms. But what she didn't know was that her interest in pop culture and the content she consumes on social media would end up shaping her professional path. This habit, often perceived as a distraction, has become one of her main work tools. In fact, Vallverdú says that spending time on her phone has been one of her best investments: "I discover people, topics, and trends that I then use for my podcasts." "I'm the young person who knows about TikTok," she explains in an interview withCompanies

His professional career has been a real box of surprises. "Everything I've done I've stumbled upon; nothing has been very calculated," Vallverdú explains. During university, he gravitated towards cultural journalism: "I looked for an internship in Time Out because I wanted to try a more relaxed kind of journalism." Even so, the message they received at university wasn't very encouraging: "They constantly told us we couldn't make a living from it. In that context, any opportunity seemed valuable: if someone gave me a euro to write an article, it already felt like a victory."

The first years in the sector, marked by the usual precariousness in the field of communication, were no exception in their case either. Over time, however, the situation changed. "I spent many years doing internships, until they gave me a part-time position and later, a full-time one." Since then, they say, they have achieved a certain degree of job stability. Many of the things they do today were never planned, but rather have arisen spontaneously along the way. Despite this improvisation, there are projects they have built with effort and dedication, such as the podcast:Radio Chica "It's the project I'm most proud of." "It makes me so happy that something I started almost as an experiment has grown into a community," she says. One of the episodes she's most proud of is the interview with Rosalía; she hadn't even imagined it: "I walked by and thought, 'What?' I say things that seem silly to me, and I think only I'll understand them, and suddenly I see that there are people, even Rosalía, who connect with them. 'Sweets?' And she gave me 50 cents." "One euro seemed crazy to me." “I used to think about money in terms of how many gummy bears I could buy,” she recalls. For a while, she received a weekly allowance, but soon she started earning her own money babysitting and tutoring. Those items that once seemed unattainable are now within her reach: “For me, it was the height of luxury, and my mother told me I was amazing and wanted them.” Now that she has the ability to make her own decisions and clothes are cheaper, she reflects: “They are, literally, my money, and I can afford it, so I do it for Mar, who couldn’t.”

Living in a shared apartment

The podcaster currently rents in Barcelona: "Right now I share an apartment with three people and there's no indication that this will change." It's the only way to live in the Catalan capital. Buying a home, although she'd like to, is impossible right now: "What I can save each month is ridiculous compared to what I'd need to buy an apartment." However, she tries to keep some money as a reserve: "Like a safety net, just in case."

At the same time, she collaborates on various cultural and digital projects, such as The TurraThis journey has also forced him to learn how to handle administrative matters he was unfamiliar with: "I remember writing to an accountant for the first time because I didn't want to go to jail; I didn't know anything about how this world worked." Over time, he admits, he has gotten used to it.