Singer Cesc Fuentes (Barcelona, ​​2000), known artistically as Triquell, was born into a working-class family. His mother works in real estate, and his father has dedicated his entire life to the small family business: "He wasn't a high-powered businessman; it was three brothers who made the business work through communication, empathy, patience, and a survival instinct," he explained in an interview.Companies.

Broadcaster Xavi Canalias (Vic, 1981) was born into a working-class family: "I inherited this idea of ​​working hard to get ahead from my parents." He entered the workforce as a speaker installer in his hometown and as a furniture installer in a restaurant. Later, he combined his work with university studies: "The resources at home were what they were," he recounts. "I would get up at five in the morning, go to work until two, take a bus to Barcelona to study, and return at nine at night on the last bus, which dropped me home at ten-thirty. I'd have dinner and go to sleep," he explains in an interview withCompaniesHe says it was an intense year, but he also realized that "when you need something at home, you have to pull together, and obviously, work."

Journalist Marina Romero (Barcelona, ​​1985) grew up in a working-class family. "We didn't have great luxuries, but we did have very solid life values. Having interest and curiosity about things and taking good care of people," she explains in statements toCompaniesHer parents instilled in her a vocation for public service: "I ended up dedicating myself to journalism because I saw my parents understanding society in a certain way: caring about others and about the future." At home, they always read the news and discussed current events: "I fell in love with radio and from a young age decided I wanted to work in it."

Born in Juneda, in Les Garrigues, Ferran Poca, now a businessman and LGBTQ+ rights activist, spent 35 years exactly what people expected him to be: "I worked at La Caixa bank and became a regional manager with many employees under my supervision and a salary higher than I've ever had." But his life took an unexpected turn: "I heard an inner voice telling me that this wasn't what I was meant to do."

Physicist and meteorologist Gemma Puig (Berga, 1976) was the first in her family to attend university: "My parents hadn't studied and they instilled in my sister and me the idea that we should study." Puig loved science and graduated with a degree in physics. As a child, she said she wanted to be an astronaut: "But once I started university, I studied astronomy and meteorology, which was the branch most focused on Earth and space."

Journalist Cristina Riba (Manresa, 1980) dreamed of working in communications from a young age. "When I grow up, I want to report on the news on TV," she said at just 6 years old. So, she graduated with a degree in journalism from university.

Actor and content creator Albert Roig (Barcelona, ​​1989) lost his job during the pandemic and, with the time he had, started posting videos on TikTok. Now, the artist makes a living thanks to social media: "The income that allows me to pay the rent right now is the collaborations I do with brands on Instagram, mainly, and also TikTok." He currently has more than 130,000 followers between the two platforms.

Sports journalist Artur Peguera (Pont de Suert, 1964) was born into a working-class family where he learned the value of money from a young age. He started working at the age of 8, helping unload the truckload of firewood for the village bread oven: "The salary was a sugar cake and four pesetas." They managed to get a little extra, taking advantage of the fact that they knew where the switchboard was: "We turned off the lights, and when the French tourists arrived, we couldn't see a thing. Then we turned them on and got a tip."

Content creator Marina Castellví (2004) saw a TikTok video called Who you are according to the Barcelona nightclub you go to and decided to do it with his hometown, Lleida. No one had done it before, and he says the video was very well received. Thus, without meaning to, he began to claim Lleida: "I didn't do it with any intention; it came naturally to me. But it's true that I've always thought there's a lot of centralism, especially in the media."

The actor Fel Faixedas (Arbúcies, la Selva, 1970) organizes two theater festivals and about 60 years ago bowling and several television and radio appearances each year. He claims to be a "restless bum" and that this comes from his family. He grew up in a "poor" family, greatly affected by the post-war period: "They had very little money, and my mother valued them greatly; she didn't waste anything. Even things she could afford, if they were expensive, she didn't want them." And he was raised with that philosophy: "I remember some cologne that my friends bought as a typical souvenir for the family, and I didn't buy anything; I returned the money to my mother when I got off the bus."

Journalist and communicator Candela Figueras (Montblanc, 1984) grew up in the countryside helping her father on the farm and behind the counter of her mother's butcher shop. "I learned to count and return money from the ladies at the store. When the euro came into use, I still thought in pesetas, because I was very young and calculated in pesetas." Following her parents' example, she quickly understood that things were hard to earn, that "money doesn't fall from the sky." "I wanted the typical mini-system for CDs, cassettes, and the radio. And my parents told me: 'If you want, save up.' I saved up some money and bought it two and a half years later, which I remember costing 60,000 pesetas."

The political scientist, journalist, and current mayor of Girona, Lluc Salellas (Girona, 1984), started working at a very young age, helping out at his father's law firm when his secretary was on vacation. But his first salary came from working in the entertainment industry around the age of 16. He used the money to pay for his first outings with his friends. "When I was studying in Barcelona, ​​I used that money for extra things, because it's true that they helped me with the most ordinary things at home," explains Salellas in an interview with theCompanies, made before the perinatal loss of her son Ovidi.

Comic and humorist Guillem Estadella's (Cunit, 1996) first memory of money is buying trading cards after school and depositing the money his father earned at the ATM downstairs. The comic entered the working world doing what he wanted to do: "When I started doing radio at fourteen, when I started a theater group at fifteen, and when I was sixteen, stand-up comedy."

Master chocolatier Lluc Crusellas (Santa Eulàlia de Riuprimer, 1996) entered the world of gastronomy at a very young age. At 17, he completed an internship at Can Jubany: "There I saw that desserts, when they arrive at the table, generate emotions; they represent family; they are a symbol of celebration. And I thought, 'I want to do this all my life; I want to make something that inspires people.'"

Comic book illustrator Martí Melcion (Barcelona, ​​1995) grew up in a family dedicated to teaching and the Catalan language. He already showed promise from a young age: "I drew a lot and also had a rather comical style. I remember once tracing the European countries and giving them faces, eyes, and little hands. I gave them personalities, and the adults already thought it was really funny."

Communicator and teacher Neus Rossell (Sils, 1990) was raised in a very austere family, where "very little" was enough to make them "super happy." At just 16, she started working as a waitress in her hometown and hasn't stopped since: "While I was studying, I was always working. At 17, I started at a music school where I was a student, and when the season ended in the summer, I was at a summer camp."

Linguist and politician Carme Forcadell (Xerta, 1955) grew up in a hard-working family dedicated to farming. "When there were oranges, we all went to pick them," she recalls. At 14, she began tutoring a neighbor and later worked as a babysitter.

At just 6 years old, singer Mariona Escoda (Valls, 2001) first encountered music, and from a very young age, she began earning money for her passion. "My first income was as a singer. I started out performing at civil weddings at the Valls Town Hall," she explains in a statement to Empresas. In that case, they gave her "a small envelope with money" and she has kept it as a souvenir: "That money hasn't been touched yet."

The son of a family of farmers and merchants, Lo Pau de Ponts has made his charisma and roots in Terres de Ponent his career. In addition to performing song parodies, he takes his musical comedy show to major festivals across the country. Pau Pinós (1993) began working at age 16 as DJ Pepinos, playing music at the San Juan festival at the swimming pools in Ponts (Noguera), his hometown.

Lawyer, professor, politician, economist. But above all, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas is a passionate jurist and, following the family tradition of his father, uncles and brothers, he studied law. He started working in a car parts warehouse and at the age of 16, with the money he had earned, he bought a wasp: "It cost 36,000 pesetas (216 euros), I thought it was very expensive," he recalls in statements to the newspaper El País.Companies.