Programación aqui en La Movida, catorce ochenta (1480) AM.
¡Buenos días!
- A day spent listening to Madison's Spanish-language radio
station La Movida starts with Luis Montoto in the morning.
[Spanish being spoken]
- I want the music to be positive, inspirational,
motivational.
That's what I want.
[Spanish being spoken]
- In the afternoon, Lupita Montoto is on the air.
- I like more like rock and pop music.
- In between you'll hear them together,
talking with leaders of Madison's Latino community or
local officials about issues important to their listeners.
- Centro serves as our eyes and ears in the community.
- It would be fair to say La Movida is the Montotos.
And the Montotos are La Movida.
- We did a, a great partnership.
We complement each other.
- People say, "You work with your wife?
How do you guys get along?"
I wouldn't want it any other way.
And honestly it's the best thing for me.
That was my dream and it's what I've always wanted to do.
- It was also Luis's dream to run a radio station.
- Guillermo Ramos.
Guillermo, buenas días.
- Something he convinced his wife to believe in,
after persuading her to marry him.
- My husband is a very persistent man.
After nine months that we met we got married.
A week after we got married we moved to Wisconsin.
- In Wisconsin, Luis had a cleaning job set up.
But back home in the border country of Texas,
his work as a musician had led to radio work.
Work he started looking for right away.
- He came to, to Madison and he started searching the dials and
see if there's any Spanish station.
- With no existing Spanish radio station in the region,
the Montotos set out to invent one.
First by paying for weekend air time on a small rural station.
Then finding an audience.
- Where we went to Walmart and I had,
I always had flyers in my back pocket.
And that's how we got the word out, went to Walmart,
went to the Mexican stores, went to church.
"¿Habla Español? Si, si. Tenga."
- During this time, Madison's Catholic Multicultural Center
became a second home for Luis and Lupita.
- This, these are called flash cards.
- They helped us out with, Lupita, her English.
She didn't know English 'cause she just come from Mexico
when we got married.
So she went to take English classes there.
I didn't have any computer skills.
I went to the CMC to learn computers.
The first logo that I created for La Movida
was done on the CMC computers.
- Lupita had studied business in Mexico and those skills came
in handy in signing advertisers eager to reach the area's
growing Latino population.
But La Movida also needed on-air talent.
- Lupita was reluctant to get into radio.
So when we first started doing radio,
I said," I know how I'm going to introduce Lupita to radio."
So I sat her in the chair, board oping right at the board.
I said, "Look, this is microphone one.
These are the phone lines."
I said, "I'll be right back. I'm going to the restroom."
- Of course, he didn't come back that soon that he said.
It take him like ten minutes.
So I did it what he says.
I pull up the channel and then that song ends.
And then what are you going to do next?
So I turn on the mic and I start talking, like natural,
"Hey, how you guys doing? And this is Lupita."
- That's how I introduced her.
I threw her into the swimming pool, if you know what I mean.
- So like a month later, I told Luis,
"I want to have my own show."
[Spanish being spoken]
- After only a few years with their weekend broadcast,
La Movida caught the attention of Mid-West Family Broadcasting.
The company runs many stations in the state and wanted to add
Spanish-language radio.
- And now that the Latino community has grown
in southcentral Wisconsin so has the station.
- La Movida has been a success with its audience.
But Luis and Lupita were surprised to be recognized
in 2015 by their broadcasting peers.
- Station of the Year goes to ... WLMV-AM, La Movida.
- The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association awarded it
station of the year in the large market music category.
- I come here from very humble roots,
from very, very far, far away from here.
And I never thought in my life
that this truly would be reality.
So thanks to my husband, my kids.
Thank you, Michelle.
And thank you everyone for this wonderful night.
Thank you. [applause]
- It's not only in award speeches that the Montotos
remember their roots.
The Catholic Multicultural Center remains very important
to them.
- Going there makes me remember how we came here,
how we started here.
I mean we were receiving all of the services: the English,
the computers, sometimes food pantry.
But then two years later, we were giving them back.
We were volunteers.
We were helping other families.
- They continue their support through an annual fundraising
radiothon in December around the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
a traditional Mexican holiday.
- We are more than happy to do that because that's the place
that opened their doors for us.
- I know Luis and Lupita are not the first couple that comes
to Madison, Wisconsin to grow, to thrive, to be successful.
I want that organization, I want that building,
to still be here to help other couples.
- And Luis and Lupita can also share the example
of their own story.
- So we, we... we dream big.
- It takes guts.
Um... It takes, it's hard work.
And it's dedication.
Having faith in yourself.
- Keep dreaming, thinking about something.
That one day that dream can come true.
[speaking Spanish] [laughter]
Yay. Muy bien.