In an interview with DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS, the couple talked about the new stage of Euforia’s morning show, Miami Flow, which they host on Mix 98.3 with Vicky La Chama and which is now expanding to other cities. Santiago and Laura Franco also talked about their married life, remembered how they met and revealed how they celebrate Christmas and what they usually give each other.
With entertainment content, humor and news of interest to the Hispanic community, now, without Miami in its name, the show airs in Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Dallas and San Francisco.
“We are in seven markets. We are also in the Bay Area in California, in Fort Myers and in Miami, we have been on the air for four years now. So it is a super challenge to meet other cities and connect with that audience,” said Laurita.
Although the podcast format is gaining popularity today, radio retains the immediacy of narrating what is happening in the moment with a touch of spontaneity and interaction with the audience that is measured in real time. They both host the podcast Married and complicatedin addition to what they do for the show.
“We have two podcasts, one of the program and one of us Santi Laurita, and it is something very nice, but it does not compare with the radio, because the radio is daily. You’re talking about how cool it just happened. If there is traffic, you say it at that moment. If it’s raining, you say it’s raining. That immediacy that radio provides does not happen in a podcast. From an accident on a highway, to breaking news,” said Laurita.
“The other magic of radio is the connection you have with people today. The radio has changed, it is no longer just audio, now it is the image. We also do a live show per hour in which people, in addition to listening, see our faces, our reactions. So it’s like a totally modern, interactive show. It is not rehashed or pre-recorded. Our opinions and those of the listeners are spontaneous.
And the radio is an unparalleled company that many turn to in the mornings or when facing traffic in cities like Miami is stressful. And in the case of Flow, According to Laurita, the program attracts all ages.
“You would be surprised how many people, from children to grandparents, listen to us. Although our format is urban and we have reggaeton music, I meet grandmothers who tell me that they listen to us every morning. I think the radio is that company that will never go away, because the podcast is good, you can listen to it while you do your work or are in traffic, but the radio is the company in the car, in that moment of stress that you need to listen to a voice that makes you laugh. And I think that the radio will never disappear as long as there is traffic,” said Laurita.
Likewise, she recalled how they came to radio, a medium that first captivated Santiago 15 years ago and then she let herself be seduced.
“He started serving coffee in the early mornings, at Christmas, and then they gave him a chance. Later he opened a position at night on Amor 107.5, which is our sister radio station. And he started there, he talked a lot about me. People said that this Laurita person was a myth. And suddenly that’s where I come into the radio. But I used to do design at the same company and one of the bosses would sit down for lunch with us and he would laugh at how we interacted. He laughed and said: this has to be put on the radio. And I said: I don’t like the radio, I’m too crude to talk, people are going to hate me,” Laurita said.
“So we tried a pilot and people liked it. I reluctantly started with it and we’ve been on the air for about seven years now. And it has been an adventure. He breathes radio, all day he thinks about the radio. He doesn’t want to do anything other than radio. “He infected me with that passion that I like so much,” he added.
For his part, Santiago remembered how he found love in Laurita when he least expected it.
“Laurita was part of the church where I went after a Cuban woman that I had fallen in love with. But the girl left the church and she left me lying there. And there I met Laurita, who was going to marry the pastor’s son. Then I fell in love with her and she stayed with me,” Santi said.
The first obstacle they faced was not sharing the same faith. She is Christian and he is Catholic.
“I am the daughter of a Christian pastor. We were like Romeo and Juliet, because my dad told me: that boy doesn’t go with you. And I told him to give it a chance. And that’s how our love was born, in the church in a confusion of doctrines, because we were super different,” said Laurita.
To which Santi added:
“Laurita would take the cans of food from her house to give them to me, because my mother and I didn’t have much. This is how this love was born, between cans of sardines and beans. I didn’t believe in love or marriage, I hadn’t behaved very well. And Laurita arrived and gave me a turn that I say that I am a better person thanks to her.”
They both agree that the key to staying together has been good communication.
“We talk too much, we communicate too well, we are very vocal. I think that couples are missing a lot of that, that one doesn’t know what the other is up to and they have two totally different paths. We try to always be on the same page because we work together. We have to do it, otherwise we would be hanging by our hair every day,” said Laurita.
Learning from each other has also been part of individual growth as a couple.
“From Santi I learn to be constant. I think he is the most consistent person I know. If he focuses on something, he doesn’t stop until he finishes it. I am super disorganized with my dreams and my goals, but he has taught me a lot to keep trying until things happen,” said Laurita.
“I continue to learn something every day. This is going to sound very cliché, but Laurita has taught me what true love is,” added Santi.
