ILoveGay.NET

Welcome to our new series featuring LGBTQ influencers, #ILoveGay ambassadors, movers and shakers and all around great people.

 We’re proud to launch this series with our newest ambassador Borja Matheu aka Borja The Gay Explorer.

We met Borja and quickly realized he was speaking our language and we wanted to know more about him, a LOT more in fact. So we asked him to sit down, grab a stylus/tablet/laptop, take a deep breath and share with us what makes him the ideal #ILoveGay Ambassador.  

 

The Basics:

Go ahead and brag, how many people do you influence and through what platform(s)?

Borja: My platform of choice is YouTube and Instagram. They both help me reach an engaged audience and offer a place to share both inspirational and aspirational content.

YouTube is a great platform where the audience engages for longer and you can therefore provide more in-depth content as well as interact with them through comments, in video polls and more. I’ve only been using YouTube for 10 days and I’ve generated over 20K views!

Instagram is a visually driven platform and the content you can create within it is amazing. Think stories, posts, stickers, gifs, polls and more! I currently generate over 300K impressions on a monthly basis!

Are you planning on adding any other platform to your portfolio?

Borja: Just did and it’s YouTube! I decided to launch my documentary series here as it provides free high-quality content to everyone. In the series, I travel to 7 cities around the world dating local guys. They tour me around and we then discuss how is it being gay in their city and any issues they’re facing. This is currently a self-funded non-profit project and if you haven’t go check it out now: www.youtube.com/c/TheGayExplorer. Depending on my bandwidth, I may add Twitter to the mix.

Which #ILoveGay handles speak to you the most? The ones you MUST tag in your posts?

Borja: The #ILoveGay handle that speaks to me the most is @ILoveLGBTTravel (branded as #ILoveGayTravel) as travel is one of my main passions. When you travel, you explore, meet and experiment. Travel is an adventure and so is life and that makes both of these a must tag on my posts!

 

Your Individuality:

What achievement are you most proud of?

Borja: Traveling around the world was always on my bucket list and one day I simply decided that I was going to make that happen. Within six months, I was on my way to board a flight heading to Toronto, my first stop of an amazing adventure. I was very scared at times, I was basically dropping everything that society says you must do during your early 20’s to do what I wanted to do. It turned out to be the best decision ever because #ILoveGayTravel.

What is unique about you, that differentiates your content and makes you stand out to others?

Borja: I’m a mid-twenties Spaniard from a sexually diverse family who has seen how people struggle to be themselves from a very young age. My content differentiates because it inspires and portrays the happiness and freedom that it is to be an openly gay traveler as well as the amazingness of each destination. This passion for travel is then combined with the uniqueness of the videos: a public gay date with people who want to have an impact in the community by showing who they are to the world. This passion and uniqueness is translated into the sole purpose of my accounts, a genuine purpose to empower the community through social, video and engagement.

Who’s your role model in business? In life?

Borja: I think the current role models I look up to are Jennie Livingston (Director of Paris is Burning) and RuPaul Andre Charles for their courage, business acumen and ability to help raise awareness of issues within the LGBTQ+ community. They’ve been major players in helping normalize the queer life and therefore making feel us comfortable with who we are and embracing our true self.

 

The Motivation:

What gets you going in the morning?

Borja: Aside from a morning glory and a good cup of coffee, the feeling that you can make an impact in your life and on someone else’s. Is up to each of us to make the most out of it and currently with The Gay Explorer project I’m quite busy strategizing how to make that happen. I’m a firm believer of micro speed and macro patience.

Would that also get you up in the middle of the night?

Borja: It does! Great ideas happen at night or when reading a book before bed so I always write those down on my phone to remember the next morning and act on them.

What if you weren’t paid for it?

Borja: The Gay Explorer project is currently a non-profit self-funded endeavor that I’m working on by myself and with my own means. Knowing that this could positively impact individuals is enough of a reward at this stage as that is my main goal.

The LGBTQ Community:

As an influencer, what surprises you most about the LGBTQ community, that you didn’t know when you started, good or bad?

Borja: What has touched me the most from the online LGBTQ+ community is the supportive network of individuals we have built. I think we have all struggled at some point in our lives and we do a great job empathizing with others and being proactively involved in supporting them.

The sexualizing aspect of social media is an element that has surprised. Even if your aim is to convey a message, the message is lost when people try to objectify the person instead of focusing on the message they are trying to communicate.

The Goal:

As an #ILoveGay ambassador, what should we expect to see from you?

Borja: A greater number meaningful and engaging videos, inspirational Instagram content, and a big smile to transmit that happiness to everyone within my reach.

What would be your dream achievement?

Borja: Positively impact people through content to make them feel comfortable with who they are and love their true self.

Who is your dream business partner / advertiser?

Borja: I have many dream business partners such as RuPaul, The Tripletez, Riyadh Khalaf, and Hola Julen as they’re all very talented and inspirational people. From a business point of view, I’d love to work with Netflix, VH1/Logo TV or Gay Times.

The End:

When it’s all said and done, what would be your dream achievement?

Borja: To positively impact people through content, make them feel comfortable with who they are and encourage them to explore & love their true self. #TheGayExplorer #ILoveGay

 

There you have it folks! Make sure to follow Borja The Explorer on Instagram and we’ll update you when his series launches on YouTube. Until then you always have ILoveGay Barcelona (where Borja is from) and ILoveLGBT Travel to keep you busy.

If you’re an LGBTQ blogger, vlogger or other new media influencer, and you’d like to be interviewed here, let us know.  You can contact us here anytime.  Tell us about yourself, as well as some of your top profiles on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and elsewhere.