“Welcome to Arizona<\/a>” is one of those.\u00a0<\/p>\nWelcome to Arizona is a multiplatform social media brand that boasts more than 2 million followers across all of its networks. The Arizona brothers who founded the brand, David and Jesus Vicente, highlight the Grand Canyon State’s unique culture, history, cuisine and attractions through photos, videos and graphic designs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the No. 1 social media brand for the Southwest, that\u2019s how we label ourselves,\u201d Jesus said in an interview with The Arizona Republic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ten years ago, the Vicente brothers just wanted to “champion Arizona,” the state that gave them “everything they have and are.” Instead, they discovered a whole new lifestyle.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur life truly feels like a movie today,\u201d David said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How did the siblings get here? It took a life-long love of Arizona and a lot of hard work.<\/p>\n
\u2018The narrative of two kids from west Phoenix\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
David, 30, and Jesus, 29, are California-born but Arizona-raised. The siblings, along with their parents, arrived in Phoenix\u2019s West Valley village of Maryvale in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n
David and Jesus attended Trevor G. Browne High School. They continued their higher education at Arizona State University where they graduated with bachelor’s degrees in information systems (David) and finance (Jesus).\u00a0<\/p>\n
While attending college, David said that he and his brother were \u201calways thinking about the next big thing\u201d they wanted to bring to life as their major aspiration was to become entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cLife is so interesting. In the beginning, it was just me and my brother, always hanging out,” David said. “Our rooms were literally across the way at our parents’ house. We were going to college together, and we were always just thinking of new ideas.”<\/p>\n
In 2015, they decided to stop thinking and start acting. Little did they know that their idea \u2014 Welcome to Arizona \u2014 would completely change their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were growing up in the West Valley and started traveling more once we got to college, we felt like the representation for Arizona was lacking on social media,\u201d Jesus said. \u201cBecause, you know, we have newspapers, magazines or TV channels, but no one was really tapping into social media. And we thought, \u2018If no one else is going to do it, then why not us?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt like people thought Arizona wasn\u2019t cool,\u201d David added. \u201cAnd we kind of wanted to change that using the narrative of two kids from west Phoenix.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The initial Welcome to Arizona idea was an online directory of Arizona\u2019s local businesses. Before following through on that idea, other ideas developed, such as a video production company or starting a YouTube Channel. But as two amateurs in the game, David and Jesus soon realized that building a website required skills neither one possessed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
So they turned to their plan B: an Instagram account.<\/p>\n
The account would be a broader lens into the tourism, history, cultural, business and culinary scene of Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Aug. 10, 2015, during a weekend family trip to Prescott for David\u2019s 21st birthday, the siblings debuted their first Instagram post: a photo of a chessboard accompanied by a mountainous background and a cloudy sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA cloudy day in Prescott,\u201d reads the caption followed by hashtags such as \u201c#Welcome2AZ #amateur #imtrying #helpmewritebettercaptions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost 10 years later, Welcome to Arizona has hundreds of posts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube highlighting the wonders of the state.<\/p>\n
\u2018A leap of faith\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an era where content creation has become a full-time occupation and lifestyle for many, this isn’t Jesus and David’s first rodeo. However, their journey has not been linear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Four months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke, the younger brother \u201ctook a leap of faith\u201d by quitting his full-time job to focus on their brand. This decision was influenced by a void he felt in his life and advice from his former boss.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll never forget what he (the boss) told me. He said, \u2018Life is too short to spend doing things that don’t make you happy. So, I think you need to make a choice,\u2019\u201d Jesus said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even though Jesus was overwhelmed with fear and uncertainty, he now calls it a “blessing in disguise” \u2014 the brand really took off during the pandemic since everyone was home scrolling on social media.<\/p>\n
After months of hesitation, David followed suit, quitting his job to pursue Welcome to Arizona full time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother and I have always been best friends,” David said. “So, whenever I jump, he jumps and whenever he jumps, I jump, too. And he was right; that was our breakout year. As soon as we got full time, everything started doubling, not only revenue, but followers, connections, everything. Everything just exploded.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Welcome to Arizona’s Instagram wrapped up 2020 with 100,000 followers, kickstarting massive growth. By the end of 2022, they reached over 400,000. And ever since, the Vicentes’ online community has doubled annually.<\/p>\n
The Vicente brothers credit that growth to the time and focus they both gave the project in 2020. During that time, they went through a crash course in analytics and audience engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost like when you go and start a new job and you\u2019re going through training and like six months in, the way everything works just starts making sense,\u201d Jesus said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I see a lot of Arizona in me\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
David and Jesus are first-generation Americans born to Mexican parents from Zacatecas and Michoacan.\u00a0The siblings said that their Latino and Mexican identity, as well as their upbringing, plays a central role in what they do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you see it in everything that Welcome to Arizona is,” David said. “From our team to the music we use in our posts or the way we write captions. It’s ingrained in the entire company. There’s no way outside of that.”<\/p>\n
Their identity also fueled them in the early stages of the endeavor. The siblings said being a minority can at times hijack your mind into thinking \u201cOK, well, we\u2019re Latinos, let us show you we’re capable of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a minority, I feel like you\u2019re always trying to get out of that crab bucket. That’s always in the back of your mind like a survival mindset,\u201d David said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adding to their Latinness, their identity as Arizonans also enters the picture. As a matter of fact, they go hand in hand, according to Jesus. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a lot of Arizona in me because even as a state, I feel the same way,” Jesus said. “Arizona has to push itself twice as hard to be seen as different from, like, an LA, for example, or a New York, in terms of even just media.”<\/p>\n
Arizona is the state that helped the Vicente brothers grow. It is a paradise they feel deeply connected to, not only due to the proximity to their native California or their parents’ home country, but also the individuals that populate it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have always been No. 1 to me,\u201d David said. \u201cThere’s a lot of very interesting, different people that have made Arizona what it is. To me it feels like home because there are different people here like me that aren’t necessarily molded to fit in a box.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s ever evolving\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though David and Vicente are at the top of Welcome to Arizona\u2019s family tree, they don\u2019t miss the opportunity to recognize and praise their whole team, which consists of 11 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Along with David (chief relationship officer) and Jesus (editor-in-chief), their brother-in-law Luis Gonzalez also acts as a head of the brand as co-owner and chief operating officer. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a small company, you have got to be very calculated. I mean, I feel like we’re literally building the Avengers here,\u201d Jesus said. \u201cYou have got to find other people that are just as passionate as you because you can’t do it alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When looking into the future, there are no limits for David, Jesus and the Welcome to Arizona team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ever evolving,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that Welcome to Arizona encompasses everything just in Arizona, I feel like nowadays isn\u2019t factual because we\u2019re trying to cover the whole Southwest. For me Welcome to Arizona is that leader in the whole Southwest sphere,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This expansion is the Vicentes’ biggest aspiration. They want to build sibling brands such as \u201cWelcome to Texas\u201d or \u201cWelcome to California.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Welcome to Arizona is launching a new effort in July: an All-Access Pass, which will cost $20 dollars per month and grant passholders discounts on Arizona museums, shows, restaurants and much more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt aligns with our bigger vision of promoting the best in Arizona and we\u2019re going to be able to give back to our audience,\u201d David said. \u201cIt\u2019s a win-win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When adventuring on a new vacation, travelers often take to social media or Google in search of activity…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[10314,5229,5643,22076,1587,22075,8972,563,398,3858,450,1457,1589,1451,10440,10444,3161,345,22078,13172,18817,290,22074,22077,522,1164,14089,22079,14083,646,67,586,132,5230,4280,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-24605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-airlines","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-arizona","11":"tag-arizona-state-university","12":"tag-az","13":"tag-destinations","14":"tag-guides","15":"tag-instagram","16":"tag-media","17":"tag-networks","18":"tag-overall","19":"tag-overall-positive","20":"tag-phoenix","21":"tag-positive","22":"tag-prospects","23":"tag-prospects-az","24":"tag-social","25":"tag-social-media","26":"tag-social-networks","27":"tag-southwest","28":"tag-southwest-airlines","29":"tag-state","30":"tag-tourist","31":"tag-tourist-destinations","32":"tag-transportation","33":"tag-travel","34":"tag-travel-guides-u0026-travelogues","35":"tag-travel-u0026-transportation","36":"tag-travelogues","37":"tag-u0026","38":"tag-united-states","39":"tag-united-states-of-america","40":"tag-unitedstates","41":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","42":"tag-university","43":"tag-us","44":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}