Alejandro Cruz loves to eat Vietnamese cuisine… “It’s really soothing
and close to where I live,” he says, while meeting for an interview
about his new venture, a podcast with a difference.

Calling it Just
Czeching podcast, with just two episodes, …has already reached nearly 1 million views within just 45 days of launch. So, what makes this podcast stand out?

Alejandro Cruz, a seasoned Mexican digital strategist now calling
Prague home for the second time, has launched a podcast that’s quickly
capturing global attention by diving into the raw realities of
identity, inclusion, and expat life in the Czech Republic. It talks about reality: identity.

As a Mexican building a Czech cultural project from the outside in, Alex introduces a rare perspective in local media — one that positions JustCzeching not just as a podcast, but as an emerging global platform for dialogue and social transformation.

Armed with dual bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business
management, plus an MBA, Alejandro first touched down in Prague back
in 2006 to handle corporate acquisitions for the Mexican firm Cemex, a
stint that left him with vivid memories of a city where foreigners
like him.

A Latino in a sea of locals, he often drew stares of
curiosity or outright avoidance, as the expat presence was still a
novelty then.

Fast forward a decade to 2017, when Cemex tapped him again, pulling
him back for another eight years, this time evolving his career into
the realm of digital transformation: product ownership, agile
workflows, and process-driven innovation that prioritizes the “how”
over mere tools.

But beyond boardrooms, his creative side honed through photography and
arts networking led him to co-found Just Czeching with his neighbour,
Sierra Holanova, the mixed Black-white American winner of the Czech
edition Hell’s Kitchen, whose own story of rising
from zero in a new land mirrors his drive to amplify voices on racial
experiences and belonging in Prague.

The podcast’s name is a stroke of bilingual wit, Just Czeching evokes
casual observation and analysis in English, while cheekily punning on
”Czech” for that local flavour, born from their shared encounters with
prejudice that prompted a platform not for confrontation, but
constructive dialogue amid Europe’s rising tensions over migration,
diversity, and even war-tinged racial undercurrents.

Alejandro says, “It is a foreigner’s duty, not entitlement to
contribute positively, spotlighting Czechia’s charms for newcomers
while gently revealing expat hurdles like lingering ignorance or
curiosity toward non-Europeans, all without veering into politics”, he
adds, “I facilitate guests’ stories to inspire tolerance and patience
in a world where leaving home fractures your sense of self, leaving you
stuck in the middle between old roots and new adaptations.”

The inaugural 57-minute episode with Holanova exploded to 300,000
views across more than 20 countries, from Peru, Mexico, France, the
UK, South Africa, Czechia, and beyond in just one month, pulling in a
kaleidoscopic audience of all genders, ages over 18, and backgrounds,
with episode two, featuring Michael Tretter of the iconic Tretter’s bar
chain, hot on its heels at nearly 200,000.

Filmed on-site at Kovarik’s
Brasserie, it showcased Tretter’s Czech perspective shaped by travels
to Mexico and the US, complete with his generous gift of lifetime VIP
access, underscoring unexpected kindnesses that prove we’re all
”global entities” deserving mutual respect. The questions are well studied, they build a sequence and force the guests to think beyond their normal cognitive process.

Far from gastronomy-only, the lineup spans an Oscar nominee, actor,
footballer, photographer, Manifesto Market owner Martin Barry (a US
expat delving into landscape architecture), a near-Miss Universe
contestant embodying women’s empowerment, and 12 additional influencers (nine Czechs, three Mexicans, some requiring trips or virtual links back home for season one’s Mexico-Czechia focus) aged 20s to 60s,
diverse in gender, profession, and openness, paired with 12 regular
business expats from pharma or corporate worlds offering grounded
relocation tips.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by JUSTCZECHING (@justczechingpodcast)

He leveraged his arts contacts to secure them easily, though some
politely declined, deeming themselves unqualified, and he steers clear
of blunt racism probes, opting for nuanced queries like “Did Mexico
treat you differently?” to keep talks educated, polite, and inspiring.

Self-funded at one influencer episode monthly plus bite-sized
10-to-15-minute expert chats, it’s already spawning event invites,
consulting gigs, envisioned as a full cultural platform, while
Alejandro learns monetization through YouTube metrics and sponsors,
openly courting backers.

His expat manifesto? “Learn to listen for cultural cues without
imposing your way, yet stay unapologetically yourself; if it shifts
even one mindset toward harmony in Prague’s growing multicultural
tapestry, mission accomplished,” he concludes.

The world is changing, and Alex has opened a new door that, according to him, will progress into diverse new projects and perspectives. Will he redefine belonging and inclusion conversations? The only thing we can agree is that he is the first to open this door, and the first to give an initial solid step. We wlill be CZECHING, too, and see if this Mexican – Czech innovation becomes the future.

Would you like us to write about your business? Find out more