Made in the 956: RGV blogger provides exploring options to Harlingen residents
Tuesday is March 1, which is the start of Women's History Month, and the perfect day to introduce you to a Valley woman who's making a difference in her community.
Lisa Campos is the creator of the blog Explore Harlingen. Campos started the blog as a way to help keep her community informed, but little did she know that it would grow into so much more, and in the end, pay tribute to her late mom and dad.
Campos was born and raised in the Valley, but like many, moved away for school and work. During that time, she got married, had a daughter, and then decided to move back to Harlingen. But it's when she returned that she noticed something -- or the lack thereof.
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"In Austin, I knew everything. I'd live there so long," Campos said. "So, my friends were like, 'Where do we go for happy hour?' So, I kind of had this spreadsheet, downtown, 5 o'clock, let's see where you should go out. When we came back to Harlingen, I really didn't know anything at all, and so I had to start over because I had only been here as a teenager."
So in her spare time, Campos decided to make a Facebook page called Explore Harlingen.
"Initially, we thought it was going to be more like people like us, coming home after being gone for a long time," Campos said. "Maybe wanting to know about football games or reunions, that's kind of what we initially thought, but over the years, it just kept changing depending on the followers and what they wanted to know about."
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Now, more than eight years into it, and with more than 22,000 followers on Facebook, the blog continues to grow.
"Last year, I decided to do a website," Campos said. "I love having the website now. I wasn't convinced at first, but now I think it's a really great tool for getting even more information out for people who want to read a little bit more and dig deeper."
Campos remains humbled and moved at just how popular her blog has become.
"I'm just a regular citizen who's exploring her beloved hometown," Campos said. "Both of my parents are in heaven now, but my mom used to call Harlingen the little H, as compared to Houston being the big H. And little H has always held a really big part of my heart. And that's what this blog is. It's a love letter to my hometown and my little H."
Lisa Campos: Made in the 956.