Jahayra and Stephanie met in elementary school in Oakland, CA. However, fate intervened, and Stephanie moved away, but fate struck again when they unexpectedly crossed paths on orientation day at the University of California, Santa Cruz. It was during their undergrad, where the seed of an idea started to take shape but they never developed the idea until after graduation. As Stephanie incorporated herself into her post-grad life, she indulged in her passion for true crime podcasts. However, she soon realized that she couldn’t share this interest with her mother because of the language barrier. She lamented how there wasn't true crime in Spanish to share with her mother.

 

At that moment, she realizes that she and Jahayra could be the ones to fill this void. Jahayra, a devoted true crime enthusiast, embraced the idea. Together, they decided to incorporate Spanglish, a significant factor of their shared first-generation identity, into their podcast. They piloted an episode by showing it first to their mothers, and they were able to understand and engage with the content. This led to their belief that a bilingual/Spanglish true crime podcast could serve as a valuable tool for English and Spanish language learners. They honored their bilingual background by choosing the name Cuento Crimen as it translates to "Telling Crime". Cuento Crimen podcast sets itself apart from mainstream true crime podcasts by focusing on cases that don’t get much media attention or resources. They highlight cases involving people of color who frequently face disproportionate attention and lack of resources.