Today we’d like to introduce you to samuel hernandez.
samuel, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My first love is and was drawing. I grew up watching my cousin Javi and my brother Anthony creating doodles, graffiti comic book art or anything they found interesting. My father as well was an engineer and had a lot of technical sketching he did for his job, and I would love when he took me with him because he would just load me up with pens and pencils from his work(sorry pop). From there I wanted to do it myself and not just drawing, anything I could get my hands on to rid myself of my creative itch. Writing music shortly followed after I found a mixtape of my brothers that had some OutKast and more notably “gods bathroom floor” by Atmosphere on it around the age of ten and I was completely enthralled. In my teen years I spent a lot of my time watching both of my brothers play music and was constantly chasing their shadow, tours and lifestyle. My middle brother Quinn made my beats for a year or two when I was 15 but started getting more serious with is own music so I had to figure it out on my own. I had little brother syndrome and I wanted to be just like them. In the mean time of developing my sound and art style I started my first job as a baker. Fell in love with cooking as much as I loved eating and began a new creative out let that led me to more bakery spots, line cook positions, multiple restaurants with different cuisines, sous positions and now this past January started a food truck with my good man Alex Guzman called Chivos. Which, has been an absolute blast this far.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing worth its while is ever easy. There has been more struggles and failures than I can count. But I love it. I love that I learned to fail forward and fail quickly. There’s tons of self doubt, imposter syndrome, low support from family and friends at times, not a dollar to your name, empty gas tanks and fridges, loss of people close to you, mice infestations, struggles with sobriety, maintaining relationships,getting into fights on the line, getting kicked off the line, mental health, septic tanks backing up while taking a shower. You know, the usual. There has been lessons in it all so far, and I’m filled with gratitude for the struggles and the lessons that came from them. How to properly grieve, learning when to rest and take time for myself etc.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a rapper, artist and chef. In my daytime job I work in corporate dining and catering. As a side hustle I sometimes do commissions on logos or merch for people. I’d say I’m known mostly for cooking though, especially recently. I’m most proud of my relationship with my partner Kat, the love we have between us and the peace of mind I’ve grown to maintain. Outside of that as far as creatively, I’m super proud of Chivos, Alex and our food truck and the opportunity to use my knowledge, experience and creative abilities to build a future for ourselves. I think what sets me apart from others is my patience, my ability to plant seeds and nurture until I enjoy the fruits of my labor, and my understanding of how precious our time is.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I’ve taken plenty of risk. Some smart and thought out others not so much. I took a risk dropping out of art school, not following a typical 9-5, going into debt getting a food truck etc. To me Risk is a necessity in success. If you take a risk and it fails there are usually tons of lessons with in that that lead to a better chance of succeeding next time, what ever it may be. I also think risk is often seen as blindly leaping towards a goal with out any sort of consideration or calculation. There is preparation in taking risk and that is just as important as the risk itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ceIeMljfmCRFUgmMBtXBD?si=GUWt3xEtSOCm9EoWquyfiQ
- Instagram: @skcabb @chivosfoodtruck
