2024 Fellow Focus: Jason Hernandez + La Tiendita
Community healer, social justice champion, youth advocate…2024 Fellow Jason Hernandez of La Tiendita shares more about his journey as a social impact entrepreneur.
What life experiences propelled you into the entrepreneurial space and made you decide to be your own boss?
It wasn't being my own boss that drove me to start a social enterprise. It was more about creating a social enterprise that was needed in our community and others.
I believe I was guided here by my past experiences - from being a kid, hustling in the streets, and being incarcerated - as well as seeing what assistance and programs were available for the people in my community and others.
What do you enjoy most about being a founder?
Being a founder has given me a sense of purpose. It has given me an opportunity to take all of my past experiences, whether good, bad and/or tragic, and utilize those experiences to now create a mission that creates change for the better and even saves lives.
What do you wish someone had told you before you started your entrepreneurial journey?
That despite how much I believe our cause and our mission is needed, there's going to be others who don't think the same. That I'm going to ask people to volunteer and help out but many of them won't. That there's going to be times where I ask for grants or donations and they won't come through or they'll be denied. That there will probably be more losses than wins when it comes to helping people. And that there's going to be many times where I doubt myself, where I question if I'm the right person to be doing this work, and whether I'm doing the right thing for others and the community. But despite all of that, all of the little wins, games, assistance, and grants that we do get will validate our mission, that what we are doing is, and that I am the right person to lead it.
Tell us about an experience you had as an entrepreneur or in starting your company that exemplified one of Camelback's core values: "Belief in Mission + Vision"; "Unafraid of Failure"; "Constant Learner"; "Humble + Hungry"; and "Give First."
[Belief in Mission + Vision] Before I started La Tiendita, I was more heavily involved in criminal justice reform work and had been offered to be part of a very important criminal justice initiative in 2020 which had always been a dream job of mine. But I knew if I took this job, there would probably never be an opportunity for youth in my community to live out their full potential, many of whom fail in life. I felt that I could create a program that could help them since there was none available. A program that could not only be utilized in my community, but communities across the United States. I also felt that I had been through so much that had given me insight into what made me choose the life I had chosen as a drug dealer and so many others in my community and across the United States. I felt that I have been given a second chance at life to utilize all these experiences to help others.
So with that, I declined the role in the criminal justice reform initiative and started my own nonprofit because I felt an obligation to do so. It was an opportunity for me to create change in the community that I had done so much wrong in and I needed to make up for it. But I don't necessarily see it as an obligation or a burden to do so because I love what I do. And I know that if I don't create these opportunities for our youth, no one else will or they won't do it correctly, or they'll do it half-heartedly.
Let's talk about your legacy. What is your vision for the kind of world you hope to create through your venture?
I hope to create a world that shows Latinos are valued and a huge contribution to our communities and society. I hope to create a world where Latino youth don't see themselves as gang members, drug dealers, or prisoners, but that they can impact their communities in a positive way even at a very young age. I hope to create a world where Latinos are NOT the majority in our prison system. I hope to create a world where there are more Latinos in careers that impact our community and where we are now currently under-represented.
What's your favorite book or podcast that you draw entrepreneurial inspiration from?
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. It's not a book about business. It's about race, disadvantages, and systems that have been utilized against us. I draw inspiration from this book to figure out ways to reverse and tear down these walls that still exist today and do so in a way that brings people together. That unites people instead of separating us or making us more distant even from those that have created, implemented, or enforced no systems.
We know balancing the demands of entrepreneurship and life can be challenging. What are some of your favorite ways to prioritize your self-care?
Next to our store is an elementary school and the playground is right next to us. I'll go out there from time to time throughout the day and just hear the kids run, scream, and yell. It takes me back to my childhood when I used to go to that school. My brothers and my dad also went to that school. It grounds me and brings me back to reality .
I do find that now that I do this work on a larger scale and for people that I don't know, I sometimes neglect and am not there as often for people that I do know and love and that I was there for previously. I always try to make time now to call them or meet with them, and just hear how they are doing and listen to them. In the process, I love to help out or provide answers to their problems or situations. But sometimes I know people just want someone to talk to that they trust and that they know cares.
Anything else you want to share about yourself and/or your Camelback Fellowship journey?
I knew from the beginning that this Fellowship was going to be more personal and not mechanical. I knew that it wasn't going to have programs or ask questions that were simply going through the motions or just look good on paper. I knew that from the beginning this was a Fellowship that understood its Fellows and that sometimes we don't have the best business plan. Sometimes we don't have a business plan at all. Sometimes we don't have the best education or experience. Maybe we're not the best talkers or the best writers or analyzers. I knew that this was a Fellowship that would give opportunities to people who have all of the odds stacked against them. Who are less likely to succeed than succeed. I also knew this was a Fellowship that understood that sometimes people just need someone to believe in them. Sometimes people just need a little guidance. I knew that this was a Fellowship that would give all the assistance that it could to help us in our missions and wouldn’t judge success off of whether we succeed or not, for success can be determined and judged in different ways. And even though some of us might not benefit directly from the Fellowship at this moment, it is something that could help us out later on in life with our business, our non-profit, or in our personal lives in general.
Now that I'm in the program, and based on the conversations I have had and the things I have been required to do, it definitely continues to verify all that I have said: that this is more than a fellowship. It's family.
To stay in the loop about the good trouble Camelback Fellows are getting into - sign up for our newsletter!