Were you creative as a child? How did the events of your early life lead you to where you are today? As a child my head was always in the clouds. I remember my teachers telling my mom, “He is a good student but he just doesn’t pay attention,” or, “He is always looking out the window.” I always felt that there was more to life. I pictured the world as a canvas. Growing up in Chicago was the best inspiration. The architecture, the people, the culture, the noise... it all paved the way for me to express my dreams through creativity. Growing up, we didn’t have much, so we relied on our imaginations to keep us busy. As a result, a sheet of paper and a pencil were essential in my life. You’ve had a couple of other businesses over the years. What were they and how have the successes and failures helped you? Back in 1997, my brother [and I] started a distribution company. I was 19 years old. This immediately exposed me to the business world, and I was hooked. It was a learning experience that paved the way to the education of running a business, and it opened the door to logo and packaging design, which was part of my job there. From there I moved on to the restaurant industry, which was the most exciting yet the most difficult adventure of my life. My wife and I were recently married and would rollerblade down Taylor Street in Chicago where we found this little unique place called Taco Fresco, a healthy alternative to traditional Mexican food. It was fresh, new and we fell in love with the concept. So we became owners of the place in 2003. The restaurant life was hard but I continued to push forward. In 2006 we decided to open a second location from the ground up in Munster, where we were living at the time. Halfway through this journey, my wife and I had our little girl Olivia Lee. The idea of operating a restaurant while supporting a family was scary enough, not to mention the recession economy of 2007-08. But I dove into the restaurant world and learned the ins and outs of operating and running a restaurant and also the experience of what a space should look like, what it should feel like, and how to market it. Design and creativity had once again shot an arrow in my heart. I loved the whole process of telling the brand’s story, from the use of color, textiles and texture of our space to the ingredients and flavors of our food. It was all creatively and conceptually developed. So my romance was in full swing.
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