So I am really excited to present my followers and viewers to the second installment of my new series "Can't Knock the Hustle." This week I am featuring my good friend Denise Hernandez! Denise and I went to high school together back in the day. We had class together and she also was a cheerleader for the football team, so me and her crossed paths on a daily basis. We kind of lost touch after we graduated, but we would run into each other through mutual friends. It wasn't until this past summer where I really got to hang out and know Denise. In the spring she messaged me asking if I was going to be in NY this summer. I thought she needed a place to crash because I knew she has always wanted to go back again to visit the East Coast. But she told me she might have found a fashion opportunity in New York so she was looking for help as far neighborhood recommendations if she got the internship. I was excited because I knew NY would be the perfect place for her! So for a couple months I helped her out finding places to live, so I recommended Brooklyn, which was the area she called home for the summer. With experience living in the Big Apple I toured her around the city, recommended places to visit and restaurants to eat. We weren't really close, so I was excited to get her insight about life and what she was doing.
I told Denise I wanted to feature her for a couple reasons. The biggest one was that we came from the same place. The reality is, where we are from (San Fernando Valley) a lot of people get stuck. Not everybody but a large percentage of my high school friends decided to stay. I know there were reasons that prevented people from leaving, but it doesn't mean leaving is not an option. And it doesn't mean that not leaving makes you less successful. Like I have said and reflected on, we all can be successful in our own right. Not everybody shoots for the same target. I always thought and still believe that if you are dedicated then there is a way out to explore the rest of the state, country and world both physically and mentally. So I encourage people to don't be afraid to put yourself out on a limb, to go against the grain as far as society as a whole, or just of your environment. The people who get "stuck" are those who give excuses for everything and run away from adversity. So I gained a lot of respect for Denise because she took herself out of a comfort zone, physically and mentally, to follow her passion for fashion and pursue an opportunity in New York. She applied, interviewed and eventually got a dope internship. She doesn't go to an Ivy League school but it doesn't mean she is not successful in her own right. To be honest there isn't much that makes me and Denise different. Just 2 valley kids that went our separate ways and somehow ended up working internships in the same city this past summer; who would've thought!?. I respect her hustle in aiming for something and obtaining it! She'll tell you that she was nervous moving to a whole new world, and I sympathized with her because I didn't know anybody in New York when I moved too. She fully took advantage of her situation and met some cool people that will propel her future in fashion. A lot of people outside the Valley might not understand because they don't see the culture and what goes on back home, but I don't know many people that took that big leap to pursue their passion. Get out of your comfort zone and screw what people tell you and just go out and "Live"!!!
Denise actually inspired me to start blogging. At the beginning of the summer she came over and we set up her blog which features her favorite styles and trends in the fashion industry, along with other subject matter that catches her attention! It was cool helping her out and I liked the idea, so I started my own blog and now I'm returning the favor by introducing her on my blog; another soldier of the movement!
Denise's roommate Nadia is from Russia and loved her style, so she asked Denise to do a photoshoot. Little did she know that her first photo shoot would be featured in the Russian magazine "Look at Me". Nadia has a couple of friends who work for the magazine whom also fell in love with Denise's style when they saw the photos! If Denise never would have looked into New York then the magazine would have never happened. So this is another reason I see Denise as a member of this movement, because didn't care what people thought. She went after it and I am happy for whats in store for her. Below is the link to the feature and also a link to her blog!! Check it out!
Denise's friend Nadia is an awesome photographer! Denise showed me her tumblr and I love what she is doing with the camera!! Big shout out to her and what she is doing! Respect what she did for Denise and I definitely see big things happening for her too! Below is a link to her blog! Check it out:
http://bedj.tumblr.com/
A couple weeks ago Denise told me exciting news a couple weeks ago that she was asked to do a photo shoot. Below are the shots she sent me and they were for a friends project. She was styled in LF clothes (how do you guys like her look??). Some of you might recognize the setting, but the site is Lombard St. in San Francisco. People associate Lombard St. as the long winding street in the Bay. Happy Denise has been active and keeping busy with fashion. I know it is her passion and I am excited for new updates in her own movement! Make sure to follow and check out her blog!
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