Exploring Life & Business with Jolbert Hernandez of Fenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jolbert Hernandez.

Hi Jolbert, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I was born on October 28, 2000, in Caracas, Venezuela. I come from a family of entrepreneurs who has always been willing to create and innovate. My parents have always been in business (buying and selling clothes and shoes) since very When I was little, they taught me to work and earn things through my efforts and dedication. My first job with them was in a physical store serving customers who came to buy shoes and sportswear. I remember very clearly how my grandfather taught me to provide the best customer service and be kind so they would be loyal customers of the company store. From that moment, I realized the business’s success because it made many sales daily, and the arrival of new clients was always constant. From the beginning, I always liked what I was doing at that time; maybe at that time, I was a child, and I didn’t have the same vision I now have. Still, on that path of learning, he taught me that you have to learn to earn things and that everything has value. To get far, you have to work hard for what you want to achieve to all those who have always been there, supporting me from the beginning and always filling me with words of encouragement so as not to fall and continue forward. I owe a lot of thanks to all of you. I have always characterized myself as an orderly person and willing to do what has to be done to achieve all that I long for; My school stage taught me to mature and acquire new knowledge that today has helped me to get ahead and cope with life in a better way. After living many years in Venezuela, graduating from high school, and meeting many friends who today I consider to be important people in the course of my life, the least expected moment arrived.

In 2018 my country faced a very strong economic, social and political crisis. No one wants to come to pass, leaving my country, the land that saw me grow up, and where I can say and affirm that I have lived the best years of my life. I was immediately forced to change course and look for another horizon, so I emigrated to Colombia, where my mother was born. I arrived in Colombia and was received by my grandparents and uncles in a city called Pitalito in the south of the department of Huila. It was not an easy process for me since I had to adapt to new customs, but I know that with the support of my family, everything could be a little easier. The time came to start working, and for this occasion, it would be with people I did not know, and none of them were from my family circle in Venezuela. I always had the comfort of working with my family, but when I arrived in Colombia, all this changed, and I had to adapt.

To this new cycle in my life, at that time, I was 18 years old, and I was a very inexperienced person with a lot of immaturities to face life as if it had to be the right way. I made many mistakes I left jobs. I was rude to my relatives. I was reluctant to adapt to my new lifestyle and did not feel like moving forward; it was as if someone had taken my happiness from my hands, partly due to my country’s political and socioeconomic problems. But beyond all this, all I have to do is accept and resign myself to learning to live life as the universe does not put it; my time in Colombia helped me a lot to mature and live far from my parents. And I acquired a lot of knowledge that I am sure Venezuela did not learn them. Despite not achieving my goals in Colombia in 2020, I decided to return to my country. I had not seen my parents for more than a year, and my mother’s birthday was approaching. So I decided everything would be a surprise and I would arrive in Venezuela without my parents finding out. The day came to leave Colombia. I left a little nostalgic since that time that I spent living and sharing with my grandparents, uncles, and new colleagues that I made filled me with memories and moments that I would like to repeat. I arrived in Venezuela, and as I had mentioned before, everything was a surprise; my parents cried, they were filled with emotion when they saw me back home, and we all celebrated that day for my return to Venezuela. Days passed, and I thought I would go to work or what would happen to me in this new life cycle. Exactly one month after I arrived in Venezuela, the world was experiencing a pandemic (Covid-19) that was the cause of many deaths around the planet. We had to stop work and lock ourselves in the house for several months; we were all uncertain about what would happen since we couldn’t work, and now how were we going to survive those months that we would be without work?

The month of April arrived, and a venture was born that was named pork rinds don mo, and later changed the name to abuemoy. This venture is carried out by my uncle Albeiro Renza; I started working together with him. We have been dedicated for a long time to the sale of depotted pork. Thank God I already had a source of income and what better way to do it than with my family? The undertaking was a success, and we expanded to many parts of Caracas. My duration in the company was exactly 5 months. I finished my process and started a new job with another of my uncles Alejandro Renza.

The job was what I started working from my beginnings in clothing and sports shoe store serving customers. Even though I had a job, the money was never enough to achieve what I wanted. We started the new year 2021, and in my mind, an idea was born that today is the project that I want to see as a very successful brand, the creation of a brand called “FENIX” in a few years was born. My purpose was to create designs to print on t-shirts and send to manufacture the first production, which was 60 flannels. It was not easy because I only had $200 in my pocket, and that was when I had to start manufacturing the product. The total cost of the flannels was $400. I still had to complete half of it between so much thinking and knowing how I was going to collect the person who would lend them to me.

Finally, I could pay for the production, they gave me the textile, and I began to do the most difficult to sell them and get clients. Venezuela was still living in a pandemic, and the virus still hit the country’s economy; at that time, I did not achieve many sales until after three months. About three years ago, I had to fulfill a goal that I had not been able to achieve, which was to travel to the US. The month of June arrived, and I already had everything ready for the trip on June 28, 2021. It was the day I fulfilled that goal. I went through an even more difficult process than the one I experienced in Colombia since, at this moment, I only had the strength to continue forward and live the challenge of arriving in a country that knew that it was not easy to adapt to a new lifestyle. Many people helped me along the way, and others closed their doors to me, but I met wonderful people so that the road would not be so difficult for me. I lived through many bitter moments. I first arrived in Miami, and after 4 months, I decided to move to the state of Tennessee, the city of Nashville. I arrived in the middle of winter, and it was very hard to face the low temperatures of the cold. In this process, I had to stop my projects regarding my t-shirt brand, but after 7 months, I managed to send my first samples to be manufactured, but these would not be manufactured in Venezuela but China. And so far, my whole path of what it is to be an entrepreneur is summed up. My short-term goals are to continue selling the t-shirts in Venezuela and focus mainly on making my first sales here in the US. I hope you liked my story; this will help many people who want to start in this world of entrepreneurship.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The lack of resources being away from my parents, the economic crisis of my country, adapting to new changes

As you know, we’re big fans of Fenix. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about the brand?
Fenix is a brand that was born to create t-shirts with prints so that people feel authentic and unique when wearing their clothes. Our mission is that we can reach many countries and be that brand that makes any Venezuelan proud.

Pricing:

• 17
• 15
• 14
• 12
• 10

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fenixeeuu/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063940849670