The Power of Telling Stories that Celebrate Culture with Karina Martinez
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Meet Karina Martinez
After working for some of the largest household names in beauty Karina started The Avana House in 2018 in hopes to create an agency that better advocated for the representation of diverse backgrounds and innovative ideas in media.
Working to redefine the American palette and celebrate heritage-inspired foods is also a large part of Karina’s mission. To further support this work, she recently co-founded The New American Table, a coalition of industry veterans, founders, and venture capitalists that create systems to break barriers and in the food system. By putting in the work and playing a role in creating more equity in these spaces it is her hope that women of color, immigrants, and queer persons always know their story is worth sharing.
Episode Highlights
During this episode of The Food Means Business Podcast, we discuss:
Karina’s unconventional journey
The power of telling stories that celebrate culture and change the narrative for immigrants and people of color
Changing the landscape of food and expanding beyond the typical ethnic island
Leaning into your personal story to differentiate your brand
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00;00;00;08 - 00;00;04;25
Karina
Well, hello, Karina, Welcome to the Food Means Business podcast. I'm so happy to have you.
00;00;05;20 - 00;00;08;12
Karina
Yeah, thanks. I'm super excited to be here too.
00;00;08;25 - 00;00;17;28
Djenaba
So we've been following each other on LinkedIn for I guess a little bit over a year, so it's kind of nice to put a face to a name and to have a conversation. So I'm looking forward to it..
00;00;18;02 - 00;00;20;19
Karina
it’s a long time coming for sure.
00;00;20;19 - 00;00;32;14
Djenaba
So we are all about taking the leap from the corporate world into entrepreneurship. So we'd love to hear about you, your family, your story kind of like how you kind of how you became to be a CEO.
00;00;33;29 - 00;01;00;05
Karina
Oh gosh. So where do I start? So my journey is a little bit different than probably a lot of other people who have been who are kind of in the same space as me. So I graduated college about five years ago and truthfully, like had a really hard time keeping a job. And it was mostly because I discovered, like as an adult that I had ADHD.
00;01;00;19 - 00;01;32;11
Karina
And so was a lot of the learnings of like figuring out how to navigate that and also like now having to be on somebody else's schedule and structure. And so, you know, it had been about a little over a year and I had looked back and I had started in laughter, almost gotten fired from three jobs, and I was like, okay, at this rate, I'm likely to be the most unlikable person if I continue taking on a job for three or four months, leaving or getting asked to leave and then moving on.
00;01;33;04 - 00;01;55;24
Karina
So I took a little bit of a step back and I like figured out, okay, what is it that I really like to do? And I was young and I think part of it was really just trying to go after things that made me happy. And I know that's so cliche, but what I learned at the last stint that I had at my last job that I ever worked at was at a small PR agency, a little bit smaller than the one that I own now.
00;01;56;25 - 00;02;19;13
Karina
But I had learned really kind of the power of stories, and I never realized that there was an opportunity that you could tell stories kind of on a greater scale. And it was one of those things where I loved the the work but not the job. And so I thought, okay, there's got to be a way for me to do something similar to this.
00;02;19;13 - 00;02;49;07
Karina
But with the folks that I like, with the stories that I like and that kind of set out like that kind of was the catalyst to all of this. And there's been a lot of evolution and especially during it, throwing a pandemic in the midst of it all. But what I realized throughout this journey is the people that I attracted and the folks that were attracted to me and the brands and the stories that we were successful were the ones that were similar to my upbringing or the ones that I related to from a personal note.
00;02;49;18 - 00;03;13;27
Karina
And so those were either folks that were of immigrant descent and came here to the United States to kind of start a new life or were of of color and felt like they didn't have the narrative, it was in media that they wanted to be portrayed of themselves where the LGBT community or any were kind of in between.
00;03;14;10 - 00;03;33;05
Karina
And that kind of was the beginning of where I started really to fit into this niche of where we only work with brands and stories that are changing the narrative somehow in some way. And I didn't realize in all of this that this was kind of my own. Like becoming an and becoming is kind of what I'm saying.
00;03;33;05 - 00;03;57;06
Karina
And because I grew up an immigrant, my my family, my parents are from Cuba. They came to the United States to start new lives, mostly for political reasons. They had to leave. And funny enough, I'm adopted. I came to the United States from it, from Paraguay, and so my sister's also adopted. So we're this really like, interesting mix of an international family.
00;03;57;24 - 00;04;33;16
Karina
And I think like all of those pieces of us made me realize how intersecting my story was. And I never saw a version of me on TV or when I would read magazines or when I would learn about stories. And so that's really been kind of the the North Star for all of this is my own personal journey in wanting to see something a little bit different and something to see that some wanting to see things that represented me, but also just realizing that for so long the system has been broken.
00;04;34;04 - 00;04;49;03
Karina
And, you know, I'm not saying that we're going to change the world, but if we can just help in any way, shape or form or be and a group of people that actually understands that to me feels like a success.
00;04;50;01 - 00;05;10;22
Djenaba
So first, I just want to commend you for taking the leap at such a young age to starting your own business and really kind of recognizing that the corporate world wasn't for you. I have to say, like for myself, I just tried so hard to just fit in for so many years and it took getting laid off for me to say, okay, now I need to do something different.
00;05;10;22 - 00;05;30;08
Djenaba
That's kind of what I want to do. So I'm just going to commend you for that. Because because, because you get you go down this road of like, oh, you're making a certain amount of money and maybe you're working a schedule that you like. And then like we had a family and like throwing that all into the mix and you're like, Can I afford to on so many different levels, not just financially but on other ways, do take this leap and do this thing.
00;05;30;17 - 00;05;34;17
Djenaba
So congratulations on that. That is Thank you. That is amazing.
00;05;34;27 - 00;05;38;02
Karina
It was never the intention, really, but it just worked out that way. Yeah.
00;05;38;15 - 00;05;56;01
Djenaba
It's okay. So let's talk about of on a creative for a bit. I'd love to just hear about the business. I understand. Kind of thank you for sharing your origin story so we kind of understand the direction in the way you're going. But let's hear about the business, the types of brands that you work with, food brands specifically.
00;05;56;01 - 00;05;57;00
Djenaba
So yeah, great.
00;05;58;02 - 00;06;23;12
Karina
So again, it's also been its own evolution during the pandemic, but originally it started with restaurants and that was kind of vision was to be a team that told the story of like local culinary folks. I live in the L.A. area, so the first year and a half of business was mostly like restaurants and small businesses locally. Throw in March 2020, that all kind of ends up fading away.
00;06;23;12 - 00;06;43;22
Karina
And so, you know, I think I remember taking a step back and think, okay, what's next? And so just doing my own research and seeing my own buying behavior and also having a little bit of or having knowledge in the restaurant world, in the food world, what seemed to me as like the next transition was consumer packaged goods and food.
00;06;44;06 - 00;07;04;25
Karina
And I think through that process, particularly in CPG, where you have the ability to touch people from all over to all over the country when someone buys your product, I realized the impact that flavors can do to connect people on a national level or even a global level, especially during a time where everyone needed some sort of connection.
00;07;04;25 - 00;07;29;20
Karina
And so that's where it started. And I think having my own immigrant background, I remember being around the table. On how much food would connect us. It was a place where we would tell stories of my own, my family's case of Cuba and all the and all the things there. But it was also a place to teach us the next generation that didn't get the chance to live in Cuba, about our flavors, about our culture.
00;07;30;26 - 00;07;58;07
Karina
And I learned how powerful that connection was. And so that was kind of the natural trajectory. It didn't happen. It also kind of happened on accident. But now, you know, we particularly in the food space, is about 50% of our business, maybe a little bit more. But we primarily work with food and beverage brands that are founded by a person that is bringing a piece of their culture and changing the narrative.
00;07;58;18 - 00;08;24;09
Karina
And so that can mean anything from an ingredient or a space from another part of the world to teach people around how to enjoy zazen or how to enjoy saffron and what that means, or a package good, like a cactus stick, which is one of our brands, and teaching people the power of noble is and how it's actually filled with superfoods and tastes like a potato chip.
00;08;26;03 - 00;08;49;27
Karina
And so most of our brands that we work with are usually within the first few years of business, have proof of concepts, maybe have launched on a couple of like test runs, kind of have a really good understanding of who their customer profile isn't and now are looking into how do we turn like this local business that we have into more of a regional or a national.
00;08;49;27 - 00;08;52;04
Karina
And so that's usually where we come in.
00;08;52;04 - 00;09;06;16
Djenaba
Is the goal for your clients to have more mainstream customers or is it just to reach the people that may or are knowledgeable about the product already or the product ingredient already and know kind of know what they're going to get?
00;09;07;05 - 00;09;37;04
Karina
Great question. I think it's it really all depends. I think like some of them are like, hey, I have this thing from a piece of the world that no one understands. So it ends up being twofold, like educating in this what is like, for example, Nepalis and how do you eat them and what benefits do they have to my to to my day, but also, you know, reaching a mass consumer audience because really our goal is to change the entire landscape of food.
00;09;37;13 - 00;09;56;11
Karina
And I think if we only market to a subset of people, we're continuing to build to that like ethnic aisle narrative. And the reality is that like we as Americans come from all over the world. And so, yes, there are some folks that come from certain backgrounds that understand right off the bat what Nepalis are, how to enjoy saffron.
00;09;56;22 - 00;10;17;00
Karina
But the goal is to have the saffron and the cumin and the sesame on next to each other, because that's what America looks like. And so it all depends usually on like what part of their journey there are. And sometimes it is mean reaching mainstream because they're looking and they're looking to get into Roots and Whole Foods. And so those are more mainstream.
00;10;17;16 - 00;10;31;05
Karina
But it is, you know, inevitably when you have something that people are aren't essentially educated on or is different or exotic, there is an educational component to it.
00;10;31;05 - 00;10;52;28
Djenaba
So what about the grocery store aisle? Because there is still an ethic out in most grocery stores, which obviously is ridiculous, but they do still exist. So what kind of what can brands do or what kind of, you know, how do you work with your brand and how do we kind of get rid of the that ethnic aisle and kind of really integrate the products into into the other products within a store?
00;10;53;16 - 00;11;24;03
Karina
You know, I think I think there's a I think a lot of there's a lot of pressure on the brands to solve this problem. And I actually think it's a much larger institutional problem. Like, I actually think it's it's the responsibility of the buyers and the retailers to work alongside the brands that they're bringing in to integrate these brand, these these products so that like the Afghan chutney is next to the ketchup.
00;11;24;03 - 00;12;03;10
Karina
And the noble are also next to the Lay's and I think like all that we can do is teach people that these products and stories are, like I said, like what America looks like. But as far as the ethnic, I think there is always so much responsibility for the the brand or the founder or the team to educate when I actually think that there's a lot more of the responsibility should fall on the actual institution around retail and buyers and where they think about merchandizing these products.
00;12;03;10 - 00;12;29;07
Karina
You know, like I have a lot of thoughts around this and I think it should be a thing of the past. And I you know, I do think that there's there's I think it's continuing to aid to those stereotypes that you you only use these products for certain things. Right. And the reality is, like I said, the American pantry is saffron and so on and all of these things.
00;12;29;07 - 00;12;34;23
Karina
And, you know, I think that was a long winded answer, but that that was my thoughts.
00;12;34;24 - 00;12;53;04
Djenaba
No, that was great. Thank you. Thank you. So I do have another question. It's, you know, does everyone have a story to tell? Like, I think sometimes when we're building a brand and I have even my own story is, oh, there wasn't a commercial kitchen in our area. And so I wanted to build one like in. So it's kind of the same as some other one.
00;12;53;05 - 00;13;08;27
Djenaba
So like, how do people, how can brands differentiate themselves from from others? Because you do have people that are bringing in ingredient from from another country into the US market, like how can they how can they be different? How can we tell a different story?
00;13;09;20 - 00;13;38;21
Karina
I mean, that's a great question. I think think it's that's a that's a great question. You know, I think I always say, like your personal story is your superpower and there's a lot of things people can take from you. You know, like somebody in theory could put a commercial kitchen across the street and nothing can stop them. There's nothing like entirely proprietary around a lot of the things that we're doing, unless you have something really unique and really innovative.
00;13;38;21 - 00;14;05;04
Karina
But those are few and far between. But I don't think people realize, like their own power in their own story. And sure, it replicates your sure, maybe like it replicates like, Oh, I had this thing, I worked in corporate and now I'm here. There's a lot of things in between that that you're not recognizing. And it's sometimes not even our own fault just because we don't see what others see.
00;14;05;04 - 00;14;30;17
Karina
But I think, you know, like there are no two people that are like, so there are no two stories that are alike. And so I think it's so important to lean into that and not be afraid to let your personality shine through and also not be. I think there's what's the word. I think sometimes like when we start, we're so focused on being different or competitor analysis and sometimes just about being ourselves.
00;14;30;17 - 00;14;59;20
Karina
And I know that's so cliche, but it's the truth. I think people want authenticity. People want they want to know what that they're buying from a human, especially more than ever now. And I think it's more than okay to be authentic in that and to not be afraid to share those in-between bullet points, because that's really what the story is, is not the I did this.
00;14;59;20 - 00;15;05;05
Karina
It led me to this. But there's a lot of things in between that you're likely missing that I think are the most powerful.
00;15;06;00 - 00;15;23;26
Djenaba
Thank you. So there's a lot going on right now. This is Pride month. It's also Juneteenth. And I'd love to just get your thoughts on we've seen it and we've seen what brands can do wrong and we can talk about that all day. What what can brands do right, whether they want to support certain communities.
00;15;25;09 - 00;16;02;05
Karina
I think it's it's so much about the every day. You know, it's not about like this These these cultural celebrations are wonderful and I don't want to take the power away from having Black History Month or having Pride Month or having an Hispanic Heritage Month because those are so powerful. But I it's become so much of a performative thing that it's almost like there's everyone's like amping up into these days, but they're not thinking about the 11 other months leading up to it.
00;16;02;17 - 00;16;27;16
Karina
And so supporting the community means being an ally or being a leader in these spaces every single day. And there's so many things that we can do, whether it's around just building a tighter community within your organization and creating opportunities to learn. Also, something that people don't do enough is, is admit that they're wrong and say they're sorry.
00;16;27;16 - 00;16;58;08
Karina
And the truth is, like there's so much we're navigating now that's new and that's being called out and being or should I say, called in to learn about and there's even me as a multi-hyphenate person, I get things wrong all the time. But I think it's so important to say I'm wrong. How do I fix this? Or giving yourself grace to fail while learning, but continuing to try to learn, you know?
00;16;58;18 - 00;17;17;06
Karina
And so it's less about like the performative moment and having this like marketing thing that has like rainbows or who knows, it's about, you know, having all of those institutional pieces leading up into that and then utilizing that as a celebration.
00;17;17;26 - 00;17;36;21
Djenaba
Well, so speaking of celebrations, I'd love to hear what you're celebrating. We we have a what what I call our money Bella Hudson kitchen that we bring when people are celebrating anything from get getting new business to someone's employee getting their paycheck, they're excited so they're bringing this down. So one day like well what are you excited about?
00;17;36;21 - 00;17;59;00
Karina
Oh, gosh. I mean I think the biggest thing that I'm most excited about is we were a little over three years now, maybe close to three and a half. And I'm finally getting to a point where I've built a team or a team is in place where I can finally start to be a little bit more of a leader and less of an I'm less of like a a doer of the business and more of a leader.
00;18;00;17 - 00;18;22;07
Karina
And that's one of the things that excites me the most is being able to really have fun with the business again, because it can be daunting when there's a lot going on. But we've put in a lot of work and the foundation and the culture and the hiring process to have a team now that is way better at some of the things that I'm not.
00;18;22;07 - 00;18;45;14
Karina
And now I'm getting really close to the opportunity of being able to really enjoy building the vision rather than like working on a lot of the mundane things that they're a lot better at. So that's something I really celebrate. And I think just on a minor note, one of my one of my first employees just completed her first year, so that was really fun.
00;18;45;19 - 00;19;05;01
Djenaba
Wow, That's exciting. Yeah. And I'm interested, too. Like, what do you do for fun? Or like, do you what do you do outside of work? And I ask this because, like, as a entrepreneur, we often kind of just work and go home and watch Netflix. So it's like, what do you what are you doing? What do you and what other things are you involved in outside of, outside of work?
00;19;06;04 - 00;19;28;20
Karina
I'd like to give you like a really good answer and say like, you know, I can I like have all these friend groups, but that's not the case at all. Um, you know, I think for me, I'm not so much of like a hobby separate person, but it's more around the people. And I'm lucky that all of my family lives within a 20 mile radius.
00;19;28;20 - 00;19;45;17
Karina
And so any pastime is usually with my girlfriend or my family. And just being together and sitting around the couch sharing stories or having sitting around the dinner table and sharing stories is really like my favorite pastime.
00;19;45;17 - 00;20;02;02
Djenaba
That's really great. So I have friends and family and everything is so important, so history. So thank you so much for being on. The Food Means Business podcast. I would love for you to give us some information about where we can find you and how people can work with you.
00;20;02;14 - 00;20;17;01
Karina
Yeah, so our website is about a creative, AVANAcreative.com. You can also email me at Karina@avana creative .com and then all of our socials are of the same. Oh, thank you so much.