Today we’d like to introduce you to Chef Miguel Martinez.
Hi Chef Miguel , please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve always had an interest in cooking, primarily because, of course, we all have to eat! I was raised by my grandmother, and although we didn’t have much, there was always a hot meal on the table. As I got older, I realized how important that tradition was to me. Sitting around the table, sharing a meal, and making sure my own family had that same experience became something I really valued.
In 2020, I had an idea to help kids who didn’t know how to cook learn some basic cooking skills. I wanted to create a small program within a school, but I needed funding to make it happen. Unfortunately, getting funding was especially difficult during COVID.
So, I decided to create a cookbook, hoping I could raise enough money through it to eventually fund the program. Little did I know, that cookbook would be the beginning of something much bigger.
A few people who purchased the book started asking me to share more recipes, which led me to create a social media page @Hesgotflavor, which was the name of my first cookbook. I began posting simple, approachable recipes, and surprisingly, everything just seemed to resonate with people. The audience grew, and what started as a way to raise money for a program for kids turned into a much larger community.
People may have assumed I started it to become an influencer or simply get likes and comments, but that was never the goal. My only intention was to help kids learn an important life skill and hopefully create an opportunity for them that I didn’t have growing up.
In the end, I got so much more than I ever expected. What started with a cookbook and an idea to help a few kids grew into a platform, a community, and a purpose that continues to mean a lot to me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Probably the biggest challenge has been finding the time to create while also running another business. That business was paying the bills, so I couldn’t simply walk away from it, but at the same time, the community I was building started to mean so much more to me because it had a deeper sense of purpose.
There were many times when I thought about quitting. It was a lot of work, and in the beginning, I wasn’t sure where it was going. But then I started hearing from people I didn’t even know, from all over the world, telling me how my videos had impacted them. Those messages changed everything for me. I realized I couldn’t quit because this had become bigger than me.
Another struggle was finding people who believed in the original vision and were willing to help fund it. I didn’t need a huge amount of money, but this was during COVID, and people were understandably being cautious with their finances. It was difficult to get people to take a chance on an idea when everyone was dealing with so much uncertainty.
Then, ironically, things started to take off. At first, social media growth was very slow, and then almost overnight, it seemed to explode. I suddenly had to figure out, “What do I do now?” One of my biggest challenges became figuring out how to make the next video better without losing the authenticity that got people there in the first place.
What most people didn’t realize was that I wasn’t really creating content for the internet. I was just sharing my family dinner. That was it. I wasn’t trying to create a viral video or become an influencer. I was simply doing something I genuinely enjoyed and sharing it with people.
The response has probably been the biggest surprise of the entire journey. I never imagined hundreds of millions of views or reaching people around the world. If anything, the experience has taught me that real passion will always be noticed. You can’t fake that. People can tell when something comes from a genuine place, and I think that’s what has carried this journey forward.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My professional background is primarily in business development, brand building, and marketing. I’ve always enjoyed taking an idea and figuring out how to turn it into something people connect with, not just from a business perspective, but from a brand and community perspective.
What’s interesting is that those skills eventually found a completely different purpose through He’s Got Flavor. What started as sharing my family dinners and recipes grew into a community with a much bigger impact than I ever anticipated.
Then idea for my recent venture, House of Flava actually came directly from that community. I kept reading comments from people saying how much they loved the sauces and spices I was using in my recipes and asking, “Why don’t you sell these?” Honestly, I laughed it off for a while… But after hearing it over and over again, one day it hit me—wait a minute…this is actually a great idea!
That’s what led me to create House of Flava, a gourmet sauce and spice company designed to make it easier for families to create flavorful, approachable meals at home. But for me, it’s about much more than selling sauces and spices. It’s about encouraging families to get back to the table, spend time together, and make cooking something that feels easy, enjoyable, and accessible.
It has also given me another way to do what I originally set out to do—help kids and support the community. A portion of the proceeds can go back toward those efforts, so the products themselves become another vehicle for making an impact.
What I’m most proud of is how organically all of this has happened. I didn’t start out trying to build an influencer brand, a food company, or a large community. I was simply sharing something I loved. The audience responded, their feedback sparked an idea, and that idea became a business with a purpose.
I think that’s also what sets me apart. I bring a background in business development, branding, and marketing, but I’m building around something much more personal and authentic—family, food, community, and purpose. I know how to build a brand, but I also understand that the strongest brands are built around something people genuinely care about.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Something that may surprise people is that I actually created the Flavors of Change Foundation. A lot of people know me through my recipes, videos, and now House of Flava, but they may not realize that giving back has been at the heart of this journey from the very beginning.
When I first started this journey, my goal was to help families learn how to cook and develop skills they could carry with them for the rest of their lives. I created the Flavors of Change Foundation as a way to turn that original vision into something bigger and create more opportunities to support kids and communities.
What’s interesting is that the foundation came before the business success. I wasn’t looking for a way to give back after I became successful. Giving back was actually one of the reasons I started in the first place.
Now, through the foundation, the community I’ve built and House of Flava, I have more opportunities to make an impact than I ever imagined. I think that’s probably the part of my story that people who only see the food and social media side may not know. www.thehouseofflava.com
Pricing:
- Bourbon Sauce $14.95
- Sweet Ginger Teriyaki $14.95
- Kick N BBQ $14.95
- Gift Bundle $59.95
- Spices $10.95
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thehouseofflava.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hesgotflavor and www.instagram.com/houseofflavaco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HesGotFlavor
