We recently connected with Dr. Jonathan Hernandez and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Jonathan , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
The goal since the very beginning of RISE 2 IT PRODUCTIONS has always been simple: to provide students of all ages with the interpersonal and networking tools that they will need to succeed! Additionally, since our start in 2016, we have evolved into a one-stop shop in the personal/professional development/motivational speaking space. As a result of our growth, our services have been requested all over the United States and beyond! Words cannot express how meaningful it has been to give back to our communities through monetary opportunities (such as scholarships) or educational best practices…and I feel that we are just getting started!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In 2015, I received national attention for my success in teaching, which resulted in me being ranked a Top 5 Professor in the United States (e.g. NBC News, NBC Latino, USA Today, Rate MY Professors, etc.) When the news hit, I was extremely shocked! I grew up in a small city in Central California with both of my parents devoting their life’s work tied into the K-12 sectors. I chose to pursue higher education as my career focus, and it has been one of the best decisions of my life. Shortly after the headlines made their way around the country, I began to experience a flood of requests to speak at different schools, colleges and universities. As a Professor of Communication, ironically, I knew little about motivational speaking at that time. However, when reviewing my evaluations from students – the words “motivational” kept popping up as a trend that was consistent among the majority of my classes. “Non-traditional” was also a common theme.
So, I thought to myself: how can I replicate what I do in the classroom and take it on the road? To start, I knew that I wanted to incorporate music at all of our live events to bring out the best in people’s energy: DJ Sal Cortez is second to none in the DJ/Emcee space. I knew that I wanted to have our own photographer/videographer at all of our events to capture the learning/fun: Mr. Frankie Leal is that guy. I have a good friend that has traveled the world as a professional stand-up comedian; and ultimately I knew that his stories would resonate and capture the attention of all ages: Mr. Andre Covington adds that special element. And, most recently, I knew that we needed to add a female to our roster. I am proud to announce that International Keynote Speaker/Award-Winning Author, Erica Alfaro is now part of the RISE 2 IT Family. This lineup is incredible! I am so humbled that we are able to accomplish success as a team. Truly, we are the one-stop shop that tailors our messages/workshops/conferences for each organization that we work with. We enjoy pushing ourselves to the limit! We enjoy RISING 2 IT to bring out the best in ourselves and others!
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Credibility. I think this word is one of the most powerful, yet, underrated words utilized today. I didn’t give it my all in the classroom in hopes of becoming a motivational speaking/keynote speaker one day. I just did the work and still do the work in the classroom because I genuinely enjoy it. I’m a firm believer in putting God first, and doing everything we can to maximize our time here on earth to represent him – and that’s what I did and that is what I will always do. It took several years of teaching 12-16 hours a day to build credibility as an adjunct communication instructor…but I am so grateful that I did early on before I was hired full-time at my institution. It certainly helped me build the credibility needed to thrive in this speaking industry today.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I am from Central California and I am proud to be! If you have never visited this region in California, I can tell you this: we have some of the hardest working people in the world that live here. Whether it’s seen through the farmers/farm-workers that get up early every day to do what they need to do to support their families, to the phenomenal teachers that paved the way for people like me to do what I do – hard work and resilience is all that we know around these parts. My “book smarts” mean nothing without my “resiliency.” I feel that this region embodies what it means to work hard and to dream big.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rise2itpro.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rise2itpro/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RISE2ITPRO
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rise2itproductions/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rise2itpro
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/RISE2ITPRO