We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alexandra Hernandez . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alexandra below.

Alexandra , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Here is our story. Before I begin, I really want the reader to know, “I’m writing my story so that others might see fragments of themselves.” – Lena Waithe. I am quoting Lena because hopefully you, the reader, will take something from what we have created and be inspired to act on your passion. Now, here is the story of how El Elote went from a dream to a reality…one elote at a time. There really wasn’t a specific plan behind creating El Elote. The whole concept started while my husband, Arturo, and I were sitting on the beach in Veracruz, Mexico with our family. We sat there, watching the locals sell their shrimp, homemade food, and jewelry. It was so humbling. All these people put so much love into what they were selling. And that’s where the conversation started. We wanted to bring something we love, something delicious, something simple to our hometown, Sandy Springs. For years, visiting family in Mexico, our first stop was always to the local elotero. We wanted to introduce something unexpected to our community that we knew they’d soon love. The combination of mayonnaise, cotija cheese, and seasoning on a boiled ear of corn was foreign to most, but not to us. Just like apple pie is to America, elotes are to Mexico. And that was it! ELOTE! Our passion for that delicious, mouth-watering, simple street treat needed to be shared.
We are true believers in not forcing things to happen. From the very beginning, things just fell into place. We drove all over Sandy Springs before we found six different properties we were interested in. We knew we wanted to be on the main drag of Roswell Road and after numerous emails and hearing “NO”, we finally heard the one word that put a smile on our face, “YES”! Here is where our story really took a turn. The location where our first pop-up is located, is just 500 feet from where Arturo and I met, 500 feet from where he proposed to me, 500 feet from where we found out we were pregnant with our first child, and 500 feet from where OUR story begins. We knew when we heard, “YES”, things were going to fall right into place. When you have a simple passion, things happen naturally.
Everyone has heard of King of Pops, I mean you’re not really from Atlanta unless you have experienced one of their “unexpected moments of happiness”. They are the pop-ups Kings! And we wanted to create moments of happiness too. So, we did our research. We watched video after video of eloteros (a person that runs a corn stand), we visited different pop-up events, we “stalked” Instagram and Facebook pages, and even drove to Texas to have the “best elote”. While not taking any short-cuts, we have maintained the integrity of elote and have created our own family recipe. We purchased a tent, tables, pots, coolers, crates, spoons, bowls, dowels, cups, mayonnaise, shakers, peppers, corn….lots of corn, and started watching everything come together. While I was creating our logo and designing our shirts, Arturo was working hard creating our seasonings. We were wearing face masks before it was cool and COVID hit the world. On June 10, 2017 at 6:08 PM we sold our very first elote! And from that moment on, we turned our little conversation into a passion. We don’t just sell elotes, we sell smiles, an experience, and connect with people.
It’s just corn! That’s our tagline and that’s what we do. We take a perfectly boiled ear of corn, slather it with mayonnaise, toss it in cotija cheese, and sprinkle one or all of our homemade seasonings on it. Are you drooling yet? Just wait…there’s more…our seasonings range from mild to spicy on the scoville scale. Chili lime is one of our most popular flavors and is considered a more mild seasoning. Then, we have Gringa, Smokey (made with roasted chipotle peppers), and our spiciest seasoning, Botox (made with roasted chile de arbol). We didn’t stop there…we have also created an amazing line-up of sauces. Our OG is Mamacita. Mamacita is a little sweet and a little spicy, just like our moms. Next is Holy Smokes, a lime based sauce with smoky undertones. On the other side of the spectrum we have a couple of cream based sauces, No Poblano and Ha Ha Habanero. The names pretty much describe themselves.
We also make esquites. Esquites is corn off the cob served in a cup, AKA deconstructed Elote. The exception is we add a unique Mexican herb to it and cook it in vegetable stock. We have to say that our esquites are our top seller.
We handpick every single ear of corn. I guess you can say we have become corn connoisseurs. The elotes have to be the perfect size. As far as the esquites, each ear of corn is cut off the cob and cooked to perfection. It’s important to make sure it has the right texture. We want people to bite into it and hear that crunch. We are seasonal because we refuse to use canned or frozen corn. That is definitely something that makes us stand out, our attention to detail when it comes to picking the right ear of corn. People from all over are driving miles to taste our amazing corn with its unique homemade seasonings and signature sauces.
We are a true family business. When we first started talking about El Elote, we told our children that we are either going to be successful or completely bomb. We believe that people love seeing a family come together and create something with passion. It’s not a job, it’s a passion, it’s something we love and share with others. One last thing before I go, keep your eyes peeled because even though we are seasonal, we have perfected the art of canning. That’s right! We have started canning our esquites and are currently selling them in local farmer’s markets. Soon, they will be featured in your neighborhood speciality shop. Just look for our name, El Elote.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in the restaurant industry. My mother’s side of the family owned hotels and restaurants. While my dad decided to open a successful restaurant in late 80’s right on Roswell Road. So, you could say being “in the industry” was in my blood. I managed different restaurants ranging from a good old-fashioned malt shop to pizza and Chinese. There was nothing I wasn’t willing to try. I always like to push myself and continue learning. Something in the back of my mind kept speaking to me. There was a quite voice that over time got louder and louder. It kept telling me to start making my dreams come true. It was time for me to close the chapter in my life where I helped owners run their restaurants and open the chapter where I run my own. I have always loved the camaraderie among the people I worked with. You work so close with these people, you learn from them, you learn about them, and they become part of your family. I loved how “the regulars” turned into friends. They also become part of your family. I love how quickly I have to think on my feet and defuse situations. For me, it gave me satisfaction and purpose. But what if it was MY restaurant, MY “regulars”, MY dream? And that is exactly what my husband and I did. Together, with our children, we threw caution in the wind and became eloteros. Here’s the best part, we have no competition! Yes, there are restaurants or other pop-ups that sell their version of elote or esquites (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). And that is exactly what it is, a version. With El Elote, you are getting exactly what our name says, ELOTE. After all, it’s just corn!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Life is full of lessons. Everywhere you turn there is a new lesson right there in front of you. And when you co-own a business with your spouse, it teaches you even more lessons. The main lesson we both have learned while running El Elote is business is business. All the personal feelings go out the window and together, as a team, you work together to make sure you are successful. There have been instances where our son had a soccer game that we both wanted to go to, but one of us needed to run the company. It’s a rock, paper, scissors situation. One of us went to the game, and the other ran the pop-up. No one won, no one lost, just it’s business.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Back in 1999, I was running a restaurant in Sandy Springs and we were looking for someone to work the grill in the morning. It was a pretty straightforward position, all that was required was a willingness to learn and a pulse. In walked Arturo. I immediately noticed his eyes and smile. His English was not the best, but he was eager to work and willing to learn. The next day he showed up, early, and hit the ground running. Throughout the shift he tried his very best to under what I was teaching him, while I tried my very best to make sure he didn’t get hurt. He insisted on proving to me that he “had everything under control and did not need my help.” Actually, he insisted so much that he made a bet with me. If he needed my help, then I would have to buy him a drink after work. If he did NOT need my help, then he would buy me a drink. In his eyes it was a win-win situation. And either way, we would be having a drink together. Tricky man! Needless to say, I ended up having to buy him that drink. And the rest is history….we have spent the next 20+ years together. And in that time we have created a family, supported each other’s dreams, had each other’s backs, listened to each other’s problems, wiped each other’s tears, and whenever in doubt, we always figured it out. So opening a business together was a no-brainier.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://5e5490e5bb362.site123.me/
• Instagram: @el.elote
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Food-Stand/El-Elote-1874770039440408/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/el-elote-sandy-springs