We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emerson Majano a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Emerson , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

You Know Being an immigrant, success its something that you see from very far away, specially because of the barriers that you have as an immigrant (No knowing any English) now the question is, Is there anything that can stop you to believe in your dreams and become successful??

I think that to be very successful, you need a lot of courage, a lot of consistency, a lot of focus and a lot of strength to be able to move forward along the way. It is not easy at all. It takes a lot of time and, above all, it takes a lot of patience to be able to achieve success. It is not easy. It takes a lot of tears and humiliation. many scorns and sometimes many slaps even from the family itself and that is why one of the things I say to be able to achieve success in life and go far is to be strong, consistent and above all patient

and here’s is where I come and ask again, are you really focus on your dreams? is there anything can stop you to believe in your dreams to become successful and a great example of success?

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

My name is Emerson Majano, I am a Chef, a food consultant, and a motivator currently working in Surfas, a culinary district in Los Angeles, CaliforniaSurfas is a culinary district in a few words, a paradise for chefs or food lovers. My job is to help clients find what they need in the food area, in this case as a food consultant, one of the things that makes me different from others in this industry is that I care about their success and a lot about their recipe success, at the same time, I care a lot about each person, each client, each diner who comes to my work. As someone once told me, “Being disciplined and at the same time providing quality service is what can make people come back.” I love my job and I love the work environment in which I work, this industry is not easy industry because we encounter many temperaments of different people, but something I am very proud of is that each client can leave my work area very happy, because all their doubts were clarified and for every food and drink they digested they can feel the passion. the love and care we put on the plate.Quality customer service is something that identifies me and the company a lot and I am very proud of it because I always like to see that each person leaves happy and with their stomachs very happy, always with a smile and always motivating them to cook with love.At my job, apart from having a food specialty department, we also have a small cafe inside the district, as well as a Smallwares department and a culinary equipment department, which will help with equipment that the restaurant needs and if you did not know it, at Surfas we also do kitchen designs in a few words at Surfas they find everything a chef or cook needs if they can’t find it, we will find it for you. The most fun thing about my job is that every day you learn a lot about different cuisines and from my boss Frank you always learn something new from the kitchen equipment. in this place, you never stop learning, which is exciting every day

One of the things you should take into account is that you will leave Surfas with all your questions answered.
In other words, this place, is basically, the “behind the scenes of the restaurant Industry” is shown.
At the same time, I am an ambassador for a culinary program called C-CAP Los Angeles.C-Cap is a culinary program that opens the doors to many students who want to be in the culinary industry, from doing training in professional kitchens to doing culinary competitions that lead to many things, such as winning scholarships to the best culinary schools, They are also introduced to the culinary world and began a career in this wonderful industry.

Personally, C-CAP has been the main driving force in my culinary life, since I would not be where I am if it had not been for them, Lisa, Gail, Eli, and the founder, Richard Grausman.

This program focuses on training all those High School students who are passionate about cooking. For me, it is a pride to be part of this program, of which Surfas is also part of this program, a program that encourages many people and me as an immigrant who had no hope. They gave me hope to obtain a career that I am passionate about.
All this has been obtained with consistency, patience, effort, dedication, and some “YOU CAN DO IT VIEJITO it’s not easy but not impossible” from my Friend Gustavo.
Now very happy, I can say that I love interacting with each client who comes to my work, each diner who eats at my work, and at the same time being an inspiration for others, being an inspiration for success.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I remember that long before working at Surfas and meeting my current boss Frank Casares, I worked at an Italian restaurant called Rossoblu, which is led by the fantastic Chef Steve, Samson and that was in 2020. I remember that I worked at the restaurant and I studied that restaurant, working there, I loved it, I enjoyed it, I learned a lot and then unfortunately came what we all at one time detested and hated with all our might, which was COVID-19. Unfortunately, the restaurant had to close on certain occasions due to coronavirus risks.Right before the coronavirus hit, I had done my competition with C-Cap Los Angeles and when COVID hit they gave me news over the phone that I had won the full scholarship to go to the Culinary Education Institute in Pasadena, the second-best culinary school in the country. Unfortunately, COVID arrived and they closed the restaurant, which to date was able to survive and they are still in Business My chef instructor had guided me to buy the necessary equipment for me since I was going to start culinary school once that happened how I met Frank Casares, because I purchased at the place. Over time I had the privilege of being able to be in contact with Frank Casares and they had closed the restaurant where I used to work (Rossoblu). I remembered that I had an open door with Frank, and I was able to contact him to see if he had any open positions. and that’s how it all started if that’s how I started working at Surfas Culinary District. I started working and my mind started exploding from all the information learned in one place, learning from most of all the different cuisines in this industry.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Over time I have read many books that have helped me with my culinary growth and at the same time with my culinary knowledge and motivation.

The books that have kept me motivated have been the book called “Dream First, Details Later” and another book “My Life from Scratch” These books have been an inspiration, but one of the greatest motivations I have had, has been my mother and my friends who have motivated me a lot, such as Gustavo and one of my great inspirations has been Monti Carlo (@themonticarlo) who has been a great example for me and another person who has always helped me never give up. and always giving everything has been Peggy. Like I wouldn’t be where I am if it hadn’t been for them.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @chefemersonmajano
• Facebook: Emerson Majano
• Other: @ccaplosangeles (IG) @surfasla (IG)