We recently connected with Fernando Ortega and have shared our conversation below.

Fernando, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

Probably the best investment I ever made was using the $7,000 my father lent me to start developing the **ILOVEACEITE** project in the United States. That investment not only changed the destiny and projection of our company, which went from being a Spanish company to having a subsidiary in the United States, but it also changed my life forever because I was finally able to fulfill my dream of having my own business in the North American market and operating as a local company.

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

It’s challenging at this stage of my life to summarize who I am and what I do. I was born in Murcia (1969) but raised in Jaén (Andalucia), so that’s where I feel I belong. I hold a law degree from the University of Navarra (D’92), a Master’s in Corporate Tax Advisory (Centro de Estudios Fiscales 1993), and a Master’s in Administrative Management of Traffic Law (University of Murcia 2001). I have been practicing as a lawyer since 1993, working with both national and international companies. In 2004, I began developing my own business ideas and projects, leveraging all the opportunities the internet offered. I created Publicatuslibros.com in 2004, a book editor, Ittakus Comunicación in 2005, a marketing company, a neswspaper called Noticiascadadía in 2006, ILOVEACEITE in 2009 (olive oil brand, ecommerce and export), and in January 2016, I started the ILOVEACEITE US (food, wine and catering service) project in San Antonio, Texas, where I spend much of the year. I was a guest lecturer from 2013 to 2019 in the Master’s program in Land Transport Engineering and Logistics at the University of Jaén and served as a mentor in the mentoring program at Free Trade Alliance (San Antonio, Texas) and the University of Texas at San Antonio UTSA.

These activities have led me to collaborate with numerous publications and magazines in every sector I’ve been involved with professionally, entrepreneurially, or literarily, both nationally and internationally—although, when I grow up, I want to be a poet. Over the years of doing business in the United States, I have owned a Spanish food truck called **”La Plaza”** and was the owner of the Spanish restaurant **Rock & Tapas**, which we unfortunately had to close because it didn’t work out—perhaps the biggest business failure I have faced since I started working at just 20 years old.

Alongside my entrepreneurial activities, I also pursue my passion for photography (I have authored several national and international photography exhibitions), video, social media, and literature, with several works published in Spain in both prose and poetry. Since 2018, I have been a co-owner of a **moving and catering company**, where I serve as the **executive chef**.

In short, I never get bored!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I could tell many stories about my resilience, but perhaps **”the story”** is the fact that I landed in the United States with no experience in this market, a green suitcase, and $500 in my pocket. If I hadn’t adapted, I would have given up quickly and gone back to Spain.

I didn’t understand concepts like **credit history** and, without it, the number of limitations I faced—how impossible it was to get a credit card or live in an apartment I actually liked. I had to start from scratch to build my new life in the U.S., having no credit at all, living in rather unpleasant places, and going door to door just so potential clients could learn about my product because I was unaware of the **brokerage system** that exists in this country.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

After the 2008 crisis, I lost everything in Spain. I was left with barely **€4,000**, which I invested in 2009 to create **ILOVEACEITE Spain**. With that money, I managed to launch an **online sales platform** for extra virgin olive oil, establish my brand, and sell online the oil produced by the olive trees my grandfather had purchased back in the 1950s.

Within a few months, I started exporting, bringing my olive oils to more than **25 countries** around the world. What came after those €4,000 has been **an entire lifetime**.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iloveaceite.us
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iloveaceite
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/iloveaceiteus
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iloveaceite