Today we’d like to introduce you to Maximilian Trullenque.
Hi Maximilian, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
From as early as I can remember, I have always been a car enthusiast.
So, growing up, I was surrounded by cars from my grandfather driving me around in the family 1980s Oldsmobile Cutlass to my father working as an automotive technician. And at home immersed in car culture with hot wheels and all the automotive video games you could imagine. I would always try to get my parents to take me to car shows or anything automotive-related growing up. And like many car enthusiasts, I spend hours at my local Barnes and Noble reading Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Road & Track.
My journey started back in 2014 while attending Miami Dade College as I pursued a degree in business administration. During my free time, I craved community and always attend local car meets around the community first in a 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe that my family still owns and then my 2014 Mustang that I still drive to this day with over 135,000 miles strong. It was truly fate that I came across Cars and Coffee Miami on Facebook during the inception.
At the time, it was only a Facebook group managed by my good friend Wesley Smith a distinguished military veteran and the kindest most genuine person you will ever meet. Quickly, I started attending month after month and developed my love for photography and social media at Cars and Coffee Miami. Bringing along my grandfather at times who also shared a passion for cars as well and ended up buying Jeep Wrangler in his 80s that we brought to the meets.
Over time my friendship with Wesley grew and we continued to grow the event together for the passion and betterment of the community. The event started with maybe a handful of cars maybe 50 cars around 8 years ago and year of year it just started to grow for a while it was 300 then 500 and ultimately grew to around 800 cars which was the max capacity of our home Kendal Florida in front the restaurant that started it all Casavanna.
One day, around 3 years in Wesley and Nico offered me the leadership role but the only problem was my family and I were moving 200 miles away to SWFL where I attended Florida Gulf Coast University and studied commutation with a concentration in public relations.
I have to say the cool part of my university journey was I able to test and apply all the things I learned in my business and public relation classes while going through school it was a fascinating experience to hear professors’ lectures and be able to relate my past experiences early in my career. And then again when I started working for FGCU University Marketing and Communications Department being able to learn so much from my mentor and friend James Greco about photography and social media.
But moving across the state didn’t stop me I was determined to do whatever it took to keep our local gatherings going no matter the distance for the people of Miami. Cars and Coffee Miami’s goal has always been to give people a safe encouraging place to share their passion for cars with like-minded enthusiasts with hopes to inspire the next generation of car enthusiasts.
This event isn’t just your normal automotive event it is truly something unique that I have not experienced anywhere else yet and I am not saying this because I’m the CEO and Co-founder. There is just something about Miami car culture and our group of enthusiasts. The people that typically attend C&C Miami are considered family as we have all grown together over the years which is why we promote the gathering as a family affair. So many people consistently looked out for the show to help make things run smoothly and are always available to offer advice and solutions.
In 2020, Cars and Coffee Miami hit its peak in capacity, and at the same time, we were hit by the pandemic. That was the year we closed the chapter on our first home in Kendall in front of Casavana Cuban restaurant. We were not told to stop holding meets but felt it was our duty to take care of our community by postponing our events until it was safe to gather once again.
When it came time to restart our events the challenge was to find a new venue large enough to hold our extended family. In 2021, we found our new home at Miami International Mall the largest venue we had ever hosted a gathering. The first meet we had no idea what to expect but surely our community missed us and we missed them when they filled the parking lot 1,000 cars deep it rained on and off throughout the morning but our car family stayed and came through in one of the most amazing turnouts. Ever since then, we had hosted smaller meets in a variety of different locations but our main home is currently Miami International Mall located in the city of Doral.
If I’m honest Cars and Coffee Miami isn’t something that can be described. It’s something you have to witness for your own eyes to truly understand. It’s a gathering like nothing else I have attended around the state because it’s not just a random gathering or car show it’s what we call a pure car and coffee experience as we do our best to stay true to the original cars and coffee ways set forward by the first Cars and Coffee Irvine California that set off a national phenomenon an event that is for the people by the people.
The pure experience of friends and families getting together in the early morning to share their pride a joy that has been inherited over generations, built, or freshly bought at Cars and Coffee Miami, you will see a little bit of everything American Muscle, JDM, Rat Rod, Lowriders, Trucks, Supercars, one-off builds, motorcycles lifted Golf carts, and Miatas and Jet-Ski motorcycles. Sometimes even have friends bring out actual races like from past NASCAR race cars on the trailer.
The truth everyone will tell you is you never know what you’ll see at Cars and Coffee Miami. I would say one the best parts besides the amazing cars are hearing the owner’s stories and the friendship built over the years. From opportunities to reveal the Honda Type R back in the day to displaying cars in front of the Miami International Auto Show to judging at the Hot Wheels Legends tour for 4 years running as ambassadors of Miami Car Culture to show the nation what Miami car culture is all about. Over 9 years, we have met thousands of people and seen some of the coolest rides in South Florida all for the love of car culture. The journey has been amazing and we can’t wait what the future holds for us and our family.
Today I can tell I would have never imagined in my wildest dream that I would be a professional photographer working with a variety of amazing clients, working full-time for one of the world’s top automotive collections in the world. And being the owner of the largest automotive events in the Miami area with over 1,000 plus cars a month. I am living the dream fueled by passion.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been far from easy but when you love what you do you find a way to make it work. What drives me is my passion for our community and cars. I tell people no normal person would take this role because it makes no financial sense to spend countless hours and years to keep these events possible. We currently do pay our selfless anything to put these shows together all the funds we raise through sponsorships and donations are taxed because we are not a nonprofit organization all goes to funding future events for the people.
One of the hardest times in our history was finding our current home in Doral it was difficult to find a venue big enough to hold at least 1,000 cars a month. However, that was only the first hurdle one was figuring out how to fund our new operating costs with the venue, insurance, and police coverage. The course of a year was a learning curve to under how to build a sponsor and vendor program to fund our events. It is still something continue to work on as we strive to fully fund a year of events.
During our first year in Doral, we ended up paying out of our own pockets to fund a few events as we have always kept our main events free for all. The second large hurdle we faced was fighting the takeover culture which has been ruining car culture around the world. It hit new heights in 2021 with cars doing burnouts and donuts, we quickly acted and had to hire more police to control the issue to keep our community safe.
On top of all this while running Cars and Coffee Miami, I was a college student, then a freelance photographer, and now and work full-time as senior media coordinator for another museum.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently have about three jobs one is my full-time job at a not-for-profit organization dedicated to deepening the understanding and appreciation of automotive history. And declared the finest sports car collection in America. Where I am the senior media coordinator specializing in photography, videography, social media, exhibits, IT, and helping with cars and coffee events.
Another is freelance photography for clients in the automotive space from brands like Ford to dealerships. In addition to work for an advertising agency called Adventure which is practically family at this point as I have worked for them for the past 5 years shooting all sorts of events around SWFL from photography to videography at country clubs and golf courses. And at times I also still work for the university I graduated from as a freelance photographer.
Then there’s Cars and Coffee Miami where I am the CEO and play the owner and operator role. I handle all our venue, sponsor, and vendor negotiations. In addition to being the C&C Miami accountant and graphic designer. Then Wesley and I share the role of social media, photography, and videography.
I am known for my photography and Cars and Coffee Miami.
I am most proud of what we have done for Miami Car Culture and all the relationships we have built over the years. Nothing makes me happier than watching people enjoy car culture. I am also proud to be able to share my knowledge of photography with those that want to get into the field.
What sets me apart is I put God first in everything I do. I desire to always do the right thing and help leave the world a better place than I found it. Kindness and understanding are what I always try to put forward in all I do and being genuine to everyone.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Faith, honesty, compassion, empathy, trust, and passion.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.carsandcoffeemiami.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carsandcoffeemiami/
https://www.instagram.com/maximilian_the_photographer/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cars-and-coffee-miami/
https://www.instagram.com/305illest/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carsandcoffeemiami/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximiliantrullenquejr/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Carsncoffeemia
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChySiTGCrvSdgnXjXadMCBQ
