Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Hernandez
Hi Kristen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Like a cat, I’ve lived several lives, and have rebranded myself into a self-taught, self-made success story. I’m now on my third career but I finally made the choice to do what I dreamed when I was a young girl. As a kid, I’d grab a blanket and a book and climb out onto my 5th floor fire escape in the Bronx, just outside New York City. The fire escape was just feet away from the overhead subway, which zoomed past my window dozens of times each day. On many starry nights, I’d stare up at the trains and the planes soaring overhead, wondering where the people were headed, and if it were nicer than the Bronx. I’d make up short stories about their fake lives, and write them in a journal. I wanted to be on one of those planes, because the only traveling I’d ever done was on the subway or through one of my many books, and I longed to see green grass and tall trees. In my young mind, the entire world was just like the concrete jungle of the Bronx.
Education was something that was difficult to obtain, and I learned early that I discovered more in books than I did in a formal classroom. After becoming homeless during my freshman year at college, I had to drop out, and wandered aimlessly around the city, thinking about where my life was headed. All my friends already had kids and I knew that life wasn’t for me. I wanted to be a famous writer, like Stephen King, my idol. Instead, I attended a technical trade school to become a travel agent. This was back when paper tickets still existed and passengers couldn’t board a plane without the physical ticket. I learned a new language, Sabre, which is the centralized ticketing system. I became really good at it, and worked my way up into the corporate travel world. The executives at Bertelsmann Music Group, or BMG, took me on for a one day trial and I stayed at the RCA records desk for the next 3 years. I was a good coordinator, and made enough money to buy my first house at just 25 years old. But, life is funny that way, and my next challenge popped up. I was diagnosed with bone cancer, and given 6 months to live. I fought hard, and after 9 spine surgeries, and 18 rods plus 22 screws and three cages placed where the tumor was, I came back home to my house in foreclosure and unable to walk or work again. I was paralyzed from the waist down and told I’d never walk again. I said watch me.
After several years of recovery, I had to learn to use my hands since my legs wouldn’t work. And with no formal education, I was lost. My mom bought me a cookbook and a stand mixer and told me to learn to bake. So I did. I studied everything I could about the science behind baking and suddenly, I was baking my own bread, making my own pasta, and tons of pastries, all from scratch, and from a wheelchair! So, I started a bakery as I learned to use my legs again. I moved to Florida and once I was walking, I started a business, That’s From Scratch.
Unfortunately, complications from Chordoma, the bone cancer, caught up and I could no longer physically keep up with customer demand. The pain I live with on a daily basis is horrible. All that titanium hardware is quite painful and it never stops. I’ve had to learn to embrace it and use the pain as fuel. So, I needed to regroup once again, rebrand myself with a new career that I could physically keep up with. Again, with no formal education to back myself up, I started to write. I reached out to a local black-woman owned newspaper that covers northwest Pompano Beach, Villij News. It’s the only newspaper dedicated to the people of color in the city. She gave me a test, and must have like what she read because I’ve become her head writer. Thanks to Villij News and the incredible stories of the people in Pompano, I’m the only award-winning journalist in the city. I also write for the New Pelican newspaper, which covers Northeast Broward. It’s my life’s passion come to fruition, and I will never go back to anything else. Writing is my life. I want people to know what I’ve endured. Perhaps if it inspires one person to make a positive change, or do something others say they couldn’t because of my story, then it’ll be worth it. If people realize that if they take the words “I can’t” out of their vocabulary, they’ll be surprise. You can do anything you put your mind and heart to.
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?
Sometimes, obstacles can seem as high as a volano. But it’s when you make the impossible possible, your mindset will change. Each challenge makes the win much sweeter. I’ve personally had many obstacles. I come from a very poor family, and we spent many of my childhood years on the welfare cheese line, or at the local welfare office while my mom argued with a social worker. for a meager check. I was told numerous times by different adults around me that’s where my life was headed. I heard the famous excuse from my friends, “I’m a product of my environment”, over and over. I refuse that mentality. I’m a product of my choices, not my environment. I made different choices and changed everything.
After being homeless and many cold nights sleeping on park benches or cold, dark and smelly hallways and rooftops, I knew that the change and any miracles had to come from within me. I overcame homelessness. By 25 I owned my first house. And I’ve never been on welfare. Losing my house was another huge challenge. So I made the choice to leave New York behind for a warmer climate that would be nicer to my bones.
Bone cancer presented a brand new, lifelong challenge. I was told 20 years ago that I had 6 months to live. I was also told I’d never walk again. Yet, I’ve walked 5K’s and I go dancing when I can.
Another difficult obstacle was my weight. At my largest, I was a plump 350 pounds. After my diagnosis, I had no choice but to lose the weight so the metal wouldn’t break in my spine. Weight loss surgery only led to me gaining almost all the weight back. But, I had to do something. I started walking every day. Initially, I couldn’t get a half block. I kept at it and rain or shine, I walked. Eventually, I worked my way to walking 5-8 miles every day. To my surprise, the weight began to melt off.
To date, I’ve lost over 220 pounds!
Frankly, the hardest challenge was breaking into journalism with no training and no experience. I never imagined that I’d create a new career while in my late 30’s that would actually turn into something successful and truly meaningful. I never imagined that I could make a real difference in my local community. Winning a prestigious journalism award after writing professionally for just two years was a validation, and a wonderful feeling! It’s my literal dream come true.
The challenge I face now is one of physical disability. Each day is a challenge because I wake up with unimaginable pain. It never gets easier, but I’ve had no choice but to learn to keep moving forward no matter how painful the day is. Mentally, it takes a lot of energy to stay as positive as I am. Negativity is a magnet for disaster. Instead, turn that energy and manifest your dreams. Time doesn’t wait. So, I use the pain as fuel to write incredible stories about people who are typically never heard and usually dismissed. An obstacle makes the overcoming part as sweet as my chocolate chip cookies! My next challenge will be breaking away from local writing (but not completely) and moving up to a bigger news outlet.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve got two things: Cancer thought it would beat me, but I beat bone cancer. Chordoma has the smallest survival rate and I beat those very narrow odds. And when I took my first steps when I was paralyzed, the hospital staff was genuinely shocked. I wasn’t supposed to gain the ability to walk, but after being confined to a wheelchair thing for two years, I was over it. I took my first steps and I knew then that the only thing that can hold you back is you!
But my second source of pride is Sidney Holmes. Typically, I write stories about people, rather that breaking news. My work keeps me grounded, and give me a new sense of motivation. While other writers are talking about what developer bought what, and who shot who, I focus more on the impact to everyday people. I write about survivors and people who’ve overcome adversity. For example, Pompano is currently experiencing overdevelopment, and residents are outraged. I write about the why’s of it all and more importantly, the how’s.
I’m most proud of my work in the black community. I’m of mixed race background, but the community welcomed me with open arms as one of their own. The relationships I’ve developed in northwest Pompano are invaluable, and I don’t think any other writer has been able to ingratiate themselves into it the same way. I’ve dedicated my second chance at life to writing about these remarkable people. It’s important to me and to them that the history of those who’ve come before are not forgotten, and the horrific history, regardless of how ugly, isn’t washed away by the tide of politics.
It’s a difficult fight, as I’m up against some serious money and power.
But I think my proudest and most unique accomplishment was the story I won the award for. Sidney Holmes, Pompano resident, was accused of being the getaway driver in an armed gas station robbery. He was sentenced to 800 years in prison., because a sentence of years/days over life ensures the person will never see the sunlight again. There was one big problem though. Sidney Holmes didn’t actually take any part of that crime. The Innocence Project took on his case and after 34 years in state prison, Sidney was exonerated and found factually innocent. When he was released, it was world news. His story was even aired in places like Brazil and Chile. However Sidney wouldn’t grant any one on one interviews. Except with me. It was an honor to not just write his incredible story, but become good friends with him, to this day. His appreciation towards me is something I’ll never forget, or take for granted. As a bonus, the story earned me my first recognition: Florida Press Club’s Excellence in Minority Reporting Journalism award in January 2024.
My heart is in it and it shows. I can be very confident despite my disability, but I’m not cocky. It’s a miracle that I’m even here, and I’m proud of it. I can’t take any day for granted because I know from experience tomorrow is not guaranteed. Money and material things used to be priorities for me. But now I’ve learned that you can’t take that big, fancy car with you or that nice house. When it really counts, those things are just things, they do not matter. They help, but you can’t take it with you. My personality, deep love for community and second chances, and my heartfelt writing is what sets me apart from anyone else. I choose to make a difference.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
The cliche is true: You can literally do anything you put your heart and mind fully into. I want people to know that you’re so much more than what you do for a living. A title does not define you. Neither do the number of”followers”.
Yes, success no doubt is what we all strive for, but the real success is getting up each day, taking a deep breath, a feeling alive. Every step, any day without pain, is a great day. We are fortunate enough to live in paradise, a place others pay thousands just to visit. Take a deep breath of the ocean air, wiggle your toes in the sand, sit under a palm tree, and you’ll see what I mean. You will get out of this life whatever you put in. So no matter how bleak things may look, or how impossible something may seem, know that you CAN make the impossible, not only possible, but your reality. Never give up, because when you do, that’s when failure creeps in. The victory is in knowing you did it against all the odds.
Thank you for reading my story. I’ve left a lot out so if you have any questions, please call me. I’m always ready for a chat! Stay blessed.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @mywritingheart
- Twitter: @writingmyheart
