During Hispanic Heritage Month, we honor and celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of Hispanics, Latino/as, Latinx and Latin(e) that helped pave the way for future Latino leaders while shaping inclusive communities throughout the United States.   

This year, Zeno’s Los Angeles office had the honor of hosting a panel with NASA Astronaut Dr. José Hernández, a fitting speaker for this year’s theme “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.” Considered the first Latino migrant farmworker to travel to space, Dr. Hernandez achievements are highlighted in the movie “A Million Miles Away.”  

Alongside his daughter Vanessa Hernandez, known for her popular and fun TikTok series ‘Adventures with an Astronaut Daughter,’ they both discussed innovation, resilience, and unity, inspiring new paths for younger generations. 

Dr. Hernández’s story is filled with determination, grit and perseverance. Growing up in a family of migrant farm workers, he traveled constantly following the harvest across California, which caused him to play catch up at school. In fact, he didn’t master the English language until he was 12 years old. At the age of 10, Dr. Hernández knew he wanted to be an astronaut. Thanks to a second-grade teacher and his supportive father who gave him a five-ingredient recipe for a successful life, he dreamed big. He worked with a fearless dedication to gain the expertise and knowledge needed to be considered a NASA astronaut candidate. It wasn’t until his 12th application submission he was finally selected. With fierce hard work, sacrifices and perseverance, Dr. Hernandez eventually made his dream come true as the flight engineer on the Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-128 mission in 2009. 

Since then, Dr. Hernández has inspired millions of people as an author, motivational speaker and mentor who has encouraged thousands of students to get into STEM careers through his Tierra Luna Foundation. He’s also back in the fields, but this time growing grapes for his own winery Tierra Luna Cellars where he works with his father.

Dr. José Hernández left us all feeling inspired and re-connected with our Zeno values. We were especially grateful for his time and for sharing his father’s five-ingredient life recipe for achieving dreams, with his own final addition: 

1. Determine your purpose in life – what’s your purpose? 
2. Recognize how far you are from that purpose 
3. Draw yourself a roadmap so you know how to get there
4. Prepare yourself according to the challenge
5. Always give more than what people expect out of you
6. Persevere