Art & Life with Nadia Hernandez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nadia Hernandez.

Nadia, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My name is Nadia. In Russian, my name means hope. I have grown to love my name over the years and the meaning behind it. It epitomizes my outlook towards life, my mission to empower my daughter, passion for helping others, and my quest to embrace the beauty of culture. I am an immigrant daughter of two wonderful parents. I was born in Mexico City but raised in Orange County, California. My parents taught my sisters and I the value of hard work, dedication, and determination. In many ways, these values have shaped the kind of women we have become. I am thankful for my education, blessed with a great family, and determined soul seeking to do good in this world.

I attended San Diego State University where I received two Bachelors and a Master’s degree in Applied Anthropology. This is where I derive my passion towards culture. I conducted my master’s thesis in Mexico with indigenous women learning about how the mother and birthing practices. It was a beautiful experience learning about motherhood from a cultural perspective.

I am a wife of a former Marine, who is currently a Staff Sergeant in the US Air Force Reserve. The military has become a part of our lives and one that has taught me to embrace family in even the littlest moments. I am also a mommy to a wonderful little soul named Isabelle Penelope. She is a spirited little two years old who is bilingual and bicultural. She has become my new inspiration and new eyes in which to see and experience this world around us.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I am passionate about life and in creating the life I want to live. Be ambitious with your dreams and just go for them. In that process, you will be surprised the person you will discover in yourself and the many possibilities in life if you give yourself the opportunity to discover it. As something that had just been an idea for a while, I finally decided to put this on my bucket list and start a blog, Capturing Cultura.

It has become my creative outlet where I share my passion about all topics related to motherhood, culture, and life. I approach motherhood within a cultural context. As a Latina, my aim is to reach out to other Latina moms seeking support, resources, and ideas about motherhood. I believe in the power of learning from shared experiences. I share my motherhood journey in hopes that it helps other mothers navigate through their own paths into parenthood.

I have a series within my blog called Cafecito con Mamá. The series focuses on highlighting mamas and their experiences through motherhood, as well as sharing some tips on any issues related to mothers and children, and empowering mothers to be their best, all within a cultural context. Latina’s have unique life stories, experiences, and backgrounds. I want to be able to relate this information to other Latina mamas like myself.

Experiencing motherhood is such an amazing, life-changing, and inspiring blessing. My life goal is to experience all aspects of motherhood, learning from the negative moments, embracing the joys, growing from my mistakes, and celebrating the milestones.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
I love writing and expressing my ideas. This is my creative outlet and way to share my experiences about motherhood. My goal is for my blog to be a resource for other mamas to have the best journey and inspire motherhood in a positive way, to embrace the culture, create family memories, and to empower their little ones. I want to use this as a vehicle to evolve as a mom, as a wife and especially as a woman. I want to be able to empower other mamas. There is value in learning through shared experiences. My anthropologist side knows this too well. We learn through storytelling, through documenting the stories of others, through sharing their experiences for others to learn from.

I measure success by following your passion and creating your own happiness. It creates a healthier and happier self. Along with this journey as a blogger, I have met many moms and entrepreneurs who embraced fear and sought to fulfill their dreams of creating their own business. It is really empowering!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://capturingcultura.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capturingcultura/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capturingcultura/

Image Credit:
Alison Brynn Photography, Rachelle Marie Photography, La Luna Photographs, Tiffany Perry Photography, Shelby Jo Lynne Photos, Katie Carralejo Photography

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.