Hidden Gems: Meet Martha Hernandez Villatoro of The Spanglish Kids

Today we’d like to introduce you to Martha Hernandez Villatoro.

Hi Martha, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
We are a pair of sisters born and bred in Los Angeles. There are a total of three of us Growing up in the 80s and 90s, there was definitely no representation anywhere for our community, especially kids growing up. Maribel our co-founder, had the idea of creating t-shirts for my girls, and The Spanglish Kids was created. All the sayings on our shirts are things we heard growing up. It is great when people stop at our market booths, and it brings such nostalgia to them.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth road, not at all! Not only are we business partners, but we are sisters. There is an extra complexity to being partners but our parents ingrained in us that the most important relationship outside of yourself is with your siblings. It is the same message I share with my daughters. Your siblings are there for the entire ride of life, so it is important that no matter the challenge you have to work through it. As a business, we are experiencing our growing pains as we round our first year of business. Our dreams are just getting started!

As you know, we’re big fans of The Spanglish Kids. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The Spanglish Kids is an online retailer that serves the Latino/a/e community and beyond. We are a brand that speaks our language and our culture. Our kids are growing up in a world that is in English and Spanglish and our kids speak Spanglish.

The Spanglish Kids offers t-shirts and accessories for kids. We design, create and print all our shirts internally. We offer stickers in the same designs in our shirts as well as hair accessories.

At The Spanglish Kids, our mission is to elevate our culture and language through our brand of tees and accessories. Our brand speaks to our language with style. Martha and Maribel are a pair of first-generation Latina sisters who are proud of our Latina culture but also proud of our being raised in Los Angeles. We are dedicated to raising the next generation of Spanglish kids. We strive to make our product gender neutral where our product can be used as hand-me-downs to all siblings.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see that our brand will revolutionize how big brands see not only the Latino/a/e community and our $3 trillion community buying power but how children are part of that buying power. The influence children have on is bigger than most adults take into consideration. We need to make more space for children’s voices and children’s influence.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thespanglishkids.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thespanglishkids
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thespanglishkids
• Other: www.tiktok.com/thespanglishkids

Image Credits
Photos by: Nataly Lemus Photography