Emanuel ‘Manny’ Hernandez started as a poor boy from Puerto Rico, but is now a force in the digital business and marketing world
7 min read
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For some people, working online and traveling the world in adventurous style is just a dream, but for Emanuel ‘Manny’ Hernandez it’s a reality that he wakes up to every day. Though he started his life journey as a poor boy from Puerto Rico, he’s worked his way to becoming an absolute force in the digital business and marketing world.
Manny and his wife, Yadira ‘Yadi’ Figueroa, might have reached their goal of financial freedom, but their mission is far from over. While the power couple is working on growing their online business empire, they’re also on a mission to spread knowledge and wisdom to aspiring online hustlers. Manny Hernandez talks about nine issues that can inspire aspiring entrepreneurs.
Making the First Dollar
After spending eight months post-Army life studying online forums and googling ways to “make-money-online”, Hernandez finally made his first money online. In just a couple hours of implementing a technique that he learned from an online forum, he made a neat $236 in just a couple hours. “It may not sound like much to some, but this $236 made me feel like I had just won the lottery. I was dancing around the house like I was Michael Jackson,” he said.
When his wife made it home from work, he shared with her the good news. His wife replied, “It took you 8 months to make $236, what are you so happy about?” Little did she know at the time that this meant that the possibility of accomplishing their dream was a reality. Hernandez had just received the keys to financial freedom.
“I’ve closed millions of dollars worth of contracts, and nothing has come close to making me more excited than those first $236,” he said.
Importance of Traveling
Traveling for Hernandez is all about freedom. “I can go wherever I want, when I want, while wearing whatever I want. Sure, learning about cultures and history around the world is something I love, but I could never put a price on my freedom.”
While the Army didn’t shape him into a digital marketing guru, there’s no doubt in his mind that the values and character he gained from the Army helped him excel in his career. He believes all of this was great, but there was an alternative lesson learned here. And that lesson was learning to value freedom. “In the Army, you’re told where to go, what to wear, and what time to do it. So needless to say, when I was finally a civilian again, the value I put on my freedom was invaluable.”
Managing Extensive Travels
Hernandez’s answer is simple. “Wherever I have an Internet connection, I can make money. Pretty much all of my business is done online, so everything is just a matter of balancing business with enjoying my travels.”
Although his followers on my Instagram might think that he is always in vacation mode, this couldn’t be further from the truth, according to him. While Yadi and Hernandez have a good time with Embarky traveling the world, they are always putting time aside each day to keep up with their businesses.
Biggest Life Philosophy
“It’s not about the money, it’s about the freedom.”
That’s his life motto. Money means nothing, and fiat currencies can just be printed, he said. He believes people need to start putting more value on life’s scarcities like time — it’s an unrenewable resource. And while money is an excellent tool, it’s also a representation of the freedom one has. “Once you put a real value on your time and freedom, you’ll never see money the same again.”
Managing Time For Businesses and Travel
He believes all this is possible due to technology and working with a great team full of the best in the world.
“If you follow us on Tiktok, Facebook or Instagram, you can see us balance our lives with adventures while still hard at work. Here we want to set an example for young entrepreneurs to show them how they can live their life while still working on their careers.”
One Advice To 20-year-old Self
“Forget about going to any university (unless you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or astronaut). Knowledge from the Internet and your hustle is your university.”
According to Hernandez, the Internet isn’t only for entertainment but it’s an entire wealth of information. “And if you’re reading this, then that means you have Internet access—congratulations, you have every tool you need for success at your fingertips.” He believes there is no better professor than good old trial and error. Self-education is better than any school, in his opinion. And the only thing one needs for a quality self-education is self-accountability—he cannot stress this enough.
“If I knew all of this 20 years ago, opposed to around 10 years ago when I first started, only God knows where I’d be today.”
Business Goals For the New Decade
“I’ll be working with some of the greatest minds in the world on an entirely new project that I believe can genuinely improve the world.” The project is called Omni.ai, a tech start-up that’s geared towards helping everyone get in on the SEO game. The artificial intelligence technology makes it easy for any business regardless of size to diagnose and get calculated recommendations to improve their website rank to get organic traffic.
The Omni.ai platform will be laid out similarly as a game would. Webmasters are going to be able to compete against each other in a system that rewards white hat tactics and penalizes black hat tactics.
Though this project has the potential to change how everyone handles SEO, there’s a much bigger picture to be seen. “We’re standing behind the same goals as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, to put more technology into the hands of the masses to lift more people from poverty.”
Favorite Book
His favorite book is Think and Grow Rich and he recommends that book to anyone interested in learning how to use the true potential of capitalism to their advantage.
“Although I can’t say that I read as many books as I’d like to, the knowledge I’ve gained from online forums, courses, and articles has helped me more than anything.”
Favorite Character
Without a doubt in my mind, he said he would choose Abraham. “He played one of the most crucial roles in 3 of the world’s most popular religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But the reason I’d choose Abraham is because of his rock-solid faith. He took the leap to leave his city all by his faith in God alone.”
When it comes to business, faith is one of the most important things one needs, according to him. “If you don’t believe yourself, you’ll never succeed. Faith is one thing I much credit to my success. Even before I had money, I always had my faith.”
— Entrepreneur to www.entrepreneur.com
