Today we’d like to introduce you to Keenan Serrano.
Hi Keenan, 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?
I grew up in North Platte, Nebraska with my mom and three siblings. My dad was in my life here and there until I was 10 but came into my life officially when I was about 10. He had moved to New York.
Growing up, My siblings and I participated in a lot of small town activities from playing every single sport to fishing, hunting, and swimming at the lake. I always looked up to my older brother Corey, who was super athletic. I was very athletic as well, and I was always creative. I would spend hours in my room playing with toys all the way into middle school. Second grade, I drew up plans for my first ever brand, including a T-shirt, a shoe, and philosophy. I didn’t end up manufacturing that brand, but I was always creating. I was also always playing sports.
Growing up biracial, my mom is mixed, and my dad is black. My mother was raised by her (kinda racist) white grandparents. I’m the darkest person on that side of the family. My dad’s family is from Chicago, and my grandpa had moved them to North Platte when he got a job on the railroad. I have eight uncles and aunts on that side. I grew up being around my Aunt Jessica and Jillian. & my Uncle Jeremy. They were members of this Baptist Church, so things were kind of strict at my grandma’s house. My grandma and grandpa got divorced in the early 2000s. He ended up getting into partying and struggled with meth addiction. Ultimately, he went to prison for murder of his girlfriend when I was eight years old. 25-life. I always loved my grandpa. I’m the child who made him a grandparent. A.k.a. the oldest grandchild Seeing him on the news was just embarrassing. But I grew up with a different last name so nobody realized that was my grandpa. It was a blessing & a curse.
When I turned 10, my dad had plans to marry, and his wife said she wouldn’t marry him if I wasn’t a priority. So I flew out to New York City every summer to visit. At the age of 12 I was flying by myself. Being exposed to New York City. At the age really sparked so much creativity in me. I was being exposed to cultures I had never seen. And surrounded with individuals who have a deep care for people. People who look like me. I also got to see the grind as well as poverty and struggle. New York made me feel like any of my dreams could come true.
I have a huge love for music. As early as age 7 or 8, I would illegally download the newest music from Lime wire and supply my family with burnt CDs of the newest music. So when I moved to Lincoln for high school, it’s no surprise that I started making music.
When I first moved to Lincoln, I didn’t have any friends and I had moved too late to be in sports so music was a great outlet. I decided to take it seriously. My senior year of high school I sold my mixtape. I had written recorded it all myself and distributed 200 copies first week. I decided I wanted to make merch for my music and that’s when I created my brand simply dope.
Simply dope is now my life’s compass. Our authenticity is our biggest superpower. Radically being ourselves is going to guide us exactly where we need to be. I graduated from high school and got to be the final speaker at my graduation. I was the only speaker who was not in speech & debate.I spoke about taking a risk to reach your full potential.
I went to college at the university of Nebraska for about a semester and a half before I realized I was just living my life the way I thought I was supposed to. Meaning I was living my life for my parents, and I truly needed to nurture where my heart was taking me. I dropped out and got a job serving at old Chicago. For context, my dad is an educator so they didn’t go over too well. But oh well. I decided to dive even deeper into music and was committed to reaching my 10,000 hours.
In 2019 things were kind of weird and I felt like my life was stuck in a routine of the same old things. I decided I was gonna quit my job and move to New York. After quitting my job and subleasing my apartment., my uncle offered up the opportunity to come help him at his restaurant in Bellevue, Nebraska. I figured it’d be a great way to help him while also being able to rack up some tips before I took off. It ended up being a situation where I spent more money than I was making. And I had sort of turned into an employee of my Uncle. I decided to book a one-way to New York.
My girl at the time or whatever we were, was visiting New York for about a month and had 20 days left in her Airbnb. She offered me a place to stay for 20 days. After applying to hundreds of jobs, I finally got my first job at a Ramen and beer shop 12 days in. I was so happy to finally have a way to make some money. I saved up just enough money to be able to split another Airbnb with her the next month.
My friends who lived in Jersey told me about this girl Summer, who lived down the street from my first Airbnb. I ended up meeting up with her and we clicked instantly. It was like rekindling with an old friend. We were just hang out and listen to music. Her apartment became a place I could decompress from city life. She was an artist and made music so we had a lot in common.
Four months later, I now had two jobs although I was fired from the Ramen spot. Summer decided to drop an album after quitting her job. I loved seeing the process and although I was nervous for how she was going to pay her rent, I believe in her. The day she dropped the album. She landed an interview with Gabe P from From on the radar. On the radar was in its infancy stage interviewing artists. But it was still at iHeartRadio and I was thoroughly impressed. We went out and celebrated her album. Release with food.
That weekend, Summer passed away. The day after I was with her, she fell on the subway platform. This completely shook my life. She was 23 years old. We were so close, yet I had never met any of her family, except her cousin who lived next-door. I guess that’s kind of how meeting people goes in New York. The moment she died, I couldn’t stop creating music. It’s like that’s the only way I could express my pain. Funny enough, before that point I had been so stressed that I wasn’t really writing.
Some months went by and I went through more stuff. I also ended up walking New York Fashion Week as a model. These were extreme, highs and lows. A few weeks after fashion week my throat hurt and I found out I had strep throat for the first time ever. A couple weeks after that my heart was hurting so I took an Uber to the closest hospital. My blood work had shown that I had a heart injury. I ended up being stuck in the hospital for seven days and on day two America shut down from Covid. Nobody quite knows exactly what happened with my heart, but I walked out of there with 15% heart damage. I couldn’t do any moderate to strenuous exercise for six months.
Being in New York, at the beginning of Covid was wild. This was before they even had a real name for it.I moved back to Nebraska and decided to live calm life for about eight months. I gained 25 pounds. I had money from unemployment and decided I was going to invest into a studio space.
I so badly just wanted to create freely. Had gone through so much and I had so much time to reflect on it. I finally found the Landlord in spot in 2020. I believe it was September. For about a year I was creating and figuring out what I wanted to do with the space. By September 2021, my girl at the time Britany and I decided to open up as simply dope Studios. A place where people could be long and be their true authentic self. We hosted open mics offered recording sessions and Artist resources. It was one of the most magical chapters of my life. Meeting people, helping them get closer to their dreams and their vision, creating for a living. It definitely wasn’t easy, but it was so fun. My great grandmother passed away in 2022 and it felt like my childhood was fleeting. Being creative was one of my last strongholds too my childhood. My grandpa who had been locked up my whole life and was supposed to get out in June 2023 collapsed the day after my birthday January 17, 2023. I felt like I never got to Foster that relationship the way I wanted to.
Britany and I decided to break up in 2023 and everything kind of changed at the studio. I dropped an album that year called the story of Keenan: struggles of the divine masculine. I Had gone through so much, & felt like I was chosen. I finally decided to get a job part-time. But After a session gone bad with one of my very close home girls, I didn’t want to do client work anymore, I had lost my job working on her stuff, and those bills were still due. I decided to start Ubering.
While I was out there, I would get super hungry. I didn’t have money to really be eating out, but I also didn’t really have an option to stop driving. So I would find somewhere to eat so I could keep making money. I decided I was going to go to different local restaurants each time since meals cost about the same. One of the days I was eating fried rice at a restaurant in reminding me of my uncle and his restaurant. My uncle was always about being of service to people.
I took a picture of my food and posted it to Facebook with a written review. I had to get the word out somehow. This is a family here. It got quite a bit of traction so I decided to make a page on Facebook. It was growing steadily and then I decided to start making videos. I wanted to keep my editing skills sharp since my computer wasn’t really editing video well. And use all of my skills to help showcase family restaurants. In honor of my uncle.
Year one we had 800,000 views across all platforms. Year two we did over 10 million views across all platforms. I was a judge for wing fest, curry clash, and hosted my first ever food festival featuring 12 food trucks who stories all align with my Uncle. We had about 650 people show up. We only had about 4 1/2 months to pull off this festival and we did.
Now I’m building systems for how my work can help sustain business and integrate community into the ecosystem even more. That way if I ever stop doing what I do, the love can keep flourishing. I’ve started implementing more events and am hosting my second festival October 17 and 18th.
I’ve always had a deep care for people. I’ve always been a dreamer. I love connecting with people and connecting people to new experiences and stories that help Foster a new experience. Context is important. People are important. And every person has a story.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As far as being a content creator. It’s been fun, but people don’t necessarily understand an influencers value. If I was a videographer, my price would be my price. But for some reason, an influencer confuses people. Ultimately, I’m a videographer who’s the face of a brand & a marketer all-in-one. Keeping things sustainable is probably been the hardest part. I definitely went through a hell of a lot before I started making content for social media though. I think a major struggle is getting clear about who you are to know exactly what it is you want.
I also think boundaries are very big part of it all. People will absolutely take advantage of the boundaries you don’t set. People, organizations, and even city organizations.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Sorry that I answered all these in the first answer. I create videos, showcasing local restaurants in influencing locals to eat there.
I also curate experiences with food. I host. The event series called Here For The Story, which dive deeper behind restaurant/small business owners stories, well enjoying a curated buffet. I founded the Here For the Food festival. I think I specialize in community curation and brand storytelling.
I’m definitely the most known for my food content. But I’m also pretty well known for my music in performing. Running the recording studio I specialize in Audio Engineering, production, videography, songwriting, etc
I think what sets me apart from others is I’m a storyteller. The things I create are not to create content, but to create context and understanding.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I think the best thing you can do is be completely yourself. There might be great connections you could benefit from but if you have to change who you are to benefit from them then perhaps they’re not for you. Being yourself helps open the doors that are meant for you.
My best advice is honestly just put yourself out there. Nobody can help you until you try. Relationships are everything. Treat them like young plants that you have to water in nourish
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Hereforthefood.us
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/simply1keenan
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/share/1MBMaWfhUq/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@simplykeenan?si=oeGNUjeUkwAfrnGV
