Luke’s Diner: Emma Hernan

0:00 I am all in.

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0:18 Again, with Scott Patterson and iHeartRadio Podcast.

0:22 Hey, everybody. Scott Patterson. I am all in. Podcast 111 Productions, iHeartRadio. iHeartMedia, iHeart Podcast. We have a very special Luke's Diner episode for you. Emma Hernan is joining us. She's an entrepreneur, real estate TV star from the Netflix show Selling Sunset. Welcome to the show, Emma.

0:44 Hello. Thank you for having me.

0:47 We're delighted to have you. I am looking at quite a spectacular photo of you. holding up some Buffalo chicken. You have a food line. There's all kinds of things to get into here, but let's start at the beginning. Before people knew you from selling Sunset, entrepreneurship was already a huge part of your life. You're actually a third generation food entrepreneur. What did growing up around your family's food business teach you about running a company?

1:21 Oh, everything possible. You learn what's going to be very difficult, what's going to be more fun. You learn about business from a really young age. I mean, I grew up literally in supermarkets, passing out crab cakes to people walking down the aisle. So like, that's how I grew up. I love cooking. I grew up cooking with my grandmother.

1:39 My grandfather was a chef. And that's actually why I'm third generation from him because he left the company to my mom. My mom took over and now I'm heavily involved. And then I started my own company. So, but yes, I know I, the food industry is in my blood for sure.

1:56 Where'd you grow up? What part of the country?

1:59 Ah, yes.

2:00 My goodness. So you've described your, your food business as your, your quote unquote baby, even though You also work in real estate and investing. What is about foods specifically that you're most passionate about?

2:15 I think food brings people together around, you know, the kitchen table. It brings families together. I'm super family oriented. My family is like my entire world. So for me, holidays and different things like that. everyone was always brought together around a meal. So for me, I love cooking. I love creating meals. I love creating appetizers and fun things that people are like, Ooh, I can't wait to go over to Emma so I can try her crab cakes or her shrimp spring rolls or her empanadas.

2:42 Oh, wow. You're, you're that friend. That's fantastic.

2:45 I'm definitely that friend.

2:47 Oh, that's, that's fantastic. All right. So your grandfather was a chef. Did you always know you wanted to continue that family legacy in your own particular way?

2:57 Oh, 100%. I always knew. I always knew. I loved cooking from a very young age. So my grandfather was a chef. He started cooking little crab cakes out of his kitchen, selling them to the local markets, and everyone fell in love. And then it skipped a generation with my mom because she cannot cook. I definitely inherited his skill set. And I just love it. I've loved it my entire life. Every recipe that I have, so all of my items that are in stores nationwide, I created it down to the last spice.

3:30 Beautiful. Your grandfather is still represented in the food you're creating today. Your new crab rangoon was inspired by the crab and lobster spread. He would make your family a special occasion. What do you remember about those meals with him?

3:46 Oh, I mean, it was just such a special time. I also remember going down as soon as he you know once he stopped making them out of his kitchen and he got a little warehouse um you know we used to go down there we were would play in the warehouse and And then, you know, we were, he really needed help at such a, and we were so young, me and my brother and my cousins, we actually, we were hand scooping crab cakes with, you know, the little ice cream scooper that you scoop ice cream with.

4:12 Okay.

4:12 So that's what we were scooping crab cakes with. And then for the dips, we were like making sure they all went in the container and then we were dropping them off at the supermarket. So it was just such a really positive part of my childhood and something that was so special.

4:26 So you, you absorbed all of those, you know, sort of Really boring business, the business knowledge, the, you know, managing inventory and costs and, you know, profit margins and all that stuff, just absorbing it. So how old were you when you really understood all that stuff?

4:47 I would say I definitely feel like I picked up on the business a lot faster than, you know, certain people.

4:54 Won't name names.

4:55 It's family. It's a family. For me, business, like I started investing at a really young age and that really helped with, you know, me starting my food company and knowing, okay, what's going to work with business? How much it's going to cost to buy this piece of equipment? Should we buy it? Should we lease it? Like there's so many different.

5:13 Right.

5:14 Of it. So I definitely started learning at a really young age. And also too, I mean, my mom, you know, when my grandfather passed away, she had to learn really fast too. So she was an accountant. So that was great. So she was really good with the business side of it too. So me and my mom definitely are like this, this power couple for sure.

5:31 So you were basically a food and investing prodigy.

5:38 Yeah. I mean, for sure. That sounds great. I love the sound of that. My parents would appreciate that for sure.

5:43 Yeah.

5:44 All right.

5:44 So you launched Coast to Coast Kitchen at Target in February. That must have been an amazing feeling. And in just seven months, the brand generated millions in sales and brought nearly 100,000 new shoppers into the frozen seafood category. What was it like walking into Target, seeing your own products in the freezer aisle?

6:05 Well, what's funny enough is that you can watch me for the first time ever see it. We actually happened to capture it. It wasn't that wasn't me acting. My acting skills are awful. So you actually got to see my real reaction. And I mean, it was so exciting. It was so rewarding, too, because the amount of time and work and effort that I put into this. You know, people don't see that. They see the glitz and the glam, the photos that, you know, are curated for Instagram. But they really don't see the behind the scenes where I'm, you know, covered in crab and cream cheese and I have a red hairnet on and I'm not looking cute.

6:35 I'm trying to make this recipe perfect. So, you know, when you walk into the store, you see all the product out in the best possible place in Target. And then you see your name on there. It's like created by Emma Hernan. It's such a rewarding and special feeling, something I can't really describe.

7:03 And now you have three new products, lobster empanadas, sweet chili shrimp empanadas, and crab rangoo. Rangoon, sorry. How involved are you personally in developing And well, I'm not even going to ask you that question. I already know the answer. You're, you're 100% involved, right? Yeah.

7:24 I mean, like when I say I'm involved, that's an understatement because even for the photos for the boxes, they were like, okay, we need to hire a food photographer. We need to do a stylist and all that. I'm like, oh no, no, no, no. Like we can have the photographer come to the house, but I'm styling all that food.

7:39 So like this little pieces of cilantro, this is before like AI. Now you can make a perfect box, but like, I was doing these boxes where I was putting the perfect piece of cilantro on the plate, making sure everything looked absolutely perfect for photography.

7:54 Well, so so you are you have that level of ownership and control that is so important to you. Right. I mean, you you're you're you're the boss here. And let's just let's just call it what it is.

8:08 I love that.

8:09 Yeah.

8:11 For sure.

8:11 Yeah. How many employees are there?

8:14 We have over a hundred employees. And then a really cool fun fact is that I own my own manufacturing facility. I actually bought the facility before I launched my company, which is kind of the opposite way that typically people do things. So, you know, a big thing too, people come to me to Copac. So I don't just have my company. Right. So Copac for other brands. And I think that's a really good, you know, thing for people to know because it's another stream of revenue.

8:42 Yeah. Yeah.

8:43 Yeah.

8:44 You do the wholesale too. And the retail, it's exactly, we do. Yeah. I have a coffee company. I switched just purely to wholesale. It's just, it's a simple equation. Thank you. Just, you know, margins are steady and I love that part of it.

9:00 Funny enough. And we just, we just opened the doors. Everything's cold. We have cold storage. We have everything. And actually one of the plates, we're actually doing coffee in there. So, ah, yes, I know. I know.

9:13 Yeah. Maybe we should talk.

9:16 For sure.

9:17 So many people were first introduced to you through Selling Sunset. Now that you're into this new chapter and putting so much energy into Coast to Coast Kitchen, how do you reflect on your time on the show and what did it do for your life and for your career?

9:33 So, so funny because I was definitely really hesitant to join Selling Sunset because I'm such a private person and And now looking back, I'm so grateful that I took that opportunity to really let people into my life because, you know, before that, you know, I had an Instagram following. I had people that, you know, followed my story, but they knew nothing about me. They didn't know my personality.

9:54 They could, you know, they're seeing a picture online and you can't really tell, but I think opening up the door. to my life, people saw I'm really outgoing and bubbly and family oriented and a really good friend. So I think that was important for people to really see. And then obviously launching my company was, I mean, being on Selling Sunset, having people get to know me, and then launching my company with Target, people wanted to go out to the store. They wanted to buy what I was serving.

10:22 You know, they've seen me on the show. They want to eat what I'm eating. They know I love to cook. They know about my empanadas. I've talked about them on screen. So, you know, it was it was really rewarding to, you know, be on a show like that. Obviously, there's pros and cons with it. Your life is out there for the world to see and judge. But in another breath, you know, people really got to know me and see my personality and know that, you know, I'm a Boston girl through and through. Well, since.

10:49 This is i am all in we obviously have to bring you into stars hollow for a minute if you don't mind uh are you a gilmore girls fan.

10:56 I actually just because i just started watching because now i'm like oh now i need to watch and see it and i needed a show so this is perfect.

11:03 Timing okay good uh well enjoy uh and if so are you really as you watch it are you relating more to lorelei or rory I.

11:13 Think Rory a little bit. I love, you know, definitely she's family oriented and stuff like that. I definitely see a lot of myself in her in different ways. And I think, you know, as I go through the episodes, definitely I see more connections with different things for sure.

11:29 Right.

11:29 All right.

11:30 So Lorelai and Rory are obviously famous for their eating habits. If they walked into Dosey's Market and found Coast to Coast Kitchen in the freezer aisle, which flavor would are you sending each of them home with?

11:45 Definitely Rory is going to be going home with a sweet chili shrimp empanadas. I already know. And then Lorelai definitely going to get it the lobster. I already had that decided. That's like, I feel like, yeah, that would be a good pick for the two of them.

11:59 And would you, would you perhaps consider sending some of those items to Luke?

12:04 Oh yeah, for sure. Okay.

12:05 All right. Good.

12:07 Maybe the new England.

12:07 Yeah.

12:08 Maybe the new England crab cakes. I think also, Yeah, for sure.

12:12 That would be great.

12:13 I mean, honestly, I like to give all of the flavors to everybody so then they can decide because I love to hear what's the favorite.

12:21 Oh, you know what? Let's send them. Then we'll do another segment.

12:26 Okay, perfect. See, that's so much fun. That's like my favorite thing to do. I will send... The best cooler ever.

12:31 Oh, that's awesome. I can't wait. Well, thank you so much for your time. I know how busy you are. You're running multiple businesses and you have a lot to do, but thanks for taking the time out and carving that time out of this day.

12:42 Thank you.

12:43 So that's going to do it, everybody. Thanks for all the downloads. Keep the cards and letters coming. We read every one of them. We appreciate it so much. Thank you, Emma Hernan. Coast to Coast Kitchens at Target. Go out and get you some wonderful, wonderful crab cakes and empanadas. And remember, where you lead, we will follow. Thanks so much, everybody.

13:07 Stay safe. Hey, everybody, don't forget, follow us on Instagram at I Am All In Podcast and email us at gilmore at iheartradio.com.