The Californer - Family Entourage Interviews NASA Astronaut Jose Hernandez

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From Working the Fields with His Family to "A Million Miles Away" in Space

SAN DIEGO - Californer -- Family Entourage: I am so excited to talk to you this morning. I just found your story to be so inspiring, unbelievable at points, because of your perseverance and this relentless pursuit of your goal. Maybe share a little bit about writing your story and then now getting to see it in this format of the film that so many more can consume.

Jose Hernandez: I'm very excited as well because when I left NASA, I started giving motivational talks. Those attendees recommended I write a book, which I did. And then the mothers recommended I write a children's book, which I did. And then the publisher said, "Give me a middle-reader book."

So, we had these three books written and I was out on the talk circuit and that's when a film studio came and said, "We think your story is worthy of having a biopic done." I was so humbled by that offer. When they wrote the first script and I read it, I said, "This could serve to inspire millions of people through this medium." And that's when I agreed to, I said, "Yeah, let's do this." The rest is history.

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FE: I'm so glad you did, and I love that you break it down with this recipe for success that you had, starting with identifying and finding a goal. Start with a snippet that others can glean, if they might be in a situation where they find themselves stagnant.

JH: It is exactly that, when I was 10 years old, I told my dad I wanted to be an astronaut, after seeing the very last Apollo mission on TV. He gave me that simple, five-ingredient recipe. He said, "First, determine your purpose in life. Second, recognize how far you are from that goal. Third, draw yourself a roadmap so you know how to get there. And fourth, prepare yourself according to the challenge you picked. And fifth, develop a work ethic second to none." He says, "You mix that up, Son, and that's the recipe to succeed." Then I add the sixth ingredient, which is perseverance. In other words, never give up on yourselves. You follow that six-ingredient recipe, and I'll make the same promise my father made to me, to your viewers, that they too can reach for their own stars.

For the entire interview, head to https://familyentourage.com