THE CREATIVE PRAGMATIST
SALON SERIES

Episode 1.2: Fermin and Cecelia

A conversation with Chef Fermin Nunez and Cecelia Cox, moderated by Amy Smilovic. The discussion traverses a range of intriguing subjects, from the importance of risk taking and the subjective indictors of success to defining your “proprietaries” – the skills that are uniquely your own. The episode was shot and produced live in the Este Garden in Austin, Texas.

Chef Fermin grew up in Mexico, northern Mexico, in Torreón, Coahuila to be exact. He has worked all over, for the best chefs, spending a majority of his career at La Condesa, Uchiko, and Launderette, three longstanding establishments in Austin, TX, where Fermin would cultivate deep relationships within the industry and later open Suerte with restaurant partner Sam Hellman-Mass in 2018. Chef Fermin’s vision for Mexican cuisine in America, told through Suerte and now Este, has had an undoubtably immense impact on the US kitchens culture and its approach to telling the stories of one of, if not the most, diverse cuisines in the world, through the medium of food, arguably its most profoundly rooted heritage. A few of Chef Fermin’s accolades are Austin Chronicle Best New Restaurant 2023: Este, Esquire Best New Restaurants in America 2023: Este, NYT The Restaurant List 2023: Este, Bon Apetit 24 Best New Restaurants 2023: Este, Robb Report Chef of the Year & Best New Restaurant 2023: Este, 2021 F&W Best New Chef, F&W Best new restaurant 2019: Suerte, Eater Best New Restaurant in America 2018: Suerte, 2018 Eater Austin’s Chef of the Year, Bon Apetit Best New Restaurant 2018: Suerte.

Cecelia is the Head of Brand Marketing at Google - she launched the discipline for Google in 2017 and has since released productions like Google’s original documentary series, Search On. Search on highlights Stories of people around the world using Google technology to solve big problems, answer hard questions and take action. Before Google, she was the VP of Marketing and Communications at Brit + Co, an online publisher focused on creative content for millennial women. Cecilia has spent over 10 years of her career at Google, in total. She is a Texas native, having studied at the University of Texas, receiving her BS in Advertising