In 2016, Christian Martin came to a crossroads in his life: He could continue climbing the corporate ladder at AT&T where he worked, or he could go full time as part of his family’s restaurant business. He chose the family restaurant business and has never looked back.
Christian had a passion for entrepreneurship since childhood. At 14 years old, he sold plants on the streets of Inglewood, the Los Angeles suburb he was born and raised in that lies just east of LA’s international airport.
Led by his father, the family opened a Mexican restaurant in Inglewood in 2009. A few years later, they opened another. Then another, much bigger one. With no other Mexican restaurants in the area, business was good. On Taco Tuesdays, customers lined up outside for an hour.
One by one, Christian’s siblings quit their steady-paying careers to take their chances in the family business. When the family opened a fourth restaurant, Martin was a manager with AT&T, overseeing multiple stores. But in the end, leaving the corporate world was a no-brainer. “My dream was always to be in a family business and that’s what we were working for,” he says.
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A city in transition
When the family chose the location for their first restaurant on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis, some family members were skeptical. Inglewood had a reputation for criminal activity. Why not open the restaurant in the wealthy beach communities of Santa Monica or Venice a couple of miles to the west?
But to Christian, Inglewood was home. He’d grown up there skateboarding and barbecuing with friends. He knew the people. He liked the community spirit. “We invested in Inglewood when nobody else was investing in Inglewood,” he recalls. “We kind of took that risk and we were supported by the community.”
Today, Inglewood is changing. In 2020, SoFi Stadium opened there—home to the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). And nearby Intuit Dome is scheduled to open in 2024—future home of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Some longtime residents and small business owners worry about change to their community. But where they see fear, Christian sees opportunity. “There’s two things that you’ve got to do when change comes,” he says. “You have to adapt and you have to grow.”
He is living proof that this philosophy works. The Martin family has opened a fifth restaurant, adding fine dining to its casual dining eateries and one juice bar.
An entrepreneurial spirit
Christian owes his entrepreneurial spirit to his parents, who immigrated from Mexico with nothing and made good on the American Dream. They bought a house in the 1980s. They opened a restaurant in the 1990s, started a construction company, and ran a limo business, among other ventures—often while holding down day jobs.
There were other role models and mentors, too. Christian remembers Ms. Jones, who taught him about business and entrepreneurship in an ROP (Regional Occupational Program) class in high school. And there was Dino, who managed the electronic store where Christian worked as a cashier after high school. It was Dino who gave him the chance to pitch a new business idea to the management team, and who saw his potential for greatness.
Today, Christian is a mentor to others. As a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and active participant in the community, he builds grassroots relationships and shows others that they too can achieve success. “I thought it was out of reach for me, but thanks to programs and mentors and people around me I was able to push through,” he says. “And now I can be that voice for kids in my community that also need to hear the same thing.”
Meanwhile, the family restaurant business is booming, using QuickBooks to keep the business’s finances in order. As a global technology platform, Intuit helps customers like Christian and his family overcome their most important financial challenges. Our innovative products and services improve our customers’ lives, opening expanded possibilities.
“All I’ve ever wanted to do, and even for my family, is just to inspire other people,” he says. Christian is well on his way to both inspiring others and his community. He’s opening two more restaurants near the new stadiums and his vision is to open even more—including one at the airport and others in nearby Orange and Ventura counties.