OUR STORY
HOW WE GOT HERE
What began as home-cooked meals has evolved into a platform for storytelling, mezcal education, and Indigenous resilience. Our story started in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca, Mexico, the world capital of mezcal. Read about one family’s trajectory and migration story to learn how we got here and where we want to go.
1980’s
Mezcal production in Oaxaca plummets due to increasing tequila demand, maguey (agave) shortage, and other community factors. Fabiola’s (founder) father and many relatives from Santiago, Matatlan, Oaxaca, MX (World Capital of Mezcal) migrate to the U.S.
1992
Fabiola migrates with her mother and brother to Los Angeles, California,– home to the largest Oaxacan population outside of Oaxaca–where she remains undocumented for 20+ years.
2013
First time trying mezcal outside a community setting, a bar. That experience left a bad taste in her mouth because it was a complete contrast to the experiences she had with family and community in Oaxaca. Full story here.
2014
Leads a wage theft research project that helps pass an ordinance in Los Angeles and a bill in California to curb wage theft. Restaurant workers and other low-wage industries are most susceptible to wage theft.
2016
There’s a wage theft allegation in Oakland, CA where an upscale Mexican restaurant uses knowledge from a Oaxaqueña, steals her wages, and fires her. This moment, the growing mezcal boom, and other examples of cultural appropriation seed the idea for cultural preservation.
2017
Fabiola becomes a mother. Her landlord asks her to vacate her home. She looks for a new home and offers her Oaxacan cooking to her roommate, who encourages her to do something with her food.
2019
Mi Oaxaca informally operates out of her home kitchen and at pop-ups. She also applies and is accepted to La Cocina's food incubator program.
2022
The Mellon Foundation invites Fabiola to apply for a grant to formalize Mi Oaxaca.
2023
Mi Oaxaca is invited to present at Agave Heritage Festival, completes the first part of the community based participatory research project, continues doing tastings, and begins piloting workshops and training.
2024
We pilot our 6-week flagship program, An Introduction to Mezcal Through Indigenous Worldviews. A group of BIPOC hospitality Industry workers take a trip to Oaxaca to pilot our Cultural Exchange Program. We continue to facilitate workshops and present our work to amplify Indigenous narratives of mezcal and Oaxacan culture.
2025
Fabiola is accepted to Changemaker Author’s cohort, a program by Unicorn Author’s Club and Narrative Initiative, to share the research findings in a book.
MEET THE FOUNDER
FABIOLA SANTIAGO
I am Fabiola Santiago Hernandez (she/they/mama), Oaxaca-born, California-raised. I am a Zapotec mother and migrant from the World Capital of Mezcal, Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico. My father migrated to the US in the mid 1980’s because the local mezcal economy in Matatlán plummeted. He sent for the rest of the family to join him in Los Angeles, CA in the early 1990’s where we all remained undocumented for over 20 years. Like many Oaxacan migrants in Los Angeles, I was part of the food service industry. I worked in restaurants for nearly a decade and experienced firsthand the injustices faced by low-wage workers. Later, as a public health researcher, I published studies on wage theft that helped shape policy reforms at the local and state level.
In 2020, I was accepted into La Cocina, a nonprofit restaurant incubator in San Francisco. When the program was paused due to the COVID 19 pandemic, I turned to advocacy. Through writing and public speaking, I began addressing the cultural appropriation and economic exploitation of Oaxacan foodways, and the urgent need for cultural preservation rooted in Indigenous knowledge.
In 2023 I began incorporating Mi Oaxaca under La Cocina’s fiscal sponsorship, while also building our infrastructure, engaging in community research, and developing our programs. Through Mi Oaxaca, I continue to advocate for cultural respect, economic equity, and the preservation of Oaxacan traditions that are both personal and deeply rooted in community.
- FABIOLA
