Jenny Martinez turned one viral video into a thriving family business. Belen de Leon reports for the NBC4 News at 6 a.m. on March 28, 2025.
From forklifts to millions forking down her home cooked family recipes, Los Angeles’ Jenny Martinez is social media’s latest major success story.
Like many, Martinez grew up learning to cook from her mother, but thought nothing of showcasing her skills online.
Prior to her social media stardom, she sold forklifts. Then the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic happened.
“Ever since COVID hit, everything started shutting down, that’s when my daughter stayed home from school and she said let’s do a video on TikTok,” Martinez said in an interview with NBCLA.
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At the time Martinez barely used social media, having just 100 followers on Instagram. By the next morning millions of people had seen her food. The next one, featuring quesabirria tacos, was an even bigger hit.
“I told my daughter you’re going to leave your job, I’m going to leave my job, and we’re going to do this full time, we can’t stop now.”
Martinez parlayed her online success into commercial brand deals, landing her own molcajete, comal and tamalera in JCPenny under her brand “ Mesa Mía.”
“When we finished the call, I started crying. I called my husband and said, ‘Mijo, we’re going to be in JCPenney!,” Martinez said.
The kitchenware was a hit, selling out on the first run.
Martinez then went national with features on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show’ and the Food Network.
More recently Martinez set her entrepreneurial sights on a new goal, her very own cookbook.
“It’s really easy to do a video but to write it down and put it into words that was the challenging part for me,” she said. “How do you explain to someone who has never seen a tamal how to wrap one how to do it.”
‘My Mexican Mesa, Y Listo!: Beautiful Flavors, Family Style’ released after two years of hard work in tribute of her mother, still being named an editors pick on Amazon over a year after its release.
“You don’t need to have the perfect talent, the perfect knowledge, you don’t have to have the perfect answers, it’s just doing it,” said Martinez. “And then the path is just going to open.”
