Our careers often feel like a journey on a winding road, filled with diverse experiences that shape us in unexpected ways. This path is rarely linear, with each experience influencing and informing the next.
A clear example is Cristina Hernandez, better known as Cristi Hernz, in Miami’s lively nightlife.
Cristina’s story reflects a journey of evolving passion, where DJing began as a hobby at age eleven with an iPod and grew alongside her professional life. Her experiences in various fields, especially teaching, fine-tuned her essential skills. This later amplified her DJing to a larger scale, showcasing her blend of passion, resilience, and community engagement.
Born in Hialeah, FL, and raised in North Beach, a latin driven local neighborhood in Miami Beach, FL, Cristina carries the unique essence of the city within her – a blend of cultures, rhythms, and a persistent spirit.
Miami’s streets are alive with the sound of music, embedding melodies deep within the hearts of its residents. From salsa in Little Havana to EDM in South Beach, music is integral to the city’s identity. Jazz and hip-hop, among other genres, resonate through lounges and dance floors, bringing together a varied community in a shared celebration of music and expression.
This same passion was deeply ingrained in Cristina. Music held a profound significance in her life, leading her to consider a career in DJing. She envisioned herself connecting with audiences through her music, aiming to craft immersive experiences with her soulful melodies and rhythmic compositions.
Despite the magnetic pull of music from her early youth, Cristina embarked on a professional journey that seemed worlds apart from the DJ booths she would later command – she became a kindergarten teacher.
While it may seem odd to dream of being a DJ while working as a teacher, pursuing your true passion through a career change can be fulfilling. Aligning your job with your interests and strengths brings happiness and success. As you acquire new skills, you grow and excel in your new role but eventually reach your full potential in a field you are passionate about.
This is exactly what happened with Cristina. In the school’s classrooms, Cristina didn’t just teach ABCs and 123s; she nurtured young minds, teaching patience, kindness, and the value of community.
Her role as a teacher required creativity, adaptability, and genuine interpersonal skills. But at that time, Cristina was unaware of how crucial these skills would become in her future professional endeavors.
Although disjointed, Teaching and DJing do mix it up on a few core competencies. These skills include effective communication, creativity, adaptability, and audience engagement. A teacher can effectively use her DJing skills to connect with listeners, mix tracks creatively, respond to audience vibes, and create memorable experiences. While using these skills, she also was able to DJ for her students over the years as her passion and service to the community.
Driven by her passion and dedication, similar to her teaching career, Cristina returned to her DJing roots and started leveraging her developed skills to fuel her teenage dream. Her ability to understand night people became apparent, and she became well-known in Miami’s nightlife as Cristi Hernz,
Her commitment to community building found a new expression in her music career. Cristina founded Selva Beats MIA in April 2023, a collective that encourages inclusivity, collaboration, and support among local DJs and music enthusiasts in Miami.
By organizing events, such as the “Summer Launch Party,” and participating in larger festivals like Love Burn 2024( A south regional event for Burning Man Festival), Selva Beats sets the stage for DJs to show their talent, connect with others in the industry through creating safe environments, and share their passion for music with the community.
This initiative was shaped by years of creating connections among students, parents, and colleagues. Through Selva Beats MIA, Cristina extended the classroom’s ethos of learning, sharing, and growing together into the wider world, turning the dance floor into a communal joy and discovery space.
As Cristina continues to make waves in Miami’s music scene, she carries with her the lessons of the classroom – patience, empathy, and the unyielding belief in the power of community. In doing so, she not only shapes the soundtrack of the city but also its heart, proving that the most profound connections are those forged through shared experiences and passions.
Published by: Martin De Juan
