As long as she can remember, Selina Pino has surrounded herself with food. “It always felt natural,” she said.
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She was born in 1989 and raised in Bonita along with her two sisters. Their home had a half-acre of land on which they grew vegetables while raising chickens and goats.
The family was blue-collar with Mexican-American heritage on their father’s side.
“My mom is American, but learned how to make Mexican food,” she said. “My mom’s a great cook. I learned how to cook from her.
“We have lots of cousins, aunts and uncles. We would get together in large family gatherings and food was important.”
Pino began cooking with her mom around age 5 and was baking pies within several years.
At age 11, her parents got divorced, a period of time she described as “a rough patch for us.”
Cooking helped her through it.
“I spent more time with my mom in the kitchen,” she said. “It was quality time. There’s a lot of comfort in food both personally and bringing folks together.”
Her love for cooking continued through her teenage years when she enjoyed working as a waitress and would cook for friends after school.
“I have always had this knack for pulling together things out of not much,” she said.
“Someone might look in the refrigerator and say, ‘We have nothing to eat,’ and I find a way to make quesadillas. It’s fun for me.”
Pino first considered a food-centered career during college when taking classes on globalization. While other students were interested in international politics, she was interested in food culture and the price of corn.
“I knew I wanted to work in food somehow,” she said, “but didn’t know how to get my foot in the door.”
After graduating college in 2011, Pino explored different food-related experiences. She worked on an educational farm in Argentina, tending the fields and preparing daily meals.
Upon returning to San Diego, she worked as a waitress in North Park and volunteered at a food bank and as an intern with Olivewood Gardens.
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Located on 8 acres in National City with three growing fields, Olivewood Gardens is a nonprofit with a variety of food-related teaching programs for adults and children. There are cooking classes, day camps, school-based field trips and open tour times.
As an intern, Pino helped with lessons and taught cooking classes. She also created a recipe for cauliflower ceviche that is renowned today at Olivewood Gardens.
She was inspired and became even more determined to pursue a career in food.
In 2012 she moved to New York City to attend New York University, working in Manhattan restaurants while pursuing a master’s degree in food studies.
After earning her master’s, she continued employment at various Manhattan restaurants, working her way up the ladder to hospitality management.
“New York opened me up to new opportunities,” she said. “And it reinforced my work ethic.”
Pino returned to the West Coast and pursued a corporate career in food management.
Today, at age 37 she is vice president of operations for Masienda, a corporation that sells natural food products that primarily come from Mexico. The company’s products are sold across the U.S. with warehouses in Los Angeles, Texas, Chicago and Las Vegas.
She describes her role as being Masienda’s quarterback, although she also enjoys testing new recipes using the company’s products.
Living in National City a block from Olivewood Gardens, Pino has returned to her roots, cooking for friends and family. She has also volunteered to teach classes at Olivewood Gardens and plans to create more recipes.
Pino has found a successful career in something that has surrounded her during her whole life and helped her through dark times.
Her advice to young people thinking of their future is to likewise find something that inspires them. Sometimes that may even be an everyday occurrence such as cooking.
“I also think everyone should visit Olivewood Gardens,” she added, noting how educational and inspiring it has been for her and so many others.
“It’s my happy place.”
About this series
Goldsmith is a Union-Tribune contributing columnist.
We welcome reader suggestions of people who have done something extraordinary or otherwise educational, inspiring or interesting and who have not received much previous media. Please send suggestions to Jan Goldsmith at [email protected]
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