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Daily Inspiration: Meet Andrew Diaz Winkelmann

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Diaz Winkelmann.

Hi Andrew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to be here. A running joke of mine is that my mind is like a computer made up of two partitioned operating systems: one that drives my love of business and the other that inspires my passion for the creative arts, especially writing. And there’s truth there. Only recently, after someone asked me how I’ve been able to write and fuel that creative fire while working full time as an executive in the sales/development field, did I do a deep dive into myself and came back up to the surface with an answer: my through line is growth.

Whether it’s providing the tools for an individual to become better, seeing a company become more efficient and profitable, or watching a novel evolve from an idea into a daily practice and finally into a fully formed story, that’s my why. It’s the art of viewing life and all endeavors contained within it as an iterative experience, one that can only develop and evolve into something greater when the daily, often times repetitive, work gets done.

From an early age, I had a love for reading, creating stories, and exploring the world. Every summer was an adventure. There were two main places where my summer breaks were spent growing up. One was a house near the beautiful Piedmont Park and the other an industrial warehouse off of Fulton Industrial filled with honking forklifts and zip-tied piles of boxes that swayed against gravity. 

The home belonged to my Abuelo Rene and Abuela Ines (who two of the characters in my novel The Guava Tree are based on) and was filled with photos and relics from Cuba, the magical island I heard so much about as a child that I remember it as if I’d been there myself. I would create stories in my head and play “imaginary games” (that’s what I called them) between the trees at Piedmont Park, sometimes sneaking down into my grandparent’s unfinished basement where I was sure all sorts of ghosts and monsters lived. Other times I would venture out into their backyard where a brick retaining wall stood with one brick missing, my imagination convinced a pirate’s buried treasure was hidden away just on the other side.

The industrial warehouse was (and still is) called Diaz Foods, a family business founded in 1980 that has grown into one of the largest Latino/Hispanic food distributors in the United States. As a kid, I only thought of Diaz Foods as “The Warehouse,” and we’d refer to it as such whenever wanting to find out if I’d be spending the day there while my mom worked. If I found out I was spending the day there, my second question would be, “Is Alex going to The Warehouse too?” My cousin Alex and I would help file paperwork in accounting or move cases of products in our warehouse, using our breaks to either play practical jokes or sell things. Sometimes the things we sold were old toys or poorly mixed, powdered lemonade. Other times, I would write comic books or short stories saved onto floppy disks, print them out, and sell them to the employees at Diaz Foods.

I loved spending my summers between my grandparent’s house and The Warehouse. And as many kids do, I went through a rebellious stage. So, because everyone expected me to become an author, during my teenage years I took a break from writing fiction. That break from creative writing ending up lasting close to fourteen years, from the age of 14 to the age of 26.

During that break, after graduating high school in 2011, I began working in purchasing at Diaz Foods, sourcing and managing inventory for products from all around the world (Mexico, Thailand, Egypt, and many other countries). While working full-time, I went to Georgia State University, pursuing a degree in Managerial Sciences (with a minor in Psychology), taking classes during lunch breaks or at night. Eventually, I began to supervise and then manage other buyers, realizing a passion for leadership.

My mind was focused on work and school, taking me just about seven years to complete my undergraduate degree. When I graduated in 2017, I continued to work in purchasing at Diaz Foods but started the process of transitioning into sales and development. And while I loved everything I was learning in sales, at this point, I felt as if something was missing, but I couldn’t express what it was. It took me almost two years (until December of 2018) when I realized the missing piece: I no longer had my creative outlet of writing and sharing stories. And while I’d written countless presentations, essays, and emails, my creative self had completely fallen by the wayside. Luckily, once I realized this, I dove headfirst back into writing fiction. And when I did, it felt like I’d found an old friend who I hadn’t seen since childhood.

After this reunion, I started to write short stories, take creative writing classes at Emory’s continuing education program, and meet other people who wrote. One of those people, Melissa, a poet, is now my wife. If it hadn’t been for returning to my love for writing, chances are, I wouldn’t be happily married today to an amazing wife and proud dad to our two kids. What’s incredible is that everything else started to fall into place in my life as well. It was as if the universe had been waiting for me to pick up the pen and start writing again.

Eventually, I began taking classes at Reinhardt University’s Etowah Valley MFA program. During this process, I wrote thousands upon thousands of words, including a critical thesis and a full-length novel. That full-length novel was the first draft of my debut novel, The Guava Tree, a story about having the courage to leave home and the strength to find it again. At the time, the novel’s working title was The Cuban Dream, named after a short story I’d written called “The Cuban Dream,” which was based on an oral story shared with me by my grandparents about the day they left Cuba. 

But before I mention how the short story became a full-length novel, I want to share a memory from my childhood that came to me only days before the novel’s launch: On one of our days spent working/adventuring through the hallways of Diaz Foods, my cousin Alex, my mom, and I were in my uncle’s office. My mom had just finished reading one of the comic books I’d written when she looked up at me and said, “One day, you’re going to write a story based on our family.” I was six or seven at the time and completely rejected the idea, but somehow, maybe tucked away somewhere in my subconscious, that’s exactly what happened, twenty or so years later.

So, back to how my short story, “The Cuban Dream” became the The Guava Tree. While writing my creative thesis, I went through a period of writer’s block (with a novel I’m currently finishing), so at the time, one of my professors advised that I take a break and write something else. He asked if I had any other projects on the horizon. I told him about my short story, “The Cuban Dream,” which he read and loved. He told me it had legs and asked if I thought there was a novel there. I wasn’t sure, but I knew how to be. Taking the short story to my Abuela Ines’ house, I read it to her, translating from written English to spoken Spanish. When I finished reading the short story, she was crying and told me, “eso es lo que sentí.” That’s what I felt. And that answered my professor’s question as to whether or not there was a novel there. I started writing The Guava Tree that afternoon with a version of “The Cuban Dream” becoming its first chapter.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I wrote the novel during a time of personal, societal, and worldwide tumult. The COVID-19 Pandemic had just begun, and my wife and I were in the process of purchasing a townhome. At the time, we’d moved out of our apartment in Old Fourth Ward and moved in with my parents while we searched for our first home. During that time, my wife became pregnant with our first child and with restaurants closing down due to the pandemic, there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding what the future of the food and beverage industry would look like. But even with that feeling of insecurity, I worked from 8am to 8pm, waking up at 5:30am each morning to write 1,000 words. Eventually, the first draft of the novel was finished, Diaz Foods had one of the best years in our history, my wife and I purchased our townhome, and our daughter was born. That struggle taught me how to utilize discipline as a tool and focus on little tasks, one step at a time, without becoming overwhelmed by the overall goal.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a Cuban-American author who writes stories that highlight hope, perseverance, and the immigrant’s journey. I’m most proud that I could write my first novel, The Guava Tree and have my Abuela Ines, who the protagonist is inspired by, be part of the process. I’m an advocate of powerful literature and unique voices, believing everyone’s perspective is important and should be shared. I hope my debut novel, The Guava Tree, inspires courage, strength, and empathy in its readers no matter what obstacles they’ve had to overcome in their own lives.  

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Writing my first novel taught me many things, but one life skill in particular, has changed my life the most profoundly, and that’s viewing life as an iterative process. My philosophy changed from one of perfectionism to one of growth, and I began to view each day like the draft of a novel, a perpetual process of becoming better. By being more disciplined, empathetic, and forgiving of myself, I try to look at life through an iterative lens, which has allowed me to get things done that otherwise, with a different mindset, may not have been accomplished. We’re all doing our best, and as long as we’re better than we were yesterday, we’re going in the right direction.

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