How growing up in ‘the 559’ shapes the work of a Latinx TikTok sensation from Hanford

Leo Gonzalez, the son of Central Valley agricultural workers, spent his youth daydreaming of all the things he wanted to do with his life at Lacey Park in Hanford. After years hosting a video blog on YouTube and working for Univision, Gonzalez made his first TikTok video nearly two years ago — a move that changed his life.

Thanks to his skits that blend humor and daily life scenarios with a bicultural, Spanglish flair, Gonzalez’s popularity exploded during the pandemic.

Gonzalez, 27, was recently named a TikTok Latinx Trailblazer as well as an “Icon” on TikTok’s first ever DISCOVER List, which highlights trendsetters and leaders on the platform. He surpassed 2 million followers on TikTok on Saturday.

He also lives with a group of young Latinx influencers in a shared house in Los Angeles, where they work on producing content together as part of the Familia Fuego. The collaboration, which is intended to elevate Hispanic social media creatives, is supported by DIRECTV and influence company Whalar.

While Gonzalez said he loves his new life in Los Angeles, he frequently talks on his social media platforms about his roots in the Central Valley, which he affectionately refers to as “the 559.”

The Bee caught up with Gonzalez to hear about his journey, his life in Los Angeles, and what he missed most about El Valle Central. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

Q: What was it like moving from Hanford to a content house in the Hollywood Hills?

I talk about Hanford pretty much every day. Hanford and Lacey Park in Hanford. That area around the park — that’s the place where I dreamed of everything, the things that I’ve been able to do in LA. The difference is so extreme and I love it.

Thinking of Hanford for me, I think of my whole life story and so there’s good in there and then of course there’s also bummer feelings when I think of Hanford.

And so when I think of LA — this is where I was born again.

This is where I feel like I have been loved and accepted for me. LA is a place where I really felt welcomed and accepted: I’m present and I’m here and I love it. I’ve felt community since I got here. From the night markets to the callejones, it’s just been amazing.

Q: What type of support did you get as a Central Valley youth?

Luckily for me, the Hanford Elementary School District did a really good job of making me feel visible.

Last time I checked, they still do the 5c program at West Hills College. That was something that I did for two summers, when I was in sixth and seventh grade.

That was the place where I learned how to edit videos. They taught us how to edit on Windows Movie Maker. During that time (with 5c), they were teaching us a bunch of stuff. We were doing an hour of editing, dissecting cow eyeballs and also learning how to make bread.

But when it came to the multimedia class, that’s where I was like, “this is what I want to do, no matter what, whether it’s broadcast journalism or producing.” That’s where I felt so alive.

That was such a special program and that’s where I felt really seen, because it was a program designed to reach specific kids who are in those poverty numbers and I was part of that.

So I think that’s something that (should be) available at every community college from Bakersfield to Merced, that was such a big, key deal for me. The whole point was to get kids excited for college, but for me it just made me feel noticed by educators.

Q: How did your job at Univision influence your social media career?

Yeah, so I used to do a YouTube channel in high school called The Life Project. One day, I was shooting something in Fresno at a Black Lives Matter protest after the death of Sandra (Bland).

I was doing a documentary for my YouTube and one of the (staff) from Univision asked me about it. A few weeks later, they messaged me and said there was a spot open for a photojournalist. So I took that (job) the next month and I was there for two and a half years.

It was amazing because I wanted to apply there but I wasn’t qualified at all. I didn’t have any education or (formal) training to work there, but luckily they just literally handed me the job. It was amazing. They just went off of how I edited my YouTube videos.

Q: Is LA’s Mexican-American community much different from the Central Valley’s?

Honestly, I don’t think so. Because when you go to one of the remates in Fresno like Cherry (Avenue) Auction, that’s the same thing as going to Alameda Night Market or Avenue 26 Night Market in LA. It’s the same thing, so it’s just like going home.

I will say, though, that I still haven’t had Mexican food in LA that’s as good as it is in Hanford. I thought, when I was getting closer to the border, “well, I’m sure they have a better recipe,” but they don’t. I think that in Hanford there’s less competition and so much more competition here (in LA).

La Abeja, a newsletter written for and by California Latinos

Sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter centered around Latino issues in California.

A lot of the tacos here taste the same from one place to another. Whereas in Hanford, there’s, like, three, four places to go to and they’re not in a hurry, they’re not rushing to do anything. They’ve been there for 30 years.

I’m not in a rush (laughs).

Q: The Central Valley has great food, in part thanks to farming and farmworkers, right?

Yeah, and the farmworkers will take some bomb chorizo y papa burritos to work. They don’t mess around in McFarland or Delano. They’re taking really good burritos to work.

Q: Aside from food, what else do you miss about the Valley?

I think that in Hanford and the 559 generally, there’s something really nice about going, for example, from Hanford to Fresno… It’s that freedom to go and drive 40 minutes to Fresno to see something. Whereas here, it’s 40 minutes to drive seven miles.

I miss that in the 559, it was a mile a minute. You just know where to go: You know you go to Orange Cove for a certain place for tacos. If you go to Fresno, (you know) there’s a huge Oaxacan festival that goes on.

People are so proud (of their work in the Valley). It’s like a celebration because, at least with my dad and everybody that I was introduced to that he would work with, you’re celebrating by going to the remate on Monday in Hanford or on the weekend going to Riverdale and then seeing the produce at those swap meets and they say “Farmersville” on it, the sticker says “Laton” on it.

That’s special. That’s a cool part of living in LA, too, it’s seeing something that was made in Selma. That’s really fun.

Q: As a TikTok influencer, what’s in store for you for 2022?

Personally, I’m just working on a few different projects right now that I’m hoping to bring to life in 2022. I’m very very hopeful for this year and I think I got more done during the pandemic than I had originally planned and so now I feel like if I plan more, then I can get more done. There’s some cool things (in store), hopefully.

And I’m going be going to Hanford and the Valley, too, for sure.

I think that LA has this idea that they have the best of everything… I’ve tried better quesabirria tacos in Fresno, so I’d like to be able to take people over there.

Q: What would you tell Valley youth looking to take a leap?

I have some very talented, smart friends who I grew up with and we were all being looked at really closely in those poverty stats, and because of that, we were put into these groups and these programs.

One of my friends, she is now a therapist in Fresno, my best friend from elementary school is now a pharmacist in Arizona. And so that’s what’s exciting to see: these two are from the same block as me in Hanford, who are brown and whose parents worked really hard, whether it’s Del Monte in Hanford, or Leprino in Lemoore or their dads were working in the fields like my dad still does.

I think that there’s so much more to see, not necessarily even outside of the 559, but there’s so much more to see outside of what you’ve been presented with.

For me in LA, everything just feels really tangible and really reachable, but you have to just not stop. It’s super hard and it was super lonely in Hanford and Lemoore working on things by myself, but it’s also super worth it. That’s one of the reasons that I mentioned Hanford so much in my lives on TikTok and Instagram — so that a little kid can know that I was there.

And it’s so fun outside (of the Valley). You can love that place while loving a new place.