Rockstar dreams to food vlogger: Fork It's Ismael Martinez

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Social media is filled with all sorts of influencers, and in the Rio Grande Valley, no one is more recognized online than Ismael Martinez, a food vlogger better known as Fork It.

Born in San Antonio but raised in the Rio Grande Valley, Martinez was surrounded by Valley influences of food, music, and even local slang.

Martinez grew an interest in music at a young age, playing guitar at 14 years old and participating in the school marching band playing the saxophone.

Martinez says he knew he wanted to pursue a job he was passionate about.

"What I always knew is that I didn't want to have a regular job, I didn't want to work at a desk job, I didn't want to have a boss, I just wanted to do whatever I wanted to do," he said. "It was always about finding something I was passionate about and doing it for the rest of my life."

Vlogging was not Martinez's initial plan; he said he initially thought his job would be a musician, continuing to perform and being a guitarist.

(Photo by: Rolando Avila/ValleyCentral)

"I thought I was going to be a rockstar," he said. "I initially thought that is what I was going to do, I worked at several music stores here in the Valley, the music scene was what I was looking for."

Martinez quickly learned that after his first child was born, the musician's life may not be for him.

"I was born to be a dad, I love being at home, being with my kid, so the musician's life would've not allowed me to do that," Martinez said.

The Fork It vlog journey grew from the desire to document his child's first steps.

"When I picked up my first camera, it was so I could take pictures of my daughter. I wanted to be able to document how she is growing," Martinez said. "I thought about it, if I hire a photographer, that is going to be expensive, so I might as well invest in a camera."

From there, Martinez said his vlog journey began with taking baby photos to daily video shooting, and fine-tuning his craft.

Martinez says that when he would vlog, he decided to record at local restaurants and upload to social media.

From there, Fork It was born and continues to grow.

You can catch Martinez's food vlogging channel ForkIt on YouTube.