ME ME.
I am José Ignacio Eslinger Caloca.
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I was Born and raised in Ensenada, Baja California, México by a single mom.
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Spanish is my first language. My wife and I speak it at home. But we need to do a better job of teaching it to our kids.
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When I was 8 my mom bought me a chemistry set. I made "perfumes" with God-knows-what skin-burning ingredients and sold them to the ladies in my neighborhood. Business was good.
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At 15 we moved to Hawaii for 4 years. Unfortunately, I watched JAWS much too early in life so I was terrified of the ocean. The sane was fun though. Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.
After a few years of figuring stuff out (I sold knives and vacuum cleaners door-to-door, worked at Blockbuster, at a radio station as an on-air intern, trained to become a Muay Thai fighter, took care of middle-schoolers at a pre and post school program, amongst others things) I landed in the Ad Industry in Los Angeles in 2008.
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Two years later I met Carissa and have been on this wild ride with her ever since. We are indeed "work married."
I think I was some sort of a clown-type of person in another life as I find that making people smile, laugh and overall just feel good is a passion of mine in this life. It's something that I must always try to do. I hope you can see that in my work.
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Every so often I stop for a second and just think about how lucky I am to be able to do what I do.
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WORK ME.
MOTIVE ...................... GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR October 2019 - Present
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PITCH ......................... CREATIVE DIRECTOR June 2018 - October 2019
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INNOCEAN
ACD
November 2013 - June 2018
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ROSETTA
Sr Art Director
February 2013 - November 2013
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IGNITED
Sr Art Director
February 2011 - January 2013
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DAILEY
Art Director
November 2010 - February 2011
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TBWA.CHIAT.DAY
Art Director
October 2008 - November 2010
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VITRO
Intern
Summer 2008
AWARDS ME.
ADWEEK
CREATIVE 100
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CLIO
2019 SILVER - Hyundai "Ref To The Rescue"
2017 BRONZE - Hyundai "Choices (Because Football)"
2017 BRONZE - Hyundai "Put Your Profile On The Line"
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USATODAY ADMETER
2016 WINNER - Hyundai "First Date"
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AWARDS AWARDS AWARDS AWARDS
The perpetually fascinating
hunt for this is what keeps me up at night.
LET'S GET PERSONAL
I am a daddy to Marko and Nico, the most amazing little dudes ever (seriously, they are.) I am a husband to Erika, the most beautiful woman in the world (again, seriously.) And I am a son to Alma Rosa, the most bestest mom in the history of the universe (you guessed it, she really is.)
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My wife, son (Marko) and I were lucky enough to be cast in a Johnson & Johnson spot about Father’s day. You can check it out below if you have time. It taught me a lot about myself as a new father and how much I’m actually worth to my sons.
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In my free time I like to kick people. It’s my second passion. Not randomly though, so don’t worry. I like to train Muay Thai (kickboxing), which makes it OK to kick, knee, elbow or punch someone. I'm also a huge sports fan. Anything that's mildly considered a sport I will get into. The downside is that I'm a Chargers fan and that equals infinite sadness. Yay.
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Last, but not least, I am what some would call a "Sneakerhead." I own many a pair of shoes. More than my wife. Way more. My mom calls me the Mexican Imelda Marcos. If you don't know her, look her up.