ME ME.
I am José Ignacio Eslinger Caloca.
I was Born and raised in Ensenada, Baja California, México by a single mom.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Every so often I stop for a second and just think about how lucky I am to be able to do what I do.
WORK ME.
MOTIVE ...................... GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR October 2019 - Present
PITCH ......................... CREATIVE DIRECTOR June 2018 - October 2019
INNOCEAN
ACD
November 2013 - June 2018
ROSETTA
Sr Art Director
February 2013 - November 2013
IGNITED
Sr Art Director
February 2011 - January 2013
DAILEY
Art Director
November 2010 - February 2011
TBWA.CHIAT.DAY
Art Director
October 2008 - November 2010
VITRO
Intern
Summer 2008
AWARDS ME.
ADWEEK
CREATIVE 100
CLIO
2019 SILVER - Hyundai "Ref To The Rescue"
2017 BRONZE - Hyundai "Choices (Because Football)"
2017 BRONZE - Hyundai "Put Your Profile On The Line"
USATODAY ADMETER
2016 WINNER - Hyundai "First Date"
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.)
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.
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.
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.
MY MOM IS MY HERO
Mr roboT
People tell me I look like
I KNOW TOO MANY LYRICS TO RAP SONGS
Whenever the Shawshank Redemption
is on I watch it.
No matter what.
I'M ADDICTED TO #TWITTER
As a kid I wanted to be Tupac
I MAKE THE BEST CEVICHE IN THE WORLD
