Creative Ambassador Spotlight: Jose Romero

Meet our creative ambassador, Jose Romero! Jose joined our ambassador program last year, and has been a proud SOLOist since then. A visual storyteller at heart, his photos will inspire you to step outside and explore. We are super thankful for his efforts, as well as our many other amazing ambassadors’ in spreading our mission and brand.

Hometown: San Lorenzo, CA (Just moved into Yosemite National Park for the Summer)

Instagram: @joseromero93

Favorite Giving Experience:
After graduating I began volunteering my time for an organization that I was involved with in high school - DECA, which “prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe”. I get to go back to the High School conferences throughout the year and help with conference management. As a student, DECA really impacted my life. I love going back and being part of any organization that positively influences students.

Tell us about your trip to Yosemite.
Yosemite National Park has become my favorite place to visit since I began doing photography 2 years ago. When I learned that SOLO was launching a new recycled sunglass line I quickly suggested Yosemite as the product shoot location.

With 2 weeks of planning Dana, SOLO Co-Founder, Ricky, my brother, and I headed to the park for two days hoping to hit some trails, explore the park, and capture images of the SOLOs along the way.

Our trip began in the Bay Area at 6:30am when the three of us crammed backpacks, camera gear and a bunch of snacks into the back of Dana's Prius. After a quick stop at Starbucks and one Miley Cyrus CD later, we were in Yosemite ready to begin our first hike.

Once at Happy Isles we made our way up the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls. Although the trail is paved a large portion of the trip once we reached the base of the waterfall we were met with steep, slippery steps and mist that ultimately soaked us from head to toe. Once at the top of the falls our rain jackets were replaced with shades and our view of the valley was suddenly more epic. We continued our way up the trail towards Nevada Falls where we met dozens of people who ultimately learned about the brand and jumped on board to model the new SOLOs.

Once at the top of Nevada Falls we took the John Muir trail down to the valley. Although this trail is slightly longer it offers a new perspective of the valley and is also personally one of my favorite trails in Yosemite.