SAN ANTONIO – At the time a Burbank High School teacher encouraged him to apply to Ivy League universities, Robert Chavez had never left the state of Texas.
Today, he is the president and CEO of Hermès, a luxury fashion label known around the world.
Chavez graduated from Burbank in 1973 as valedictorian.
On Wednesday, he spoke to current Burbank students, hoping to use his story of success to inspire.
"It's great to come back, to be able to meet the students and talk with them -- not to them, but with them," Chavez said. "And hopefully, if I can inspire just one young person to maybe follow their dreams or just go beyond whatever they think they can go beyond, that to me is really the whole effort in coming here today."
Chavez oversees the Hermès company in the U.S. and Latin America. He previously worked in the executive training program at Bloomingdales and later became a merchandise administrator for cosmetics and fragrances at Macy's.
He was appointed to senior vice president of merchandising at Macy's and went on to become CEO of Etienne Aigner before leading Hermès.
Chavez lives in New York City and has traveled the world, but he says San Antonio will always be home.
"It's a wonderful place, and it brings back great and warm memories," Chavez said.
When he was attending Burbank, Chavez said he never dreamed he would get to where he is today. Then he got a letter in the mail from Princeton University.
The first sentence said, "Welcome to the class of 1977."
He calls leaving home, located just blocks from the high school, the scariest thing he had ever done. Getting out of his comfort zone, he said, has been key to his success.
"Follow your dream. Follow your passion," Chavez said. "Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do something. You can do whatever you set your mind to doing."
After Chavez addressed the group of students Wednesday, many of them spoke with him face to face afterward. A junior ROTC member presented Chavez with a Burbank letter jacket, which he tried on.
Chavez visits San Antonio every year. Besides enjoying a return to the city grew up in, he loves to come back for the Tex-Mex.
"I’ve traveled all over the world. I live in New York. And let me tell you, you cannot find San Antonio Tex-Mex food in New York City," Chavez said. "And so, of course, we arrived here on Monday, dropped our bags, and the first place we went to? Mi Tierra."
Chavez said he feels "blessed and fortunate" to have found success but "even more fortunate to be back here today."