Entrepreneurship and Personal Finance Journey

Speaker 1 0:00

starting a business will have you go through personal development like never before . You start questioning everything , everything , and I think that's where I come in and I'm like okay , what is it ? Like ? No , like what really is it ?

Speaker 2 0:17

welcome to the money chisme podcast , a fun and safe space for personal finance , investing and entrepreneurship tips , where we get the chisme on all things money with sass and humor . I am your host , violeta , a first-generation Mexican immigrant , a real estate investor , entrepreneur , and I am here to help you kick ass in the financial game . Each week , I not only bring you expert tips , but also share the financial freedom and entrepreneurship journeys from our own community , because you know , representation is important . So grab un cafecito or , si quieres , an adult beverage and let's get into this week's Money Chisme . Hola , bienvenidosvenidos .

Speaker 2 1:05

Welcome to another episode of the money chisme podcast and this week's chisme . You know , on this podcast , I like to share the stories and journeys of our community , their journeys to entrepreneurship , and this week we have Lucia Ortega to share her story . She is a first-gen author , speaker , money and business coach and owner of Sierra Mexican Cuisine . Hola Lucia , thank you so much for being here today . Hola Vileta , thank you for having me here . I'm so excited because I've been following you on TikTok . But for those that aren't familiar with you , can you give a brief background of who you are , what you do ?

Speaker 1 1:51

and stuff like that . So I'm , in short , a serial entrepreneur . I have a cafe , which actually derived from a taco business , and I'm also a content creator because I love sharing my journey as a first gen business owner , because it's not easy but it's very empowering and that's what I want to transmit through my , through my content . And I'm also a business coach because having someone on your side is so important as you are building a business and also as you're going . A lot of the times you're going against the status quo or what our parents plan for us . So that , for me , is what motivates me to continuously create content and build a community .

Speaker 2 2:38

I saw that you used to be a teacher and that's where you started off um , before you started your entrepreneurship and started your business . Like , how was that um transition ? Like what made you make that switch from being a teacher and deciding to be like ? You know what ? I'm gonna go start my own business .

Speaker 1 3:02

I did not want to be an entrepreneur . My I come from a family of entrepreneurs . My mom's an entrepreneur , my abuelita was an entrepreneur , her whole family . They are a little bit of against authorities , we're gonna . They also grew up in a very small town so there was not a lot of there's not any opportunities for them to make much money . So they immigrated to the US about in the late 80s , so my uncle was the very first person to leave their town . That is only one way in , one way out . That is one of the only towns that that's . It's very unfortunate , because when it used to rain a lot , lot sometimes the roads would have to get blocked because of the mudslides . So that's the type .

Speaker 1 3:50

Uh , that's where our little town is located , in the middle of nowhere in the north sierra norte de puebla very beautiful , but not a lot of economic opportunity there . So they left and little by little they started bringing more people and they did not want it because they did come from a place like a rancho where they worked for themselves . They didn't want , they wanted to continue that and , long story short , they became newspaper delivery men , so they would work for this . I remember this white man , I think his name was Mark , but they would call him Marcos and from there , eventually they became the drivers because as time went by , more people started immigrating . So then my uncles were the ones that became the drivers and then our paisanos people that came from our town started becoming their worker . So that's how they they built this business model around that and eventually it was really good . I mean , the newspaper business boomed for quite a long time and eventually , decade back in 2020 , literally closed down . So I saw that and I love my family , but I feel like , because there's so much dynamic power dynamics in Mexico , I feel like they replicated that and it didn't sit well with me . I was like no , I don't think I want to be like very authoritative person .

Speaker 1 5:15

Then my parents thought a lot about money , because one they were forced to marry . They were not allowed to date in their little town , so they were forced to marry . They were not allowed to date in their little town , so they were forced to marry . And these people have two different set of money beliefs my , my mom and dad sun and moon . My dad is very compassionate person , very like he just wants to be happy . He's like we just come here and we're gonna leave . So why am I gonna stress about building something ? And my mom's the opposite . She's like you have to make the best out of it while you're in this earth , and I feel like there's pros and cons to both sides .

Speaker 1 5:49

So , but there was a lot of domestic violence in my household due to that and I felt that it really really made me reset money , because I felt like money is a cost of . I don't want to say it's evil , but it's the cause of the problems that my family is facing . So I did not want to deal with anything about money and my mom , despite being a really hardworking entrepreneur she knows how to make money out of anything she did not have good spending habits . So then , eventually , when I became an adult , I I remember following those patterns like I got a job in college and , thankfully , I got financial aid , but I but that means like little lujos , that I mean yourself like Starbucks or whatever coffee beans back then I used to spend all of my money .

Speaker 1 6:40

Amazon started to become a thing back when I was in college , so then I was spending money and and then , once I became a teacher , it was the first time I was making thousands of dollars a month and I had no , no control of my money . I remember I'm the oldest of four children and my siblings were in high school , middle school , and I would take them out to eat , and this was back in 2017 . We're like , taking out to eat four people was still 60 bucks . And yeah , I just one day realized , man , like I have so much debt . And I'm like , okay , I'm gonna pay it off . And I'll be like , okay , I'll pay off a thousand dollars every single month .

Speaker 1 7:18

And I would just never keep my word . I would always just be in the same boat again and again and again . Until my grandfather got really sick in Mexico , I went with my dad on a credit card . I put that flight on a credit card and I was like , damn , this sucks . Like my , my dad's , only 20 years older than me . I'm like , what if this happens to him ? When I'm like , what if I'm in his situation in 20 years from now , in 20 ?

Speaker 1 7:42

years from now I can't even wrap my mind about having to take care of him , having to take care of me and having to take care of my children . Those are three generations that I felt responsible for , and I know people now in personal finance world . We're not responsible for our parents , we're not responsible for our children , but I feel like in our community , being there for each other is so important , right , it's like one of the values we grow up with . So at that moment I'm like I don't think I can make it one with these spending habits that I have and with my salary .

Speaker 1 8:19

That's when I just had the idea that I was gonna start a party rental business because LA has good weather , there's always parties and there was a market for it and I bought , I went on an offer up , I got this 10k business party rental business from this woman that was retiring it and I started off and I always say it's like my worst and best investment , because that business was not meant for me . I mean , I'm a petite five foot A hundred ten , 120 pounds on a good day woman and these chairs and tables were like , ranging from like five pounds to 45 pounds , and I learned a lot , I mean . But I learned so many skills . I learned how to market , I learned how to talk to people . I even learned how to set financial boundaries , which is like something business boundaries , which is something so important when you're a business owner , because I think a lot of the times we're like , oh , we don't want to lose a client , but I'm like wait , but there's also like how much , how much ? How much am I going to do for that money ? Especially if it's not , if there's like a certain level of disrespect . So that's something that I learned . So from there I I really wanted to build something that had legacy , something that was culturally relevant to me , and I saw my mom cooking and I would always joke to her and I'm like , mom , like your food is so good , not because you're my mom , but so many people when they try my mom's food they were like , man , this was so good and I was like , well , let's start .

Speaker 1 9:53

So back in 2020 I I burnt out . So long story short , 2018 I bought the , the party rental business for 10 grand . By the end of 2019 . I had paid off that 10 grand . I had paid off 10 grand of credit card . I had paid about 9 10 grand of mass on my master's degree and I had saved 10 grand . It just like those numbers align , like that .

Speaker 1 10:19

And but I was burnt out . I was so tired because I was working , going to school and running a business and right before COVID , I quit teaching . The first time I quit teaching , I'm like this is not for me anymore . And I started selling tacos aguisados on the street with my mom and we got public health came because it was a big no-no . Then the rain came and that was a whole like it was a big no-no . Then the rain came and that was a whole like it was . This happened last week it was raining in LA and it was supposed to stop at 10 , and it continued the whole day , because sometimes people see our video and they're like you're so dumb , didn't you check the weather ? And it was like one of those days were like it's supposed to stop raining and it just kept going , kept going , kept going , yeah , and . And then COVID came a week later and I was like this was not meant to be . This was just a dream in my head . And we did leave it and I went back into teaching because I'm like , well , what else am I going to do ? Let me just go back

Entrepreneurial Journey and Business Growth

Speaker 1 11:17

.

Speaker 1 11:17

And then my mom started selling back in 2021 again , and at that moment , I had used all my savings to move out , because I felt like I needed to be away from my family . I needed some personal development that I couldn't do unless I was away from my family , and I did so . When I came back , I was like , mom , give me one year to save up and then I'll join you . So in 2022 , I had enough to sustain myself for like six months and I'm like , I think I'm ready . I had enough to sustain myself for like six months and I'm like I think I'm ready , I'm ready to leave .

Speaker 1 11:50

And I started off again , street vending quesadillas this time , and and I I know I know this is controversial , but I cashed out my retirement . I cashed out , 25k was given to me , more or less , and I used that to buy my trailer , my first trailer , because that was the only way I could have all the food permits online and ready . And I did that , which was really hard to do , and I don't think I'm not saying I regret it . I by say proceed with caution , because it's not something easy to do . I'm a very risk , I'm a very , I'm a risk taker . I can do it . Not everyone has that , but that ability , um so for me , I was something that I had to do . So I did that and I learned a lot about the process . Violeta knows it's so paperwork , I'm pretty sure real estate too , it's . So you feel like you're applying to FAFSA all over again . It's like FAFSA 2.0 , doing paperwork as a business . You feel lost , you don't want to do the wrong , submit the wrong paperwork , check the wrong box . But I learned a lot . And then , back then , in September of 2023 , I found a place . I was like , yes , I'm finally going to have a little home to house my .

Speaker 1 13:21

We pivot again from Quesadillas to Tacos de Guisado and it was the best decision I made . Business and that's one advice I would tell people is you have to pivot and sometimes , especially in certain food , in certain industries , such as the food industry , you need to pivot , and it was one of the best things I did for the business to pivot from Quesadillas to Tacos de Guisado , because now they're like they're really growing here and I found the place , but it wasn't meant to be a food cuisine facility . It was meant to be more of a cafe facility and investing in it was just out of the question . I was like nope , I already invested too much money here . I'm not going to keep doing this . I believe in what we have . I just I'm not going to do it , and especially not in a facility that is not owned by me . It just doesn't make sense and we we had to pivot .

Speaker 1 14:16

I either had to close down or I was going to pivot and I was like , well , where we're from , we , we have cafe coffee's harvest . Let's start bringing coffee , and that actually became one of our main , like our cafe de olla is is , we use our beans from our town . So I just felt like there was it once again aligned with my values of creating a business that is culturally relevant . To me . That is leaving our legacy behind . So I've been doing that . It's been in October . A month later we pivot and we have slowly been growing . We've been getting grants , which I also recommend business owners to do . Put yourself out there . We don't always get yeses . We have gotten a lot of no's . I got like two no's a couple of weeks back , but all I think when you do see them , the the impact grants do provide your business . It's kind of like one , it lifts something off your shoulders and two , it just motivates you to keep going .

Speaker 2 15:11

Yeah , it's a , it's um . Like I said , I've been following you . I do remember those TikToks where you would be like , oh my god , it'd raid or or something happened when you were um your head . I think I did remember seeing that TikTok that you talked about , um , that you had to deal with all the paperwork and stuff because you didn't realize like , oh , you're not supposed to sell food or something like that . It was um , but seeing that and like seeing where you are now , it's , it's pretty inspiring , which is why I like to share these stories , because you bring up a few good points , which was one the idea of knowing , learning how to pivot , and I feel like sometimes we just get stuck in a way like , no , I want my business to be this or whatever , but sometimes you got to evolve with that business and , um , that's one important thing to realize , and I've had to do it with myself too , in with investing of I started out with just buy my house and rent it out , and then now I pivoted to like multifamily and still doing that , and so , um , but I also wanted to point out that , uh , how you were talking about that um , you did come from entrepreneurs , a family of entrepreneurs which , um , I do see that in the community like a lot of them we do they do start like their own .

Speaker 2 16:43

Either it's like lawn , or they they go clean houses or open restaurants or something like that . My dad opened his mechanic shop , but they they just stay there and then they don't know , like what's the next step , and they just kind of like just end up creating the job for themselves and don't know how to expand with that . So what are some of the things that you are doing to be able to scale ? Because I see it on your uh , on your Instagram , how you talk about that . You've had to learn how to figure out what to do to start scaling your business . Like what are some of the things that you're starting to take ?

Speaker 1 17:24

yeah so no , that's a good question because this is one thing I'm working towards .

Building a Successful Food Business

Speaker 1 17:29

So my mom was really against me getting the trailer and , first of all , she doesn't even know that I have . She thought I had the money safe . She doesn't know the importance behind taking cashing out your retirement plan yeah , because .

Speaker 1 17:43

But the way I saw it and I'll explain why because I know people are going to be like no , don't do that For me . I had 30 grand . They took off five , so about 25 , 26 . I asked myself Lucy , do you believe how does having and I'm not saying it's a lot of money , I'm not saying let's just think about the number Do I think five years of my life was worth only 25 grand ? And my answer was no . I'm like I don't think . I mean I appreciate myself for having 25 grand there , but I'm like , no , I think I can do more . I feel like like , if I think of a business , I don't think a business or big businesses or people who want to steal a business are only gonna uh-huh , they're gonna be happy with 25 grand in five years . Maybe I'm not doing anything and it's just past . Admit , yes , I think so . So when I asked myself that question , I was like we're taking it out . I think the other question I asked myself is like do you think you can repay yourself back ? And I was like yeah , now to answer your question for me is my mom just wanted me to sell ? And I was like mom , like on a good day yes , I make more than teaching but on a bad day because it takes time to grow and scale the business . So what I have done for me is one just having all the paperwork in order , and sometimes it's so annoying . There are times where I'm like , why do like my mom's not wrong , like it's easier to just do things without any paperwork . But now that I pay insurance , now that I pay all these different permits and whatnot , I had a catering order the tamales . It opened . It opened stores for you that you were not . I'm not saying that those stores won't open for you , but they open much quicker . When we were like back in 2023 , we only had like two , three catering orders . I have had like maybe six already , and it's just March or we're about and we're entering April . So imagine I have already doubled in just one quarter and the amount has been amount of revenue has been more within this . So just the doors that have opened , really mind-blowing .

Speaker 1 19:57

I'm like , oh , okay , and then I have had this catering order where they're like , oh , we need your insurance and I'm like , what ? But I have it right . And I'm like what ? But I have it right . And then I'm like , wait , lucy , you do have it , but it seems to kind of like oh , I don't , oh , wait , I do have it . And then I'm like , okay , this is why I have insurance , oh , this is why I have this . And then they ask you for this . And then they ask oh , okay , this makes sense , increase revenue and also the different outlets of revenue . So , for example , the cafe people come in , right , that's one source , but then the catering becomes a different source , because then it's a much higher scale .

Speaker 1 20:41

And then the other thing that I've been working towards is government contracts , so that that includes schools as well , like if the school has a big event and they want to provide kids a different type of lunch , that's another way . And I it took me like about two , three days of doing the paperwork , just because it's not just one application is like an application and then another application . So those of you who like , if you remember the college process , there was like FAFSA , but there was also the CSS profile if you were applying for private school , something like that is how it works , which I sometimes question . I understand why my mom or white people don't want to scope , because it takes a lot of time . It takes hours and you don't even know if you're doing the right thing . You don't know how long you have to wait . You have to call this office , you have to go here , you have to go there like I'm like man , like I could have been doing something right now with these hours that I spent . But then one of the things we're working right now is a school contact us and we might cater . We are bid got approved is a thousand five hundred lunches in one day for an event when we were looking at 13.5k of revenue . And obviously not just one day . Right , it's going to be prepping and cleaning , but more or less a two-day job . That and it's putting yourself out there and then that also includes scaling is branding yourself . Like I'm constantly on social media . One of the things that I'm now doing differently because I have my taco stand , I have my cafe , they have two different social media , so that's a lot of accounts , and then I have my own personal brand . That's a lot to handle , but all one of the things we started doing differently at the taco stand to increase revenue .

Speaker 1 22:37

There was me talking to people , because usually I was making videos and I'll record the food . That's it . Boom , trend , sound , boom . I wouldn't talk to people . So when I hired my video editor , they're like you have to be the face , you have to talk , yeah . And then boom , I started Okay , I'm like all right . Okay , I don't really like it . I can do it if I'm recording myself , but I don't want someone else to be recording and I'm talking . But I was like , look , I got to do what I got to do . I got to get out of this comfort zone .

Speaker 1 23:13

And if you look on my Instagram , tiktok hasn't been really a hit , I'll be honest . But that's because the videos that we're doing is more for like Instagram . I mean , there's some videos I mean I would have like maybe 30 shares . Um , in my videos before now , there's some videos that are like 300 shares and we have seen an increase of people coming visiting us . They're like oh , we saw you on Instagram , we're visiting you , we really like the food . And then now the other thing that I'm noticing is people are taking pictures while they're eating there at our stand . So that's even more free marketing that we're getting and building that brand . So I think to a long story . To answer your question is just focusing on branding and building that brand that people recognize from afar .

Speaker 2 24:01

Yeah , which takes a lot of time .

Speaker 2 24:03

Yeah , I think , and that that's true . I think that's what like , because man , even like I'm not , I can't even imagine all the stuff he had to do to run a food business and just doing like investing and then doing this stuff is like . The amount of paperwork and that stuff that goes into it is so overwhelming and stressful , like you said , it's like , oh my God , like it takes so much time to do this or search for that or whatever , um , but that's one thing that you know you just have to do , like you were saying is like , because otherwise you just probably would be stuck there still , um , just with your stand or whatever . You probably would have grown , but it would have grown at a slower pace and then you would have not been able to . You would eventually like hit a wall , like right now you're going into like government and expanding more , and then you even wrote like your cookbook and stuff like that . So , like those are just some of the things that doing , putting in the work and putting that sweat , blood and tears into it , just going ahead and do the paperwork is it's worth it .

Speaker 2 25:17

I'm glad that you're like sharing that , because a lot of people don't realize like , they just think they're like , oh , I'm gonna go start this or that and forget completely about what goes on in the background , like making sure you have insurance , what goes on in the background , like making sure you have insurance , that you protect yourself and don't get sued on something and you have the right certifications for , like , handling food or whatever it may be .

Speaker 2 25:40

So that's really important . But also I liked how you were like , how you shared the idea of just taking that risk and pulling your money out of your retirement and but you really made a calculated and educated risk right . It's not like you just went out there and just be like I'm gonna just pull this money out there , but you really realized the ability that you could pay it back and that the benefit for you now is worth it . Rather than like 25K yeah , like in the future would become more , but you could also work that money by investing in yourself and your dream that you currently are doing and starting to see success . As you just said that you got this big contract

Challenges in Building a Business

Speaker 2 26:32

now . So , um , but what uh other obstacles did you have to , um , to overcome at the beginning ? Like , how did that feel at the beginning ? Uh , taking the , that risky step , one of the ?

Speaker 1 26:47

risks I had , or one of the obstacles I had was me and my mom would go at it all the time . Me , we would bump heads all the time . I was triggering my mom , my mom was triggering me , we were both . And the reason I say this is because I hear a lot of people . I hear a lot of people like first gens who are , we're technically second gens in the business . This is a constant , a constant trend where they're like my parents don't want us to be on social media , right , like , keep a low profile . Right , because our families , third and family , especially immigrant parents like they , like I'm not going to put myself out there , I'm not trying to get in trouble , trouble , they just want to have a low profile , live their life and that's it . And my mom would be like and we're also very catholic , or my mom's family is very catholic , our culture is very conservative , so the the fact of putting yourself out there is like no se da vergüenza , no se da pena , like what are people going to think about you ? And I was like yeah , but when I started seeing people come in and driving an hour , an hour and a half , because they were , they wanted to try our food , I'm like , and then they obviously brought in revenue . I'm not gonna stop . Like you know these people , whoever is gonna judge me , it clearly is not gonna pay my bills and I have a lot of bills as a business owner . So I have to do what I have to do and it was just like that . Like my mom was like just live on the day , like at 4 am , and all of this . A good business owner works all day all and I'm like mom , like , no , like when have you seen , you know all these big corporations ? Like you never see the boss . And I'm not saying I'm not going to do the work , but I'm also going to put this boundary of like okay , when is enough enough ? So that was like one of the things that also hiring help my mom was just really against hiring help . I'm not going to say that all my hiring have been successful . I have hired the wrong people , unfortunately , all the time , and I feel like that's another thing that I think more business owners and small business owners should talk about , because I understand that there's this like anti-boss and we get and I get it a hundred percent but oh , I think also hiring the wrong team can it's gonna hurt you a lot in the long run . So just those little things that we were not agreeing , but I think overall my mom also .

Speaker 1 29:20

I was triggering my mom in the sense where I was doing things too quickly and too fast and too risky and and I I came to terms one day where I'm like , look , if my mom doesn't want to follow me in this journey , despite these recipes being her recipes or my grandmother's recipes um , she doesn't have to be part of this journey . And it might be painful for me to admit it and accept it , but if it's gonna stop me from doing things , I have to be okay with it . And slowly and surely , my mom started seeing us getting catering orders , doing this , doing that , all these opportunities . I came . We were part of the mole festival here in la , which is one of the biggest mexican food festivals in the whole country , and then I feel that slowly she started to feel that , that belief in , in our product and in the business , and now she's really involved . Now she's like the main cook and we don't argue uh . So that has been really , really refreshing .

Speaker 1 30:21

But I do remember the first six year six months to a year in business . We were constantly fighting because of our business models were just so different . But I'm very I mean , I have to stick my ground because I'm very proud and and I think not everyone's gonna understand like maybe she might have people like her age , like why is your daughter not here ? But I tell my mom , like mom being in the stand , being in the cafe I'm not trying to undermine my workers or my team's efforts , but I would love to be here every day . Be here because when I'm not trying to undermine my workers or my team's efforts , but I would love to be here every day . Be here Because when I'm dealing with paperwork , the city hall or with public health or paying another thing , I'm like it's exhausting , it's really exhausting .

Speaker 1 31:02

It's not easy and and having to upload content and how are you going to frame it ? What kind of reply to negative comments , like all that is . It's a lot of work and I have to . I have to outsource my , my , some of the work . Okay , I can't . I can train that , but I can't train someone to like , hey , go figure out how to do government contracts without them having to charge hundreds of dollars . And that's the thing . I also have to be very proud of myself . I'm like man . I'm like there's things that you're gonna have to do .

Speaker 2 31:38

Either you pay or you do it with time and you learn when you were talking about how , like our , our parents in our communities , when , like , getting this like miedo , like they have this fear , always it's like , oh , don't be putting yourself , our parents in our communities tienen this miedo , they have this fear always it's like , oh , don't be putting yourself out there . Like how you were saying . And it just brought back of when I was more active on TikTok and stuff and my mom would follow me on TikTok and every time I posted on TikTok like no , no es diciendo eso , que el otro don't be saying this or whatever . Or they're going to think that que estás presumiendo , or whatever .

Speaker 2 32:14

To the TikTok like no , and it's like no , I'm just sharing the story and everything because we don't see it out there and , um , it's gotten better . She doesn't really do that as much . As long as I don't talk about like family or something , then she still gets on me about . I was like no one's going to know who they are . But so , as you were like you were talking about how you had to learn how to set your boundaries , and I do see you talk about a lot of how you had to learn to gain that confidence , to set those boundaries and also start developing your , like a CEO mindset . Um , like , what kind of uh , like what helped you start building that confidence and start building that CEO mindset ? Like , what kind of advice do you have ?

Speaker 1 33:07

someone that might be struggling with that as well , I think for me was talking to other business owners and especially seasoned , like I know , people in the food industry that have been there for 20 years , 15 years , and just asking them questions and just telling them your fear . So for me I was like I feel , you know , this was like a year ago . When I first started hiring people , almost two years ago , I felt bad for telling people what to do . I didn't want to be like a bad boss . I didn't want to do no , no , because again we want to help our community . So I'm like who am I to tell people what to do ? But then , as you start to see things go downhill when you don't have a good team , you're like wait , hold up . This is not right . My life shouldn't be harder because I have people . It should be easier . So sometimes you really have to work through that . It's just mindset , honestly short answer . It's mindset shifting that mindset . Because I was like , nope , I don't want to hire someone , you don't want to be the bad person . But I'm like , hey , I'm losing thousands of dollars because one person is not getting it together and you have to do that . And that was really hard for me to do because I'm like I don't think I have the heart for it , but then you have to have the mind for it and be like , hey , this is not working out , thank you so much . I have to move on , like , hey , this is not working out , thank you so much . I have to move on .

Speaker 1 34:43

And I think when I started doing a lot of paperwork , that was when I was like , no , I have to . I'm the brain of this business and no one else is gonna want it as much as I'm gonna want it . It's not on my workers , it's not on them . If I don't train them , if I , if they're not doing what I need them to do , either one they're not the person , the ideal person to work for us , or I'm not training them better . That's it , simple as that . So I think figuring out what was working good in the business and what wasn't , that's what I was like oh , it's on me . I'm the CEO and it's uncomfortable . I think that's it . That's the other thing . People , we feel uncomfortable with power . Some of us , I don't know not everywhere .

Speaker 1 35:29

Yeah , I grew up I'm the oldest , but I grew up . My mom , my parents were very again , they're very shy people , very low profile , and I feel like I was doing something bad . There was a shame attached to that , but now I'm really proud of it . I'm like no , this is who I am . If you like it , take it , if not , you leave it . Because , again , it's part of my dreams , it's part of my work . Again , if I want not only this business to be successful , but if I have to pay my workers I have to pay my bills , I have to pay my rent , I have to pay all these other things .

Entrepreneurial Empowerment and Mindset Coaching

Speaker 1 36:07

Not to sound business makes make business sound like a lot of work , but it is , and it's a lot of money too , especially at the beginning . And it's not to discourage anyone , it's just like to to let people know that they have to be their most badass self , their most authentic self , their most outgoing self , porque es lo único que te va a ayudar to move forward . In my opinion , like you just have to sell , sell , not sell in a bad way , but like put yourself out there constantly , network constantly , all of this constantly , and you only do it if you're confident in what you're selling and your brand and your product and your mission and you have to be , you have to , you have to be like this is who I am , this is what I want , and there's nothing wrong with with me wanting to have a third space for the community . There's nothing wrong with nothing . And I feel like a lot of the times it's like oh , you're streaming too big , oh , casi nada , right , like that's sarcastic .

Speaker 1 37:07

My mom would always tell me that growing up she's like I'm like Lucy , what do you want ? And I'm like oh , I want this and this . She's like casi nada . And like for the . My mom will be like , oh , you're not asking for enough until I figure it out . Oh , she's mocking me , you know . She's sarcastically saying you want too much . And I feel like those little things , we really , um , they really hurt , hurt us in the long run because we carry it in in us until like no , I think it's just like an invisible rock that we like baggage that we carry around .

Speaker 2 37:37

And I think there's just a moment in time , especially when you , I think for me , when my , when business goes slow , because business can be slow sometimes that's when I have I was like no , I have to let go of all these things that are just like not helping me move forward at the rate I should be yeah , yeah , that , yeah , that's so true with um trying to figure out , like I remember I'm one of my like my jobs and stuff and I had to like manage people and it was so it was so stressful because you're right that like I grew up , también , with just like very chill parents and shy , not doing too much , and so when I had to step up and actually manage people , it's like it was hard because I felt bad . But then , uh , what was happening is , like you were saying , then I was messing up , like it was messing up me on the work , I was getting in trouble because the work didn't get done or whatever , and so I did have to like eventually step into that like management role , that leadership role or whatever , and it was like really hard . And now that I have to do this , it's just me myself . So I do think about that whenever . It's like okay , now that I have to do this , it's just me myself , so I do think about that whenever it's like okay , now that I have to start building a team and have to find the right team , right now , just use like Fiverr , so it's it's a little bit easier like somebody doesn't work out . I'm just like okay because it's online , but , like in person , I can't even imagine having to do that yet .

Speaker 2 39:17

But now you're helping other people that are either trying to start a business or are currently managing a business , or they started their business . What are some of the things that you're helping them with ? So ?

Speaker 1 39:32

I'm very passionate about people feeling empowered because , like I just said , when you don't feel like my first business , I I didn't even think about it as a business . I used to be so embarrassed to say that I was a business owner or that I had a business , because I also didn't want to come out as too greedy and I know I can't like people can't like I already have a job which you're not be content with having a job . So I never felt really empowered and I think that's I think because of that experience . When I started feeling the same way in my food business , I'm like , no , I can't , I can't let this , it's just a trend . You start to see your pattern right . So I mean , I have had already multiple businesses where I'm like , okay , I have that self-awareness where I'm like , wait , I felt this before somewhere in my life , sometime in my life . So for me , I really like working with people and how they can become their most empowered ceo version , because a lot of the times we have dreams , we have goals , but there's something stopping us either our cultural norms , the expectations of our family , all these things that we're just like we , we play small and I'm like no , we don't have to be playing small .

Speaker 1 40:46

And the other thing that has really worked for my businesses that I help my clients with is content creation , because that's where a lot of my clients come from my catering orders . There's people that message me . They're like , hey , we want you to cater for us In my own personal brand page and I'm like , oh what ? Yeah , we saw your story . Yeah , so it opens opportunities . It also allows you to start practicing . So when you do start networking , everything comes easier Because you have said it a lot of times in your content , this is who I am , this is what I do . So then when you meet people in person , boom . So for me , I'm just really , I really want to be that mentor people have on speed dial , like Jiminy Cricket , like I'm going to be there on speed dial helping you process , because a lot of the times , we just need someone to help us process and be like it's not that it's a lot . Your emotions are valid . Yes , feel them , but it's not the end of the world .

Speaker 2 41:47

It's not the end of the world , like everything will be fine , no pasa nada , yeah see first time like small businesses owners , uh , deal with at the at the beginning that you're seeing that you have to help them through putting themselves out there .

Speaker 1 42:07

They're like what if I do things wrong ? What if I fail ? All these negative thoughts there's just like a lot of negative thoughts that stop them from moving forward . So then they get stuck and then they're like no , I am a failure , no , this is not working out . But it's not working out because you're a failure , it's because you're not taking action , you're deciding to stay there . So it's figuring out what is those , why ? Where's the root of that problem ?

Speaker 1 42:38

So , for , like , a lot of , a lot of my problems derived from how , where I was raised , how I was raised . Like no one wants that , like like you're making the clown out of yourself and everyone . We all carry a certain amount of trauma . And that's where , like , a lot of our problems in business start . And that's what I say starting a business will have you go through personal development like never before . You start questioning everything , everything . And I think that's where I come in and I'm like okay , what is it like ? No , like what really is it ? Okay , we can always say it's because I don't have time , I don't have this , I don't have the money . I'm like , okay , all right , but what really is it what's really stopping me ?

Speaker 2 43:27

I see that a lot . I mean , yeah , in our community , and which is why I'm I'm so glad that now we're seeing people like you that are coaching new business owners or those that already have one , because we do need that like to have somebody like coach us through our own mindset , our own fears because a lot of it is fears and , like you said , just that , that trauma from growing up or just generational trauma , because all of that affects the way we do business . And , like you said , you had to do a lot of growth and and , uh , self-reflection , um , throughout this . I definitely have done that and still doing it , and it's just like every time , even like um .

Speaker 2 44:19

One of the recent things I'm doing is trying to get better and do more like speaking um , and that in itself is making me go through like stuff from like childhood and stuff , and I'm like , oh , my god , like I didn't expect that I would have to uh , reflect so much . I thought I was like , oh , just go talk about real estate investing , but then it's like it took me on a journey and I'm still on that journey . Still , for those that do want to work with you and have you as a coach , how can they work with you ? Yes , so .

Speaker 1 44:52

I'm active on Instagram , tiktok as well , and I have my website , so my handle is by Lucy Ortega that's where you can find me and by Lucy Ortegacom new websites coming soon , in May so I'm really excited for people to see that , and I offer three or six month containers because it's a journey and we don't get to solve things . It doesn't happen overnight , but I believe that in three to six months we can definitely make a lot of progress . Also , depending on the willingness of the person , and not only that . Also , I think , the business type and the business model , porque every business is different . I can tell you this I love the food industry , but it's not the most profitable one , but I do it because I love it and I feel like there's a mission that I have , and I think that's the other thing that I work a lot with my clients is figuring out okay , you want this type of business or you have this type of business , what are the different axis of revenue that we can work towards , because I think that's very important .

Speaker 1 46:01

Like for me , I have my taco stand and I have my cafe . Weekend was close . Okay , the status the cafe is open , so it's just figuring out different ways of maximizing your income streams , even in business , because a bad day , a bad month can always happen and you have to be prepared yeah , definitely .

Speaker 2 46:22

I'll have all that information in the show notes , in the description , um . But other than that , do you have any other final thoughts , any final advice or just words of encouragement for those that are in their their business or entrepreneurship journey a ?

Speaker 1 46:41

couple things . They can follow us if anyone listening whoever's listening they can follow us at sierra gizellos is our taco stand and sierra on southgate is our cafe handle and we have a cookbook . I'm actually publishing it or it's an ebook april 15th , so it'll be available . It's also on the link in my bio on instagram . And for those listening , I just want to say to be proud of yourself . It takes a lot of work and I think there's a lot of times where we don't feel proud of ourselves because we just feel like , oh , it's just another thing to do , especially those of us who have learned to navigate the education system by ourselves , putting ourselves into programs . I think a lot of these things , when we do become business owners , it just becomes a to-do list oh , I have to do this or I did that because I had to do it . It was part of the process . And , yes , it was part of the process , but no one , a lot . It was on you , it was on . It was on you for you to go knock on that door and be like , hey , can you help me ? Hey , how am I supposed to do this ? And I feel that a lot of the times we we undermine that word , because that's the important word . If you would have not taken that little step , you wouldn't have taken 10 steps forward . So I think that's even something that I've been working on lately . It's just like man , I really did that I should be proud of myself . Well , I am proud of myself and even that self-awareness of saying I'm not proud of myself as I should be , because I feel like a lot of times I'm not proud of myself as I should be , because I feel like a lot of times when I we try not to , we try not to be , we just ignore it . But if we have that self-awareness , we can definitely work through it . And if you don't want to work with the coach , well then you can also go to therapy , which I know is another type of investment . But I think for me that really helps me , because I think a business coach helps you , walks you and guides you and mentors you . A therapist doesn't exactly do that , because they're not supposed to tell you what to do , but I but I think they really are able to bring those roots that I told you earlier , because then when you do work with someone , you're like , hey , let me tell you I struggle with this Just so you know I mean didn't . So it's just , I have a therapist and I have a business coach and I also hire people all the time , and that's another thing that it's not easy to do .

Speaker 1 49:12

I think I have the privilege where I am not married , I don't have kids , so the responsibilities are way less . I can do a lot more things without asking right or putting others in mind , and for me that has been really . I mean , that's why I have been able to take a lot of risks . But I have also done a lot of investments . A lot and not not all investments have been good investments .

Speaker 1 49:39

I'll tell you that because I'm learning as I'm going , but I think one of the things that has really helped me is paying people , paying experts , especially if I know where that they are doing something that I want . I'm like , hey , I need you to do this for me , because I know it's going to take me to step um from step a to step fg at a much faster rate than if I try to do things on my own . So I'm very excited for everyone who's listening of whatever journey and this does not only apply in business , it can apply to personal life , work , career , etc . Just be so proud of yourself and and give yourself so much grace , because at the end of the day , um , it's not easy work . Sometimes social media makes it seem like it's easy , but it's a lot of work .

Speaker 2 50:27

Thank you so much for being here and sharing your story and your expertise and uh , motivating others

Starting and Managing a Business

Speaker 2 50:35

. It's a hard thing to start and manage a business , but we can do it . Thank you , yeah , thank you . Well , other than that , I will see everyone in the next episode . Bye , thank you so much for listening . Don't forget to like and share this episode so others can also find this podcast . Don't forget to follow me on all my social medias listed in the show notes below , where you can also find resources to help you in your financial journey . If you're interested in becoming a guest on the podcast , you can find that information in the show notes . Other than that , thank you so much for your support and I will see you in the next episode . Bye .