Today we’d like to introduce you to Beatriz Perez.
Hi Beatriz, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Mexican native, born in the beautiful state of Guanajuato. I moved to the US with my mom and dad at the young age of four years old back in 1994. We first lived in a small town near the Bay Area, but soon after we moved and settled in southern California, in the La Puente to be more precise. I did all of my grade schooling in La Puente and graduated from La Puente High school. I then went on to attend Cal Poly Pomona where I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Landscape Architecture and minored in Regenerative Studies. I grew up in a very moderately conservative Mexican household, both of my parents are relatively young so we kind of all grew together as individuals. When my sister and I were younger, my parents’ worked opposite schedules so my sister and I would always be with one of them. Mom worked mornings and dad worked evenings. So that means that my dad would get us ready every morning and take us to school. One of my most cherished memories will be the ‘life lessons’ and anecdotes my dad would tell us on our way to school. One thing my parents always stressed was the importance of a high education. My dad would always say, “Education is the foundation to success in life”, thus I grew up with that mentally, there was no other option but to go to college and get a degree.
Both my mom and my dad are my biggest motivations to keep going and to never give up. So soon after graduating Cal Poly, thanks to a really great friend of mine I was able to get a job right out of school in the Landscape Design field, I worked in this position for a few months out in Azusa, and then a great opportunity arose when I got a call from a really well known Landscape Architecture firm in San Diego, I went and interviewed and I got the job. I accepted and did the biggest thing I had ever done in my life at that time. I packed my things and moved out to San Diego (granted, when I was in college I commuted and lived at home). So at age 23, I moved out of my parents’ and moved to a whole new city. It was definitely a huge adjustment and somewhat of a culture shock. I went from living in a city where everyone pretty much looked like me to live in a new city and working in a new job where I was the only person of color in the office and the youngest. I still remember the first day working there where the principal introduced me to the office during a meeting and one of my then coworkers asked if I spoke Spanish, to which I replied “of course!”, they were so amused by that fact, it felt kind of odd.
I felt very out of place working in that office, that it definitely showed in my work performance, being the young and unexperienced 23 years old at that time I let it affect me so much that I ended up leaving that job, and soon after found another where I worked for a design built office that specialized in custom small residential designs, I was there for about a year and half until another opportunity came up to work for another boutique high-end design firm. I worked there for a few years up until earlier in 2020 where I decided that it was time to move back to LA county. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved and still love San Diego, but it never truly felt like home. Even though it now holds a very special place in my heart because that is the place where I learned some very tough life lessons, it’s the place where I met some of the most amazing people, who taught me a lot about myself, and I also made some friends who I will forever be grateful for, and it is also the place where I became an adult. But, it was always in my plans to move back to the city that saw me grow up, and what better time to do so than when another job opportunity arose. I definitely played with the idea of passing it up and staying in San Diego a few more years, but I knew that if I didn’t jump on this opportunity I would probably have never moved back, so I took the leap and once again, eight years later packed up my whole entire being and moved back to LA county.
I was super excited because I was once again living close to my family who are my biggest motivators and the ones who are the reason for the woman who I am today. My new job seemed so promising, everything seemed so perfect! New job, new home, and yet again a new beginning, unfortunately due to the Covid my start date was delayed, because of social distancing guidelines I would not be able to train in the office, and also because work had slowed down a bit in that office (this was in early April 2020), I truly hoped that I would’ve started work that summer. But as things got worse, I caught covid in early August, I was truly fortunate to have been able to have recovered but after that, I fell into a deep depression because I had been unemployed for about six months now and with no start date in sight (the office had told me, I still had the job but we would have to wait and see how everything played out). So thanks to some extraordinary women I know, I was encouraged to start my own business – I started Betty’s Bites, a modern take on charcuterie boxes and boards.
As of right now, Betty’s Bites has been extremely successful and it keeps growing. I would love to eventually make this my full-time job because I have learned a lot! Everything from social media marketing, how to grow an online business, I am a one women factory. Advertiser, social media developer, seller, customer service representative, product researcher, charcuterie board artist, accountant….everything! My dream with Betty’s Bites would be to be able to make this a large scale business, to cater large events, weddings, etc. maybe one day have my own line of charcuterie and cheeses.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Some struggles along the way have been my own inhibitions, being a woman of color I sometimes tend to doubt my own potential and doubt my ability to succeed.
As you know, we’re big fans of Betty’s Bites. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My business is strictly on Instagram as of right now. I have expanded and grown my following only on Instagram. I offer charcuterie boards and boxes to my clients. This business came out of me being in a very deep depression after being sick with covid because I felt like at that time I had nothing going for me, I have always been a person who has something going on, whether it be with work or in my personal life. I specialize in custom made charcuterie arrangements in boxes and in boards. My most notable clients have been Southern California Gas company and the non-profit organization hopes through housing.
One thing that sets me apart from others in the charcuterie board business is my attention to the small details on my boards. One thing that I am most proud of brand-wise is that everything I have achieved thus far has been all on my own. I have done my own research on charcuterie, cheese pairings, design aesthetic I have perfectionalized it all on my own and have basically been learning along the way, and I am ecstatic to know that I still have so much to learn. This is a business and job that I am so happy to wake up in the morning and do. I love to see the look in the faces of my clients when they receive the boards or boxes.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Yes, that nothing is guaranteed, and that we are capable of more than we could ever imagine, we just need to not doubt our own abilities.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @_BettysBites
