Today we’d like to introduce you to Mariana Juarez.
Hi Mariana, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My husband and I meet working in a restaurant, we got married and had two kids. We continued working on different restaurants for a few years after we got married. We had a vision of opening our own business but we would think that it could of happen in many more years. Our story in the business industry started when the Covid Pandemic started. My husband’s job had to close so he got furloughed and had to stay home, since I was working on the same industry and most restaurants either closed on sent home a lot of their employees, I was also sent home with no date to go back to work. After a few weeks from the date I was sent home, I received a letter stating that I had been laid off. I had no more job neither my husband, we were both at the house and we not hope to find a job because the Covid pandemic was at its highest peak. We felt hopeless, I was very sad because I had lost a job where I had worked for six years and my husband was also unemployed. My husband has a saying, “You do not create opportunities, opportunities come to you” you just have to be prepared.”
After losing our jobs, we saw a small kitchen/restaurant for rent. We were scared to open a business because it was our first business and worst because it was during the pandemic and we had not jobs. We decided to go for it and used all of our savings to open a small restaurant. In the beginning was very hard, there were days when we had no clients at all, right now we are not the busiest restaurant but we sure have some clientele that visits us to buy food. We still have a long way to go and we work everyday to achieve that, but for us as a couple and as entrepreneur, we have achieved more than what we imagined, we opened our restaurant “Ah Caray Restaurant” in the city of Whittier.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, we opened our restaurant in the middle of the Covid Pandemic. Not only we were new in the business and in the area we also had to confront the critical circumstances of the pandemic.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My husband Jose Luis and I both worked in restaurant for many years. Our story started differently, he started working in a hotel’s kitchen as dishwasher at the age of 17 when he had just arrived to the united states from Mexico. He worked his way up until he became Chef. I came from Mexico at the age of 13 went to school, specialized in the culinary arts and then started working in different restaurants as cook. I also scaled and became sous chef. We were both known at the restaurant for being responsible and for putting our heart in our job. We are both proud of opening our business and achieving our dreams even when language was always an obstacle when we first got to the United States. Something that sets us apart from others is that we do not find excuses to not do what we want. We find solutions to every obstacle present in our paths and we fight to try to keep on going.
What makes you happy?
Our family makes us happy, our daughter and son make us both happy. Everything is material, I’m not going to say that it is not nice to have luxury, but that could be finished from one moment to the other. Our family fills our hearts with joy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @AHCARAY2020
- Facebook: @ahcaray2020
