Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Villegas.
Hi Stephanie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We first began as a pop up. We set up a few times at community events. At this point, we were only setting up to make extra money, I was still working close to full time as a makeup artist. The idea to even try to sell our food came from a single recipe- our hibiscus Asada. That was the only protein on our menu at the time. Our entire menu was 2-3 items. Asada [hibiscus] tacos, nachos & at one point or another we began serving tortas as well. Though the response was great, it was only something we were doing here & there for fun & extra cash.
I found myself at a crossroads, though. I was beginning to slowly lose interest in my work as a makeup artist. During this time, I was also going through a deep spiritual awakening. Questioning my work, asking myself if I truly felt happy. I was beginning to realize I no longer wanted to work in the beauty industry. I had thoughts of quitting, had ideas about maybe pursuing some kind of work with food. Maybe starting a vegan catering company or something along those lines. But I was afraid to make such a drastic decision. I wasn’t financially stable enough to take that leap. What if it didn’t work?
Then, I lost my job suddenly. I had to do something to make money quickly. I had rent and bills to pay, and my Son’s to take care of. While in this space of high stress, I decided to go for it. It was really the only option I could think of. So, my partner was the first to invest in this business. We put together what money we had, which was roughly $300-$400, to get the absolute basic things we needed to set up. A canopy, a grill, and a couple of plastic tables. I used Tupperware from home, bought some disposable plates and utensils from a neighborhood corner store and we set up for the first time as Xóchitl Vegan at Leimert Park Village.
The word Xochitl means flower in the Nahuatl language. As I mentioned, during this transition from working a 9-5 to starting my own business, I was experiencing a spiritual awakening. This experience led us to connecting and learning about our ancestral roots. We learned about indigenous languages and that Nahuatl was connected to the lands where our families are from. We were beginning an entire business around one unique recipe, Hibiscus Flowers as an Asada protein. It was a way for us to honor the Flower that was in some way guiding us towards a new life.
The idea of what Xochitl Vegan would be has evolved with us. We once wanted to strictly serve food & recipes that were rooted in mesoamerican culture. But as time passed, my love & passion for creating food deepened. I began feeling constricted as if I couldn’t fully express my creative identity or explore other recipes because it wouldn’t fit the mold I had created.
Since then, I have broken free creatively of these rules. Though the foundation remains the same, and our menu includes many special dishes inspired by our ancestral roots, we have found a really beautiful space of fluidity.
This seemed to open even more doors for us. We were a pop up only business for a couple of years. Working events, festivals and even building our own for-the-community, by-the-community markets in DTLA.
After several years of hard work, long days/nights, freezing cold outdoor events and blazing hot ones alike, we have found a home in the Boyle Heights area.
We function as a cloud kitchen at the moment but hope to be open completely before spring of 2022.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like any other small business just beginning, we’ve faced many struggles and obstacles. We have had no investors, no loans, no financial assistance. We started with VERY minimal funds and found ourselves struggling to find consistent places to set up. Many of the vegan events that we knew would get us known better were extremely expensive to take part in. They were definitely not accessible. At first, We navigated this by finding our own places to set up at weekly. After Leimert Park began facing some gentrification issues many vendors were forced out, including us. We then started setting up in Highland Park on York Blvd. We were a bit rebellious in the vegan pop up scene, really. York Blvd housed some of the most well-known Pop-Ups in LA. Businesses that were well known and heavily promoted on huge influencer pages. It didn’t feel welcoming. We did great there! But the vibes didn’t match what we were about. Community, uplifting one another, sharing our passions. We moved again, to Echo Park. We set up there every weekend. It was really a beautiful place to be. Weekends were very busy! There were tons of vendors, it felt very community-oriented, what we were searching for. But we ran into the same issue there. After some time, the city began heavily policing. And slowly, vendors stopped showing up. This is when we started our own vegan marketplace.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Xochitl Vegan?
Xochitl Vegan was founded to provide a plant-based dining experience rooted in using fresh ingredients for conscious eating. With a menu driven by creative expression, inspired by a mix of street food and indigenous foods – you can find things like our famous hibiscus flower asada, mushroom carnitas & lentil-walnut chorizo (all made fresh in house in small batches) in street-style tacos, nachos, burritos & bowls to rotating weekly specials like yucca pupusas, huitlacoche sopes & quesadillas and drinks with ingredients that can be traced back to pre-hispanic times- like our popular Cacahuatl (agua de cacao) made using freshly ground toasted cacao beans & the sweet flower “rosita de cacao”
We are extremely proud of how far Xochitl Vegan has come. Birthed from necessity, flourishing as we’ve watered her with hard work, love, ambition & passion.
At the moment, you can visit us Thursday-Sunday in Boyle Heights. As we navigate through these odd times, we currently are functioning strictly as a cloud kitchen. We offer online ordering strictly for curbside pick up & delivery. You can also find us on UberEats & Postmates.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Looking back at our journey, had we had a different perspective on life, we could have looked at the many obstacles we faced as a streak of bad luck. Honestly, the old version of me would have more than likely just given up. But every hurdle we were faced with continued to lead us towards a better path. This isn’t to say we haven’t faced difficulties and adversities that at some points made me want to quit. I think all business owners go through these cycles. However, our optimism and drive as well as the responsibility we carry to continue our work and craft has pushed us to continue. It seems that after each obstacle we face running a business, my passion and love for creating food continues to deepen.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.xochitlvegan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xochitl.vegan/
