Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Lopez.
Claudia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in El Salvador and would come to the U.S. and visit my family every other year. I absolutely loved my life in El Salvador. However, as the civil war became more dangerous, my parents decided it was best for my mother, brother, and sister to come stay with my grandfather (he lived in the U.S. for the majority of his life) while things settled down in El Salvador. My dad stayed as he had a good job in El Salvador and the thought was that we would be back in a couple of months. Through my grandfather, we were able to get our permanent resident cards and went back home a few times that first year (home being El Salvador).
That first year was rough. I missed my family an incredible amount as I was raised by them. Leaving my grandparents, Tia Lupita, and Tio Eduardo was one of the hardest things ever. And coming to a country where they didn’t speak my language, I barely knew the family members here, and not having my dad with us was truly difficult. I cried every night praying we could go back home. On top of missing my family and home, the kids in my new school were VERY mean. I didn’t speak English and they loved picking on that. I have always loved school so it made something I loved, something I dreaded. And when they put me in advanced math classes, the bullying got worse. I was put in ESL classes but was DETERMINED to be in ESL for only a few years.
Long story short, I was in ESL for only two years and I worked tirelessly to learn the language. I emphasize on this because I feel those first few years set the tone of how I wanted to lead my life here, in this new country. I wanted to excel and show everyone that the kid that everyone picked on was going to do something great. I then went onto high school and was determined to get into my dream school but I knew that the my English SAT scores were not going to help. English was still not my strongest subject. But I worked hard and got into all the schools I applied. My two dream schools were USC and Berkeley.
After visiting both campuses, I knew USC was my home. I went to the Marshall School of Business and graduated in 2003. I did a few internships while at USC and after graduation, went onto work for General Motors and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. After doing that for nine years, I found myself unhappy where I stood in my job. After talking it over with my parents, I decided it was the right time to go after one of my dreams, starting my own business. Initially, we started with manufacturing artisanal candies/baked goods from El Salvador and sold them at farmer’s markets, bakeries, and small grocery stores across Los Angeles. The kitchen where we were manufacturing the candies served as an incubator for other businesses as well as a restaurant. After some years, the kitchen owner was ready to retire but didn’t want to close the restaurant/kitchen. She then asked us if we were interested in buying it and taking over.
After taking some time and discussing it over, we thought it would be a good idea. Here I thought, now that we would have the kitchen to ourselves, we would be making candies, expanding our distribution, and running the restaurant. We were wrong!!! The restaurant was SO MUCH work, we had to completely stop making the candies and pull it from the 15 locations we were at. That first year was DIFFICULT, physically, mentally, and financially. I didn’t think I could continue and then my parents got involved the second year and it really helped. Once my parents got involved, I was able to focus on growing the business, catering, and expanding our menu. From then, we’ve been able to grow through pop-ups, placing our products in different locations, and catering accounts.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. Owning a restaurant where you have to open doors everyday is a huge undertaking. Perhaps one of the biggest struggles along the way for me, personally, have been that things will sometimes go wrong no matter how much you prepare or how many lists you make, and you have to adjust things instantly. Another might be realizing that you can’t do it all; sometimes, you have to be strategic in what projects you choose and you have to be ok with saying no. Coming from Corporate America to running your own small business teaches you a lot, and I am still learning every day.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Mama’s Intl Tamales & Pupusas – what should we know?
Our business offers foods from Latin America, specializing in plant-based dishes. After watching a documentary on the benefits of a plant-based diet and my last job being in pharmaceuticals and understanding the science behind it, it all made sense. I cut out meat for a week as a personal challenge and I immediately started to feel more energetic and overall pretty amazing. A few months later, my mom was spending the night in my apartment and I made her watch that same documentary and she went plant-based the next day! My sister later followed.
What I am the MOST proud of as a company is the fact that we’ve been able to introduce healthy alternatives to a community that sometimes doesn’t have that option. Being in MacArthur Park, I love that we are able to offer foods that our community is used to eating but with a plant-based option. I would say we’re mainly known for our pupusas and tamales. But we now offer a larger menu where we’ve made so many Latin dishes, plant-based that we are also known for those as well, like Panes con Pollo (a Salvadorean dish), sopes, Salvadorean desayunos, ceviche, and empanadas (We just won ‘Best Empanada” in PETA’s food fight).
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Absolutely my family. I wouldn’t be here without their support. My mother is my inspiration when coming up with recipes. She has always loved feeding people and I am exactly the same. It brings me the greatest joy to be able to feed people, my papi, mami, sister, and brother are absolutely amazing and so supportive. Although it is not easy working with family, their support has been incredible.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2124 W. 7th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90057 - Phone: 818-554-3987
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @mamastamales
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mamitasdelights
Image Credit:
The photo of our parent’s wedding vow renewals (that photo includes my whole family: from left to right- brother, me, mother, father, sister) was taken by Jaime Cuevas (IG: @moshi_films)
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