Today we’d like to introduce you to Johana Sanchez.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We are Johana and Larry, a family of Venezuelan origin, with two beautiful children Anette and Fabian, we arrived in the United States in 2017, with a suitcase of dreams where the sky is the limit, this country opened its doors to us, the doors of opportunities for our family.
My husband and I are professionals, both Engineers. In Venezuela, I taught physics at the Faculty of Engineering at the Rafael Maria Baralt University and my husband worked with an American company: Baker Hughes of Venezuela, at the same time we had an automobile parts and services company called REYSERCA. As a hobby, my husband has a passion for cooking, for which he took a Chef’s course.
We left all of this behind since the situation in the country warranted our departure. We lived in Ohio for two years, one day we went to an oil show in Texas, and we saw a job opportunity in our professional field, but that opportunity was in Colorado, a beautiful state with many job opportunities, that’s when we decided to move to Colorado in 2019, but then the pandemic hit and that work plan fell apart.
In our effort to move forward with our life projects, we had the idea of sharing culture and tradition through our food, since my husband is a lover of cooking, that is where we had the business idea and dreamed of having a restaurant where we could do this and after thinking and looking for a name that would identify us as Venezuelans and maracuchos (Maracuchos is the name for someone born in the Zulia state of Venezuela) D’Maracuchos Café was born, whose concept is to create an atmosphere of the western region of Venezuela where music and culture will be incorporated into the restaurant through paintings, murals, and native music. Putting together the plan has been hard, with effort, a lot of time, and dedication.
I started studying English at Emily Griffith Technical College, to continue learning the language and thus be able to communicate with this community and move forward, one day in a cultural sharing in my English class I brought my empanadas and the Quesillo for dessert, which was wonderful because everyone was delighted with the taste of my food, it was very well received, without realizing it at that time I was already doing market research.
Through this college and the need to learn the laws and regulations of this country to materialize the business idea we had, one day my Career Navigator, who knew my long-term goals, told me about Mi Casa Resource Center and I didn’t hesitate for a minute to contact them and sign up for a business course that will allow me to update my knowledge and learn about business in the United States. We obtained first place in the presentation of the D’Maracuchos Café business, in the November cohort. Thus beginning the formal materialization of the business such as registrations, licenses, etc.
Today, a few months after starting this adventure, we are participating in the local Farmer’s Markets and special events to which we are invited, gaining more satisfied customers day by day, and with the hope that soon we will open our doors in a physical location where the community can go to taste and enjoy our Venezuelan flavor and tradition.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been a quiet or easy path, on the contrary, it has been hard, with obstacles and difficulties, especially financial, but with God’s help, we have moved forward.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Lovers of international culinary art, especially Venezuelan food.
Proud of our roots, culture, and tradition. The service, kindness, and cordiality, especially the human warmth that we give to our clients, and the quality and seasoning of our food are what sets us apart.
We strive to ensure that our clients receive the attention they deserve.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dmaracuchos.com
- Instagram: @dmaracuchoscafe
- Facebook: @dmaracuchoscafe
Image Credits
Gabriel Pena and Maria Fuenmayor
