Today we’d like to introduce you to Jorge Bustamante.
Hi Jorge, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Looking back at my life, I realize that I always had an Entrepreneurial mindset. It all started as early as 3rd grade where I would sell stickers to my friends and in later grades I was selling candy and toys that I would buy on the weekends with my profits. Somehow I never got in trouble for running my own small little business at school. It wasn’t until my 30’s that I revisited my passion for Entrepreneurship by first starting a company that addressed a need that busy families like mine were faced with, and later starting a company to share my family’s Pozole recipe.
I have been enjoying my family’s Pozole recipe for as long as I can remember but it wasn’t until college that I learned how to make it on my own because I wanted to make it for my friends. After getting married I introduced my wife to the recipe and we started hosting a yearly New Years’ party and decided to make a large pot of Pozole since we were feeding so many people. It was my friends’ reactions (many had never heard of Pozole before) that first inspired the idea of launching this as a business. Many of them would look forward to the next party and would ask if I would consider making it for other parties so they would not have to wait a full year to eat Pozole again.
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?
I believe anything worth doing will always be hard, and dealing with the obstacles will always help you grow. If the process seems too easy, you may not be stretching your goals far enough and therefore not growing enough from the bumps on the road. Having that mindset did help me when I was faced with a couple of major factors that forced me to change careers suddenly.
I built my first career in the Mortgage Industry as a Wholesale Account Executive, the financial crisis of 2008 closed down my company as well as many of my customers. While contemplating on my next professional move, I realized again my passion for Entrepreneurship so I decided to go back to school and earn my MBA.
The first business I built was designed to help busy parents with the obstacles of getting their active children to all their extracurricular activities. The idea was to build a business to give parents a safe transportation alternative to getting their kids where they needed to be. It was a service that my wife and I desperately needed as our kids were in various extracurricular activities at the time and it was a challenge to manage them all. We were able to grow the business to help hundreds of families and at the same time grew our team to 4 team members.
Unfortunately, I was faced once again with a major situation with COVID-19 that forced the shut down of our business overnight.
Instead of dwelling on the situation, I looked at this as the opportunity that I needed to launch this other business that was in the back of my mind but that I previously didn’t have the time to launch. Just days after the COVID-19 shutdown, I started the process of launching MyPozole.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The name of my business is MyPozole. It is a Pozole concept business that was born from a family recipe that had been in my family for generations.
Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup dish that has been around since the days of the Aztecs. It is traditionally enjoyed by Mexican families on major holidays and any other large family gatherings. There are three different styles of Pozole depending on what region of Mexico you are from. My family is from Mexico City and therefore we make the White Pozole which is traditional for Central Mexico. Northern Mexico is known for its Red Pozole while Southern Mexico is known for its Green Pozole.
The idea from the business came from the reaction that my friends had to their first experience with Pozole. It was always referenced as Jorge’s Pozole, hence the name MyPozole. I also felt the name would be a conversation starter as people started referencing our brand.
The main reason for launching the business is that I believed that more people needed to be introduced to Pozole. While it is extremely popular in Mexico, it is still somewhat of an unknown dish in the United States. While doing my research for the business, I found that it is currently only found in about 2 percent of U.S. menus, and only about 27 percent of the population even know what it is. Our mission is to grow the popularity of Pozole one bowl at a time!
While we have only been in business for a year, I am mostly proud of seeing all the people that have become Pozole fans after trying it for the first time. It is also great to see their eagerness to share our dish with their friends and family. Most people comment on how happy they are to find comfort food that is hearty and healthy.
We currently offer 3 varieties of Pozole; Pork Pozole which is the traditional Mexican Pozole and my family’s recipe. The Chicken Pozole which we created for people who do not eat pork or want a different option, and has been commonly referenced as the Mexican chicken noodle soup. These were the two initial Pozole offerings when we launched the business, but many customers and friends inquired about a plant based option. We got back into the kitchen and created a Vegan option with Jackfruit as the meat substitute. We actually receive many compliments on our Vegan Pozole, especially from people that grew up eating Pozole but have given up eating meat and still want to experience the comforts of Pozole.
We currently offer our Pozole in many of the Farmers Markets around town and are starting to do more events and catering offerings. The best way to find out where we are each week is to follow our Social Media channels @mypozole where we post our schedule each week.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I think I have been very lucky to have been surrounded by many people that have helped me get to where I am today. From my wife always being by my side and supportive of anything that I do, to previous bosses and mentors that taught me the value of hard work, and focusing on always building people up. I have also been influenced by many people that I have never met by reading many business books and listening to many business podcasts.
But I have to say the main influence in my life has always been my father. He has taught me the importance of always being there for family and supporting each other no matter what. He has always been supportive of anything I do, and this latest business has given us an opportunity to spend so much time together as he is always there helping me on every aspect of the business. He can be seen with me at many of the markets, always helping me in any way possible and many times working way too hard.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@mypozole.com
- Website: www.mypozole.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mypozole/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mypozole
Image Credits
Guillermo Quibrera
