Today we’d like to introduce you to Fred Sotelo.
Fred, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story is not unlike other life long entrepreneurs: one filled with hard-learned lessons, successes and the ups and downs that come with being a business owner. I started my entrepreneur journey at the age of 15 with my first DJ, events promotions company while at Patrick Henry High School, which paid for college at SDSU. Throughout those years I launched a series of businesses in quick succession including marketing, media, entertainment, cellular sales and club promotions. That led me to establish a tech company in the late 90’s the entertainment content platform Vivahollywood.com along that journey honing my expertise and insight into the Latino market which has also led me to lend my expertise in this segment to Fortune 500 companies trying to understand and penetrate the Latino/Urban/Hispanic consumer. All these business and leadership lessons gained throughout these early years have taught me resilience, resourcefulness and trusting my gut. But they are equally balanced by the core values and principles which have remained consistent in my life: faith, family, purpose and impact. In every business or project, I’ve been a part of, I always focus on excellence, innovation and uniqueness.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Any entrepreneur that has traveled down the tough path of small business owners will tell you it is rarely a ‘smooth road’ to any level of success as a business owner. Many sleepless nights and people to take care of and bills to be paid. In fact, the nature of competitive, self-reliant, often ‘do-or-die’ risky environments, are not for everyone. You just have to stick with it if you believe in what you are doing even when others may not believe in you. And those are the types of things I remind myself when things become challenging. There are no guarantees but the payoff and satisfaction of building something from the bottom up is an incomparable high.
Cerveza XTECA – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Over the last five years, we have been working on perfecting our own unique craft beer brews’ and establishing our company. After two years in R&D in 2018, Cerveza XTECA was officially launched with our signature Mexican American lager. In 2020 we will add two other exciting beers to the XTECA line up, our ‘More Bounce Hoppy Lager’ and ‘XTECA Dark Lager’ to complement a variety of tastes in the marketplace. Cerveza XTECA has built a cult following with Cans/Draft available in big box outlets like Walmart and smaller stores such as Keg & Bottle, J Street Liquor, Brandywine Liquor, to local restaurants like Salud, Barbusa, Barrio Dogg, Chiquitas, & Tendergreens to name a few. We are increasingly known as a company that makes great lagers with uncompromising attention to the quality taste, consistency and memorable experience “La Chela Mas Chula”. We are focused on cementing our place in the wider retail lager space secure in the knowledge that no other competitor knows, understands nor has the credibility that we’ve built over the last 25 years as experts in the Chicano, Mexican American, multigenerational Latino/LatinX segment. The sky’s the limit.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I have had so many failures… too many to count, although I am an optimist. When asked to define success, I believe success starts with little things each day such as learning something new, serving others or taking on a new project/task and completing it. In addition, am I staying disciplined and committed to my core values and principles: faith, family, purpose and impact. If I can answer yes to the above and know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, everything will fall in place and that is what I consider personal Success.
Pricing:
- ⎫ In 2020, two more varieties of Cerveza XTECA will be added to line up in 4 packs 16 oz cans: More Bounce Hoppy Lager and our full body tasty Dark Lager “Oye Morena”
- ⎫ XTECA Michelada Mix and Chamoy will be available this Spring to complement our Lager line up, just in time for the Summer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cervezaXTECA.com
- Phone: 619-832-1970
- Email: info@cervezaXteca.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cervezaxteca/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xteca/
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
