Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Nasser and Marian Shamoun.
Linda and Marian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My name is Linda, and my sister is Marian, and together, we own and operate a small mom and pop deli located in the heart of El Cajon, and we owe it all to our parents. Our parents came to this country in 1978 with very little. They hardly knew the language and really had no idea what they were going to do with their lives, but they knew the endless amounts of opportunity America had to offer. They learned the language and assimilated quickly. They lived a simple life in Los Angeles for eight years until Marian was born.
Since they both had to work full time, and couldn’t afford daycare, they decided it would be best to move to San Diego where they had some family who could help care for their new baby girl. After moving to San Diego, I was born two years later. They were excited to have two healthy baby girls, but a growing family comes with a higher cost of living. They worked, mostly in the restaurant business, 16+ hour days for years and years just to get by. Eventually, that took a toll on my father.
In 2009, his heart gave up on him. He had not one but two heart attacks on the same day. The road to recovery was a long one, but he knew he would recover and so he did. He tried to go back to his job, but his absence required the company to hire a replacement, and he was eventually pushed out. My father was at a crossroads. He knew he could no longer work those 16 hour days and he also knew finding a job at his age was not easy. So, he decided to take what little savings they had and invest in himself.
In 2012, my father found a hole in the wall deli and saw its potential for growth. My father spent the first two years running the business by himself while I was in college pursuing a degree in social work and my sister was building her career as a hair stylist. I eventually earned my degree and graduated, and Marian had settled in a busy salon in Downtown, San Diego. The Deli was improving, and business was increasing, which was wonderful, but my sister and I saw that it was affecting my father’s health and simply becoming too much to run on his own.
Our parents left everything behind to live a better life and to give their children a promising future. Our parents worked tirelessly to put a roof over our heads, food on the table, and raise us in a good neighborhood. My sister and I realized that the LEAST we can do is give them a break and help with the family business. We stepped into these roles expecting it to be temporary. Thinking we would go back to our old jobs as a social worker and hair stylist. However, as time passed, we learned the business and quickly fell in love with every aspect of it.
We had something so great my father had built, why would we want to leave that behind? So, we continued to build the business from the ground up, as a family. Together, we created a fun and loving atmosphere that serves fresh food to the El Cajon community. We have gained loyal customers who have kept us in business for six years and counting, and we are so beyond thankful for them. We have a close-knit team who started with us since the very first day we opened. Without their hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t be here today.
Marian and I became partners and owners of Maya’s Deli, and we are eternally grateful to our parents who started this small business. This little mom and pop shop has made our family bond more than ever before. It has taught us how teamwork, communication, hard work, dedication, loyalty, and A LOT of love can make anything possible!
Has it been a smooth road?
Nothing worth having in life comes easy. Working with family is wonderful, but also not always the easiest. We sometimes argue and disagree, but what is important is that we always find a way to compromise — every business struggles, even the most successful ones. You endure slow months, high food costs, constant competition that requires you to stay relevant, and the never-ending pressure to be different and unique from others.
As a small business, it’s often difficult to make ends meet. Overhead can be high and with food costs constantly changing depending on the time of year, makes it very difficult for a small business to operate efficiently. Owning a business is wonderful, but there is no clock out time. It is a 24-hour job, seven days a week which you can imagine makes it very difficult to have a life outside of work. I think one of the biggest things Marian and I struggled with at first, was finding a balance between work and everyday life.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Maya’s is a small, family-run deli. We have a single location that specializes in sandwiches but also serves breakfast, salads, and smoothies to the community of El Cajon. We take pride in serving quality over quantity at an honest price. We also take pride in our service. It is extremely important to us that every person who walks through our door feels welcomed and is greeted with a smile.
We strive to create relationships with our customers rather than a “grab and go” type of service. Creating relationships is a major part of how we built our business. Maya’s has a rather larger menu and is open later than most deli’s. We also recently attained our beer and wine license so you can now enjoy a tasty sandwich with a nice cold brew! Our goal is to provide you with great tasting food that is always served with a genuine smile; leaving you happier and fuller than you came!
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I believe El Cajon is a great place for a small business. El Cajon is a very diverse community with people from all over the world, many are immigrants or refugees. I think that is why most people in this community like to support local mom and pop shops. They are able to relate more to the business itself as well as the business owners.
I truly feel people in this community make a conscious effort to support locally owned business’ because they understand how that helps us all as a whole. It allows us to keep dollars in the local economy and it allows us to create more jobs locally. Possibly even provide better wages and benefits than chains do.
This is a growing city that’s filled with a diverse community, and that is part of what helps create the law of supply and demand.
Contact Info:
- Address: 450 Fletcher Parkway Suite 114
El Cajon, CA 92020 - Website: mayasdelisandiego.com
- Phone: (619)401-2400
- Email: mayasdeli@yahoo.com
- Instagram: @mayasdeli1
- Facebook: @mayasdelielcajon
- Yelp: Maya’s Deli
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