Claudia Valdes, 30 years old, andOrlando Ojeda, 36, havea Cuban pizza food truck in Florida. She had experience in the state hospitality industry in Cuba and since on the Island they used to go out together to have ice cream and eat pizzas, and in the city where they decided to establish their residence (Orlando), in the United States, there was no business of that type, they decided take the step in 2019. Then came the confinement due to the coronavirus and they had to reinvent themselves, but they endured with the 'deliveries' (home deliveries) and today they not only have work for themselves but, in addition, they have created employment for other people.
Their dream is to have their own location and continue expanding throughout Florida, without trying to pretend that they have more than what they have. With humility and with a lot of effort because the hospitality industry is a very demanding sector, above all, on a personal level and they both have a young daughter in common. "Everything is possible, but you have to sacrifice," says Orlando Ojeda, in an interview withCyberCuba.
The couple, who have been together for 14 years and are originally from Santa Clara,He left Cuba in 2015 through Ecuadorwhen he had a free visa for that country. They lived there for two or three months until they decided to cross the border and enter the United States. "There were like eight countries that we passed," recalls Claudia Valdés.
"Since we arrived we always thought about taking advantage of the opportunities that this country offers us and doing our own business. We always thought, what can we do. We realized that there was a large community of Cubans in Orlando wanting to eat Cuban food, which here We don't have it. And that's when the idea arose. We said, this is what we are going to do because if we long for it and miss it, there are many of us missing the same thing," says Claudia Valdés.
"I want to urge Cubans who are around the world, not only here in Florida, who are in countries that offer us these possibilities to get ahead, I urge you to dream and work towards that because it can be achieved. It has been a lot of sacrifice, but today, four years after starting the business, we can say that we are achieving it," he added.
Valdés remembers that in the beginning, they had to have the girl with them in the business because they are alone in the United States and they had no one who could help them. "Sacrificed is enough. There is no sacrifice that does not come with a reward later," he insisted.
"We already have employees. There are people who live thanks to the business," he stressed. Ojeda recalled that when they decided to open the food truck they did not have cash. But "sometimes it is good to take a risk and take a step forward," says Claudia Valdés.
Four years later the business is running. Orlando Ojeda was aware, from the beginning, that they had to find a name that would serve as a hook for the Cuban community to identify that they had a national business before them. That's why they named it 'El Rápido', imitating the state rapids that proliferated on the Island in the nineties. They adapted the logo by adding a slice of pizza and there they created their own brand.
And it worked. Cuban residents in Orlando began to come to buy their Cuban pizzas and today, business is good. But that does not stop its owner from recognizing that in the United States "there is a very strong burden of sacrifice. You have to work hard, but I believe that stronger than physical, it is mental. That is the advice I give because it is the way that I know, I don't know any other. You have to sacrifice yourself," he concluded.
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