We were lucky to catch up with Lyndelle Sanjuanero recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lyndelle , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

Hola my name is Lyndelle Sanjuanero I’m the proud owner of OllaOllaCrepes we sell 14in French sweet & savory crepes with a Mexican twist! I’m a queer Latina making arizona sweeter!

Growing up my grandmother raised my sisters and I because my parents were working over 100 hours a week in their small business (“Oficina Central Latina Express” & “Landgrave Mexican Imports”) to send us to the best private schools, have food on the table, and anything a child essentially needs growing up.

I was stuck to my grandma who I call “Mami Carmen” like gum. She allowed me to make difficult Mexican cuisine next to her. I would get countless burns, or battle scares, set off the fire alarm often but never gave up. After making many well known difficult Mexican dishes I discovered my Mami Carmen was a baker specifically in cakes for special occasions in Tijuana , Baja California where she grew up. I enjoyed waking up at 7:00am to make my sisters and family breakfast with the knowledge my Mami Carmen shared with me.

I look up to Mami Carmen. I always want to be a hard worker and a great cook just like her. So I asked her to teach me how to bake next. And that was a whole beast In itself. She was very strict. One mistake and I’d have to throw the whole cake away. But I learned very quickly not to do that again.

My parents and Mami Carmen are hard workers. My work ethic, values, and morals are because of them. I had the confidence to open Olla Olla because I knew first hand what happens on the good, bad, and ugly days. I know there will be long weeks, and unexpected turn of events; but due to growing up and seeing my parents succeed I can’t wait to follow in their footsteps.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Welcome to Olla Olla Crepes! We’re dedicated to selling 14 inch French sweet and savory crepes with a Mexican twist. Accompanied by homemade horchata (we have 6 flavors), shakes, or hot chocolate.

My name is Lyndelle Sanjuanero, owner and head chef at Olla Olla Crepes. I took the traditional route and went to college after high school; I actually ended up graduating highschool early in 2015. Phoenix Community college at 17, transferred to arizona state university as a junior at 17 years old. Like the American dream tells us to be.

I had burned out mentally and dropped out of ASU my senior year. I simply didn’t see my passion for having my own business appreciated in the corporate america industry through business school.

I was able to land great well known jobs within the city of Phoenix but still didn’t feel fulfilled, appreciated, or a contributor to my society as a whole. I would quit and land another good job and do it again again and again. In the midst of it all I found my passion for travel I would solo travel to Europe, Canada , China, anywhere where it’s not 120 degrees like Phoenix I WAS THERE.

Disgracefully while I’m trying to navigate adulthood, my passions, and future. I suffered a tragedy in October 2021 and fell into a deep depression. Stopped working for 6 months, no one knew. Lived alone. Maxed out my savings any credit card to my name to stay afloat. Month 6 of unemployment and month 8 of depression I was out of money. Had absolutely nothing. I ended up asking a friend if he could lend me $100 because I was going to sell crepes. He had no idea what crepes were barely knew me but must have seen the spark that I couldn’t see within myself. He volunteered to help me wake up, get out of bed . Buy the supplies, and set up in front of my sisters house. I apparently chose the worst day in Arizona to pursue my calling. It was monsoon season and severe heat warning kind of day. I got a heat stroke, my tent broke, I forgot my keys, I didn’t have a menu and only enough supplies to sell 27 crepes. But it was a sink or swim for me. I sold 3 crepes my first day. The 2nd day I saw my mistakes corrected them and sold again the next day but this time 13 crepes. By the 3rd day in row I managed to pay my friend back buy more supplies and sold out! I worked everyday for 3 month straight selling out no matter how much I doubled our supplies the next day.

I’m most proud of our new brick m mortar located inside of Luminous Dining at 1748 W. Van Buren St. It’s a shared dining with “Phoenix Hibachi House,” “Inner City Nutrition,” “Fam Foods,” Olla Olla Crepes and 11+ local BIPOC small businesses with their store products inside. Such as “A Native Touch Led,” “Life After Death by Iveth,” “Candles and Shoap,” “Imagine Thread Co.,” “NatyThoughts.Designz,” “Mediocre Creations,” “Mediocre Creationz,” “Empolvados Sweets. AZ, “Marias_creations_az,” and “Kawaii_Kreationz.”

Here at Olla Olla Crepes we pride ourselves in creating a safe space for dessert lovers, BIPOC, small businesses starting out, and place to hang out and enjoy live music/art. We’re more than a dessert business we’re here to build a community within the valley of the sun.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is constantly changing every single day. I researched high and low to see how to grow my Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and google. I discovered if you post every single day once no matter what you will always gain between 10 – 100 followers a week. The algorithm on all platforms are always changing so it can be difficult to know what kind of content is trending right now. Currently my goal is to post 1-2 times on Instagram, 6 times minimum on my Instagram story, once on Facebook, once on TikTok, and once on local buzz every single day! I also try to post on Facebook marketplace twice a month.

Even if you’re not too sure, don’t have the perfect lighting, or you’re tired of social media you need to push yourself to post no matter what! People like to see that you’re open, you’re trying new recipes, and even your day to day life as a business owner.

I also appreciate other small business that collaborate Instagram posts with me to build one another’s audiences. Shoutout to “local buzz,” “señor foodie,” “inner city nutrition,” and everyone in between.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

At the moment I’m still at a capacity where I remember my clients names, stories, and faces. It’s beautiful to know of each others goals then seeing them a few months after and being able to say “congratulations on graduating from college!” Or seeing my law students enter their 2L OR 3L. It’s beautiful to be able to build community within our creperie. Starting in January we will have a a loyalty point system for every 9 crepes you get the 10th free!

In the future I do wish to implement a monthly newsletter highlighting our menu, new flavors, events we’re hosting, or pop ups we’ll be attending to keep everyone in the loop.

Contact Info:

• Website: OllaOllaCrepes.com
• Instagram: OllaOllaCrepes
• Facebook: OllaOllaCrepes
• Linkedin: Lyndelle Sanjuanero
• Twitter: OllaOllaCrepes
• Youtube: OllaOllaCrepes
• Yelp: Olla olla LLC
• Other: Local Buzz @ollaollacrepes

Image Credits
José Manuel Puente