We recently connected with Vanessa Sanchez and have shared our conversation below.

Vanessa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero will always be my Grandpa. My Grandpa was an amazing man, he passed away May 13th of 2020 a day after my daughter was born. He started his own business along side my grandma & built an empire from the ground up. He would be in a meeting with clients, drive up to a job sight , roll up his sleeves and pull a shovel out of his trunk of his car and start getting to work. My grandpa was an amazing man & continues to be my inspiration everyday. One lesson I always learned from him, is that success won’t just come to you, you have to get up and work hard for it. My grandpa worked so hard and always believed that if you go out and make things happen you will succeed. He influenced my journey every step of the way; because the days I feel I can’t do it he is a reminder everyday that I CAN DO IT. And I know he is with me in spirit pushing me to keep going.

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

Before this business, I was a baker. & failed in that business horribly. But I always take it as a learning experience & am extremely grateful that I’ve gotten to learn from that & bring what I learned into my new business. As you can see, the food industry has always been a passion of mine, I remember wanting to go to culinary school at one point because I just loved to be in the kitchen. It is therapeutic and relaxing to me to be in the kitchen. I truly love to cook! Which brings me to my husband always challenging me to recreate recipes! One day, he asked me to make an “Esquite” which is a Mexican “Antojito” (snack) also known as corn in a cup. Sounds simple right? Actually, there is so much more that goes into these recipes & it’s took me a while to perfect it to have that authentic Mexican taste to it! So my husband said “why aren’t you selling these?” And BAM! It just hit me, I said if I am going to try something new, I’d rather it be with me in the kitchen again, because there is nothing I enjoy doing more. & so ANTOJITOS BY VEE began. I started to sell from my home, and take orders and people would come pick up at my home. & it was insane to see the support I received from friends and family. Which lead me to creating my cart! My husband built my cart in a week & a week later I started to do “pop ups” to get my name out there. Once I joined “shop small soiree” my business started to grow. And FAST. There is so many of us in this industry, I am not the only one, but one thing that I think sets me apart is the drive I have, and how much I keep going no matter what obstacles come my way. I have 2 small children, and things can get quite complicated with children and running a business, but I continue to move forward and try to do my best to show my children that mommy can do it too! One thing I am definitely most proud of is how my husband has created my carts, and it has a sentimental value to it, because if it weren’t for him creating these carts I wouldn’t be where I am now! So shout out to my husband! love you! One thing I would like my followers to know about me is, I am who I say I am. I care about everyone: and I am here to spread more kindness in the world & try to make a change somehow. It starts with us, and just by being a good human being you can make a change in someone’s life. Thank you to each and everyone of you for supporting me, it means the absolute world to me!

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I have worked my corporate job for the past 4 years as an apartment manager. Initially, I always wanted to do something more than work a corporate job the rest of my life. So I started saving money because I knew someday I would need it. And when I came up with this idea to start my 2nd business, I used my savings to fund my business. Thankfully I didn’t need a whole lot, but with what I’d make selling from home, I also saved up to build my cart.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I’ve built my audience on social media by simply supporting other small businesses. You have no idea how far you can go by giving another business a follow & supporting one another. Some advice for those just starting to build your social media presence: be yourself. People will LOVE you for who you are, don’t pretend to be someone you are not. And in being yourself you will find that your passion will be so much easier for you because you don’t have to waste any energy pretending to be someone your not. Remember there is no one like you in this world! So be yourself always!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.antojitosbyvee.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Antojitos.byvee
• Facebook: Facebook.com/Antojitosbyvee
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/lOeyFRZHOxb