We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Catherine Contreras-Sanchez . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Catherine below.

Catherine , appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents always had fierce entrepreneurial spirits. Constantly taking good ideas and trying to figure out how to turn them into magic. I had the pleasure of witnessing a lot of failure, that was followed by grace and more determination, as I grew up. That drive to turn failure into fortune, was a running them in my life, ever since I can remember. One of my earliest memories is when my dad decided that he make my mom an ice cream cake for her birthday. He wanted it to be just like the ones we had tried at Baskin Robbins. He attempted to make that cake SEVERAL times. Each ending in a soggy, melted, or toppled mess. But you know what? He never stopped trying. Giving up wasn’t an option. Throwing up his hands and buying a cake would have ruined everything for him. It wasn’t about the FAILURE, it was about the lessons he learned each time he tried, and how he took that lesson into the creation of the next cake. He eventually got it right, and the joy that came from that successful cake will stay with me forever.
Eventually, that spirit led my parents to start their own businesses and provide for our family doing it. Sometimes, there was failure in that, too; but only to be followed by more determination and drive to succeed. The gift of being taught how to pivot and persevere, is the greatest gift I was ever given.
My dad’s ability to see beyond the failure of a melted ice cream cake, and keep going until it was perfect, has shaped everything I do in life.
It’s about seeing the gold in the mess. Choosing to keep the lessons and throw away the trash. Because when it’s good, it’ll be the best cake you’ve ever had.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a proud Latina, wife, mother of five amazing kids, and small business owner. I was raised on pan dulce and chisme in the heart of San Antonio Texas. I grew up in love with my culture; but, always feeling a little disconnected from it, as well. I have chosen to celebrate and uplift that culture through my brands and my event planning business. I’ve always had a drive to take my good ideas and share them with the world, so entrepreneurship was a natural role for me to fall into.

Along with my brother (Matthew Contreras), his wife (Nydia Huizar), and our dear friend (Richard Diaz), we brought our puro baby brand BarcaoApparel to life in the Spring of 2014.
BarbacoApparel sets out to embrace what it means to be Tejano. It aims to capture a feeling of home and identity in all our products—whether it’s exclaiming our favorite breakfast taco, remembering our abuela’s fideo recipe, celebrating Texas’s long history with space exploration, or carrying our groceries in one of the “strongest” totes around.
Whether you live deep in the heart of Texas or are a “Tex-pat” who still wants to rep home, BarbacoApparel looks forward to clothing your sense of pride in San Antonio and the Lone Star State.

Eventually, after spending a few years outsourcing screen printing for our tees and accessories, we decided it was time to start printing for ourselves, and that’s when The Tortilla Press Printing was born in the summer of 2020. We now screen print and do graphic design, not only our own BarbacoApparel items, but also for other businesses and individuals around the great state of Texas.

Along with a strong online presence, an imperative part of my business is being present in the community, and that means doing pop-up markets very regularly. After setting up BarbacoApparel at different vendor markets around town, I met the amazing Cristina Martinez of Very That in 2015. We became fast friends and began brainstorming how we could do markets better. Together, we decided that we could organize and host the best Christmas Market that San Antonio had seen. We called it Brickmas and hosted it at Brick at Blue Star. The success of that market led us to continue hosting markets around the city. Eventually, SA Local Market was born, and we now host monthly markets and special events in all corners of the city on a regular basis. We are proud to highlight Latinx and women-owned small businesses and hope we’re doing our part to promote local shopping in SATX.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Something that a lot of people don’t realize, is that one of my business partners in BaracoApparel and The Tortilla Press is my little brother. A lot of times, people mistake us as a married couple, or don’t really put it together. It’s always amazed me that we are able to grow the business and remain the best of friends as we go. Being able to share in the joys and successes of the business, alongside my family has been one of the greatest gifts to come from it.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Showing up and being present in the community has been the foundation of how we have built our reputation. Showing our customers, in-person, that we are authentic and available to chat about whatever they want to chat about. We truly do love each and every one of them. We hold our entire community in our hearts, and we hope they can feel that with every purchase and every pop-up market.

Contact Info:

• Website: barbacoapparel.com, thetortillapressprinting.com, salocalmarket.com
• Instagram: @barbacoapparel @thetortillapress @salocalmarket
• Facebook: facebook.com/barbacoapparel , facebook.com/salocalmarket
• Other: TikTok @barbacoapaprel , @salocalmarket

Image Credits
Randy Beamer, Sarah Cooper Photography, BarbacoApparel, Cristina Martinez