We were lucky to catch up with Daniela Lucero recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniela, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

My business is a pastry coffee shop. I started my entrepreneurship 4 years ago while studying for my degree. We sell a variety of regular, keto desserts and many different drinks to go with your dessert. The sale of keto desserts makes us different, since it is not common, they are also quite popular. The opportunity to open an establishment arose. When choosing the name of my brand it took some work since there are many similar names in the market. I was looking for something different and meaningful, so I chose the name “El Peccato” Peccato, which comes from Italian and means Sin in Spanish. In Mexican culture, we always use the expression “I’m going to sin a little” to mean that they will eat something very delicious that they shouldn’t, for example, a dessert. Now, I was also looking for a representative image, something that would capture people’s attention and that was the Wild Boar. The Wild Boar is one of the most gluttonous mammals by nature and is related to the deadly sin of gluttony, it also means abundance and prosperity, two fundamental things for my business. On the other hand, choosing an attractive phrase for the business was essential. The phrase is “Eat, Sin and Love”. That’s right, like the Julia Roberts movie, but instead of praying, we sin! Undoubtedly, choosing a name is difficult, but once you give meaning and value to things, everything makes sense and people and customers will be able to connect with it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Since I was a child I have really liked cooking in general, it is something I have always enjoyed and it gives me the joy to give people something they can enjoy! On the other hand, since I was in high school I knew that I wanted to dedicate myself to studying something related to science and for me, the mechanical engineering career was the ideal one. I finished my high school studies and my new stage began, the university. I was delighted with this new stage in my life, It wasn’t until halfway through the course that I felt desperate because I couldn’t work or generate an income, since my hours were very long and I had many school responsibilities on top of me. And come on, Mechanical Engineering, it’s not easy at all. As I tell you, I have always liked cooking. It was until one day that I decided to take a slice of a banana pancake that I had baked and one of my colleagues told me “Could you give me a piece, it looks delicious” I gave him a piece and he said, “Wow I want a whole one for myself!”. When I got home, I started baking and my mom told me, do you make another one? And I said yes! That’s when she told me that I should start selling banana pancakes to get money and I did. I sold banana pancakes in college, then I made an Instagram page where I barely managed to get 90 followers. Time went by and I had my first real client outside of friends, family, or people from school.

From there, everything began to grow and grow. And now we are here. Something that was important to me over time was to have a characteristic seal. Selling desserts suitable for diabetics or people who simply do not want to consume sugar for health reasons was the best option. I have always believed that there is nothing more valuable than health and if I can offer you something that is delicious and I know it won’t hurt you, it fills my spirits. However, not everything is easy or linear, when one starts a business it starts from the bottom, with many challenges and occupations at the same time.

There came a point when it was very difficult for me to dedicate myself to both, my physical and mental energy was draining. So I had to make adjustments and start delegating. Because when you start a business, you do everything. Finances, cleaning, collections, production, deliveries, vile, in short… It’s a never-ending story. Something important for me is to make it clear that all human beings have many passions or we can be good at many things and not because they have nothing to do with it, you should stop doing them, Look at me I’m an engineer and I have a dessert business Is there a relationship? No. But yes, there is passion and a great desire to do things.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In my family and friends, I am known as a “resilient lady” for many reasons. A story that truly made an impact on me, my life, and my business was opening the physical store of the business. To begin with, no one usually tells you that things never go as planned and that there will be obstacles. From finding a suitable place for this tour to shocking personal situations. When I tried to get my industrial oven, the distributor had me on standby for a long time, without telling me what was happening. It turns out that due to COVID-19, they were struggling with manufacturing a German part. At this point, I had already rented the place where it would be established and I was desperate to open and try to recover a little of the investment made. They didn’t have a favorable response, so I went to about 4 different cities from Ensenada, Rosarito, and San Diego to Irvine and ended up getting my oven in Mexicali, Mx. City which is approximately 3 hours from Tijuana, my hometown. Since I had that first challenge, I knew that it would not be easy and that I would have to face many scenarios of anguish, stress, anxiety, frustration, and disagreement, and that’s how it was. Really, Resilience is something that you acquire according to the experiences you have lived and that it is undoubtedly essential to experience in order to have personal growth.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

First of all, I think it’s the quality of work without a doubt. The products we handle use high-quality ingredients, and although the desserts we sell are not cheap, something that is true is that you are consuming something of quality and that it is made from scratch. That gives a lot of value to a product because the customer knows what they are consuming and that, in addition, it contains a minimum amount of ingredients. Another important point is customer service and treatment, as a company we really like to focus on the human side and treat our customers in a dignified and respectful manner, even if we have a bad day or even feel physically unwell. For me and my team, it is of the utmost importance to maintain a pleasant experience. Finally, when a person does not know a little about the product, we like to make a brief explanation about it and this helps us to have a more direct and intimate contact with the client, without ever forgetting professionalism.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elpeccato.reposteria/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/elpeccatoreposteria/

Image Credits
Wendy García aka Wennapple https://www.behance.net/wennapple