We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leonardo Romero a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leonardo , thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

The craziest story that happened took place on April 25th 2021, when a car crashed into our storefront. It was a Sunday afternoon and we had just opened. Two cars collided head-on at the intersection of Florence Ave and Holmes Ave, causing one of the vehicles to jump the curb, taking out a light pole and smashing into our business. Shattered glass flew everywhere inside, destroying our seating, equipment, and product. Luckily no one was injured and the building structure survived the impact, but we were forced to close shop for over a month. We suffered over $40,000 in damages. I remember arriving to work that day and couldn’t believe the destruction. It was like a scene from a movie, but real. It was a very scary moment for one of my staff also, who was working that day. She was serving a customer a few moments before the crash. If she was in the front, it could have been a lot worse. Definitely a story we all remember vividly.

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?

It was the spring of 2014 while working in LA Radio, when my father, who was retiring, came to me with the idea of having me take over the family business. I was very overwhelmed at the opportunity, as it wasn’t my first choice, but looking back on that moment, it was easily one of the best decisions I ever made.

My parents Ramon and Ana Maria Romero, immigrated to Los Angeles, in the early 70s, from Jalpa, Zacatecas, Mexico with hopes of finding a better life. They eventually met in South Central LA, where they quickly fell in love and started a family together. They later founded Paleteria El Paraiso, an ice cream manufacturer, specializing in Paletas, aka Mexican fruit bars/popsicles, located at 515 N Mednik Ave, in East Los Angeles, during the summer of 1979.  Here my family would make paletas day and night to meet the demand of paleteros aka street vendors who peddled our tasty treats to the local community. As the business was becoming very successful, my parents expanded operations purchasing a larger facility in South Central LA, in the unincorporated neighborhood of Florence-Firestone in 1982. Over the years, we have added more products to our menu, such as our handmade ice cream, and raspados, as well as offering distribution and catering services.

For over 40 years, our family and staff take great pride in making our products the authentic way, so that our customers can truly experience a piece of paradise, “un pedacito de Paraiso.” When you hear the name “El Paraiso” it brings out a special feeling of nostalgia for our customers, many of whom have been coming here for decades. We are frequently told stories from our loyal customers when they remember coming to El Paraiso as kids and now as adults, sharing new memories with their own families. We are an essential part of the community’s fabric because we not only sell something that everyone loves but also something that represents my family’s Hispanic culture.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

A couple years ago in 2021, I came across a contest on Twitter looking for LA small business owners to apply. It was MasterCard’s Home Team Advantage Small Business Contest and it was posted by Shawn Green, Los Angeles Dodgers legend who also happened to be my favorite player growing up. It was a long shot, but at the same time, I just had a certain feeling about it that got me super excited. The Grand prize winner, received, $10,000 plus the chance to throw out the first pitch at the World Series that year. It was so perfect, I entered the contest immediately. A month later, I got the email of my dreams, congratulating me on being 1 of only 5 finalists for the grand prize. I was so thrilled, my family were invited to Dodger Stadium for a luncheon where they would announce the grand prize winner. I got to meet former Dodger greats, Nomar Garciaparra and Shawn Green and share with them my family’s story. Our business logo was on the giant scoreboard at Dodger Stadium, I couldn’t believe it. Although, we didn’t win the grand prize, we definitely felt like a hometown champion making it that far. Out of all the thousands of small business owners in LA, El Paraiso was chosen to represent LA and really inspired me to continue working toward my dreams and goals.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

When my parents first started the business in 1979, it was struggling in the first few months. My parents were making great tasting paletas, but didn’t have enough sales to sustain the business. Until, one day a paletero came to my parents shop from San Bernandino looking for a particular paleta. He loved my family’s paletas, but he also suggested they add a certain ingredient to make it better. After perfecting the recipe, my parents eventually began a business agreement with this paletero, who would purchase a truck load of paletas every morning and make his way back to San Bernandino to distribute in the surrounding community. This went on for several years, allowing my parents to continue to grow and expand the business operations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://paleteriaelparaiso.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paleteriaelparaiso/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElParaiso_LA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/paleteria-el-paraiso-los-angeles

Image Credits
Not all but a few images are credited Rico Mandel.