We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lismeilyn Machado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Lismeilyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
It all started with a recipe from Steven’s Mom (Sheila Rodriguez) called the Arroz Imperial (The Imperial Rice). She veganized this delicious cuban staple dish for Lismeilyn (Liz) and Steven to enjoy at a family gathering where everyone Vegans or not loved it. After that day, Steven and Lismeilyn(Liz) started the conversation and wondered how awesome it would be if Miami had delicious Plant-Based Cuban Dishes so we can enjoy our traditional cuisine with much healthier alternatives. As Steven and Liz came from no Restaurant background they used instead their knowledge and experiences in Digital Marketing and Creative Thinking.
One of the first steps they took was to make sure they had an Online presence and shared their new service with their community using multiple social media platforms and their online website. It all started from home, with the help of family members and a strong vision for the future of their business. Just in the first month, we noticed the engagement of people on Instagram and how much attention our name was bringing. As Thanksgiving approached, we started to get orders of our only menu item at the time The Arroz Imperial (The Imperial Rice).
Their community started to notice their business by participating on local Farmers Markets, allowing people to order their food for catering on their website and partnering with other great local businesses that loved their food and added some item to their menu. It was incredible to see how The Miami community not only supported us by ordering our food but also, by encouraging us to continue creating delicious recipes.
Creating recipes is done by going back to abuelitas ingredients and carefully tasting plant-based alternatives one by one and having multiple family members blind taste them until it is better or as great as any animal based alternatives. After less than 3 months in business Liz and Steven created the Vegan Cubano Sandwich and the “Ham” Croquetas (which has taking 3 years to perfect it). Following that, each recipe was added monthly as Liz started to explore all the delicious alternatives that can replicate any cuban dish in a much healthier way.
As time passed Vegan Cuban Cuisine continued to grow organically and call attention of many celebrities and local media. As the business grew, Steven and Liz used all the small business resources our community offered like Score, MBF( Miami Bayside Foundation), FIU Hospitality Conferences and more in order to grow their knowledge and take their business to the next level.
On September 15 of 2020 Vegan Cuban Cuisine opened its first Store Front located in the Kendall Area and started to serve their community through a Plant Based Ventanita. Many new recipes have been created since then and have been awarded my multiple magazines and mentioned by very well known newspapers.
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?
My name is Steven Rodriguez and I am one the co-founders of Vegan Cuban Cuisine. I started my career in Miami Dade College as a computer information system as I have always being fascinated by technology. As the years passed, I started to explore the entrepreneur world and the Marketing and selling platforms that the Internet offered. In an extent of 7 years I started multiple online businesses, which allowed me to gain valuable knowledge on Digital Marketing. I started to work with local business in creating their Online presence and making sure they use the Internet Platform at its full potential. It was the experience of helping Mom and Pop Shops that inspired me to create a business where I can not only bring a product or service to our community but also one that I Truly believe in. Vegan Cuban Cuisine is a brand that possesses core values in which I strongly believe and want our community to have access to. Caring for our planet its a responsibility we all share, we are committed to zero disposable plastic containers and making sure we compost our leftover produce daily.
My name is Liz Machado, I am an FIU alumna who graduated with a Master Degree in Architecture. I practiced architecture for over 4 years while at the same time worked closely with Steven (my fiancée) in many business adventures. My studies mostly prepared me to be a designer who can use her creativity to imagine, create and eventually build an idea. I found a passion on Vegan Cuban Cuisine as I could personally identify with the brand and the value it brings to our community. I started to adventure in the restaurant industry by learning from local Small Business resources, seminars and Health Books. As we introduced Vegan Cuban Cuisine to our community we noticed an immense amount of support and interest in our products. Together with the help of family members I started to experiment in the kitchen by using plant based alternatives and recreate a healthier and tasty version of all our delicious cuban dishes. I am proud of how my partner and I have been able to grow Vegan Cuban Cuisine from the ground up and manage to express our best abilities. Our discipline and the constant reminder that an idea can become a reality as long as you believe in the value of your product, has helped us in our business success.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social Media has been for my business an indispensable platform, in specific Instagram. We use social media as an Organic channel to reach customers, market our product and also inform our audience of who we are as a brand. It is important we use social media as a way to connect and educate our customers and not just sell our product or service. We make sure we balance our account with entertaining content, that makes our customers connect with us and share news and ideas where they can also give their opinion. Images are a significant aspect of connecting and getting customers attention. We have been able to be discovered nationwide through social media and connect with customers all over the country.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
The Vegan Cuban Cuisine familia is the most valuable aspect of our business. When we started with a small team of 3 people we understood that our dream was not about make a business to sustain our family but also create in the process an environment where everyone feels loved and appreciated. Our team is full of very passionate and talented individuals who love food and service. A business can only grow if your team loves and understands the value of your idea and are inspired to keep improving themselves personally and professionally. We care for our team and make sure they feel appreciated for their hard work constantly.
Contact Info:
- Website: vegancubancuisine.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vegancubancuisine/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vegancubancuisine
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vegan-cuban-cuisine-llc/?viewAsMember=true
- Twitter: none
- Youtube: none
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/vegan-cuban-cuisine-miami-5
- Other: none
Image Credits
Amanda Domingue