Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Miriam Perlacio. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Miriam, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

English is my second language, I hope you can understand my mistakes. I will try to do my best.

I would love for children to be taught vocational training from a very young age. All people are different, have different ways of learning, and have different vocations. It would be beneficial to teach them how money works, personal finance, saving, entrepreneurship, business development, etc. When I was a teenager, my mom put me in many classes. So, I wouldn’t waste time at home.  I learned to make parchment cards, I took dance, music, and typing classes, and I learned sewing, embroidery, and knitting. But there was one class that my mom put me that captivated me: the pastry and bakery class. I learned to make cakes, cookies, and a variety of snacks.

After many years, these classes helped me a lot because, besides the fact that I liked them, they made me create a business from what I already knew.

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

My name is Miriam Perlacio and I am the founder of Little Bites, a catering business that offers sweet and savory products. I am from Lima-Peru. Since I was little, I have been interested in baking and whenever I could, I prepared desserts for my family. In my adolescence, my mom decided to enroll me in different classes. My favorite was pastry and baked classes. Without realizing it, they were beneficial to me over the years. In my youth, I worked in a supermarket as a cashier, and a few years later, I was promoted to supervisor, gaining experience in leadership and customer service.

A few years later, I decided to emigrate to the United States. I started working in a restaurant as a waitress assistant, where, soon after, I was chosen as employee of the year for my performance on the job. I decided to take English classes at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School to improve my job. That brought me many benefits; I could climb to other positions, which helped me economically and taught me everything about the front of the restaurant and the events section.

After a bad experience in one of my GMs, I decided to take culinary art and pastry classes. At the end of the course, I wanted to open my own business, so I took some classes for small businesses in different organizations.

In 2015, as part of introducing Peruvian flavor, I participated with a group from my school in a tamale contest called Tamal Fest, organized by Hola Cultura, where I was one of the winners in the decoration and flavor of Peruvian tamales. A year later, my dedication and hard work earned a scholarship to study a college career, so I decided to study Hospitality Management at the University of Washington DC. I obtained high grades there, made the Dean’s list twice, and invited me to participate in the National Society in Collegiate Scholars. At the same time, I started my business venture, Little Bites Catering. I oversaw my young children: my oldest son, who was 7 years old, and my little girl, just months old. In 2017, to gain more experience and to offer better service, I worked in different places as a pastry assistant, where I could learn other techniques and perfect my work a little more.

I always stood out for my dedication and my continuous support to the community by participating as a volunteer in different organizations. All these experiences have trained me to develop myself effectively.

I believe that we must constantly prepare ourselves, be open to learning if we have a job, and learn as much as possible because it will always be useful to us.

As I mentioned before, Little Bites Catering is a catering business offering sweet and savory products.

The mission of Little Bites is to provide an integral and personalized service with high-quality fresh products.

At Little Bites Catering, we strongly believe the client deserves the best, so we focus 100% of our energy on offering good products. We take care of every detail in our products and strive daily to offer the best of ourselves professionally. Providing a specialized and personalized service that meets the expectations of our customers.

Initially, my idea of the business was to only offer sweets like cupcakes, alfajores, and cakes; over time, my clients asked me for different things and other alternatives, which helped me prepare a new menu.

During the pandemic, so many things changed. Many of my clients canceled their orders, and consequently, I didn’t know what to do with my business, given that the orders were normally for small family gatherings or company meetings. It was then that I began to find out, as I had always worked in a personalized manner, that my client’s needs were to have even more personalized and small orders. The meetings were then more private. I began to offer other types of products and began to package them in a more personalized manner. Without a doubt, my business saw new paths and new opportunities.

I am proud that Little Bites Catering can offer a variety of alternatives to desserts and cakes, and we’ve also included gluten-free and vegan options. We offer Peruvian appetizers, individualized salads, lunch boxes, and some Mexican dishes.

Little Bites solves a need to make life a little easier for our clients by saving time. Many of our clients do not have the time to prepare their food, snacks, or just a cake for their guests, so they need our help, and we are more than happy to help. In other cases, many of our customers have heard of Peruvian gastronomy, so they want to have the opportunity to try something different. What better opportunity than trying Little Bites products?

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The story of a time when I had to pivot in my life was when I decided to come to the United States. It was a fresh start, a new culture, language, weather, friends, etc. Although it was quite difficult initially, I could adapt and find my way with time. I focused on learning, reading personal development books, listening to podcasts, and learning from other businesses and their experiences.

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

After I lost my job, I went into a deep depression because of the strong words that people said to me. I did not want to work, and I dedicated myself to my son as a newborn; this lasted almost two to three years. One day, I decided to get out of bed and tell myself I had to do something, I could not let a person’s words or a situation affect me that way.

At that time, my family’s economy was bad since my husband was only working, and there were difficulties in his job. I told myself that I had to overcome the past, and so I did. I remember I applied to five jobs that day. In the first four, I was told no, or they would call me back, and when I was about to give up again, I was accepted in my last job interview. That made me super happy. My schedule was adjusted to have time with my son, allowing me to enroll in culinary art classes.

I decided to do things differently. I decided to focus on being the best in everything I set my mind to, and little by little, I made progress. I won a scholarship to study Hospitality Management and opened my own business.

Over time, I realized that losing my job and going through the situation I went through was the best thing that could have happened to me because it made me stronger and more determined. It just opened new paths for me.

Another thing that has helped me is not to compare myself with others. I advance in my way; maybe, for some people, it is slow, but for me, it is safer. The important thing is not to stop.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.littlebitescatering.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlebitescatering
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LittlebitescateringLLC/
• Other: TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@littlebitescatering

Image Credits
Edgar Romero from Studio 495 www.studio-495.com