We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tatiana Quintero Garcia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tatiana below.

Tatiana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

The first time I sold empanadas was to a Colombian man who couldn’t find empanadas in Guadalajara and I posted the empanadas on Marketplace on Facebook 10 years ago. That day I told him to please tell me what you thought of my empanadas and when he ate them, he smiled and said… those empanadas are the best I’ve had in a long time. That day I knew that I should start dedicating myself to the production of empanadas.

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?

I came to my industry because I needed to have Colombian food on my table, mostly empanadas, since I have always loved eating empanadas. I don’t solve any problem, rather I help make life easier for people who work all day and don’t have time to cook and there I said! a pre-fried empanada can arrive and fry it in an air fryer in 12 minutes while I bathe. (that’s great). and so I do. It distinguishes me that my empanadas are gluten free, that I have vegan, vegetarian and with different meats in total 11 flavors and I’m waiting to get more, that I have a very delicious sauce made of serrano and jalapeno completely vegan and above all the easy ones that can be made find since they are in 5 different places nearing a new location.

I am proud to have created this company by myself and create my flavors with the help of different palates, because when I create a flavor; I make it in small empanadas and my friends and people close to me must try it to be able to bring it to the market (they are a great help since they are from different cultures and that makes it more exciting)
I always look at what people like the most to be able to create flavors to their tastes, now I am planning to bring out sweet flavors since they request it a lot and I am here to please my clients.

Another part that makes me very happy is working with the people in the kitchen, they and I make magic together, we taste, we sing and above all it is an environment that is not for working but more for creating, the people who work at empanada empire, They are people who like and love to be there, that’s why the empanadas have a special flavor that is “love”

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to learn was that although I have a commercial engineering degree, I had to start over from scratch, I never thought that I would become a girl who makes empanadas and I never gave it the value that this represents for all the people who are They dedicate themselves to this in my country, EMPANADAS is a word that is liked and that causes a sensation of delight, but it is a product that requires a lot of work and a lot of investment time.

Making empanadas entails love, passion and above all effort to achieve each and every one of the flavors that have been achieved and will be achieved.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source for new customers for me has been the farmer’s markets, there go people who value our effort and love to try new food; Instagram has also been a super efficient source, there I have many followers who share my posts and their friends are going to buy my product.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.empanadaempireaz.com
• Instagram: empanadaempireaz
• Facebook: empanadaempireaz
• Twitter: empanadaempireaz

Image Credits
life_photografy_arizona, Karina Cordova sonimagen_video, Gilberto Zazueta