Photo grid from Cafe Gabriela Instagram account.
Pivot Profiles | Janeé Gutierrez, owner of Madre Churros & Cacao
Janeé Gutierrez making plates for pre-orders. Photo courtesy of San Diego Women’s Business Center
Janeé Gutierrez, the owner of Madre Churros & Cacao, has an amazing product line up of high-quality cacao bars, nibs, and powder, along with tasty gluten-free vegan churros, but she was apprehensive about becoming a business owner at first. With so many regulations and requirements for the food industry, and all that is required of business owners in general, she was concerned about missing important details as a small business owner on her own. But working with the San Diego Women’s Business Center demystified the processes and set her up with a mentor and support system that she could rely on. Of her mentor, she says “Cally has helped me stay organized and holds me accountable. I feel as though I’ve not only gained a lifelong mentor but a friend as well." Soon she was selling her fantastic treats at several San Diego farmers markets and in Old Town, as Madre Churros & Cacao. She was able to do all of this while also maintaining regular work in the restaurant industry.
When the pandemic hit, Janeé had to get creative in order to keep up with new state guidelines and changes to her usual venues. After taking a little time to step back and accept the pandemic as our new reality, she did some brainstorming and partnered with another business owner to host drive-thru style pick-up in the parking lot of her production kitchen. Customers order ahead online, select a pick-up window, and are safely handed their orders when they arrive. Some people park and eat their fresh churros on the spot. “Not only are we hosting this fun, safe, get out of the house moment for our beloved customers, we have also made churro bite boxes for a few local hospitals to show our appreciation. Our ethos is driven by community and supporting one another, this was the least we could do to make our frontline workers known and seen,” says Janeé.
The response has been beyond her expectations and has helped maintain some income as the restaurant industry came to a halt and has yet to stabilize. She’s currently working on a plan to expand her business by selling her churros frozen at local markets and getting an online shop going for her cacao products, which are more shelf-stable. In the meantime, she’s hosting videos on social media to show how to get the most enjoyment out of her fine cacao, which has broadened her reach and brought her new clients since the beginning of lockdown.
Learn more about Madre Churros & Cacao on their website, https://www.madrechurrosandcacao.com/. You can also follow on Instagram and Facebook, @madrechurrossandcacao.
Want to connect with your local Women’s Business Center for support and guidance? You can find a full list of centers, nationally from the Association of Women’s Business Centers at https://www.awbc.org/
The Pivot Profiles are our series on women business owners pivoting their model to meet these unprecedented times. Have a story to share? Let us know!
Pivot Profiles | Gabrielle Moes, owner of Seasons Catering in Ventura, CA
L: Gabrielle Moes, owner of Seasons Catering, R: Michelle Osbourne, cefe de cuisine, distributing meals.
Gabrielle Moes, the owner of Seasons Catering in Ventura, CA., remembers the moment that everything shifted. It was Wednesday, March 11th, and her biggest client of the year, an international conference, called to cancel their contract due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she called Women’s Economic Ventures, her local WBC, for financial advice and they set up an appointment for her the next day.
With their financial advisor, she created a three-month worst-case plan, and then met with her general manager to talk about how they could pivot and continue to get revenue while everyone was canceling events. This was before businesses were called to close their doors and before the population was asked to shelter in place. Ventura County had just asked elderly residents to stay indoors, and they realized that they could provide meal service for residents that were beginning to self-isolate.
They quickly mobilized a plan, deciding to set up a meal service station in their parking lot where people could drive up and pick up food orders without ever having to leave their car. When they saw that grocery store shelves were quickly being picked over, they decided to add grains and proteins to their pick-up offerings. As for produce, they still get their produce from a local farm, so all the meals offered are fresh and minimally handled. These offerings are then regularly updated on social media. Recently, Moes was also able to secure a contract providing 1,400 meals per week to local hospital staff, providing more regular income to make up for the canceled event contracts.
Moes has had to lay off some of her staff, and even now, the remaining team is taking it day-by-day. She’s very open with everyone about the financial situation and has helped employees with unemployment planning. She is also a self-proclaimed “clean freak” and has made sure to keep the working environment even more sterile than usual with the rapid spread of the virus. Containment is very important to her and the team, who practice as much distancing as possible. Because it’s a small group that all know each other well, she’s confident in their collective effort to stay properly distanced both at work and in their personal lives.
When asked what she’s hoping for as lawmakers work on relief packages, she said that while grants are ideal and low/no-interest loans are helpful, none of that will do business owners any good if people can’t afford the goods and services offered. If a low-interest loan is the best she can get, but it means there is more money to put directly in people’s hands, she’s good with that. She hopes lawmakers are thinking about the buying power of the massive amount of people that are and will be suffering financially during this crisis.
The Pivot Profiles are our series on women business owners pivoting their model to meet these unprecedented times. Have a story to share? Let us know!
The Pivot Profiles
All around the country, governments are stepping up precautions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is California we’ve been ordered to shelter in place, and non-essential businesses are coping with a number of restrictions that could change at a moment’s notice.
This is particularly challenging for small and women-owned small businesses, who don’t have the same support systems in place as larger organizations. City and state governments and the federal government are scrambling to provide assistance for small business owners, and what’s available can be overwhelming and confusing.
Women’s Business Centers across the country are there to provide assistance not only in sorting out disaster capital but also in helping with resilience coaching and business counseling.
We’ve spoken with WBCs and women business owners to talk about some of the big changes ahead, and what we’ve found are resilient women making their business work in ever-changing circumstances.
These are the Pivot Profiles. In this short series, we will introduce you to women who are doing their best to adapt with the help of their local WBC. Hopefully, this will inspire you in your own pivot or offer a spark of light in the dark of uncertainty. Check back with us throughout the week.