- To me,
authenticity is a true expression of oneself.
(slow bright music)
My sister was struggling with an auto immune condition.
A couple of 'em actually,
Lupus being one of 'em.
And my brother recommended
that she go on a grain-free diet.
And as a family,
we all went on a grain-free diet with her.
And what we didn't realize is one,
we all felt better.
But then two,
we were pretty instantaneously disconnected
from our culture.
Because gone were the days
of tortillas and tortilla chips
and rice and beans.
And,
and in order to go grain-free we had given up
a lot of those things.
And so being disconnected from our culture,
it just didn't sit right for my sister.
And so my sister,
she created an almond flour tortilla.
And the almond flour tortilla ended up being
this product that we brought to market in 2014.
Probably the most fun thing about building Siete
and what we've done is I'm able
to say that all seven members
of my family worked full-time in the business.
So it really has become this,
this company that,
where we're able to share our values with,
with our customers.
Like our first core value is family first,
family second,
business third.
Our sixth core value is juntos es mejor,
or together is better.
And our seventh core value is
to do everything with love.
And I think that we've been able
to do that because we've been able
to build this thing together.
For us,
we're a Mexican American food brand.
As siblings,
we're third generation Mexican American.
My mom's family is from Michoacán.
My dad's family was from right around the border,
going back generations.
And when we started the business,
we actually didn't know it was going to be Siete
as it is today.
But we started receiving advice
that was really centered on
this idea of authenticity.
And so for us,
our truth is our,
our experience,
our shared experience.
We didn't feel that there was
a brand making products that spoke to us
or even that resonated with us as a family.
And so we set out to create that.
One thing that we've leaned on is creating
this brand that is rooted in family,
and that is celebrating our heritage.
And that is bringing innovative products
to market that are familiar to consumers,
but that are also differentiated enough
that they're allowed
to be celebrated on,
on their own.
I think we've had this advantage
in that we're being authentic.
Like when we show up,
we're being authentic
because we're showing up as us.
And we're building this brand from us.
And so it's not traditional by,
by any means.
But we didn't set out to,
to build a traditional Mexican food brand.
We really wanted to build
an authentic Mexican American food brand
that would speak to this generation's consumer.
And so,
we really just lean into our values a lot
and we want to celebrate and amplify where we came from,
how we grew up and
a lot of the nostalgia that comes with
that for the consumer.
And for me as a Latino,
eventually I want to be on
a public board because,
you know,
only two,
2.3% of public board seats are filled by Latinos.
And there's 17% of us
in the US population.
So like,
I want to demonstrate the disparity within
the business world so that they can understand,
one why what we're doing is special.
But also the,
I think sometimes it's important
to share like the macro demographic shifts
that are happening so that they can understand
that what you're doing is the future.
Mexican food is growing,
as fast if not faster than other,
what would be defined as ethnic cuisine.
And so I think if you share that
and you share it in a format
that is able to be understood,
you can represent your culture authentically
and lovingly and be successful,
not in spite of that,
but because of that.
(slow bright music)