(gentle upbeat music)
(gentle upbeat music fades)
(gentle music)
- My bakery, it's Xocolatl Bakery.
This is my recipe.
It's sugar cookie
but it has this special vanilla bean paste
so it's a little bit stronger flavor.
My mom, she loves to cook.
(Alma speaking foreign language)
- Uh-huh.
- Like they love baking.
She used to like decorate big cakes,
like wedding cakes in Mexico.
What is this?
- This is you guys in Mexico.
- I was born in Mexico.
I moved up here in Boardman when I was 15,
and I've been here for more than 26 years.
I have a big family.
My parents had six kids,
three girls and three boys.
My parents decided to bring everybody from Mexico
and it was a big change so it was hard.
Now this is my home.
My family is here.
- Hello!
- Hello, what did you have for lunch today?
- Oh, cheesy bread sticks.
They're the best.
- [Alma] Alberto is my wild child.
He loves to chat a lot.
- And then you dip it in marinara sauce.
Delicious.
- [Alma] He helped me around here.
He's the one that does the boxes,
make sure the labels are correct.
- All of this is where the main supplies is here.
So like all the ingredients,
all the packaging,
all everything here.
So this is like this weird,
it's like a printer but for cookies.
You insert some cookies onto this tray,
and all of a sudden when you put it in,
bam, bam, baby bam.
Somehow it comes out with a cookie with a printed out logo.
My mom prints out these cookie cutters,
which is one right here,
to get a specific mold of a cookie.
- [Alma] You wanna take them?
- Yeah, wait, where to?
- Inside. - Okay.
- [Alma] Okay, I think we're done.
(Alberto singing)
(gentle music continues)
- Are you gonna need help tomorrow?
- Yes.
It's been three years baking inside my house.
I have my little corner.
And then when I switched to the cookies,
that was the big hit.
- I don't think she ever meant
to start doing cookies. (laughs)
Now she would rather do cookies than do cakes.
I see them as art.
- I like seeing my customers happy
when they come back a year after.
Or when I do their baby shower
and they come back for the first year.
I'm like, "This is so cute."
You know, that's what I love.
The ideas come from the customers.
I always tell them,
"Let me know if you have a special design you want."
Crystal from AWS,
she's like, "Hey, will you want to do cookies
"for a girls' day thing?"
And I'm like, "Sure, why not?"
- In 2021, I had the opportunity to work with Alma.
She baked cookies for our very first big space
that I launched.
- You're excited to go and drop them off?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
When I did the first order for AWS,
it really impact my business.
It's my first bake order for a Girls' Tech Day.
It's gonna be 200 cookies.
Cute designs, I can't wait.
- Welcome to Amazon Web Services Girls' Tech Day
out here in eastern Oregon.
(gentle music continues)
- [Crystal] So today, we're hosting girls
to teach them about technology,
to inspire them to want to pursue a career in technology.
- I feel excited to see my cookies there
and have all these people here.
I can't wait to see the girls' faces.
Alberto, he loves technology
so he's really excited.
Have you see he's over there?
- Ra-ta-ta-ta, ra-ta-ta-ta, ra-ta-ta-ta!
(gentle music continues)
- [Alma] Every time I take a order,
it's a challenge for me.
Sometimes I get scared to say yes.
But then it's like, "No Alma, you can do it."
- I don't think she even realizes
how much it means to other people,
the things that she does.
The work that she does
and being able to have other people tell you,
"Oh, your sister's amazing,"
it's like, well it's a win for the family.
That makes me proud. (chuckles)
We are that American Dream.
She is that American Dream.
- My thing is like getting someday,
something outside my house,
and have it set up a little bit bigger.
I wanna start shipping where I can.
Just taking orders but still kind of do my design.
And do classes.
Bring the kids and we can like an after-school program,
decorating cookies or even cakes for the community.
Especially older people.
That's one of my big dreams.
(gentle music fades)