Driven to Succeed

Immigrant Couple Reroutes Livelihood with Food Truck and English Language Classes

 

How far would you go to help your spouse or partner?

 

For Yolanda Flores, helping her husband Margarito meant she’d have to face some pretty significant fears.

 

“My husband, he works as a cook in Mexican restaurant for sixteen years. He works all day, like 10 to 12 hours every day,” Yolanda explains. “He work really hard and sometimes the co-workers don’t show. He was tired. He need to do something else.”

 

Yolanda came to the U.S. from Chihuahua, Mexico in 2007. Two years later, Margarito emigrated from Jalisco. They met while working together at a restaurant. Their attraction was undeniable and unbreakable. They were married in 2011. Seated at the dining table in their immaculate home to share their story, the couple trades sweet smiles and flirtatious eye contact. Margarito is a natural host, setting out bottled water and getting up often to adjust the thermostat on the air conditioner.

 

“Let’s try to do a business!” Yolanda recounts her husband’s idea. They decided to run a food truck. “We don’t have family here. So, we need people. Staff. Then we have the same problem. If somebody don’t show up, we have to work harder. In a restaurant, you are slaving away.”

 

They tried getting the truck opened two years ago but the bureaucratic roadblocks in Cortez piled too high. They were told they would have to get a food management certification. Yolanda took the course in Spanish. The test was only offered in English. “It’s complicated,” Yolanda remarks on the process. “The [official she spoke with] say is easier to open a restaurant than a food truck.”

 

Steep Learning Curves

Margarito suggested that Yolanda enroll in classes at the Adult Education Center in Cortez. She could focus on learning English to help them successfully set up and run the business. But, Yolanda was nervous about learning a foreign language and returning to a classroom as an adult.

 

“People in Mexico don’t go to school that much,” she says. “Sometimes three years or only six years. I have a friend who go to school for three years and he cannot write in Spanish. He say ‘How you think I can learn English?!’”

 

Yolanda attended elementary school and middle school. After that, she had to find work. She knew a little English when she came to the U.S. She learned more when she started working in restaurants.

 

“You learn how to say ‘how many people?’ and ‘follow me,’ and ‘in the booth over there.’ Later I learn the menu to take orders. It was Mexican food so is easy. And I learn ‘you want salt, no salt?’ And later I work as a waitress. I learn more like ‘you want bread?’ or ‘how you like your eggs?’” she explains.

 

After Yolanda attended her first English as a Second Language (ESL) class in September 2022, her fears were put to bed. “Lori, the teacher, is really nice. She say we are here for learning. She tell me all the time ‘You need to speak English. It’s okay if you don’t say the word correctly. If you say something wrong, I can help you.’”

 

One day, they took a field trip to the library. Lori put Yolanda in charge of translation. She would talk with the librarians and then share information with her classmates! “I was so nervous!” Yolanda cups her head in her hands. Margarito laughs at her dramatic performance from across the table.

 

Another time, Lori gave the students mirrors so they could watch their mouths while pronouncing tricky English sounds like Y sounds and V sounds, which are not common in Spanish. The classroom filled with laughter that day.

 

“Lori is patient. She is kind. She tell you all the time you are very smart. She’s good. I like her! I recommend this school,” Yolanda nods.

 

Benefits on the Side

Any day now, Yolanda and Margarito should have all the paperwork approved. They are aiming to open for business in early June. Travelers passing through Monticello can stop by Taqueria Flores Tuesdays-Saturdays, 4:00-8:30pm. To make their dream come true, Yolanda and Margarito will quit their jobs and become full-time small business entrepreneurs. This career shift will not only benefit the Floreses, but also their local economy.

 

In a 2019 study, the U. S. Small Business Administration found that small businesses generate roughly nearly half of the nation’s total economic activity. For their own local economy, small businesses act as a reservoir, sinking tax revenues into locally circulating streams. They also create more jobs. The SBA notes that 12.9 million new jobs in the last 25 years all sprouted from small businesses. And, perhaps most importantly, the U.S. might not have such a robust small business ecosphere were it not for people like Yolanda and Margarito.

 

According to recent research from MIT, immigrants are 80% more likely to launch a business than citizens born in the U.S. This statistic bears out in data showing that 18% of all small businesses in the U.S. are immigrant-owned—a striking figure considering the latest U.S. Census data reports immigrants making up only 13% of the total national population.

 

Open for Business

For now, the Taqueria Flores food truck will operate out of Monticello, Utah, about an hour away from Cortez. A friend offered the Flores’s a space to park their truck for very little rent. In a few days, Taqueria Flores will be the only food truck in Monticello, the doorway to Utah’s adventure-lands. From Tuesday to Saturday, 3:00-8:00pm, their truck will make for the perfect fuel-up spot before vacationers launch into slick rock canyons.

 

Taqueria Flores will serve up tacos, carne asada burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, flan, chili rellenos, and Mexican drinks like bottled Coke and Jarritos. Speaking in Spanish, Margarito reminds Yolanda about the tortas specials. These tasty sandwiches on soft bread come with carne asada, chicken, or carnitas, covered in lots of toppings. And of course patrons get their choice of red or green chili. The Floreses also make their own salsa (with a secret cranberry twist in the recipe). Warning: it’s really hot!

 

“He’s a good cook! But I am nervous to open the business. It’s a challenge,” Yolanda notes. “But I can always learn more. My…how you say…challenge is to speak English better. To be more certain.”

 

Yolanda admits that she has learned a lot more than English while studying at the CAEC. She has learned more about herself and her capabilities. “My mind is more open. I can do something more. And now I say: Okay you can do these things!”