Interview: Tienda La Rosa, Maria Mendez Gallegos
Let's talk about Tarimoro, the Place of Willows, a municipality located in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. While known for their uniquely flavored peanuts and optimum soil for brick making, it's the people of Tarimoro who are the town's greatest resource. A hard-working and community-minded people, many of the residents of Tarimoro have emigrated to the United States of America in search of better financial opportunities for themselves and their families. Maria Mendez Gallegos, the founder and owner of Tienda La Rosa in Eatonton, GA, is one of those emigrants.
Imagine a wild, beautiful, and fertile countryside, where the average annual temperature is 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and during the month of September, the streets are alive with festivals and hand-made floats celebrating San Miguel, the patron saint of Tarimoro. Recalling her upbringing in Tarimoro, Maria shares with us that she and her family lived a wonderful, stress-free life for much of her childhood. She grew up in a family of businesspeople and from a young age saw the adults in her family, including her grandparents, parents, and uncles, owning and operating some form of business. When Maria's older siblings started studying in college, they began helping their father run his two businesses: a chain of government supermarkets known as CONASUPO as well as a distribution company that delivered building materials across the municipality.
Because of her family's success in business, Maria's parents went on to own a beautiful home and several properties that they rented out, generating even more income for the family. Unfortunately, Maria’s family’s businesses ran into financial trouble, and in order to keep things afloat, the family had to borrow money from the local banks, until they eventually reached their borrowing limit, and the banks asked them to begin paying back their loans.
With the desperate desire to save their family’s failing businesses, Maria's two eldest brothers decided to emigrate to the United States in order to pay off the family's debts. Unfortunately, the money that the two brothers earned in the United States wasn’t enough to pay back the banks, and so the five remaining siblings, including Maria, decided to join their eldest brothers in the US. So focused on saving their family, Maria and her siblings vowed that none of them would marry until they paid off their debts and won back their properties in Tarimoro.
The town where they settled in the United States was a small ranching community, which was completely different from anything Maria or her siblings had seen before. It was as if they’d arrived in another world, where opportunity surrounded them, but so did barriers they would need to overcome. No matter what stood in their way, Maria and her siblings didn’t give up.
"It was really hard work. None of us had ever milked cows or herded cattle before. We worked from 3 am, 10 to 12 hours each day, seven days a week, but in the end, we succeeded!"
When their mother came to visit after several years apart, seeing how hard her children were working, she too emigrated to the United States and began to help the siblings however she could. Eventually, Maria's father and grandparents joined them as well.
Keeping the vow she'd made to her siblings, Maria waited to marry her husband, Alejandro Sanchez Gomez, until after they’d successfully paid off their debts in Tarimoro. Although she and Alejandro came from very different backgrounds, they were able to not only survive but to thrive in the US by working together as a team. Alejandro taught Maria everything he knew about farming and helped her achieve residency in the United States.
After working on the ranch for many years, and having five children together, four boys and one girl, Maria and Alejandro made the decision to save for a farm of their own. But, even with their own funds ready to invest, the banks wouldn't loan them the rest of the money they needed. Feeling disillusioned, Maria was convinced that they would never own a ranch in the United States. But once again, Maria didn't give up. She and Alejandro kept knocking on any doors they could, no matter how many rejections they received, and, eventually, being committed paid off, when they met a woman, a powerful government official, who believed in them. Unlike the banks that originally closed their doors to them, the woman was sympathetic to their story and helped them secure the loan they needed to achieve their dream.
Their ranch was a success and everything they'd dreamed it would be. Unfortunately, in 2019, when many ranches collapsed across the country, Maria and Alejandro's did too. They lost their ranch and everything they'd worked so hard for, but once again, Maria didn’t let that stop her. They had to find a new source of income and stumbled onto an opportunity when an acquaintance let them know that he was selling his store, La Lucero. Never having owned a store before, but having the courageous spirit of entrepreneurs, Maria and her husband agreed to buy it.
Today, Maria has created the life she always dreamed of for her family. The store, Tienda La Rosa, is thriving and consists of grocery products, a butcher's shop, a taqueria, and a money transfer service. Maria and Alejandro's eldest son recently graduated from business school, their daughter is a psychologist, and their second eldest son is currently studying computer science in college. Their two youngest sons are 14 and 9 years old and have access to the fantastic opportunities Maria and Alejandro worked so hard to make available for their family.
In Maria's words, "I always thank God for giving me the opportunity to be here where I've learned so many things, and I'm able to celebrate my children every day. In the future, I'd like to rest for a while. I'm not used to going out or traveling, but I'd love to explore new places. I'm so grateful!"
Thank you so much, Mrs. Maria! We'll be following the triumphs and successes of both Tienda La Rosa and those of your wonderful family!