From Real Estate to Pupusas During Recession

When the housing market imploded a few years ago, real estate agent Jose Vega had to find a new way to support his family. After some soul-searching and facing their fears, they have turned to making pupusas and transformed a family treat, into a new business enterprise.

With the help of the nonprofit West Contra Costa Business Development Center, the Vegas now rents space at in the Pinole Shores Business Park. The kitchen is an incubator for both fledgling and established food businesses, such as bakers and caterers. It also lends free business expertise for food entrepreneurs.

About once a week, Jose and Lucy Vega rent space at the kitchen, which is the base for their business, Izalco Catering. The kitchen space allows them to make gourmet pupusas, a Salvadorean thick corn tortilla stuffed with various fillings. They sell them at farmers markets, street fairs and festivals around the Bay Area. Jose said he's confident that he can expand the business, because of Kitchen@812.

"I can grow with the market. That's more my comfort zone, to start small. To me it's still 10 times cheaper than to have my own facility. This is perfect for me."

Winding road from real estate to small business owner

In 1994, following his divorce from a previous wife and the end of war in his former country, Jose returned to his native El Salvador, which he had left for the United States as a teenager. He decided to open a taqueria there, where he met Lucy and disovered that she was a talented cook.

The couple married and moved back to the Bay Area in 2003. Jose worked as a waiter at the Olive Garden in Pittsburg and got a license in real estate. After the market collapsed, he had to scramble to support his family, which includes a daughter, 7 and a son, 11.

After earning next to nothing in real estate for eight months, he got a job as a waiter at Diablo Country Club with the help of a former real estate client.

Back in the restaurant and customer service industry, he began to realize that the food business was a passion. He turned to his wife's cooking skills to make the pupusas, which are loved but only seldom made at home in El Salvador because of the work involved.

"Nobody wants to cook them at home," Jose said. "It's actually cheaper for people to go and buy them than to do them themselves because they have to do a lot preparation, whether you're making 20 for your household or you're making thousands to sell."

Lucy had learned to make pupusas from her aunt, who owned a pupuseria near San Salvador.

About a year ago, the couple began sharing their fare with friends and relatives. They held tastings at friendly gatherings. With feedback, they worked on making improvements. Finally, a friend put him in touch with Waleska Haro at Kitchen@812.

"I thought, 'Oh my goodness, this is miraculous, this is exactly what I'm looking for,'" Jose said. "What I had at that time was pretty much an idea that I was testing at a level where I could do everything at my house and invite people. If I was to do this on my own, there's no way on earth I could."

As useful as renting the facility is, getting assistance from Kitchen@812 about hurdles such as getting permits, is at least equally important, Jose said.

"To have that pool of knowledge available for you, trust me, it is the difference between night and day," he said. "It's not only the facilities that are there for me, it's the knowledge that's also there. I think that's just as, if not more, valuable."

Overcoming fears

Jose said the transition hasn't been without trepidation. Opening a business in the current economic climate can be daunting, but he and Lucy pressed ahead.

"You know, the fear is something that is innate to humans," Jose said. "I'm not the single one exception. But when the fear comes, my job as a father, as a human being, as an individual, is to recognize the fear and to find ways to deal with it.

"Once the fear's got you, you can't think, you can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't even laugh at a joke. You're a zombie. Once you deal with the fear, you can think straight."

He said he persists to get beyond doubts.

"Every once in awhile I get flashbacks. 'Am I doing the right thing, am I getting myself into a sticky situation?' However, I am very confident about this idea. It's not just about me. I truly believe that this is what I'm meant to do right now. In my moments of prayer and meditation, I focus on those things."

His tale is a microcosm of challenges faced by many people, he said.

"My story is no different than hundreds of thousands of families across the nation. You can always make the best out of a real bad situation, and I mean real bad."

Jose insists that coming through his difficulties has delivered generous rewards.

"Little by little, getting back on my feet only made me a better, stronger, more spiritual, more loving man, and I'm no different than anybody."