October 26, 2023 • 33 mins
Meet Letisia and Harold Campo. He’s a police officer. She’s a pediatric ER nurse. Two stressful day jobs. What did they do to relax? Open a business together! Letisia and Harold are franchise owners of Morelia Gourmet Paletas, a unique Mexican ice cream experience, located in Hoboken NJ. Find out why these personalized handcrafted pops are drawing customers from all over the state and how this couple juggles jobs, kids and an ice cream franchise all at once.
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(00:00):
The risk takers, innovators, business owners, and they're a couple.
(00:14):
Welcome to a couple of entrepreneurs, a series about couples who start a business together
without ending their relationship.
Hear their unique stories, get tips, advice, and a secret to their success.
Would you work with your spouse?
Hosted by Mickey and Tony, a couple of entrepreneurs.
(00:35):
Co-founders of Branding Shorts, a video production and creative content agency.
A police officer, a pediatric nurse, and the unique ice cream experience that draws kids
and adults from near and far.
Meet LaTizia and Harold Campo, franchise owners of Morelia Gourmet Paletas in Hoboken,
(00:58):
New Jersey.
Welcome to the show.
LaTizia and Harold, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having us.
Now, I think you guys have a really, really interesting business to start.
Why don't you talk a little bit about, introduce yourselves and then talk a little bit about
(01:19):
what that business is.
We're like very like regular people.
I'm a nurse.
I work in the pediatric ER in Hackensack, which is one of the local hospitals here.
And then Harold is a police officer.
He works for Fort Lee.
We came up with this idea after we went on a trip to Columbia last summer.
And I remember we were sitting there eating paletas and we're like, wow, this will be
so amazing back home.
(01:39):
There's nothing like this.
He was sharing with one of his friends and they were like, wow, we went to this really
cool place in Columbia.
Look how delicious they look.
And they mentioned that they went to a similar place in Florida and we went on their website.
We're checking it out.
We're like, this is so cool.
We like, we really want to do this.
Such a fun opportunity.
We both have stressful jobs where some days are super tough and we wanted to do something
(02:00):
fun and this is something fun.
And it took about a year from the moment we decided like, okay, do we want to do this
or not to opening the doors?
And it's been incredible.
It's been so much fun.
It's like a nice little fun business in addition to our like more stressful jobs.
It felt like it was almost like meant to be like for us to have this business because
(02:22):
when we went to Columbia, we tried it, we're like, you know, we definitely need to have
something like this because there's nothing like it up here.
We thought.
And then when I came back to work, I worked an overtime shift with my partner who I haven't
worked with her and I don't know how long and I still, since that day, haven't worked
with her again.
And then that one single day within the last 365 days, like I happened to work with her.
(02:45):
I mentioned it to her and she was like, oh, that's funny because I just came from Miami
and I had, you know, Paletas Morelia.
And that's when we started like the research and doing all that reach out to them.
And then just from what we saw, we're like, we were like amazed.
We got into the franchise before even trying the product because we knew it was going to
be delicious.
It looked amazing.
Can you tell the audience what Paletas is?
(03:08):
Yeah.
So Paletas is a Mexican frozen treat.
It's very similar to popsicles.
However, the original like Mexican Paletas, they have a lot more like, I guess, South
American, Central American flavors like lemon, very fruity based.
Some has spice in it.
The franchise has taken it further to, you know, make it more appealing and fitting into
(03:34):
whatever state or part of the country we're in.
You know, so for example, we've noticed that the Reese's Pieces Paleta is made with gelato
and it's very popular up here for this part of the country in the Northeast.
Down in South Florida, Miami, where they have a bunch of stores, they can't even give them
away for free.
So like the different flavors to like different, you know, parts of the country definitely
(03:58):
help out and I feel like it's fun.
And all the Paletas that we have, we don't have just fruity ones.
We have gelato based ones.
We have filled ones where you, when you bite into them, they're like ooze out a little
bit and everything is made from scratch.
Everything's made with natural ingredients.
The fruity ones are all made with fresh fruits.
I mean, they're delicious and they're also not made with artificial like ingredients and
(04:21):
artificial flavors and stuff.
Everything's made with natural things.
They're fresh strawberries.
They're cut by hand.
They're made in small batches.
Every day they have a small little shop behind one of their stores down in Florida and they
make them.
They have a couple workers that do it and then they stock up and then when we order some
for, you know, to, to stock up here, it'll last us maybe a month or two and then we have
(04:41):
to order again.
So where's the headquarters for the franchise and how big are they across the country?
We are the 13th location now.
We're the 13th location.
So we're fairly small still.
They opened in 2017 with their first location in Coral Gables down in Florida and then they've
expanded since they have eight locations in Florida.
(05:01):
They have some like Hollywood, Windwood, Coral Gables, Aventura.
There's a whole bunch of them.
And then they just opened their second location in Texas and now they have two locations in
North Carolina.
They weren't necessarily looking at Hoboken.
You guys reached out to them.
Yeah.
And how did that go?
How did that conversation go?
(05:21):
We're saying, hey, we love your concept and we're here in Hoboken.
We're not in Florida.
At first we were more like, let's find out what this is about.
Like how does it work?
So when we first called, it was more like them telling us about the franchise and about,
you know, they tell you the numbers and stuff and everything too.
But it took us some time to decide to go into Hoboken.
(05:44):
But then once we decided on Hoboken and we knew we want to wash in the street and we
show them the area, you know, you could look at it on the map and there's so many videos
on YouTube and they loved it.
So of course the area itself needed to be approved, but we had no doubts that this was
like the perfect place, you know?
We were grateful and super happy that we are where we are.
For the people listening to this podcast, I want to say we have been there.
(06:07):
We have several times.
Several times.
We have been in the lines of Yufangas.
So people who are coming from downtown are getting great exercise and after the exercise
they get a nice reward.
So the people that live in Optown, they're like, oh my God, they thank you for opening
because we're the only, I mean, one of the only search spots in Hoboken.
They wanted ice cream.
They had to go all the way down to like 4th Street.
(06:29):
And now that we're up here, they don't have to walk all the way down.
They're very happy.
It's a good spot.
It's a very like family area.
Yeah, which is what we wanted.
You know, we wanted to be more oriented towards kids and families because it's a fun dessert.
And I feel like a lot of times when even when adults come in, I mean, I love when the adults
get like the fruity pebbles and the M&Ms.
(06:50):
I'm like, this is what your parents didn't let you eat as like a child and now you're
an adult so you can have it now.
Because now you have like millions like combinations that you can just add together.
Condensed milk on top of Nutella with fruity pebbles and M&Ms and whatever you want.
Like the whole really wonka factory and one little paleta and you can just take a bite
and channel channel what your mom said you can't have and then have it.
(07:15):
You know, too much into the sweet stuff because now we have we have some stuff that could
be, you know, a little bit tangy.
We have the fruity ones.
We have the megalito, which is like a spicy sugar.
And I recommend that on all the fruit flavor ones.
It's really good.
It's amazing.
How does it work with the franchise?
Like, do you do they say here's all the different flavors?
Do you guys have opportunities to select things or how does it work in the franchise model?
(07:37):
So they're actually really, really good.
Since we're the first ones up here, it's hard for them to gauge what's going to be more
popular flavors up here.
So we the first time we got kind of like a mix of everything because like Harold was
saying down in Florida that they love the megalito and the mango and stuff first and
they don't really the like the recess, for example, is not very popular versus up here.
(08:00):
We ran out of recess was the first flavor we ran out of and we're like, we have to get
another shipment in.
So when they're setting up the flavors and stuff, they only have a set number of flavors.
You get a bunch of everything, but they're very helpful in telling you like what percentage
of each flavor we should keep in stock, how we should set everything up.
But from A to Z, they've been helpful in every sub of the way and they're such good people.
(08:23):
Honestly, they're amazing, amazing people.
Like they some of them like came to visit to see the location and you know, help us
with the store and I would consider them friends now.
Both days of the grand opening, they, the two guys that came in, they both worked more
than we did.
Honestly, they're great people.
So you had a rebuild that space because the space you took over was a barber shop, I believe.
(08:46):
Right?
Yeah.
So how did you manage that?
Is that something you had to invest in or is that something that the franchise helped
you with?
How does that work?
Yeah.
So we did everything ourselves.
The franchise did help as far as drawing out how everything should be set up and the
dimensions of things and the counters and everything.
(09:08):
They helped with all that.
But as far as like financially goes, financial responsibilities up to the franchisee, but
they do help with everything.
I just had to, you know, go and find, that was the hardest part, I think, for me.
Finding the architect and the contractor and trying to deal with the town and the rules
and zoning because we didn't know anything.
Yeah.
(09:29):
Talking to the nurse and the police officer, we have no idea about any of it.
And we had to get a lawyer.
Oh, we had to get a lawyer.
It was, it was so many.
We'd over like the franchise contract, everything, you know.
So many things that we didn't know how to do and just trying to figure it out.
I think that was really the hardest part.
How long did it take?
Once you, from this time, you guys, hey, I want to give this, this phone call to the
(09:50):
franchise in Florida and then to open up one year.
So that's not bad.
Our plan was open beginning of summer, but it didn't work out the way we wanted just
because of the whole logistics and stuff.
But I think it worked out for the best because we had like a big bang.
The weather was nice.
Now it's starting to cool down and then, you know, we'll pick back up in the summer.
Well, I think your timing was great because all the kids came back from summer vacation
(10:13):
and then we're going to school and they needed to.
Yeah, you guys are not far from the school world.
Your timing was great.
So a question in terms of, I guess, working together, right?
You guys said you both have stressful day jobs or other jobs.
Police officers.
And so, you know, a lot of people say working with your spouse can be stressful.
It's been helpful, the fact that we've been together for over 10 years now.
We had just been married for a year.
(10:34):
I don't think we would have done this.
I don't think we would have made it, honestly.
Yeah, but like we've, I mean, we've grown to learn our strengths and weaknesses, even
like in our personal lives at home.
Like I do certain things.
She's in charge of certain things.
Even though I don't like to do them, but I'm better at it.
So I'll do them the same thing with her.
We didn't even assign things to each other.
(10:55):
We just kind of like, when we're like, I could do this, you know, this is something I can
handle.
So, and I can do it.
Not necessarily better, but it's just easier for me to do.
The things that she does are easier for her to do.
You know, so like the payroll and numbers and all that stuff, like she'll handle that,
the paperwork, you know, calling people and talking on the phone.
Like that, that for me is mind-numbing.
(11:15):
Like the hiring, interviewing, responding to, you know, the applications and then the
training, the employees and stuff like that and talking to customers.
And we'll be in a little bit more outgoing.
That's what I do.
And then the scheduling as well.
You know, so like we divide it, you know, just to go out and conquer.
Divide and conquer.
Yeah, I think it's really important to know, like he said, the strengths and weaknesses
(11:37):
and what you're good at and what you're not so good at, what your likes and dislikes are.
And we've always been like this, like he said, where we just kind of like pick a thing that
we would rather do and that the other person really doesn't want to do and just go with
that.
But then we look over, we look over, like I run things by, like I don't do it by myself
completely.
You know, like when I'm hiring somebody and I interview them, I'll go and I'm going to
(11:59):
tell us, hey, this is how the interview went.
This is what I think.
Dude, now that the winter's coming, we feel like it's going to be slowed down a little
bit.
So we may not need as many employees working at the same time.
Yeah, we fought, we fought over that too.
Maybe like 20 minutes before we got on.
It wasn't a fight.
It was just like bickering.
A debate.
We totally identify with that.
(12:22):
We never debate.
You know, do we debate?
No.
Always.
Yeah.
Oh, that's the sugarcoated way of saying that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You guys have two kids.
So how do you manage having these other careers and the franchise and being parents?
Honestly, we are super, super blessed to have my mother-in-law and my mother because
(12:47):
they help us out tremendously.
My mom, she comes in the mornings when we have to go to our careers.
She comes and takes our kids to school.
And then in the afternoon, my mother-in-law comes and she picks them up from school and
then she stays with them until I get home.
But I'm not going to lie.
The store opening right as schools open was very, very hard for me personally because
(13:08):
our goal was that we would open in the summer.
The kids are home.
There's no sports.
And then we literally opened right as schools open and our kids' schools open too.
So now you have the school, you have the sports, like Ronan, the older one does football,
Lova does cheerleading, the school, the extracurriculars, and then our jobs.
And now this new business that we're really trying to make sure, you know, we have to
(13:32):
set like a good, strong foundation and we have to be there and train people.
It was really, really tough the first month.
I think like now it's starting to get better because we've gotten on like a role of trying
to do everything at once.
But the first month was very, very tough for me.
But again, like he was saying, then you divide and conquer.
Like he knew that I was just very stressed out and I was like very, very stretched in.
(13:57):
And then he'll take over without a question and he'll take care of things.
Yeah, like I don't get stressed out very easily.
I'll just keep telling him, it's going to be okay.
It's going to work out.
Don't worry.
I'll just, oh, there are other things that haven't happened yet.
Just wait, wait till we get there.
And then it ends up working out.
And then I tell her, you see, like it was fine.
I love that advice.
Don't stress that about the things that haven't happened yet.
(14:17):
I get so many people do.
Yeah.
It's like easy to do that.
It's so easy to do that.
It's a really smart way to think about it.
It sounds like one of the things that's really important, like, and especially with you guys
or any businesses, like the people that are on your team.
So when you're talking about interviewing and training, like, what do you look for?
Like when you want to bring somebody in, you know, to help your franchise be successful.
(14:40):
The number one thing is, like, people skills and someone outgoing.
We're selling paletas, which essentially, I guess, is like a popsicle at $6.49.
Not only are we selling a quality product, but we're also selling an experience.
We want to provide every single customer with an experience, you know, because anybody
(15:01):
can go to the gas station in the corner and buy a popsicle for $2.
It's like, no, we want to make it a whole experience.
So I'm looking for people who are, they're not shy.
They talk to people.
They're smart, smiling.
And then you help customers and guide them through the process and give them help if
they need it, you know, decide on which toppings, which dipings they want to do, which flavors.
(15:23):
Yeah.
You know, so that's like the number one thing.
The friendliness.
The friendliness.
Yeah.
People are already happy they're coming to get ice cream.
You don't want to come in and see somebody with like, like a face that, oh my gosh, I'm
like, when you want somebody, when you walk into the place and they'll say, hi, hello,
how are you?
And then explain to them, because this is new.
A lot of people walk in.
They're like, well, we've never been here before.
(15:44):
Like, how does this work?
That's the biggest thing.
How does this work?
Yeah, like 99% of people that walked in didn't even know what a paleta was.
So that's not even part of the franchise, like guidelines that we have for employees.
We have like an employee handbook that they want us to teach the employees how to greet
them, how to greet the customers and what to say.
(16:04):
You know, but since nobody knows what a paleta is, I kind of threw that in there.
Like, you guys should ask them first, because obviously they've never been here before.
Ask them if they've had a paleta before.
And most people said no.
So just like explain to them what it is first.
And then you can explain the flavors and how they're made and stuff like that.
We also have a video production company.
We do storytelling basically with video.
(16:25):
It sounds like when you're sharing a new story with them, right?
You're almost storytelling about the paleta and this experience that they've never had
before, right?
And it is an experience having been there a few times.
It is an experience.
You know, like we have it on the wall.
There's millions of combinations you could do.
You know, it's like you can literally go every single day for a whole year and have a different
(16:45):
flavor.
You both have like stressful day jobs and you want this to be the relaxing part.
Yeah, but it's been the more stressful one.
It's like honestly, it's like having a baby, like a whole new baby from the beginning.
So this is more stressful than being a police officer.
I'm constantly like I stop the cameras and I'm constantly on my phone, like looking at
(17:09):
the cameras, like not checking on the employees, just making sure the store is like not burning
down.
Or if there's like no line out the door, like if there's a line out the door and I kind
of like gauge on how long it's taking, like there's been times where I'm like sitting here
in the middle of dinner with my family and I'm like, the store is about to, there's a
long ass line.
So now I have excuse my language.
(17:30):
I literally leave in the middle of dinner, go to the store and help out.
He does that.
Meanwhile, my eye is twitching.
I'm like, oh my God.
Oh my God.
I'm like, I feel like they need help.
Should we go help them?
We should go help them.
You know, but now they, you know, the first month, obviously it very stressful, but all
the employees that, you know, they're still learning, but they're, you know, they're
(17:50):
doing a great job.
We're very grateful to have them.
How long have you been open now?
A month and a half.
A month and a half now.
Yeah.
And you have that big problem of having giant lines.
That's God bless you guys.
We're so blessed because we're not expecting it whatsoever.
We thought it was just going to be a little bit air.
People are going to be just stopping by.
The line was giant at the grand opening.
(18:11):
Yes.
And then some Friday, Saturday nights, it's been, it's been crazy more than we expected.
What, what did it for us?
Like what made it even bigger was the Hoboken girl.
Oh yeah.
Because we opened on September 5th, you know, Westman, we got the shipment and we have two
of our really, really close friends.
They came by and they helped.
We had like 800 boxes of ice cream to offload.
(18:32):
And 90 degree weather.
Yeah.
That was so good.
And we were like unloading fast, getting into the freezer before it melts and they helped
us out and we're super grateful to have them, you know, after we put everything together,
I opened and you know, didn't tell anybody and people came in one little by little, asking
about it, trying it out.
And then the next day, the Hoboken girl came and then after that, like the whole night
I was like slam, there was a line, like as big as the grand opening, I'm there by myself
(18:57):
drowning.
Because we weren't expecting it.
I remember that day I called my mom and was like, mom, I need you to come over because
I have to go to the store because the kids were sleeping.
So my mom came and then I went directly there so I could help them.
Of course, at that time, there was no parking.
It was Wednesday.
I was driving around in circles, every time I drive around, the line is longer.
(19:17):
I was just stressing, like this poor guy is in there by himself.
But you guys are so smart.
Like, I mean, these lines are important because you guys picked out this, right?
You picked out this business that was so unique and so different.
And then you guys have done it and you've hired like the right people.
And I mean, you've had really a lot of great steps along the way.
It is, it is very unique and it's very different.
(19:40):
And we knew that it was going to be different.
It was going to be popular.
We just weren't expecting it to be this amazing.
I mean, I feel like, I feel like even the franchise owners were like, you guys are
like setting new standards like for the next stores to open.
Like we have, you know, it's amazing.
And we're like, that's Hoboken.
Yeah.
I mean, that's not us.
(20:01):
I mean, people have come from like, you know, New York, Pennsylvania.
They're like, yeah, you came from Pennsylvania.
Like you have to try it out.
Like, yeah, people from Connecticut have heard about us because of another influencer
that came by and posted it.
So it's been like great.
Well, you know, what you said is interesting.
If people, this podcast is, you know, national, so people here at everywhere.
So just for the audience who doesn't know, Hoboken is right across the river from New
(20:22):
York City.
So the fact that you've got people from New York coming is amazing.
People will say like, oh, I drove a whole hour for this.
That's so fulfilling.
It makes it all worth it.
The fact that somebody's driving a whole hour away to come and try out our paletas,
it's amazing.
That is amazing.
So what is your hope for this business?
We wanted to obviously keep doing as well as it is doing now.
(20:45):
Obviously, we're going to know, we know that we were expecting to be a little slower now
that the winter is coming.
And that was one of the fears that we had going into this franchise, especially, you
know, like going into an ice cream business up here when we have winters, when we went
to a different ice cream store, right?
Look, right here, not East Rutherford in December, like 10 p.m.
And there was a line out the door and we're like, when people want ice cream, they want ice cream.
(21:09):
Like there's no, like it doesn't matter how cold it is, you know?
And then we're not only ice cream, I mean, people have described us as like a dessert
place because you can literally make just any dessert.
Like if you want like chocolate covered strawberries, you get a strawberry sorbet paleta, you dip
it in dark chocolate and then put peanuts on top and that's what you have.
And we have actually a special topping too, saying that the dessert where you put marshmallow
(21:32):
fluff and you roast it.
So it's like warm and toasty on the outside and you have the ice cream in the middle.
It's very cool.
Back to your question as far as the hope.
We wanted to run on its own.
You know, eventually we want to have like a manager and then they could run on its own
without us being there very minimally and then we can focus on possibly opening another
(21:54):
one.
As far as locations for the next one, we're thinking maybe either Montclair, which is
another like college town, or Woodbury Commons.
So that's like the hope, you know, to have more.
Yeah.
And to be able to expand it because this was more of like an investment opportunity for
us, investment and have something fun that has been stressful.
(22:17):
Yeah, you said you married 10 years.
It would be hard to do like your first year of marriage for like, how, how, when did you
guys start talking about, hey, let's do a business together?
I don't know.
I don't know if we ever did our goal before, even before this, we always wanted to, you
know, maybe we should buy everybody with the air BMVs and stuff or a thing and maybe we
can buy some properties as far as like investments.
You talked about investing before.
(22:39):
Yeah.
And yeah, we've been married.
We're always thinking of ways to what can we do?
What can we do?
How can we, you know, how can we be more successful?
How can we invest our money wise?
And we've tried different things here and there, which I tried.
We tried the Bitcoin thing that cryptocurrency that I did it.
That didn't work out for me.
I was taking up and then stocks and then I was taking advice from the wrong people.
(23:01):
I'm like, this is not working for me.
It's boring.
And then I started, then I started going into a sports cards.
Oh my God.
Yeah, like football cards.
I mean, that's, it's...
Don't get me started.
It's, it's definitely, it's holding.
I'm holding onto it.
Do you want me to put off the box?
There's a box.
I have a box, but they're very valuable.
Okay.
I spent like a thousand dollars on one card and now it's worth like $4,000.
No, it's not.
(23:21):
Yes, it is.
But if I sell it, but if I sell it, if this person wins the Super Bowl, it'll go up again
to like six or $8,000, you know?
So it's like I'm having fun and I'm watching football and depends on how they do.
It's just sitting in the box.
The palliative goes up.
Yeah, but that's what happens.
You guys sound like us.
How about the rest of the boxes?
But anyway, that didn't work out as good as I thought it was going to do.
(23:42):
So then we're always thinking of, you know, different ways.
We already think, you know, we, even before this store opened, we were thinking, all right,
where are we going to open the next one?
What should we do next?
So you always have like, you have your job, but you're always like entrepreneurial spirit
in both of you guys.
I believe so.
Yeah.
Trying to find other ways to invest in things, right?
That's awesome.
And we do enjoy doing things together.
I mean, we like to bounce ideas off of each other.
(24:03):
And sometimes he says that my ideas are a little cuckoo.
And but I mean, it just, it all worked out so well that if we had purchased properties
and done Airbnb's and stuff, it would not have been as fun and enjoyable as this experience
has been because seeing people's faces coming in through the door and smiling and getting
(24:25):
to Chichabu, getting to meet people like you.
It's made it so worth it.
I mean, nothing else that we would have invested in would have been as fun and amazing as this.
It's fun.
Plus, then we get to like go in the morning to do stock and we ice cream and stuff.
Like when do you get to do that?
We get to ice cream for breakfast sometimes.
That's great.
What do your kids think?
(24:45):
They must be like, wow.
For like the first like month, we were literally there every night after football practice.
Like those poor kids.
Yeah.
They would come and then our friends would come with their kids after the football practice
and they would eat, but they love it.
So we go there once in a while.
Like when we have the weekends after football games on Saturdays, we'll go have dinner
and then we'll stop by.
But they're reaping all the benefits.
(25:06):
If you guys had to look at what were the biggest challenges to get this up and running versus
what's most rewarding, like how would you summarize those two things?
For me, the most rewarding part is now.
Now trying to see everything come together.
Every step of the way has had its own challenges because like I said, we didn't know anything
about starting a business, especially a food business.
(25:29):
I mean, there was challenges in the beginning, trying to find even an architect and the town.
And then once you find out you're the contractor and every like little step of the way, there
was challenges in between, but it's all a matter of trying to go one step at a time.
And like I was saying before, the franchise is so helpful.
Like the person who was our point of contact, he made, there was this app where of a timeline
(25:52):
of like the phase one, we should do all these things and trying to just click things off
the list.
He was saying, you know, not to stress over things that haven't happened yet.
That's me.
I'm like forever stressing about what's going to happen in five years from now.
But just relate to it.
You can relate to it.
Save here.
So I mean, every every step had its own challenges, but you know, we just take it day by day and
(26:16):
you know, we kind of work through it.
And rewarding is that I guess you're talking about these incredibly happy customers that
can be in the smiles on the faces.
Is that part of what?
Yeah, absolutely.
And seeing it all come together.
Like sometimes I've just looked at it.
I'm like, wow, like we did that.
We dreamt of this for a whole year.
(26:36):
Every single day we would talk, we would talk about it and they like, oh my gosh, imagine
if there was a line out the door.
Imagine if people loved it so much.
Imagine if it was like this, imagine if it was like that.
And all those imagined scenarios that we made up in our head came true in like a matter
of a month and just looking at it, it made it so worth it.
Every single thing we went through to get it to this point and seeing it in action,
(27:03):
that's the most rewarding part.
I have a very, very strong sweet tooth.
Oh yeah, that's right.
My reward is actually being able to go there whenever I want and get a nice sweet tooth.
Yeah, for sure, he only wanted to open it because so he could eat it every day.
It's so interesting.
You guys almost dreamt this into reality.
You manifested it by dreaming about it and it came true.
(27:25):
But do you do anything looking at like events where you could supply this or corporate like
a catering kind of thing?
Do you guys look at all that?
We do.
We've had some orders for corporate events.
However, you know, we can only give them just the paletas.
We can do the dippings and toppings on the side, but it just the feet.
(27:45):
It's not the same experience.
It's not the experience.
You know, they're not going to know what to do with it.
I think before we open another location is we might get like a trailer or like a make
it an ice cream truck and then that way we can, you know, set it up.
Yeah, set it up somewhere.
We can probably set that up in Woodbury Commons, you know, one of the shops.
(28:07):
And then we can use that also for parties and events because we've been getting a lot
of requests, hey, what I want to do it for my daughter's birthday party, blah, blah.
But like, I'm sorry, we don't have that capability yet.
You know, that is, yeah, that is has been big in our head because there's so many like
food festivals and for example, I think American Express had some event that they contacted
(28:28):
us for that we brought it over to them.
And I wasn't expecting that at all.
I'm like, oh my gosh, they want so many.
And then then I start to stress over all the things that haven't happened.
I'm like, oh my gosh, what if it melts?
What if I have to go?
I'm like, I need you with me.
He had to take off work that day to come with me because I was stressing me out too much
to bring 100 paletas to the city.
Yeah, but it was all fine, right?
(28:49):
Of course it was all fine, but I just needed him there.
I worked in American Express for a long time.
So I'm so happy they reached out to you guys.
They're very smart.
Wow.
So that's got 100 or like over 100, but like almost 200 paletas and we had to go and like
get coolers and figure out like where the hell where do we even buy dry ice because they're
the franchise because they get dry ice is better.
(29:11):
So we're like, where do we even find dry ice?
So we had to go Google it, get dry ice.
We bought some, put it in the box, put the paletas on top, deliver it to New York.
I love that.
We're still learning them.
But then I feel like once we get the trailer, you know, we'll make it like a full functioning
thing.
You know, we can store paletas in there.
We got all the dippings, all the toppings and we can bring the experience to you, whatever
(29:35):
we want.
So we're going to give some tips to couples starting out thinking about working together.
What would be a couple of tips you would offer?
Yeah.
Know that you will fight and you will disagree with each other.
But at the end of the day, you have to figure out amongst yourselves what you like to do
and what the other person likes to do and every just divide and conquer and then just
(29:58):
kind of show each other at the end of the day.
I like he was saying to, I never make a decision like 100% without telling him, I will set
everything up and I'll say like, look, this is what I did.
Check it out.
And then I'm going to do so and so.
And then, you know, I just kind of like should chat with each other.
But at the end of the day, the stuff that he does, I cannot do like the whole training
and talking to people and all of the creative stuff and everything that he does is not my
(30:25):
strong suit.
I'm more the numbers, the management and all the stuff in the background.
That's what I'm good at.
And vice versa.
Like he can't do that.
What did I ask you to do that you forgot five minutes later what they said?
Oh, how to get a business license.
Oh yeah, the business license, the health inspection, all that stuff.
I'm like, I don't even know where to start.
(30:46):
Like where, what do I do?
That was like the last step.
And it was still doing like the kids were still out of school.
So I dragged my kids with me down to the borough hall and city hall in Hoboken.
And the people there have been super, super amazing.
No, that's the biggest thing.
It's like, now that you're going to fight and take that with a green assault and sit
(31:06):
down and chat with each other, it's really trying to do like hanging out with your best
friend and working with them.
Although when we're at the storm or working together, he likes to boss me around.
I don't like that.
What?
You tell me what to do all the time.
I feel like I worked for you.
It's because it is in my brain processes things a lot faster than most people.
Yep.
(31:27):
And I'm just like, okay, I'm going to kill you right now.
But later.
I have very good time management skills.
I know what I know.
I know why she's laughing.
I'm laughing because I say the same thing to him.
You talk.
I don't, I feel like I'm working for you.
We go on video production, video shoots and like, yeah, okay.
But you know, you take turns, right?
And then there are certain times where it's my strong suit and I'm telling him what to
(31:49):
do.
So, you know, I got to remind myself of that.
Although when he does that, when we're in the middle of the store and there's customers
in my head, I'm like, just wait till we get home.
You guys are awesome.
I mean, part of the reason we do this stuff is for our own mental therapy.
Because the other couples that work together.
So, you relate to so much of what you're saying right now.
We've had, we've had couples saying, hey, can we come on again?
(32:10):
Can we talk about other things?
They feel better than get it out.
They get out the issue.
They get to talk about it.
Yeah.
Because now you could say it because I don't want to say it to him that it's going to become
a whole argument, but it won't be an argument right now.
I mean, it's amazing what you guys are doing.
I mean, it's like, I mean, I just saw the smile on our son's face.
Eight years old, like the first time he went in there.
It was like, I mean, it's like, can we go back?
(32:31):
Well, thank you guys so much for being on the show.
You guys were so much fun.
Thank you guys really, thank you guys so much for having us.
It really was such a fun time.
It's the first time we've done anything like this and it was such a pleasure.
You guys have shared some really interesting stories and tips, which I think anybody in
any business is going to find helpful.
So thank you, really thank you so much.
(32:52):
Thank you guys.
For more info about our guests and their business, visit paletasmorelia.com.
That's P-A-L-E-T-A-S-M-O-R-E-L-I-A.com.
For more episodes, visit burningshorts.com forward slash podcast.
(33:16):
Thanks for listening.
The risk takers, innovators, business owners, and they're a couple.
(00:14):
Welcome to a couple of entrepreneurs, a series about couples who start a business together
without ending their relationship.
Hear their unique stories, get tips, advice, and a secret to their success.
Would you work with your spouse?
Hosted by Mickey and Tony, a couple of entrepreneurs.
(00:35):
Co-founders of Branding Shorts, a video production and creative content agency.
A police officer, a pediatric nurse, and the unique ice cream experience that draws kids
and adults from near and far.
Meet LaTizia and Harold Campo, franchise owners of Morelia Gourmet Paletas in Hoboken,
(00:58):
New Jersey.
Welcome to the show.
LaTizia and Harold, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having us.
Now, I think you guys have a really, really interesting business to start.
Why don't you talk a little bit about, introduce yourselves and then talk a little bit about
(01:19):
what that business is.
We're like very like regular people.
I'm a nurse.
I work in the pediatric ER in Hackensack, which is one of the local hospitals here.
And then Harold is a police officer.
He works for Fort Lee.
We came up with this idea after we went on a trip to Columbia last summer.
And I remember we were sitting there eating paletas and we're like, wow, this will be
so amazing back home.
(01:39):
There's nothing like this.
He was sharing with one of his friends and they were like, wow, we went to this really
cool place in Columbia.
Look how delicious they look.
And they mentioned that they went to a similar place in Florida and we went on their website.
We're checking it out.
We're like, this is so cool.
We like, we really want to do this.
Such a fun opportunity.
We both have stressful jobs where some days are super tough and we wanted to do something
(02:00):
fun and this is something fun.
And it took about a year from the moment we decided like, okay, do we want to do this
or not to opening the doors?
And it's been incredible.
It's been so much fun.
It's like a nice little fun business in addition to our like more stressful jobs.
It felt like it was almost like meant to be like for us to have this business because
(02:22):
when we went to Columbia, we tried it, we're like, you know, we definitely need to have
something like this because there's nothing like it up here.
We thought.
And then when I came back to work, I worked an overtime shift with my partner who I haven't
worked with her and I don't know how long and I still, since that day, haven't worked
with her again.
And then that one single day within the last 365 days, like I happened to work with her.
(02:45):
I mentioned it to her and she was like, oh, that's funny because I just came from Miami
and I had, you know, Paletas Morelia.
And that's when we started like the research and doing all that reach out to them.
And then just from what we saw, we're like, we were like amazed.
We got into the franchise before even trying the product because we knew it was going to
be delicious.
It looked amazing.
Can you tell the audience what Paletas is?
(03:08):
Yeah.
So Paletas is a Mexican frozen treat.
It's very similar to popsicles.
However, the original like Mexican Paletas, they have a lot more like, I guess, South
American, Central American flavors like lemon, very fruity based.
Some has spice in it.
The franchise has taken it further to, you know, make it more appealing and fitting into
(03:34):
whatever state or part of the country we're in.
You know, so for example, we've noticed that the Reese's Pieces Paleta is made with gelato
and it's very popular up here for this part of the country in the Northeast.
Down in South Florida, Miami, where they have a bunch of stores, they can't even give them
away for free.
So like the different flavors to like different, you know, parts of the country definitely
(03:58):
help out and I feel like it's fun.
And all the Paletas that we have, we don't have just fruity ones.
We have gelato based ones.
We have filled ones where you, when you bite into them, they're like ooze out a little
bit and everything is made from scratch.
Everything's made with natural ingredients.
The fruity ones are all made with fresh fruits.
I mean, they're delicious and they're also not made with artificial like ingredients and
(04:21):
artificial flavors and stuff.
Everything's made with natural things.
They're fresh strawberries.
They're cut by hand.
They're made in small batches.
Every day they have a small little shop behind one of their stores down in Florida and they
make them.
They have a couple workers that do it and then they stock up and then when we order some
for, you know, to, to stock up here, it'll last us maybe a month or two and then we have
(04:41):
to order again.
So where's the headquarters for the franchise and how big are they across the country?
We are the 13th location now.
We're the 13th location.
So we're fairly small still.
They opened in 2017 with their first location in Coral Gables down in Florida and then they've
expanded since they have eight locations in Florida.
(05:01):
They have some like Hollywood, Windwood, Coral Gables, Aventura.
There's a whole bunch of them.
And then they just opened their second location in Texas and now they have two locations in
North Carolina.
They weren't necessarily looking at Hoboken.
You guys reached out to them.
Yeah.
And how did that go?
How did that conversation go?
(05:21):
We're saying, hey, we love your concept and we're here in Hoboken.
We're not in Florida.
At first we were more like, let's find out what this is about.
Like how does it work?
So when we first called, it was more like them telling us about the franchise and about,
you know, they tell you the numbers and stuff and everything too.
But it took us some time to decide to go into Hoboken.
(05:44):
But then once we decided on Hoboken and we knew we want to wash in the street and we
show them the area, you know, you could look at it on the map and there's so many videos
on YouTube and they loved it.
So of course the area itself needed to be approved, but we had no doubts that this was
like the perfect place, you know?
We were grateful and super happy that we are where we are.
For the people listening to this podcast, I want to say we have been there.
(06:07):
We have several times.
Several times.
We have been in the lines of Yufangas.
So people who are coming from downtown are getting great exercise and after the exercise
they get a nice reward.
So the people that live in Optown, they're like, oh my God, they thank you for opening
because we're the only, I mean, one of the only search spots in Hoboken.
They wanted ice cream.
They had to go all the way down to like 4th Street.
(06:29):
And now that we're up here, they don't have to walk all the way down.
They're very happy.
It's a good spot.
It's a very like family area.
Yeah, which is what we wanted.
You know, we wanted to be more oriented towards kids and families because it's a fun dessert.
And I feel like a lot of times when even when adults come in, I mean, I love when the adults
get like the fruity pebbles and the M&Ms.
(06:50):
I'm like, this is what your parents didn't let you eat as like a child and now you're
an adult so you can have it now.
Because now you have like millions like combinations that you can just add together.
Condensed milk on top of Nutella with fruity pebbles and M&Ms and whatever you want.
Like the whole really wonka factory and one little paleta and you can just take a bite
and channel channel what your mom said you can't have and then have it.
(07:15):
You know, too much into the sweet stuff because now we have we have some stuff that could
be, you know, a little bit tangy.
We have the fruity ones.
We have the megalito, which is like a spicy sugar.
And I recommend that on all the fruit flavor ones.
It's really good.
It's amazing.
How does it work with the franchise?
Like, do you do they say here's all the different flavors?
Do you guys have opportunities to select things or how does it work in the franchise model?
(07:37):
So they're actually really, really good.
Since we're the first ones up here, it's hard for them to gauge what's going to be more
popular flavors up here.
So we the first time we got kind of like a mix of everything because like Harold was
saying down in Florida that they love the megalito and the mango and stuff first and
they don't really the like the recess, for example, is not very popular versus up here.
(08:00):
We ran out of recess was the first flavor we ran out of and we're like, we have to get
another shipment in.
So when they're setting up the flavors and stuff, they only have a set number of flavors.
You get a bunch of everything, but they're very helpful in telling you like what percentage
of each flavor we should keep in stock, how we should set everything up.
But from A to Z, they've been helpful in every sub of the way and they're such good people.
(08:23):
Honestly, they're amazing, amazing people.
Like they some of them like came to visit to see the location and you know, help us
with the store and I would consider them friends now.
Both days of the grand opening, they, the two guys that came in, they both worked more
than we did.
Honestly, they're great people.
So you had a rebuild that space because the space you took over was a barber shop, I believe.
(08:46):
Right?
Yeah.
So how did you manage that?
Is that something you had to invest in or is that something that the franchise helped
you with?
How does that work?
Yeah.
So we did everything ourselves.
The franchise did help as far as drawing out how everything should be set up and the
dimensions of things and the counters and everything.
(09:08):
They helped with all that.
But as far as like financially goes, financial responsibilities up to the franchisee, but
they do help with everything.
I just had to, you know, go and find, that was the hardest part, I think, for me.
Finding the architect and the contractor and trying to deal with the town and the rules
and zoning because we didn't know anything.
Yeah.
(09:29):
Talking to the nurse and the police officer, we have no idea about any of it.
And we had to get a lawyer.
Oh, we had to get a lawyer.
It was, it was so many.
We'd over like the franchise contract, everything, you know.
So many things that we didn't know how to do and just trying to figure it out.
I think that was really the hardest part.
How long did it take?
Once you, from this time, you guys, hey, I want to give this, this phone call to the
(09:50):
franchise in Florida and then to open up one year.
So that's not bad.
Our plan was open beginning of summer, but it didn't work out the way we wanted just
because of the whole logistics and stuff.
But I think it worked out for the best because we had like a big bang.
The weather was nice.
Now it's starting to cool down and then, you know, we'll pick back up in the summer.
Well, I think your timing was great because all the kids came back from summer vacation
(10:13):
and then we're going to school and they needed to.
Yeah, you guys are not far from the school world.
Your timing was great.
So a question in terms of, I guess, working together, right?
You guys said you both have stressful day jobs or other jobs.
Police officers.
And so, you know, a lot of people say working with your spouse can be stressful.
It's been helpful, the fact that we've been together for over 10 years now.
We had just been married for a year.
(10:34):
I don't think we would have done this.
I don't think we would have made it, honestly.
Yeah, but like we've, I mean, we've grown to learn our strengths and weaknesses, even
like in our personal lives at home.
Like I do certain things.
She's in charge of certain things.
Even though I don't like to do them, but I'm better at it.
So I'll do them the same thing with her.
We didn't even assign things to each other.
(10:55):
We just kind of like, when we're like, I could do this, you know, this is something I can
handle.
So, and I can do it.
Not necessarily better, but it's just easier for me to do.
The things that she does are easier for her to do.
You know, so like the payroll and numbers and all that stuff, like she'll handle that,
the paperwork, you know, calling people and talking on the phone.
Like that, that for me is mind-numbing.
(11:15):
Like the hiring, interviewing, responding to, you know, the applications and then the
training, the employees and stuff like that and talking to customers.
And we'll be in a little bit more outgoing.
That's what I do.
And then the scheduling as well.
You know, so like we divide it, you know, just to go out and conquer.
Divide and conquer.
Yeah, I think it's really important to know, like he said, the strengths and weaknesses
(11:37):
and what you're good at and what you're not so good at, what your likes and dislikes are.
And we've always been like this, like he said, where we just kind of like pick a thing that
we would rather do and that the other person really doesn't want to do and just go with
that.
But then we look over, we look over, like I run things by, like I don't do it by myself
completely.
You know, like when I'm hiring somebody and I interview them, I'll go and I'm going to
(11:59):
tell us, hey, this is how the interview went.
This is what I think.
Dude, now that the winter's coming, we feel like it's going to be slowed down a little
bit.
So we may not need as many employees working at the same time.
Yeah, we fought, we fought over that too.
Maybe like 20 minutes before we got on.
It wasn't a fight.
It was just like bickering.
A debate.
We totally identify with that.
(12:22):
We never debate.
You know, do we debate?
No.
Always.
Yeah.
Oh, that's the sugarcoated way of saying that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You guys have two kids.
So how do you manage having these other careers and the franchise and being parents?
Honestly, we are super, super blessed to have my mother-in-law and my mother because
(12:47):
they help us out tremendously.
My mom, she comes in the mornings when we have to go to our careers.
She comes and takes our kids to school.
And then in the afternoon, my mother-in-law comes and she picks them up from school and
then she stays with them until I get home.
But I'm not going to lie.
The store opening right as schools open was very, very hard for me personally because
(13:08):
our goal was that we would open in the summer.
The kids are home.
There's no sports.
And then we literally opened right as schools open and our kids' schools open too.
So now you have the school, you have the sports, like Ronan, the older one does football,
Lova does cheerleading, the school, the extracurriculars, and then our jobs.
And now this new business that we're really trying to make sure, you know, we have to
(13:32):
set like a good, strong foundation and we have to be there and train people.
It was really, really tough the first month.
I think like now it's starting to get better because we've gotten on like a role of trying
to do everything at once.
But the first month was very, very tough for me.
But again, like he was saying, then you divide and conquer.
Like he knew that I was just very stressed out and I was like very, very stretched in.
(13:57):
And then he'll take over without a question and he'll take care of things.
Yeah, like I don't get stressed out very easily.
I'll just keep telling him, it's going to be okay.
It's going to work out.
Don't worry.
I'll just, oh, there are other things that haven't happened yet.
Just wait, wait till we get there.
And then it ends up working out.
And then I tell her, you see, like it was fine.
I love that advice.
Don't stress that about the things that haven't happened yet.
(14:17):
I get so many people do.
Yeah.
It's like easy to do that.
It's so easy to do that.
It's a really smart way to think about it.
It sounds like one of the things that's really important, like, and especially with you guys
or any businesses, like the people that are on your team.
So when you're talking about interviewing and training, like, what do you look for?
Like when you want to bring somebody in, you know, to help your franchise be successful.
(14:40):
The number one thing is, like, people skills and someone outgoing.
We're selling paletas, which essentially, I guess, is like a popsicle at $6.49.
Not only are we selling a quality product, but we're also selling an experience.
We want to provide every single customer with an experience, you know, because anybody
(15:01):
can go to the gas station in the corner and buy a popsicle for $2.
It's like, no, we want to make it a whole experience.
So I'm looking for people who are, they're not shy.
They talk to people.
They're smart, smiling.
And then you help customers and guide them through the process and give them help if
they need it, you know, decide on which toppings, which dipings they want to do, which flavors.
(15:23):
Yeah.
You know, so that's like the number one thing.
The friendliness.
The friendliness.
Yeah.
People are already happy they're coming to get ice cream.
You don't want to come in and see somebody with like, like a face that, oh my gosh, I'm
like, when you want somebody, when you walk into the place and they'll say, hi, hello,
how are you?
And then explain to them, because this is new.
A lot of people walk in.
They're like, well, we've never been here before.
(15:44):
Like, how does this work?
That's the biggest thing.
How does this work?
Yeah, like 99% of people that walked in didn't even know what a paleta was.
So that's not even part of the franchise, like guidelines that we have for employees.
We have like an employee handbook that they want us to teach the employees how to greet
them, how to greet the customers and what to say.
(16:04):
You know, but since nobody knows what a paleta is, I kind of threw that in there.
Like, you guys should ask them first, because obviously they've never been here before.
Ask them if they've had a paleta before.
And most people said no.
So just like explain to them what it is first.
And then you can explain the flavors and how they're made and stuff like that.
We also have a video production company.
We do storytelling basically with video.
(16:25):
It sounds like when you're sharing a new story with them, right?
You're almost storytelling about the paleta and this experience that they've never had
before, right?
And it is an experience having been there a few times.
It is an experience.
You know, like we have it on the wall.
There's millions of combinations you could do.
You know, it's like you can literally go every single day for a whole year and have a different
(16:45):
flavor.
You both have like stressful day jobs and you want this to be the relaxing part.
Yeah, but it's been the more stressful one.
It's like honestly, it's like having a baby, like a whole new baby from the beginning.
So this is more stressful than being a police officer.
I'm constantly like I stop the cameras and I'm constantly on my phone, like looking at
(17:09):
the cameras, like not checking on the employees, just making sure the store is like not burning
down.
Or if there's like no line out the door, like if there's a line out the door and I kind
of like gauge on how long it's taking, like there's been times where I'm like sitting here
in the middle of dinner with my family and I'm like, the store is about to, there's a
long ass line.
So now I have excuse my language.
(17:30):
I literally leave in the middle of dinner, go to the store and help out.
He does that.
Meanwhile, my eye is twitching.
I'm like, oh my God.
Oh my God.
I'm like, I feel like they need help.
Should we go help them?
We should go help them.
You know, but now they, you know, the first month, obviously it very stressful, but all
the employees that, you know, they're still learning, but they're, you know, they're
(17:50):
doing a great job.
We're very grateful to have them.
How long have you been open now?
A month and a half.
A month and a half now.
Yeah.
And you have that big problem of having giant lines.
That's God bless you guys.
We're so blessed because we're not expecting it whatsoever.
We thought it was just going to be a little bit air.
People are going to be just stopping by.
The line was giant at the grand opening.
(18:11):
Yes.
And then some Friday, Saturday nights, it's been, it's been crazy more than we expected.
What, what did it for us?
Like what made it even bigger was the Hoboken girl.
Oh yeah.
Because we opened on September 5th, you know, Westman, we got the shipment and we have two
of our really, really close friends.
They came by and they helped.
We had like 800 boxes of ice cream to offload.
(18:32):
And 90 degree weather.
Yeah.
That was so good.
And we were like unloading fast, getting into the freezer before it melts and they helped
us out and we're super grateful to have them, you know, after we put everything together,
I opened and you know, didn't tell anybody and people came in one little by little, asking
about it, trying it out.
And then the next day, the Hoboken girl came and then after that, like the whole night
I was like slam, there was a line, like as big as the grand opening, I'm there by myself
(18:57):
drowning.
Because we weren't expecting it.
I remember that day I called my mom and was like, mom, I need you to come over because
I have to go to the store because the kids were sleeping.
So my mom came and then I went directly there so I could help them.
Of course, at that time, there was no parking.
It was Wednesday.
I was driving around in circles, every time I drive around, the line is longer.
(19:17):
I was just stressing, like this poor guy is in there by himself.
But you guys are so smart.
Like, I mean, these lines are important because you guys picked out this, right?
You picked out this business that was so unique and so different.
And then you guys have done it and you've hired like the right people.
And I mean, you've had really a lot of great steps along the way.
It is, it is very unique and it's very different.
(19:40):
And we knew that it was going to be different.
It was going to be popular.
We just weren't expecting it to be this amazing.
I mean, I feel like, I feel like even the franchise owners were like, you guys are
like setting new standards like for the next stores to open.
Like we have, you know, it's amazing.
And we're like, that's Hoboken.
Yeah.
I mean, that's not us.
(20:01):
I mean, people have come from like, you know, New York, Pennsylvania.
They're like, yeah, you came from Pennsylvania.
Like you have to try it out.
Like, yeah, people from Connecticut have heard about us because of another influencer
that came by and posted it.
So it's been like great.
Well, you know, what you said is interesting.
If people, this podcast is, you know, national, so people here at everywhere.
So just for the audience who doesn't know, Hoboken is right across the river from New
(20:22):
York City.
So the fact that you've got people from New York coming is amazing.
People will say like, oh, I drove a whole hour for this.
That's so fulfilling.
It makes it all worth it.
The fact that somebody's driving a whole hour away to come and try out our paletas,
it's amazing.
That is amazing.
So what is your hope for this business?
We wanted to obviously keep doing as well as it is doing now.
(20:45):
Obviously, we're going to know, we know that we were expecting to be a little slower now
that the winter is coming.
And that was one of the fears that we had going into this franchise, especially, you
know, like going into an ice cream business up here when we have winters, when we went
to a different ice cream store, right?
Look, right here, not East Rutherford in December, like 10 p.m.
And there was a line out the door and we're like, when people want ice cream, they want ice cream.
(21:09):
Like there's no, like it doesn't matter how cold it is, you know?
And then we're not only ice cream, I mean, people have described us as like a dessert
place because you can literally make just any dessert.
Like if you want like chocolate covered strawberries, you get a strawberry sorbet paleta, you dip
it in dark chocolate and then put peanuts on top and that's what you have.
And we have actually a special topping too, saying that the dessert where you put marshmallow
(21:32):
fluff and you roast it.
So it's like warm and toasty on the outside and you have the ice cream in the middle.
It's very cool.
Back to your question as far as the hope.
We wanted to run on its own.
You know, eventually we want to have like a manager and then they could run on its own
without us being there very minimally and then we can focus on possibly opening another
(21:54):
one.
As far as locations for the next one, we're thinking maybe either Montclair, which is
another like college town, or Woodbury Commons.
So that's like the hope, you know, to have more.
Yeah.
And to be able to expand it because this was more of like an investment opportunity for
us, investment and have something fun that has been stressful.
(22:17):
Yeah, you said you married 10 years.
It would be hard to do like your first year of marriage for like, how, how, when did you
guys start talking about, hey, let's do a business together?
I don't know.
I don't know if we ever did our goal before, even before this, we always wanted to, you
know, maybe we should buy everybody with the air BMVs and stuff or a thing and maybe we
can buy some properties as far as like investments.
You talked about investing before.
(22:39):
Yeah.
And yeah, we've been married.
We're always thinking of ways to what can we do?
What can we do?
How can we, you know, how can we be more successful?
How can we invest our money wise?
And we've tried different things here and there, which I tried.
We tried the Bitcoin thing that cryptocurrency that I did it.
That didn't work out for me.
I was taking up and then stocks and then I was taking advice from the wrong people.
(23:01):
I'm like, this is not working for me.
It's boring.
And then I started, then I started going into a sports cards.
Oh my God.
Yeah, like football cards.
I mean, that's, it's...
Don't get me started.
It's, it's definitely, it's holding.
I'm holding onto it.
Do you want me to put off the box?
There's a box.
I have a box, but they're very valuable.
Okay.
I spent like a thousand dollars on one card and now it's worth like $4,000.
No, it's not.
(23:21):
Yes, it is.
But if I sell it, but if I sell it, if this person wins the Super Bowl, it'll go up again
to like six or $8,000, you know?
So it's like I'm having fun and I'm watching football and depends on how they do.
It's just sitting in the box.
The palliative goes up.
Yeah, but that's what happens.
You guys sound like us.
How about the rest of the boxes?
But anyway, that didn't work out as good as I thought it was going to do.
(23:42):
So then we're always thinking of, you know, different ways.
We already think, you know, we, even before this store opened, we were thinking, all right,
where are we going to open the next one?
What should we do next?
So you always have like, you have your job, but you're always like entrepreneurial spirit
in both of you guys.
I believe so.
Yeah.
Trying to find other ways to invest in things, right?
That's awesome.
And we do enjoy doing things together.
I mean, we like to bounce ideas off of each other.
(24:03):
And sometimes he says that my ideas are a little cuckoo.
And but I mean, it just, it all worked out so well that if we had purchased properties
and done Airbnb's and stuff, it would not have been as fun and enjoyable as this experience
has been because seeing people's faces coming in through the door and smiling and getting
(24:25):
to Chichabu, getting to meet people like you.
It's made it so worth it.
I mean, nothing else that we would have invested in would have been as fun and amazing as this.
It's fun.
Plus, then we get to like go in the morning to do stock and we ice cream and stuff.
Like when do you get to do that?
We get to ice cream for breakfast sometimes.
That's great.
What do your kids think?
(24:45):
They must be like, wow.
For like the first like month, we were literally there every night after football practice.
Like those poor kids.
Yeah.
They would come and then our friends would come with their kids after the football practice
and they would eat, but they love it.
So we go there once in a while.
Like when we have the weekends after football games on Saturdays, we'll go have dinner
and then we'll stop by.
But they're reaping all the benefits.
(25:06):
If you guys had to look at what were the biggest challenges to get this up and running versus
what's most rewarding, like how would you summarize those two things?
For me, the most rewarding part is now.
Now trying to see everything come together.
Every step of the way has had its own challenges because like I said, we didn't know anything
about starting a business, especially a food business.
(25:29):
I mean, there was challenges in the beginning, trying to find even an architect and the town.
And then once you find out you're the contractor and every like little step of the way, there
was challenges in between, but it's all a matter of trying to go one step at a time.
And like I was saying before, the franchise is so helpful.
Like the person who was our point of contact, he made, there was this app where of a timeline
(25:52):
of like the phase one, we should do all these things and trying to just click things off
the list.
He was saying, you know, not to stress over things that haven't happened yet.
That's me.
I'm like forever stressing about what's going to happen in five years from now.
But just relate to it.
You can relate to it.
Save here.
So I mean, every every step had its own challenges, but you know, we just take it day by day and
(26:16):
you know, we kind of work through it.
And rewarding is that I guess you're talking about these incredibly happy customers that
can be in the smiles on the faces.
Is that part of what?
Yeah, absolutely.
And seeing it all come together.
Like sometimes I've just looked at it.
I'm like, wow, like we did that.
We dreamt of this for a whole year.
(26:36):
Every single day we would talk, we would talk about it and they like, oh my gosh, imagine
if there was a line out the door.
Imagine if people loved it so much.
Imagine if it was like this, imagine if it was like that.
And all those imagined scenarios that we made up in our head came true in like a matter
of a month and just looking at it, it made it so worth it.
Every single thing we went through to get it to this point and seeing it in action,
(27:03):
that's the most rewarding part.
I have a very, very strong sweet tooth.
Oh yeah, that's right.
My reward is actually being able to go there whenever I want and get a nice sweet tooth.
Yeah, for sure, he only wanted to open it because so he could eat it every day.
It's so interesting.
You guys almost dreamt this into reality.
You manifested it by dreaming about it and it came true.
(27:25):
But do you do anything looking at like events where you could supply this or corporate like
a catering kind of thing?
Do you guys look at all that?
We do.
We've had some orders for corporate events.
However, you know, we can only give them just the paletas.
We can do the dippings and toppings on the side, but it just the feet.
(27:45):
It's not the same experience.
It's not the experience.
You know, they're not going to know what to do with it.
I think before we open another location is we might get like a trailer or like a make
it an ice cream truck and then that way we can, you know, set it up.
Yeah, set it up somewhere.
We can probably set that up in Woodbury Commons, you know, one of the shops.
(28:07):
And then we can use that also for parties and events because we've been getting a lot
of requests, hey, what I want to do it for my daughter's birthday party, blah, blah.
But like, I'm sorry, we don't have that capability yet.
You know, that is, yeah, that is has been big in our head because there's so many like
food festivals and for example, I think American Express had some event that they contacted
(28:28):
us for that we brought it over to them.
And I wasn't expecting that at all.
I'm like, oh my gosh, they want so many.
And then then I start to stress over all the things that haven't happened.
I'm like, oh my gosh, what if it melts?
What if I have to go?
I'm like, I need you with me.
He had to take off work that day to come with me because I was stressing me out too much
to bring 100 paletas to the city.
Yeah, but it was all fine, right?
(28:49):
Of course it was all fine, but I just needed him there.
I worked in American Express for a long time.
So I'm so happy they reached out to you guys.
They're very smart.
Wow.
So that's got 100 or like over 100, but like almost 200 paletas and we had to go and like
get coolers and figure out like where the hell where do we even buy dry ice because they're
the franchise because they get dry ice is better.
(29:11):
So we're like, where do we even find dry ice?
So we had to go Google it, get dry ice.
We bought some, put it in the box, put the paletas on top, deliver it to New York.
I love that.
We're still learning them.
But then I feel like once we get the trailer, you know, we'll make it like a full functioning
thing.
You know, we can store paletas in there.
We got all the dippings, all the toppings and we can bring the experience to you, whatever
(29:35):
we want.
So we're going to give some tips to couples starting out thinking about working together.
What would be a couple of tips you would offer?
Yeah.
Know that you will fight and you will disagree with each other.
But at the end of the day, you have to figure out amongst yourselves what you like to do
and what the other person likes to do and every just divide and conquer and then just
(29:58):
kind of show each other at the end of the day.
I like he was saying to, I never make a decision like 100% without telling him, I will set
everything up and I'll say like, look, this is what I did.
Check it out.
And then I'm going to do so and so.
And then, you know, I just kind of like should chat with each other.
But at the end of the day, the stuff that he does, I cannot do like the whole training
and talking to people and all of the creative stuff and everything that he does is not my
(30:25):
strong suit.
I'm more the numbers, the management and all the stuff in the background.
That's what I'm good at.
And vice versa.
Like he can't do that.
What did I ask you to do that you forgot five minutes later what they said?
Oh, how to get a business license.
Oh yeah, the business license, the health inspection, all that stuff.
I'm like, I don't even know where to start.
(30:46):
Like where, what do I do?
That was like the last step.
And it was still doing like the kids were still out of school.
So I dragged my kids with me down to the borough hall and city hall in Hoboken.
And the people there have been super, super amazing.
No, that's the biggest thing.
It's like, now that you're going to fight and take that with a green assault and sit
(31:06):
down and chat with each other, it's really trying to do like hanging out with your best
friend and working with them.
Although when we're at the storm or working together, he likes to boss me around.
I don't like that.
What?
You tell me what to do all the time.
I feel like I worked for you.
It's because it is in my brain processes things a lot faster than most people.
Yep.
(31:27):
And I'm just like, okay, I'm going to kill you right now.
But later.
I have very good time management skills.
I know what I know.
I know why she's laughing.
I'm laughing because I say the same thing to him.
You talk.
I don't, I feel like I'm working for you.
We go on video production, video shoots and like, yeah, okay.
But you know, you take turns, right?
And then there are certain times where it's my strong suit and I'm telling him what to
(31:49):
do.
So, you know, I got to remind myself of that.
Although when he does that, when we're in the middle of the store and there's customers
in my head, I'm like, just wait till we get home.
You guys are awesome.
I mean, part of the reason we do this stuff is for our own mental therapy.
Because the other couples that work together.
So, you relate to so much of what you're saying right now.
We've had, we've had couples saying, hey, can we come on again?
(32:10):
Can we talk about other things?
They feel better than get it out.
They get out the issue.
They get to talk about it.
Yeah.
Because now you could say it because I don't want to say it to him that it's going to become
a whole argument, but it won't be an argument right now.
I mean, it's amazing what you guys are doing.
I mean, it's like, I mean, I just saw the smile on our son's face.
Eight years old, like the first time he went in there.
It was like, I mean, it's like, can we go back?
(32:31):
Well, thank you guys so much for being on the show.
You guys were so much fun.
Thank you guys really, thank you guys so much for having us.
It really was such a fun time.
It's the first time we've done anything like this and it was such a pleasure.
You guys have shared some really interesting stories and tips, which I think anybody in
any business is going to find helpful.
So thank you, really thank you so much.
(32:52):
Thank you guys.
For more info about our guests and their business, visit paletasmorelia.com.
That's P-A-L-E-T-A-S-M-O-R-E-L-I-A.com.
For more episodes, visit burningshorts.com forward slash podcast.
(33:16):
Thanks for listening.
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