SalsaQueen - Creator of The Salsa Queen Salsa

Welcome back , friends , to the Dave Crenshaw success project . This is the show where I'm looking for ways to teach my children how to be successful through the life stories of others , and you get to come along for the ride , no matter what your age is , if it's your first time here and you're not familiar with me . I'm a best-selling author .

I speak around the world to Fortune 500 companies and I've reached millions of people and helped them be successful through my online courses .

With this show , I was looking to create something a little different , something I could leave as a legacy to my children , to help them learn universal principles of success , but I realized everybody else would want to learn these principles too .

In these interviews , I speak to some of the most successful people I've met through my life's journey , especially people who have not just financial and career success but have balanced , multifaceted success in many areas of their life .

So as we go through this episode , I want you to look for something you can do to make my guest's success story a part of your success story . And today's guest she's a lot of fun . The former Maharba Sipata , now legally known as Salsa Queen , immigrated to the US at the age of 17 with her family .

As a mom with seven mouths to feed , she put her heart into the kitchen . Soon she turned her favorite hobby of making delicious salsas into a thriving business . The Salsa Queen is a family business which includes the help of her children . Today , her salsas are sold in nearly 1,500 stores across 30 states , with over 30 employees .

Salsa Queen , I'm so excited to talk to you .

We're actually recording this around Halloween time , so I'm assuming that's also very important to you because that's a part of your company identity 100% is .

I have three children myself , and I wanted to get the stories of people who have remarkable career paths , and so , because of the place they're at , I always like to ask the question what did you want to be when you grew up ? So where did you grow up before you immigrated to the United States ?

I wanted to be a singer , but I suck . I never had a chance of that . I always liked the cameras , I always liked the action of cameras , but I never in my life imagined that cooking at started cooking at a very early age , when I was eight years old .

It was going to kind of be my path , you know , of being here not creating salsa for everybody to enjoy . So , yes , I had no idea what I wanted to be and I just kind of let life , you know , carry me through a lot of challenges , but I'm grateful for them because now I am here .

You know , I didn't know how that was going to happen , when it was going to happen , but I just fell in my heart that I was supposed to be here in America . You know , and I always say it's a land of dreams , a land of opportunities , and I knew that . I didn't know what kind of dreams I had , but I knew that they were going to be happening here .

I remember him calling from Utah to Mexico and you know I would be asking him where do you live , what are you doing ? He started going to school right away and he had a job . So he was doing that full time . He was living in a trailer and now that I can feel how cold he gets here in Utah . He used to live in this trailer and it was freezing cold .

He would say that every time when he woke up in the morning like there was ice inside that trailer . So you know my dad made a lot of sacrifices for us to have a better life and a better future .

So after my dad been here for a year and a half , he went back to Mexico , brought us to America and , like I said , we were illegal , we didn't speak the language , but we were here together again as a family and that was very important to us . Our lives totally changed .

Like people think that coming to America you immediately are going to start making money and , you know , wiping your sweat with $100 bills , which is absolutely natural when you come to . America , you really have to hustle right . Right . So my mom started cleaning houses .

I would stay home with my siblings , taking them to school , feeding them food when they got back from school . That was kind of my role when we came to America . Obviously we didn't speak the language . So when I went to enroll myself in high school , they asked for some kind of paperwork and I thought they were asking for legal papers .

So I went back home and I'm like they're asking for some kind of papers and I said I don't know . So I was never able to finish high school because of the language barrier .

It's just that when you came to the United States , that hustle and did you see that in both your parents , that hard work and that Desire to succeed ?

I was already when we came to America . I was close to 18 years old . So by the time my dad was able to get the amnesty I was already 18 years old . So I didn't , he didn't apply to me , so everybody was legal but you , yes , but you did become a US citizen .

You know like everything is very uncertain , so I was like you know it's time for me to do my citizenship . So four or five years ago I finally decided , I studied the test . You know all the questions , because there's a hundred questions and they're only gonna ask you five .

So you have to learn all of them to be able to know you know whatever question they ask you .

I was my son's Don donor for the bone marrow , so I was the first adult a primary children's hospital . So he fight through 90 months of Pain and suffering . I'm still trying to find . You know , they say that everything has a reason right there . There's always a reason for things happening and Sadly , I'm still trying to find the answer of why that happened .

I know probably a lot of people have an answer for it , but I'm trying to find my own and I'm still on the journey of that , trying to heal . When he passed away we didn't speak the language , so when he passed away , my whole family was just left to heal on your own .

You know we didn't have any support system , we didn't have therapists , we didn't have anything . He just passed away and that was it . So it's still hard to process that a lot , I think , for the whole family . That's something that we don't talk very much about Within the family . So I know is still a very painful memory .

And to me , the success is more meaningful because you did that , and I think there are people listening to this who they're going through Something terrible right now and something very difficult , and I want them to see your example of being able to come through the other side and say you know what ?

Yes , we're not going to diminish what happened , but we can still find a path forward and find happiness and find joy , which my perception is you have Found that in spite of what occurred , Well , I always say you know , god took one For me but he gave me seven more .

So , you know , I always try to focus on the good part of life versus the sad and , like you said , we always learn from the bad , from the bad experiences , from the sad experiences . And I have learned a lot through my journey of being a businesswoman , but , with that something so personal , I'm still trying to find that journey .

You've been speaking another language your whole life and I think some people will go to a foreign country , not just the United States . They'll go to a foreign country and not learn the local language . So at what point did you say enough , I am going to learn English . And what led to that decision ?

But primary children was our primary residency per se , and that's where I actually learned to speak English . Out of necessity , out of love , out of pain , out of suffering , I had to get out of my comfort zone and just be brave and try to learn the language in order of me to be able to help my son , and pretty soon .

You know , since I lived at the hospital , everybody knew me and it was actually pretty awesome because when there were families that they didn't speak the language , they would call me on that intercom and say you know , marba , if you can please come to room so and so . So I wasn't only then helping myself and my child , but I was also helping other families .

So that was very fulfilling for me to be able to do something and to be able to keep that .

. I had always been a stay-at-home mom since my first marriage because I had so many kids . So since I didn't have a college degree or a high school diploma or any work experience , when I became a single mother again for that second time , I was living out of food stamps , medicaid . The church was helping me .

So I am so grateful for all those programs and all that help that I was able to get . But that wasn't a lifestyle I wanted to live . That wasn't a lifestyle that I wanted to show my kids . Even though I was grateful , I was still embarrassed about my living conditions . So when the opportunity came to me and somebody because nobody have ever believed in me .

You know my mom was very mentally and physically abusive . You know she has her motives , I don't wanna type badly on her , you know , just kind of like culture in Mexico too , and so I have very low self-esteem and I didn't believe that I could do something . I always thought that God forgave to give me a talent .

You know , I thought I didn't have any talents and I was like well , I guess my talent is to have kids and I was okay with that at that point . But when this man , jim now my husband came into my life and he was the first person , and only person that had ever asked me what would you like to do ? And I was like , what would I like to do ?

I had no idea what I wanted to do , right , because , you know , I thought I had no talents or anything . So he shared an idea with me and I thought to myself I'll do anything . What do I have to lose ?

I honestly believe that , and so when he presented this opportunity , I thought I'll do anything . And he was pastries . He was European pastries in gelato , kind of like a coffee shop , and I was like I'll do anything . So I started playing with recipes and you know , at the end of the day I thought to myself I'm not European , this is not what I do .

I love cooking . That's my passion . I've been cooking since I was eight years old , and so I said to Jim I want to make salsa . I asked him not and he probably thought , yeah , you won't have many more . So that's kind of where the craziness began .

I said I want to make salsa , I want to do something that speaks my language , my culture and that I can feel good about selling .

So what a better way for me to be able to create , you know , something that is spoke all about me my love to people through food . So it was just a perfect fit .

And the implication there is that every successful entrepreneur had at least one failed venture prior to locking into the thing that actually made them successful . So it sounds like that was it , or was there another prior business that you attempted that didn't work out ?

I didn't have anything to fall back into . So I only had a plan A and I was gonna make it happen because it had to happen . Otherwise , what else was I gonna do ?

The other thing is too it sounds like when things started to take off with salsa queen , did you attempt to try any other business or were you just drilling down on just this one concept with it ?

I don't knock on the door . All the doors are open for all of us and it's up to us if we wanna walk through that door or we wanna stay behind .

And I chose to walk through every open door that was open for me and definitely , like I say , ignorance is a place right and since you don't know anything , you just keep on going because you don't know what kind of challenges you wanna face until you're there and then you just have to nail it , and sometimes you screwed up , sometimes you don't , but it's a

learning experience and I wouldn't change absolutely anything that I have gone through , because I wouldn't be where I'm at and I wouldn't be who I am .

I was just making the same salsa that I was making at the pharmacy market that I could sell right there on the spot , but I didn't understand that . We able to get into a store is a whole different monster . You know .

You read some of our ingredients on the salsa's and you're like how do they do this , how do they come up with these flavors and that the ingredients are so simple . But , for example , I was at a store , my first store , and I was doing everything .

I was making the salsa's , my kids were helping me Whatever they could , and it's a local store in Park City school that market . I don't know if you've been there . Okay but that was my first store .

So I was actually kicked out of that store after a year Because I had a mango pineapple salsa that he wasn't cooked . It was fresh , so it was Spoiling really fast . So they said you know what ? We're gonna kick you out because this is not working out . And I think they charge me $600 back then . For me , $600 was like Everything .

Yeah so I had to remake the product , bring it back and try to sell it to make up for that Expire product that we lost . So they actually kicked me out of the store . I was very sad , but I had gone four times to five times a week to Sample myself . So everybody there knew me , they loved me and everything .

So , thank goodness , a lot of my clients were like , where is salsa queen ? Where is salsa queen ? Where is you ? Know they , they miss me . So they call me and they're like , okay , everybody's asking for you , we're gonna bring you back , but you have to do something with these salsa in particular , because you know it was just going to expire a lot .

So that was kind of my first like big , big one . But you know , now that we're bigger , it has been very hard to work in an environment of very like Prepared people .

You know they come to college , they have degrees , they have Masters , they have all of that something that I don't write and I have gone treated very , very bad in my own workspace with a lot of the people that I had previously worked with .

I actually had a partner that I had to bring in because I was doing everything by myself and I was like killing myself and I was like I can do this anymore . So we brought in a partner and we just couldn't see I to I . We worked together probably for three years and he was like the hardest Times of my life as a business owner .

It was a lot of suffering , a lot of tears , a lot of anger and frustration .

Rather than talking about the person , let's talk about the structure . How were things structured when you brought on that partner ? How was communication taking place that made it so that it did not work ?

I suffer a lot , but I learned a lot , too a lot . So that's what I'm saying . You know , out of everything that it has happened to me , I have no regrets because , even though they were very painful Sometimes , the most painful experiences are the ones that they help you to grow and be a better person .

You know , jim , my husband put his job , so I tell him now that instead of counting money because he used to work at bank , now he's counting tomatoes .

Because you're so passionate , because you love things so much , sometimes you do need to bring in people who are more expert in the areas that you're not and Free you from having your hands in every little thing , which is great in the beginning , but not so great when , like you're saying , you've expanded to 30 states and you've got 30 employees .

We need to start having some bigger Systems and structures , rather than everything being held together by the entrepreneur . Would you agree with that perspective ?

of me . There's so many things that I don't know . I don't even know on a computer , I don't know a laptop or any of that , so oh , my goodness .

I work just out of my phone . I have my iPhone and that's what I do , but I have a personal assistant . I have , you know , we're looking for a social media person , but one of the biggest assets that I have acquired in the company is Jim .

Like To be able to have Jim in the company has definitely Help us grow , because his vision doesn't stop anywhere , like I don't even have words to explain like how he thinks . So me being able to trust him 100% has given us the opportunity to grow as much as we have .

If I didn't have that trust On my employees , my husband and everybody that works here , we will still probably be doing farmers markets and we wouldn't be growing . So it gets to a point where I had to stop being so dramatic , so Latina , dramatic , you know . So , barbara , and just allow myself To have other people .

Well , yes and train them in a matter that you can keep trusting , you know .

Yeah how do you and maybe you're not who will find out , but how do you maintain Balance of being able to turn off business and turn on a personal relationship ? Are you able to Create that boundary between you and Jim ?

Yeah , but that's what you try to do is have some sort of a break , because otherwise , you know , we could be talking business 24-7 . I mean , there's just so much stuff going on or some of the issues .

So it's hard not to communicate that , but we're really good and if I'm going for it , he's like okay , let's stop , let's stop . Or if he's going about it , I'm like okay , let's stop . And just always trying to be very mindful about our conversations and boundaries .

I'm going to give you really there are three books that apply to this the Myth of Multitasking , the Focus Business and the Power of Having Fun and all of those books came out of my work with entrepreneurs , with small businesses , and it deals with that importance of creating that boundary . And the suggestion that I would give you is to create a clear structure .

Say , here's the hour at which we are no longer permitted to talk about business . Here is the time when we're going to schedule and say , alright , every Friday or at three o'clock and I'm just throwing out a date , this is the time that we're going to focus on talk about that .

And what it does is it gives you permission to work on the business together , but it also gives you permission to not do it , and when I've helped couples do that , it really creates a much healthier business and relationship dynamic .

So now we're going to see video of you being on the podcast , which , by the way , is great for me because you're going to tag me in it and I'll get a little bit from that . But so , lia , is that something that you're excited about is doing social media and putting that kind of stuff up ?

You know I'm your boss too . So it was very hard for you to kind of separate that .

Where I've seen people do it successfully is where maybe the responsibility of being the boss is actually someone else in the company rather than the parent . Do you have any of that going on where someone else is the manager of them and you're insulated from it , or is it still a direct relationship ?

But it is very hard to work with family , very hard , because it is just natural for them to feel a little bit more entitled , more like we're special , so we get special treatment and stuff like that .

And I have fired some of my kids a few times because you know I said this is a workplace , home is over there , this is work and these are my expectations . If you're not helping that business to grow , then I cannot have you here , because this is not just about me . This is about all our employees that I have here .

That's how they feed their families , that's how they pay rent , that's how they pay their bills and everything . So this business is not any longer about just me . This is about a lot of families that are counting on us . So if anyone my kids or anyone is not helping us to grow , then it's not the time or it's not the place , or you know .

But I treat everybody equally .

In addition to that , and what you said is exactly right , you have to let go of the bear for the benefit of everyone else , and sometimes it's also to the benefit of that person , right To let them have the freedom to go do something else that's probably a better fit for them .

So I think it's a situation where firing is actually a positive thing in the long run for everybody .

So we definitely want to grow , we want to expand into more states , you know . And now , with our free stride , salsa . This is a new concept that Jim .

So we are not just in the United States , we have the ability to take salsa queen worldwide with a free stride salsa .

So you know it's kind of , you know let's share the love through food and through some salsa queen , spicy salsa , and you know I want this to be a staple . I want this to be a Utah staple , that when people you know they come to Utah , you know they have a polar burger , they have . You know these things .

Well , you come to Utah to try the best salsa you're ever going to have at a store and that is salsa queen .

More importantly , you have a system and you have a structure and you have employees who are highly talented . That enabled you to create that vision , and I know that that path had some winding roads to get where you're at right now , but you now have the entrepreneurial skills that you didn't have 15 years ago or however long you go Right .

Anyway , in our workspace , we love to believe in people that work with us , so we like to hire in with them , and we have several people that they've been with us for seven , five years .

And in particular , there's this girl from Mexico too , and she , you know , we offer her a position as a manager and she keeps saying no , no , I'm stupid , I'm dumb , I'm not capable , I'm not smart enough to take that role .

So I put her into my office and I said I know exactly how you feel because I've been there and I still struggle sometimes , but I've been there . But look at me now I was able to break through those lies that I believe so strongly about me and look where I'm at now .

You know , in Mexico we have a say that is , everybody says si se puede , yes , you can , yes , you can . If I did it with no school diploma , with , you know , being dyslexic , not speaking the language perfectly , with no experience to be an entrepreneur . If I did all those things with seven kids , anybody else can do it . You just want to do it .

That bad , you know . And , like I said , I came to this country with a lot of dreams and a lot of energy to be successful . And if you're in this country and you're not successful on whatever it is that you want to do is because you don't want to , because the opportunity is here and it is everywhere , so I want to leave everybody without that .

Yes , you can see , se puede .

My belief is it's not about someone just listening to your story , it's also queen , and say that was great knowledge . I want someone to take a specific action . I want them to do something today , this week , so that they make your success story a part of their success story .

So the first one is from salsa queen herself , which is believe in yourself and I would say listen to people who build you up and believe in you . Right , jim was a turning point , his influence in your life and him believing in you and asking you what do you want ? That helped .

So I think that's one of the principles is to believe in yourself and listen to people who believe in you and if that's not happening in your life , start to work on that . A second principle that I would add and it sounds similar but it is different which is to know yourself and don't try to be something that you're not right .

That first business idea of let's do European pastries Sure , it's a great business idea , but it doesn't tap into who you are at your core and anyone listening to this . You don't have to be an entrepreneur to do that . You can , in your job , recognize what you do great and the kind of things that you're interested in , and feed those interests .

So get to know yourself . You might take my discovering your strengths course on LinkedIn learning to help with that . That's another great principle . And then one more that I want to highlight is to learn to delegate , learn to hire great people . At the beginning , salsa queen , you were kind of .

I mean , yes , it was necessary to start the business , but you were doing so much on your own that it was almost impossible to scale what you were doing right . And so someone listening to this I would say learn how to outsource she used that word . Learn how to outsource , learn how to hire people .

And someone listening to this may say well , dave , I'm not a business owner , I can't hire people . And I would say you do it all the time . You hire someone to make you a burger when you walk into McDonald's . You hire salsa queen to make you salsa because she does it best , so you use her instead .

There are lots of little things that anyone is doing in their day and you can say how can I get someone else to do this for me so that I can focus on what I do best and what I do great ? So look for those opportunities . Those are three action items . Would you add any additional one ?

Something simple that someone can do this week to make your success story their success story ?

That way you can target those goals and then you can start doing bigger ones , because you're starting to believe that you can target those little ones and once you do that , you can dream bigger . So setting goals is very , very important .

It's a pleasure to get to know you , sal , sir Queen , and maybe we can meet in person at some point here in Salt Lake City . Wonderful to get to know you .

Thank you for being on the show and thank you who have been listening . Thank you for spending the time to hear this story . Remember , it's not so much about the knowledge that you heard or the entertainment that you got from listening to Sal Sir Queen's story . It's about the action that you take .

So do one thing today , do one thing this week and you'll make her success story a part of your success story . Thanks for listening .

Please subscribe to the Dave Crenshaw Success Project on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you'd like to get your podcasts . If you have a suggestion for someone my dad might like to interview , please send it to guests at DaveCrenshawcom , and please don't forget to leave us a five star review . See you next time .