“I have a dream of opening my own restaurant with Brazilian food, so that became my goal and I started a food  business.It all started with my mom and I and now my whole family is involved, this whole thing reminded me that my grandmother used to be a cook for a big company in brazil and she would cook for around 500 hundred people everyday so we used to always have her food, which is Brazilian traditional food, beans, meat and rice.My mom is Mireira she is from Minas Gerais,BR, one thing people might not know is that people from Minas Gerais are known for their amazing food so I wanted everyone to try my moms food especially once I moved to the U.S to spread a little bit of my culture.

 I knew my moms food was good,I  was used to it but all my friends would to ask to try it, they said that it smelled really good so one day I brought little for them to try , from then on they started to compliment my food and tell me that I should start selling it , at first I doubted it but they told their families about it and said that they wanted to order to introduce it to their parents , so I started preparing some food at home and delivering it to them and that is mostly when my dad came in, he is the one who drives me to peoples houses and helps me with the deliveries.

This is a huge opportunity for me to learn and get a taste of what managing a business looks like and it has been a lesson I will take with me for the rest of my life. A couple years ago my family was really poor and when I found myself in those conditions where I had no opportunities I learned to value things, the little things and it stuck with me so even with a small opportunity I wanna to be able to hold on and use it to the best of my abilities ,I believe it was truly god given since I got to start making money and helping at home but still doing what I love which is food and managing.

I was 17 years old and after so many years of dealing with hard times financially back in Brazil I decided to follow my father steps and start working.My dad has been such a hard worker to give the best to our family, so he is my biggest inspiration and here in the U.S. we all work to live the best life we can and just being able to live here is already a blessing that I know my parents worked hard to have so they are who I hope to be. I try to balance everything so my mom and I wake up early in the morning, before school because is the only time I can help.I have school and basketball as well as another job ,I work at Publix besides the food business mostly because its another opportunity to learn cause there I’m an employee instead of the one managing the whole thing.” Gabriel Francisco said.