Meet Deanna Ductoc

We recently connected with Deanna Ductoc and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Deanna, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethics came from not only my parents but my grandparents. I heard many stories about how my paternal grandfather, Angel Joaquin Ductoc, would own and operate his own stores in Cuba back in the 60s.  When he lost everything and came to the United States, he worked multiple jobs and side hustles to make ends meet; until he and my father Angel Ductoc Sr partnered up to open Los Angelitos Bakery in 1992. I was only 2 years old at the time, but growing up I watched how my grandfather would be at the bakery for literally 24 hours, at times sleeping there to keep the doors open as much as he could! I watched as my father, with 4 children and a full time job for LA County, go to the bakery every day after work, including weekends, and not come back home until after 10:00pm – usually with a bag of pan dulce and milk. Not only my father, but my mother would be right there by his side, helping to get the bakery off the ground by handling a lot of the paperwork as well as being the first cashier running the register. I will never forget the days I would go with my dad to the bakery and just watch him work from behind a desk, to behind a register, to delivering cakes for weddings, to working alongside the bakers assisting with baking and organizing the breads to help increase production. My father literally put in blood, sweat and tears into his business that is now our proudly owned small family business. Even though my grandfather is not with us anymore physically, I know he continues to watch over the bakery and is there every day like he was when he was alive. Now, at the age of 65 getting ready to retire from the County, I find my dad preparing himself to handle more responsibilities at the bakery. During a time when he should be looking forward to retirement and relaxing, he instead is looking forward to picking up more work and being at the bakery full time! That is where I get my work ethics and I am proud of what my parents and grandparents have done and continue to do to provide for their family and future generations!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Deanna Ductoc, and I am the proud co-owner of Los Angelitos Bakery. Los Angelitos Bakery is my family’s small business that opened in 1992, founded by my father, Angel Ductoc Sr., and my grandfather, Angel Joaquin Ductoc. Since then our bakery has been thriving, with the doors still open now 31 years later! Thanks to our family and the community, whom are the backbone of our business, we have been able to provide our famous pan dulce and pastries to the community and surrounding cities! Culture is the heart of our business and we strive to maintain the culture in everything that we produce. Los Angelitos Bakery is well known for their Mexican sweet breads (aka Pan Dulce). We are famous for our conchas and the innovative ideas that we have created – being pioneers within our bakery industry not only within the United States but across Mexico as well! From our Kobe Conchas, to our Pride Conchas, to our Concha Bouquets, to our Concha Leis, many flock to our bakery from as far as Florida to order our delicious products! Many times they are just shared in local gatherings with friends, family, and coworkers, and many times they are shared during special occasions and moments. We are honored to have been a part of the community for the last 31 years and show our appreciation by giving back to the community as much as we can – i.e. during the COVID pandemic we offered free pan dulce to children, we fundraised to donate a laptop to a high school student who did not have access during virtual learning, we donate to local schools and events within our city, as well as fundraise through the sales of our Pride Conchas to our LGBTQ+ youth for college scholarships through Latino Equality Alliance, and so much more! We take pride in representing our City of Huntington Park and strive to continue putting HP on the map – one pan dulce at a time.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, the three concepts that stick out to me that were the most impactful in my journey have been: 1. Do not wait for everything to be perfect – or else you will never start. Bring to life your ideas! Do not be afraid to be innovative and come out with new ideas, It does not have to be perfect in order to push your idea out to the world. Do not be afraid of failure or making mistakes, everything starts somewhere and always know that you can add, change, or do anything else needed to improve! But most importantly JUST START!
2. Do not try to do everything by yourself. This was a hard thing for me to understand because I always believed that I had to do it so it can be done right. But no, that is not true! Learn to delegate and trust others to complete the tasks that they are responsible for. This will allow you to focus on growing the business instead of focusing on the minute every day responsibilities.
3. Wear your brand! Meaning, add your logo to shirts, sweaters, hats, etc. We wear other brand products every day, but those brands do not do anything for our business. So be proud of your business and represent your brand almost every where you go! The times you cannot wear branded items, always carry your business card around and do not be afraid to tell people about your business and what you offer!

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
What has been the most helpful to overcome challenges has been relying on my family. My parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, pretty much everyone has been there during challenging times and are always willing to step up and lend a helping hand. My father has been my biggest mentor throughout the years, even unintentionally when I would watch him face struggles and how he overcame them himself. I find myself always calling him when I run into an issue to get advice on how to handle it. In regards to building and developing the essential skills, qualities, and knowledge needed to become successful has been through networking and reading to learn. I have attended countless events for small businesses and owners throughout the years, sometimes even showing up solo, to learn, teach and network with others. I am always willing to sign up for any conference, meeting, social event, fundraiser, etc. – as well as always offering to donate some of our pan dulce to these events as gratitude for the invitation. I also find myself always researching online, via social media, and reading books/articles to expand my knowledge about being a small business owner, about the bakery industry, as well as about taxes, marketing, contracts, and so much more! Even at times exploring topics that I feel like are not related to the industry that I am in, but still finding small golden nuggets of ideas and information that I can take with me and apply to our business.

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