We recently connected with Manny Barba and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Manny, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I found my purpose one day as I sat in my garage after coming back into town from a trip to McAllen, Tx, tired and beat up from loading and unloading pallets of grocery products. Up until this point my brother in-law and I were taking constant trips from McAllen to Austin, Dallas, Beaumont, and all the way to New Orleans to open up new market for our distribution business. It is a great concept. The only problem is that I was having to do a ton of heavy work for only 25% of the profits and at that point the work wasn’t consistent so by the time I was doing the next job my money was already spent and I wasn’t getting ahead. Mind you, this was during COVID so I was happy at the fact that I had a job at all. But that night in my garage I had a vision. I was tired of being treated like a nobody by the owners of the businesses that we were delivering to and was completely over not being able to control my own fate by not being my own boss. So I called my dad who is one of the founders of Las Delicias Mexicanas and asked him how he felt about me opening up my own candy store. He was delighted that I’d finally come around to wanting to involve myself more with the family business. We established the first store in 2006 but I’d never really been too involved with it because I was into real estate as a realtor. However, that night I had a vision that I could open up a candy store that would be aesthetically pleasing which would give patrons a pleasurable experience when they would visit the store. I personally hadn’t seen anything of the sort anywhere within the greater Houston area. I drew inspiration from interactive museums in Austin, Tx. as well as others that my family and I went to within Houston, Tx. Selfie’s and selfie walls are a “thing” these days and social media is a powerful driving force this day-in-age so I incorporated a selfie mural in my first store. Now that I recently opened Las Delicias Mexicanas #3 I once again incorporated a different one but retained the same hashtag phrase of #livinmividadulce. This translates to “Living my sweet life.” When I’d opened my first store I still had no idea what my purpose was. It wasn’t until I was about a year into ownership that I then had another vision of just how far I could take the family business. It was then that I realized what my purpose was! My wife Abigail was pregnant with my son and it all hit me at once. I realized that I had the capacity to solidify my parent’s legacy and at the same time set a solid foundation for my children’s future by doubling down and expanding. You see, my parents and I are immigrants and are first generation Mexican Americans. By being business owners we have captured the American dream and have been able to bring part of our culture to the great people of Houston, Tx. So it was then that I wanted to expand the business to the point where I can eventually franchise the business. My motivating factors are the fact that my parents are getting older and I want them to see my dream come to fruition. My son was about to be born and I want my children to have an empire to run when the time comes, and that I started in the family business at 39 years of age so I have a sense of urgency to get things done quickly so that I may also have the time to enjoy time with my family and not always be stuck at work. I’m proud to say that I opened Las Delicias Mexicanas #3 only two years after I opened #2 and that I would have opened it sooner except I let fear set in when the war broke out in Ukraine as well as the fact that COVID reared it’s head back in during January of 2022. So I took my foot off the gas for a few months to figure out in what direction our country was headed. Fast forward to November 12, 2022 I opened #3! Now I plan on opening up #4 some time in 2024 because my wife and I also own a real estate investment company which I would like to focus on as #3 gets rolling. I would like to have at least three or possibly four Las Delicias Mexicanas in my name before I open the books for franchise opportunities to the public so that I am able to have the proper infrastructure/warehousing/distribution networks in place to serve all franchise owners.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am completely focused on being a serial entrepreneur within the commerce and real estate realm. Besides that I love physical fitness. So much so that I’ve transformed the entire garage of my new house into a commercial gym. My wife and I really enjoy going to networking events held by people and organizations who have now become our friends.
What I do is run my business. I’ve learned quite a bit along the way about what it is to own a business, operate a business. How to be the manager of a business. How to be an effective leader. I’ve learned how to be an inspiration to people through being optimistic, charismatic, stern but fair, and how to delegate accordingly. And while I was learning these things within the last two and a half years, I have also paid it forward to younger men and women who aspire to be entrepreneurs themselves by teaching them the ropes and helping them get certifications, permits, and or licenses to do what it is they are trying to do. And if they happen to be within the scope of my business, I give them their first break into stocking their products in my stores. I get a great sense of joy and accomplishment by helping others further their dreams.
As for my brand. For marketing purposes the name of our stores was first the name of our brand or candy which is the typical or traditional Mexican candy. That has always been the foundation of who we are and what we represent. We’ve never wavered from it, only expanded it to incorporate many other brands once we LLC’d the business in 2008. Our brand is in many Mexican meat markets and restaurants throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and in Louisiana.
The newest service launch that we are gearing up for is our shopify e-commerce platform which will allow us to ship our products anywhere in the U.S. as well as Canada. We will be going live with it within the next month. The website is Lasdeliciasmexicanas.com
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that are pertinent in being a successful entrepreneur is being able to have the vision and putting that vision into action, being able to pivot on a swivel, and taking losses as lessons. Having self discipline and the being self motivated are also important but I would categorize those more as skills and the previous three as qualities. The fact that I have always been driven, been a natural leader, and have had pretty good intuition about things has definitely helped me get to where I am today.
The best advice I can give to folks who are early in their journey is to find your niche. Once you do, seek out mentors who have done it before you. Be a sponge and learn all you can from them instead of trying to do it all yourself. Read the best material out there from the leaders in whatever field you are in and self educate yourself to the point where you aren’ t going into things blindly. And lastly, live a life of gratitude. Never get too big for your britches. Remain humble and remember to pay it forward when you finally make it!
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me is teach us to be children of God. Next to that was bring me from Mexico to live in the U.S., teach us good work ethics, and eventually how to be our own boss. I say “our own” is because my brother is now the owner of Las Delicias Mexicanas #1, and my sister has a doctorate degree in education. Without all of the knowledge our parents instilled in us we probably would not be doing what we are doing today.
Contact Info:
- Website: Lasdeliciasmexicanas.com
- Instagram: las_delicias_mexicanas
- Facebook: lasdeliciasmexicanas2
- Twitter: LasDeliciasMexi
- Youtube: LasDeliciasMexi
- Yelp: Las Delicias Mexicanas 2
- Other: Tik Tok is @lasdeliciasmexicanas
Image Credits
The woman in the picture with me (in the dress, is my wife Abigail Barba. The picture with the woman, man, and little girl is Daniela Gulmar and Adrian Verde
