We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sofia Arango Valois a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sofia, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
It comes from my wish to help others to achieve their fullest potential. I truly believe that helping others is a mutual beneficial arrangement where you can also learn and grow from the experience
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Sofia Arango, co-owner of Atlanta Pizza Truck, was born in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to Atlanta in 2017 due to the political crisis in her country. She met her husband Alessio in 2019 and she fell in love with the pizza industry. When they were laid off during covid in 2020, they decided to do pizza pop-ups around Atlanta in their pizza truck. It was the first pizza truck certified by the AVPN. Their first truck was custom built in Italy and brought to the US. The now have two more mobile units from Fiero group, Gozney ovens and Ooni volts. Their Mobile Blue tiled oven was the first one for Fiero group and now it’s their best seller! Atlanta Pizza Truck focuses on Neapoiltan style pizza and offers a variety of catering packages from small gatherings to large events.
While going through the AVPN certification process Sofia noticed there was a large community for U.S. pizza makers of Italian origin but wondered why there wasn’t anything for Latinos in the pizza world.
In 2023, Sofia created Latinos en Pizza to connect the Latino pizza community around the globe focusing on making a more equitable pizza industry. Her goal is to inspire and empower Latinos and highlight their presence as pizza makers.
Latinos en Pizza IG & TikTok accounts feature pizza makers in over 12 countries in North, Central and South America with content in Spanish and English translations for most posts.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Perseverance, thinking outside of the box and respect It is important to understand and value time. Other people’s time and yours. To be the most efficient and reach your highest potential you should focus on projects that do not waste you or others time
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I feel my business has already reached its peak, it is running well and everything is working well. Now I need to understand what is going to be my next journey / steps towards growing
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theatlantapizzatruck.com
- Instagram: @atlantapizzatruck @latinosenpizza
- Linkedin: Atlanta pizza truck
