Meet David Mena | Entrepreneur, Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Mena and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
Irrational Belief in Yourself and Your product: Anything new and worthwhile will be difficult, expensive and time consuming because it currently doesn’t exist. During the developmental phase of your product or idea, many people along the way will tell you that your crazy because its novel by definition. Only you have this vision, others do not. Without the irrational belief in yourself or your product, eventually these well-meaning people will convince you that you are wasting your time. This can be the most difficult challenge during the development phase of your endeavor when you might not be making a lot of money. In my case it took working with a food laboratory for a full year and $10,000 of my own money just to achieve a shelf stable recipe for chimichurri I was happy with. And that was just the beginning!

Humility and Determination: In order to get Gaucho Ranch Chimichurri into major retailers, I kept a full-time job doing outside industrial sales in order to not depend on income from my small business to live. This also allowed my company’s proceeds to be reinvested into the company to continue growing. After work and during the weekends, I would produce the product myself with one dear employee. Then I would deliver the finished product in my compact car to the few stores I had distribution in. Finally, at the last store I delivered product to that day (and here is where the humility actually kicks in), I would change clothes in my car to go back into the store to demo the chimichurri for 4-5 hours to increase product awareness. I maintained this grueling schedule for 6 years before I finally quit my day job. This was by far the most difficult period in my professional life, but in hind sight, it was crucial to the expansion of my product into retail.

Multidisciplined: As an entrepreneur you MUST be multi-faceted. If you are weak in say accounting, you risk being taken advantage of in that area. You must be willing to learn all disciplines of business in order to not incur unnecessary loss, and to be able to manage the employees doing those jobs.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My first entrepreneurial experience was Gaucho Ranch Chimichurri Sauces and Dulce de Leche. I was the founder and creator of the brand and achieved distribution not only throughout the United States but internationally as well. I handled all aspects of the product and company from product design, recipe development, packaging, manufacturing processes and the automation of production and packaging, sanitary practices, distribution, export etc. Although this company was truly my creation in every aspect, it reached a point where I wanted to move on and get out of the retail business.

In 2015 I sold that company and transitioned to the company I now own which is Mena Food Group dba Militello’s Italian Bakery. Militello’s was an already very well-established commercial wholesale fresh bakery when I bought it. It provides fresh baked goods to the finest hotels, restaurants, casinos and stadiums throughout Florida. At this new company my role is to refine manufacturing processes, improve quality and consistency, streamline distribution and grow sales 10 to 15% per year. I call on a wide variety of industries ranging from healthcare to hospitality.

I think that what sets me apart from non-entrepreneurs is that I always felt really uncomfortable as an employee. Even as a young man with no money and no formal education, I never felt like any of my supervisor was more adept in business than I was. Very few people actually made me respect them as a leader and a potential mentor. I had a very hard time becoming a “company person” and drinking the cool aide for whatever company I was working for. It was this inherent part of my personality that I’m sure drove me to lean into my irrational belief in myself and my product. .

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
People watching at Carpaccio in Bal Harbor

Boating Miami’s Intercoastal Waterway

Flamenco at Cava on Calle Ocho

Biking South Beach

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
To my father for showing me how to be in a lot of ways, and how not to be in others.

Thanks!

Website: www.bakerymilitellos.com

Instagram: Bakerymilitellos

Linkedin: David Mena