Meet Sandra Herdocia & Monica Vaca | Entrepreneurs

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sandra Herdocia & Monica Vaca and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sandra Herdocia & Monica Vaca, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
We are two couples and have been friends for a long time. Our husbands share a passion for grilling, and we love entertaining family and friends. Whenever we got together with friends for a Sunday BBQ or a holiday celebration, they would jokingly say that the food was so good that we should open a restaurant. One day we said, why not? We were at a point in our lives where our kids were high schoolers or in college, more independent, which gave us more time to start a business. Thankfully, we also have full times jobs, that allowed us to ease into a business on the weekends and not go in cold turkey! We figured that a catering company would give us the time flexibility and allow us to gradually grow. The idea is that this will become our retirement plan. Not that we will retire, but this is where we will work when retired. We took a hard look at our strengths and weaknesses and found that each one of us had a special talent that fit perfectly within the structure of a business. We have the grill master, the paella guru, the marketer and the accountant and so we began this adventure together in July 2018 with the birth of SmokeHouse Miami.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
SmokeHouse Miami is a women-owned catering service, that specializes in high-end southern flare flavors, conveniently delivered to your door, your event. True to Miami, and at the request of some of our customers, our menu has expanded way beyond BBQ to include some international dishes as well as our inherent and much-loved Nicaraguan food. We can either cater an event or just deliver the food ready to serve. We also participate in local markets, pop ups at breweries and recently in the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
What sets us apart? We don’t cut corners. All our dishes are prepared the old fashion way. A brisket really takes 18 hours in the smoker and baby back ribs 5; and you can tell by the flavor. We also pride ourselves in treating our customers the way we would like to be treated. We work with them to customize their orders to ensure they get exactly what they want.

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?
Wynwood is one of our favorite spots, especially the new Dogfish Head Brewing. The place is very cozy, dog friendly and the staff is wonderful. We also love to participate at local artisan markets and pop ups that happen every weekend around the city. You can shop for unique crafts and goods while supporting local businesses. Check them out if you can!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We certainly do, and too many to list! Our families and friends and even co-workers that have supported us every step of the way. Usually, a side business takes you away from family, in our case our grown children have gotten involved in the business and actively help with deliveries and at pop ups. They are our new recipe tasters, our models for ads, and our tech support on social media. We always knew that our group of friends was amazing, but they really have gone all out for us, showing up to every pop up and markets we have participated. Also dear to our heart is Caro Rodriguez from The Picnic Pop Up who nominated us for this article. A Big Thanks to all!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smokehousemiami/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smokehousemiami

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/SmokeHouseMiami