I am a 28 year old entrepreneur. I was born in East Meadow, New York, and raised in El Salvador. In the year of 2006, two days after my graduation, I traveled on a plane from El Salvador to the USA to live with my mother’s sister, my wonderful aunt. As a graduate of Uniondale High School with honors, I quickly attended Nassau Community College for business administration. Shortly thereafter, to be exact, one year later, like many entrepreneurs in history, I decided not to pursue a formal education, and look for ways to create the true purpose in my life. I believed if I could change the world one family at a time, I would be very happy. I worked diligently in the restaurant business for nine years while simultaneously keeping two to three part time jobs searching for ways to create wealth. One of my first goals was to bring my family together and establish their residency here in the US, which I achieved in 2014. My next goal is in arranging for my brother to live here in the USA ad truly develop a family business.
Thanks to the tough times and crisis after crisis I experienced during my lifetime, I have been able to find my mission and purpose. I believe I was born to act as a bridge and connect people who otherwise would not benefit from one another. My mission is to change the world one family at a time. Soon afterwards during the years from 2015 to 2018, I worked at Chase Bank on Long Island in a secure position. An opportunity to go develop myself into a business owner was placed in my future. After long discussions with my father, we both had to make a decision together which could affect all of us. Should I stay in a comfortable job, living a comfortable life and enjoying comfortable benefits? Should I take a leap of faith and jump off the cliff of entrepreneurship and take the risk of failing or succeeding in business for myself and my family?
All my life, I knew that my mission was to help people. That is why my motto for my business at “Olinda’s Cafe” is “We are in the people business serving food!” I do truly believe that’s why the opportunity to drive this vehicle of my future helping blend the love of food and love of family was placed right in front of me. I decided to take the opportunity and take over the restaurant. Was it easy? Not at all. I took over a decaying business. I guess I can say that the previous owner was struggling with issues due to serous circumstances in her life. Very happily, I decided to take over the business with a problematic history, but the circumstances never defined my vision. When the dream is big enough, the facts do not count. Well, that is how I see it. As a visionary I could see that my dream potential with Olinda’s Cafe was because of my vision to be a leader in helping people as much as I could. The first few weeks were very tough, but we have worked smarter not harder in the business. We developed a great culture and changed the whole business from the inside out. We are still not where we want to be, but we keep making progress every day. Every day in every way, my family business is getting bigger and better!
It was a very proud day for myself, Mr. Roberto C. Ramirez, and my father, Hector A. Ramirez, when there was a very special ribbon-cutting ceremony at Olindas Cafe and Restaurant in West Hempstead, NY. When Senator Kaminsky came with several legislators from the town and county, arrived with such grace and inspiration, I knew that this decision was one that I was meant to make. All of our family members and friends of Olinda’s cheered us on that day. This beginning has given our restaurant a new culture and new life for many who visit our location in West Hempstead, NY as we change the world one family at a time. As the song states “We are Family!”
Roberto Ramirez, owner of Olinda’s Cafe
