Meet Our Empresarios: Sandy’s Myanmar Cuisine
Hacienda CDC’s Empresarios programming supports entrepreneurs to start, grow, and scale their businesses. Read more about our featured Empresario and learn about our amazing community of small business owners.
Following a successful series of pop-ups at the Portland Mercado, Mya Sandy Myint, who has been in the Mercado Empresarios program since August 2019, has transitioned to opening her first brick-and-mortar food stall at the CORE (Collective Oregon Eateries) food hall in South East Portland. She is planning on opening this year. Along with participating in our boot camp and advising programming, Sandy also received logo and branding support via the Empresarios design pilot program. She is currently enrolled for a business Individual Development Account (IDA) through Hacienda CDC for added capital to support her continued growth forward.
We connected with Sandy to learn more about her experience in the Empresarios program:
Tell us about yourself, your business, and how you connected with Empresarios?
I migrated to the United States in 2005 from Myanmar. I had a restaurant business for 11 years in my country and started my business, Sandy’s Myanmar Cuisine, in Portland in 2019. In that time, I started my business at a farmer’s market. For the farmer’s market, I needed to find a commissary kitchen to serve food to the community. I searched in Google for the nearest in my area for Commissary Kitchen and I found Portland Mercado Commissary Kitchen and I submit my application. The response was very fast and I got connected with a Business Engagement Specialist and received lots of information and connected to Hacienda CDC. I attended the Boot Camp Program and took a business class from PCC with a scholarship I received from the program. After that, I got assigned a business advisor.
How did Empresarios impact you and your business trajectory?
Since I came to this country as an immigrant I didn’t have any knowledge about business [in this country] especially the food and restaurant business, because they have so many rules and regulations. I had no idea. So I went to the boot camp and I got a lot of context and information that is very helpful for my business and helps me keep going with my business. My advisor and the supportive grants I’ve received from Hacienda have helped me survive. My dream is to continue gaining more and more education to support my business. I want to build up and grow Sandy’s Myanmar Cuisine more and more.
What would you say to someone wanting to start a business of their own?
Sandy and her son Brandon
I would recommend them to Hacienda and if they wanted to go into the food business I’d tell them to look at the commissary kitchen. That is a very good place to start to build your business. Hacienda is wonderful and gives a lot of support. For people like me, a minority woman in a small community, you need a lot of information. To start a business, we need support very much.
What is one thing that you’ve taken out of this experience? What made the most impact on you?
I did have a lot of difficulties financially in 2020 and I got [connected to] a support grant through Hacienda and that was the biggest impact. If I had not gotten that grant I could not continue, especially during this time. Finances are everything. Hacienda has the information that you need to start a business especially for immigrants and minority groups. They give a lot of information regarding financials, IDAs programs, how to save, and how to get [capital]. We have no idea where we have to start to get the information. Hacienda gives us ways to navigate it and get educated. Hacienda is my navigator.
These last few years have been very difficult for businesses. How would things look different for you without this support?
Without Hacienda… Sandy’s Myanmar Cuisine could not survive. I am very thankful from the bottom of my heart to the Hacienda CDC organization and everyone who support Sandy's Myanmar Cuisine in Portland, Oregon.