One, admittedly major, decision can change the course of your life for the better. Especially if that major decision involves you leaning into your life’s purpose. Because once you see the chance to align yourself with your goals, and you take it, everything starts to fall into place. This is exactly what happened with this week’s guest, Bricia Lopez. She started her culinary career taking over her parents’ struggling restaurant with her siblings, and now she’s a critically acclaimed, globally recognized chef. 

Bricia Lopez is a chef, entrepreneur, and acclaimed author. She is a partner at Guelaguetza Restaurant, recipient of The James Beard American Classics award and lauded by the late L.A. Times food critic Jonathan Gold as “The best Oaxacan restaurant in the United States.” Bricia has authored two cookbooks. “OAXACA Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico” became an instant Amazon bestseller and earned a 2020 James Beard nomination. Her second cookbook, “Asada,” published in 2023, was included in the New York Times’ list of best cookbooks of the year. In collaboration with her siblings, Bricia has launched two nationally distributed brands, including the bottled cocktail mix, I Love Micheladas™️, and Guelaguetza™️ mole starters. A sought-after featured guest, Bricia has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and judged Bravo’s Top Chef, while also being featured in high-profile outlets such as Forbes, NPR, Food & Wine, BBC, and The New Yorker.

In this week’s episode, we’re talking to Bricia about how she built a culinary empire rooted in culture. We also dive into how she maintains the confidence to build her dream life and how she can do it as a mother to two small children. Bricia is proof that you can give yourself anything you want; you just have to go for it. 

Follow Bricia on:
Instagram: @bricialopez

Website: https://www.bricialopez.com/ 

Follow Erika on:
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

Website:
http://www.theerikacruz.com

How to work with Erika:

Join the waitlist for the Courage Driven Latina program here.

Join the waitlist for the Magnetic Mastermind here.

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST.

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello friends. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Chingona Revolution podcast. This week we have a special guest named Bricia Lopez. I’ve come across her work through social media, but also at a few different conferences. [00:01:00] And as I was thinking about who I wanted to invite, I was like, I can’t believe I haven’t invited her yet.

But today she is on the podcast and she shares what it’s like to be. A, an entrepreneur, a parent, Latina. How to, how she’s managed, being driven, balancing all of these different things. Well, we never really have balance, right? But managing all of these different things. So CIA Lopez is a powerhouse. She is a chef and entrepreneur and bestselling author who’s all about honoring her roots while breaking barriers.

She’s one of the partners behind za, which is the iconic. Oaxacan restaurant in Los Angeles that has earned major love, including the James Beard American Classic Award And praise from the late food critic, Jonathan Gold, who called it the best Oaxacan restaurant in the United States.

Bricia has written two beautiful cookbooks, her first Oaxaca Home, cooking from the heart of Mexico, which we talk about during the interview today, and that [00:02:00] became. An Amazon bestseller and was even nominated for a James Beard Award. Her second Asada dropped in 2023 and made it onto the New York Times list of best cookbooks of the year.

Alongside her siblings, Bricia has also launched two national brands. I Love Micheladas. You may have seen those. I have tried ’em, and they are amazing. Even if you have the mixes with non-alcoholic beer, they are just as good. Highly recommend. So that is a bottled cocktail mix and you just put it into your, your beer.

Incredible. Especially in the summertime. And za mole starters, which are pretty much, um, I’ve also experienced those and they are amazing. It helps you with, um, be creating mole because the, the dried chilies, it’s already. Almost like this, this starter, and you just mix in tomatoes, different things like that, rather than having to go source your own chilies, roast them, blend them, doing all that.

So it allows you to really make these [00:03:00] authentic Mexican dishes from home without a bunch of the labor that It typically requires. All right, so you may have seen her on NBC’s Today Show, judging on Top Chef or featured in places like Forbes, food and Wine, the New Yorker n pr, and more. She really is a true representation of Cultura and Chingona energy.

So, all right, let’s get into this interview.

Welcome to Chin Revolution podcast. I’m so excited to have you. 

Bricia: thank you for having me. What a name. Chingona Revolution. All right? 

Erika: Yes. Um, it’s a bold name, so I came across your work. At a We All Grow event, and I believe it was when you had just come out with your second book. Okay. Actually, I first saw your work online through We All Grow because it was being shared for the Oaxaca book.

Love, love. Yes, yes, yes. And then the Asada book came out, right? Mm-hmm. And then the I Live mic mix in Costco came out and then I got [00:04:00] it in a goodie bag. I don’t even know what event I was at. And I, and I remember I used it and my mom, who doesn’t drink and I actually don’t drink anymore, but I used it with a non-alcoholic beer.

Mm-hmm. And my mom was like, and I was like, it was a sample and I was so sad. But, um, now I’m just like getting into a whole rant. But can you, I mean, I’ve already talked a little bit about, about what you do, but can you introduce yourselves for the people who may not know who you are? 

Bricia: Sure. Well, hi everyone.

My name is Bricia Lopez. I am. Huh? What am I, Erika? I live in LA with my family. I have two kids. I have a beautiful, almost five-year-old little girl who’s just a magical unicorn. And I have my 10-year-old son and I run a couple, a couple. I run a few businesses alongside my siblings. One of them is a restaurant, so we have a restaurant in Koreatown in la.

Uh, my restaurant’s name is Gela Getza. Um, I am there alongside my siblings. We’re [00:05:00] business partners in everything that we do. Um, and we pride ourselves in serving the best Oaxacan food in the country, which I still, I still believe, and I, hold me to my word. Um, we try every day. To bring the best food forward.

And, and as far as our culture in terms of food here at the restaurant, alongside the restaurant, we have our online store where we sell our moles starters, Hawkin pantries. I have a couple of cookbooks. I love to create content. Um, and one of the things that we also sell is our, I Love Micada Mix. Um, and I am also the co-founder of I Love Mic, which is.

Micada, um, you know, at this point it’s just like a mic lifestyle company girl. ’cause it is not just about the mix. We have parties, we have chamoy, we have all sorts of things. It really, it’s, um, it’s a wonderful, you know, company that has, that has grown and is now really just really promoting anything to do with like, Mexican American culture in, uh, in LA and in like this country really.[00:06:00] 

Erika: Beautiful, and we’re gonna get into all of the different events that you have coming up and into everything that you just talked about. Before we go there, I’m curious to know where did this all begin? Because your family’s been in the food industry for a while, right? Mm-hmm. So tell us a little bit about your younger life and how you came about to be this multiple.

Business owner, entrepreneurial badass, who is literally bringing Oaxaca culture like your cookbook was. Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Tell us about the early childhood. 

Bricia: I was born in Oaxaca. I was born in mla, Oaxaca. MLA is, uh, in the Valley of Oaxaca. MLA is the un, the world that connects the underground world, the living world in the world of the Zappa tech world.

So I am, I guess, in the birthplace, I am, I am from the place to where there is a direct connection to the under underground world. They’re called cloud people. So, um. That’s where of, that’s where I was born. And that’s where we have our [00:07:00] beginnings of our family. That’s where my mom is, is born as well. Um, we moved to LA in the mid nineties.

I was 10 years old and I grew up in la uh, in the mid nineties. At around that time, my dad opened a restaurant called ZA that I was talking about earlier. Um, he was a street food vendor. Um, lived in LA for about six months and brought us, I wanna say quote unquote us. I mean, my siblings and I, and my, and my mom.

Uh, we started our life here and, you know, then, then, then the life begins in this wonderful country and 30 years later we, you know, we’re still running the restaurant with my siblings, with my sister, my brother, um, and launch other businesses, um, like. Michelada business and other things that keeps us very, very busy.

Erika: Yeah, and it sounds like food was an integral part of your upbringing. I mean, just in general being Mexican, but especially when I think of Oaxaca and when, when I think of southern Mexico. But it sounds like [00:08:00] in your family, the food has been a primary role in connecting your entire family. So my question is, when your dad opened the restaurant, did you know that you wanted to continue on with the restaurant or did you have dreams of doing something else?

Like has your goal always been to stay in the food industry? 

Bricia: Hmm. That’s a very interesting question. So I, well, I grew up in the restaurant industry. I’m a immigrant kid. I think if you speak to any child of an immigrant family that owns a restaurant, I don’t think there’s very few people that will be like, I loved it.

I loved to go into the restaurant every after school and it was great to clean the tables and meet in the kitchen, you know, and I have met a couple of people that did. That was just their, that was just their passion and they just loved being in the restaurants as they were children. I. I loved [00:09:00] being in the restaurant because I just, I loved the busing of the restaurant.

I loved, I loved working at the restaurant. I loved creating community here. I had my friends here. Um, we used to have folk clerico dancing every weekend. I was in there, Forico group. I had so many friends. It was beautiful experience. But I, as a, as a, as a 17-year-old girl, 16-year-old girl, it was very difficult for me to like having to come to work after school.

I dunno if that makes any sense. 

Erika: It makes so much sense. This is why I am asking because a lot of people that I, I find it fascinating that you and your siblings have not just taken over the restaurant, but also. Help the restaurant grow. And a lot of family businesses that I know in my personal life, the children don’t really wanna continue on.

So that’s where my question stemmed from, but that makes sense. You wanted a life outside of the restaurant. Right? But what, like, I guess, when did that change for you? [00:10:00] When did you decide, okay, I’m ready to take over? 

Bricia: Um, I, you know. I think like anything in life, you just make decisions on where you wanna go in life.

You know, I think that I would’ve been very successful had I done anything else. Um, not that, you know, I’m tweeting my own horn, but I think like any, anyone, anyone that really wants to set out to do something, I think eventually, you know, I. Erica, you wanna do a podcast? You’re doing the podcast, right? Um, I don’t know if your par, I don’t think your parents were podcasters, right?

You just wanted to do it right? Definitely not. Yeah. I don’t think anyone’s parents were podcasters right now in this generation. But I think what it, what what I, what I was taught, it was more of the value of work and a little bit more of, um, consistency. I was, I, I was taught, I’m still learning patience, but I think working at the restaurant just taught me what work looked like, but.

I think for a long time I just didn’t, I didn’t think I, I didn’t wanna be here because I saw it as a job. I [00:11:00] didn’t see it as a career. And I think that’s when it shifted for me, when I realized that, you know, being part of the family business didn’t mean that I was gonna be a server for the rest of my life.

Right. Or being part of the rest of being the business wasn’t that I was gonna be a cook forever. I wasn’t gonna be a line cook for the rest of my life. Right. That wasn’t being a, being part, being a. Being part of this business wasn’t me having the keys to open the restaurant and close every day or mopping the floors, which I thought it was.

Right. That’s what I had registered that as work. ’cause I saw my parents do that. And I think as immigrant children, that’s what we grew up seeing. We grew up seeing our kid, our our parents just really actually do physical labor, right? So when we grow up, we think that if we don’t do that labor, then we’re not working.

So I always, always thought, I don’t want this life. I don’t wanna have to work this hard. Right? I don’t wanna have to get up at six o’clock in the morning and not have to, you know, just like, be straight. I don’t want this. 

Erika: Yeah. 

Bricia: But then I realized later on that I didn’t have to [00:12:00] do that in order to have what I wanted and still create the restaurant.

I realized, realized that you could create really however you want, you could having. Being a business owner is very hard, don’t get me wrong. And uh, you can speak to any, especially being a small business owner. Mm-hmm. Small. And I think a lot of people also have a misconception of what a small business owner is.

I think a lot of people don’t know, might even say, oh my God, this girl’s talking about multiple businesses and she’s not a small business owner. I know Adela, who is a small business owner across the street from me. Right. But I think people don’t understand what actually small business means. And um, running a small business is very, very challenging.

But there’s many ways of running it. There’s many ways of skinning the cat. Mm-hmm. And I think I realized at some point in my life that I needed to run the business and make this on my career, not just be a job. Um, also at the time my parents were retiring, um, they had to close down all their business downsizes.

My dad was losing a lot of money. Um, the restaurant industry is [00:13:00] hard. Business is hard if you don’t know your numbers. Yeah. If you’re not actively looking, you know, one day you’re in business and like it could go really fast. He lost everything in a matter of like eight months just. You know, you start losing a hundred thousand dollars a month without realizing until five months later, you’re like half a million down the hole.

You know, it’s just, it happens really, really fast in restaurants. Yeah, like, like in, in food, in food businesses, it happens really, really fast. People run through a burn through a lot of money. A lot of restaurants, they open longer than they should. It’s, it’s a very cash heavy business. Right. Um. But I, I think, I don’t know, I don’t know if answer your question, but I think to answer your question was, I, I think for me it shifted when I realized it was a career and it wasn’t like a, an everyday job.

My parents retired and since they were losing everything, they were just gonna close this down because they don’t know. Right. They don’t have, they don’t know, they don’t know about retirement. Right. So then, we decided to. Continue on and you know, then say, you know, why don’t we just give this a try?

What is, what’s the worst that can happen? So we [00:14:00] just, my siblings, when I say we, my sister, my brother and I just got together and we’re like, let’s work and let’s have fun. And we just started having the best time. We just, my parents moved and we just took over and mean, we were just playing business owners and we’re still pretending to be sometimes I feel, 

Erika: I love your response and you said something that was so key we.

As either immigrants or first gen. Look at our parents and see the hard work, the very labor intensive. The sacrifice. The sacrifice. I think use that 

Bricia: word 

Erika: sacrifice. Yeah, exactly. And you know, my parents are both entrepreneurs as well, but my mom cleans houses and my dad does landscaping. And, you know, they’re, they’re the owners of the business, so they’re not just working in it, but they also work in it.

So, I mean, to this day, my mom, I, I see my mom come home and she’s, you know, all sweaty and like, she’s in her sixties. Like she’s, she’s ready to retire and it’s such a labor intensive job. I. That when I decided that I was gonna leave, I [00:15:00] was working in the tech industry before running a coaching business, but when I decided I was going to leave, even my mom was like, no, you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur.

Like just go work for somebody else. And I think what you’re getting at. Is that the type of entrepreneurship that your parents experienced isn’t the same that you had to experience, and the moment you realize you could do it your way, which you have done it your way, but that’s when everything shifted because you’ve really been able to take this from like this family run spot to a nationally recognized brand.

Did you, whenever you decided to take over with, with your siblings. You were just playing, you just mentioned, but I mean, how did these things end up happening? How did you end up expanding the restaurant and then how did that lead to, I love mic. Was it through the play? Is that how it happened? 

Bricia: It happens in every day.

It’s. The journey. It’s really, it, it’s been, I’ve been, I’ve been at this for a very long time, over a decade. Right. It’s not just one day that just [00:16:00] happens. It’s one year. Building upon the other year, building upon the other year, and then the other year coming in and wiping everything you just did and start all over again.

You know? Yeah. It, it is just, I think it’s just understanding that it’s, ah, you just have to. I call it play because there, that’s just what I come and do every day. Right? I, I, that is the only way that I could really do what I do, because what we do is really difficult. Um, not difficult. What we do require is a lot of, uh, consistency.

Um, and it’s very difficult for anyone to be consistent, right? So, um, we’re in a consistency is the game. So we get to be creative within this space, and I think that’s where I have the most fun. And we’re fun and I have. I have the most incredible team, and sometimes I forget the, not actually, I never forget, but I, I’m, I always remind myself that the most important thing, it’s not, [00:17:00] well yes, it’s, it’s our decisions as business leaders, but it’s the people that you ha that you are leading, that you’re leading, and just like really having those people around you.

So. I call it play, but believe me, I, uh, I also, I am a very, I am a very, I am a very stern coach. Um, I’m very, uh, I demand a lot out of my team, but I think we all have a lot of fun in doing what we love, and that’s making food and creating experiences and, you know, the challenges come, but ultimately, if you all kind of have the same goal, it’s, it, it, things will just start happening.

Erika: Yeah. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Like you have to set a clear vision and the intention in where you’re going and. Share it with everybody to ensure that you’re all moving towards the same direction. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. A lot of the people who listen to this podcast, most of them are women, most of them are Latinas, and they aspire [00:18:00] to one day, one day aspire to, uh, become.

An entrepreneur will launch a business. But a big struggle is, do I have what it takes? Is now the right time? So I’m, I’m wondering, did you ever feel like you didn’t belong in certain rooms? Because the food industry is pretty male dominated. Um, that’s changing. I think women like you were changing that, but.

How did you work through that? If you ever felt like maybe out of place or was there ever a moment of doubt that you had and how did you work through it? 

Bricia: Moment of doubt.

I get the question you’re, you’re, you’re asking and I wanna give like the most honest. Answer because I think that as immigrant Latinas, we, the doubting, I don’t think if someone has stopped doubting themselves, let me know who your therapist is. I wanna hire her or him. Right. I, I don’t know. I’m working through therapy.

I take [00:19:00] it, I have a great therapist who just kind of helps throw that and learning to be kind to myself. Right. I am learning through that. Um. Mm-hmm. I think the challenge is working at yourself every day because ultimately, whatever story that you tell yourself, it’s all your story. I. So Sure. Am I the only woman in the room?

Yes. But it’s like the energy that I put on that, that really makes a difference. I don’t really look at it that way. When I go in and I, I channel my inner and I’m like, I’m as great as everyone here, and like that’s just how I’m gonna show up. That takes work though. So like that’s the actual work of like actually having to, every single day do the affirmations and believing it, you know, where actually confidence comes from.

Confidence comes in practice. So the more you practice, the more you’re going to rooms, the more you actually do the thing you wanna do, then you get confident. The reason why you feel like you’re [00:20:00] is ’cause you’re just not doing it enough and you’re not putting yourself enough in those places.

And that’s why you keep having those moments. But the more that you do it, the less you’ll have them. 

Erika: Yeah. Yeah. So do you have a like self-care practice or a morning routine? You mentioned affirmations. Is there anything else that you do? Obviously you mentioned therapy. Well, I do it all, girl. I 

Bricia: do it. Name it, I do it, yes.

Yes. I listen to Oprah. I listen to Tony Robs, I go to therapy. I, you know, I listen to all the great podcasts I try to consume. I’m very strong in my faith. Mm-hmm. I read the Bible. I go to church. I have a pastor. I have a friend who, you know, I listen to all I, I like to surround myself with things that make me grow, because otherwise I, whereas the alternative.

I, you know, time is so precious and I think for, for sometimes we get so caught up in our minds, really, [00:21:00] we get caught up in stories we tell ourselves, and yes, the world is very unfair. I believe it is. I see it every day. I see unfairness everywhere I go. And yes, it is difficult being a woman in today’s world, no matter what industry you’re in.

Is it it? We are a disadvantage in so many things from birth, even from going to the, I always tell people is even from going to the bathroom, having a bo, a boy, a daughter, and a son, they’re even just ha like, I’m like, we’re at a loss from the moment we’re born. Like we have to go find a bathroom, take our pants down, squat.

You know, like there’s so much more time that is asked of us as women. There’s so much more time that men don’t have to give up. So we have to work twice as hard, even again, even just by going to the bathroom. We’re already losing years. They’re already ahead because they just zip up, down, let go, let’s go.

You know? And we have to, you know, there’s a lot as women at the same time. We have to know that and take ownership and [00:22:00] responsibility. That if then that’s the, then that’s the reality then, then let’s make the decisions that we need to make for ourselves so we can heal ourselves and then show up for the world the way that we need to do.

So, yes, it’s hard, but it’s up to me to the work that it, so I don’t let it affect me. So then when I show up, I show up. That’s my best self and I like kill it and not let those doubts overcome me. 

Erika: Yeah, I, I think you’re bringing up a really good point where sometimes people have this misconception that affirmations once a week is enough.

But what you’re saying is you’re saying a few things. You’re saying you consistently need to show up for yourself. Of course, yes, there are disadvantages, but. The story you tell yourself is told by you. So you can always tell yourself a different story. You could sit here absolutely. And like be like, oh yeah, I’m at a disadvantage.

Or you could say, yep, it’s true. I’m at a disadvantage and here’s what I’m gonna do about it. 

Bricia: Of course. Which is then that’s sounds like that’s your decision and that is your free will and you have that choice and no one can make that choice for or for you, only you. Right. And that’s the hard [00:23:00] part, taking responsibility.

Erika: Yeah. Yeah. Let’s, uh, let’s switch gears a little bit to your cookbook, to Oaxaca. You are the first author from Oaxaca to write about Oaxaca. Mm-hmm. That’s insane to me. That is wild. So when we think about, I think a, a cookbook is such a beautiful documentation of your family and your gatherings, and. Now you’ve been able to share it with the world, but I think about if my mom.

Was to pass away and I have none of her recipes documented. I can’t recreate them. So this book is a gift to the world, but it’s also a gift for you and for the future generations. So can you tell us a little bit about the, um, experience of writing Oaxaca and then if you wanna talk about Asada as well, like what was that book writing experience and [00:24:00] what intention did you go into it with?

Was it the intention of, okay, I really have to capture the essence of these family recipes? And anything you wanna share about the book writing process? 

Bricia: Man, so when I wrote Oaxaca, I moved to Oaxaca. Um, I moved into my mom’s house for about a, for a month. Me and my son, he was two or three years old at the time when I was writing the book.

I. Um, I’m there for a month. My, uh, I hired a writer to help with the book. His name is Javier Cabral. Um, wonderful writer, great writer. He is also the editor of La Taco, so he’s like a little brother to me. We’ve known each other for over 20 years, so I hired him. He moved to Oaxaca for a week. Um, and during that time.

I just cooked every single day with my mom, and when I tell you I cook with my mom, I mean, we would get up in the mornings, we’d, um, get her next mile that we had just said the night before. We’d rinse [00:25:00] it. We’d walk together to the mollino, we’d grind our corn, we’d come back, and then we’d start cooking and we’d look at the list.

I’m like, okay, today we’re making re, we’re making anos, we’re making moot, and we’re making this perfect. Here is, I’m like, okay, mom, what do you need? Okay. We’d go shopping for the things. She’d come back and she’d just cook. She’d literally cook, and I would be there measuring everything, talking to her, tasting it, making notes, and the days that the writer was there.

You know, it was very, it was, having a writer was probably one of the most wonderful experiences I had because I, so I, I’m a writer. I, I write, I, I’ve written many articles. I love writing a journal forever. Um, but having someone that you can just sort of speak to and they’re able to transfer your words onto paper, almost having like a, almost like someone who can just really, he knows my voice so well, so it was so wonderful to see.

And, you know, just. For him to see everything notes like takes and [00:26:00] take notes and to get the essence of the kitchen. And then just having that experience with my son, with my mom, for us and for the family. And I was so thankful that my siblings trusting me with this project was because, for us, was more a preservation of our culture.

That’s, that’s what we’ve always wanted to do here at Gza. Gza really is how do we. How do you know? How do we not lose this? I mean, how do we create, I mean, we’ve been here for 30 years, right? Mm-hmm. That means that there’s a 30-year-old out there who pro who, who’s from Oaxaca, who probably has never been to Oaxaca, but knows every single flavor of Oaxacan food, the same as if she or him would’ve been born there, right?

So I think that is. At the essence of like what we wanna do and what I wanna preserve and just really like the beauty of our culture is specifically food is so important of who we are as people, and this country and their respect that we deserve is just so much more important than [00:27:00] anything. So for us, it was just about talking about the story and thinking about my son.

And how in, you know, another 30 years, 40 years, he will be making this food for hopefully his future generation or someone else. Right. And I found that just so powerful and so beautiful and I thought it was like, it was just such a privilege. It was a beautiful experience. Then we came back to LA and I took all the recipes that were written and I just tested them all over again.

So I just remade them here at my house. Um mm-hmm. And made all the notes and then had a photographer. We got all the pictures and. Writing a cookbook is a labor of love. Writing a cookbook is not I, if you were in, if you were in the business of cookbooks, don’t get in that business of cookbooks. It’s not like a money maker, but it’s just such a, it’s a project.

It’s like a, a beautiful scrapbook that you’re making for your family in the most gorgeous way possible. So I took it as that. Um, and I love what you said about your mom and the ingredients that you, and the, and the recipes that you [00:28:00] want to preserve. And I always tell people, please. I know that I wrote a book and I am very blessed, and yes, go on and please dream.

If you wanna write a cookbook, if that’s your dream, you can do it. It, yes you can. there is a pathway to doing it. It, you know, you just have to go. You just have to cook every single day and create content every single day. Yes, you can make a cookbook, but you don’t. You can also do it just on your own.

Don’t let that stop you from just actually doing it. There’s so many. There’s so many projects that die every single day from people that are waiting for something to happen in order for them to do what they wanna do. And guess what? It’s never gonna happen. It may never happen, and you need to just go and make decisions and go do it.

So if you wanna do a cookbook, if you wanna get your mom’s recipes, it’s very easy. Just write them. Today is you. We are living and yes, in the most awful times in [00:29:00] human history, but we are also living in the most exciting era ever in the history of human beings. And I’m, you can fucking be anything you wanna be, God like you can be anything.

You can create anything. There’s things that are going to exist to next week. There’s careers that are going to be created tomorrow that we probably would’ve never even thought about. Like our minds are, haven’t even fathom, they haven’t even unlocked. We’ve just unlocked an entire no universe of possibilities.

So sometimes I’m like, just do it. I stop. Stop listening to this podcast and just go fucking do the thing. 

Erika: That was so good. The waiting for something to happen outside of them and like, it really just takes a decision. Oh man. That was so good. Um, I want to just point out how, because you, you talked about how whenever you went back to Oaxaca, your mom was there.

Is that where your mom lives? 

Bricia: My mom lives in Oaxaca, 

Erika: [00:30:00] yes. Okay. So when they retired, they moved back to Yes, they moved to one. Okay, that makes sense. But how, um. Symbolic for you to be there with your son who is the next generation. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I’ve seen him on your Instagram, so he loves being in the kitchen with you, which is so beautiful.

And it was almost like your why was right there, right? You’re like, oh, this is why it’s so important. Because when he’s my age, he can open up this project and recreate all of these same, same flavors. 

Bricia: You know? What blows my mind? So this is new to, I mean, obviously I, my books are five years old and my son is 10.

But the other day I was like, wait a minute, like you can read, you can actually make us make a book report on your family. Like you can read this cookbook. Even the first 15 pages is just your families where like can now you’re 10. Like you should read this. Wait. This should be a mandatory read for everyone from the family as soon as they read, because.

This is the family story. Yeah. You know how like this is better than having a family tree. This is [00:31:00] like your actual thing on, and it just, I think it just sort of dawned on me at that moment. I’m like, oh my God, how’s like, wow, that’s, that was pretty cool. 

Erika: Yeah. So speaking about your son, and you have two kids.

Mm-hmm. How do you balance being such. Ambitious Latina, running multiple businesses, but also being a mom. And how do you manage the, the ambition with the, the rest and the motherhood? 

Bricia: Well, I don’t think anyone should manage their ambition, number one. I think if you have ambition, you should have ambition.

So I don’t think that’s something you should manage. Um, but if you’re saying, how do I allocate my time? Um, well, that’s very difficult. I think that when you’re a mother, and for all my moms out there, the guilt will never stop. You’re always gonna feel like a horrible mother no matter what. No matter what.

And your kids will always keep you very grounded. You could do something incredible for them, and they’ll be great. And then two minutes [00:32:00] later they’ll yelling at you and then they’ll be kissing you again and you’ll be like, okay, I love you. You know? So I think being a mom, you are already, you’re in this, in this new world of where you are.

So you have this immense love in this world of just internal forever, just the most beautiful love that you have for your children. But at the same time, you have the other side of the coin as well, which is like, this sucks so bad. And if I say it, I’m a horrible person. If I say I don’t like my kids, I’m bad.

I’m a bad mom, a bad mom. I think every mom goes through that, right? Um. That being said, I think that when you are of a female form, if you are a woman who likes to have things and who likes to and who, yes has ambition, [00:33:00] there’s certain things that life, things that you need to, you know, have or not have. Um.

I love my kids and I enjoy my kids when I’m with them. And I, what I do and what I’ve, what I, I make it, I am very intentional of this, is that when I’m with my kids, I am with my kids and they, I stop. There’s no work at that time. I, that’s it. I actually have a time off and, and you know what? I, sometimes I fall asleep with them.

Sometimes I go to sleep at 8:39 PM when I put them down. And that’s it. My, my my, my my day is done. And like, that’s it. Um. And sometimes I able to sleep like they fall asleep and I’m like, great. It’s like after school activities. I’m like, great, I have like three hours. I’m gonna squeeze in whatever I can right now until one o’clock in the morning.

’cause I gotta go over again tomorrow. And, um, I like to be their present for them. I’m not them, I’m not with them all the time. I’m not with them 24 7. I’m. It’s very difficult. When I travel for work, I do a lot of travel [00:34:00] when I’m not with them. There are days, there’s five day stretches that I don’t see them.

I don’t see my children for five days in a row, and it’s very hard. It’s, I think in day five, you know, I. I think moms that are probably listening to is like, oh my God, I couldn’t imagine not seeing my kids for five days. And then some moms are like, hell yeah. Five days with without children. That sounds awesome.

Right? So, um, you know, it’s, for me, it’s, it’s very difficult. It’s very, very hard. There’s lots of tears because I wanna see my kids, but at the end of the day, like I’m very happy doing what I’m doing. And I think that we get asked this question because we’re women. Listen, I, I went to dinner with this guy who wanted my business, um, and he was like, so who’s watching your kids right now?

And I was like, huh, interesting question. I was like, who’s watching your kids? And he was like, oh, I mean, you know, they’re with [00:35:00] my wife. I’m like, cool. My kids are with their dad. Like, you know? Yeah. Mm-hmm. It’s like, who’s watching my kids? I mean, maybe the babysitter, but I know their dad is parenting. I don’t know.

Someone watching, I hope someone’s parenting your child right now. I mean, or maybe they’re with a sitter and the sitter is watching them. I, I don’t know. But that’s like, again, because we’re females and we sort of in this position, we’re I guess in a very male energy. You know, just questions that are asked.

But I think that it’s just, again, our own, our own notions that we should be for the world, really. You know, the world, things that moms should be a certain way, but there’s many people in the world. There’s many of you. The only, only of you that really matters is your view and your children’s view. Right.

Yeah. And based on what I’ve seen with your content, it sounds like your children’s, well, content is content also don’t also like true content is content. So [00:36:00] you know, I think when someone looks at my content, they can think one day. But like it’s very different when you, when you see me, you know me, you live my life.

Content is different. That’s a whole other world too. 

Erika: Yeah. So then let me ask you the question in this way. Do you think that you being ambitious and sticking with the things that you wanna do is actually really positive for your kids to see? 

Bricia: I think it’s very positive that my kids have a healthy relationship with their mom, where they feel safe of having a conversation no matter what it is, no matter what I’m doing, if I’m a stay at home mom, if I’m like going to work every day, it doesn’t matter.

I think what matters is that my kids feel safe talking to me and having a relationship with me. Right. Like, yeah, that’s true. Sure. Is it good that they see me working? Yes. Would it be good if they saw me every day playing with them, like teaching them, you know, five languages and taking them to all the activities?

Absolutely. So I, there there’s a yes to both sides. I think, you [00:37:00] know, I, I, I just, I, I think like when you talk about like moms and things, it’s so difficult ’cause it’s so difficult. It’s so different for everyone and sometimes. I don’t want a mom to think like, no. Yeah, she’s doing so much and I’m just here.

And it’s like, no, because you’re not just there. You’re like being there for your child. This is when I, sometimes, I mean, I go through that all the time where I’m like, man, like it’s so like this. Yes. I would love to be there for my kid and I am when I can. I mean when I am, when I am, not when I can, but I am.

When I am. I am. Mm-hmm. But I choose to allocate some other time of my life differently and to creating something else. For them. That’s where I feel like that’s where I feel my children. It’s my, they’re my children, right? They’re gonna grow up the way that I raise them or my mm-hmm. You know, his, their dad and I raised them.

I don’t dunno if that makes any sense. Yeah, 

Erika: no, that makes so much sense. And I think you’re bringing up a really good point because I’m not a mom myself, but I asked this question because a lot of my clients are moms and I’ve [00:38:00] had clients who have had a situation where they, um. Become a mom and they’re like, I actually don’t really wanna work right now.

I wanna be with my kid. Yes. And I think what you’re saying is like, that’s okay. But I think what happens for my clients is because they were so ambitious, they feel shame. They feel like they’re not doing the right thing. And then I have clients who are on the opposite and where they do have ambition, but they feel shame of not being the one that’s taking care of their kids all the time.

But I think your point is it doesn’t matter what it is. What matters is, is it in alignment and au authentic to you? Yes. And your relationship with your kids. Like, is it serving what you and your kids need? 

Bricia: Yes. Because ultimately you’re creating the life for your family. This is your real mm-hmm. You’re creating your real reality every single day with your children, you know?

Yeah. This is, and, and absolutely. Children should be a priority. That is. Yes. I think number one, your children should be your priority. But [00:39:00] that, that translates so many diff difference to different people, right? When you say priority, some people are like, then I’m gonna make a priority. That means that they come first and I can do anything because it’s my kids.

For me, it’s like my priority is my children’s wellbeing that they, that I can. Create a world for them that gives them opportunity and sets them up for the future, number one, right. Like that I, that I especially, ’cause I come from an immigrant family, I want my kids to grow up to learn self-love, to learn self-respect, to grow with a self, authenticity, ownership, responsibility.

Mm-hmm. Right. I think that’s, those are the first foundations. And then it’s my responsibility as a mom to just guide them through the world and for me it’s well if they see me do what I love. Hopefully that translates into that. And doing through what I love, I can bring them into, have them experiences with [00:40:00] me and make them part of my life and my world.

My son and I are traveling next week. It’s just the two of us. We’re taking nine days off, him and I alone. Right. So creating these experiences for them that are gonna last, you know, creating these moments with them throughout the year. We’re taking two weeks off in the summer. Just the two, the three of us.

So like. I think that people underestimate like the value of being present sometimes and quality time and just like being present. That’s something that I am also struggling with and also that I’m always learning. I’m not, you know, I, I have to make sure that I do take time and I am present and I am a person that just.

Also runs a lot, like runs back and forth that I’m always trying to do everything and I’m like trying to be an overachiever and do a million things, as you know, as you can see. Um, but then within that I realized my flaw is there’s so many things that get lost in the cracks. Um, that unless I’m learned to be present, and that means letting go of more things, [00:41:00] um, then when I’m in the present is really when I can enjoy my children.

When I can be a great mom, when I can be the best me, but I can also be the best boss and the best sister and the best partner because then you’re actually present with the people. And sometimes, but even if you’re not busy, like if you are just not in a good head space, even if you’re there physically, you’re, you can probably like, maybe mentally you’re not there.

Right. And then you have to check in with yourself and be like, maybe I actually don’t wanna be here. Maybe I should, you know, do something else and maybe I will put my kid in in daycare for now to daycare of myself. And that’s making him a priority, because if I am okay, then he’s gonna be okay. So I think it’s just being self, self-aware.

I think we went to different, in a different direction, but I’m like, oh my God, maybe I’m over answering these. No, I 

Erika: think it, I think somebody out there needed to hear everything that you just said. Yeah. And I was, one of the questions I had for you is what are you currently working on? But you already mentioned, you said you were working on being present and patients, right?

[00:42:00] Yes. 

Bricia: Yes. 

Erika: Great. So, um, um, being 

Bricia: a better listener. 

Erika: Hmm. That’s a good one. Yeah. So a lot of the listeners are in California and a lot of them are in the LA area. So can you tell us what are some of the things that you have going on that people who are local should know about? 

Bricia: Oh, well come to the restaurant please.

In Koreatown. Za, we’re an Olympic in Normandy in Cape Town. Please come visit the restaurant. Please come and say hi. Um. And we, oh my gosh, my, my brother and I throw the biggest party in Los Angeles once a month, every first Friday of the month. Please come to our I love mic’s. First Fridays. Um, it is the biggest celebration of Mexican American culture in LA and it’s so fun.

It’s 3,500 people, two stages, live bands, five DJs, and lots of micheladas. It’s so fun. So come every first Friday of month, you can find, uh, find out about all of those things on Instagram. You can follow me, Bria Lopez, or. I love Micheladas, like all the places. [00:43:00] 

Erika: I have to ensure that my next trip to LA is on a first Friday because I have to come to one of these.

You have to 

Bricia: come. Yes. 

Erika: Yes. Um, so for the people who maybe aren’t local, but they still wanna stay connected, you have a newsletter. So can you tell us about that? 

Bricia: Yes. I have a newsletter, it’s called From Oaxaca. It’s on Substack, um, where I share five, my, my partner and I share. My partner and I share five recipes a month.

Um, just rooted in our love for Oaxaca and seasonalities. He lives in New York. I live in LA and it’s just us sharing wonderful recipes for people. 

Erika: Beautiful. Um, so you already mentioned your website. Did you mention your, how else can people connect with you? So there’s the newsletter, there’s the in-person stuff.

Anything else we should know? 

Bricia: Instagram, Bricio Lopez, Instagram? 

Erika: Yes. Perfect. Okay, well we will link all of that down below. Um, congratulations on. Your impact when it comes to food and just really bringing Mexican culture, specifically Oaxacan food [00:44:00] to the states. Thank you for the work you do. Thank you for being such a leading voice for Latinas, for being such a powerhouse.

And also thank you now after having this interview being so intentional with the way that you parent as well. Um, so I think we covered a lot of great things in this interview. Is there anything that I didn’t ask that you might wanna share? 

Bricia: I don’t know. Um, no, I always say thank, thank you for having me.

Thank you so much. Thanks for listening. If you’re still listening, I, I hope that, and something that I say resonates with you and just take action. I think more than anything, I think it really isn’t just make, make a decision. 

Erika: Yes. There’s so much power in just making a decision, right? Make a decision. Yeah.

So much power in that. Beautiful Bia, thank you so much for your time. We know you’re busy. I appreciate you so much. So for those of you listening, if you took anything away from this podcast episode, take a screenshot. Make sure that you tag us both so that we can see. Yes. What stood out to you? Smack 

Bricia: me.

Erika: Yes. Fantastic. Okay, well I will see you at one of the [00:45:00] first Friday events. Thank you so much. Oh, yes, 

Bricia: girl, bring, don’t forget your, 

Erika: Oh, I will not!