Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaime Yanez and Meilyn Tigrera.
Hi Jaime and Meilyn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a family of Venezuelan immigrants who arrived in this country in March 2016 fleeing political persecution; With the support of my brother Alex Amaro and other childhood friends (Eliscruz, Ernesto, Carlitos, Glenda and Arturo) they gave us their support when we arrived in this land, and thus we began a new life in this wonderful country. Our first jobs in this city were like those of many immigrants who do not know the language from picking up garbage in construction, cleaning apartments, cooking and washing dishes in restaurants, then we met Mrs. Martha Silva, a member of the organization Connection America, who guided us and it was possible to carry out our first venture in July 2018 called Joropo Grill (this consisted of selling typical Venezuelan food), we took this project to the Managers of the Nolensville Farmert Market Kasi and Daniel Haire who despite knowing that they did not We spoke English, they accepted us and supported us in everything that was within their reach, in this market we were working every Saturday from July 2018 to September 2019, we felt like family since all customers and vendors treated us with great affection and made us feel like we belonged to this beautiful community.
On the recommendation of Mrs. Martha Silva, we were able to be the first weekend of December 2018 at the Nashville farmers market, this motivating experience continued to fill us with the desire to move forward as we met new people and the acceptance of our business was wonderful. This beautiful project came to an end in January 2020 motivated by the loss of my father Marcos Yánez, shortly after the Covid-19 global pandemic began we were able to accept that we could not return with Joropo Grill, the first months of the pandemic served to protect ourselves and analyze our lives and realize that our health was in danger, so we decided to make a change in our way of eating, this change was 100% positive and allowed us to see an incredible opportunity that today is called Joropo Green Market This project was born from the experience we live when consuming the organic and non-transgenic products of our local farmers, at that time we clearly saw the need that other people also had who bought their products through farmers markets; and we decided to take them from the farmer to the consumer without intermediaries, giving them the opportunity to continue having fresh and quality products within reach of their home. On our wheels, we not only carry food, we also share the love received by the inhabitants of this city. And you will wonder: What is Joropo?
Joropo is the typical dance of our country and it is the way to bring a little of our country to this our new country.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has not been a smooth ride. The main challenge we have had has been the language since we have not mastered it yet and we are always being supported by our daughters.
The second has been to publicize a new business concept in the city since not having anything similar, the process of obtaining permits was quite hard.
The third has been to get the places to start since this new concept was very difficult to explain with our short English when we did not have the opportunity for one of our daughters to join us.
But even with these challenges, we did not stop.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Jaime has been a cook from an early age and I have a degree in public accounting in my native country. Here we did a lot of jobs from construction to Uber and Lyth drivers. We are recognized for being kind, we like to help people who need us, we love being able to volunteer with the Nashville Food Project and do garbage collection on our own. We are proud to be able to teach our daughters how good it feels to be part of such a wonderful community as Nashville, we are also proud of ourselves for not allowing ourselves to be overcome by the adversities that come our way.
I believe that we can distinguish ourselves from other people by the impetus we have and the desire to be part of this new culture and the people around us, we always want to learn more about the environment and participate in activities where we can support those who need it.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
We would love to tell you that we feel very identified with this phrase from Walt Disney that says: “If you can dream it, you can do it”.
Since it was what we lived, this project was a dream that we believed almost impossible, then we began to investigate the options we had and we worked it little by little until we saw it come true, we still have a long way to go and we are willing to perform them with excitement, joy and the certainty that the people who know you will love it.
We also want to tell you that the best legacy we can leave to our children is to have a healthy life full of purposes and the assurance that it is possible to achieve it, just as we made a radical change to improve our health and by example teach my daughters we are what we eat, so having a better diet will make them have a better and longer life.
We would like to recommend that you visit the farms and consume their products, there you will meet phenomenal people and have fresh food that will make your lives healthier.
Contact Info:
- Email: joropogreenmarket@gmail.com
- Website: www.joropogreenmarket.com
- Instagram: @joropo_green_market
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joropogreenmarket
