Very Short Interview No. 1 with Teresa Aleppo

     For my mini interview with an entrepreneur, I chose to speak with Teresa Aleppo, one of my father's oldest and closest friends. She has been an entrepreneur for many years, always trying new endeavors and never afraid to take a bit of a risk. One of her earliest businesses was named The Stuffed Basket, a boutique/gift shop where people could place orders for handcrafted, artisan gift baskets filled with unique treats and goodies. After this, she later on pursued her love of cooking and opened her own bakery and rosticceria, MarLyssa's, a charming hole-in-the-wall place with everything from French pastries to homemade eggplant Parmesan to chicken salad croissants with a dedicated following of patrons.
     After a few years she chose to close this business to open her own catering business, MarLyssa's Catering Co. This business is still thriving, and I often work various events for her as a prep cook, waitress, or bartender. In between all her endeavors, she has also had a few little side businesses, such as making homemade jams and jellies to sell at craft fairs or selling freshwater jewelry at Junior League conventions. I have known Teresa all of my life and I have always admired her drive and determination to pursue her dreams, never worrying if something fails as she knows that this means it was simply not God's plan for her and that there must be a better path on the horizon.

• Me: What does it mean to you to be an entrepreneur?

• Teresa: For me, it is someone who has the heart, desire, and drive to take an idea and turn it into a business. Someone who enjoys working for themselves and has a strong development of management and leadership skills.

• Me: What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?

• Teresa: I believe you should learn what it takes to start a business and properly develop it, the skills required to operate your own business, and the mindset necessary to come up with an innovative idea that meets the markets unmet needs.

• Me: What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

• Teresa: I wish that I had been taught the importance of understanding the research that goes into starting your own successful business, of having an accurate and concrete plan with solid numbers to back it up, and of having a better understanding of fact checking.

     From this interview, I was surprised to hear Teresa say that she wishes she had been taught a better understanding of how to formulate a concrete plan with accurate numbers. This surprised me because those are two things that I have always thought she was very good at, as she is successful in whatever plan she sets in motion and always seems to have the numbers to back it up. This goes to show that people are always growing and improving, skills can be acquired through practice, and an entrepreneurial mindset is certainly not something that cannot be learned.

xoxo The EntrepreTraveler