Check Out Tracy Carroll’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Carroll.

Hi Tracy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Long story short, I am a child of immigrant parents, Lazaro Prieto & Gladys Rodriguez, who individually made the personal sacrifice to leave Habana, Cuba for a better life. My mother arrived in the U.S. in the mid-60’s and my father in the 70’s after spending several years in Spain before coming to the U.S. Years later, in Miami, they met, got married, and had 3 kids.

Cindy is the oldest, I’m the middle one, and Jenny is the youngest. We were all born and grew up in Hialeah, located in the greater Miami area. We later moved to Irmo, SC after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami in 1993, and then a couple of years later moved to Longwood, FL where we finally settled down. Time passed and after graduating from Flagler College with a Bachelor in Accounting, with a minor in Business & Finance, I moved back to Miami in 2007.

I met my husband there, Doug, in 2009 and got married in August 2010. We have two kids, Reed who is 10, and Emilia who is 2. I worked for the State Attorneys Office, 11th Judicial Court for 5 years as the Lead Investigative Accountant, the University of Miami’s Athletic Department as their Associate Director of Accounting for Business Operations for 3 years.

At the University of Miami’s Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science for 5 years as their Sr. Financial Analyst. In the summer of 2020, we decided to take the easy but very difficult decision when the COVID pandemic hit, to quit our jobs and put our family first. So we sold our beloved Miami home and moved to Green Cove Springs in the hopes of having our kids grow up in a small town away from the chaos that the city brings.

Let me be honest… I miss Miami! The smell of the saltwater! The hot sun! The tropical trees! The parrots that flew over our house! Our friends & family! Whip and Dip! Miami’s Best Pizza! Havana Harry’s! Navarros! Sedano’s! Black Point Marina! The Golden Hog! All of it! And boy do I miss my Cuban food and my Cuban stuff! So naive and wholeheartedly determined, I’m bringing that to my new town!

Emilia’s Cuban Market started in my head as a small pop-up that would sell a few Cuban products, maybe even a few homemade Cuban deserts but it has quickly evolved into a modern Cuban wonderland focused on “old school” classic nostalgic products that the older generation still uses, to new modern products that my generation and younger are looking for.

Our shop will honor the sacrifices that so many Cubans made to ensure that the next generation got a chance at a life they had to leave behind. It’s been wonderful traveling back to Miami to hand pick products and working with other small businesses for products to sell at the shop. My goal is to move the pop-up into a permanent storefront in the near future.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, not at all! I have plenty of experience on the corporate side of the business but as an entrepreneur, I have none. I’ve learned so much by doing almost everything myself.

The hardest part has been finding the right resources and finding the right products at the right price. I feel strongly that because Latin products are still a novelty in most areas in the U.S., it doesn’t mean that they have to be sold at a high price.

I know that some of my clients will be immigrants and first-generation Americans, they have been and continue to work hard to make the American dream possible. I am very mindful of that and know that they shouldn’t have to break the bank when buying a Latin or Spanish product that they love and remind them of home.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I worked for Talbots, Inc. for 7 years, from high school thru graduating from college. I did it all… stock room, clean, sell clothes, stock shelves, open & closing the store, etc. Talbots treated me like family! I have very fond memories of working for them.

I worked at the State Attorney’s Office, 11th Judicial Court in Miami for 5 years (2007 – 2012) as the Lead Investigative Accountant in the Criminal Investigation Division. I investigated and solved cases of financial and economic nature. I was deemed an Expert Witness in Accounting by the Court.

I was the Associate Director of Accounting for Business Operations in the Athletic Department of the University of Miami between 2012 – and 2015. Then I moved over to the Rosenstiel School for Atmospheric and Marine Sciences at the University of Miami and was there until I left Miami in 2020. I was the Sr. Financial Analyst.

What am I most proud of… my willingness to keep going. I was never good at school, I had to work very hard to get the good grades I had. Academics didn’t come naturally to me so to have worked so hard and to have it pay off by holding the positions and titles that I had, is a blessing and something to be proud of.

What sets me apart is that I don’t give up easily. Even on my hardest days, having some of the hardest cases, or hardest deadlines… I never gave up. I worked hard, and when that wasn’t enough, I worked harder. It’s what’s made having my own business now easier to handle.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Making a major career change can be absolutely frightening. But where there’s a will, there’s a way! Your outlook on life and your drive is so different when you’re working for yourself. It’s a challenge, I won’t deny that, and there are days I feel like giving up or days I just don’t want to do it anymore. But I have to put those excuses and fears aside and march forward. I had a colleague, Doctor Purkis, once tell me… you make your decision and you move forward and don’t you ever look back! I’ve done just that.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: Emiliascubanmarket.square.site/
• Instagram: @emiliascubanmarket

Image Credits
Renae DeVine @Devinevisionz2020