Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolina Canales.
Hi Carolina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It all started when I was 14 years old of age. I traveled to the USA with the hope to be with my Mother and siblings. As I had spent my childhood with my adoptive family back in Honduras. Once I got to Miami, I started middle school, seven months later high school and at the age of 17 my first job was a fast food restaurant. My transportation was the metro rail which ran from north side to the south side, approximately 45 minutes of travel. I even remember running from the train station to my home every night after my shifts. My high school years went by fast and I had to start college. By the age of 21, I was pregnant, having to stop school and pause all my dreams. My then husband used to say school was not an option anymore as we had to work to pay bills and raise our boy. Our marriage lasted five years and after divorcing I was able to go back to college. Having a full-time job as a manager in Merrick Park Mall ( one of the more high-end malls in South Florida), I finished two associates in Miami-Dade college one in arts and the other in science as an interior designer. Six years later, I met my husband and moved to North Carolina, where we opened a trucking company. I lived there for five years in which three years I spent at UNCG where I graduated as an Interior Architect. The same year I was graduating, I was battling thyroid cancer, and everything changed. Life’s purpose had a different meaning, and I remembered why I had come to the USA. When I was little, I remember traveling to San Pedro Sula the industrial capital of Honduras. Despite being a very busy city there was lots of poverty and many homeless walking barefoot on its Streets. Most of these kids were drug addicts, with ripped clothes and holding a bag Resistol, a toluene-based sweet smelling adhesive used in the manufacture and repair of shoes and leather goods to kill their hunger and despair. For years I had put aside my promise, of one day going back to Honduras and helping these kids by providing a food shelter and more importantly an education and bring them back faith in God. Canales products has a compromise in the way of helping. We are already sending clothes to the children of a very poor community named Esparta, Atlantida in the North of Honduras. The dream won’t stop there; Canales is hoping one day business grows to the point that we can expand to more poor areas and help all honduras’s childhood to be able to have a more decent life.
Carolina Canales
Ceo
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Just moved from North Carolina to North Florida. It is a challenge to get to know a new place’s culture and social standards, however, we have been well accepted as family As well our sauces have reached a high level of acceptance mainly for the Anglo-American and Latino American community who are willing to go for products that are good for your health, with no preservatives added nor artificial flavors.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Canales is a Family-Owned business in the city of Jacksonville Florida. Organic Hot sauce, primarily eventually a variety of organic goods such as Teas Hair products & Salsas. It all started when mother and son decided to work together in a dream in order to bring a mission to life and share their faith in every bottle sold.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
With their faith in God Canales opened the business taking all kinds of risks with no profit just a dream in mind and a promise from God.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.canalesusa.com
- Instagram: Canalesproducts
- Facebook: Canales products
