The following is the transcript of an interview between Sergio Muñoz and Poncho Corona
Sergio: How do you identify?
Poncho: Mexican. A Hispanic entrepreneur. I was born in Zamora, Michoacán.
Sergio: Tell me about the home where you were raised…
Poncho: It was a beige two-story rental in Santa Ana with a small tree in the front yard. It was made of wood and stucco and it has brown accents. I lived there with my parents and my three sisters.
Sergio: Where did you find yourself socio-economically at the age of 16?
Poncho: Better than most of the other kids in the neighborhood. We had a business, we had a brand new car, we took vacations. I saw that a lot of my friends lived in homes that had multiple generations under the same roof.
Sergio: What was expected of you at the age of 16?
Poncho: To behave well, to get good grades and to help with the business. The business was opened in 1981 when I was five-years-old so when I was 16, my parents were already ten years in. I wasn’t necessarily expected to go to college. I could choose to go to college or go into the family business. I did go to State University in Colima and that is where I met my wife. We were married and then soon thereafter, moved back to live in Santa Ana.
Sergio: Tell me about the business …
Poncho: It was and is a storefront selling Mexican food but specializing in mesquite-grilled chicken. My wife and I are second generation owner operators. We were from Jalisco and we lived for a time in Colima but the chicken style is from Sinaloa a northern state in Mexico, that is why it is called El Pollo Norteño. We have 15 storefronts now throughout California. We are in the process right now of opening two more locations. We have licenses to open new branches in other States too. We have a few trucks as well for all of our catering clients. We also have a trademark because we invested heavily in our compliance as a business. My wife, Karina, and I invested as 50% owner of the business. My mom had the other 50% after my father died of pneumonia.
Sergio: Tell me about the home where you live present-day …
Poncho: We live in the same town where I was raised. It is a beige one-story on a cul de sac with a brown roof. We have lots of trees. We raised our three children in this house but they don’t live with us anymore. My wife and I married young and began having children early. This is the second home that we purchased because we bought our first condo prior and used the equity to buy this home.
Sergio: Who taught you to ladder like that?
Poncho: We just learned it as we went along but we have met lots of people, including great realtors, that have helped us along. We now have some commercial real estate and also some rental properties so we have been very blessed. Our children have had a good life and we have had a nice marriage with a great family life.
Sergio: When you think of prosperity, what comes to mind?
Poncho: I was involved in the business but there came a point when I was in charge. I applied ideas to make it more modern, more sophisticated, more efficiencies. That’s the moment when we jumped from one location to over ten locations. We had some restaurants that we could not keep open. We made mistakes with locations and leases and we had some costly mistakes. We have a very positive life, we are building generational wealth. We also give back to the community through the Rotary Club, Local Little League, other sports groups, music programs, Mexican folklore dance programs, and other nonprofits.
Special thanks to Jimmy Puccini for this interview.
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Sergio C. Muñoz is a Mexican banker writing on Latina/o Prosperity. His work has been featured in the US Hispanic Business Council; Caló, the Los Angeles Times, the OC Register, PBS, NPR, WNYC, Revista - Harvard Review of Latin America, Studio 360, Latino Leaders Magazine, Poder Hispanic, Sopitas, Animal Político & ¿México Cómo Vamos?
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