Moneda Moves (164): How To Bootstrap A Business | Eddie Sandoval, CEO & Founder, Pinole Blue
Hola, Moneda Moves fam! Today’s new pod episode starts with a personal anecdote, written for our newsletter readers first:
When I first met today’s guest, I thought: This man is a hustler. It was just about a year ago at the NextGen 30 Under 30 ceremony. Eddie Sandoval, an entrepreneur, walked up to me and handed me a brown bag with a sticker on it labeled “Pinole Blue.” Immediately, my brain made the connection:
“Wait I’ve seen you on TikTok!”
Little did I know he wasn’t only growing his footprint on the social media platform (380K followers and counting), he was expanding his footprint, physically. He went on to tell me how he piled pinole, this wonderful ground maize native to Mexico in his pickup truck and drove from Wichita, Kansas, to meet small and big Latino business owners from coast to coast who he thought would be interested in his product. He told me of how he carried a flask warm with pinole to serve, have business owners sample firsthand and everything that he learned about our Latino communities along the way. From that moment, to later seeing Eddie on Shark Tank, I knew he needed to come on the show.
That brings us to today, where we speak with the founder and CEO of Pinole Blue about how he learned about pinole, the importance of his storytelling on social media and his very unique bootstrapping approach to his business. You can find today’s episode here.
Now, onto Eddie’s story: Pinole Blue started out of a dorm room while Eddie was studying business at Wichita State University.
His family is from Chihuahua, Mexico. Growing up, he would take trips twice a year to visit and bring home pinole, a multi-use, nutrient-dense mixture of roasted ground maize savored by his family for generations. He realized his family wasn’t the only one that missed having easy access to pinole but even American endurance athletes. Pinole is popular among the Tarahumara tribe of Chihuahua, who would drink it for energy before running long distances and have gained a spotlight for winning ultramarathons all over the world.
An entrepreneur at heart, Eddie bought half a ton of raw heirloom blue corn in Mexico and drove back from the border to start production in his parents garage. That spring semester of 2017, his dorm room at the time became the distribution center and headquarters, where other blends were developed.
After graduating from Wichita State and winning the new venture competition, Eddie pursued Pinole Blue full time. Pinole Blue now makes different drink mixes, protein mixes, cookies and stone ground tortillas all from organic blue corn while donating back to the Tarahumara community. The company has been featured in major outlets including Buzzfeed, Remezcla and Shark Tank Season 13.
You can listen to that full episode here. No te lo quieres perder.
Con poder,
Lyanne
Headlines to put on your radar.
Moneda Moves Guest SOMOS Foods lands in Target: Congratulations to our friends at SOMOS Foods, whose founder Miguel Leal recently joined us on Moneda Moves. As of 9/24, they will be available on Target shelves.
Per Miguel’s post on LinkedIn:
“We’ve been dreaming about this moment since the day we started, and we couldn’t do it without our incredible partners at Target. As a small brand, this is the ultimate #bullseye. Look for us on endcaps today, and you can find our kit on shelf in all Target stores nationwide starting 9/24!”
Chicago Seeking Proposals for Good Food Fund and Early-Stage Food Business Incubator Programs: This one goes out to all our readers based in Chicago! Late last month, Chicago issued a call out for food entrepreneurs in communities with inequitable food access Per Mayor Brandon Johnson:
“Through the Good Food Fund and the Early-Stage Food Incubator Program, we can better support our local food businesses and entrepreneurs as they help Chicago grow as the primary food hub in the country while also filling in the gap by providing access to communities that are experiencing food insecurity.”
Thank you for joining us! Until next time, catch us here on Moneda Moves.