Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Villarreal.
Hi Daniel, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
It’s always a thrill to be asked about our story. It brings us back to reminisce on those times we will never forget but sometimes store away deep in our minds and disregard how it all started. We love our story…and not only because it’s ours but because we use it to encourage others to take risks and believe in themselves. We use it to help others push through their barrier of fear and take that leap of faith to start their own small business. We can do anything we put our minds to, it’s only a matter of hard work, dedication, and never giving up, having the ability to stand back up when we get knocked down…as failure is the key to success and growth.
Villa Berries was created by my wife and I over the tough times of COVID-19. My wife and I have been together through all kinds of ups and downs for the past 12 years…as many opportunities of taking risks have always been presented to us. We both graduated with college degrees; my wife in Education and myself in Dietetics and Nutrition. Our biggest risk started right after graduation, as I was on track to study Physical Therapy…so I thought. Until the moment I got offered an opportunity of a lifetime, not knowing at that time, to change careers and take on a new path pursuing a life in the world of Wine and Spirit distribution. The decision to leave all I’ve studied, the life my wife and I had dreamed of, and accepting the possibility of failing our loved ones was one of the toughest decisions we’ve had to make. A decision discussed together and took the chance on.
So what does that risk have to do with Villa Berries you ask? I’ve been with the company for the past several years and with that risk, I’ve learned about not only wine and spirits, but also the ability of enhancing one’s experience with their senses and indulging in the compatibility of food and alcohol. The risk we agreed on taking together led us to our next risk…Villa Berries.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve dreamed of creating my own business. It wasn’t ever anything in particular but it was the thought of owning something, something that belonged to me and produced income. Yet, we as people always find an excuse on why we can’t. Why we shouldn’t. Why it isn’t a good idea. I was once one of those people. My wife would repeat to me time and time again, “you have my support on anything you want to do, as you can do anything you put your mind too”, but I never took that risk. Until I did…
During the hard times of COVID-19, my wife and I sat and discussed a new opportunity, an opportunity to start something new. Was this a risk? Yes. It wasn’t the time to spend our finances as we didn’t know what the future held for our careers during this current time. But, all those excuses needed to be thrown out as this was a perfect time to engage in a dream.
Yes..there were good days and bad days. There were days we didn’t know where to start and wanted to give up. Something new…how do you go about that? Honestly, dive headfirst and JUST GET STARTED. Take the risk and figure it out! The hardest part is getting started, the rest will come. It took us months to figure out what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. We spit-balled ideas until finally something caught our attention. The brilliant idea of boozy berries came to fruition. This concept tied in my knowledge of enhancing desert experiences with alcohol and my wife’s love for chocolate-covered strawberries. We said it, we accepted it and we fulfilled it. The idea was created and Villa Berries was born.
Today we give thanks to all our family and friends for the love and support they have given us to help us succeed. We continue this journey of our small business and continue to take the necessary risks to continue our growth. If it wasn’t for taking risks and chasing a dream, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today.
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?
Is it ever a smooth road? Taking risks is risky business. Starting a company knowing there’s a possibility of failure creates fear in most people. Fear is one of the biggest challenges people need to face. It’s one of the biggest challenges my wife and I faced with this company. Fear of failure, fear of losing money, fear of our time management…those are all struggles we as business owners face…and thats ok. That’s what makes every moment worth it. That’s was makes us grow.
Some of the struggles we faced included: consistency of the strawberry, finding the perfect complementary liqueur, and choosing the perfect chocolate. Continued consistency of the strawberry included sizing of the berry to create customer satisfaction, how much chocolate to cover the berry, and how much coating. The interesting part was choosing the perfect liqueur to complement its strawberry flavor. We wanted our customers to bite into another world and have an unexplainable experience. In order create that, we needed everything to be perfect, including the chocolate we chose to use.
Aside from that, one of our biggest struggles is time management. My wife and I have full-time jobs and continue to find the time to manage our business. The help of our family and friends have also been a huge blessing in this struggle. Non-the-less we will continue to grow as necessary.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m currently pursuing a career in the wine and spirits industry and my wife in education. I’m known for my crazy, outgoing personality in the sales world and my wife is known for her caring personality in the educational world. There can only be one crazy one in the relationship and the other to calm them down…or that’s how we like to look at it.
We are most proud of the steps we’ve taken together which have lead us to our success. We trust in one another, which is one of the most important aspects in our business. We take much pride in having the same beliefs for the business, customer satisfaction being our number 1. Our success is owed to our loyal customers so we take pride in understanding customer satisfaction is key.
We are dedicated, we are encouraged, we are risk takers, we strongly believe in customer satisfaction, we’ve mastered the ability to complement our desserts with a liqueur to provide you with a true experience, and we make sure every order is made to the highest standards to represent our name. What sets up apart from others? I don’t believe that’s a question for us to answer. It’s a question for our customers to answer. All those “others” that have a small business is because they’ve taken risks, overcame their fear, and took a leap of faith to try something new and chase a dream. We all have the same goal…it’s a matter of who makes it there. A matter of who can get back up when they get knocked down. A matter of who will continue to fight for their dream rather than quit along the way. What sets us apart from others is who’s going to make it to the finish line. It doesn’t matter how fast but it’s those who make it there that have won.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Our industry is in a continued state of growth. Technology continues to enhance and with that, desserts continue to expand in creativity. Desserts have entered a world of craft and technique. As time continues to pass us, within the next five to ten years I see continued changes in the aesthetics of desserts; a more creative feature for enhancing our experiences. With that said, I also see an increase in mass production with enhanced technology.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@villaberries.com
- Instagram: @villa_berries
