Today we’d like to introduce you to Mylo Gonzalez
Hi Mylo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
-Mother is a Pastry Chef
-Grew up in hotel kitchens
– My Mother didn’t want me to go to culinary school. My mother missed out on birthdays, family celebrations, Easter’s, Christmas, New Years, all this family holidays because those were the busiest times at the hotel.
– I ended up going to Music school and became a recording engineer. I worked for Universal Records Latin America & EMI Virgen. During my musical career I achieved multiple Billboard awards for best album on the Top 100 Latin list.
– I left the music business in 2006 after and opportunity was given to me to get into the restaurant business.
– In 2007 I purchased a wine & cheese shop in Miami Lakes “El Pimiento” which only sold cold cuts & wine. Shortly after the purchase I converted it into a full service restaurant with dishes influenced by my upbringing. My family is from Spain & Cuba so I twisted both cuisines to create some cool and unique dishes at El Pimiento. Through the journey I met my wife, Tiffany, we’ve been married now for 15 years and have two children. My son Mylo Jr (14) and daughter Lola (12).
-During our time at El Pimiento we achieved a many accolades for the food we presented. Awards from Miami Herald, Yelp, New Times to name a few.
– In 2014 we were presented an opportunity to sell El Pimiento and we moved forward.
– During that time I couldn’t open any restaurants because of a non-compete I had signed when we sold El Pimiento. So in the meantime I brokered restaurants. Brokering was fun because it kept me in the restaurant scene.
– I was approached by the owner of the Miami Lakes Farm Store to help with the sale of the business. Immediately it caught my eye. During the time when I couldn’t open restaurants I was sketching different concepts of restaurant for clients who wanted to get into the business. So when the owner of the farm store approached me I had a buyer right there and then! It was us!!
– My wife and I purchased the farm store and converted it into what it is today, NQC! Americas gourmet drive thru!
– NQC has been amazing blessing for our family and we praise God for the blessing every day! We were sheltered from the pandemic and continued to grow because we are all take out, so we never stopped working! Our business has flourished thanks to the loyal support from our loyal followers which we thank with a smile and great homemade food every day.
– We always say that we are thankful for the encouragement but always pass on the glory to God when we get compliments for our food and service because everything we do, we do with joy and appreciation for the blessing it is to serve others.
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 such thing as smooth roads when you own a business, or in general really. But in every season of struggle we have learned a lot and grown. We’ve been through the 2008 financial crisis while owning El Pimiento, which required us to rethink our marketing and strategies of growth. Starting a family, shortly after and navigating all the new responsibilities as parents while still having to run a restaurant really changed what life looked like for us. There wasn’t a lot of time or breathing room, but it taught us that no amount of success is ever worth sacrificing the short time we get with our kids. Thankfully, with NQC we have found the flexibility to do both what we love and be very present for our kids.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We’re thankful we had the business model that we have with NQC. It allowed us to remain open, serving our community, bringing a sense of normality to a very challenging time for everyone, as well as keeping our employees working.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.NQCmiami.com
- Instagram: https://INSTAGRAM.com/nqc_miami
