Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Hernandez.
Hi Ana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I’m invited to share my “success story,” I always feel the need to first explain what success truly means to me. For a long time, success was measured only in numbers, professional growth, recognition, or visible achievements. While I deeply value everything I have built in business, over the years I have learned that there are many forms of success, and some of the most meaningful ones never appear on a balance sheet.
To me, success is also the ability to stay moved by beauty, to be touched by art, by a song, by a human story, or by the unexpected kindness of others. Success is not becoming hardened by life. It is keeping your soul alive while building your path.
I arrived in Miami because of love. I met my former partner, who is from here, and decided to begin a new chapter in a vibrant, diverse city full of opportunity. Like so many people who move countries, I arrived with excitement, but also uncertainty. I had left behind my familiar world, my references, and the life I once knew.
For a time, I felt the need to rediscover myself. I did not have a professional activity of my own at that moment, so I chose to turn that period of transition into an opportunity. I realized that instead of living between two separate worlds, I could bring them together.
On one side were my roots in Spain. On the other was the energy and potential of Miami. I decided to connect both through something universal: gastronomy.
That is how Delibérico was born, a company dedicated to importing, marketing, distributing, and delivering Spanish gourmet products throughout South Florida, serving private customers, retailers, supermarkets, and corporate clients.
What makes the story even more special is that the company started almost from nothing. My only initial investment was around $80, which was the cost of opening the company. There were no investors, no major capital behind it, and no pre-existing structure. Just a clear idea, a strong work ethic, and the determination to build something from zero.
The early years were difficult. I faced many closed doors. Many rejections. I knocked on doors that did not open, heard many “no’s,” and had to keep returning, presenting, persuading, and believing in the project even when others did not.
But I kept going.
I earned trust one client at a time, day after day, through consistency, personal attention, and confidence in the value of what I was offering. Eventually, the first opportunities arrived, along with the first people willing to give me a chance. Sometimes that is all an entrepreneur needs to change everything: one person who believes in you.
From the very beginning, I understood that excellence does not happen by accident. That is why I have traveled countless times to Spain to personally select products one by one with my own hands. I have attended food fairs around the world, visited producers, tasted products, studied processes, and always searched for items that truly represent quality, authenticity, and tradition.
I wanted every product reaching our clients to carry a story behind it and meet the highest standards. That constant pursuit of excellence is what turned Delibérico into a respected and trusted brand.
During those same years, I also became a mother. I remember that stage as a mixture of exhaustion, tenderness, and courage. I had a baby in my arms while trying to grow a company that was still in its early days.
I had to make an important decision: walk away from the business to dedicate myself fully to motherhood, or try to balance both worlds. I chose not to abandon either part of who I was. I attended meetings between feedings, slept very little, worked constantly, and often wondered whether I could truly do it.
Now I know that period changed me forever. Motherhood did not slow down my dreams—it made me stronger, more focused, and more aware of the value of time.
Over time, the hard work began to pay off. The business grew, opportunities came, and I was able to see that United States is a country where, through consistency and effort, real doors can open. For that, I feel deeply grateful.
I also consider myself fortunate for another reason: along the way I met wonderful people. Generous people who supported me, believed in me, and helped me move forward when I needed it most. No success story is built entirely alone, and I will always be grateful for those people life placed in my path.
Today, Delibérico continues to grow in two major areas that I proudly manage side by side. On one hand, our core business of importing, distributing, and delivering Spanish gourmet products continues to expand. On the other, we have successfully developed a gourmet corporate gifting division, especially strong during the Christmas season.
We create elegant gift boxes filled with highly curated products, designed to help companies thank, recognize, and surprise clients, teams, and partners with something truly memorable. To me, those boxes represent much more than a gift—they represent detail, identity, excellence, and the joy of sharing the best of our gastronomy.
Both sides of the business continue to grow, and that makes me proud because it proves there is always room to evolve without losing your essence.
At the same time, over the years I felt another calling growing inside me: the need to give back and turn what I had achieved into something meaningful for others.
I have always felt especially sensitive toward children and the injustices many of them face from a very early age. I knew professional success alone would never be enough for me. I needed purpose.
Last year, together with an extraordinary woman, Beatriz Almagro—a business partner and friend with immense talent and an even bigger heart—we organized a Spanish-inspired pavilion based on the spirit of the Feria de Sevilla in Miami. It was a beautiful event and a great success.
But what truly mattered was what we decided to do next.
With the profits from that event, we traveled as volunteers to Kenya to collaborate for several weeks at an orphanage. That experience transformed us deeply. We met children full of light, joy, and dignity, but we also witnessed urgent needs and a lack of basic resources.
There are moments in life when you either look away or allow reality to change you forever. We chose to act.
When we returned to Miami, we organized a charity gala to raise funds and begin building a new orphanage. The response was moving. Many people got involved, helped, and believed in the project. Thanks to that collective generosity, the orphanage is now very close to becoming a reality.
That was when I understood one of life’s greatest lessons: the most beautiful success is not always the most visible.
Sometimes success is quiet.
It is giving shelter to a child.
It is turning an idea into hope.
It is helping when you could have looked away.
It is staying sensitive in a world that often hardens people.
It is being moved.
It is reaching art.
It is touching someone’s heart through what you do.
So when people ask me to share a success story, I do not speak only about business. I speak about courage, motherhood, roots, gratitude, closed doors turned into momentum, good people, childhood, sensitivity, and purpose.
My journey began by wanting to share the flavors of my country.
And today it continues with the same idea it started with: creating value, opening doors, and contributing something positive wherever I can.
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?
One of my biggest challenges was starting from zero in a new country. When I arrived in Miami at just 23 years old, I had to build a new life, adapt to a different culture, and create my own professional path. My age was also a challenge, because it sometimes made it harder for people to immediately trust or believe in what I was offering.
Another challenge was launching Deli Ibérico with almost no capital. I started the company with only around $80 and no investors, so everything was built step by step through persistence and hard work.
At the same time, I became a mother while growing the business, which taught me how to balance responsibility, resilience, and determination.
I also faced many rejections in the beginning, but those early obstacles taught me to keep going, trust the process, and believe in my vision.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Delibérico specializes in importing, distributing, and delivering premium Spanish gourmet products across USA. We work with supermarkets, specialty stores, restaurants, and private clients, offering carefully selected products that represent the quality and tradition of Spain. We also provide customized corporate gifting solutions, especially during the holiday season, with elegant gourmet gift boxes for companies and clients.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
One of the childhood memories I have never forgotten is not one of the happiest, but it is one of the moments that marked my life the most.
A math teacher, frustrated because I had failed an exam despite the potential he believed I had, told me that I would never achieve anything.
Those words stayed with me for life. In that moment, I thought to myself: I am going to prove that you are wrong.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.delibericofoods.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/deliberico/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/deliberico/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/deliberico/
