I feel like that's probably one of the reasons that I got brave and quit my job was to even see the way that the Salvadorian Central American population has grown over my 30 whatever years 36 years, I think. But we still don't have that many restaurants. Like you see Mexican restaurants everywhere or a bakery. And we love our pastries and our bread, and there isn't anywhere here in Worcester, even though the population has grown. There's no bakery where we can get fresh pastries because we eat them for like breakfast, for a snack, for anything. We are just really into our bread [laughs]. So that made me realize that maybe that's something I could do because I was doing it at home anyways, and then people were buying it because like I said even though we have grown as a community, there still hasn't been a lot of Central American businesses.
Zaida Melendez was born in El Salvador on August 13th, 1979. Zaida came to the United States with her grandparents at the age of eight. Zaida is married to her husband Jose, and has four children. Zaida has always lived in the city of Worcester and plans to stay as her children and newly introduced business grows. In this interview Zaida discusses her dream of owning her own baking business. Zaida first decided to leave her job in the healthcare industry as it was hard for not only her but her family as well. There were a lot of struggles discussed where there were long nights and early mornings which took a toll on Zaida. After 16 years and a tough decision, Zaida made the move to open her own company called “Belen,” which means ‘House of Bread’ in Hebrew. Zaida explains how she wanted to focus more on the Salvadorian Central American population around Clark University’s campus where her new bakery opens this year. Zaida doesn’t only want her goods to taste authentic to the customer, but wants people to understand that Salvadorian food is still something to remember. Without the continuous support from family, friends, and Clark’s Small Business Associate Development Center, Zaida discusses that she wouldn’t be where she is business wise and emotionally. Zaida is happier and healthier than ever as her new dream is taking off within weeks.