Hispanic Business Owner Blenlly Mena and Next Stop Vegan
A New York City vegan take-out Hispanic restaurant serves Latin vegan food
Blenlly Mena is a charmer. Even over a zoom call you can feel her warmth and ebullience. She’s also a smart hispanic businesswoman whose take-out restaurant Next Stop Vegan, which serves Latin vegan food, has only grown in popularity since the pandemic began. Blenlly has big plans for the restaurant but stays grounded through her close-knit family. Her enthusiasm for veganism, her love and appreciation for her Latin culture, and her fierce belief in the importance of empowering women makes her a real role model. We asked her some questions and here are her responses: What is your background? Where were you born/raised? I am first generation Dominican, born and raised in the Bronx, New York. What were the significant experiences/events that shaped your young life? Being raised by a single mother was the most significant experience in my young life. Seeing her provide us with a hot meal every single day after school and taking time off to take us on vacations that helped us explore the country I was born in really enlightened me and instilled in me much gratitude and appreciation towards women, single mothers, and the country I was born into. Were you bookish or sporty? I have never been a reader and don’t think I will ever be (although I have tons of self-improvement and motivational books in my bookshelf). I prefer listening, so I am now into podcasts instead of books. Sporty? I am not sporty at all. Teachers used to always chase me around school to have me join a softball or basketball team (since I am 6’ tall), but I always declined the offer because I considered athletes to be too bulky for my so-called ” feminine style.”Hispanic Businesswomen Are Baking Up Goodness
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