What happens when you work for your uncle in a Mexican restaurant at a young age? Sometimes you grow up to open your own restaurant. And when that’s successful? You open another.

That is what Angelica Zurita did. She opened La Laguna Mexican Restaurant in Enterprise, Oregon, in 2003 and has since branched out into the nearby town of Joseph. “It’s a new adventure,” says Angelica. “And everything is falling into place.” The La Laguna Restaurant in Joseph is meant to be exactly like its Enterprise counterpart, right down to the paint and the décor. “We will have outside seating as well,” she notes enthusiastically.

After working in her uncle’s Mexican restaurants, she began thinking about opening a restaurant herself. She spent time doing research on women with small businesses. Part of her research involved contacting the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce for information on businesses in Enterprise. It was their recommendation that put her in touch with Myron Kirkpatrick of Wallowa County Business Facilitation. Angela describes the steps she took to lay the foundation for her new venture in a matter-of-fact way. “Myron helped me create a business plan, [he] walked me through it and I put it together myself.” Wanting to make it on her own financially, Angelica turned down financial help from her family and gives credit to the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD) for giving her a loan. “Myron told me about Lisa Dawson [at NEOEDD] and I called her,” Angelica notes simply.

Lisa Dawson saw something in Angelica. “She had knowledge of the business and industry,” says Dawson. “She also did a good job of preparing a business plan through the Wallowa County Business Facilitation program and she had matching funds to bring into the business. She had really done her homework and had great personality and drive.” The matching funds Lisa refers to came from a loan that Angelica acquired from Community Bank. “I had no money,” she explains, “and my family would ask what I would do if I failed. I asked them back, what does a child do when they fall down? They get back up and try again”.

Lisa Dawson also feels that Angelica has a great product. “La Laguna provides excellent customer service and the food is good,” she says. “It’s amazing that this is the first Mexican restaurant in Wallowa County. Angelica could see there was a demand for Mexican cuisine in this market and no one else was providing it.” It’s due to the help Angelica found through Wallowa County Business Facilitation and NEOEDD that she feels allowed her to get started. “I make a donation to the cause [Wallowa County Business Facilitation] each year,” she says, “and that is the only money I have given [for their services].” It was Dawson who then referred Angelica to the Connecting Oregon for Rural Entrepreneurship program (CORE). Funded by a W. K. Kellogg Foundation grant, CORE helps strengthen and publicize rural entrepreneurship. Through this program, entrepreneurs such as Angelica Zurita can get word out to local communities about who they are and the products they have to offer.

Angelica’s uncle, who was the source of her inspiration, helped her the first month with advice over the phone from his own two restaurants in Spokane, Washington. His influence on her approach to her cuisine was not far behind. Angelica took her uncle’s recipes and “moved them around,” setting her apart from other Mexican restaurants that have since opened. “It’s more authentic, there’s more kick to my salsa and more spices to my food. It’s also the atmosphere of La Laguna that sets it apart,” she contends. “We are here for it all—birthdays, anniversaries, going away parties, and [customers] get free fried ice creams as a birthday cake.”

La Laguna is a family business, with the family reaching beyond Angelica’s. “I have three employees who are related to each other but not to me, but we see each other as one big family,” she says. She has been on her own for the past three years as a single mother of five children ranging in age from five to nineteen. Self-proclaimed as independent, Angelica says she has had to learn to coordinate her life. “It’s been an experience,” she concludes. “I’ve learned a lot.”