"Every Woman On The Planet Is Constantly Reclaiming Something", with Mel Archuleta, on Entrepreneurship, Community Building, Leadership and Accountability, and Reclaiming Stories.

Zhou Fang: Okay, it's recording. Wow.

Melinda Archuleta: Okay. We're good. Cool.

Zhou Fang: Uh, I, uh, we had some. I almost say medical difficulties, technical difficulties,

Melinda Archuleta: audio difficulties,

Zhou Fang: audio difficulties. Um, I, it might be just the stars, uh, tweaking out. I don't know. Anyway, uh, thank you for your gray smile. Um, I get all worked up right now. Um.

But hey, we're rolling. So here we go. Here we go. Um, hello everyone. Welcome to the intersection, a podcast program about intersectionality, our intersectional identities, and all the intersectional journeys that come with us along the [00:01:00] way. And today I'm absolutely. Thrilled, even though maybe I don't sound thrilled because of the technical issues that really got me.

Um, this morning. Uh, I'm very thrilled and, uh, also feel very blessed to have my guest here today. Uh, Mel Melinda, um, she is the owner of our local establishment, bar Carlo, uh, that's been around for 18 years. And, um. Mel and I met through our mutual friend Rose and uh, as neighbors, uh, we kind of hit it off and I was surprised that I had never met you until last year, even though I have been to Barco many, many times as a neighbor.

Um, so here we are. Welcome Mel.

Melinda Archuleta: Thank you. Welcome. I wish that we had met sooner because it is nice to be able to hit it off with somebody, especially [00:02:00] later in life. It's so much harder to make friends as you get older.

Zhou Fang: That's actually very true. I feel we could talk about that a lot. It's because it, it's just so much more, uh, intentional.

Hopefully we, we don't just like go with anyone. Yeah. So I feel there's a selection process, which, you know, um, it does take mo a lot more time and energy to do that, so. Sure. Um, so when I walked into Bar Carlo and met you, Mel, um, I didn't realize how, I mean, I had been to Bar Carlo many times, but I didn't know you actually had a full event space.

And I feel like you have curated such a community space in our Southeast foster neighborhood, and to me that is saying you are a big community builder For sure. And I'm curious to learn about your [00:03:00] journey, you know, become a business owner, entrepreneur, restaurant. Restaurateur. I, I don't know how you say that word, but weird

Melinda Archuleta: one.

Restaurateur.

Zhou Fang: Restaurateur. Okay. And a community builder. So I want to learn about mouse journey.

Melinda Archuleta: Okay. So I am, um, from Southern California. I'm like from a medium sized family, but on my father's side, there were a lot of extended family, a lot of cousins. Um, and so there were always. Uh, like family get togethers, family picnics, family barbecues on my dad's side of the family that were kind of always going on.

And then on my mom's side of the family, I spent a lot of time with my grandma and her house was like the hub of the entire family. So like the doors were never locked. They were frequently wide open and people were just always coming and going from my grandma's house. So that's kind of, I think, where the community seed got planted in me.

And [00:04:00] then as I got older, went through high school and ended up in San Diego, I kind of became that space for all of my friends where the door was always open and people could come at any hour of the day. So like I kind of carried that torch. And then when I moved to Portland. The business became that space.

So I've just kind of carried this thread throughout and you know, it's not really practical when you're an adult for your home to be that kind of community hub, unless you have kids in an extended family around you, which I don't have either. Um, so yeah, the restaurant kind of became that place for me and.

Um, I, I didn't really even realize that that's what I was doing as I was moving through. Um, but I do think that for a lot of people, restaurants replace family and so in that regard, I guess it makes sense, you know, that I would choose that line of work where I can kind of build in [00:05:00] those people in my life and support them.

And, you know, it kind of be a reciprocal, I think that a lot of times people. People think really, uh, business relationships are one sided when really they're not. They're, they're real relationships.

Zhou Fang: Uh, I really resonate with that. Um, I think there are a couple things that I want to follow up with. Um, but first, you know, you talked about your family always had like an open door situation and I feel that was such a blessing because a lot of people just.

They choose to close the doors, right. For various reasons. And I feel in our today's society, there are very good reasons to keep our doors locked.

Mm-hmm.

Like quite like literally or, uh, figuratively. Like we're very locked in. So I feel, you know, having that open door is such a blessing, um, for a child, um, growing up.

So that's one. And two, I'm really curious, [00:06:00] you know. Um, what got you into, like, what made you decide I wanna be a chef?

Melinda Archuleta: Well, I certainly didn't plan to be a chef, um, when I was going through high school and into college. My focus was on mathematics. Um, so oh, completely different. And I, I thought that maybe I could work math into some kind of like, business degree.

I didn't even really know what a business degree meant. Um, and then I started, uh, learning Japanese on the side. And so then everything kind of changed and I fell into linguistics, which was a great, um, it's like a great avenue if you're a problem solver, right? Like you're, you're finding patterns, you're describing patterns.

There's so many different branches of linguistics, you can really find one branch that, uh, like works with the way your brain works really well. So for me, um, linguistics kind of married my interest in math and my interest for like pattern [00:07:00] make or pattern, pattern finding and problem solving. Um, but I was also going to, I was working full-time while I was going to school, so it took me a long time to kind of get through that.

And at the end, like the, I had like one year left to go if I wanted to finish it in full-time status. So I quit my job and took get a student loan and I was like, okay, I'm just gonna focus on school. But I had been working full-time and going to school part-time for so long that I didn't know how to slow down.

And like just focus on school. So I started working part-time in restaurants and um, the first restaurant I worked at was a Japanese restaurant. I thought that I could practice Japanese, but that one didn't work out for a couple different reasons. And then I started working at a brunch place super early so that I could have my schooling in the afternoons.

It really worked with my schedule. I absolutely fell in love with the whole like rhythm of the way that that worked. Like coming [00:08:00] in, setting up for the day, greeting the regulars, kind of like bullshitting with them about whatever. Um, and then closing down there. I liked the routine. I liked the social, uh, part of it.

And then I also liked when you're working on a, on a busy restaurant floor, you've got like 10 things constantly rolling in the back of your head. Like your to-do list is always changing and always updating based on what you're doing and who you're talking to. And that really exercised a part of my brain that I wasn't even aware.

That I had access to. Mm-hmm. And that I needed exercise. So restaurants really changed the trajectory of my life. Um, I ended up getting my degree and I ended up moving to Portland in the hopes that I would maybe one day start a business, buy a house because it was more affordable here and like slow down my life, but the slowing down never [00:09:00] happened because mm-hmm.

I think as we learned when I left college, like I don't know how to stop.

Zhou Fang: Wow.

Melinda Archuleta: But the chef, the chef part was never in my sites. Never at all in my sites. Um, I was working as a bartender. Until we opened Bar Carlo and I opened it with two other workmates from the previous place I was working. Um, and when they left the business, that's when I had to learn how to do the cooking.

I had to like educate myself on how to be a cook. Um, I did get lucky though, because. My training or my years in bartending gave me good, um, like foundation on flavors and how to combine things. And I'm also lucky in that I'm, I'm not afraid to try new things or like afraid to jump in the deep end or afraid to make a [00:10:00] fool of myself.

So like teaching myself how to cook and doing it wasn't as scary, I think as it might be. For like in a, in a different circumstance or for a different kind of person.

Zhou Fang: I will agree. Um, I, I, I mean, as someone who didn't have like, uh, system training, right? Like didn't go to culinary school and didn't study it, uh, it, it sounded like, uh, of course you had, uh, bartending experience.

It also felt like you jumped into it. Mm-hmm. You, you need it to,

Melinda Archuleta: yeah. Necessity.

Zhou Fang: Yeah, A necessity. And I think that's, that's, it's amazing because I will be so scared to serve my food to people.

Melinda Archuleta: Like,

Zhou Fang: is this a thing? Like are [00:11:00] people gonna get sick? Am I just doing this now?

Melinda Archuleta: I mean, to be fair, I did educate myself properly.

Like I, I was lucky that I was gifted a culinary school textbook, and so I, I actually took myself through that as if I were learning. And I have a pretty good memory for, for things that I've read and or taken notes on. So, um, I, I got, I got lucky in that regard. I didn't need somebody explaining things to me right next to me, you know, so I, I, I did get very lucky and I also decided to pretty quickly to build on the.

The flavors and what I had seen work in other restaurants that I worked at in Southern California. So I wanted to rely on things that I knew how they were supposed to taste so that I could replicate them and also, uh, build on what I had seen that was easy to execute in restaurants. So, [00:12:00] um, you know. It became really important for me to focus on the flavors that I knew really well.

Focus on simple things right in the beginning because I, I'm, I wasn't skilled enough to make complicated dishes, so just keeping things really simple, really straightforward. And also at that point I was a vegetarian, so I wanted to make sure that the. The Mexican foods that I were, that I was making were accessible to vegans and vegetarians, but also delicious to meat eaters.

That was really important to me because, especially coming from Southern California, um, if you ask if there's lard in the beans or chicken stock in the rice and you're a vegetarian, you're just gonna be disappointed. So I didn't want people to be to be cut out of, you know, of what we were offering too.

So I. Go ahead. I lucky, I think I got really lucky that I had that intersection of opportunity and experience and a decent palette to pull it all [00:13:00] together.

Zhou Fang: A good palette I had your food. Okay.

Um, I really appreciate everything you've said and. Um, I think it's so important for us to kind of go back to the basics.

Mm-hmm.

Um, a lot of people, I mean, you know this much better than me, is in the like, uh, food and dining, like, uh, food and wine industry. People trace that. Fancy people go after it and Oh, yeah.

You train and you train. You train and you use tweezers. Mm-hmm. And those things, you pursue the best of the best. Uh, but oftentimes people forget about what, what did you have as, as a child

Melinda Archuleta: Exactly.

Okay. Yeah, when we, um, when we first opened up, we, we had pancakes on the menu, which we don't have anymore.

But what was so [00:14:00] important about these pancakes was that they had the nostalgic element to them, right?

Zhou Fang: Hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: So the recipe that we based our recipe on was from the Betty Crocker cookbook, which everybody's mom and grandma had. The red, sometimes red and white check. Um. And that was the one that my grandma had too.

So we based our recipe on that so that when people taste it, it reminds them of home. So yeah, simplicity, um, nostalgia is really important. And just giving people that experience that they can't make at home or they don't know that they can make it home. Right.

Zhou Fang: Hmm. Can you bring the pancakes back?

Melinda Archuleta: I mean, yeah.

I'm sure at some point we'll do it for fun. Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Okay. Yeah, I think I had that a long time ago. Yeah, it was a while ago. Um, talking about, um, nostalgia and you mentioned, um, you tried to replicate flavors from [00:15:00] before. Can you share a couple of like, what are your favorite dishes growing up? And,

Melinda Archuleta: um, you know what's funny is, so my mom was a really bad cook.

Zhou Fang: Oh.

Melinda Archuleta: My grandma was a great cook. So like, um, I had, I had two different extremes, but one of my favorite dishes as an adult is the chilaquiles that we have on the menu. Um, my mom used to make them totally different, almost like a lasagna and, and ours are a little bit more authentic. But, um, as far as nostalgia goes, like.

What we do that's nostalgic for me, is the simple, simple scrambles, simple, uh, eggs, like simple ingredients that you can identify because that's how my grandma cooked. It was very simple, very simple cooking. Not a whole lot of time like. Seasoned but not over seasoned. So for me, that's, that's more nostalgic.

Um, [00:16:00] occasionally when we do like happy hour parties or stuff like that, I'll do like a, a taquito, a potato, a potato rolled taco, or a Taco Dorado, depending on how you call it. And that's super nostalgic for me from San Diego because that is everywhere. Absolutely everywhere, and they are so satisfying and crunchy and probably really bad for you.

But,

Zhou Fang: uh, we can't have good things. We just cannot have good things. All the good things are bad for you.

Melinda Archuleta: Everything's bad for you all the time.

Zhou Fang: Ugh. Um, gimme that potato. I don't care.

Melinda Archuleta: I know, but what's, what's great about what we do is that. We don't really bring in any processed product. You know, we don't make our own cheeses, we don't make our own breads, but everything else, we're pretty much making out of raw ingredients.

Mm. So that, to me, has an air of nostalgia because it reminds me of my grandmother's cooking.

Zhou Fang: Mm. Um, you, you gave me the hibiki [00:17:00] tea earlier.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm. Ika. Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. That was really good. Did you have that growing up as well?

Melinda Archuleta: Oh, yeah. Uh, hamika is my favorite when I was a little kid. As a paa, as the like. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Um, my mom's a tamarind girl. She loves the ado, which is way more sour, also very delicious. But yeah, I always loved hibiscus. That tart sweet. And then we, ours is a little bit more grownup. It has a cardamom and clove in it.

Zhou Fang: Uh, I, it did taste a little bit like cloy. Yeah. But it was really good. It's a great summer drink, I think.

Melinda Archuleta: Exactly. Yeah.

Zhou Fang: So refreshing. Um, I'm so lucky I can just walk to a restaurant. Uh, I want to talk a little bit about slowing down and or not slowing down. Mm-hmm. So when you moved to Portland, you were like, I'm gonna chill.

Melinda Archuleta: Right? I was wrong.

Zhou Fang: [00:18:00] And like, do you chill now?

Melinda Archuleta: Um, I haven't for a while, but I do take pride in the fact that when I shut off, I shut all the way off.

Like I am lazy. Lazy. Lazy, lazy, like laying on the couch, watching TV for hours, I don't care. Or laying in the sun, in the grass for hours. Um, but I have so much on my to-do list that it's really hard for me to completely shut off.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: And I think that, and maybe this is because I'm getting older 'cause I just turned 50 this year.

I feel like my, um, my relationship with downtime is changing. Like my relationship to time in general is changing, so I'm like reevaluating the things that I wanna spend time on, and that's kind of impacting how much, like of the nothing time I have anymore, because now I recognize that like, well, I actually get more joy out of tending to the flowers in my garden than I do from laying on the [00:19:00] couch, right?

Mm-hmm. So my priorities in downtime have changed and now. Now I wanna, I would prefer to go see a friend than just veg out.

Zhou Fang: I learned that is a form of active resting.

Melinda Archuleta: Active resting.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: Cool.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. Like you are resting, but it doesn't mean you are idle. You are doing things that's good for your nervous system.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: It regulates you, it makes me feel like you are connected, like to nature, to the world, to community.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm. The

Zhou Fang: emotional connection. Uh, it does. Through these activities that are very nurturing to you. That's, that's a form of resting.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Um, I learned that too. 'cause I don't wanna just sit around, I wanna be outside, I wanna do stuff.

Exactly. Um, but that's [00:20:00] actually us resting. I

Melinda Archuleta: mean, it also, it rests your brain too, right? Like you're, you don't have to solve any problems if you're working in the garden. I mean, you do, you have to solve like pest problems or whatever. Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. But

Melinda Archuleta: for the part, everything is controllable, controlled for and at your own pace.

And I think that the rest of the rest of our lives, the rest of our days, we don't really have that. It's all dictated by schedules and the flow of customers for me and whatnot.

Zhou Fang: True. Yeah, that's true. And so I'm really glad you said, you know, your, your relationship to time is changing. I feel that too. It is like, as we grow older and hopefully a little wiser, we don't see time as just a thing.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Um, but it. It flows and it changes, and we can work with it.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah. I've recognized this Spring is so [00:21:00] gorgeous. We are having an exceptional spring, and I'm, I'm wondering if that's just because I know that there's not that many ahead, you know, like, am I, am I just really keyed into how beautiful it is?

And maybe in the past I was like, eh, it's just spring. It happens every year.

Zhou Fang: Mm.

Melinda Archuleta: Things are becoming more precious to me.

Zhou Fang: That's true. So are you referring to aging or climate change?

Melinda Archuleta: I'm referring to aging, but climate change also plays a role in that, right? Like our, our springs are gonna get shorter probably.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Aging is a really good kind of thing to talk about, I feel. And I was just listening to an interview and it's about relationships. And basically the bottom line is it doesn't matter how messy we are as people. We are messy. We're very messy. [00:22:00]

Melinda Archuleta: All of us.

Zhou Fang: All of us. Like, look at me. I had technical difficulties after so much time doing this podcast, and so frustrating.

But then the interview says. After all the messiness you think about, I actually don't know how much more time I have left.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: I don't know what tomorrow is gonna be like.

Melinda Archuleta: Exactly.

Zhou Fang: Um, so I think in a way maybe it makes us just value this life a little more.

Melinda Archuleta: I think so. I mean, I've definitely talked to contemporaries of mine as they've gotten over the 50 year mark.

Something changes in the way that they perceive their time, their relationships, everything just becomes more valuable. And sometimes that means not forming new friendships because you don't wanna invest in it so that you can continue to tend to the relationships that you already have. So I'm not at that point yet.

Thank God. [00:23:00]

Zhou Fang: Thank God. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Melinda Archuleta: But I feel like that's coming. Mm. Um, I sometimes I'll feel that way about like a stupid TV show. I'll be like, actually, I don't want to watch this TV show for three hours because I should really work on something more important. Like, I've never been good at having that conversation about like.

Will your future self be bummed that you didn't do this? Or will they be enriched by something that you did? And I think that hopefully that's something that I start doing because I think that that kind of thought really helps you prepare yourself like for abundance.

Zhou Fang: Mm. I love that. Tell me more how,

Melinda Archuleta: well, I mean there are all these theories about like.

When it comes to like, finances, right? Like, do you wanna spend this [00:24:00] money right now? Will your future self care about this purchase? So it's, it's that kind of, um, lens to look at your activities like, or how you spend your time, your money, your attention, um, what, whatever it is that you have to spend, like, is this gonna be something that I care about later or is this just a.

I wanna feel something right now, or I wanna experience something that maybe doesn't matter, like

Zhou Fang: mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: All these, how many, how much of the stuff that we engage in on the day to day is trivial.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. I think that requires a lot of intentionality. Um, yeah, because I feel like in our world right now, everything's just so contemporary, so reactive

Melinda Archuleta: and fast.

Zhou Fang: And fast. It's like, you know, they, I don't know why brands do that, but they release so many special editions. Mm-hmm. And when you do that, [00:25:00] nothing's special.

Melinda Archuleta: Exactly. Yeah.

Zhou Fang: So like, do I really need this right now?

Melinda Archuleta: No.

Zhou Fang: Or it is just they tell us, so they'll, they'll, they're asking us to do this right now.

Mm-hmm. The sense of urgency. That's almost false.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, false sense of urgency. And I think it's really important to recognize that everything that you're engaging with online is. To sell. It's all a consumer framework and so many people still when they're going through their phone are like, oh, I wanna try this new thing.

I think it's gonna, you know, this new supplement, this new spray, whatever that's gonna like help my, my health or my back or my sleep or whatever. And it's like, okay. You know, they're trying to sell to you like it could be anything. Mm-hmm. It's not regulated, like this whole, this whole network that we are engaging with all the time on our [00:26:00] phone.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: Just there to extract from us very

Zhou Fang: much

Melinda Archuleta: different ways. Right? Like it's just a, a new kind of ubiquitous mini capitalism that's trying to extract what we have

Zhou Fang: everywhere, everywhere,

Melinda Archuleta: all the time.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. And I mean, I try to, it's very hard, but like, 'cause like you said, you, if you are on social media, you're trying to sell.

Melinda Archuleta: Right.

Zhou Fang: Um, so, um, I want to maybe look a little bit more into the community building part.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Um. First of all, can you tell me why is Bar Carlow called Bar Carlow?

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, I can. So I know it's a real point of contention and people think that we're a late night bar and then they come in for brunch and they're like, oh, I thought this was hard.

It's like, well, we do have alcohol. Mm-hmm. Um, so when we opened up, we were not supposed to be a brunch restaurant. We were supposed to be an Italian [00:27:00] fine dining restaurant, and the whole, like the whole concept for the business was based on European cafes. So the name like Bar Carlo was really a nod to that kind of naming of a restaurant.

Mm-hmm. In, in a European country. But it's also appropriate for. Mexico.

Zhou Fang: Yeah,

Melinda Archuleta: because as you'll go through, you'll see things like, you know, Nia, Wendy, and it's just like, it's a, a junk store named Wendy or Wendy's junk store. So the naming works for us too. But after a couple of months, we realized that it was gonna take way too long for us to be able to make the place attractive enough to get that kind of client.

And two of us had experience in breakfast and so we were like, okay, we can make this space right now, work. With breakfast. Mm-hmm. And maybe we don't do Italian fine dining. Maybe we do it later on down the road. [00:28:00] So that's how we got that name with this identity. And then when I became the sole owner of the business, which was like in 2010, I think at that point we already had an established identity and it didn't make sense for us to change the name.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: It is something that comes up every now and then. Mm-hmm. My employees will ask, or if I'm working with a consultant, they'll ask like, have you considered changing the name? And it seems like unnecessary at this point.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. I would agree. Mainly because, um, you've been around for 18 years and in foster, that actually is.

It's a big deal. Huge. Um, I mean, for folks who are unfamiliar with our foster neighborhood, it's actually very spread out. Like things are scattered. It's actually quite challenging to [00:29:00] establish something that attracts, uh, returning customers.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, especially customers from out of our neighborhood, it's really hard to bring people into foster.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. It's actually very challenging and in the last few years, you know, especially since COVID, we've all witnessed so many closures in our neighborhood. So it's actually not a very light thing to say. When we say bar color has been around for 18 years in our foster, it's a big deal. Like, because it actually is like, we know how difficult it is.

To establish something in this neighborhood. Mm-hmm. So like from a customer's perspective, I also don't feel you have to change the identity.

Yeah.

Um. For us. It's just, that's our branch place, you know? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, and I feel because you know, you have such a spacious space and you have a branch and you have [00:30:00] events at your place, like bar color goes way beyond kind of like just a restaurant.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm. I agree.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. So I want to chat about maybe like, when did you start doing events at Bar Carlow?

Melinda Archuleta: Okay, so, uh, first of all, we have to talk about the pandemic. The pandemic was a really magical time for us, actually.

Zhou Fang: Magical. I never heard that.

Melinda Archuleta: It was so wonderful. Like, after we got out of the panic, you know, um, basically when the pandemic happened, I didn't stop.

I think I took like. Not, not even a week off. And then I went right back to work and all of the employees that were working for me were invited to help us, to help me kind of renovate [00:31:00] the restaurant. I was like, well, we don't have anything to do and we have a bunch of food and we have a bunch of alcohol.

And, um, you know, we already have exposed ourselves to each other, you know, leading up to this pandemic. So if you want to participate in this bubble with me, this is what I'm gonna be doing. And so we tore up the carpet, we. Really changed the entire look and feel of the restaurant inside. And then as soon as it made sense for us to do stuff outside, we reopened with a limited menu and sat on the patio only.

Um, so the community building and the, the new identity of Bar Carlow pretty much ha coincided with the pandemic. At that point, we started thinking about the brand. Which I, these, these were not words that I had ever, that had never entered in my vocabulary [00:32:00] before, like Bar Carlo as a brand. So mm-hmm. We started thinking about that and logos and, um, atmosphere and the vibe and like how people felt when they came in and if it was obvious when they came in, what they were walking into.

Um, but the, the community that we started from our own employees was kind of where. The community expansion came from like,

Zhou Fang: Hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: So it started with us and then I kind of realized that, that this was a, a strength and something that we could share with other people. Mm-hmm. And at that point, um. Well, I started, I started kind of putting ourselves out there for grants and educational, like ice resources.

At that point, I kind of started treating the business differently. Something shifted in me with the pandemic. I threw away all the old, um, all the old models that I used to [00:33:00] like do projections on for restaurant sales. I threw all that away because I recognized that we were entering into a totally different.

Territory than we were familiar with before. Um, so that's how that started. And events took a little bit longer, um, because I was still trying to be open daytime and nighttime when we fully reopened, but eventually it became really evident that we couldn't support both. So that's when we shut down at night and really focused on brunch.

This is who we are. This is what we do. But I realized that we needed more income and we had all this beautiful space and at that point we, we had been. We had been gifted the alley space that we have that's on the other side of the theater, um, to use, to expand our seating during the pandemic. So when we were seating outside, we were seating in front of the restaurant and in this little alley.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: Um, so we had all these [00:34:00] venue spaces and the restaurant, as you know, is set up in such a way that there's like little pockets throughout the, the space. So it, it was kind of like custom made for events. It's so. Perfect for events that it was just a natural fit. Um, and we try really hard to reach out to like-minded communities, um, and organizations.

So women's groups, um, Latina groups, and we frequently will give them a discount on booking rates so that we make sure that they feel supported, supported and they have a place where they feel comfortable. So it's been really great.

Zhou Fang: Yeah, it has been, I mean, as an attendee at your event, the space is really, it's very welcoming.

Mm-hmm. Um, it just, the, like you said, just the way it was designed, it's like a very good container and it has a lot of natural lights, like a lot of natural lights in the space.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. Yeah. And the decoration as well, like [00:35:00] just a wonderful decoration.

Melinda Archuleta: Thank you.

Zhou Fang: Um, that's really awesome. I feel like the way you described it, it's like community building, but you continue to take it to the next level.

Exactly. And that's a lot of internal work as well when you talk about your shifting.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah. The, the strange thing about the branding aspect during the pandemic was that. Bar Carlo got a personality during the pandemic and I became the, you know, the front person for this band. Um, when we were seating outside, our counter was built on, um, speakers and we had a, a soundboard and a microphone.

And that's how we would communicate with the customers to let them know that their food was ready or that their drinks were ready.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: And it became a great way for us to. Create identities in the eyes of our customers. So like we weren't just servers or whatever. It was like, this was Brooke, or this was Mel [00:36:00] harassing you, essentially from the counter, and it was so much fun.

And it was, it really reinvigorated in me. What I liked about being involved in the restaurant and industry was that like, it didn't have to be so straight laced. It didn't have to be so, um, transactional. Right. It could be fun.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. Definitely. Like, uh, if you have to guess what's the percentage of your clientele is like returning customers.

Melinda Archuleta: Oh, I would say it's over 50 for sure.

Zhou Fang: That's amazing.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah. I mean, I've never actually, I've never actually done the research on that, but

Zhou Fang: mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: Would say almost everybody that walks in the door is a face that's been there before.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: Maybe not heavy, regular, but like most of the people are repeat customers.

Zhou Fang: That's amazing. And then they bring their friends there, right. It's like, oh yeah. Like [00:37:00] let's go get, yeah. You are a great business person.

Melinda Archuleta: Ah, maybe, uh, maybe not.

Zhou Fang: Well, I say that not in a conventional sense.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, that's true. I'm, I'm a creative business person.

Zhou Fang: If you were a conventional business person, I.

Melinda Archuleta: You wanna come?

Zhou Fang: I mean, I mean, I don't know about that, but I feel like the way you see growth and expansion is not a conventional way.

Melinda Archuleta: I agree. Yeah, I agree.

Zhou Fang: Um, it's not so strict to like dollar to dollar.

Melinda Archuleta: Right.

Zhou Fang: But it's very much about like, what are we doing with the space?

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah. What are we doing with the space?

Who do we have on our team that can do what? Um, yeah, I think a conventional business person would look at the menu and what was, what was bringing in [00:38:00] the most sales and would, you know, capitalize on those and cut out the other things. Exactly. Maybe we would make some money.

Zhou Fang: Exactly. Yeah. So, but, um.

Speaking of business person, uh, I want to touch on your leadership. Uh, you continue to be like a leader who keeps doing better. Um, you told me, you know, you want to be a better leader for your people, and that's why you participate in various programs and being mentors and mentees.

Melinda Archuleta: That's true.

Zhou Fang: So maybe share a little bit about why.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah. So there's a, first of all, there's a huge responsibility that comes with being a leader. It's not just about being in charge. Um, I think that, I didn't really realize this until recently. I had gone to California to see my dad and my sister, and we were playing this game. He [00:39:00] had just come out of getting, uh, some stents put into his heart.

So that's what I had originally gone down there for. But we were playing this like get to know you kind of card game and one of the questions was about um, like what you're most proud of the person sitting next to you for.

Zhou Fang: Hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: And the thing that my dad said was that he was proud that I was an employer of people and what a great responsibility that was.

And he told stories from like people that he'd worked for before that were good and bad and I had never. Thought about that before. Like I knew that I had a responsibility obviously, to these people, but I never thought that it would be a source of pride for my father. Um, so it was really touching. Um, and so after that, after that realization, it was like, okay, well am I, am I being a good leader or am I just leading from my gut?

Because I think a lot of us just, you know. [00:40:00] Lead from our gut or make decisions from our gut. And maybe that's not the best way to do it because it leads to inconsistencies. Um, and if you're relying on your gut all the time, you don't really have systems in place or policies in place that you know, that leads to accountability.

Mm-hmm. And people want clear understandings of expectations and, uh, you know, what consequences and potential for growth and all that. So I think that I started taking, uh, it more seriously the fact that I am a leader to these people, that I do have an obligation not only to be good to them, but to continue to be able to provide for them.

Hmm. Right now my, my goal with my leadership training is accountability, um, and hopefully getting some insight into the blind spots that I have around [00:41:00] processes and systems that I can improve. And, um. And formalize so that my employees feel safe because I know that they feel cared for, but it's really important for them to feel safe in their workplace and like they know what to expect.

So there's, there's that. Part of it. And then you had asked about the mentor mentee thing.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: So, um, I work with a couple of consultants who know the restaurant business really well, and that's so good for me because they like my work with Accelerate. They make sure that I am actually keeping track on my goals and that they're being reevaluated but not changed.

Um. Mm-hmm. Because a lot of times when you're working, there's so many different things that are pulling your attention all the time. It's really hard to remember like, wait, what are we doing? Because right now I'm working on this, you know? Mm-hmm. So it's good for me to have those, [00:42:00] those touch points and people that are keeping me on track.

Um, kind of like a handler.

Zhou Fang: Oh, okay.

Melinda Archuleta: Um, and then as far as the, um. Like people that I've mentored, um. I feel like it's more just moral support that I give to people. Hmm. Um, I'm thinking about a woman who worked for me, Brooke, who just opened a place recently. Uh, she opened a really sweet market in Milwaukee called Good Measure.

Good

Zhou Fang: Measure, right? Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: And she did it all by herself and. You know, naturally overwhelmed, at times, terrified. And I think that my main role for her was just being somebody that she could talk it through with and, you know, kind of see the overwhelm and see the fear and let her know that you, that she could do it.

You know, that. That the resources were there, that I was there for her, that I've, [00:43:00] I've done it. I know how terrifying it is. Um, and I think I continue to be that person for her. Because she, now that she's beyond the opening phase, she's dealing with the more day-to-day stuff. Mm-hmm. And, um, and she has, she has me to talk to about, like, remember you used to do this, and I never understood why, but now I understand why it matters to you, which size to go box the customer, or the customer gets right.

Because mm-hmm. Like, depending on what size they're, they're so much more expensive. So I think, um, it's a small thing to be able to be that person for somebody else. For me, it's a really small thing, but I think for them it's huge to know that they have somebody who is rooting for them, who believes in them.

Mm-hmm. And who really knows they can do it.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. That's. Very well said, and I feel like a lot of [00:44:00] leadership is about showing up.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Like, you, sometimes you don't have to say like super, like, whoa, like

Melinda Archuleta: yeah.

Zhou Fang: Big words, but just like, be present for them.

Melinda Archuleta: Right. And you don't have to solve the problem. Like obviously they're, they're going through their own journey, right?

Mm-hmm. Like the problems that I had to solve 20 years ago are probably very different than the problems that they're facing right now. Mm-hmm. You know, laws and regulations and whatnot. It's, it's always changing.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: But just being confident in the fact that it is navigable, even though it is hard to perceive or hard to envision making it through.

I think you just need people, not to hold you up, but just to remind you, you know, just to remind you can, that you're. You're doing it because a lot of times when you're in it, you don't see all the things that you've accomplished. You [00:45:00] really need somebody to be like, remember how you started? Look at where you are now.

Isn't that remarkable? Just keep going.

Zhou Fang: I mean, I definitely need to be reminded a lot.

Melinda Archuleta: I do too. Yeah, it's really valuable.

Zhou Fang: It is. And I feel like, I mean, I, I'm not so much of an overachiever like I used to be, uh, when I was younger. Um, but I still feel like, oh, I got more to do. If I don't get this done, da da da, what's gonna happen?

Mm-hmm.

Um, and I really forget about, look at your portfolio. Like that's not a small thing.

Melinda Archuleta: No, no, it's not a small thing. I mean, if I look at how far the restaurants come, it's really, it's kind of mind boggling. I mean, I don't know when you started coming, but it has looked. It looked, has, [00:46:00] it has looked so different like every five years.

If you take a picture of the restaurant, it looks completely different. Mm. Just knowing that that like where we started and where we've ended up, and the fact that it's kind of been this steady progression.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: And that's just the appearance. Mm-hmm. So it's like that with everything. The staffing, the programming, the menu, the drinks, everything has been that steady improvement over time.

Zhou Fang: Hmm. It would be cool to have a photo book.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah. Or a time lapse.

Zhou Fang: Oh, time lapse. Yes.

Melinda Archuleta: Okay.

Zhou Fang: Uh, I moved to our neighborhood in the middle of the pandemic, so I moved to foster in. January, 2021.

Okay.

Um, so just the last five, six years. But I definitely have seen changes. 'cause I remember, I think during the pandemic you had like a market.

Or like around that time you had vendors and they can sell their [00:47:00] stuff and it was like Open door. Open door, talking about open door. I remember that market actually, and I was actually thinking that's a really smart way to weather the pandemic.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, for sure.

Zhou Fang: Yeah.

Melinda Archuleta: It's crazy how creative you will get when you have to be creative.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. And when we think about creatives, we usually don't think about business operators.

Melinda Archuleta: No. And we don't think about the nitty gritty stuff like that, right? Mm-hmm. Like we, we took everything in the fridge and made burritos, and I sold them on the, on the sidewalk to anybody walking by. Like, I just waited for people to walk by.

Zhou Fang: Wow.

Melinda Archuleta: So, yeah. How,

Zhou Fang: how did that go?

Melinda Archuleta: I mean, we sold a lot of stuff. We sold produce. We sold illegally. We sold alcohol. We sold toilet paper. We sold all kinds of stuff. We sold everything. We had that, like we didn't need need because we didn't know what to expect.

Zhou Fang: Hmm. [00:48:00] Yeah. Yeah. You just have to get creative.

Just have to get through this.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: There's a cultural component to that too. I feel.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, for sure. There is definitely a, a resilience component. Uh, I was in a peer group on Tuesday and it was run by a Latina, and we were talking about, uh, capacity and like, you know how if you don't have enough capacity to deal with certain things, then you become reactionary.

Zhou Fang: Mm.

Melinda Archuleta: And um. I was like, oh, I, every time I think about this concept, because I think about it a lot, I always call it resilience, and she goes, yeah, resilience. There's a lot of cultural, like there's a lot of culture wound up in that because our people have had to be resilient. We've had to get back up, right?

Mm-hmm. But capacity is a different thing because you need. Like to be resilient, you need to be able to, you need to be taking care of [00:49:00] yourself.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: And then you can have the capacity to deal with, so it was really interesting to get somebody else's perspective on cultural resilience.

Zhou Fang: Yeah, for sure.

And I mean, it definitely shows up. Um. Of course in your restaurant, but also, you know, in talking with you and spending time with you, and I can see that and I can reflect that on my own journey as well as a Chinese immigrant is like, resilience is not a given. I feel like even though we were born with it, for sure.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: But talking about the capacity part is we have to build on it over time. Yeah. Otherwise it runs out. Like you can't just. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I've really enjoyed our time and thank you for sharing all the stories, you know, 18 years and, um, and more years to come for, of course. [00:50:00]

Melinda Archuleta: For sure. Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. And speaking of stories, uh, I do want to mention, you know, I have the, um, privilege and pleasure to be working with you now on like a community event that's coming up soon.

And speaking of story, we, we've, we, uh, kind of phrase or we themed this event as reclaim her story. And I'm very excited about it. I'm very excited for you to share your story about something that you reclaimed along the way. So that's very exciting. And I think by the time we release this episode, it's gonna be really close to the event.

So hopefully when. Hear it, they still have the opportunity to sign up if they choose to. Um, but I'm just very grateful that, uh, our path crossed and [00:51:00] continue to, you know, go along the way and quite literally in our little neighborhood and just in community.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah, I think, uh, I think the reclaiming, uh, container for this conversation is.

It is got so much in it. Every woman, every woman on the planet is constantly reclaiming something.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Melinda Archuleta: So whether it's your identity or your space, or your voice or your body or what have you, like, we are always putting our foot down and making it known that this is mine.

So there's a lot. I feel like the topics are gonna be very varied and deep.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. And I hope it's a healing experience for people too, you know? Mm-hmm. And it, because it's a community event. It is got, it's not gonna be grand. It's not gonna be, you know. [00:52:00] Uh, like a conference. It's not gonna be like that.

Right. But it's gonna be warm, it's gonna be cozy, it's gonna be intimate. Mm-hmm. And supportive. Um, so yeah, I'm very excited about it. And to a point, every woman has their own version of reclaiming something and, um, so I feel perhaps for some folks, uh, it will also be a cathartic experience.

Melinda Archuleta: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Um, and we'll give, uh, people time for some q and a so hopefully people can share as well when we're in the room together.

Uh, and we're of course, we're having the event at Bar Carlo, so

Melinda Archuleta: heads up.

Zhou Fang: Heads up. Um, so thank you Mel so much.

Melinda Archuleta: Thank you. So

lovely

Zhou Fang: to see you.

Melinda Archuleta: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. And thank you again for your patience today as I. Uh, try to navigate technology.

Melinda Archuleta: Not at all. We all need [00:53:00] more patience with that.

Zhou Fang: That's true. Um, so I will see you soon in person.

Okay. And I hope you have a nice weekend.

Melinda Archuleta: Thank you. You too.

Zhou Fang: Thank you. I'm gonna stop recording.