For Jennifer Martinez, class of 2022, family has always been her inspiration. It turns out that they sparked her imagination, too.
At a family gathering, Martinez and her cousins challenged each other to recreate a Mexican candy.
“The candy became a sensation in our family and was requested for every family party. Until someone asked, ‘why don’t you sell this outside the family?’ And we said, ‘why not?’”
Thus, their business of Picosito Sweets was born. “Coming up with the name of the candy was challenging because we wanted it to represent its Mexican heritage and mix of flavors ― sweet but sour with a little bit of spice,” Martinez explains.
Martinez and her cousins were startled by the amount of support they received from friends and the community. They began by advertising the candy to their friends on Instagram and Snapchat, and orders have steadily increased.
Through it all, Jennifer has successfully applied what she has learned as an Alverno student to the business.
“Being a business management student at Alverno has definitely given me the confidence to take on this challenge,” she says. “Alverno has cultivated in me the abilities to know how to lead and how to serve.”
This article appears in the winter 2022 issue of Alverno Magazine.
