My Story

   

So, how did this all begin? I’ve been asked this question numerous times: how does someone with a passion for cooking end up importing textiles from Ecuador? It’s a great question, and I find it intriguing myself! It certainly wasn’t something I had planned.

Back in the late 1970s, I developed a deep love for Chinese food. I enrolled in Chinese cooking classes offered in someone’s home in my hometown of Rhinebeck, NY, alongside a good friend. Since I couldn’t afford the classes, I took a job as an assistant/dishwasher in exchange for the lessons. I eagerly accepted the offer! Once the classes were over, I was hooked—I made every night Chinese night!

In 1980, I joined the Culinary Institute of America. Though I didn’t graduate, I helped my family open a Chinese restaurant. It was an incredible experience—I cooked, waited tables, bartended; basically, I did it all. When my parents sold the restaurant in the late 1980s, I was heartbroken.

Then, by a stroke of luck, I ran into the chef from that restaurant and persuaded him to help me open “China Rose.” It took a lot of hard work, sweat, and prayers, but in 1995, I opened my own Chinese restaurant! It was a success but also extremely stressful. After 15 years, I knew I needed a change, but I wasn’t sure what to do next.

At 55, retirement wasn’t an option, so I reinvented myself with a little help from my brother. When Tom was a high school senior, he fell in love with Isabel, a foreign exchange student from Latacunga, Ecuador. After graduating from Red Hook High School, Tom spent the summer in Ecuador and fell in love again—with Isabel’s family and with Ecuador itself.

Tom was so enamored that he proposed to Isabel, but she wanted to attend college and declined. They parted ways and lived separate lives until, 37 years later, my mom ran into a friend who had stayed in touch with Isabel. By the end of their conversation, phone numbers were exchanged, and Tom and Isabel reconnected.

As fate would have it, they were both single and still had feelings for each other. Six months later, they were married!

Tom and Isabel spent some time in California before buying an RV to travel around the U.S. and Mexico. In 2007, they purchased a house in Ecuador.

After selling my restaurant in 2009, I decided to visit Tom and Isabel in Ecuador. I fell in love with the country. My brother showed me around, but it was Otavalo, up in the mountains, where I discovered my new path.

Otavalo is renowned for its textiles, and that’s how it all began. On that first trip, I brought back dozens of blankets and ponchos to the U.S., confident they would sell. And they did. I started selling at farmer’s markets and fiber festivals from Florida to New York and beyond. Since then, my business has grown and evolved into what it is today, and I continue to travel to Otavalo.

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