We are originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil – also Known as Terra da Garoa, a place with plenty of rain and gray skies. We are from a special era where kids played outside until dark and the only technology was five channels on the TV. Because there were no toys, a lot of imagination was required for a good play day. After we got married and had our first born daughter, we decided we wanted more opportunities in our lives. But it wouldn’t be possible in the small city we grew up in, where nothing ever was new under the sun. So, we migrated to the United States in 1998.
I was 21-years-old then. A dream I had as a kid was to speak English-all of my favorite songs were. To one day wake up in the US was, for us, unreal. It was a blessing. The streets, the car sounds on the road, the food, the organized cities, the blue sky of Miami, something we fell in love with.
My husband and I have been together for 28 years now, married for 25. For years, we worked in the same restaurant together, I as a server, him as a line cook. We learned so much, including our passion for food, making people happy, and watching their joy at dessert time. Eduardo grew up watching his mom sell cakes, which is where his love for the kitchen comes from. And I of course, love everything he loves. We still work together, at work, in life, as parents, as a couple, and now as business partners.
Our family grew over the years, we had three more children after our first daughter, Duda: Vinycius, Julia, and Noah. They are our lives and for them, we would do anything. The idea of Those Doces came about at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. My husband and I fought to keep working. For us, it was not an option to stay home, to quarantine. We needed the company we still work at to keep going so we could too. And thankfully, we made it through. It wasn’t easy, but here we are. Looking back, it hurt us to have left our kids at home, struggling with online school, missing their routine, teachers, and friends. I was fearful of getting myself, my children and coworkers sick. Nonetheless, in the middle of that uncertainty, we were sure of one thing: we loved being together.
We quickly realized that we needed to give our children a shot of hope, something to work for, to look forward to, to be proud of, and most importantly, something we could do together. We needed them to see our plans, our dreams becoming real everyday, that there is a time for everything under the sun. Since then, they’ve been watching, helping, tasting, creating, making mistakes, smiling, and happier with us. For us, Those Doces means more than Brazilian chocolate truffles. It means family. It means hope, love, opportunity, and unity. It means sharing our passion with you and your family. It is sharing a little bit of my culture with yours.
