Meet Maira and Marlene Delgadillo | Small Business Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maira and Marlene Delgadillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maira and Marlene, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Our thought process began when we wanted to create gifts for our family and friends. We’re gift givers! It brings us a lot of happiness to gift our friends/family personal handmade gifts. We wanted these gifts to not only identify with their cultura but with their current self. We grew up in a mexican american household, spanish is our first language. We love our culture and our roots but often felt like outcasts. The lack of latinx representation made a huge impact on us growing up. TV, media, and stores had a very limited selection of latino representation. At stores, finding gifts in español was very difficult. With that, our idea to create, pero en español began.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We create, pero en Español. Our items all in spanish are what sets us apart. We try to create items that carry significance to us or others. We had many female cousins who were in the STEM fields, and some just around the corner from graduating. Latinas in STEM make up about 3% in the workforce, many not represented for their work. We created our first Mujeres En STEM shirt and mug as graduation gifts for them and of course they loved the uniqueness! We now offer these items in our Etsy shop and so many other Latinas en STEM feel represented in their work and studies.

We are so excited to release our new Cumbia tops! They are rhinestone embellished tops with the word cumbia on it. Houston has been having a lot of latin nights and our favorites are Cumbia nights at Axelrad and Discoteka night at Grand Prize Bar. These cumbia nights haven’t been around for long and the latin Houstonians are now feeling represented. These tops tie in the all around theme of Cumbia, all latinos enjoy it! Especially when dancing. The latino community in Houston is growing and we want to be a part of it.

We’re still growing, everyday. We haven’t completed a year of business just yet, but we are already starting to feel all the love and recognition. It’s been hard to get our name out there. The internet is huge! But Tik tok has helped grow our platform significantly. Being consistent but also being true to ourselves has been what has helped us. We are now connecting with other Latina creators on Tik Tok and instagram. We are building a community where we showcase our latinidad.

We want the world to know that the Latinx Community is big and thriving! There is so much potential in our community. We are just getting started. We are twin sisters on a journey to create, we named ourselves We Speak Two not only because we are twins, or speak two languages but because Latinos have voices too.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love going to Montrose! Having a drag brunch at Boheme or a cozy wine night at Postinos. But the best is the fun Latin nights on Sundays, with DJ pollo at Eagle.

We love food! All kinds, starting in Alief. Our go to’s are Pho, Banh Mi sandwiches, Ramen, Korean BBQ, Vietnamese Che and Boba. All these yummy places are found on Bellaire, a part of Chinatown and Little Saigon. Our favorite family style restaurant is Agas! We enjoy their spicy curries and garlic naan. As for Mexican food, our favorite has to be our local taco mans truck and El Charro, where they serve the best micheladas! Micheladas are our favorite Sunday drink, the best spicy and tangy beer combination.

We enjoy dancing, we usually find out where latin nights are being hosted or what Djs are playing at different spots around the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our community. We were born and raised in Alief. Alief has a very big place in our hearts. Growing up in this diverse community allowed us to feel ourselves and embrace our culture. It also taught us to learn and love other cultures because of the differences in food, languages and people. We love our community so much! We want Alief to be known for its ability to unite cultures and people. The part of Houston that often goes unrecognized because of it’s stigma. Alief is changing but the people will always remember this big melting pot of cultures.

Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Wespeaktwo?ref=profile_header

Instagram: Wespeaktwo

Facebook: We Speak Two

Other: Tik tok link: https://www.tiktok.com/@wespeaktwo

Image Credits
Karen Parada Celia Martinez Priscilla Del Valle