We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristen Corral and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristen, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is pretty subjective. One person’s risk could be someone else’s mundane. But I personally have been taking risks as long as I can remember, some have paid off some haven’t. I grew up as a performer and professional dancer so I soon as I graduated high school I passed on college and moved to LA to be a performer. It didn’t pan out in LA, but I found myself in Vegas performing alongside well-known magicians and doing numerous stage shows for over 10 years, and had a great career. I then risked everything by creating a pet care company with no knowledge of business and left the stage to focus on that business full-time. At the time I didn’t have enough clients to make a full-time living, but I worked night and day and spent hours online learning different skills. After 11 years of building that into the top pet care company, I sold it to focus on Tacotarian. So far all of this sounds pretty risky, but to me, it felt right, and owning a vegan restaurant has been a dream of mine since I went vegetarian in 2011. I think that if you feel passionate about something and it’s worth the risk then you should go for it. If you don’t then you will only have regrets.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Tacotarian is a plant-based Mexican eatery that was started in 2018. It’s owned by 2 couples (Kristen & Carlos Corral/ Dan & Regina Simmons). We wanted to create a modern take on Mexican food that would change people’s perception of vegan and Mexican restaurants. Owning a restaurant is NOT by any means easy. Owning any business isn’t easy. It’s thousands of hours of work, including nights and weekends.

The main reason we’ve been so successful, besides our dedication, is our skill sets. We’re an extremely well-rounded group of entrepreneurs. Where one lacks the other one shines and it’s allowed us to scale and conquer faster and more efficiently. So if we could advise anyone who wants to open a business it’s to put together the best team possible. If you don’t want to share your business with people then hire experts to work for you that have the skills necessary for success.

Our biggest lessons have come with growth and we’re still learning things every single day. Our greatest lesson has been to keep learning, keep asking people for help, and don’t give up.

We want people to know that plant-based food is the future. Does that mean everyone will be vegan? No, not likely. But that’s ok. We want people to be able to enjoy vegan food though, and incorporate it into their daily or weekly meals. The best way to convert people is to show them how great plant-based food can be and that’s what we continue to do every day.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, I don’t live in San Diego full-time, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time here.

Coffee; James Coffee
Dinner: Fortunate Son (best green beans I’ve ever eaten)
Walking around: La Jolla and hit the beach
Hike at Torrey Pines and walk down the beach (I love the beach)
Lunch: Ben and Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli
Shopping on Coronado
Dinner and a bottle of wine at Civico 1845

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Tough Question because there have been so many people who have gotten us here. A book I always tell people to read when starting a small business is ‘The Marketing Rebellion’ by Mark Schaefer. I saw Mark speak years ago at a marketing conference and his idea of humanizing brands is so spot on and it’s something that’s really contributed to our success. I think that the greatest time to be in business is now because you can learn to do almost anything online for free there’s just so much information out there.

Website: www.eattacotarian.com

Instagram: @eattacotarian

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-corral-b3180a31/

Facebook: @eattacotarian

Yelp: Tacotarian

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Jonathan Cariaga

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