Adriana Enriquez never expected to become a butcher like her dad, Salvador, but his passion for the business had an impact on her.

Together they run the thriving family-owned Carniceria Guadalajara butcher shop in the Springwells neighborhood of Southwest Detroit.

“My dad is an expert in every type of meat. That’s one of the things we’ve always liked to give our customers – good quality meat, and the customers come back. He has taught me a lot,” she says.

Salvador Enriquez learned the culinary art of butchery at age nine from a butcher in Guadalajara, but he learned how to play with flavors from his grandmother.S

“The butcher taught me about quality, and my grandmother instilled in me the desire to give the best food possible to the people,” he says.

For 14 years Enriquez has worked with and trained his daughter, Adriana, so the skill and business will not die out.  His daughter’s skills come out of a proud father’s mouth, “My daughter can cut meat like any butcher, and she is fast,” he says.

Adriana Enriquez is a ProsperUS Detroit graduate and uses the business training she acquired to further strengthen the business. With the recent award Carniceria Guadalajara received from 2016 Motor City Match and as a NEIdeas $10k Challenge Finalist, she will be able to use those skills to help her father’s planned expansion. It includes a delivery van with a refrigeration system and a patio at the shop where customers can enjoy their carryout food.

Carniceria Guadalajara is no ordinary butcher shop. Enriquez has a passion for his craft, which he passed on to his daughter. It’s not about the money the business generates, but rather the enjoyment he gets for his work.  He compares it to a master sushi chef when discussing how much care and attention it takes to produce the shop’s delicacies. The pleasure he gets from his job is what he credits to the Springwells neighborhood store’s success.

His is the true American story of an immigrant – a story often sparked by that one opportunity that can change everything.

With artisan skills from the old country, Enriquez made a stop before coming to Detroit. His first move to US soil was to Carson City, California.  Despite his skills, work to provide for his young family was not easy to come by because of his limited English skills. His luck changed when a shop owner, also an immigrant, took a chance and hired him. “I’ve been doing what I love ever since,” he says.

Enriquez believes the immigrant experience he shared with the store owner and the openness of a country filled with people from all corners of the world, all looking for the same thing, helped him get that first job.

“Immigrants want to make it – just like everyone else,” he says.

When Enriquez moved to Detroit in 1999, his imagination was fueled by the images of a big vibrant city he saw in the books he read as a kid. He couldn’t wait to explore the city as he creeped toward retirement.

What he found didn’t match what he’d seen in his books. Detroit was not the vibrant city he expected, and he felt motivated to be a part of the city’s resurgence. He noticed a missing market – an opportunity and one he knew well. There was not a single butcher shop in Southwest Detroit.

Three months later, he opened his first location in the Springwells neighborhood, which not only filled a need in the community, but added to the vibrancy of this now busy and thriving neighborhood.

Seventeen years later, what began as an eight-foot counter and a dream is now Carniceria Guadalajara, a part of the ever-growing Southwest Detroit neighborhood.

Enriquez, an immigrant turned Detroit transplant, stands by his second adopted city and the commitment to his business.  He’s instilled those passions in his daughter – dreams a life of serving high-grade meat and exploring a vibrant and buzzing Detroit.

Will Salvador be retiring soon? We hope not, but when he does, we know Carniceria Guadalajara is in good hands for generations to come.

Editor’s Note: This excerpted story originally on Global Detroit, an editorial partner of TheHUB. You can see the full version of the original story written by Beth Szurpicki here. ProsperUS Detroit and Global Detroit both work to serve immigrant and minority entrepreneurs. To see other stories highlighting local entrepreneurs and their economic contributions visit Global Detroit.

  Global Detroit, Minority Business, Minority Business Month, Motor City Match, NEI, Prosper US Detroit, Southwest Detroit