Latino grocery store chain Vallarta Supermarkets announced that author and entrepreneur Ellen Marie Bennett had joined its Vallarta Influencer & Partner (VIP) Program to help inspire Latinas to become independent individuals as future entrepreneurs and leaders.
Entrepreneur Ellen Marie Bennett is founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, the leading Los Angeles-based culinary workwear brand, and author of the gutsy guidebook Dream First, Details Later: How to Quit Overthinking & Make It Happen!
The book chronicles Bennett’s journey from a line cook to owner of Hedley & Bennett, a multimillion-dollar apron and kitchen gear brand.
Vallarta Supermarkets said it would donate 200 of Bennett’s books to two Latina nonprofit organizations, Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) and the National Latina Business Women Association (NLBWA) Los Angeles.
Bennett attended culinary school in Mexico City, where she rekindled the joys of her summer cooking adventures with her abuelita while learning the skills needed to tackle the hustle of the professional kitchen.
Related Article: Vallarta Supermarkets: Products, Departments, Services, Locations & More
Back in L.A., she put her training to work cooking in two Michelin Star restaurants, Providence and Baco Mercat. During this time working on the line, she experienced a “uniform” that was not aligned with the creativity and confidence found in the kitchen.
Her experience with the uniform led to the vision for Hedley & Bennett; make the best aprons in the world by marrying the needs of professional chefs with the design trends for today’s discerning consumers. Today, Hedley & Bennett make more than aprons, but culinary workwear and gear that outfits over 6,000 restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, resorts, and hundreds of thousands of home cooks worldwide.
“Vallarta is pleased to welcome Ellen to our VIP Program and share her dynamic entrepreneurial spirit and personal drive with women who have or are considering launching their own business,” said Andrew Lewis, Vice President of Marketing, Vallarta Supermarkets. “Ellen is already a fan of Vallarta, and she’ll be sharing exclusive recipes with our Vallarta shoppers.”