The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez is known for educating and producing holistic individuals who achieve academic and career success during their college years. Colegiales are often identified as visionaries, meaning that these students are not only studying to find a job, they are also cultivating expertise and gaining experience to achieve a long-lasting, successful career. An example of this is our very own Christian Jiménez, who in 2012 established the name, logo, and slogan for his local business PaL’ MoNCHi which is better known as La casa del Flan de Pitorro.
(Official Logo)
PaL’ MoNCHi is a small Puerto Rican business currently located in Rincón. Its focus is to offer and craft a variety of different flavored flans. Their vision is to provide their customers a great satisfaction as they taste the quality, flavor, and freshness of the flans, while making available different options in taste for an affordable price. At the same time, PaL’ MoNCHi wants their customers to experience a brand that reaches, “la mesa de su hogar con un producto único que tenga un sabor especial y una calidad incomparable.” Currently this local business offers 40 different flavors of flan, making PaL’ MoNCHi have the longest flavor list across the island! Jiménez is excited to continue expanding his current list and experiment with different flavors to infuse and strive for more delicious flans within the next few years. Besides selling flan, Jiménez also offers his products to other local businesses, restaurants, and takes special orders for events, from birthday celebrations to divorce parties.
(Picture taken from Instagram: pal_monchi)
Early in his childhood his mom would make flans to gain extra income to support their family, Jiménez then was motivated to someday start his own flan business. He mentioned that his mother, Ramelia Orench, is his biggest inspiration because she is, “una mujer extremadamente luchadora y este negocio es gracias a ella.” Besides working 3 to 4 jobs, she would always find time to teach Christian how to make flans and special techniques, such as how to get the syrup and caramel in the right smooth and creamy texture. Later, through the years, he would often experiment and perfect the skill set he was given to follow his passion. Christian explained that his teachers were a big part of his development as a rising entrepreneur. “Mis profesores de escuela superior me apoyaban con las ventas e incluso me permitían usar neveras al salón de clases.”
Currently, Jiménez is in his senior year at UPRM where he is completing a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in marketing. Although he is not active in any student association, he has learned the value of joining student-oriented groups and has plans to participate more in his community of fellow entrepreneurs to network and share what he has learned by managing his own business. When not studying for his demanding college courses, he spends most of his time in his “Casa del Flan de Pitorro.” As he reflects on his past experiences, Christian mentions he always had the capability to make sweets and sell them in different venues. From chocolate lollipops, which he learned from his neighbor, to baking cookies, cakes, and other baked goods, Christian took the challenge to use his skills to make his passion a reality. “Desde muy pequeño la cocina me ha llamado la atención, especialmente la parte de los postres. Entiendo que este campo es bastante competitivo ya que es a base de recetas y pasos que deben ser seguidos con precisión.”
After the island-wide disaster caused by Hurricane Maria, PaL’ MoNCHi had to close down for a while due to the lack of electricity, water, and other essential resources. However, this did not stop Christian from thinking ahead for a future natural disaster. To reinvent himself, Christian, along with his step-father, created a mini cart to bring PaL’ MoNCHi to events across the island.
(Picture taken from Facebook page: PaL’Monchi)
Recently, he had the opportunity to showcase his local business at the Pop Up Event para Empresarios Colegiales where he demonstrated his success as an entrepreneur while still being an undergraduate student at our campus. Christian also wanted to help fellow Puerto Ricans in case another hurricane hits the island this year. To do this, and to keep his business up and running, he plans to, “tan pronto se anunció la llegada de dicho huracán, nos preparamos con inventario extra para evitar la inflación de precios que llegaría luego. También se compraron varias cajas de agua con el motivo de ayudar a personas luego del evento.”
With Puerto Rico, and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez slowly but surely getting back on their feet, we can count on rising entrepreneurs, such as Christian Jiménez, to not only provide us with a tasty treat, but to inspire hope among our student population to not be afraid to fulfill our goals in life. He is a Colegial who truly wants to help and collaborate with others who share his same passion because it is important to, “apoyar esos pequeños empresarios que están creciendo ya que me identifico con ellos.”
Be sure to follow this local business on Facebook and Instagram!