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A quintessential American dream story from a Mexican entrepreneur who shares the tale of building a multi-million-dollar business from scratch, complete with both success and failure, and always a vision of hope
Leal came to the U.S. penniless as a teenager, speaking almost no English; he literally slept in the boiler room of a Wisconsin cheese factory for months before he was caught. Through hard work, grit, and ingenuity Leal would go on to launch his own business. He is widely credited with introducing Mexican cheeses to the U.S. market and grew his company to a multibillion-dollar success story.
Yet, like many successful entrepreneurs, Leal's great successes were matched by personal failures: the end of a marriage; trouble with law enforcement; and the deeply felt sense that there must be something more to life than great wealth. Leal's memoir, THE HOUSE THAT CHEESE BUILT, is both a beautiful illustration of the immigrant experience--isolation, fear, and ambition for a better life and assimilation--as well as a thoughtful personal account of entrepreneurship and all its benefits and costs.
List of contents
Agradecimientos ix
Prólogo: La casa que el queso construyó xi
Parte I Náufrago
1 La muerte del Transformer 3
2 Desea más 21
3 Crea oportunidad 47
Parte II De cortador de queso a propietario de fábrica
4 Aprender a pivotear 75
5 Hacer negocios con los amish 97
6 Di queso 105
Parte III Viviendo El Sueño Americano
7 Expulsión y reinvención 121
8 Pichones de tiro 151
9 Un último queso 157
Parte IV Traición y gracia
10 Mucho dinero 177
11 Traición 203
12 Luchando por mi vida 223
13 Cuatro días en el juzgado 235
14 Días de prisión y de encontrar la gracia 251
Epílogo: lecciones clave para emprendedores 259
Acerca del autor 269
Índice 271
About the author
MIGUEL LEAL fundó los Productores de Queso Mexicano en 1994. Leal finalmente vendió su negocio a Sigma Alimentos, quien usó sus recetas para ganar el Campeonato Mundial de Queso 2020. Hoy en día, Miguel está profundamente involucrado en un nuevo proyecto apasionante: apoyar el movimiento de agricultura orgánica de Méjico con una granja propia.
