The story behind Toast-It, a Latina-owned arepa food brand NBC10 Philadelphia [Video]

This article is part of Bísness School, a series that highlights one of the fastest-growing groups of entrepreneurs in the United States, Latinos. You can hear or watch the full conversation with Mafe Römer-Cabezas below. 

Mafe Römer-Cabezas and her sister, Coco Cabezas, were first introduced to the concept of entrepreneurship at a young age through their grandparents. 

“My grandfather and grandmother are both immigrants from Spain,” Römer-Cabezas said. “They came to Venezuela right after the Spanish Civil War and started a steel distributing business. They [would] basically buy steel materials like sheets, tubes and construction materials. And then they would sell those as a wholesale business.”

The two sisters grew up in Venezuela up until Coco was in high school and Mafe was out of college.

“[It got] a little bit dangerous,” Römer-Cabezas said of living in Venezuela. “I was mugged a few times and I was afraid to go out in the streets. It was …