Welcome to The Relatable Voice podcast! Today, we're in Wisconsin to chat with Miguel Leal, a successful businessman known for bringing top-quality Hispanic-style cheeses to the U.S. In 2020, he even won the World Championship Cheese Contest with his Cotija cheese. Miguel is here to share his inspiring story and talk about his latest book, "The House That Cheese Built." Find out more at: www.thehousethatcheesebuilt.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MIGUEL LEAL is widely regarded as the “Godfather of Mexican Cheese” in the United States, Miguel Leal’s story humbly began at a cheese factory in his native Mexico as a teenager. When he was invited to travel to the United States as an apprentice, he jumped at the chance. One of six children raised in poverty after the tragic death of his father in an earthquake, Leal arrived in Wisconsin without money and speaking little English. As an illegal immigrant, he had no choice but to make a cardboard bed on the factory’s boiler room floor. Despite these challenges—through grit, persistence, and hard work—Leal observed and learned every step of cheesemaking, from cleaning the equipment to cutting and packaging cheese for sale. He was among the first to recognize that the growing number of Latinx immigrants in the U.S. meant there would be a market for specialty Mexican cheeses, and eventually partnered with a master cheesemaker from Wisconsin to work with the Amish in Ohio to produce and hand-sell 60-pound wheels of cotija cheese in the Chicago metro area.

This guest sold his business for $50mil to the global company Sigma Alimentos. This company still uses, and used, his recipes to won the 2020 World Championship Cheese Contest with his "flagship cotija cheese." Miguel Leal is widely regarded as the “Godfather of Mexican Cheese” in the United States, Miguel Leal’s story humbly began at a cheese factory in his native Mexico as a teenager. When he was invited to travel to the United States as an apprentice, he jumped at the chance. One of six children raised in poverty after the tragic death of his father in an earthquake, Leal arrived in Wisconsin without money and speaking little English. As an illegal immigrant, he had no choice but to make a cardboard bed on the factory’s boiler room floor. He was among the first to recognize that the growing number of Latinx immigrants in the U.S. meant there would be a market for specialty Mexican cheeses, and eventually partnered with a master cheesemaker from Wisconsin to work with the Amish in Ohio to produce and hand-sell 60-pound wheels of cotija cheese in the Chicago metro area. The skyrocketing demand for his cheese led Leal to establish his own company, Mexican Cheese Producers, Inc. in 1994. He eventually constructed a state-of- the-art production plant in Darlington, Wisconsin—a prime location with access to the finest quality milk in the country. There, he continued to perfect recipes for a variety of Mexican cheeses and took out patents for the machines used to produce them. (Biography Credit: Miguel Leal's Team) Some discussion areas include: -Lessons to new immigrants -Challenges with scaling -Diversifying product offerings -How he found qualified customers for large orders -Why it took 3 years to launch book