Darla Ortega had no idea launching her business with no past experience would turn into a huge success. With her business beginning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she had no idea what to expect. She didn’t always plan on beginning her business, but when she began dipping strawberries, her plans clicked for her. She realized she didn’t have to have everything planned out straight away. This mindset helped her move forward. Her biggest inspiration has always been her mom, an entrepreneur who ran her own businesses. Growing up seeing her mother chase her dreams made Ortega motivated and inspired to become an entrepreneur of her own. For the past five years, Ortega has been learning, growing, and finding her way in the industry. 

As the owner of a growing dessert company, Ortega now begins her days early, often before sunrise. She wakes up at around 3:00 am to get her fresh produce from  Elias’s produce in Downtown LA, or she utilizes deliveries from the @theproduce_plug. Once she’s checked her inventory and makes sure she’s stocked up on everything she will need for the day, she starts prepping orders and preparing for the day’s sales. A lot goes into running everything smoothly.

Continuous planning goes on behind the scenes: responding to messages, planning posts, and coming up with new desserts to keep things ​​intriguing.

Looking forward, Ortega hopes to expand her business by using Instagram and promoting her business on social media. She has obtained 41.2 thousand followers on Instagram (@darlasdelightss) and has received over 200 thousand likes on a post. She currently works out of her home and has people line up outside so she can deliver her desserts to people’s cars. Her goal is to open up her own store someday and to eventually have multiple locations. She wants to grow her business so she can leave her family something long-lasting. While there have been many ups and downs, and moments where she didn’t see progress, she never gave up and is really happy with where she ended up