Adriana Rivera, owner of the Bus'd Out bakery in Riverside, never imagined that something that began as a way to honor the life of her beloved Guatemalan grandmother and that she used to heal the pain of not having her around would become a family business.

Nor did he imagine that the traditional sweet bread with a World Cup theme would popularize his business on social networks.

“She is the reason I grew up loving what I do; I owe everything I am to that woman,” Rivera said after her sales of the day. “So we incorporated Guatemalan coffee, which my brother makes, and the conchas, because my grandmother loved to eat her concha with her coffee.”

The bakery recently went viral on social media for its shells with World Cup designs that include jerseys from the different teams, Dr. Simi in his Mexico uniform and even a shell from the official World Cup ball.

The World Cup fever that is felt throughout the country helped the young woman to make her work known, but while you taste the bread, you should know the story of perseverance, love and dedication that lies behind those ingredients.

Just as soccer is nothing without its fans who appreciate and love every play, that's how Rivera was with his grandmother, whom he calls Mama Elena: they were inseparable.

The 22-year-old baker says that her grandmother took care of her when her parents had to work and that the two shared a bedroom so they were always together.

“She was my best friend, a Guatemalan woman with a big heart,” Rivera said.

A moment she holds close to her heart is when she was drinking lattes in the front yard with her grandmother. He clearly remembers how his grandmother always cut his shell into little pieces so he could dip them in coffee.

Rivera said that although she has been cooking since she was little, her business didn't start until she was 15 and in high school. He remembered that at that time Mama Elena was his comfort. After his death, which occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, he fell into a deep depression.

"I tried to distract myself with a lot of things so I wouldn't focus or get caught up in my pain. That's when I started making cheesecakes and people told me to start promoting my business on social media," she said. “But I had a hard time getting over the death of my grandmother.”

During that time her grades began to decline, and her counselor, Mr. Chavez, and her art teacher, Mrs. Fitzgerald, at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, noticed the difference in her.

The young woman claims that they never stopped supporting her at a time when she could not do so for herself. Rivera noted that they also realized that she sold desserts and told her that it was a talent that she should continue developing.

“In fact, they were the ones who gave me my first stand mixer when I graduated,” recalls Rivera, who now fills his house with shells due to the number of orders he receives.

Over time, the business transformed into a home-based coffee shop and bakery offering Guatemalan coffee and sweet bread.

“I started doing all this on my own, but then my parents saw that I worked long hours and, little by little, everyone joined the team; now it is a family business,” Rivera said. “My whole family wanted me to go to school and I understood why, but I knew I wanted to have my own business and show them that not having a college degree doesn't mean you can't be successful.”

She laughs a little when she begins to list the roles of each member of her family in the bakery, such as that of her father Antonio, who is Mexican and is in charge of baking Guatemalan bread, such as champurradas and pan de yema, and preparing the dough for the conchas, while she and her brother Randy form balls to begin decorating them before baking them. His brother also designs all the prints on his shells.

World Cup fever

A few days ago, after asking his clients on Instagram what the next shell design should be, he received a huge number of responses saying, “Make World Cup shells!”

The video of their World Cup shells has more than 80 thousand views and has generated great interest in the community to place an order. He says they sell every weekend, but people can place their orders by email or Instagram.

Right now, he's taking a month off from his regular job to see if he can eventually do this full time and, who knows, maybe he'll get to serve his shells at a World Cup.

"Since I was very young, my goal has been to have something of my own; we have been saving for about two years now and we hope to get our own place, and hopefully within a year we can achieve it," Rivera commented. “We are all working for that and we know that any success we have achieved and will achieve will be possible thanks to my grandmother, who blesses us from heaven.” .

To place an order, follow her on Instagram or TikTok.