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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 multimillion-dollar success story that defined an industry. 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 quintessential immigrant success story, one that beautifully illustrates the immigrant experiences: 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.
MIGUEL LEAL founded Mexican Cheese Producers in 1994. Leal eventually sold his business to Sigma Alimentos, which used his recipes to win the 2020 World Championship Cheese Contest. Today, Miguel is deeply invested in a new passion project: supporting Mexico’s organic farming movement with a farm of his own.
Introduction
PART I: CASTAWAY
Chapter One: Death of the Transformer
Chapter Two: Observe Everything
Chapter Three: Choose Friends Wisely
PART II: FROM CHEESE CUTTER TO FACTORY OWNER
Chapter Four: Learn to Pivot
Chapter Five: Doing Business with the Amish
Chapter Six: When Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door Or Break a Window
PART III: LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM
Chapter Seven: Expulsion and Reinvention
Chapter Eight: Shooting Pigeons
Chapter Nine: One Last Cheese
PART IV: BETRAYAL AND GRACE
Chapter Ten: Lawsuits and Big Money
Chapter Eleven: Betrayal
Chapter Twelve: Fighting for My Life
Chapter Thirteen: Four Days in Court
Chapter Fourteen: Finding Grace
EPILOGUE: KEY LESSONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS
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