Sandra Rocha Evanoff I Brasil Comes to You

About Brasil Comes to You

Brasil Comes to You provides authentic Brazilian private dinner experiences and cooking classes online and at home. We specialize in small groups, and private events as a vibrant social gathering. We encourage group participation in order to help educate about the Brazilian culture and meal preparation.

What’s your story, Sandra? Tell us about yourself.

Sandra: I was born in a small Village in Chapada Diamantina Bahia Brazil, where my family had a small bed and breakfast. My mother had a dream for her girls to go to college.

At age 11, my family and I family moved to Sao Paulo for a better life. At 15, I decided to help an old lady in her neighborhood. I helped to clean her nails, brought her food, or just said ‘hi’ and I’ve been helping others ever since!

In 2009, I began donating a dinner called “Brasil Comes to You” at events in Kitsap County. The concept originated from donated dinners for auction to support our local charitable organizations in their fundraising.

I decided to use this concept to form my business: Brasil Comes to You. With the onset of the pandemic, I decided to focus full time on my business and joined the accelerator program through Matchstick Lab and Vibe Coworks.

During the pandemic, I felt the call from Brazil and decided to raise money to help Brazilians who were struggling with hunger. I contacted the organization Gastromotiva and offered my assistance.

Since 2020, I’ve been raising money in the USA and Brazil for that organization. In 2021, I joined the Social Gastronomy Movement for the World Day Summit. I’ve worked together with local food banks, churches, and supermarkets to perform World Food Day activities. I remain committed to using my resources to fight hunger in my local community and Brazil.

In my free time, I love having people over to my home, hiking, going to concerts, listening to rock roll and traveling.

Now that we’ve heard about YOU, tell us more about your business.

Sandra: Brasil Comes to You is a small business that brings a Brazilian cuisine and culture experience to your home.

I would like to bring to the Pacific Northwest our real Brazilian food, from my childhood, from my roots, using what we used to eat at home such as cassava, okra, coconut, and palm oil. We have beautiful and colorful food with influences of Indigenous Portuguese and African peoples. The state where I was born in Bahia captures this mixture of three cultures very well.

Brasil Comes to You offers online cooking classes, to teach people to eat fresh and healthy without wasting food. We dream of visiting local schools to bring our voices to young kids, encouraging them to be curious about food, travel, and culture. We want to bring food diversity to schools. Well, and we also hope to open our YouTube channel soon!

What do you love about the Matchstick Lab Microbusiness Accelerator program?

Sandra: The program has been an amazing journey. First, I have so much more confidence in myself to pursue and accept more challenges.

Secondly, I have learned how to prioritize my time, making my agenda ahead of time, and the BE$T Program (Business Education Support & Training) on business plans, cash flow, marketing, and pricing were super marvelous.

Now I am applying in my business what I learned in class. My mind is open to being more connected with other entrepreneurs and being more aware of what the community is offering has helped me improve more and more.

What is one ‘superpower’ you feel like you brought to the accelerator program?

Sandra: As a black woman and immigrant, I think I brought diversity and inclusion. I feel accepted by our community as an immigrant.

What is one skill or area you came into the program hoping to grow?

Sandra: I would like to grow my business’ presence in our area, and I might go to the community fairs to introduce Brasil Comes to You to people. Letting people know about our services out there would be a great idea. I need to practice my skills in administration and prioritize my time to maximize the needs in our company.