Latest news with #Barragan
CNBC
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Picklr, the world's largest pickleball franchise, to open 20 clubs in Japan
The world's largest pickleball franchise is coming to Japan. The Picklr, a network of indoor pickleball clubs, will open 20 new locations in the Japanese market over the next five years, the company said on Thursday. The expansion will take place through a strategic partnership with Nippon Pickleball Holdings, Japan's leading pickleball company. The Picklr CEO Jorge Barragan has taken on an aggressive growth strategy as the sport has seen exponential growth. Pickleball saw a 223% jump in participation over a three-year span, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, making it among the "fastest-growing" sports for several years running. There are more than 20 million pickleball players in the U.S., according to the SFIA. The Picklr currently operates 40 locations in the United States and Canada. It expects that number to grow to 80 clubs by the end of the year. Barragan said in total, the company has sold more than 500 franchises in the U.S., Canada and Japan that are slated to open over the next 5 years. The clubs offer court reservations and host clinics, leagues, tournaments and private events. The business is run as a membership model, with most clubs averaging between 500 and 700 members, The Picklr said. Barragan told CNBC that he believes Japan will serve as a launching pad for the broader Asia market. "For us, it was important to go to a country that was ready and primed to be ready to accept the growth of The Pickler, especially like a country like Japan that focuses primarily on health and community, but they have a love for racket sports," Barragan told CNBC. The first Japanese Picklr facility is slated to open in the Tokyo metro area, followed by additional locations throughout the country. The facilities will be located in retail, office and light-industrial buildings. Barragan said he doesn't see the pickleball trend letting up anytime soon. He said he's still fielding more than 220 leads monthly, many of those international. "We keep waiting for the day where the leads are going to taper off or go down," he said. "We still haven't seen that dip." The professional pickleball leagues are also looking for international growth. In July, the United Pickleball Association announced plans to expand its tour to include events in Australia, India, Canada, Asia and Europe. "I think different parts of the world are starting to get the pickleball bug and they're starting to experience what we experienced four years ago when we started the business," Barragan said.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ramon Barragan, founder of Barragan's chain of Mexican restaurants, dies
When Tony Barragan worked at his family's Echo Park Mexican restaurant in the 1970s, he regularly heard longtime customers tell newcomers about the story of his father. How Ramon Barragan came to Los Angeles as a 16-year-old immigrant. How he went from dishwasher to head chef at a restaurant run by someone from his small hometown of Tecuala, Nayarit. How Barragan opened up a spot bearing his last name in 1961 at a former coffee shop that seated only 24. How he saved enough money to buy six storefronts next door and expanded Barragan's so it grew into a sprawling palace that could seat 300 in its two bars, banquet room and patio. 'Customers would offer like a guided tour in a museum, because it wasn't just a restaurant to them, it was a human phenomenon,' said Tony. 'They would talk about how they loved the food, and then point at us. 'Look, this is the son! That's Ramon!'' Barragan's was part of a group of Mexican restaurants on Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park and Silver Lake run by immigrants from Nayarit that introduced traditional Mexican dishes like cocido and sopes to Angelenos in sit-down environments beyond the Eastside. Ramon and his children eventually opened Barragan's in Burbank and Glendale, but it was the original one that became part of L.A.'s culinary landscape, that a 1983 Times review praised for offering 'very, very good … Mexican dishes not commonly seen in restaurants rather than being confined to the usual taco-enchilada combinations.' In its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, the Echo Park Barragan's attracted long lines, celebrity regulars like Jackson Browne and even a visit from England's Prince Philip, who arrived one night with security to eat 'lots of guacamole and shmooze [sic] with the waiter about green cards,' according to a 1984 LA Weekly story. Once the hype died down and crowds moved on to other styles of Mexican food, Barragan's still attracted longtimers with its stiff margaritas and reliably delicious meals, all based on Ramon's recipes that called for freshly made sauces and limited the "ingredients out of cans to tomatoes and maybe olives," according to his daughter, Carmen. The Barragan's patriarch died April 13 of natural causes at his home in Duarte, surrounded by family. He was 94. He was born in 1930 to a father who was an itinerant salesman and a mother who ran a small store. Barragan inherited their entrepreneurial streak, hawking cheese in surrounding villages for a quesero when he was 12. But life in Tecuala was hard, and Ramon had aspirations of moving to the United States to work for Natalia Barraza, a friend of his parents who operated a successful Mexican restaurant in downtown L.A. called the Nayarit. 'He had that vision that this lady from Nayarit had come [to the U.S.] and built something,' said Tony. 'He wanted to tap into that.' Ramon helped Barraza open a second Nayarit in Echo Park in 1951 and eventually became the head chef. He also convinced a niece to start her own Mexican restaurant on Sunset, La Villa Taxco, which eventually became its own successful chain and beloved L.A. institution. Soon after, he opened Barragan's just a few blocks down from the Nayarit with seed money from Barraza and borrowing against his home, which was a mile away. Slender but tough, he slowly transitioned the menu from a mix of American and Mexican American classics in favor of guisados (stews) and soups that appealed to Echo Park's growing Mexican and Chicano community. Working double shifts at a restaurant that was open six days a week in the early years from 7 in the morning to 10 at night, Tony and his siblings remember a father devoted to his restaurant and customers. 'When you watched him cook, he would watch the flame to make sure it was perfect,' he said. 'There was a service mentality to my father. He was here to serve mankind, and it was to serve delicious hot food.' 'He wanted his waitresses to have their lipstick on and their shoes shined,' said Carmen. 'He wanted perfection from his employees and his children.' But she and her siblings also remember a tender side to their father, someone who enrolled them in Catholic schools for a better education, tried to treat them to donuts every morning or sneaked off on shopping trips "so we could own two pairs of shoes instead of one," according to Carmen. Ramon also encouraged his workers to advance at Barragan's or mentored them about how to branch out on their own. The Barragan story was told by USC history professor Natalia Molina in her 2022 book 'A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community.' The granddaughter of Natalia Barraza, Molina and her family frequented the original Barragan's as a child. As an adult, Barragan's was a favorite place for drinks before or after a game at Dodger Stadium, just a few blocks east. The MacArthur fellow had fond memories of the man she called Tío Ramon sitting at a stool between the kitchen and counter to 'vigilar [keep watch],' just like her grandmother taught him. 'We take it for granted the cultural work that my grandma and Ramon did to have Mexican food have a seat at the table' in Los Angeles, Molina told The Times, referring to their spots in her book as "urban anchors" where immigrants were able to create and foster a community in their new country. She and others were heartbroken when the original Barragan's closed in 2013, the last of the original Mexican restaurants on Sunset run by Nayarit alumni. 'If it was just about the food, you'd say, 'OK, I can just go to another Barragan's,'" Molina said. "But it represented, 'We're here, we're seen.' For that to go away it, felt like a real loss.' The last Barragan's remaining is in Burbank and run by Ramon's son, Armando. In his later years, Ramon liked to stop by to chat with workers, many who had worked with his family for decades, and enjoy his birthdays with the meals that earned the Barragans their American dream. 'We have customers who ate at the original location 40 years ago and they taste the same food, and they're just so happy,' Armando said. 'And all credit goes to my dad insisting we never change any of his recipes.' Ramon Barragan is survived by his second wife, Josie; his children Frank, Tony, Armando, Carmen, Grace Douglass and Rita Hiller; 17 grandchildren; and multiple great-grandchildren. Services were private. Sign up for Essential California for the L.A. Times biggest news, features and recommendations in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Corpus Christi ISD Teacher of the Year winners share love for students, public education
The district-wide Teacher of the Year winners for Corpus Christi ISD have been chosen. Thursday evening, the district recognized the top teachers of the 2024-25 school year for elementary and secondary schools. They were chosen by a committee of district faculty and staff members. Amalia "Dolores" Barragan, who teaches fourth grade at Creekside Elementary School, was named the Elementary Teacher of the Year. Barragan has been a teacher for 18 years. She believes education can transform lives, Superintendent Roland Hernandez said Thursday. "Teaching is more than a profession," Barragan said. "It's a calling, a passion and a privilege." Teachers do not succeed alone, she said. Students are the heart of the work. "Every lesson, every breakthrough and every small victory belongs to them," Barragan said. Pedro Benavidez, who teaches chemistry at Ray High School, was named Secondary Teacher of the Year. Benavidez strives to instill resilience, adaptability and the importance of lifelong learning in his students, Hernandez said. Benavidez said he encourages everyone to remain curious throughout their lives. He has worked at Ray High School for 18 years and believes strongly in public education, he said. Both Barragan and Benavidez will now be considered for the Regional Teacher of the Year honors, competing with teachers from across the Coastal Bend. The winner of the regional competition is then eligible to be named Texas Teacher of the Year. In addition to the elementary and secondary district winners, the district also honored finalists Barnes Elementary School third grade teacher Alexandra Romero, Metro Elementary School second grade teacher Whitney Copeland, Driscoll Middle School eighth grade U.S. History teacher Selina Garcia and Student Support Center middle school math teacher Casandra Jackson. The Caller-Times previously reported on the full list of nominees from each Corpus Christi ISD school. After more than a year of disputes, Corpus Christi Library Board accepts new policy With a federal pause on grants, Port of Corpus Christi's zero-emission goals lie in wait Photos from the aftermath of wildfires in Sinton This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Corpus Christi ISD announces Teacher of the Year winners
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
America welcomed this refugee who fled the Taliban; now he's a founding CEO opening doors for job seekers facing adversity
In the fall of 2021, Cyrus Jaffery walked into a McDonald's in West Point, Nebraska and offered the cashier a job. For months, while bringing his energetic kids in for their monthly order of chicken nuggets and fries, he had observed how cheerful and attentive Rosa Barragan was with her customers, no matter their background. Jaffery was a serial entrepreneur looking to grow his businesses; he knew a good hire when he saw one. Shortly after, Barragan, then 24, became an account manager on the customer experience team, working across the eight independent insurance agencies Jaffery runs under the Omaha-based CJ Insurance Group. Even today, Jaffery's job offer across that fast food counter feels "unreal," said Barragan. "I was very surprised. I'm at McDonald's. I smell like grease. Why me?" At the time, the recent college graduate had been working 16-hour days—eight hours at McDonald's for about $11 an hour and eight hours doing family support social work for $15 an hour. She lived with her parents and felt stuck. Jaffery's job offer allowed her to move out, move to Omaha, and work regular eight-hour days, earning more than twice the pay at a salaried job with benefits and flexibility. Jaffery, who employs 90 people and expects his roster to grow to 200 or more by the end of 2024, has made a habit of hiring people with nontraditional backgrounds—servers, artists, chefs with no industry experience, parents with employment gaps, or people who've been fired multiple times, Economic Hardship Reporting Project and Fast Company explain. Jaffery doesn't care about pedigree. "We hire for character," he said. "It's easy to teach someone how to do insurance; it's hard to teach them how to be a good human being." To Jaffery, a résumé only says so much. He's willing to take a chance on people outside the norm. He's willing, because not long ago, someone took that very chance on him. Jaffery was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1988. A few years later, amid the country's civil war, the Taliban bombed his family's house, forcing him to flee to neighboring Pakistan with his mother and siblings. (Jaffery's father stayed behind to run the family gas station and, later, assist the U.S. military.) In 2002, the family was resettled in the U.S. as refugees and eventually made their home in Omaha, Nebraska. Arriving in the U.S. just months after the attacks of 9-11, "was not the best for people from Afghanistan," Jaffery said. With his heavy accent and foreign style, Jaffery became a target for bullies at his mostly white high school. There was "a lot of racism," he said. "It was tough." He and his brothers relied on each other, trading tips on how to navigate teen social life in America. Eventually, he joined the school's soccer team, where he excelled and built a community. "I finally felt like a normal kid," he said. But life at home was hard. His mom made a modest living cleaning houses; often their food stamps ran out before the end of the month. After soccer practice, Jaffery would head to one job at a call center, followed by an evening shift at McDonald's. On weekends, he cleaned homes with his mom. He craved a stable, white-collar career. After graduating from Nebraska Wesleyan University, he turned to insurance. He knew he was outgoing and would make a good salesman. The field seemed secure; "everyone legally needs insurance," he said. And agents earn predictable revenue off their cut of monthly insurance payments. But after an internship with a national insurance company and interviews with different agencies, he couldn't land a full-time position. When Wells Fargo offered him a job as a personal banker, he moved on. A few years later, Jaffery's future wife, Michelle Rivera, brought him home to meet her parents, Cynthia and Tom. Jaffery was awestruck by the spacious house overlooking a golf course. "I want this life," he remembers thinking. As it turns out, Tom Rivera was an insurance agent. When Tom Rivera saw Jaffery's eyes wander around his house, he thought, "I know that look." Rivera himself was one of eight siblings whose parents had fled Mexican poverty in the 1950s. He'd grown up spending his summers clearing weeds, hoeing beans, and thinning sugar beets across Nebraska farmlands alongside his parents and siblings. Rivera understood that Jaffery had the same work ethic, ambition, and sense of family. "What I saw in him was the same thing I saw in myself; if you just gave me a chance, I could prove myself," Rivera said. Inspired by the wealth and security Rivera built from his career, Jaffery took another stab at breaking into the insurance industry. But it led to another string of rejections. Rivera eventually recommended Jaffery for a job at his company. As a friend—and later father-in-law—Rivera mentored Jaffery through early career challenges. Jaffery took these lessons to heart and quickly became a high-performing agent. He was soon exceeding monthly goals, outpacing other top performers and winning awards. Jaffery began to consider taking a risk. If he went independent, he could sell products from a range of insurance companies, have more control over who his agency hired, and earn more. But if he left, he'd lose his clients with his current employer and be forced to start over. He turned to Rivera, who explained how Jaffery could leave his current company without burning bridges. He helped him think through planning for the company's future, potential downsides, and balancing the responsibilities of a CEO with the responsibilities he had to his family. "You reach for the moon," Rivera remembered saying. "But you don't want to pull away from your family." Jaffery went independent in 2019 and has seen his business grow at rapid speed, spawning a tech platform that helps independent agents more efficiently gather quotes from multiple carriers, along with multiple independent agencies that partner with real estate and banking. He attributes much of his company's success to his open-minded hiring strategy. Whether he's hiring nontraditional candidates or those referred to the company, he doesn't rule out folks with atypical résumés. The majority of his hires do not have college degrees, and many come from the service industry, where he believes folks develop the people skills needed for his industry. So much of the decision comes down to how well the candidate can hang with Jaffery and the team. "If they are a good fit, and I like their story, personality, and work ethic, we give them a chance," he said. Even when he's reviewing a formal application, he's looking for the Rosa Barragans of the world. People who are used to "talking to people all day, pleasing them, solving problems," he said. These are the skills necessary to attract, sign, and maintain relationships with insurance clients. When a late-career woman reached out to him after being let go from the industry multiple times, Jaffery met with her. He listened to her story. He learned that previous companies didn't offer room for advancement, and they micromanaged her work. She had the skills his company was seeking; she just needed space to thrive, which he happily offered. "She's been with us for almost three years now," Jaffery said. "She's one of our best employees and she's knocking it out of the park." Jaffery understands that there's often a divide between people's potential and the opportunities they're given. Sometimes you can create your own opportunities—like Rivera's parents bringing his family to America. Other times, you might benefit from larger forces—like the United States providing refugee status to a family escaping the Taliban. But sometimes, your ambition and resilience only get you so far. If you're Rosa Barragan, you might need a Tom Rivera or a Cyrus Jaffery to open doors that were previously closed. Jaffery is trying to open these doors for as many people as possible. CJ Insurance Group runs donation drives for Afghan evacuees who fled the Taliban two summers ago. But he worries their door might soon be closing. Without a Congressional pathway to permanent residency, most of these evacuees could be deported back to Afghanistan. "I see myself every day in the people that are moving here from Afghanistan," Jaffery said. If the U.S. just gave them a chance and let them stay, he said, "they're going to become me." Whether it's Americans welcoming newcomers or employers looking for their next hire, Jaffery believes there is so much untapped potential before us. "We just need to give people the opportunity to shine." Co-published with Fast Company. This article is the third in a series about gatekeepers in the professional world taking a chance on those with non-traditional backgrounds. Read the full series here. This story was produced by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and Fast Company, and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
