Mi Pueblo Supermarket CEO Dulce Rivera Follows in Her Father’s Footsteps

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times Dulce Rivera, CEO of Mi Pueblo Supermarket, has always been one to speak candidly and confidently. “… I was like 15 or 16 and I was in the store (Mi Pueblo) and the manager at the time was in the produce section and I was just talking to him. We were just making conversation and he asked me what I would like to do when I grow up and I told him ‘I would love to run the business.’ He looked at me and he said, ‘I don’t think this is an industry for women’ and I told him I feel differently. I remember telling my dad and he encouraged me. He said I could be whatever I want. I have the potential to do whatever I can,” said Riveria. Her dad was right. Rivera now oversees what started as a small family business in Pelham in 2005 and is now one of the largest multicultural stores in Alabama with two locations in Homewood and Pelham. Not only did her dad provide encouragement but also something else as well. “My father is the one that is very much entrepreneurial. He’s got that nose....