Cari has 22 years as a franchisee. She was a legal assistant for 7 years, did professional voice over work for 3 years and drove a truck for Fedex for 7 years prior to entering the registered applicant program with her husband, Hector. He was the registered applicant, but when they went to the interview, they encouraged her to enter the program. Seeing they both had a passion for the business, Cari completed the program in a year as she was staying home after having their fourth child and had more time to commit to the program. She purchased first restaurant in April 2023, 81 miles from their home and were in a challenged market. Hector continued working in his career in the oil and gas industry as a geophysicist, geologist and geophysical adviser, with Chevron as his last employer. Cari disappeared for about 2 years working 80-100 hrs a week with a steep learning curve, having no experience or education in business. They didn’t grow until 2016 when they  hired a key employee, Mario Morales. In September 2020, Mario Morales (DO), son Tim (supervisor) and Cari showed up mid pandemic and moved into AirBNB’s.

Those months epitomized the term “grinding it out” and are a blur to all of them. The remaining 11 team members and family stayed to run the Texas stores until they could sell them Nov. 1, 2020, and gave them time to sell their homes arriving between December and February. They then purchased 13 restaurants between September 2020 and December 2022. Cari currently serve on the following leadership positions: NFLA Economic Team, OPNAD Value Committee, OPNAD Media & Budget Committee, OPNAD Hispanic Consumer Marketing Committee, BSOA Executive Board, and South Carolina Owner Operator Insurance Fund Board. 

Hector and Cari have been married for 30 years and have four children, three of whom Cari had when Hector and and her met.