Edith Jimenez Moreno, Owner
Edith's Restaurant and The Office on the Beach

By Susan Boley

I'm staring out at Baja from far above, on the plane ride home from Cabo. The winding, twisted riverbed is evidence of where the water rushes down from the mountains and has carved its way with great determination to the sea. That's just what this story is about - unrelenting determination and a small girl from a mountain village with an unlimited amount of drive and energy. She is now the owner of two of Cabo's most popular eateries and bars. And she's arrived just by going with the flow.

Edith was born into a family of eleven children in the Gerrero mountains where fewer than 80 families lived a simple, quiet life farming vegetables and milking cows. Out of necessity, the family moved to Acapulco when she was seven. Edith says she arrived to the big city with only the clothes on her back and the torn shoes on her feet. But the new environment provided opportunity for small jobs like baby-sitting and selling fruit from the Tamarind trees at market on weekends. School studies were monotonous to her - she was pulled by a fierce streak of independence to seek work rather than study. Edith knew, even at the ripe old age of 9, that she wanted to be her own boss. She tried her hand at selling local goods like tortillas, chickens and papayas but somehow the profits always fell short - too small a return to even help feed her brothers and sisters. It dawned on her that where she had an entrepreneurial spirit, she lacked math skills and was cheating herself out of profits.

In 1977 Edith's life was drastically changed when her father moved the family again to Cabo. Edith was just 15 and Cabo was in its infancy. The dry barren landscape frightened her to tears. She saw the vast dry desert and wondered how she would ever survive here. Her entire life she knew only the gorgeous green fertile interior of Mexico. She continued to live with her family in a single room house - which served as home for two entire families.

Her optimism and ambition soon returned after one memorable afternoon that she speaks of with an almost spiritual fondness. She climbed high on a hill overlooking Cabo. It was there that the beauty of the desert meeting the sea captured her heart. It was then that she realized the beauty that attracted visitors from the U.S. in greater numbers each year. "When you see a beautiful place you want to have a piece of it...real estate - a house, a business. What's wrong with that?" she says.

Her first job in Cabo was at the Hotel Mar de Cortez - a well-known watering hole and prominent place to stay. This was her introduction to the jet set crowd - the super wealthy who came in private jets and yachts to vacation in Cabo. Booming tourism in Cabo also brought her great outlets for her energy - why work just one job, when you could double your pay with two? By day she worked in the hotel and by night at a local restaurant, Estella's By The Sea. But Edith liked to party as hard as she liked work and at the age of 17 her parents decided it was time for her to leave the house saying she was a poor influence on the other children.

Edith was unfazed. She already had dreams of places she wanted to visit and she now had the connections that enabled her to travel. Her work in Cabo depended on a seasonal tourist trade. This gave her three months off each year and she took advantage of the time off. She had always dreamed of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge from a photo she saw and at 21 she was on her way to California. Edith firmly believes, " travel is the best learning experience - much better than a school classroom". After traveling and visiting friends in the USA, she returned to Cabo. She continued to work hard at the Twin Dolphin Las Palmas Restaurant - she preferred working over other pursuits. She considered going back to school and was quite surprised when the local parent's association turned down her application. Apparently it was thought that Edith would not be a good influence on the other students. Little did they know this event would help create one of Cabo's most notable entrepreneurs.

Where there's a will there's a way. Edith decided that she would study elsewhere and took up cosmetology and massage - a full time commitment that she completed in three months while she continued to work at the Giggling Marlin. There she met a man who would help launch her first retail venture, Tropical Dreams. She imported fine bathing suites and woman's clothing from Bali. She began to travel throughout Mexico on buying trips finding exotic leathers and locally made crafts from Puerto Vallarta to sell in the boutique. As if this successful venture was not enough to keep her busy, her friend Estella wanted her to come back and work evenings at her restaurant and bar. She says looking back that she was not simply a workaholic, but she could not turn down opportunities for earning. It was the money she needed to travel - including travel to Europe with a girlfriend when she was 25. Never interested in making a fortune, for the sake of being rich, she was aware that having her own money bought her freedom to do what she wanted and go where she pleased.

The restaurant business suited her. Before long she became administrator of the Office - aptly named by a local long haired windsurfer, who posted a sign "Office" in front of the restaurant on the beach to rent sailboards to tourists. People passing by assumed that Office was the name of the restaurant and it stuck. A few other things have changed though, The Office is a bit more substantial from the early days of a simple palapa and a total of 3 employees. It now employs almost 90 people. What's amazing is that although technology is essential to her businesses, there is a single cell phone and no other technology in her own life. She makes it seem easy to run two large businesses, Edith's Restaurant (formerly Estella's By The Sea) and The Office - without ever touching a computer.

Working, discovering and developing her capabilities has always been her priority in life, but now her family comes first. She is spending as much time as possible with her two daughters Paulina, 14 and Athena, 8. Edith has a simple guiding philosophy; "There is a natural progression in life. A time to go to school, work, party, start a family. Part of being happy is trying to do things right. Family is the most important thing to me now." As she gets older she also finds that reading and spirituality are also very important. She celebrates her birthdays on mountaintops to feel closer to God.

She's astounded at counting ten years since Edith's has been in business. It's very near the exact spot she stood when she realized she decided that Cabo would always be her home. "The hardest part of business is doing new things, you've not done before" says Edith. But she also admits that she can do anything she puts her mind to....like climbing Kilimanjaro 4,500 meters high in year 2000, or Machu Picchu where she met a 72 year old solo traveler who gave her great respect for seniors. She's ventured out as a solo traveler many times - alone on safari and to Egypt to see the pyramids. "Keep trying if you can't reach your goal immediately and remember to set reasonable goals." But she adds that she learned a great lesson from an employee recently. "Don't be afraid to change strategy midway to reaching your goals, if doing so will help you achieve success." As energetic as ever, she candidly admits that she's definitely not interested in climbing Mt. Everest.