Her business was destroyed during the LA Wildfires. Thanks to a grant, it is open again

More than nine months have passed since the L.A. County wildfires destroyed thousands of properties, but Diana Gonzalez remembers it as if it were yesterday. 

Gonzalez, founder and CEO of Cactus Foods, was on her way to success after launching her gluten-free cactus chips business in 2023. Because it was a relatively new business, Gonzalez had rented a desk in Pasadena to have a public address, but all her inventory and business items were at home in Altadena. She had started to sell her products in natural, organic and vegan stores, as well as in e-commerce through Shopify and TikTok. 

When the fire started the evening of Jan. 7, 2025, Gonzalez and her family were at her parents’ home in Pasadena. They received the evacuation notification and then found out that the power had gone out at their home.

“Interestingly enough, no one was very worried about the fire. The concern was traffic,” she said, because people started evacuating. 

Therefore, they decided to get their dog and some clothes and returned to her parents’ home, hoping they could safely return home the next day. However, when her husband and father went to the house the next morning, they saw the fire had destroyed all the houses around. Her house was still standing. 

“My father and husband didn't see any firemen around. We had zero water. They ended up leaving because the smoke got so bad, and my father, being older, my husband was very concerned about him,” she said.

Gonzalez’ husband made a second attempt to go back to the house, now with another family member. They took fire extinguishers, Sparkletts waters and shovels just to arrive on time to see their home was fully engulfed in flames.

When her husband showed her the picture of her burned home, she said it was a whirlwind of emotions: shock, sadness, trauma, grief, madness and an infinite set of unanswered questions.

Besides hers, the Eaton Fire destroyed nearly 9,500 structures, including homes, churches, businesses and schools. 

Rebuilding their lives and their business

Gonzalez said after the fire, they had a lot of work to do, from figuring out the insurance, legal matters and grants available to try to keep their 11 and 9-year-old children's lives as normal as possible. 

The family not only lost their home but also their business. Gonzalez said the first three months were the most difficult ones. They announced on their website that they were not selling because they had no inventory. 

Both husband and wife had invested not only their savings but time and effort.

“I was wondering if I have the energy to do it all over again, like I have to reorder everything. I have to invest more money into this,” she said.

All while still trying to find a place to live.

Gonzalez regained strength after realizing she didn’t have to imagine the worst-case scenario because she had already passed through it when the family lost everything.

“So I think there's nowhere to go but up,” she said.

Cactus Foods receives a $10,000 grant

After applying for several grants, Cactus Foods was finally awarded a $10,000 grant from The L.A. Wildfire Relief Grant Program. The $1.5 million in direct relief grants to 150 small businesses was offered by Local Initiatives Support Corporation Los Angeles (LISC LA), with funding from Wells Fargo.

The money is helping affected businesses rebuild, stabilize, and continue serving their communities, according to LISC LA.

Gonzalez said the grant they received has helped them rebuild. They changed the flavor formula a little and they revamped the packaging. This allowed them to get into more stores, including Bristol Farms. They have been able to hire part-time workers for sampling and demo events and hire a part-time intern who is getting a marketing degree. 

“The silver lining is that, if I had to start over, I was going to start over with improvements, right? Like if we do this again, let me tweak the things we kind of wanted to tweak last time,” she said.  “So we've definitely put it back into the economy by hiring local talent, by being out in more stores and getting new marketing collateral.”

Gonzalez and her family say the experience is a big message of hope and resilience. She said they are being very positive and moving on towards a better future. 

“Thankfully, we're thriving. We say we're like the cactus. We're resilient. We don't need a lot of water. We're hard to kill,” she said.