Daniela Brighenti Photo
Sandra Bustamante .
Some come to the U.S. to look for better lives; others, to find refuge from the troubles back home. Sandra Bustamante’s journey to the U.S. was a story of love.
She miraculously reconnected with her first boyfriend and first love, Jorge Higuera, in their hometown of Medellín, Colombia, after going nearly 12 years without seeing each other. The only catch? Higuera lived in the U.S., in New Haven.
“We dated long-distance for one year, but we were always talking, all day long,” Bustamante said. “And then after that, we realized, either he was moving back to Colombia or I was moving to the U.S.
“You can see how that turned out.”
And so she did. In 2011, Bustamante dropped everything — her family, job and home — and moved to New Haven, where she is now happily married to Higuera and the proud owner of Grand Beauty Supply, which sells wigs, hair products, and cosmetics at 276 Grand Ave.
A Career Left Behind
When she left Colombia, Bustamante held a good job at the retail company Exito, where she earned “a significant monthly sum,” she said. Packing up her bags and leaving to New Haven meant abandoning her career and starting anew, a decision Bustamante’s mother questioned.
“My mom told me, ‘You are going there to wash plates!’ and that I would be wasting my talents,” Bustamante said. “But I told her I knew I could be someone over here.”
Upon arrival in New Haven — the city closest to her husband’s job at M Cubed Technologies, where he works as a mechanic and electrician — Bustamante made it her top priority to find a job. After a brief stint with a modeling agency, Bustamante started handling money transfers at the Boulevard Motors.
Though the job was still far from the career of her dreams, it was there that she met Jessica Posada. Posada was also a native of Medellín, Colombia. Although the two had not known each other, today Posada is Bustamante’s best friend, sister, and business partner.
Posada had immigrated to the U.S. ten years before Bustamante did. On vacation to the U.S. in 2001, Posada met the love of her life — Wilson Zapara, now her husband — and made the decision to stay in the country.
A Match Made in Medellín
Sandra and Jessica are now as close as sisters.
The two Colombian women, connected by their similar roots and stories, soon grew close friends and talked often of their grander dreams. Particularly, the two discussed one day leaving their jobs to open up their own business.
One day, that dream became reality.
“We worked in the same building, and the two of us wanted a change,” Bustamante said. “And we knew we had the potential to do it.”
Three years into her job, Bustamante and Posada started to look for a location and building where they could open a new business. When they visited the shop they now own, the prior owner offered to sell it to them “as is, with everything,” Bustamante said. A beauty parlor had not previously crossed their minds, but they liked the setting so much that the two purchased it soon after.
Posada and Bustamante run the shop Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. They do not have any other employees at the store, preferring to take a more hands-on approach to running their enterprise.
“We are always, always there,” Bustamante said. “And it’s just us. We are happy in this way.”
For Bustamante, one of the most special parts of the job is getting to know her customers. She strives to make anyone who comes in through her door feel as if they are “part of the business,” and “as if they were at home.”
“They come, they tell us their stories, how their days are going. And that is our focus,” Bustamante said. “Our focus is the client, and listening to the client so that the client comes back. It’s about more than just fidelity. It’s about loyalty.”
Currently the store sells beauty supply items, though Bustamante says the two dream of one day opening their own beauty salon as well. And that is just one of the many, many dreams running daily through Bustamante’s mind.
A Dreamer at Heart
When asked about her dreams, Bustamante sighed.
“Dreams?” she said, chuckling. “I have so many,”
She listed them off: to see her business triumph, to have a child, to own a successful financial firm; the list goes on. Being in the U.S., she said, makes it easier for her to follow and accomplish these dreams.
According to Bustamente, the U.S. is both the “country of simplicity” and the “country of opportunities.” Comparing her current lifestyle with that of Colombia, she said things in the U.S. are simply “more practical,” with less challenges to be overcome on her way to success.
“If we truly want it, with hard work we can achieve it here,” Bustamante said. “Of dreams, I have many.”
What she does not see in her future, however, is a return to Colombia. Though she visits her family at least once a year, and enjoys her time at home, Bustamante said she could not picture herself living there again.
“I feel as if [the U.S.] were my country,” Bustamante said. “I like visiting Colombia, but my place … my place is here.”
To listen to the full interview with Bustamante, click on or download the audio above.“Open for Business” is supported by Frontier Communications. Frontier is proud to be Connecticut’s hometown provider of TV, Internet and Phone for your home and business. Their number is 1.888.Frontier or and their website is frontier.com.
