Vancouver, BC
Lawyer turned restaurateur turned writer. I grew up in the Dominican Republic and live in Vancouver. This is where I write about food, business, technology, and learning across borders.
Writing
First essays are on the way.
I will write about hospitality, building small businesses, law as a way of seeing the world, and what it is to live and work in two languages.
A few things I love
Where I grew up, where my family is, and where my way of seeing the world started. The Caribbean is in everything I cook and most of what I think.
I am learning to build with AI and to think in code. It is the most interesting frontier I have stepped into since law school, and I take notes as I go.
Restaurants are the most honest small business there is. I love a thoughtful menu, an open kitchen, and the small choices behind a good service.
I read across business, law, and memoir. I am a Coursera regular. I think the best operators are also students.
English and Spanish, both fluent, both home. I notice the gap between the two languages and find it endlessly interesting.
Pacific Northwest weather, ocean walks, mountains on the horizon, and the city I now call home. Coming from the Caribbean, the contrast still surprises me.
I have founded three. I love the unglamorous parts. Suppliers, training, contracts, margins, the spreadsheet at midnight.
PMP rigor applied to small teams and real budgets. Structure, but never at the cost of momentum.
About
I grew up in the Dominican Republic and trained as a corporate lawyer. I spent my early career inside the regulatory machine, then left to build businesses of my own. A bead studio. A seafood bistro. A few other small things in between.
The pattern that runs through my career is this. I learn the rules deeply, then I build something inside them. The law taught me to read carefully and respect the rules. Restaurants taught me what to do when the rules and reality disagree.
Today I live in Vancouver. I write here.
Things I’ve built
Vancouver to Dominican kitchens, 2018 to 2022
I built a seafood bistro from a concept on a napkin to a real dining room. Brand, menu, training, the supplier network that determines your margins on a Tuesday. I learned what it means to be responsible for a payroll. I think about that restaurant most days.
A first venture into retail and import
My first business. Beads and craft supplies, sourced direct from overseas. I learned about customs, inventory, and the small choices that determine whether you actually make money. Modest, formative, mine.
Corporate counsel in the Dominican Republic
Before the kitchens and the studios, I trained as a lawyer. I negotiated banking agreements between sophisticated counterparties. The law taught me how to read carefully and respect the rules. Building businesses taught me what to do when the rules and reality disagree.
If anything here resonated, I would love to hear from you. You can find me on LinkedIn or send an email to hello@ilianapaulino.com.