Born in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Zezé moved to Brasília when he was 15 years old. He lived there for more than 20 years, always working in the food business, including restaurants and a butcher shop. “Due to a difficult financial moment, I went broke.” He knew a friend who organized events and parties in Uberlândia, as well as in Barretos and at “pecuárias” (cattle fairs) in the interior of São Paulo. The friend’s name was Manel. Zezé asked Manel, “Manel, I’m broke. If you were in my shoes, where in Brazil would you go?” Manel replied, “I would go to CEAGESP in São Paulo. There, the plate of the day costs R$5.” Following Manel’s advice, Zezé set up a barbecued pork sandwich stall, and now he has a history as one of the most traditional vendors in the largest market of this kind in Latin America. Around 50,000 people and 12,000 vehicles pass through CEAGESP every day. With 22 employees, two stalls, and a restaurant inside the market, they sell one to two tons of sandwiches per month. According to Zezé, he started small, slowly building his customer base. His wives from the second and third marriages, his children, daughters-in-law, brothers-in-law—everyone is always together, adding to the family business. A successful small entrepreneur, surrounded by his family. The pork comes from Boituva, a town in the interior of São Paulo, and the sandwich costs R$10. It’s a “meal”! The calabresa sausage sandwich costs R$8. In 17 years at CEAGESP, working from Sunday to Sunday, he says he went to the beach twice at most… He’s quite a character! He has several catchphrases: “We only close two days a year, Christmas and New Year’s,” “We don’t have a crisis here, it’s like a country within Brazil.” He tried to open a franchise in Miami two years ago but believes it wouldn’t work out. “I love my country; working 16 hours a day, I can live well anywhere in the world. Why leave Brazil?”