About 

 A life rooted in purpose—built to nourish, connect, and heal.

Building Through Service & Creativity 

Over the years, Denise created spaces that honored both culture and care—floral studios that celebrated beauty, cafés and catering companies that brought people together over seasonal food, and plant-based wellness spaces that merged culinary expression with holistic health. But even as her career expanded, her mission stayed grounded in community. Whether teaching teenagers how to cook and budget in juvenile programs, guiding young adults in the garden, or leading free cooking classes for seniors and children in Whittier, the throughline has always been clear: food is a tool for restoration, and everyone deserves access to it.

Present Work: Tools That Serve Communities

Today, Denise continues to lead with that same purpose. She is the founder of Marina’s Ruby Slipper, a national nonprofit inspired by her late mother, which houses two signature programs:

• Thrive Together: Mamas on a Mission, which supports single working mothers—including those serving in the military—through wellness guidance and the MRS Thrive mobile app, connecting women locally for real-time support.
  
  

• Chicana EduPlate, which brings urban gardens and culturally grounded food justice curriculum into schools, helping children understand not just how to grow food, but how it connects to their health, their roots, and their future.
  
  

She is also the creator of Fork’d Up, a real-time hospitality staffing app designed to solve the labor challenges she faced firsthand, and Athena Chef Apparel, a chef coat line tailored for women in the kitchen—built to fit, to function, and to affirm their place in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

Storytelling, Recognition & What Comes Next

Denise’s work has been recognized on national platforms including Food Network’s “Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell,” CBS’s The Talk, KTLA, and Vista LA, and she was named Culinary Woman of the Year by the National Latina Women’s Business Association in 2014. 

She is also the author of Unbroken Roots, a novel available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, and Google Play, with a second book, Threads of the Apron, currently in development. Her writing carries the same themes found in her work: food as memory, family, struggle, and strength. 

Through every phase—past, present, and future—Denise continues to return to the place where it all began: the kitchen, the garden, and the belief that nourishment is a form of love, and legacy is built in every dish, every seed, and every community touched.