Claudia Mendizabal

“While in school, you have to be one of the best, you have to study hard, you have to get the best grades. And one day, you’ll be living in this beautiful home and enjoying a beautiful life.”

She always pushed me to push myself, test my limits, and to not settle for anything less than I deserve.

(Excerpt from an interview with Lesli Del Rio Burt, Spa Del Rio Owner, Loving Daughter, Sister, Wife, Step Mom & Doggie Mom)

California, USA

My mom is originally from Central America, a very humble town in Honduras. She came to the United States at the age of 18 and has lived here ever since. She met my father in San Diego and they have 4 wonderful girls. I'm the oldest, my sister Perla (she and I are ten months apart), and we have two younger sisters who came after 10 plus years.

If I can describe my mom in one word, I would say that she's a fighter. She has overcome so many obstacles. Whatever difficulties came her way, she has overcome every single one. She's fought to be where she is today. And what is so inspiring is to see that those obstacles and challenges made her such a beautiful person inside and outside. That's how people see her because I notice that people gravitate towards her naturally. They feel comfortable around her. They feel her essence, her good heart. She's such a positive person, great personality, always smiling. You'll never see her frowning and even if she's having a tough day, you can't even tell. I'm very lucky to have her as a mom. And hopefully one day I can transition to become as amazing as she is.

Mom has always been very nurturing, very caring and always looking out for us. I am so grateful that she embedded in my mind to become the best version of myself. Ever since I was a little girl, she would always remind me “While in school, you have to be one of the best, you have to study hard, you have to get the best grades. And one day, you’ll be living in this beautiful home and enjoying a beautiful life.”

She always pushed me to push myself, test my limits and to not settle for anything less than I deserve. She was always making sure that we all learned that. I think it comes from her background, from not having much and having to overcome so much. She definitely wanted us to have a better life, and that didn't necessarily mean that she had to kill herself and work hard to bring home money to buy us toys and things that she didn't have. What she passed down to us was her wisdom. It was all the lessons that she taught us to become a better version of ourselves.

Because this is how she raised me, I developed a strong desire to pursue everything that I wanted. For example, I always wanted to be in television and be a news anchor or a reporter. I am very proud that I was very persistent, and I was able to do that for a few years. Then I transitioned to entrepreneurship and started this family business, Spa Del Rio. While it was a risk opening during the Covid pandemic, it definitely was one of the best decisions I've ever made and I'm so proud of our accomplishments and delighted to be working with my family every single day. I've learned so many things, and I can't see myself doing anything else but this. And when it came to choosing a partner, I didn’t settle for anything less. I married a wonderful, fun and reliable partner who is so supportive in so many ways.

My family, to me, is everything. My sister Perla is my best friend and I'm so lucky that my mom, reminded me of the importance of taking care of your family and being there for your family. I remember when we were younger my sister Perla and I would have sister conflicts, maybe stealing each other's clothes and my mom just really instilled in me that “Your sister is your best friend. You have to get along, respect each other because no matter what, people are going to come and go, but you will always have your sister there to rely on.” And she's absolutely right. Perla is my best friend, being so close to my age she and I have a strong bond. Even our younger sisters are my best friends, we have different personalities but we are united and reliable to each other at all times.

I feel that when it comes to personality and ambition, I resemble my mom the most because we have the exact same work ethic. My mom does not stop moving, and I'm the same way. We're the type of people who can't sit down and just do nothing. We're always trying to learn something new. My mom right now, she's trying to learn Italian, and I'm trying to learn French and we do that on our day off. She loves going out and taking a walk in nature. And I love doing the same thing. In all the different roles that she played prior to opening Spa Del Rio, she was always determined to be one of the best employees no matter where she worked. I am exactly the same way. We take on extra responsibilities, go above and beyond. And I'm so thankful for her being that role model and a great representation of good work ethic. I have the unique pleasure of working with her, learning and enjoying each other every day.