New company by two local moms uses fun and games to pass on Latino culture
Their children were the main inspiration that propelled a couple of local Latinas to launch their new games company Dutidú, but they say it was the pandemic that created the spark.
In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic headed toward a second year, María Victoria Abreu Lugar and Marie Claire Vasquez Durán were enjoying more time than usual with their kids but were frustrated when they walked toy stores aisles looking for games to keep their families entertained during the long months of lockdowns. Abreu recalls how both felt disappointed to find no games representing Latino culture. They set out to change things.
“If we don’t do it ourselves, I don’t know when someone else is going to think about it,” Vasquez recalls thinking at the time.
They soon launched Dutidú, a start-up company based in Rockville, Maryland, dedicated to passing on Latin American culture through family games. Among its products is a puzzle called “Feria Latina” (Latin Festival in Spanish) and a memory game, “Atuendos Latinos” (Latino Attires). The creators say all of their games are appropriate for the whole family — anyone from age 3 to age 99 can play and enjoy them.
The playfulness that inspired Dutidú is also represented in the name, which the founders say is based on the sounds of children at play. The logo, a colorful sideways triangle, alludes to the universal symbol of play.
Even before starting a company together, Dutidú’s co-founders had a lot in common. Both are from the Dominican Republic and have advanced degrees in economics. In fact, Abreu was once one of Vasquez’ university professors. Now, they live in the Washington area with their families, where they reconnected. Starting a games company, however, was still quite a departure from their previous careers.
Abreu has two master’s degrees related to international economics, politics, and development. Most of her career has been dedicated to economics, though she says she always had a so-called bicho raro (weird bug) for entrepreneurship.
Vasquez has a master’s degree in international political economics and a doctorate in public policy. She says economics is no longer her primary focus, but her education “did shape [her] abilities to do research and know how to think broadly.” She has worked in banking, but says she’s always been interested in the arts, particularly arts related to her Dominican background, and just “needed the right [business] to get started.”
Given their economic backgrounds, one could assume starting Dutidú has been easy, but there were many challenges. For Abreu and Vasquez, the cost of legal advice was an unexpected but necessary step for setting up a business. “It’s an expense,” Vasquez says, “but an important one that you need to be ready for.”
It was also challenging to create games that encompass a wide variety of Latin American cultures. “Latino culture is a big one,” Vasquez says. “The subculture of each country is not something that we claim to know.”
But at Dutidú, these two business partners see challenges as opportunities to learn. To make sure their games represent as many different cultures and traditions of Latin America as possible, the co-founders reached out to friends, family, and online resources, as well as the artists they hired.
Attention to representation and authenticity was especially important when they developed their second product, “Atuendos Latinos,” a memory game that features Latin American typical attire. The game has 36 pairs of paper figures dressed in different traditional clothing from around Latin America. It was challenging to decide which 36 outfits, known as trajes in Spanish, to include among the region’s large number of traditional types of clothing. They wanted to ensure that the pairs were symbolic of different parts of Latin America and included the best-known traditional costume names. They would like to expand the number of costumes in future games.
Attention to representation and authenticity was especially important when they developed their second product, “Atuendos Latinos,” a memory game that features Latin American typical attire. The game has 36 pairs of paper figures dressed in different traditional clothing from around Latin America. It was challenging to decide which 36 outfits, known as trajes in Spanish, to include among the region’s large number of traditional types of clothing. They wanted to ensure that the pairs were symbolic of different parts of Latin America and included the best-known traditional costume names. They would like to expand the number of costumes in future games.
They say they hope their customers will see Dutidú and “immediately see themselves in that box [and feel] joy.”
“Of course, we dream about seeing Dutidú as a main brand,” says Vasquez, but adds that they don’t only measure success in monetary terms and hope to serve families who value multiculturality and are looking for a fun way to explore Latino culture.
The real reward, Vasquez says, is the feeling of pride in products made with “love, care, and good research.”
Asked what advice she’d give to aspiring entrepreneurs, Vasquez says, “you have to start, even if you start small” and realize that success will not happen overnight.
Dutidú’s founders agree that entrepreneurs must have passion or the journey will be hard and disappointing. Be willing to weather the difficulties and don’t quit at the first challenge. “Otherwise,” Abreu says, “don’t start.”
Being able to play Dutidú’s games with their kids today, Abreu says, is already “pretty fulfilling in a very personal way that goes beyond entrepreneurial desires.”
To learn more about Dutidú and purchase its games, visit its website. You can also find the company’s products on Amazon.com.
— by Ellyn Wong
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Thank you so so so much for such a great article. Means a lot that you share our story with your readers!