Today we’d like to introduce you to Patty Galvan Proctor.
Hi Patty, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story really starts with my roots. I’m originally from Degollado, Jalisco, Mexico, and I’m incredibly proud of where I come from. So much of who I am, my love for family, food, faith, hard work, and taking care of others, comes from the way I was raised and the culture I grew up in.
Family has always been the center of my world. It’s the foundation underneath everything I’ve built and the reason behind so much of what I do. To me, family isn’t only about blood or biology. It’s about who you choose to love, who you show up for, who you fight for, and who you continue choosing through every season of life.
Over the years, my family and I have built what is now El Rey Group here in the Augusta area. What started with Mexican food and a dream has grown into multiple concepts and opportunities for us to serve our community in different ways. I’ve always gravitated toward the creative and marketing side of our businesses. I love coming up with new concepts and finding ways to make people feel connected to what we create. But even as our businesses have grown, I’ve never wanted success to be measured only by how much we build. I want my children to see that what matters most is what we build together and what we do for other people along the way.
I’m a wife and, above everything else, a mom to five incredible kids. People sometimes use the term “bonus kids” for three of them because they came into my life through my husband, but that distinction has never existed in my heart. They are not my bonus kids. They are my kids. Period.
They made me a mother before I ever carried a child myself. I’ve had the privilege of loving them, raising them, worrying about them, celebrating them, showing up for them, and watching them become who they are. Motherhood, to me, has never been defined by DNA. Love made us a family long before biology ever entered the picture.
My journey to having biological children wasn’t an easy one. I experienced four miscarriages before eventually being blessed with Jeremiah and Paloma. There were many moments when I wondered whether carrying my own babies would ever be part of my story. When they finally came into our lives, they didn’t make our family complete because our family was already whole. They simply made our family bigger. All five of my children came to me in different ways, at different times, and through different circumstances, but there is no difference in the way I love them. They are mine, and being their mom is one of the greatest privileges of my life.
Life has also taught me very early and very personally that time with the people we love is never something we should take for granted. I’m a two-time cancer survivor. Going through cancer and chemotherapy twice gave me a perspective on life that I don’t think I could have learned any other way. When you’ve faced moments where tomorrow doesn’t feel guaranteed, your priorities become very clear. For me, they always come back to my family, my faith, and making the time I’ve been given mean something.
I think that’s a big part of why I pour myself into so many things today.
My heart for children and families led me to foster care and eventually to founding Corazón Bonito, my nonprofit. Corazón Bonito focuses on two groups that are especially close to my heart: children in foster care and seniors, particularly those in hospice or assisted living. In many ways, that work is an extension of what family means to me. I believe people deserve to feel remembered, celebrated, protected, and loved, especially during the seasons when they may feel like they don’t have someone in their corner.
Through programs ranging from providing necessities and special experiences for foster children to celebrating and honoring seniors, I’ve been able to turn some of the difficult things I’ve experienced in my own life into opportunities to love and serve other people.
There have definitely been seasons along the way that weren’t pretty or easy. Cancer, pregnancy loss, health battles, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and simply trying to balance everything have all tested me in different ways. But those experiences have also made me incredibly aware of how precious life is and how little the things we sometimes stress over matter compared with the people sitting around our table.
Today, I wear a lot of hats: wife, mom, entrepreneur, marketer, nonprofit founder, and community advocate. But “mom” and “wife” will always mean more to me than any title that could ever come after my name. Businesses can grow and change. Careers evolve. Awards and accomplishments come and go. But the family we build, the way we love them, and the memories we leave with them, that is legacy to me.
I don’t think I got to where I am because there was some perfect plan. A lot of it has been taking the next opportunity, surviving the hard seasons, learning as I go, trusting God when I couldn’t see what was coming next, and having my family beside me through all of it.
And I’m definitely still building. I don’t feel like I’ve “arrived” anywhere yet. If anything, after everything life has given me and everything it has taken me through, I feel like I’m just getting started. Whatever comes next, I know the most important part will always be the people I get to come home to.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not a smooth road. Behind the businesses, nonprofit work, motherhood, and everything you may see on social media, there have been some really difficult seasons.
I’ve survived cancer twice and gone through chemotherapy. I’ve experienced four miscarriages, health scares, financial stress, and all the ups and downs that come with entrepreneurship. Building family businesses has meant long days, ideas that didn’t always work, learning from mistakes, and figuring out how to separate work from family life when the two are so intertwined.
One of my biggest struggles has been learning that I can’t be everything to everyone. I’m a wife, a mom of five, an entrepreneur, and I run a nonprofit, and I’m naturally someone who wants to take care of everyone around me. I’ve had to learn that strength isn’t always pushing through. Sometimes it’s asking for help, saying no, and admitting when you’re overwhelmed.
My faith and my family have carried me through the hardest seasons. I wouldn’t choose to go through those struggles again, but I can appreciate how they shaped me. They’ve made me more grateful, compassionate, resilient, and intentional about how I spend my time and who I spend it with.
I’m still figuring it out as I go, and I think that’s probably the most honest answer I can give.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
There are really two sides to what I do: El Rey Group and Corazón Bonito. They look completely different on paper, but both are centered around community.
El Rey Group is our family of restaurant concepts in the Augusta area. Taqueria El Rey is really where our story began, and over the years we’ve continued to grow, create, and try new things. Today, that includes concepts like La Cocina del Rey and our newest venture, The Food Lab, where we’ve been able to have a little more fun and experiment with different foods and ideas outside of traditional Mexican cuisine.
Food is obviously what we sell, but hospitality is what I think we’re known for. We want people to feel like they’re part of our familia when they walk through our doors. We’re also constantly finding ways to adapt, whether that’s catering, corporate lunches, school and athletic meals, community events, or creating completely new concepts based on what our area needs.
Brand wise, I’m most proud that we’ve never lost the family behind El Rey. As we’ve grown, I still want our restaurants to feel personal, local, and connected to the community that has supported us for so many years.
Then there’s Corazón Bonito, which is probably the most personal thing I’ve ever created. Our work primarily focuses on foster children and seniors, including those in hospice and assisted living. We create programs and experiences that remind people they are seen, valued, and loved. That can mean providing necessities for a child entering foster care, fulfilling Christmas wishes, celebrating birthdays, or giving a senior professional hair, makeup, and a beautiful portrait that honors their life and legacy.
What I’m most proud of isn’t necessarily one award, restaurant, event, or program. It’s being able to use what we’ve built to give back. Whether I’m feeding someone through one of our businesses or loving on someone through Corazón Bonito, I want people to walk away feeling like someone cared. To me, that’s the brand.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that life is happening right now. Not when the business grows, when the kids get older, or when life finally slows down.
Surviving cancer twice, experiencing loss, becoming a mother, and building businesses have taught me how quickly life can change. Success looks different to me now. I still have big dreams, but I never want to become so busy building a life that I forget to actually live it.
At the end of the day, my faith, my family, and the impact I leave on others will always matter more than anything I accomplish on paper.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corazonbonitoaugusta
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/Elreytaqueriaaugusta
