Today we’d like to introduce you to Gladys Moubayed and Maria Aparicio.
Gladys and Maria, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It all began 12 years ago when I started working at a coffee kiosk in a corporate building. My passion for coffee grew and so did the friendships that were built around it. The curiosity and the need to know how coffee grew and where it came from intensified. Coming from two different cultures and being familiar with spices, I started exploring with different blends to create specialty drinks for my customers. Maria, one of my customers who became my friend had a longstanding career with a corporation who shared the same love and passion for coffee wanted to take it to the next level. Together, we mixed the business and coffee knowledge and took a leap of faith to open a small coffee shop. At the beginning of 2018, our search began to find the perfect location. The perfect location meant finding one that reflected our sense of family and community and we found it in Point Loma. We worked long hours remodeling the shop, coming up with our name, creating our own signature espresso – the list was long but finally, it was completed, and on May 5th, 2018 we opened our doors to serve the best espresso in town.
Great, 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?
The biggest challenge was finding the perfect location. Our advice to other women to be very focused and never lose sight of the goal. This business requires a lot of passion, dedication and motivation. You have to put in many hours of work but once you are done, it’s an amazing feeling.
Please tell us about Kakawa Coffee.
We are a coffeehouse. We provide a selection of coffee drinks including some specialty drinks that we have created. You can find excellent espresso, kombucha tap, delicious pastries and food made with high-quality organic ingredients.
What makes us different is loyalty to our product – we work hard to maintain consistency. Providing excellent customer service is also very important. We want everyone that steps inside our coffee shop to not only experience amazing coffee but also to feel this is their coffee shop. Kakawa is committed to partner with other local businesses to grow together and also provide support to our community by participating in the local events.
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
Our parents told us the first and most important thing that would help you succeed in life was for us to get an education. Once you have an education, you can be whatever you want to become.
Our family owned a business so we grew up learning all the skills needed to bring us to this point.
Contact Info:
- Website: kakawacoffee.com
- Phone: 6192412995
- Email: kakawacoffee@gmail.com
- Instagram: @kakawacoffee
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kakawa.coffee.3?ref=bookmarks
Image Credit:
Images by Gladys Moubayed
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