Meet Melissa Villanueva | CEO & Founder of Brewpoint Coffee

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Villanueva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Ever look on Craigslist for an espresso machine only to buy a coffee shop instead? That is the story of Brewpoint Coffee. Back in 2013, I (Melissa Villanueva) was working in the corporate world doing a job that just checked all the boxes for success out of college. During this time, I felt something still wasn’t aligned. When I met my now husband, Angelo, he encouraged me to take a leap and follow the dreams I had for myself.

Soon after, I caught the vision to open a coffee shop because I believe that coffee shops are a great way to build up a true community. The first week of business planning, I looked on Craigslist for an espresso machine and found a coffee shop that seemed too good to be true. With my boyfriend at the time, we visited and realized it was an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up. In September 2014, we opened what is now Brewpoint Founders Café. Although we barely had a business plan or finances, we were dedicated to getting better every day. Fast forward nearly eight years later… we now have a robust coffee company, four coffee shops, a coffee roastery, a premier event space, and a book called Starting and Running a Coffee Shop. Brewpoint is not just a business, it has become our platform and ecosystem to build a more equitable and inclusive world.

I did not know it when we started, but being an entrepreneur gives the ability to carve out a little piece in the world that reflects the values you believe in. That is why I love being a business owner and that is why Brewpoint continues to grow it’s reach and impact.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
At Brewpoint we aim to build a more equitable and inclusive world through everything that we do. Brewpoint Coffee is a 100% woman and minority owned coffee business. We practice multiple innovative business practices. Our coffee roastery works directly with coffee farmers in Costa Rica to provide high quality directly traded coffee. In addition, our coffee roastery pays $2/lb over fair trade standards and donates to World Coffee Research to help the specialty coffee industry combat global warming.

Over the past eight years, Brewpoint has grown from a coffee shop to a full fledge coffee company with minimal debt, no investors, and no board of directors. This has been intentional because we want to be a company that focuses less on profit and more on sustainability for all in our ecosystem. I know that as a business owner, I have a lot more to grow in to build a company that can withstand the long term, but I am proud to have a company that puts people first as much as we can with the limited resources we have.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ha! If I am honest, I am quite the homebody, but I do like good food. So if I was to take a good friend around town here is what we would do: -Is it weird that I would take them to one of Brewpoint’s coffee shops as our first stop? Usually when people visit me that’s what they want to see and experience!
-I’d do brunch at Wake N Bacon in Chicago. Great brunch fusion foods and highly instagram-able.
-Can’t go wrong with pizza from Pequods in Chicago. They are the Chicago staple with caramelized crusts. If you are gluten-free, Lou Malnatis has great pizza options as well!
-Can we watch a broadway or comedy show? Hamilton or Wicked are great musicals held in Chicago. I also wouldn’t mind getting comedy show tickets fo Taylor Tomlinson if I want a good chuckle.
-Other than that, the Morton Arboretum is where I’d recommend spending the core of our time. Going for nature walks is how I like to send the majority of my non-work time.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to shoutout both the Villanueva and Sepulveda parents who believed in Angelo and I from the very beginning. We were only 7 months dating when we decided to found Brewpoint together, and though we were naïve to the work needed to make our dreams a reality…they believed in us and gave us enough funding to start this endeavor. I am lucky not to just have great and supportive parents, but also parents-in-law. Their support is a big reason Angelo and I can dream big on the impact we want to achieve.

Website: https://brewpointcoffee.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brewpointcoffee/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brewpoint-coffee/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrewpointCoffee

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brewpointcoffee/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brewpoint-coffee-elmhurst-5

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brewpointcoffee8551/videos