We had the good fortune of connecting with Patricia Hernandez Loera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Patricia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

Cafe Girasol started as a “Quarantine Project”. A way for us to make ends meet when we got laid off due to the pandemic. My husband started working as a bike mechanic to help fund these ideas we had, and I’d sell and deliver bottled lattes (sometimes on my bike). We had a whole operation going on with my whole family participating. My parents would label bottles and count the caps to make sure we had enough, I would make the drinks, and my husband and brother would help deliver if I wasn’t available. When people would pick up their orders, the canine members of the family, Bowser and Obi, would sound off the alarm by barking so we would know our customer has arrived. I didn’t have a set a schedule either so I would deliver as close to the time the order was placed. We were incredibly thankful for each order we received.
Fast forward 2 years, we’re sitting inside our own shop in the beautiful city of Boyle Heights. That’s not all though, the space was perfect but a little too big for just me. We invited small businesses to join our adventure and sell directly from our shop on a consignment basis. Currently we have Pigsty (does all our artwork and logos), Educated Chola (mental health awareness ambassador with traditional latinx ‘dichos’ printed on tote bags and mugs), and Latina Hustle (a duo team of sisters that sells beautiful handmade earrings, clever blouses and bags that say “reclaim the hustle” as well as cleverly printed “señora life” mugs). I help drive sales for these vendors by promoting their products through my social media. Any mug purchased by either of of mug vendors gets a discount on our coffee!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I graduated from CSULA with a bachelor’s degree in Television, Film, and Media studies. I worked as a barista to help pay for my studies. I always knew I wanted to work in TV or Movies but somehow, I always managed to get myself behind an espresso machine and was happy to be there. I currently work as a freelance ballet videographer for a company known as LK Studio on the side while working my coffee shop full time. Best of both worlds!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If a friend was visiting me, we’d have to start off with coffee and breakfast. I’d pay my friends over at Picaresca Barra de Cafe, a visit for our first coffee of the day. They have a delicious Pino Latte sweetened with a homemade rosemary/chamomile syrup and a breakfast burrito. If im not drinking Cafe Girasol, I’m picking up from Picaresca. Then we’d head down to El Mercadito to pick up delicious snacks and maybe a Tejuino preparado con Chamoy. Cool places to hangout could be Angel City Brewery, or Arts District Brewing Company; maybe stop at Loqui for some Argentinian food, the mushroom Primos are *chefs kiss*. Santa Monica Pier is a lot of fun, or the Venice Beach Drum Circle is quite an experience too. Second coffee of the day would be at my shop, maybe a cold brew coffee of tea or even a Lavender Latte. There’s so much to do around the Los Angeles Area.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

Shoutout to Jovan for being the best husband, business partner, and support system. Oh, and for going along with all my crazy ideas for our small business. Cafe Girasol would not be here without him. He stepped in to take care of anything and everything that was needed from making deliveries and supply runs, to stepping in as a barista and repairman, all while maintaining his full-time job as a project manager for a construction company. I am forever grateful for him. Also, alongside him, my little guy Bowser for being the most amazing unofficial support puppy and reminding me to talk walks every now and then. I have the best little family and I’m incredibly blessed.

Second shoutout goes to my Dad, Alfredo S. Hernandez. The man behind my love for coffee. He used to grow coffee in our backyard in East LA. Some of my earliest childhood memories are helping him pick the coffee cherries from his plant and helping him through the whole process from growing to roasting coffee from him. On weekdays, my dad would get us ready for school and make us breakfast paired with a tall mug of his homegrown coffee sweetened with a little bit of honey and a splash of milk. Thanks to his coffee knowledge and my experience in my dad’s backyard coffee farm, I landed my first barista job at 18. 10 years later Cafe Girasol sprouted.

Website: https://cafegirasol.square.site/

Instagram: @cafegirasol_

Image Credits
Patricia Hernandez Loera

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