March 5, 2025 • 54 mins
Join Jordan Ryan as he chats with Alex Gutierrez about his unique journey from a military background to founding Unico Coffee Co. Alex shares his initial experiences with coffee and how his passion for cars intertwines with his coffee ventures. Discover the story behind Unico Coffee Co.'s business approach and Alex's espresso setup that draws in customers. They discuss the challenges of pop-up events and navigating city regulations, as well as Alex's future vision for community engagement. The conversation touches on balancing entrepreneurship with personal motivation, leveraging veteran resources, and strategies for organic growth. The episode also includes sponsor mentions.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hell yeah.
Hell yeah.
And you live in San Diego, right?
Mhmm.
I was born and raised in National City, and Ijoined the military, so I'm a veteran.
And,
Oh, dude.
Me too.
Yeah.
Oh, heck yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was in the Navy six years.
Navy?
Yes, sir.
Dude.
Heck yeah.
I was in the Navy also.
I was a corpsman, so I worked with Marines,but, yeah.
(00:22):
So I saw a little bit of blue side, little bitof green side.
Okay.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's actually where that's actually where Istarted, like, the whole coffee obsession was,
on my deployments, I had an espresso machine,like a Breville, like, way back in the just
like a little home kit.
Right?
And I was the coffee guy.
I never paid for any coffee beans.
(00:43):
People would just bring them to me, and I wouldjust make them coffee.
And that's really how I learned the whole craftpretty much.
And while the boat was rocking and stuff, youknow, like yeah.
So
That's so funny, dude.
I it's crazy that you said that because I wannabring something up that's Mhmm.
That's, I was thinking about when I wasthinking about, you know, your company.
(01:07):
But let me start by introducing you.
So, alright, welcome back to "Mind BodyMushroom" brought to you by Windansea Coffee.
Today, I got a special guest who's brewing upsomething truly unique in San Diego coffee
scene.
He's the founder of Unico Coffee Co., a pop-upcoffee experience that is as much about
community and creativity as it is about theperfect cup.
(01:29):
Alex has taken specialty coffee and infused itwith a love for vintage cars, running Unico
Coffee out of a 1992 Mercedes 300TE.
Mhmm.
But it's more than just a mobile coffee bar.
It's a movement, a space for self-expression,and a reminder that great coffee should be
anything but ordinary.
We're diving into his journey and what makesUnico stand out and how he's building a culture
(01:54):
of unapologetic individuality one cup at atime.
Alex, welcome to the show.
Yes, sir.
Thank you for having me.
Heck yeah.
Glad to be here.
Yeah, man.
Thank you.
So it's funny.
What I was thinking about earlier, I was like,you know, when I was kind of trying to set,
like, a little agenda for, like, you know,today.
And, really, what drew me to you in the firstplace was, as I mentioned so, for everyone out
(02:18):
there, you should definitely go give Alex afollow.
It's Unico Coffee Co.
That's U N I C O.
Mhmm.
Coffee is it Co?
Also in Yeah.
Coffee Co.
Yep.
Okay.
So, yeah.
And like I mentioned in the intro, you got aMercedes 300 Mhmm.
T E.
So it's like a wagon.
It's like a long, you know, Mercedes wagon.
(02:39):
Is, is that in the nineties, '92, somethinglike that?
Yeah.
Nineteen ninety-two.
She's got, like, 60k miles on it.
Yeah.
So and she was taken care of before.
So it's a it's honestly a dream car of mine.
So so, like, I I baby this thing so much.
Yeah.
I love I love this car.
Looks super clean, man.
Mhmm.
(02:59):
But it but it got me thinking.
I was like, you know, both cars, like, in carculture and coffee and car coffee culture Mhmm.
There's actually a lot of similarities.
Mhmm.
And one of them is that at one extreme of thecoffee spectrum, it is a utilitarian drink.
(03:20):
You know
what I mean?
Like, it's it's not just about the flavor,like, you know what I mean?
Think about, like, an MRE or something likethat.
You get a little pack of instant coffee.
Now it tastes like shit, but, you know,
it gets you going.
to get the job done.
Mhmm.
It gets you going, man.
Like, you know, I always kid
it's fuel.
It's it's fuel.
It's fuel, dude.
Mhmm.
It literally is.
(03:41):
World wars are,
are fueled
on caffeine and nicotine.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's
that's it.
By
Oh, yeah.
For real.
Heck yeah.
No.
No.
No.
That's spot on.
I've seen it for we've seen it firsthand.
Yeah.
It's true.
So it's like at one side of the spectrum, it'slike it's super utilitarian.
It's just about to get the job done, you know?
(04:04):
Mhmm.
And then at the complete opposite extreme, Imean, you have people, you know, weighing out
the number of grams of beans, the grams ofwater, you know, pre-wetting their filters on a
pour-over.
Mhmm.
Of, you know, a certain like, you can take itto such an elaborate, like, science to where
(04:24):
it's not just about getting a job done
at that point.
It's it's purely about the experience, the thesensory, you know, experience and, you know,
the culture that's associated with that.
And if you look at vehicles, you know, it'skind of the same way, dude.
You could have, like, you know, a a shittylittle beater truck that, you know, is just a
(04:47):
work truck.
Just gets you to
be but it but it gets it it gets the job done,though.
Yeah.
But it gets the job done.
Right?
You know?
And at the opposite end of that spectrum, youhave, you know, a classic that, you know, is,
you know, a $2 million vehicle.
It's a one of 10.
You know, it's hand-built engine.
(05:09):
It's way beyond, like, why?
You know, a Honda Civic's gonna get you there,you know, just as quick.
You know?
Does it really, why do you need this?
And it's sort of that, like, that little bitextra is what makes it interesting and what
kind of drives people's passion about cars.
So, for you, what kinda got you into cars?
(05:31):
Why are you passionate about them?
I mean, I grew up watching all the epitomes of,like, car movies, you know, all the Fast and
Furious, all the Yeah.
Yeah.
Smokey and the Bandit too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
To me, Smokey and the Bandit, crazy.
My dad actually owns a '79 Firebird.
So I've always been, I've always been in lovewith cars as a, like, in a general sense.
(05:57):
Right?
As most kids do, you know?
And, right.
Growing up, I kind of was more in tune with thewhole JDM culture.
And then, more in my adulthood, I startedleaning more towards German cars.
And, I mean, me picking Mercedes was it wasmore so Mercedes picking me, you know, because
(06:19):
I was gonna do this originally out of an E36wagon, so a BMW.
And I was just, you know, scrolling on FacebookMarketplace as one does, you know, just looking
for a car that I probably shouldn't get, but Iwill.
And, and I was I was just shopping.
And, as soon as I saw this, this Mercedes, Igot it in Seattle actually.
(06:40):
It's while I was living up there.
And, and that's another thing too.
That's that's really where I fell in love withcoffee.
But, I saw this car.
Yeah.
You can only imagine.
But, I saw this car, and I was like, it was sobeautiful.
I test drove it.
The guy was super cool.
I could tell he cared about cars.
I could tell that this car was gonna be, like,my partner in this vision that I had.
(07:04):
Because I knew I was like, I need a wagon.
And it's either Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and I'mglad I picked this Mercedes.
But, yeah.
And just, I don't know.
I feel like those comparisons that you drewwith like cars and coffee, it just makes so
much sense.
Cause I go to literally, there's an eventcalled Cars and Coffee, you know?
(07:25):
And I think it's crazy that nobody's done whatI'm doing in the way that I'm doing it, you
know?
Because we've seen vehicles do, like, coffee,you know?
Like, the most I've seen is, like, VW busesdoing coffee shops because they have space, you
know?
And, I've seen a lot of trucks do, like biglike UPS-style trucks doing coffee, coffee
(07:49):
shops.
But nobody's really compressed it into a wagon,you know?
And that was really the biggest challenge of meexecuting it all.
But, I felt just like I felt like in a wagon.
I just wanted to do this with style, you know,and I wanna put bags on my wagon.
(08:09):
I wanna put, like, big three-piece wheels on mywagon.
And it's really all about standing out andhaving, like, style, you know?
Totally.
Okay.
Okay.
You just remind me of something I wanted to askyou about, the cars that oh, okay.
So what why, specifically that Mercedes model?
(08:30):
Like, what when you're looking was it justhappened to be the one that was in that that
just kinda
So it popped up marketplace?
It it popped up on Marketplace, and I I saw it.
And I was I would always, like, I would drawcomparisons between cars.
Like, what is what is the BMW logo mean?
Right?
And it's always been, like, M Power.
(08:52):
It's, like, it's it's aggressive.
It's sporty.
But to me, a Mercedes has always been thatbrand that doesn't call attention.
You know?
It it's not yelling for attention.
It knows what it is and is beautiful because ofit.
You know?
And while I was trying to think up of, like,the branding and the ideas behind my business,
(09:16):
I knew that I wanted the coffee to steal theshow and the car to just beautifully be there,
you know?
And I think it just makes so much sense, youknow?
Like, I I will love when I'm, like, serving upat a pop-up, and everybody's enjoying the
coffee, everybody's interested in the thing,and then somebody approaches me like, yo, is
(09:38):
this a W124?
And I'm like, you're a brother.
You know, like, you know, like, you know,because this is one of those cars where if you
know, you know.
I can be in traffic and blend in, but every nowand then, I'll get a I'll get a guy from across
the street being like, you're the fucking man.
You know, like, and I'm like, you are too.
(09:58):
Recognized real.
No.
Yeah.
For real.
That's it.
That's it right there.
But, yeah, I'd
On, there's on La Marzocco, Instagram, they sothey're, like, a big for people in the audience
that don't know, they're, like, one of thepremier espresso machine makers.
Mhmm.
You
know?
They're, like, the the Cadillac of espressomachines.
(10:21):
Mhmm.
And, they do a lot of content with machines on,like, classic Porsches.
Mhmm.
And
it's kinda like a
I've seen that.
It.
You'd have Yeah.
It's the it's the
whatever reason.
They're doing the the Martini, Porsche collab.
I've seen that around.
People always send me that.
Oh.
Yeah.
It's a it's like a super, like, famous, like,race car.
(10:45):
It it's like one of those classic, like,liveries on a car, and it's I I've seen a few
of those.
Yeah.
Heck yeah.
Right.
Right.
But it's super cool.
So it that's the you know, it it it's outthere.
And then, you know, Jay Leno has, like, thecars and cops.
Is it Jay Leno?
Or,
Jay Leno has, like, one of the biggestcollections of cars ever.
Right.
(11:05):
Right.
He had that show or maybe it was JerrySeinfeld.
Well, somebody had the show Mhmm.
Cars and Coffee, and I think it was Jay Lenobecause he's a big car collector.
But, you know, so they're they're we're not thefirst people to maybe make those associations.
Right.
But I just love the, that your execution of itis is super cool, especially here in San Diego.
(11:26):
You know, tell me about coffee.
How'd you kinda well, you know, you werementioned a little bit a bit in the military,
but tell me how you got into coffee.
Yeah.
Well, while I was on deployments, that's reallywhere, like, the seed was planted in my brain.
But then, since I was stationed in Everett upin Washington, I was very close to Seattle.
By the time I was out, I ended up staying inSeattle for another year because, one, I wanted
(11:49):
to snowboard, but, two, because I really wantedto live in Seattle before I left it.
Because the plan was always to move back to SanDiego.
This is where I'm from.
This is where I wanted to start a business andmy life.
You know?
But,
Mhmm.
Yeah.
Just being in Seattle, oh my God, you'respoiled.
You know, the market there for coffee issaturated, but for consumers, it's great.
(12:11):
You know?
So any corner I go, it's good coffeeeverywhere.
Like, the bar is set so high that I was able,as a consumer, to distinguish a good cup of
coffee from
Uh-huh.
And, like, just a regular just like you saidbefore, get-the-job-done coffee, you know?
So right.
I fell in love with tasting coffee instead ofjust, like, needing it.
(12:35):
You know?
And then, Mhmm.
And then I just started asking more questions,like, how can I get better at it, and how can I
make this a thing for me?
You know?
Because a big thing that people, like, willsometimes avoid is, like, yo, it's a business.
You know?
Like, we need to make money.
And I was getting out of the Navy, and I hadthis huge culture shock of, like, how am I
(12:56):
gonna make it out here?
You know?
Like, I'm sure you've experienced it too.
It's like, oh my God.
I don't have a paycheck.
And I wanted to make sure that I never wantedto do anything I didn't want to do, you know?
Because that was that was a big thing for mewhile I was in.
I Yeah.
It's not like I hated authority, but I hatedbeing told how to do certain things when I knew
(13:17):
how to do it, you know?
So now I started this business in my own style,in my own flair, you know?
And it's all really just on the bed of, like,do what I want to do when I want to do it.
Because even the pop-up style is, like, so trueto me.
It's like, I'll pop up tomorrow, I guess, if Iwant, you know?
And it's and Yeah.
(13:40):
That makes it really hard for some of my oh, goyou go ahead.
You go ahead.
Go go.
Sorry, bro.
Sometimes there's, like, a couple-second lag,and it's, like, it does that.
So
Yeah.
This is how my friends are on Discord.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's so annoying.
No.
But I was just gonna, you know, underline whatyou were saying about, like, being in the
(14:01):
military.
That was kind of my motivation to start my ownthing too.
It was just, like, that was the last time Iwill work for a big employer because you have
no freedom, dude.
Like, you're it's ironic because you're outthere fighting for, you know, your freedoms,
but you are a prisoner.
Mhmm.
In many ways.
(14:22):
Yeah.
You know?
So I totally that is a cool aspect of pop-upsis that you get to kinda just do it.
You know?
You bring what you're gonna eat.
You know?
Yeah.
I think the military is a big factor in my DNAbecause, I mean, I'm glad I went through it.
I don't regret it.
It was hard.
It was very challenging, but just the even justthe symbolism of being stripped of your
(14:45):
identity and you put on a uniform for yourcountry.
Right?
You're not allowed to be expressive.
And being suppressed for that long made me getout of the Navy and be like, boom.
I will never be quiet ever again.
You know?
So
Yeah.
Yeah.
And even my branding that I have planned outfor the future, because, obviously, I do want a
(15:09):
brick-and-mortar location.
I have ideas and sketches of just exactly whatI want my location to look like.
And it's not like your typical minimalisticcafe that, I mean, no shame to those because
those are great study spots.
I go to, like, super minimal, just white walls,white tables, everything, but that's not me.
(15:31):
I I I wanna have parties at my freaking cafe,you know?
So so that's really the vision for it.
Tell everyone because they may not be familiarwith, you know, describe your business.
Like, how, mhmm.
How do you go about it?
How do you make money?
You know, how do you plan out what you're gonnado, etc.
So, I mean, it's, I only do pop-up Saturdays.
(15:55):
I'll sometimes do Sundays.
But in my head, I'm always thinking about thenext weekend.
Right?
And so it's like a, it's I'm running a singularcoffee shop by myself.
Right?
So I'm in charge of ordering beans, cups, allthe inventory, and I don't I haven't really
(16:18):
scaled to the point to have a stockpile ofstuff.
So it's literally every week, I've been justmaking sure, like, hey.
Do I have enough beans to last me till nextweekend?
I'm always planning, like, the weekend afterthe one I'm about to do.
So it's it's yeah.
So yep.
But I've slowly been, like, cementing myselfwith an inventory so that that's streamlined.
(16:43):
And now I'm thinking about employees too tohelp me out.
I've had a few employees pull up to help mebecause I've been pulling in, like, crowds now.
Like, I'll get lines, and it can be really,really stressful.
It's just a one-man, a one-man show with asingle group head.
Like oh, man.
Like yeah.
Like, a single group head is crazy to have thevolume I'm doing.
(17:06):
But luckily, with help, it's it's and peopleare really, really patient with me just because
of the experience I offer.
You know?
So, like, yeah, they get it.
Everybody's super chill.
Anybody that messages me ever is superpositive, and anyone I've worked with is super
awesome.
But,
That's awesome.
Yeah.
I have my water tanks in the back.
I have the power, I'm always, like, messingaround with it.
(17:30):
I started with, like, a literal car batterythat I would recharge every time I used it.
That was super sketch, though.
Yeah.
That was super sketchy.
And then I did gas generators, electricgenerators, and I'm always just trying to
figure out what the best thing—well, the bestthing is an extension cord.
That's typically what I do.
It just kind of visually is not as satisfying,but, I mean, it's better for the operation.
(17:57):
So and then, yeah, I work a lot with a localbusiness called I'm Still Developing.
Those guys are family.
I've done a lot of pop-ups with them.
Most of my pop-ups are with them.
It's just we work together so well.
They do film.
Like, they're a film developing lab.
And interesting.
Yeah.
(18:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And their audience matches my audience'senergy.
So when I bring my clientele and they bringtheirs, it's just an awesome melting pot of
cool stuff.
Because that's the event.
Because I used to do a lot of Cars and Coffee,like at RSF Cars in South Bay.
So two pretty popular car meets here in SanDiego.
(18:39):
But, gotcha.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So now you're like, let's talk about your rig,dude.
So what kind of espresso machine do you have inthe back?
So oh, that's a Slayer, single group.
It's just one group head.
It's not like it doesn't have a built-in watertank.
(19:02):
It's one of those where you would, if intheory, you were to put it in your house, you'd
have to have an additional water tank or lineit up to potable water.
But, right.
But, yeah,
that's a that was a that's a really, reallyimpressive machine.
I love using it.
Anybody who's used it with me, they loved it.
(19:22):
They're hand-built in Seattle.
I felt like the need to get a machine that wasfrom the city, you know?
And I did think about La Marzocco, but yeah.
I just wanted, again, something a little alittle out of the norm.
You know?
That's always what I'm looking for.
And too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I always trying to do that.
And it's funny too that you say that becausethe name to me, I really picked it out just
(19:48):
through brainstorming for a long time.
Right?
Just brainstorming what sounds good.
And I always think it's funny how hard, like,no matter how hard you try to be unique, you
will never be unique.
You know, you it's and it's and that's so andthat's so beautiful to me.
You know, like, as soon as I started blowing upon Instagram, I had a guy from Russia message
(20:13):
me with almost the exact same setup, but almostcooler.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He has a he has a Mercedes wagon, not a W124, alittle older.
But this dude went all out like his seat coversare, are, what are they called?
They're, like, the sacks that the beans comein.
(20:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Those
I know what you're talking about.
Can't not canvas, but
No.
Yeah.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
And for some reason.
Like, it was crazy.
But he similar setup, similar vibes just inRussia, and we we chatted it up.
But he had a different machine.
(20:53):
But, yeah, I have the Slayer.
Beautiful machine.
Probably the prettiest in the world in myopinion.
And it was not cheap.
I think I paid, like, around 14,000.
And that was yeah.
Yeah.
It's a big-deal machine.
And I took loans out.
I'll I'll disclaimer.
(21:14):
I took loans out, you know, as as a yeah.
And I did, the oh, shoot.
I wish I could tell you the exact designatedfor the the grinder, but it's Mahlkönig.
And it's the one with the scale.
It's like an X60 or X80, something like that.
But,
that little digital scale thing that
Exactly.
Yeah.
Because while I was building yeah.
(21:36):
While I was building the whole setup and in mysketches, I was like, I I don't have room for a
scale.
Like, that's the biggest thing is I don't Idon't have space.
You know?
So right.
And for efficiency yeah.
Efficiency and me being by myself most of thetime, I needed that scale just to help me out
with the whole process of making, you know?
(21:56):
So so, yeah, the the Slayer and the Mahlköniggrinders are my lifeblood right now.
That's that's my moneymaker, and that's my mypride and joy right there in my dream car.
So
And and then you have the water tanks, like, inthe back seat.
Is that kinda how yeah.
I got the back seats.
Seats still up or are they
(22:17):
No.
No.
I got I got them I got them down.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it and it's funny too because in the in theback, the Mercedes comes with third-row
seating.
So I I have to fold them down.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're all folded down.
So, yeah, I made a wagon that's typically ableto carry, like, seven people into a coupe.
(22:39):
Yeah.
You know, because of this coffee shop.
Yeah.
Sick setup.
That's so dope.
Okay.
The
water tanks and the stuff that you have backthere, are most of the things pretty, like,
fixed into place, or do you kinda takeeverything out of your car, you know?
So the water tank stays in the car.
(22:59):
It's not bolted in, but usually when it'sfilled, it's heavy enough for it to not move.
I keep a cooler there that I take out everytime just to dry it off and clean it.
And my drain tank, I obviously always have toclean that after every event.
But, yeah, the pumps stay in there and, youknow, what else I have?
(23:22):
I'll always keep, like, an inventory of extracups and stuff back there.
So it's like, that's like the back of house.
You know?
So
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mhmm.
Do you, do you keep the Slayer in there too?
You
The Slayer stays in the car.
That's why I don't go out much.
I do not go out.
I am not parking my car out here.
(23:42):
No.
For real.
And I have oh, that's the biggest thing.
I have so many trackers in that car.
Like, that's, yeah.
And then it's insured too.
So, like, even just like with any business, youinsure your property, you insure your
equipment, and that's exactly the approach Itook.
That's crazy and, so how do you kind ofadvertise or how do you attract crowds
(24:08):
initially?
I mean, no no no.
You have your social media, so that's probably,like, a big way now.
But how did it start?
Because it's hard to grow shit organically.
Yeah.
So I started just putting myself out there.
I would literally just go anywhere.
Anywhere where I, one, wanted to hang out andbe in.
I saw the setting being cool.
I used to do Imperial Beach a lot.
(24:30):
I used to do Sunset Cliffs a lot.
I used to just go to parks in general, andthat's really where I started, like, marketing
myself first person.
You know?
Like, I would...
I was literally a street vendor.
I would be like, hey.
I'm Alex.
This is Unico Coffee Co.
Or be like, hey.
You want coffee, espresso?
Just while I'm playing music.
(24:50):
A lot of the times, my music would lure people,and I'd be like, oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And then we'd start talking, and then theywould see what it is, and they'd be like, oh,
heck.
And then, and then so that was, like, the veryfirst baby steps.
And then I would, as soon as I started, like,actually posting on Instagram and taking my
(25:10):
content a little more seriously, it startedtaking off more.
And that's where I decided, like, oh, that'sit's a no-brainer.
Like, I'm gonna use Instagram to update myaudience to let them know where I'll be
exactly, you know, because I don't really goto, like, markets where, like, there's already
clientele.
I have to pull my clientele with me, you know?
(25:33):
And that's super important for me.
Yeah.
That's that's one of the things that I'vefound.
So, you know, I'll do pop-ups.
I do pop-ups, but I do more so, like, privateevents or pop-ups that other people put on, and
then they kind of, you know, I'll show up as,like, the coffee vendor or whatever.
(25:54):
And that has been a good recipe for me because,dude, the markets are tough, man.
First of all, you have to apply to, you know,you apply to get into that market because
they're curated.
You know?
And then there's the market fees, which are notcheap.
I mean, they're, like, in the hundreds ofdollars.
(26:17):
You need, yeah.
You know?
And some days, that's all you make too.
Totally.
That's why, my very first event in San Diegowas at, it was Luxe Nights at Garage
Collective.
They're not a thing anymore.
But, for vendors, you had to pay a hundredbucks or a hundred fifty.
And I was at the point where, like, dude, Idon't even think I can make that much, like
(26:42):
speed wise.
Like, now I think I could in, like, an hour.
Yeah.
But back then, I was just learning.
So, I end up going and, I didn't pay the vendorfee until the owners there were like, oh, what?
This is you?
Because I had my trunk opened at the car meet,obviously.
And then they said, dude, go have at it.
(27:04):
Like, sell.
And I was like, okay.
And then I started working, and that's what ittook.
But, yeah, like, no.
Some markets just tax way too much, and I'mlike and that's kinda why I started, like,
thinking very early on.
I was like, no.
I want my profits to be mine off rip.
You know?
And that's when I started looking into my ownpermits and tying my name to, like, a business
(27:27):
so that I'm able to stay there on privateproperty.
And there's, like, there's a lot of ways I hadto think about it too.
So, yeah, I've
That's a good insight.
Let's talk about that because I've run intothat.
So it seems like 2021.
Mhmm.
There was a lot, I mean, a lot of people gotinto something over the pandemic.
(27:50):
Yeah.
They had time, and they had a little bit ofmoney, and so then they were kinda doing, like,
a thing.
So, I saw a pretty big explosion of, you know,entrepreneurs.
People doing their own, you know, they have anidea, and then, you know, they go and execute
in some way, shape, or form.
And it was like, yeah, it was like end of '21or, like, into '22.
(28:11):
I don't remember exactly when, but I startedseeing the city, like, cracking down on, like,
street vending.
And, I mean, that's frustrating for a number ofreasons, but I'm like, come on, dude.
Like, what do you want people to do?
You know?
If you can go smoke fentanyl on the street,
you're not gonna do anything.
(28:32):
No.
For real.
If you wanna go do donation-based yoga at thepark
Mhmm.
Like, do you have
a permit for that?
Do you have a permit?
And you're gonna get hassled by, you know,like, park rangers and stuff?
Yeah.
So how well, how was your kinda workaround, orhow did you kinda crack that nut?
So I mentioned that I was in Imperial Beach fora while.
(28:53):
I did get stopped by, like, the city.
Like, it was a guy in a polo.
Just he was super nice.
And he noticed me.
I think he waited till I was done, which issuper cool, where he, like, approached me.
He was like, hey, man.
We gotta do this.
And I was like, dang.
He gave me, like, a whole file on how to, like,apply for stuff, and I was like, okay.
(29:15):
Sweet.
I'll take a look at it.
But then I just it's funny.
I just ended up not going back there.
And then I started looking into, like, just amore general way to do this legally.
And my thing was specifically, I was inspiredby street vendors.
(29:35):
You know, I'm Mexican.
I've always grown up in my city seeing that guyon the corner selling flowers, that lady at
Home Depot selling burritos that I'm alwaysbuying from too.
And it's just like right.
Like, this is that was, like, a big spark forme.
So it's always been a big blend of inspirationthat just one day clicked in my head
altogether.
You know?
(29:56):
But,
Totally.
Yeah.
And, I mean, San Diego has the SBA, the SmallBusiness
Small Business.
Something Association?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Small Business Administration.
And you can call them up, and they give you,like, they can send you to another thing.
I forget what the other thing is, but theyallow they assign you, like, a mentor who's a
(30:20):
business owner, and they try to match you upwith, like, kind of the same wave you're on.
And they hold your hand.
Any questions you have, any websites you need,they got.
They send it to you.
And it's super, super easy to do.
But for a while, I was just, you know what?
I'm a small business.
I don't I like, just like you said, I don'tthink I'm hurting anyone.
(30:42):
If anyone tells me to leave, I will leave.
But that's just some of those, like, cornersyou have to cut when you're starting a
business.
You know?
But now that I'm getting a little moreestablished, I was like, okay.
Let's do it seriously now.
You know?
Right.
Right.
So do you have essentially, like, a food truckpermit?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Seller's permit, food truck permit, and, yeah.
(31:06):
That's it.
It's super simple.
It's daunting at first, but once you go throughthe system, ask the right questions, there's
always support for it.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
So what's kind of your vision for this?
Like, what's kind of the next step from herefor you?
(31:28):
So, I don't wanna give up too much, honestly.
But I have to.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I'll tell you this much.
There's two people that I'm working with, twobusinesses outside of coffee, and we're trying
to have a shared space where we all have, like,a little corner of the building.
And, I'll tell you this much.
If you look at my menu, there's a and this isjust a for sure element that I will need to
(31:54):
have in my establishment, is a telephone polewith a like a power line.
And then you'll see those shoes, they're AdidasSuperstars, but with the traditional Mexican,
like, pastry, the conchas.
And I own those shoes, and I've never wornthem, but I want to hang them up in my cafe as,
(32:18):
like, an element of, like, just the street thatI grew up on.
And because I've lived in so many cities, andI've loved always being just just walking the
streets, you know.
And that's the cool thing about Unico too isthat it literally started on the streets too,
you know.
So it's like Right.
I would pull up on any random street and juststart selling coffee, you know.
(32:41):
So it's like it just it's where I belong, Ifeel, and it's like, my business, I want it to
be a love letter to that, you know, because mydad also grew up in South Central LA in the
eighties, and he's always been, like, a bigbuff about graffiti.
And, like, he did twenty-seven years in theNavy too.
And,
Oh, shit.
(33:01):
He he
would even throughout his career, he wouldalways sketch.
So, like, I love street art, and that'sdefinitely gonna be all over my place.
You know?
And, I just That's awesome.
I just I just want it to be loud.
You know?
I want it to be roughneck.
I want it to be just Yeah.
City.
You know?
Like, I want it to be coffee for the streets.
You know?
(33:21):
So
For sure.
I mean, it's super cool that you can, you know,be like a community leader in a certain
respect.
I mean, I know that's kind of, you know, a
That's, yeah.
That's a little it's a little early for that.
Wait.
Wait.
(33:41):
Wait.
I don't want responsibilities yet.
Well, I mean, if you think about, like, coffeeshops in general, like, they are these you
know, no one goes to the library anymore.
Mhmm.
You know?
And in a place like San Diego or SouthernCalifornia in general, it's a lot of commuting.
(34:03):
You know what I mean?
People in their cars, they're going from hometo work, work to pick up their kids, like,
whatever their case is, you know, and thesethird spaces, like, the, you know, that's not
home, it's not work Mhmm.
Is, in modern times, the coffee shop.
Yeah.
And, you know, they're spider ubiquitous.
That was Starbucks' whole model.
It's like, let's find a place where people cango.
(34:25):
And then that model has changed just forespecially, like, Starbucks.
You know?
And now they're like, we don't want you sittingaround.
We want you to just
It's efficiency.
Yeah.
You know?
It's efficiency.
Right?
That's their model.
But there are a lot of coffee shops,especially, like, in North Park and Barrio
Logan and a lot of spots where, you know, theit's they're every the places are walkable, and
(34:48):
people go and they post up, and they workthere.
They eat there.
They hang out.
They listen to music.
And, I don't know.
Just you're connecting community.
So what's cool about what you're doing is eventhough you're not in a brick-and-mortar spot,
you know, it's like you kind of are buildingcommunity everywhere you go in that, you know,
with your car.
(35:09):
And I think it's a really cool idea of, youknow, taking that, like, street inspiration
and, you know, car culture and all this andeventually making it into, like, a
brick-and-mortar that gets to be your vibe.
Hundred percent.
Yeah.
I've done a few events that are kind of asidefrom the traditional pop-up.
(35:33):
Like, hey, I'm selling here and we're having athing.
I did my own event, which was my own Cars andCoffee where I had a few cars pull up, and I
had a DJ set while I was selling coffee, whilethere was a clothing vendor, while there was,
like, a food vendor too, you know.
So it was, like, a whole little market that Iorganized, and just seeing everybody interact
was so beautiful to me, and I love that I wasable to do that.
(35:55):
And a big thing down the line for me too ishaving those events, like, oh, and it was at a
mechanic shop, and it was my friend from highschool's mechanic shop.
So if you can imagine that my car was in thebay, like, to be lifted.
Right?
And then the DJ set was right next to there.
And, I hope that down the line, I can, like,maybe do something with, like, live musicians
(36:16):
and maybe even interview them in front of theaudience, you know, or do certain things like
that.
That's something I've always wanted to do.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
I definitely am building a community, andeverybody that I've met so far has been super
awesome.
And I love that I'm at the point where I knownames and I can recognize faces, you know,
because that's really cool.
(36:37):
Like, it feels like a family already.
You know?
Yeah, dude.
It's really nice.
And, you know, in the short term, as you'restill kind of building, you know, we're—I don't
know if we were recording when we startedtalking about it, but it's that being that
third-shift entrepreneur is tough where you'relike, I still gotta pay the bills.
I still gotta, you know, make ends meet.
(36:59):
But, you know, what keeps driving you to, youknow, what makes you so passionate and keeps
driving you to not give up on what you'redoing?
Well, it's something that I wanna do.
You know?
Like, there's a phrase I always tell people,and my friends have heard enough of it.
But it's like, you can't complain about a fullplate when all you wanna do is eat.
(37:24):
You know?
So I wanted my own thing.
I wanted to be an individual.
So, yeah, I got a full-time job.
Yeah.
I'm a full-time student.
Yeah.
I'm running a business.
Before, like, I would get stressed at, like, anormal day at work while I was in the Navy, but
there was no fulfillment in that for me, youknow?
(37:44):
I am more stressed than I've ever been in mylife, but it's satisfying somewhat, you know?
Because at the end of the day, I am making itwork, you know?
I feel independent.
Even my day job is satisfying, you know?
I'm working with artists.
I'm learning things I want to learn, you know?
Because that's what I feel like people end uppushing off till it's too late.
(38:10):
You know, I always tell people, do what youwant.
Do whatever you want at all times, you know,and it'll usually, like, if you have good
intentions, it'll usually end up benefiting youmore than anything, you know?
So that's what motivates me.
It's my world.
I'm in control.
(38:30):
Okay.
And
that's a big thing.
Dude, I feel I'm stressed as well right now.
I'm seeing some money stuff.
I had to buy a car.
I had to, you know, own
my house.
Like, there's stuff that was going down and,you know, it never goes away.
Like, at year one, there were certainstressors.
In year two, there were different stressors.
In year three, it was, you know, and that'sjust the way it is.
(38:52):
But the one thing that I never feel, not evenfor a second, is unfulfilled.
Mhmm.
You know?
That I'm wasting my time or doing something.
You know?
So my stressors are purely material in a lot ofways, which is not a bad—it's better than it
(39:13):
being existential.
Yeah.
Of, like, dude, what am I gonna do with mylife?
Like, am I gonna be just one of those guys thathates my job?
Mhmm.
You know?
And just having the courage to, like, show upevery single day like you're doing.
You know, work three jobs, you know, and humbleyourself to be like, there's a long way to go.
(39:34):
I think that's inspiring and one of the reasonsI really wanted to, like, talk to you and
preach your message.
So I work in, like, the wellness space, youknow, with my company.
We do coffee, obviously, but really focusing onhow functional mushrooms and plant medicine and
these things can be used to sustain yourhealth.
(39:56):
But I don't talk to a lot on the podcast,especially of people really in the coffee
industry and people who are putting theirpassion into that field and growing a business
in the coffee industry by themselves.
So it's a really cool perspective that youhave, and I think it can hopefully inspire some
(40:20):
other people to be like, hey.
If there's something you wanna do, like, justgo out there and do it.
You know?
It doesn't have to be—it can be unique.
It can be the first time or, you know, hey.
No one else is doing that.
You're like, well, great.
You know?
Why do you have to do just what everyone elseis doing?
Mhmm.
So I think you're really showing people thatthere's a way to pursue your dreams.
(40:46):
Because you can do just like you said, youcould do something that is already made and
make it new.
You know?
Like, that's that's the biggest thing.
I mean, Quentin Tarantino said that a goodartist is an amazing thief.
You know?
It's like, I saw coffee shops.
(41:06):
I saw coffee trucks.
I saw coffee vans, and I was like, I want to dothis in my style.
You know?
Like, I knew I wanted to do something incoffee, and I was, like, really quick to being
like, I can't take out a humongous businessloan to afford that.
You know?
Like, what is the, like, there's always waysaround being able to do what you want to do,
and you just have to think about it, you know,like, okay, I can't afford a brick-and-mortar
(41:30):
or a huge machine.
Let's stay humble and keep it small.
How can we do that, you know?
And, yeah, I definitely did want to do it in myown way, and sometimes you have to build your
own path.
Like, there's guides, you know, but you makeyour own path 100%.
(41:51):
You know?
Totally, dude.
And just having that voice in your headbecause, you know, you always got, like, the
angel and the devil on either side, but, youknow, the one voice that you've got to really
focus on listening to is the one that says,like, just, like, trust your gut, dude.
Trust your instincts.
Like, believe in yourself.
Believe in your dream.
(42:11):
Believe in what you're doing because it'sreally tough, dude.
I've gone down, pitch, like, pitchcompetitions, pitching to investors, pitching,
you know, running in the same boat.
It'd be like, hey.
If you want to scale a CPG business online, youneed money.
There's not really, like, a way around that.
So I'm like, alright.
(42:32):
I'm gonna pitch to investors.
I'm gonna do all this stuff, and you're doingthis and, you know, I mean, my parents don't
get what I'm doing, they don't understand why.
Oh, yeah.
Pitch to investors down here, they're like, no,we're more of like in looking in the SaaS
industry, looking for somebody with a hundred xreturn.
So you're doing this, and they're, like, everyway you turn, it's like people are kind of
(42:52):
doubting you, or they don't get it.
And you have to have the balls to just be like,that's because they're all wrong.
Mhmm.
You know
what I mean?
Oh, yeah.
And I'm gonna keep, you know, seeing thisthrough because I believe in it.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
I've before I even, like, built the wholesetup, I would tell people, like yeah, I'm
(43:14):
thinking about building, like, a coffee shop inmy car, like, in a car that I'm looking for.
And they were like, that's crazy, dude.
Like, just do this instead.
I'm like, shut up.
Mhmm.
You know?
Like, I I Right.
Because anything that's in here, nobody elsecan see, you know?
And if you trust your vision and you canvisualize its success, just send it, you know,
(43:36):
just keep going.
And I have I have, like, I haven't I feel likeI have incredible foresight of what's to come
from my business and from my brand andeverything I'm doing.
And nobody can tell me that it's not a goodidea because I I think what I have is is gonna
grow, and I really believe in it.
And I just I hope that anyone that that hassomething that they wanna do, that they could
(44:02):
just also believe, you know, like, to justfollow through.
Like, there's ways, you know, like and the Ican come up with a thousand excuses as to why I
shouldn't be doing this, but, like, I don'tknow.
I just my thing is I'm just doing it, you know?
Like, it it's autopilot after a while, youknow?
It's like it's what I'm doing.
You don't even have to think about it, youknow?
(44:22):
Just just Totally.
It it's it's just taking that leap.
Well, sometimes overthinking it is what givesyou, those, like, plants that seed of doubt.
You know what I'm saying?
How am I and, you know, and to, other peoplelistening that might be veterans as well or
transitioning out of the military, do you don'tsleep on that GI Bill, man.
(44:43):
Oh, 100%.
Bill for me was huge.
That was, like, you know, I was able to go toschool, you know, full time as a full-time
student, but I was in evening classes.
So I went school from five to ten, like, Mondaythrough Friday.
Maybe it was, like, Monday through Thursday.
And then I had my whole workday to figure outhow I'm gonna make this business go.
(45:04):
You have your health care taken care of.
You have, you know, you have a little bit of aVA rating.
You know?
So there's the very practical thing that stopsa lot of other people is, well, you need they
need health care.
They need, you know, they have to go work a jobbecause they're they need, you know, and then
(45:25):
they need income.
And then they need these other things.
And so all of a sudden, you're like, yeah,dude.
You have to figure out how you're gonna buildthis company in, you know, just a few hours a
week.
And the reality is it's gonna take a lot morethan that.
Not to discourage people that maybe don't havea GI Bill, but it's just one of those things.
There's some statistic I read a long time agoabout, like, after World War II, it was, like,
(45:49):
40% of new businesses were started by aveteran.
Oh, wow.
That's huge.
I did not know that.
It was a huge amount, dude.
It was like everyone came back from the war,and they were just like, screw it.
Let's go.
And so, you know, they were buildingeverything.
Nowadays, it's something like 6%.
Okay.
You know, so it's not, it's not the way it usedto be.
(46:14):
Oh, yeah.
And I think that if there's one thing that Iwant to inspire other veterans to do is that
you have the skills.
You have the leadership, the ability toexecute, and that sort of, like, self-drive
that it takes to, you know, get up early andput in the work and do something hard.
(46:35):
You know, and then you also have these benefitsthat can create a situation that just the
average civilian doesn't have.
Yeah.
I mean, we gave up those, like, four to sixyears of, like, our early 20s.
And, I mean, yeah, that's how I look at it.
Like, I I didn't I wasn't gonna do anything incollege if I if I had joined, you know.
(46:57):
Like, if I went to college right after highschool, I probably would have been wasting my
time and my money, you know.
So I, sure.
I'm I there were a few dark points while I wasin the Navy.
You know?
I I did not want to be there.
There was no real way out, but it made mestronger, you know?
And those benefits that no one can take awayfrom me, like, I'm using them, you know, like
(47:19):
like, that's what you gotta do, you know, andit and those six years to be able to be
transferred into help that I can, like, utilizeright now makes everything totally worth it,
you know, like, just the GI Bill.
Like, I'm I'm not paying to go to school.
I'm getting paid to go to school.
Yeah.
And it it's it's funding it's paying the rent.
(47:40):
It's it's partially funding my business.
And, and then I have a job that I'm alsofunding my business, and and it's it's right.
It's just awesome.
And then the VA also has a lot of help for,like, entrepreneurs too.
So
That's good to know.
That I I didn't know so much about the helpthat what type of help programs did you find,
(48:01):
from the VA for entrepreneurship?
Oh, they offer some loans too.
I didn't use a lot of resources, but there aresome SBA loans that you can use because I know
there's a VA home loan.
I know for a while, I was plotting to use it,like, kind of make it a business loan too.
(48:26):
Like, there's a way to do it.
And I was looking into that, but I also justgot, like, there was another mentorship program
where you could just ask them.
I wish I could tell you exactly what it was,but just like I said before, if you look for it
and you know where to ask questions, you canalways find it.
Like, VA.gov, you can just scroll throughstuff, and you'll find support there.
(48:48):
You know?
Cool.
So you found that, whatever you were trying tothink of, that was, like, specifically that you
found through the VA or was it through SBA forveterans?
VA.
I mostly used SBA.
SBA is a super awesome way to go.
There's probably an office in your city.
You can just call them.
I'm huge on just calling.
(49:09):
Like, I don't like applying on websites, andthey can really point you in the right
direction
Right.
For a
lot of stuff.
So tell me a little bit about what you'restudying in school.
We kinda mentioned it before we startedrecording, but, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm majoring in media production at San DiegoCity College, and it's so awesome.
(49:35):
I love it.
I mean, it's stuff that I used to just YouTubeanyways, you know, so it's like it's stuff I
want to learn, you know, and it's really cool.
All the assignments I want to do, and I'm doingit mainly to kind of involve it in my business
as well.
You know?
I want to have my own media production team,you know, and work with local artists and
(50:01):
interview people and have podcasts similar tothis.
And that's why this is really awesome practicebecause, you know, it's a skill that you end up
acquiring.
And, yeah, I'm just trying to acquire thoseskills in college in the best way possible
through education, you know.
And San Diego City is freaking awesome, dude,because I can't imagine myself being at state
(50:23):
right now because that's like it just operatesdifferently, you know?
At the community level, yeah.
The teachers, like, at City are so awesome, andyou can talk to them.
At State, they have huge lecture halls.
I wouldn't be able to have, like, an actualconversation.
You know?
So it's just been working out for me.
I did an audio recording class, intro tocinema.
(50:45):
Right now, I'm doing a screenwriting class.
So it's like, just a bunch of general media.
I would love a job in broadcast, though, like aday job in, like, sports broadcasting.
I would love that.
Just hold a camera or something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, see, even if it's not, like,coffee-related, if my business takes off, I'm
(51:06):
looking for another job to have fun in too.
And if I don't like it, then I also will moveon.
But I just know that a pretty sure bet for mepersonally will be in anything that's
media-related.
You know?
Whether it's an interview, whether it'srecording news, you know, or being a a a what's
it called?
A journalist of some kind.
You know?
I just know that's kind of what I wanna dopersonally down the line.
(51:31):
Well, it's a super important skill, in 2025 asa brand creator.
Like, if you're, you know, building a companythat is outward-facing and you're trying to
attract customers, there's no way around it,dude.
(51:51):
You have
to be a media
company on some level.
You are producing
videos and, you know, content in a variety ofdifferent ways.
And just the ability to tell stories, engagepeople, find what motivates people.
Mhmm.
So I think that's an incredibly important skillthat absolutely fits in with what you're doing
(52:15):
these days.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've done a few collaborations with people thatare in the media world, specifically social
media, and they've really helped me grow.
Like, they have a pretty big audience, and theyfound me, and they wanna do something with me.
(52:35):
And they posted it for me.
And even when we were recording videos, I waslearning, you know, just like, oh, this is a
good shot to take.
Oh, this is and there's just, like, a bunch oftips that you can, like, take from working with
other media people to, like, to work it in yourown space, you know.
And, yeah, you make an amazing point that, yes,if you have a brand, everybody's on their
(52:57):
phones, that's the way to market yourself.
And I'll say this, I have never paid to boost apost.
I have never paid for any sort of ad space.
It's all, like, super organic with the people Iwork with and my post, you know, and that's
really all you need.
Like, you could, I guess, boost it.
I've never done it, but I feel like it's alittle I just want to do everything
(53:22):
organically, you know.
I don't want to take shortcuts.
There's no shortcuts.
I'll always get people wanting to, like, knowexactly how I do my stuff.
And it's like, dude, if I reply to everybodyand told them exactly how I do everything, I
wouldn't have time for anything else, you know?
It's like
Right.
Like, dude, if I took the time if I took thetime if I can do it, you can do it, you know?
(53:45):
Like, it's just a matter of, you know?
So it's, it's it.
Yeah.
The media, the media space is super huge andit's, it's, if you're not on it, you're, you're
that, that's where it's at.
And if you can do your own marketing and if youcan learn how to do it, that's a super huge
pillar of support for your business.
(54:07):
With you.
And, yeah.
This has been the "Mind Body Mushroom," broughtto you by Unico Coffee Co., the world's
greatest mushroom-infused coffee and coffeeproducts.
Check us out online.
Check us out on social media, and like andsubscribe.
I'm so bad about plugging.
Oh, dude.
I'll I'll send I'm gonna send you a bag.
Hell yeah.
Hell yeah.
And you live in San Diego, right?
Mhmm.
I was born and raised in National City, and Ijoined the military, so I'm a veteran.
And,
Oh, dude.
Me too.
Yeah.
Oh, heck yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was in the Navy six years.
Navy?
Yes, sir.
Dude.
Heck yeah.
I was in the Navy also.
I was a corpsman, so I worked with Marines,but, yeah.
(00:22):
So I saw a little bit of blue side, little bitof green side.
Okay.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's actually where that's actually where Istarted, like, the whole coffee obsession was,
on my deployments, I had an espresso machine,like a Breville, like, way back in the just
like a little home kit.
Right?
And I was the coffee guy.
I never paid for any coffee beans.
(00:43):
People would just bring them to me, and I wouldjust make them coffee.
And that's really how I learned the whole craftpretty much.
And while the boat was rocking and stuff, youknow, like yeah.
So
That's so funny, dude.
I it's crazy that you said that because I wannabring something up that's Mhmm.
That's, I was thinking about when I wasthinking about, you know, your company.
(01:07):
But let me start by introducing you.
So, alright, welcome back to "Mind BodyMushroom" brought to you by Windansea Coffee.
Today, I got a special guest who's brewing upsomething truly unique in San Diego coffee
scene.
He's the founder of Unico Coffee Co., a pop-upcoffee experience that is as much about
community and creativity as it is about theperfect cup.
(01:29):
Alex has taken specialty coffee and infused itwith a love for vintage cars, running Unico
Coffee out of a 1992 Mercedes 300TE.
Mhmm.
But it's more than just a mobile coffee bar.
It's a movement, a space for self-expression,and a reminder that great coffee should be
anything but ordinary.
We're diving into his journey and what makesUnico stand out and how he's building a culture
(01:54):
of unapologetic individuality one cup at atime.
Alex, welcome to the show.
Yes, sir.
Thank you for having me.
Heck yeah.
Glad to be here.
Yeah, man.
Thank you.
So it's funny.
What I was thinking about earlier, I was like,you know, when I was kind of trying to set,
like, a little agenda for, like, you know,today.
And, really, what drew me to you in the firstplace was, as I mentioned so, for everyone out
(02:18):
there, you should definitely go give Alex afollow.
It's Unico Coffee Co.
That's U N I C O.
Mhmm.
Coffee is it Co?
Also in Yeah.
Coffee Co.
Yep.
Okay.
So, yeah.
And like I mentioned in the intro, you got aMercedes 300 Mhmm.
T E.
So it's like a wagon.
It's like a long, you know, Mercedes wagon.
(02:39):
Is, is that in the nineties, '92, somethinglike that?
Yeah.
Nineteen ninety-two.
She's got, like, 60k miles on it.
Yeah.
So and she was taken care of before.
So it's a it's honestly a dream car of mine.
So so, like, I I baby this thing so much.
Yeah.
I love I love this car.
Looks super clean, man.
Mhmm.
(02:59):
But it but it got me thinking.
I was like, you know, both cars, like, in carculture and coffee and car coffee culture Mhmm.
There's actually a lot of similarities.
Mhmm.
And one of them is that at one extreme of thecoffee spectrum, it is a utilitarian drink.
(03:20):
You know
what I mean?
Like, it's it's not just about the flavor,like, you know what I mean?
Think about, like, an MRE or something likethat.
You get a little pack of instant coffee.
Now it tastes like shit, but, you know,
it gets you going.
to get the job done.
Mhmm.
It gets you going, man.
Like, you know, I always kid
it's fuel.
It's it's fuel.
It's fuel, dude.
Mhmm.
It literally is.
(03:41):
World wars are,
are fueled
on caffeine and nicotine.
Exactly.
Yeah.
That's
that's it.
By
Oh, yeah.
For real.
Heck yeah.
No.
No.
No.
That's spot on.
I've seen it for we've seen it firsthand.
Yeah.
It's true.
So it's like at one side of the spectrum, it'slike it's super utilitarian.
It's just about to get the job done, you know?
(04:04):
Mhmm.
And then at the complete opposite extreme, Imean, you have people, you know, weighing out
the number of grams of beans, the grams ofwater, you know, pre-wetting their filters on a
pour-over.
Mhmm.
Of, you know, a certain like, you can take itto such an elaborate, like, science to where
(04:24):
it's not just about getting a job done
at that point.
It's it's purely about the experience, the thesensory, you know, experience and, you know,
the culture that's associated with that.
And if you look at vehicles, you know, it'skind of the same way, dude.
You could have, like, you know, a a shittylittle beater truck that, you know, is just a
(04:47):
work truck.
Just gets you to
be but it but it gets it it gets the job done,though.
Yeah.
But it gets the job done.
Right?
You know?
And at the opposite end of that spectrum, youhave, you know, a classic that, you know, is,
you know, a $2 million vehicle.
It's a one of 10.
You know, it's hand-built engine.
(05:09):
It's way beyond, like, why?
You know, a Honda Civic's gonna get you there,you know, just as quick.
You know?
Does it really, why do you need this?
And it's sort of that, like, that little bitextra is what makes it interesting and what
kind of drives people's passion about cars.
So, for you, what kinda got you into cars?
(05:31):
Why are you passionate about them?
I mean, I grew up watching all the epitomes of,like, car movies, you know, all the Fast and
Furious, all the Yeah.
Yeah.
Smokey and the Bandit too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Exactly.
To me, Smokey and the Bandit, crazy.
My dad actually owns a '79 Firebird.
So I've always been, I've always been in lovewith cars as a, like, in a general sense.
(05:57):
Right?
As most kids do, you know?
And, right.
Growing up, I kind of was more in tune with thewhole JDM culture.
And then, more in my adulthood, I startedleaning more towards German cars.
And, I mean, me picking Mercedes was it wasmore so Mercedes picking me, you know, because
(06:19):
I was gonna do this originally out of an E36wagon, so a BMW.
And I was just, you know, scrolling on FacebookMarketplace as one does, you know, just looking
for a car that I probably shouldn't get, but Iwill.
And, and I was I was just shopping.
And, as soon as I saw this, this Mercedes, Igot it in Seattle actually.
(06:40):
It's while I was living up there.
And, and that's another thing too.
That's that's really where I fell in love withcoffee.
But, I saw this car.
Yeah.
You can only imagine.
But, I saw this car, and I was like, it was sobeautiful.
I test drove it.
The guy was super cool.
I could tell he cared about cars.
I could tell that this car was gonna be, like,my partner in this vision that I had.
(07:04):
Because I knew I was like, I need a wagon.
And it's either Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and I'mglad I picked this Mercedes.
But, yeah.
And just, I don't know.
I feel like those comparisons that you drewwith like cars and coffee, it just makes so
much sense.
Cause I go to literally, there's an eventcalled Cars and Coffee, you know?
(07:25):
And I think it's crazy that nobody's done whatI'm doing in the way that I'm doing it, you
know?
Because we've seen vehicles do, like, coffee,you know?
Like, the most I've seen is, like, VW busesdoing coffee shops because they have space, you
know?
And, I've seen a lot of trucks do, like biglike UPS-style trucks doing coffee, coffee
(07:49):
shops.
But nobody's really compressed it into a wagon,you know?
And that was really the biggest challenge of meexecuting it all.
But, I felt just like I felt like in a wagon.
I just wanted to do this with style, you know,and I wanna put bags on my wagon.
(08:09):
I wanna put, like, big three-piece wheels on mywagon.
And it's really all about standing out andhaving, like, style, you know?
Totally.
Okay.
Okay.
You just remind me of something I wanted to askyou about, the cars that oh, okay.
So what why, specifically that Mercedes model?
(08:30):
Like, what when you're looking was it justhappened to be the one that was in that that
just kinda
So it popped up marketplace?
It it popped up on Marketplace, and I I saw it.
And I was I would always, like, I would drawcomparisons between cars.
Like, what is what is the BMW logo mean?
Right?
And it's always been, like, M Power.
(08:52):
It's, like, it's it's aggressive.
It's sporty.
But to me, a Mercedes has always been thatbrand that doesn't call attention.
You know?
It it's not yelling for attention.
It knows what it is and is beautiful because ofit.
You know?
And while I was trying to think up of, like,the branding and the ideas behind my business,
(09:16):
I knew that I wanted the coffee to steal theshow and the car to just beautifully be there,
you know?
And I think it just makes so much sense, youknow?
Like, I I will love when I'm, like, serving upat a pop-up, and everybody's enjoying the
coffee, everybody's interested in the thing,and then somebody approaches me like, yo, is
(09:38):
this a W124?
And I'm like, you're a brother.
You know, like, you know, like, you know,because this is one of those cars where if you
know, you know.
I can be in traffic and blend in, but every nowand then, I'll get a I'll get a guy from across
the street being like, you're the fucking man.
You know, like, and I'm like, you are too.
(09:58):
Recognized real.
No.
Yeah.
For real.
That's it.
That's it right there.
But, yeah, I'd
On, there's on La Marzocco, Instagram, they sothey're, like, a big for people in the audience
that don't know, they're, like, one of thepremier espresso machine makers.
Mhmm.
You
know?
They're, like, the the Cadillac of espressomachines.
(10:21):
Mhmm.
And, they do a lot of content with machines on,like, classic Porsches.
Mhmm.
And
it's kinda like a
I've seen that.
It.
You'd have Yeah.
It's the it's the
whatever reason.
They're doing the the Martini, Porsche collab.
I've seen that around.
People always send me that.
Oh.
Yeah.
It's a it's like a super, like, famous, like,race car.
(10:45):
It it's like one of those classic, like,liveries on a car, and it's I I've seen a few
of those.
Yeah.
Heck yeah.
Right.
Right.
But it's super cool.
So it that's the you know, it it it's outthere.
And then, you know, Jay Leno has, like, thecars and cops.
Is it Jay Leno?
Or,
Jay Leno has, like, one of the biggestcollections of cars ever.
Right.
(11:05):
Right.
He had that show or maybe it was JerrySeinfeld.
Well, somebody had the show Mhmm.
Cars and Coffee, and I think it was Jay Lenobecause he's a big car collector.
But, you know, so they're they're we're not thefirst people to maybe make those associations.
Right.
But I just love the, that your execution of itis is super cool, especially here in San Diego.
(11:26):
You know, tell me about coffee.
How'd you kinda well, you know, you werementioned a little bit a bit in the military,
but tell me how you got into coffee.
Yeah.
Well, while I was on deployments, that's reallywhere, like, the seed was planted in my brain.
But then, since I was stationed in Everett upin Washington, I was very close to Seattle.
By the time I was out, I ended up staying inSeattle for another year because, one, I wanted
(11:49):
to snowboard, but, two, because I really wantedto live in Seattle before I left it.
Because the plan was always to move back to SanDiego.
This is where I'm from.
This is where I wanted to start a business andmy life.
You know?
But,
Mhmm.
Yeah.
Just being in Seattle, oh my God, you'respoiled.
You know, the market there for coffee issaturated, but for consumers, it's great.
(12:11):
You know?
So any corner I go, it's good coffeeeverywhere.
Like, the bar is set so high that I was able,as a consumer, to distinguish a good cup of
coffee from
Uh-huh.
And, like, just a regular just like you saidbefore, get-the-job-done coffee, you know?
So right.
I fell in love with tasting coffee instead ofjust, like, needing it.
(12:35):
You know?
And then, Mhmm.
And then I just started asking more questions,like, how can I get better at it, and how can I
make this a thing for me?
You know?
Because a big thing that people, like, willsometimes avoid is, like, yo, it's a business.
You know?
Like, we need to make money.
And I was getting out of the Navy, and I hadthis huge culture shock of, like, how am I
(12:56):
gonna make it out here?
You know?
Like, I'm sure you've experienced it too.
It's like, oh my God.
I don't have a paycheck.
And I wanted to make sure that I never wantedto do anything I didn't want to do, you know?
Because that was that was a big thing for mewhile I was in.
I Yeah.
It's not like I hated authority, but I hatedbeing told how to do certain things when I knew
(13:17):
how to do it, you know?
So now I started this business in my own style,in my own flair, you know?
And it's all really just on the bed of, like,do what I want to do when I want to do it.
Because even the pop-up style is, like, so trueto me.
It's like, I'll pop up tomorrow, I guess, if Iwant, you know?
And it's and Yeah.
(13:40):
That makes it really hard for some of my oh, goyou go ahead.
You go ahead.
Go go.
Sorry, bro.
Sometimes there's, like, a couple-second lag,and it's, like, it does that.
So
Yeah.
This is how my friends are on Discord.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's so annoying.
No.
But I was just gonna, you know, underline whatyou were saying about, like, being in the
(14:01):
military.
That was kind of my motivation to start my ownthing too.
It was just, like, that was the last time Iwill work for a big employer because you have
no freedom, dude.
Like, you're it's ironic because you're outthere fighting for, you know, your freedoms,
but you are a prisoner.
Mhmm.
In many ways.
(14:22):
Yeah.
You know?
So I totally that is a cool aspect of pop-upsis that you get to kinda just do it.
You know?
You bring what you're gonna eat.
You know?
Yeah.
I think the military is a big factor in my DNAbecause, I mean, I'm glad I went through it.
I don't regret it.
It was hard.
It was very challenging, but just the even justthe symbolism of being stripped of your
(14:45):
identity and you put on a uniform for yourcountry.
Right?
You're not allowed to be expressive.
And being suppressed for that long made me getout of the Navy and be like, boom.
I will never be quiet ever again.
You know?
So
Yeah.
Yeah.
And even my branding that I have planned outfor the future, because, obviously, I do want a
(15:09):
brick-and-mortar location.
I have ideas and sketches of just exactly whatI want my location to look like.
And it's not like your typical minimalisticcafe that, I mean, no shame to those because
those are great study spots.
I go to, like, super minimal, just white walls,white tables, everything, but that's not me.
(15:31):
I I I wanna have parties at my freaking cafe,you know?
So so that's really the vision for it.
Tell everyone because they may not be familiarwith, you know, describe your business.
Like, how, mhmm.
How do you go about it?
How do you make money?
You know, how do you plan out what you're gonnado, etc.
So, I mean, it's, I only do pop-up Saturdays.
(15:55):
I'll sometimes do Sundays.
But in my head, I'm always thinking about thenext weekend.
Right?
And so it's like a, it's I'm running a singularcoffee shop by myself.
Right?
So I'm in charge of ordering beans, cups, allthe inventory, and I don't I haven't really
(16:18):
scaled to the point to have a stockpile ofstuff.
So it's literally every week, I've been justmaking sure, like, hey.
Do I have enough beans to last me till nextweekend?
I'm always planning, like, the weekend afterthe one I'm about to do.
So it's it's yeah.
So yep.
But I've slowly been, like, cementing myselfwith an inventory so that that's streamlined.
(16:43):
And now I'm thinking about employees too tohelp me out.
I've had a few employees pull up to help mebecause I've been pulling in, like, crowds now.
Like, I'll get lines, and it can be really,really stressful.
It's just a one-man, a one-man show with asingle group head.
Like oh, man.
Like yeah.
Like, a single group head is crazy to have thevolume I'm doing.
(17:06):
But luckily, with help, it's it's and peopleare really, really patient with me just because
of the experience I offer.
You know?
So, like, yeah, they get it.
Everybody's super chill.
Anybody that messages me ever is superpositive, and anyone I've worked with is super
awesome.
But,
That's awesome.
Yeah.
I have my water tanks in the back.
I have the power, I'm always, like, messingaround with it.
(17:30):
I started with, like, a literal car batterythat I would recharge every time I used it.
That was super sketch, though.
Yeah.
That was super sketchy.
And then I did gas generators, electricgenerators, and I'm always just trying to
figure out what the best thing—well, the bestthing is an extension cord.
That's typically what I do.
It just kind of visually is not as satisfying,but, I mean, it's better for the operation.
(17:57):
So and then, yeah, I work a lot with a localbusiness called I'm Still Developing.
Those guys are family.
I've done a lot of pop-ups with them.
Most of my pop-ups are with them.
It's just we work together so well.
They do film.
Like, they're a film developing lab.
And interesting.
Yeah.
(18:17):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And their audience matches my audience'senergy.
So when I bring my clientele and they bringtheirs, it's just an awesome melting pot of
cool stuff.
Because that's the event.
Because I used to do a lot of Cars and Coffee,like at RSF Cars in South Bay.
So two pretty popular car meets here in SanDiego.
(18:39):
But, gotcha.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So now you're like, let's talk about your rig,dude.
So what kind of espresso machine do you have inthe back?
So oh, that's a Slayer, single group.
It's just one group head.
It's not like it doesn't have a built-in watertank.
(19:02):
It's one of those where you would, if intheory, you were to put it in your house, you'd
have to have an additional water tank or lineit up to potable water.
But, right.
But, yeah,
that's a that was a that's a really, reallyimpressive machine.
I love using it.
Anybody who's used it with me, they loved it.
(19:22):
They're hand-built in Seattle.
I felt like the need to get a machine that wasfrom the city, you know?
And I did think about La Marzocco, but yeah.
I just wanted, again, something a little alittle out of the norm.
You know?
That's always what I'm looking for.
And too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I always trying to do that.
And it's funny too that you say that becausethe name to me, I really picked it out just
(19:48):
through brainstorming for a long time.
Right?
Just brainstorming what sounds good.
And I always think it's funny how hard, like,no matter how hard you try to be unique, you
will never be unique.
You know, you it's and it's and that's so andthat's so beautiful to me.
You know, like, as soon as I started blowing upon Instagram, I had a guy from Russia message
(20:13):
me with almost the exact same setup, but almostcooler.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He has a he has a Mercedes wagon, not a W124, alittle older.
But this dude went all out like his seat coversare, are, what are they called?
They're, like, the sacks that the beans comein.
(20:33):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Those
I know what you're talking about.
Can't not canvas, but
No.
Yeah.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
For real.
And for some reason.
Like, it was crazy.
But he similar setup, similar vibes just inRussia, and we we chatted it up.
But he had a different machine.
(20:53):
But, yeah, I have the Slayer.
Beautiful machine.
Probably the prettiest in the world in myopinion.
And it was not cheap.
I think I paid, like, around 14,000.
And that was yeah.
Yeah.
It's a big-deal machine.
And I took loans out.
I'll I'll disclaimer.
(21:14):
I took loans out, you know, as as a yeah.
And I did, the oh, shoot.
I wish I could tell you the exact designatedfor the the grinder, but it's Mahlkönig.
And it's the one with the scale.
It's like an X60 or X80, something like that.
But,
that little digital scale thing that
Exactly.
Yeah.
Because while I was building yeah.
(21:36):
While I was building the whole setup and in mysketches, I was like, I I don't have room for a
scale.
Like, that's the biggest thing is I don't Idon't have space.
You know?
So right.
And for efficiency yeah.
Efficiency and me being by myself most of thetime, I needed that scale just to help me out
with the whole process of making, you know?
(21:56):
So so, yeah, the the Slayer and the Mahlköniggrinders are my lifeblood right now.
That's that's my moneymaker, and that's my mypride and joy right there in my dream car.
So
And and then you have the water tanks, like, inthe back seat.
Is that kinda how yeah.
I got the back seats.
Seats still up or are they
(22:17):
No.
No.
I got I got them I got them down.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it and it's funny too because in the in theback, the Mercedes comes with third-row
seating.
So I I have to fold them down.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're all folded down.
So, yeah, I made a wagon that's typically ableto carry, like, seven people into a coupe.
(22:39):
Yeah.
You know, because of this coffee shop.
Yeah.
Sick setup.
That's so dope.
Okay.
The
water tanks and the stuff that you have backthere, are most of the things pretty, like,
fixed into place, or do you kinda takeeverything out of your car, you know?
So the water tank stays in the car.
(22:59):
It's not bolted in, but usually when it'sfilled, it's heavy enough for it to not move.
I keep a cooler there that I take out everytime just to dry it off and clean it.
And my drain tank, I obviously always have toclean that after every event.
But, yeah, the pumps stay in there and, youknow, what else I have?
(23:22):
I'll always keep, like, an inventory of extracups and stuff back there.
So it's like, that's like the back of house.
You know?
So
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mhmm.
Do you, do you keep the Slayer in there too?
You
The Slayer stays in the car.
That's why I don't go out much.
I do not go out.
I am not parking my car out here.
(23:42):
No.
For real.
And I have oh, that's the biggest thing.
I have so many trackers in that car.
Like, that's, yeah.
And then it's insured too.
So, like, even just like with any business, youinsure your property, you insure your
equipment, and that's exactly the approach Itook.
That's crazy and, so how do you kind ofadvertise or how do you attract crowds
(24:08):
initially?
I mean, no no no.
You have your social media, so that's probably,like, a big way now.
But how did it start?
Because it's hard to grow shit organically.
Yeah.
So I started just putting myself out there.
I would literally just go anywhere.
Anywhere where I, one, wanted to hang out andbe in.
I saw the setting being cool.
I used to do Imperial Beach a lot.
(24:30):
I used to do Sunset Cliffs a lot.
I used to just go to parks in general, andthat's really where I started, like, marketing
myself first person.
You know?
Like, I would...
I was literally a street vendor.
I would be like, hey.
I'm Alex.
This is Unico Coffee Co.
Or be like, hey.
You want coffee, espresso?
Just while I'm playing music.
(24:50):
A lot of the times, my music would lure people,and I'd be like, oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And then we'd start talking, and then theywould see what it is, and they'd be like, oh,
heck.
And then, and then so that was, like, the veryfirst baby steps.
And then I would, as soon as I started, like,actually posting on Instagram and taking my
(25:10):
content a little more seriously, it startedtaking off more.
And that's where I decided, like, oh, that'sit's a no-brainer.
Like, I'm gonna use Instagram to update myaudience to let them know where I'll be
exactly, you know, because I don't really goto, like, markets where, like, there's already
clientele.
I have to pull my clientele with me, you know?
(25:33):
And that's super important for me.
Yeah.
That's that's one of the things that I'vefound.
So, you know, I'll do pop-ups.
I do pop-ups, but I do more so, like, privateevents or pop-ups that other people put on, and
then they kind of, you know, I'll show up as,like, the coffee vendor or whatever.
(25:54):
And that has been a good recipe for me because,dude, the markets are tough, man.
First of all, you have to apply to, you know,you apply to get into that market because
they're curated.
You know?
And then there's the market fees, which are notcheap.
I mean, they're, like, in the hundreds ofdollars.
(26:17):
You need, yeah.
You know?
And some days, that's all you make too.
Totally.
That's why, my very first event in San Diegowas at, it was Luxe Nights at Garage
Collective.
They're not a thing anymore.
But, for vendors, you had to pay a hundredbucks or a hundred fifty.
And I was at the point where, like, dude, Idon't even think I can make that much, like
(26:42):
speed wise.
Like, now I think I could in, like, an hour.
Yeah.
But back then, I was just learning.
So, I end up going and, I didn't pay the vendorfee until the owners there were like, oh, what?
This is you?
Because I had my trunk opened at the car meet,obviously.
And then they said, dude, go have at it.
(27:04):
Like, sell.
And I was like, okay.
And then I started working, and that's what ittook.
But, yeah, like, no.
Some markets just tax way too much, and I'mlike and that's kinda why I started, like,
thinking very early on.
I was like, no.
I want my profits to be mine off rip.
You know?
And that's when I started looking into my ownpermits and tying my name to, like, a business
(27:27):
so that I'm able to stay there on privateproperty.
And there's, like, there's a lot of ways I hadto think about it too.
So, yeah, I've
That's a good insight.
Let's talk about that because I've run intothat.
So it seems like 2021.
Mhmm.
There was a lot, I mean, a lot of people gotinto something over the pandemic.
(27:50):
Yeah.
They had time, and they had a little bit ofmoney, and so then they were kinda doing, like,
a thing.
So, I saw a pretty big explosion of, you know,entrepreneurs.
People doing their own, you know, they have anidea, and then, you know, they go and execute
in some way, shape, or form.
And it was like, yeah, it was like end of '21or, like, into '22.
(28:11):
I don't remember exactly when, but I startedseeing the city, like, cracking down on, like,
street vending.
And, I mean, that's frustrating for a number ofreasons, but I'm like, come on, dude.
Like, what do you want people to do?
You know?
If you can go smoke fentanyl on the street,
you're not gonna do anything.
(28:32):
No.
For real.
If you wanna go do donation-based yoga at thepark
Mhmm.
Like, do you have
a permit for that?
Do you have a permit?
And you're gonna get hassled by, you know,like, park rangers and stuff?
Yeah.
So how well, how was your kinda workaround, orhow did you kinda crack that nut?
So I mentioned that I was in Imperial Beach fora while.
(28:53):
I did get stopped by, like, the city.
Like, it was a guy in a polo.
Just he was super nice.
And he noticed me.
I think he waited till I was done, which issuper cool, where he, like, approached me.
He was like, hey, man.
We gotta do this.
And I was like, dang.
He gave me, like, a whole file on how to, like,apply for stuff, and I was like, okay.
(29:15):
Sweet.
I'll take a look at it.
But then I just it's funny.
I just ended up not going back there.
And then I started looking into, like, just amore general way to do this legally.
And my thing was specifically, I was inspiredby street vendors.
(29:35):
You know, I'm Mexican.
I've always grown up in my city seeing that guyon the corner selling flowers, that lady at
Home Depot selling burritos that I'm alwaysbuying from too.
And it's just like right.
Like, this is that was, like, a big spark forme.
So it's always been a big blend of inspirationthat just one day clicked in my head
altogether.
You know?
(29:56):
But,
Totally.
Yeah.
And, I mean, San Diego has the SBA, the SmallBusiness
Small Business.
Something Association?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Small Business Administration.
And you can call them up, and they give you,like, they can send you to another thing.
I forget what the other thing is, but theyallow they assign you, like, a mentor who's a
(30:20):
business owner, and they try to match you upwith, like, kind of the same wave you're on.
And they hold your hand.
Any questions you have, any websites you need,they got.
They send it to you.
And it's super, super easy to do.
But for a while, I was just, you know what?
I'm a small business.
I don't I like, just like you said, I don'tthink I'm hurting anyone.
(30:42):
If anyone tells me to leave, I will leave.
But that's just some of those, like, cornersyou have to cut when you're starting a
business.
You know?
But now that I'm getting a little moreestablished, I was like, okay.
Let's do it seriously now.
You know?
Right.
Right.
So do you have essentially, like, a food truckpermit?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Seller's permit, food truck permit, and, yeah.
(31:06):
That's it.
It's super simple.
It's daunting at first, but once you go throughthe system, ask the right questions, there's
always support for it.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
So what's kind of your vision for this?
Like, what's kind of the next step from herefor you?
(31:28):
So, I don't wanna give up too much, honestly.
But I have to.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I'll tell you this much.
There's two people that I'm working with, twobusinesses outside of coffee, and we're trying
to have a shared space where we all have, like,a little corner of the building.
And, I'll tell you this much.
If you look at my menu, there's a and this isjust a for sure element that I will need to
(31:54):
have in my establishment, is a telephone polewith a like a power line.
And then you'll see those shoes, they're AdidasSuperstars, but with the traditional Mexican,
like, pastry, the conchas.
And I own those shoes, and I've never wornthem, but I want to hang them up in my cafe as,
(32:18):
like, an element of, like, just the street thatI grew up on.
And because I've lived in so many cities, andI've loved always being just just walking the
streets, you know.
And that's the cool thing about Unico too isthat it literally started on the streets too,
you know.
So it's like Right.
I would pull up on any random street and juststart selling coffee, you know.
(32:41):
So it's like it just it's where I belong, Ifeel, and it's like, my business, I want it to
be a love letter to that, you know, because mydad also grew up in South Central LA in the
eighties, and he's always been, like, a bigbuff about graffiti.
And, like, he did twenty-seven years in theNavy too.
And,
Oh, shit.
(33:01):
He he
would even throughout his career, he wouldalways sketch.
So, like, I love street art, and that'sdefinitely gonna be all over my place.
You know?
And, I just That's awesome.
I just I just want it to be loud.
You know?
I want it to be roughneck.
I want it to be just Yeah.
City.
You know?
Like, I want it to be coffee for the streets.
You know?
(33:21):
So
For sure.
I mean, it's super cool that you can, you know,be like a community leader in a certain
respect.
I mean, I know that's kind of, you know, a
That's, yeah.
That's a little it's a little early for that.
Wait.
Wait.
(33:41):
Wait.
I don't want responsibilities yet.
Well, I mean, if you think about, like, coffeeshops in general, like, they are these you
know, no one goes to the library anymore.
Mhmm.
You know?
And in a place like San Diego or SouthernCalifornia in general, it's a lot of commuting.
(34:03):
You know what I mean?
People in their cars, they're going from hometo work, work to pick up their kids, like,
whatever their case is, you know, and thesethird spaces, like, the, you know, that's not
home, it's not work Mhmm.
Is, in modern times, the coffee shop.
Yeah.
And, you know, they're spider ubiquitous.
That was Starbucks' whole model.
It's like, let's find a place where people cango.
(34:25):
And then that model has changed just forespecially, like, Starbucks.
You know?
And now they're like, we don't want you sittingaround.
We want you to just
It's efficiency.
Yeah.
You know?
It's efficiency.
Right?
That's their model.
But there are a lot of coffee shops,especially, like, in North Park and Barrio
Logan and a lot of spots where, you know, theit's they're every the places are walkable, and
(34:48):
people go and they post up, and they workthere.
They eat there.
They hang out.
They listen to music.
And, I don't know.
Just you're connecting community.
So what's cool about what you're doing is eventhough you're not in a brick-and-mortar spot,
you know, it's like you kind of are buildingcommunity everywhere you go in that, you know,
with your car.
(35:09):
And I think it's a really cool idea of, youknow, taking that, like, street inspiration
and, you know, car culture and all this andeventually making it into, like, a
brick-and-mortar that gets to be your vibe.
Hundred percent.
Yeah.
I've done a few events that are kind of asidefrom the traditional pop-up.
(35:33):
Like, hey, I'm selling here and we're having athing.
I did my own event, which was my own Cars andCoffee where I had a few cars pull up, and I
had a DJ set while I was selling coffee, whilethere was a clothing vendor, while there was,
like, a food vendor too, you know.
So it was, like, a whole little market that Iorganized, and just seeing everybody interact
was so beautiful to me, and I love that I wasable to do that.
(35:55):
And a big thing down the line for me too ishaving those events, like, oh, and it was at a
mechanic shop, and it was my friend from highschool's mechanic shop.
So if you can imagine that my car was in thebay, like, to be lifted.
Right?
And then the DJ set was right next to there.
And, I hope that down the line, I can, like,maybe do something with, like, live musicians
(36:16):
and maybe even interview them in front of theaudience, you know, or do certain things like
that.
That's something I've always wanted to do.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
I definitely am building a community, andeverybody that I've met so far has been super
awesome.
And I love that I'm at the point where I knownames and I can recognize faces, you know,
because that's really cool.
(36:37):
Like, it feels like a family already.
You know?
Yeah, dude.
It's really nice.
And, you know, in the short term, as you'restill kind of building, you know, we're—I don't
know if we were recording when we startedtalking about it, but it's that being that
third-shift entrepreneur is tough where you'relike, I still gotta pay the bills.
I still gotta, you know, make ends meet.
(36:59):
But, you know, what keeps driving you to, youknow, what makes you so passionate and keeps
driving you to not give up on what you'redoing?
Well, it's something that I wanna do.
You know?
Like, there's a phrase I always tell people,and my friends have heard enough of it.
But it's like, you can't complain about a fullplate when all you wanna do is eat.
(37:24):
You know?
So I wanted my own thing.
I wanted to be an individual.
So, yeah, I got a full-time job.
Yeah.
I'm a full-time student.
Yeah.
I'm running a business.
Before, like, I would get stressed at, like, anormal day at work while I was in the Navy, but
there was no fulfillment in that for me, youknow?
(37:44):
I am more stressed than I've ever been in mylife, but it's satisfying somewhat, you know?
Because at the end of the day, I am making itwork, you know?
I feel independent.
Even my day job is satisfying, you know?
I'm working with artists.
I'm learning things I want to learn, you know?
Because that's what I feel like people end uppushing off till it's too late.
(38:10):
You know, I always tell people, do what youwant.
Do whatever you want at all times, you know,and it'll usually, like, if you have good
intentions, it'll usually end up benefiting youmore than anything, you know?
So that's what motivates me.
It's my world.
I'm in control.
(38:30):
Okay.
And
that's a big thing.
Dude, I feel I'm stressed as well right now.
I'm seeing some money stuff.
I had to buy a car.
I had to, you know, own
my house.
Like, there's stuff that was going down and,you know, it never goes away.
Like, at year one, there were certainstressors.
In year two, there were different stressors.
In year three, it was, you know, and that'sjust the way it is.
(38:52):
But the one thing that I never feel, not evenfor a second, is unfulfilled.
Mhmm.
You know?
That I'm wasting my time or doing something.
You know?
So my stressors are purely material in a lot ofways, which is not a bad—it's better than it
(39:13):
being existential.
Yeah.
Of, like, dude, what am I gonna do with mylife?
Like, am I gonna be just one of those guys thathates my job?
Mhmm.
You know?
And just having the courage to, like, show upevery single day like you're doing.
You know, work three jobs, you know, and humbleyourself to be like, there's a long way to go.
(39:34):
I think that's inspiring and one of the reasonsI really wanted to, like, talk to you and
preach your message.
So I work in, like, the wellness space, youknow, with my company.
We do coffee, obviously, but really focusing onhow functional mushrooms and plant medicine and
these things can be used to sustain yourhealth.
(39:56):
But I don't talk to a lot on the podcast,especially of people really in the coffee
industry and people who are putting theirpassion into that field and growing a business
in the coffee industry by themselves.
So it's a really cool perspective that youhave, and I think it can hopefully inspire some
(40:20):
other people to be like, hey.
If there's something you wanna do, like, justgo out there and do it.
You know?
It doesn't have to be—it can be unique.
It can be the first time or, you know, hey.
No one else is doing that.
You're like, well, great.
You know?
Why do you have to do just what everyone elseis doing?
Mhmm.
So I think you're really showing people thatthere's a way to pursue your dreams.
(40:46):
Because you can do just like you said, youcould do something that is already made and
make it new.
You know?
Like, that's that's the biggest thing.
I mean, Quentin Tarantino said that a goodartist is an amazing thief.
You know?
It's like, I saw coffee shops.
(41:06):
I saw coffee trucks.
I saw coffee vans, and I was like, I want to dothis in my style.
You know?
Like, I knew I wanted to do something incoffee, and I was, like, really quick to being
like, I can't take out a humongous businessloan to afford that.
You know?
Like, what is the, like, there's always waysaround being able to do what you want to do,
and you just have to think about it, you know,like, okay, I can't afford a brick-and-mortar
(41:30):
or a huge machine.
Let's stay humble and keep it small.
How can we do that, you know?
And, yeah, I definitely did want to do it in myown way, and sometimes you have to build your
own path.
Like, there's guides, you know, but you makeyour own path 100%.
(41:51):
You know?
Totally, dude.
And just having that voice in your headbecause, you know, you always got, like, the
angel and the devil on either side, but, youknow, the one voice that you've got to really
focus on listening to is the one that says,like, just, like, trust your gut, dude.
Trust your instincts.
Like, believe in yourself.
Believe in your dream.
(42:11):
Believe in what you're doing because it'sreally tough, dude.
I've gone down, pitch, like, pitchcompetitions, pitching to investors, pitching,
you know, running in the same boat.
It'd be like, hey.
If you want to scale a CPG business online, youneed money.
There's not really, like, a way around that.
So I'm like, alright.
(42:32):
I'm gonna pitch to investors.
I'm gonna do all this stuff, and you're doingthis and, you know, I mean, my parents don't
get what I'm doing, they don't understand why.
Oh, yeah.
Pitch to investors down here, they're like, no,we're more of like in looking in the SaaS
industry, looking for somebody with a hundred xreturn.
So you're doing this, and they're, like, everyway you turn, it's like people are kind of
(42:52):
doubting you, or they don't get it.
And you have to have the balls to just be like,that's because they're all wrong.
Mhmm.
You know
what I mean?
Oh, yeah.
And I'm gonna keep, you know, seeing thisthrough because I believe in it.
Mhmm.
Yeah.
I've before I even, like, built the wholesetup, I would tell people, like yeah, I'm
(43:14):
thinking about building, like, a coffee shop inmy car, like, in a car that I'm looking for.
And they were like, that's crazy, dude.
Like, just do this instead.
I'm like, shut up.
Mhmm.
You know?
Like, I I Right.
Because anything that's in here, nobody elsecan see, you know?
And if you trust your vision and you canvisualize its success, just send it, you know,
(43:36):
just keep going.
And I have I have, like, I haven't I feel likeI have incredible foresight of what's to come
from my business and from my brand andeverything I'm doing.
And nobody can tell me that it's not a goodidea because I I think what I have is is gonna
grow, and I really believe in it.
And I just I hope that anyone that that hassomething that they wanna do, that they could
(44:02):
just also believe, you know, like, to justfollow through.
Like, there's ways, you know, like and the Ican come up with a thousand excuses as to why I
shouldn't be doing this, but, like, I don'tknow.
I just my thing is I'm just doing it, you know?
Like, it it's autopilot after a while, youknow?
It's like it's what I'm doing.
You don't even have to think about it, youknow?
(44:22):
Just just Totally.
It it's it's just taking that leap.
Well, sometimes overthinking it is what givesyou, those, like, plants that seed of doubt.
You know what I'm saying?
How am I and, you know, and to, other peoplelistening that might be veterans as well or
transitioning out of the military, do you don'tsleep on that GI Bill, man.
(44:43):
Oh, 100%.
Bill for me was huge.
That was, like, you know, I was able to go toschool, you know, full time as a full-time
student, but I was in evening classes.
So I went school from five to ten, like, Mondaythrough Friday.
Maybe it was, like, Monday through Thursday.
And then I had my whole workday to figure outhow I'm gonna make this business go.
(45:04):
You have your health care taken care of.
You have, you know, you have a little bit of aVA rating.
You know?
So there's the very practical thing that stopsa lot of other people is, well, you need they
need health care.
They need, you know, they have to go work a jobbecause they're they need, you know, and then
(45:25):
they need income.
And then they need these other things.
And so all of a sudden, you're like, yeah,dude.
You have to figure out how you're gonna buildthis company in, you know, just a few hours a
week.
And the reality is it's gonna take a lot morethan that.
Not to discourage people that maybe don't havea GI Bill, but it's just one of those things.
There's some statistic I read a long time agoabout, like, after World War II, it was, like,
(45:49):
40% of new businesses were started by aveteran.
Oh, wow.
That's huge.
I did not know that.
It was a huge amount, dude.
It was like everyone came back from the war,and they were just like, screw it.
Let's go.
And so, you know, they were buildingeverything.
Nowadays, it's something like 6%.
Okay.
You know, so it's not, it's not the way it usedto be.
(46:14):
Oh, yeah.
And I think that if there's one thing that Iwant to inspire other veterans to do is that
you have the skills.
You have the leadership, the ability toexecute, and that sort of, like, self-drive
that it takes to, you know, get up early andput in the work and do something hard.
(46:35):
You know, and then you also have these benefitsthat can create a situation that just the
average civilian doesn't have.
Yeah.
I mean, we gave up those, like, four to sixyears of, like, our early 20s.
And, I mean, yeah, that's how I look at it.
Like, I I didn't I wasn't gonna do anything incollege if I if I had joined, you know.
(46:57):
Like, if I went to college right after highschool, I probably would have been wasting my
time and my money, you know.
So I, sure.
I'm I there were a few dark points while I wasin the Navy.
You know?
I I did not want to be there.
There was no real way out, but it made mestronger, you know?
And those benefits that no one can take awayfrom me, like, I'm using them, you know, like
(47:19):
like, that's what you gotta do, you know, andit and those six years to be able to be
transferred into help that I can, like, utilizeright now makes everything totally worth it,
you know, like, just the GI Bill.
Like, I'm I'm not paying to go to school.
I'm getting paid to go to school.
Yeah.
And it it's it's funding it's paying the rent.
(47:40):
It's it's partially funding my business.
And, and then I have a job that I'm alsofunding my business, and and it's it's right.
It's just awesome.
And then the VA also has a lot of help for,like, entrepreneurs too.
So
That's good to know.
That I I didn't know so much about the helpthat what type of help programs did you find,
(48:01):
from the VA for entrepreneurship?
Oh, they offer some loans too.
I didn't use a lot of resources, but there aresome SBA loans that you can use because I know
there's a VA home loan.
I know for a while, I was plotting to use it,like, kind of make it a business loan too.
(48:26):
Like, there's a way to do it.
And I was looking into that, but I also justgot, like, there was another mentorship program
where you could just ask them.
I wish I could tell you exactly what it was,but just like I said before, if you look for it
and you know where to ask questions, you canalways find it.
Like, VA.gov, you can just scroll throughstuff, and you'll find support there.
(48:48):
You know?
Cool.
So you found that, whatever you were trying tothink of, that was, like, specifically that you
found through the VA or was it through SBA forveterans?
VA.
I mostly used SBA.
SBA is a super awesome way to go.
There's probably an office in your city.
You can just call them.
I'm huge on just calling.
(49:09):
Like, I don't like applying on websites, andthey can really point you in the right
direction
Right.
For a
lot of stuff.
So tell me a little bit about what you'restudying in school.
We kinda mentioned it before we startedrecording, but, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm majoring in media production at San DiegoCity College, and it's so awesome.
(49:35):
I love it.
I mean, it's stuff that I used to just YouTubeanyways, you know, so it's like it's stuff I
want to learn, you know, and it's really cool.
All the assignments I want to do, and I'm doingit mainly to kind of involve it in my business
as well.
You know?
I want to have my own media production team,you know, and work with local artists and
(50:01):
interview people and have podcasts similar tothis.
And that's why this is really awesome practicebecause, you know, it's a skill that you end up
acquiring.
And, yeah, I'm just trying to acquire thoseskills in college in the best way possible
through education, you know.
And San Diego City is freaking awesome, dude,because I can't imagine myself being at state
(50:23):
right now because that's like it just operatesdifferently, you know?
At the community level, yeah.
The teachers, like, at City are so awesome, andyou can talk to them.
At State, they have huge lecture halls.
I wouldn't be able to have, like, an actualconversation.
You know?
So it's just been working out for me.
I did an audio recording class, intro tocinema.
(50:45):
Right now, I'm doing a screenwriting class.
So it's like, just a bunch of general media.
I would love a job in broadcast, though, like aday job in, like, sports broadcasting.
I would love that.
Just hold a camera or something.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, see, even if it's not, like,coffee-related, if my business takes off, I'm
(51:06):
looking for another job to have fun in too.
And if I don't like it, then I also will moveon.
But I just know that a pretty sure bet for mepersonally will be in anything that's
media-related.
You know?
Whether it's an interview, whether it'srecording news, you know, or being a a a what's
it called?
A journalist of some kind.
You know?
I just know that's kind of what I wanna dopersonally down the line.
(51:31):
Well, it's a super important skill, in 2025 asa brand creator.
Like, if you're, you know, building a companythat is outward-facing and you're trying to
attract customers, there's no way around it,dude.
(51:51):
You have
to be a media
company on some level.
You are producing
videos and, you know, content in a variety ofdifferent ways.
And just the ability to tell stories, engagepeople, find what motivates people.
Mhmm.
So I think that's an incredibly important skillthat absolutely fits in with what you're doing
(52:15):
these days.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I've done a few collaborations with people thatare in the media world, specifically social
media, and they've really helped me grow.
Like, they have a pretty big audience, and theyfound me, and they wanna do something with me.
(52:35):
And they posted it for me.
And even when we were recording videos, I waslearning, you know, just like, oh, this is a
good shot to take.
Oh, this is and there's just, like, a bunch oftips that you can, like, take from working with
other media people to, like, to work it in yourown space, you know.
And, yeah, you make an amazing point that, yes,if you have a brand, everybody's on their
(52:57):
phones, that's the way to market yourself.
And I'll say this, I have never paid to boost apost.
I have never paid for any sort of ad space.
It's all, like, super organic with the people Iwork with and my post, you know, and that's
really all you need.
Like, you could, I guess, boost it.
I've never done it, but I feel like it's alittle I just want to do everything
(53:22):
organically, you know.
I don't want to take shortcuts.
There's no shortcuts.
I'll always get people wanting to, like, knowexactly how I do my stuff.
And it's like, dude, if I reply to everybodyand told them exactly how I do everything, I
wouldn't have time for anything else, you know?
It's like
Right.
Like, dude, if I took the time if I took thetime if I can do it, you can do it, you know?
(53:45):
Like, it's just a matter of, you know?
So it's, it's it.
Yeah.
The media, the media space is super huge andit's, it's, if you're not on it, you're, you're
that, that's where it's at.
And if you can do your own marketing and if youcan learn how to do it, that's a super huge
pillar of support for your business.
(54:07):
With you.
And, yeah.
This has been the "Mind Body Mushroom," broughtto you by Unico Coffee Co., the world's
greatest mushroom-infused coffee and coffeeproducts.
Check us out online.
Check us out on social media, and like andsubscribe.
I'm so bad about plugging.
Oh, dude.
I'll I'll send I'm gonna send you a bag.
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