Take a look at our interview with VoyageDenver! To see the full article, check out http://voyagedenver.com/interview/exploring-life-business-with-hannah-cambronero-chelsey-solemsaas-of-coffee-sarap/
“Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Cambronero and Chelsey Solemsaas. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Chelsey and Hannah went to high school together in Washington state, but our paths never really crossed because Hannah moved to a different school her freshman year. Fast forward 10 years, and they reconnected in Colorado through Chelsey’s cousin, who is a mutual friend of Hannah’s. At the time, both Chelsey and Hannah were stay at home parents and would frequently have play dates together, cook Filipino food for each other, and even would have weekly family dinners. We became family and so it only felt right for us to continue this friendship into a business partnership with our shared love of our Filipino culture and heritage through coffee and other delectable treats.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
We started this journey from scratch with absolutely no business background. We just both knew we wanted to create something special that included our love of our Filipino culture. We really had to learn the ins and outs of business as we went and there were times we would fall short but we always had each other to help us push each other through. Another challenge we ran into was expanding faster than we anticipated. As our popularity grew, our demand grew and there are only two of us operating our cart along with both being mothers. Finding that work/life balance is something that continually challenges us but we are enjoying the process.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Coffee Sarap?
Coffee Sarap wants to represent Filipino culture in its community by sharing our flavors through specialty beverages and food items. Coffee Sarap aims to deliver enticing beverages while educating their customer base about their flavor origins. We aim to create an inviting and inclusive space for anyone to feel welcome when they come to Coffee Sarap. We also work alongside other local businesses to bring growth within our community as well.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
We are the only business that offers Ube milk tea and Pandan milk tea in Colorado.
Chelsey and Hannah also run separate businesses. Chelsey’s other business is Limitless Littles where they take young kids on mini field trips that highlight local women professionals. The message of their organization is that “you can be anything, and women belong there too.” Hannah runs Simply Sarap catering, where she leads the vision and chef expertise to cater private events.”
