We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aliana Pipolo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Aliana, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I am very happy as a business owner! I am my own boss, I get to create my own schedule, and I get to use my business as a creative outlet. I love everything about it. However, sometimes I wonder how my life would be different if I went to college after high school or pursued my other interests. Before Covid hit, I was training to be a phlebotomist at UCLA. My goal was to work as a emergency room phlebotomist, and eventually an emergency medical technician. Had we not gone into lockdown, would I still be working part time at a coffee shop, and part time in the medical field? Would I be working full time in the medical field with crazy hours? I often vocalize I wish I was built for a 9-5 job because of how nice it would be to have a salary and set schedule, but then I might not have the time or energy for any hobbies or a creative outlet. Thankfully, that isn’t the case, and I’m very grateful to be a business owner!

Aliana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up, my dad was in the coffee industry, so I was always determined to work at Starbucks as soon as I turned 16 (like a rite of passage). When I turned 17, I got a job at Coffee Bean and became passionate about coffee and tea education, customer service, and creating fun drinks. I became a supervisor and strived to learn every bit of information possible so I could help customers to the best of my knowledge. The pandemic hit just a month after I left that job, and I was yearning to make drinks again. On April 30th, 2020 I came up with a rough business plan, and on May 1st, I started deliveries.

I mainly do deliveries, pop up events, and private events. I deliver 4 days a week and try to do a few events per month, whether they are public events with my micro-bakery partner in crime Nancy’s Fancies, or a privately booked espresso bar. I specialize in uniquely hand crafted plant based beverages. I create all my own recipes and try to put together fun, unexpected flavors inspired by the seasons, holidays, desserts, and different cultures. In addition to coffee, I also offer different kinds of tea and caffeine free beverages so there is something for everyone! Luckily, all of the problem solving I assist my customers with revolve around finding a drink that is allergen free, or helping them understand different things about each drink. I’m extremely lucky to attract a customer demographic that is so compassionate and understanding that this is a one woman show.

I believe what sets me apart from others is the combination of handcrafted plant based beverages, my cute, nostalgic pop up set up that features inspiration from Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty, and my unapologetic Judaism shown throughout my business. I feel like it is so rare to find a business that features as many Jewish aspects as mine does, so I feel it’s my duty to shed light on our lesser known group via ingredients, holidays, and my literal business name (mensch means a good person in Yiddish, a language comprised of Hebrew and German).

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I mainly keep in touch with my customers via Instagram and texting. While I usually do not give out my personal phone number to strangers, my customers with whom I’ve shared my number have become some of my most loyal! I strive to get to know each of my customers and let them get to know me so it is more of a friendship than strictly transactional. A great way I’ve been able to foster brand loyalty is by offering loyalty cards that reward customers with a free drink after a certain number of purchases. Customers love their free drinks and I love rewarding them!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Most of my customer base has come from my friends and family reposting and sharing in any way they can. I can also always depend on the occasional Tik Tok or reel to bring some customers my way. For anyone starting to build a social media presence, my advice would be to post your product on Tik Tok and Instagram reels, and be consistent! It’s free advertising and it does work, but you do have to do it often. While I’m not the best example now since I rarely create content anymore, I used to post a drink making video every single day and it brought me a lot of followers/customers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @cutemenschcoffee
• Twitter: @qtmenschcoffee
• Other: Tik Tok: @cutemenschcoffee