We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rachel Larson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rachel below.

Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

The biggest risk I have taken was opening up a mobile coffee cart “Fika Coffee KC” back in October 2022. I have wanted to own my own coffee shop since I was in High School. In college I had so much excitement and eagerness regarding my dream. However, every year after I graduated college the dream felt more and more impossible. It didn’t feel tangible and I started to question whether my dream would become a reality.

I spent many years praying for the “right time” to start my own shop. I went through a 2 year period where I felt like I heard very little from God about my shop specifically and that was frustrating to me. In Spring 2022 I felt Jesus saying “There is never going to be this right time. You are just going to have to start and I will meet you in the middle.” So that is what sparked me to start planning my mobile coffee car.

At the time I was a District Manager over three Tropical Smoothie Cafes in the Kansas City area. I decided to leave my roll in October 2022. In some ways, leaving my roll as a District Manager felt more scary than opening the business itself. Doubts and fears of not booking enough events/not making enough money to live off of was my biggest fear. Fear of failing was my second biggest fear.

At the end of the day, there is no greater feeling than knowing I took the risk, and my business is now successful and growing. Often when I am at events, it feels surreal that I am living out my dreams. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days I questions my sanity and my mind is full of doubt and fear. However, it was all worth it!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have worked in the hospitality industry since I was 14 years old. At a very young age I discovered my love for hospitality and that I was naturally good at it! My senior year of High School I was offered my first part-time management position at a restaurant. My Junior year of high school is when my love for coffee and the hospitality industry started to combined. Along with that, I had a heart for ministry and wanted to incorporate that into what ever I ended up pursuing.

I ended up attending Oklahoma State University and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Hotel & Restaurant Administration and a minor in Entrepreneurship. During my time at Oklahoma State I was a part of a variety of leadership opportunities that jump started my management experience and helped me further develop skills necessary to succeed in the industry. I completed a 6 month internship in Nanjing, China that taught me resilience, grit, and how to advocate for yourself in the work place. My time in China also allowed space to explore my love for coffee, experiment with different espresso machines, and grow in my coffee knowledge as a whole.

After college I had the opportunity of managing a variety of restaurants. These rolls taught me how to manage people, helped me further develop my customer service skills, and be comfortable operating in a variety of settings.

In regards to Fika Coffee KC, it is a mobile coffee cart that serves the greater Kansas City area. Some of our most popular events are corporate events or business parties. We also enjoy participating in local farmers markets that allow us to connect with the community and highlight local vendors product. We also cater bottle lattes which have become a huge hit for bachelorette parties, baby showers, and bridal parties! I hand craft all my classic syrups and create a specialty drink for every private event booked. I use a local roaster called Notion Coffee located in Grandview, MO and source my milk from Hildebrand Farm Dairy located in Junction City, KS. My collapsable cart was designed by 86 Street Wood Design and has been key in my ability to pop up in so many different spaces.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have the honor of being a vendor for the Overland Park farmers market this season. Going into the season I knew we would be busy but I had no idea what that tangibly would look like. The first weekend at the market blew me away! I hired two additional employees to help with the market that day. however, I soon realized that I needed more help. I hired an additional employee and since then have added bottled lattes, cold brew, and drip coffee as quick service options. My machine can also get overworked on Saturday mornings due extreme high volume compared to my large private events I do throughout the week. We are experimenting with new menus/operating times to help resolve this problem.

I view each week and event as a case study with customer service and operational excellence as top priority. This allows me to be flexible, constantly pivot, and be creative when finding solutions.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I received a micro loan from Create KC that covered 90% of my start up costs. Create KC is a missional initiative of Engage South KC. Their mission is to engage, empower, and disciple CREATORS by helping them CREATE. At the end of the year I hope to start some sort of campaign that will help raise funds for a brick-and-mortar.     

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fikacoffeekc.com
• Instagram: @fikacoffee_kc
• Facebook: Fikacoffeekc

Image Credits
Juliana Noelle Jumper (bride and groom photo) Alana Belove Photography (main photo and photo of half up hair and pouring a drink)