We recently connected with Reynaldo Moorer and have shared our conversation below.

Reynaldo , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I named my company after my niece, Siénna. Around 2015, the same time that she was born in Gulfport, MS, I also birthed a vision of building generational wealth by getting into the coffee industry. Later, I had a vivid dream that confirmed the name of our company would be called Siénna™️. A few years later, while sitting on the porch with my Father in law in St. Francisville, LA, I told him that I was planning a trip to Colombia. He was like, South Carolina? I was like naw Pop, South America, the Andes, the jungle. Seriously, I knew that once I made it to Colombia, I would somehow make it to the coffee, but I didn’t know that it would be the highest quality specialty coffee in the world. That was just a blessing from God, and the Cafeteros that allowed me into their world. Hence, TheBestCoffeeYouCanBuy™️ was also born at that moment in 2018.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m from Pensacola, FL, but I was born in El Cajon, CA, which is where I first learned to speak Spanish. After graduating high school in 1999, I went to the University of Florida where I studied Sports Management, with a concentration in golf. However, I always had a passion for music. While at UF, I got involved with promoting parties and concert events with my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, and it taught me a lot about the music/entertainment business. I also developed a strong desire to become a recording artist, and started developing my musical talents while working with a local producer in Gainesville, Jonathan Banks. Unfortunately, after a series of arrests and troubles with local law enforcement, I decided to leave college and pursue music full-time. I moved to Orlando (2003), where I slept on the floor of a recording studio among hustlers, killers, dope fiends and dealers. I was anxious and driven to make it into the biz. However, I always knew my value, and that I didn’t want to be the “starving artist.” After a few years of hustling, struggling, trying to get a break, I had an epiphany and realized that college just might just be my ticket into the music industry. Around that time, I moved back to Pensacola and was working at Marcus Pointe Golf Club, making only $7 an hour on a 11/2 schedule. Eventually, I learned about oil industry careers in the Gulf of Mexico on a 14/14 schedule that paid almost six figure salaries, while only working six months a year. After further research, I found college degree programs in Petroleum Technology. I knew that with my previous college experience and credit, if I could get into such a program, I could solidify a career in the oil industry which would give me the time and resources to pursue music as an independent artist. In 2005 I moved to Baton Rouge, LA with only one suitcase, no car, no money, and enrolled in BRCC’s P-Tech program. See, it was my love and ambition for music that motivated me to go back to school. Consequently, in 2007 I graduated on the Deans List with a degree in Petroleum Technology, and landed my first job in the Gulf of Mexico with Shell Oil Company. By 2009, I had launched my first company, Colacoast Entertainment LLC, and made my debut as Peppa Trill McCoy, artist, producer, CEO. While balancing careers both in the oil industry and music industry, I saw immediate success and rapid progression as an independent artist, touring and performing all over the United States and in Canada. When I wasn’t at sea, I was on the road or in a plane, and after 14 days of grinding, I would return back to the Gulf of Mexico in Clark Kent fashion, hopping out of helicopters and swinging from boats onto oil platforms where we lived, producing thousands of barrels of crude oil every day.

Suddenly, in 2010 at the peak of my music career, my Mother, Julia Moorer passed away. This was a devastating blow, as she was my biggest supporter and cheerleader. Although it was a tragic event, it thrusted me further into my purpose. I decided to quit my job at Shell (a Fortune 500) and pursue music full time.

In 2013, I acquired a large internet radio station out of Cleveland, OH. Our radio network featured music from all over the world, including Colombia. I met recording artist, Paulo Caesar Carvajal, aka Paulcy, who was Billboards most requested underground artist in Colombia. We created several music projects together over the years, which led to many of our projects being featured in Colombia’s National news and television outlets; Syndicated El Diario Del Otún and La Parranda TV. As Colacoast was getting a lot of media attention in Colombia, I knew that I would eventually manifest an opportunity to go. At the time I was doing a lot of traveling in Caribbean and South American countries; Brasil, Cuba, and Jamaica. I noticed that coffee was the common thread of life, not only in the “coffee belt,” but all over the world.

Having a background in crude oil, I knew the value of the commodity. Around 2015/16, I made a conscious effort to study the coffee industry, the agriculture, the process, and Colombia’s “coffee axis.”

Again, my passion for music would motivate and create the opportunity for me to get into the coffee industry. I really started to manifest the vision I had.

In 2018, I traveled through Colombia’s Andes Rainforest on a mission to create generational wealth. I founded Siénna™ Café Enterprise, closed an international business deal, and acquired exclusive rights to export an unlimited supply of the highest quality specialty coffee in the world directly from the source. Our relationship in Colombia puts us in a special 1% class as Producer/Supplier and owner of TheBestCoffeeYouCanBuy™. Our product is a 100% pure, premium, indigenous, all-natural Arabica coffee, without any additives, preservatives, filler, or chemicals, providing a health benefit. Every bean is selected by hand, cultivated at over 1,700 meters above sea level, with special God-given environmental characteristics. The climate, elevation, soil, moisture, and special geographical points combined with our all-manual wet process creates a product with a purity yielding more cups per pound than competitors.

After crude oil, coffee is the second highest demanded commodity in the world ($100 billion annually, $20 billion in exports alone). It is one of the most stable economic resources known to man, proven resistant to both global pandemic and recession. Siénna™ Café, LLC is a 100% Black owned International Specialty Coffee Exportation Company, launching our flagship coffee shop in Birmingham, AL. Although we are a small-business, we’re building a global Federation of Franchisees including an HR Department and International Training Group. In an effort to create new business owners, build economic infrastructure, and provide workforce development initiatives, we will use TheBestCoffeeYouCanBuy™ to build new commercial economic hubs in Birmingham, across the nation, and abroad.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

(I think my previous response answers many of the questions featured in this section).

Life is not easy. We will all experience many obstacles, challenges, and resistance throughout our growth and development. You must get comfortable being alone, because it’s your dream and nobody else’s. On the road to success, it is imperative that our purpose is rooted in faith, rather than fear. We will fail many times, and take many losses. However, it’s not about the small losses, but the big wins. You must be relentless, self motivated, and consistent in your efforts. Remember, I didn’t come from a silver spoon. I was locked in jail on four occasions before I got a college degree. I’m a dean’s list graduate. Find purpose. Conceive it, believe it, and you will achieve it. Never give up! God is awesome!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Building capital for Siénna™️ or any business is a continuous process. There is no blueprint, especially for a feat that’s never been done before. It can be very difficult to secure capital when you don’t come from wealth. Many people won’t ever pursue their goals, because they are rooted in fear, of what they don’t have. As long as you believe and have faith, you can achieve. The by product of our aspirations will attract the capital. Capital comes in many forms; time, currency, social capital, social equity. I had to tap into all forms of capital to make it happen. Get a job, use your job to invest in your dreams. I educated myself, becoming more financially literate. I have mentors, who taught me about credit, leveraging insurance policies. I put everything I have into my company. It takes huge sacrifice. Other people will see your effort and likely invest, but you have to invest in yourself first. In order to gain anything, you have to be willing to loose it all. Change your mindset, you can’t be a consumer if you want to be an owner. Get out of the matrix!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.TheBestCoffeeYouCanBuy.com
• Instagram: @thebestcoffeeyoucanbuy @siennapurocigars @peppatrillmccoy
• Twitter: @peppatrillmccoy
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/BoPTOzqwfMc
• Other: https://youtu.be/tnWgzut0Pq8

Image Credits
@caliyorkphotography