We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiara Castillo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiara below.
Hi Tiara, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy to others through my art, photography, and businesses. I truly believe that everyone has a unique talent to share and I’m passionate about helping people discover and enjoy it.
Through my personal art brand, Eastern Trend Collective, I specialize in creating digital illustrations and funny cards that bring a smile to people’s faces. I also run Foraged Photo, a fine art photography company that focuses on storytelling and preserving life’s precious moments. One of my biggest passions is creating delicious foods and drinks to share with others, which is why I’m also a co-founder of Trifecto Bar. Our restaurant is community-focused and we use quality ingredients while creating a welcoming environment. Overall, I’m dedicated to making a positive impact on the world by sharing my love for creativity, art, and community through my businesses. I hope to inspire and encourage others to express themselves creatively and find joy in the simplest things in life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
For the sake of this interview, I will focus primarily on Trifecto Bar, as it has taught me the most lessons about being an entrepreneur while working full-time in education.
I dropped into this business by accident. After I matched with my then-boyfriend on a dating app, he and his best friend dreamed of starting a juice business. But I am also business-minded, enjoy baking and eating delicious foods, and love helping, so I jumped right in, even though the warning said not to mix relationships and business. We all embarked on District Juicery in 2014, almost ten years ago in June, after my now husband, Elias, and his friend, Leigha, graduated from business school. I had just started grad school to pursue art education while also being a nanny during the morning and afternoons. We started production in a food incubator, which is a fancy word for a shared kitchen small businesses can operate out of legally to produce food and beverages. I was broke as a joke then, so I contributed the next best thing to the project: my time. We juiced every week after classes or our jobs one or days a week. None of us lived in DC, but we mustered up that early/mid-20s energy to pursue this dream, working late nights and every Saturday for farmer markets or juice delivery to local businesses in DC and Maryland. We brought granola into our rotation as we needed a shelf-stable complement to juice that could sustain us during winter. Rent is still due at food incubators whether business is slow or not, and realistically, in 2015, our customers drank less juice in the fall and winter. I had an original granola recipe that I re-crafted to be vegan to better align with our brand, and the rest is history. We opened our stand-alone store in a food hall in 2018 and have been hustling ever since. We have made it through the pandemic, almost shut down multiple times, and had many successes and even more failures. Still, the three of us keep it going no matter how hard it has gotten, and that is something I’ll always be grateful for and proud of. We wanted to create a coffee and cocktail bar with quality coffee, good food, and a space where everyone was welcome and valued. Think of your dream space to hang out; we wanted to create that ourselves.
This food and beverage industry is not for the weak; it is constantly changing and shifting. We are a racially and culturally diverse crew that has collectively brought our culture and experiences to our craft. It is a narrow line to create products you enjoy that your community will support. We have realized that including employees in menu item recipes, social media content, and events has made a great environment because this wouldn’t have been possible without them. We have met incredible business owners, customers, and community members.
We have grown as better business partners, friends, and business owners these past ten years. Like any small business, we have experienced multiple setbacks and losses before our first wins, but when you put your passion behind your dreams, so much is possible. I entirely credit our success to being a team that has worked through hard times, tough decisions, and risky choices. Our friends, family, and fellow business owner friends have been supportive since day one, and it is important to me to help others who wish to go after their dreams. We are a minority and women-owned company that gives back and collaborates with local charities when we can, and that is just as rewarding as reaching high-profit goals.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My background is in studio art and visual art so aesthetically pleasing menu design and a social media presence is something I truly value. When we started out as District Juicery, we hired a friend and local graphic designer to make our logo, and I created our original and updated logo moving forward. It is essential for a brand to have consistency and flows that go together. Trifecto’s vibe is friendly, informative, and approachable, making our products look our most significant. Until recently, I ran our social media account and took all of our photos for promotions, menus, and training manuals. It was hard for me to share this responsibility with other team members, but I knew it was time, based on my current abilities as a full-time teacher and mom to two under two. Social media has changed so much in the past ten years, but I’ve learned that making connections, always responding to comments and messages, and staying up to date with what is happening in the local food scene is essential for success. Customers have found us from our posts, and we have connected with other businesses and influencers through our content, which is excellent! Be authentic, be you, and don’t try to copy another account or vibe. Truly get to know what story you want to share online about your business, which will carry you farther than you realize. Be inspired by others, but stay true to yourself and your brand identity.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
Aside from Trifecto the Bar, we also supply another local coffee shop with our housemade granola bi-weekly to their two locations. Our granola is made in bulk and used in various products at our wholesale shop. We previously sold our packaged granola all over the DMV but reduced this significantly due to the pandemic and the rising labor and food costs. There comes a time when you run the numbers and realize what needs to shift in your priorities as a business. I’m thankful we still collaborate with our wholesale suppliers and can provide fresh, high-quality products across Maryland.
I also sell my punny cards on a shelf at Trifecto, and they do pretty well! I switch them out by season and incorporate new designs to keep my fans returning. As an artist and art teacher, it’s essential to continue creating and making art that brings you joy. I do sell them online, but they do best at Trifecto.
Elias, Leigha, and I recently also sold live plants at the shop and utilized the greenhouse directly above the bar to start them until they were up to size. Elias is a low-key garden YouTuber with a lot of gardening knowledge and selecting rare house plants, so we are diversifying our side hustles even further.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trifectobar.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/trifectobar
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/trifectobar
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tiara-castillo-a38b8859
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/trifecto-bar-clarksville-2
- Other: www.foragedphoto.com www.easterntrend.etsy.com