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

Zoraida, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I’ll start off by saying that I’m an ex-educator. Business was not ever something I pictured myself doing, so when my husband and I started our two side-by-side businesses (his and hers), it was a major change for me. In teaching you make an impact every day and I was unsure of the impact I would make through a business. Would I feel fulfilled?  I slowly started to realize that by the products and services we provided we were actually making people very happy! We were making a difference in our community and building fantastic relationships. In the beginning I questioned whether I’d be happier as a business owner (since I literally dropped my career and insurance benefits for the unknown). Now when someone asks me if I prefer what I’m doing now I answer with confidence; ABSOLUTELY! I LOVE what we are doing. I love it because I create and change what I want, when I want. I am 100 percent happier as a business owner, because through our business, we are still able to serve people. If I didn’t get to continue serving, I would not be happy. Now I get both. I get to serve and be my own boss! The beginning was tough and sometimes I regretted leaving teaching but I’m so grateful I stuck with it and got past the difficulties of creating a new business. I am where I need to be.

Zoraida, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am an ex-educator who now runs a coffee shop. My husband Nick and I opened two businesses side by side. He runs the gaming center and I run the coffee shop. I knew nothing about coffee before doing this and pretty much went in not knowing enough.  I pride myself in making homemade syrups such as lavender, rose, pistachio, banana and pumpkin pie. And we also write quotes on every single plastic cup. We don’t even use our logo because people expect a quote or drawing on the cup. They look forward to it! Who knows how many cups in total I’ve written on in the last 6.5 years! 

My husband Nick is an amazing IT technician that has been running a business for quite some time now. He however, wanted to add a gaming center to his business. He holds birthday parties, events and more! In addition, he creates incredible custom-made PC’s. If you want a PC themed around a famous video game, no problem! You want a PC themed around Taylor Swift? No problem! He builds them exactly how you want them. So now we work side by side, each of us perfecting our businesses and building them to what we want them to be; together.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Basically, I recalled all my previous “bosses” and supervisors, made a list of the worst ones and used that as a guideline to intentionally do the absolute opposite of the things they did. It really is that simple. I think to myself, “How did they make me feel when I addressed an issue? Were they only welcoming when I had good feedback to give, or did they also welcome constructive criticism? Did I feel cared for? Listened to? Were they empathetic? A non-negotiable for me is running my business with empathy. I have heard comments about how it is not possible to do this because employees would take advantage, but I think they are wrong. you can lead with empathy and boundaries. This has led to deeper connections with my employees. Every now and then we get the “bad” employee. But overall most of our employees have stayed with us for at least three years. I have a couple that have been with us going on 4 years already. (We have been open for 6.5 years) They like to stick around. I suffer from anxiety so I like to create an environment where others (with anxiety) can work and feel safe. (i think i have a knack for hiring people with anxiety) lol
I wonder why?? I welcome it because we all have the right to work in a good space (no matter our weaknesses)

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ll start with this: I’ve always had a strong work ethic. So for me, my challenge wasn’t necessarily the amount of hours I had to work (working every day from 6:00am to about 9:00 pm every day at the time). What literally almost broke me was the fact that I would not be around my two girls who at the time were 7 and 13. I had no time to take them to school, no time to pick them up, no time to make them dinner, and I’d get home when they were already in bed. I left before they even woke up most of the time. (My mom and in-laws would help watch them) I am a very family-oriented individual. This to me was devastating. I thought to myself “Why would I leave teaching when I had summers off and every vacation off together? Why would I do this to them??
I remember specifically crying in our business restroom many times feeling overwhelmed and questioning my decision. I’d cry, let it out then walk out like nothing. As if I didn’t just break down in there lol.
This is more of an issue with women in business I believe. The balance between family and career. Do I regret it? NO! But was it to the point where I almost gave up?
What helped me was having the ONE DAY AT A TIME mentality. I’d want to quit one day, but would wake up the next day saying, “I’m no quitter.” I’d basically repeat that daily.
Being so new to the coffee business and not knowing much about it, I felt like an imposter. Like “who am I to be opening a coffee shop?” I remember telling myself “You’re no coffee expert!” I was my own bully. 

Now I live by the following quote: “Fake it, till you become it.” This quote saved me :)

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehivejavallunge.com AND www.glitchgamingcenter.com
• Instagram: @thehivejavalounge AND @glitchgamingcenter
• Other: TIK TOK; @thehivejavalounge