- My goals with the company
are to have a brick and mortar in West Hollywood.
- [Announcer] Welcome to "Hobby Meets Hustle,"
the show that pairs young professionals with experts
to help them turn their passion into profit.
- Yes! - Meet Suni Reid,
a-27-year old entertainer turned coffee connoisseur.
Suni will hear advice from our panel of experts,
Niki, TurboTax expert, Brittney, financial expert,
and Ashley, side-hustle consultant.
- Just the machinery alone is really, really expensive.
If the space presented itself tomorrow,
do you think you're ready for that?
- I have the equipment- - You do?
- I have the recipes and the menu.
I would like to have a team.
I couldn't run a coffee shop by myself.
- [Announcer] They'll then select one expert
to be their mentor.
Who will Suni pick?
- Can I... Wait.
(suspenseful music) (heartbeat thumping)
- [Announcer] Find out now on "Hobby Meets Hustle."
(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Suni Jade Reed, my pronouns are they/she,
and I'm the founder of Auntie's Coffee,
a coffee and lifestyle brand
based in West Hollywood, California.
I started the company in 2020
as a way to cultivate community
and to nurture the culture of Black Americans
that was suffering.
I'm someone that exists at the intersection
of a bunch of different marginalizations.
I wanted to create space for our queer people to gather.
- Amazing. - I'm someone that grew up
going to my auntie's house and feeling warmth
and welcomed and comfortable.
So I wanted to just hone in that energy
and amplify that energy.
So for the past, I would say year and a half or so,
we've been doing popups,
trying to just get involved in the community
and just getting people to taste the coffee.
- That's a beautiful story.
- I have some coffee brewed up for you.
- We all love coffee.
- Yes. - Yay!
- It's perfect!
- So what you'll be drinking today
is our signature Ethiopian bean.
It is a medium-light roast.
You'll taste flavor notes of blueberry,
caramel and milk chocolate. - Smells good.
- It's delicious. - Nice.
- Yay. Thank you. - Like, more please.
- You're brand branding looks amazing as well.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- So what are the most pressing challenges you face
and what advice are you looking for?
- My goals with the company are to have a brick and mortar
in West Hollywood.
The most pressing challenge I face is burnouts.
Being a single founder, I find myself having
to just put on a bunch of different hats.
I just need some support.
- You know, if the space presented itself tomorrow,
do you think you're ready for that?
- Um... (suspenseful music)
So I have the LLC, I mean, I have the recipes and the menu.
- Just the machinery alone is really, really expensive.
Do you have a lot of inventory as far as like coffee goes?
- We do keep inventory, but when we have big events,
maintaining levels of inventory to meet that demand
has been really challenging. - Okay.
- You mentioned that you've set your business up as an LLC
and I wanna commend you on taking that step
to protect your personal self from liability.
As you're registered as an LLC in California,
you do have an annual filing requirement
whether or not your business has income in the year.
- So now the question is, who do you choose as your mentor?
- If you choose me as your mentor,
I would be able to guide you through the tax process,
your write-offs and deductions,
and helping you keep in compliance with your filing.
- And if you choose me as your mentor,
I would just help you with all the financial logistics.
- If you choose me as your mentor,
I will help you scale this to a million-dollar business.
I think you have a lot of potential here
and I look forward to helping you get to that next level.
- And now the question is,
who will you choose as your mentor?
- Um, can I... Wait.
(suspenseful music) (heartbeat thumping)
I'm gonna choose Ashley.
- Hey. - Oh!
- A million dollars sounds really nice.
- Yeah! (all laughing)
Let's get into it.
(gentle music)
Tell me about the top three money makers for your business.
- Cold brew as number one. - Okay.
- Number two. - Merch.
- Merch, amazing. Okay. - So the merch
actually does better than the coffee beans online actually.
- Okay. What about in person?
Are you selling beans in person?
- Mmm-hm. - Okay.
- Yeah, that would be our third.
- Okay, this is where the money's at.
And this is great because you really don't need
too much machinery, right? - Mmm-mmm.
- So what if you only offered this when you did the popups?
- Absolutely.
- I know that it's in your heart to have a brick and mortar.
My concern is just the cost of that is so expensive, right?
You're in a really nice space
where you don't have to pay rent.
So I encourage you to kind of stick to the pop-up format.
Another strategy that I'm thinking
might be really great for you
is you think there's so many other coffee shops out there
that would love to support your story, your brand,
and they should be serving your coffee.
So other coffee shops in West Hollywood,
they should be roasting your beans.
I think your first hire could potentially be someone
that helps you with like sales of these coffee beans.
Maybe they get paid on commission?
- You think that a salesperson would be a better choice
over like someone to help with marketing
or with like expanding the branding or anything like that?
- I think your branding is solid.
I think we need to generate some money.
- Cool. Thank you.
- And then another thing I wanna say is this.
That consistency times effort
equals success.
So just keep doing it every single day.
You know, be smart about it, watch your margins.
And I think you're on your way to the top here.
There's a lot of money to be made in coffee
so I'm excited about that and just keep going.
- Thank you. - Yeah.
- Thank you. That's so exciting.
- So good news.
To help you reach your business goals,
Intuit is excited to give you access
to three years of TurboTax Live.
That way you can hand off off your taxes
to somebody who's experienced and professional
and you really don't have to worry about that.
They're also giving you a year of QuickBooks Online
and MailChimp, which is super helpful
to help you scale your business to that next level.
- Thank you. That's amazing.
- To help you continue your coffee education,
Intuit is gonna give you a small scholarship
to help you get additional training
to be one of the best baristas in LA.
- Yes. Thank you. - Yay.
- Thank you. Thank you.
This is a meaningful experience
because I got to get hands-on feedback.
I'm excited to use it to help me grow.
I would totally encourage other people
to start a business of their own.
It's a hard journey, but I've been very fortunate.
I'm just excited to keep going.
(upbeat music)