Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Leyva.
Hi Stephanie , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We started out selling flavored whipped honeys in early 2024 as well as home roasted coffee. During the summer loading and unloading supplies during the heat we began saying to each other that we should just start a mobile coffee trailer. We debated starting one and came to an agreement that if we did not succeed we would sell the trailer. We wanted something different than a traditional walk up window and found a coffee trailer design we loved owned by a couple in Florida. We reached out to them and are now friends! We bought an empty trailer shell in June 2024. We paired up with friends of local small businesses for cabinetry, plumbing, and electrical. We passed our mobile food permit inspection in August 2024 and debuted that weekend at the first ever Montgomery County Market Days market in New Caney.
Our name has a deep meaning for us and encompasses who we are. We have five beautiful children which is where the “Cinco Vidas” meaning comes from as it means “Five Lives”. Brandon is Mexican which is where the Spanish comes in and Stephanie is Native American and a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation which is the meaning behind the dreamcatcher in our logo.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Fortunately, it has been a smooth road. We really do make a great team. We balance and compliment each other’s personality quite well. Not that we don’t each have our moments sometimes! We consider it the greatest compliment and it warms our hearts when people say they can tell we truly love each other.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are the only walk in mobile coffee trailer in Montgomery County and maybe even in Houston. For our area, we are one of the very few mobile coffee trucks. We specialize in lattes with coffee beans from a local roaster that are freshly roasted and delivered weekly. We are most proud of the community we are apart of! We have made so many friends and become so engaged within the community in the last year of this journey and have enjoyed every minute of it.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
What worked for us in the beginning was we scheduled any and all events we could to get our name out there. Even if it meant working 13 hour days, we did it. There were successful events and some slow events but every single event had something positive come from it. Whether it was having a returning customer come search us out, someone getting our card for a school to reach out, seeing a previous vendor and becoming closer friends, another market inviting us to come out to their event, or just getting to support other vendors small businesses!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.cincovidascoffeeco.com
- Instagram: @cincovidascoffeeco
- Facebook: Cinco Vidas Coffee Company
