Part 2 of our conversation with Héctor Carvajal dives into the realities of running Don Carvajal Café and building a team that shares your vision. Héctor opens up about the challenges of finding people willing to help you achieve your dreams, especially as a young business owner managing employees older than himself.

In this episode, Héctor discusses his unique leadership philosophy—inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk's idea that your dreams should be big enough for other people's dreams to fit inside them. He shares insights on marrying street smarts (learned from selling candy on NYC trains) with book smarts (business plans and proper margins) to create sustainable success.

Héctor's current focus on "maintaining" rather than aggressive growth offers valuable lessons for any coffee entrepreneur feeling the pressure to constantly expand. His approach to customer experience—removing barriers between barista and customer while taking coffee seriously but not too seriously—shows how authenticity and accessibility can coexist in specialty coffee.

Topics covered:

• Building a team when you're younger than most of your employees
• The Gary Vaynerchuk philosophy: making your dreams big enough for others to fit inside
• Combining street hustle with business fundamentals for sustainable growth
• Why "maintaining" can be more valuable than aggressive expansion
• Creating open, barrier-free customer experiences in coffee shops
• Taking coffee seriously while keeping it accessible to everyone

Chapters:00:33 - Building a Team That Believes in Your Vision04:49 - Leadership Style: The Balance Between Freedom and Structure05:52 - Street Smarts vs. Book Smarts in Coffee Business10:17 - The Next Phase: Maintaining Growth While Building Sustainability13:43 - Creating Authentic Customer Experiences at Don Carvajal Café18:21 - Supporting Local Coffee and Feeling Supported as an Owner

This concludes our two-part series with Héctor Carvajal. Subscribe to Inside the Grind for more insights from coffee entrepreneurs building authentic brands.