Meet Joanna Heart

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joanna Heart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joanna, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
At the time I was working in fashion Recruitment. I was kind of losing my lack of luster for recruiting is a lot of things in my life for changing and evolving. Over New Year’s Eve one of my best friends had mentioned we should open a coffee shop together over champagne and sounded like a good idea. When you add up my skill sets, Recruitment, a background in design, and an Expensive obsession with specialty coffee, everything seem to make sense to me all of a sudden. My husband pushed me towards the idea and I realized it was something I really enjoy doing! Prior to the coffee shop I had a kids clothing line, and a vintage online store but I’ve never ventured into a brick and mortar. I have been hiring people for brick and mortar stores for some time and I thought why not put on my skills together and have a good time with it plus be caffeinated! Lol

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business is not coffee my business is people and community. The coffee is just a great bonus! It has come along way from the humble beginning of 250 square feet to now 700! There’s been a ton of challenges along the way and my strategy is always to just keep it up and figure it out. Also I don’t let myself get stuck with a solution I am willing to listen to others I think that’s super important. I couldn’t do all this without my amazing staff they keep the place fun and pumped with good vibes! Covert has definitely caused some challenges for us we’ve had to adapt 3 to 5 times into different business is almost we have been in a grocery store, a place to grab PPE supplies, And so much more! We’re currently serving takeout at the door so things have definitely evolved from the way they used to be but we are adapting as is the world! One of the main lessons I learned is even when you think you have control over something you don’t. You will never have full control over your business and being adaptable is Your biggest strength. I find it listening to my customers and my employees teach me so much About my business because, I am open to receiving it What I want the world to know about my brand story is that I started with nothing just like any dreamer out there, no one tossing me the keys to a coffee shop I built it from the ground up and I started it very small and simple and grew it over the past three years. There were 1 million hurdles and every single day is a new one but I just keep moving through it staying positive and evolving into what’s next! Every day is an adventure! If you’re thinking of starting a dream just make it happen don’t let the doors close before your idea get a chance.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have so many favorite spots in LA that I like to hit up! If my best friend was visiting from out of town I would definitely be on a food coma journey. That journey would probably start at my favorite breakfast spot the Village bakery in Atwater Village, From there heading to Venice to grab some Matcha on Abbet Kinney, maybe a little afternoon salt and straw, and then I will definitely hit up black liquor market in studio city on the way home! Oh did you mean places I can only think about food! Lol I would definitely take a cruise through the canyon down the PCH, towards Zuma. The drive with the windows down is stunning and with some good tunes it clears the head!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wanna dedicate my shout out to my neighborhood! This community has been so amazing and supportive and we have rally for each other in so many ways! But without having those types of people Being an entrepreneur can feel really lonely! So I make sure I partner up and connect with some awesome locals like @inblumela (who supplies all the plants for my shop) Best friend central for fun vintage finds and a great conversation! I find that we all really love and support each other and have the same kind of vision so we stick together & try to help each other!

Website: Www.thepalmcoffeebar.com
Instagram: @thepalmcoffeebar
Linkedin: Www.LinkedIn.com/joannatheresaheart
Twitter: Www.Twitter.com/thepalmcoffee
Facebook: Www.Facebook.com/thepalmcoffeebar
Yelp: Yelp.com/biz/the-Palm-coffee-bar-burbank

Image Credits
https://instagram.com/zinadichoso.photos?igshid=13hhfwlg9bmp2