I turned 26 years old on May 8th. My birthday fell on a Friday for the first time in 6 years, and the “birthday-weekend” energy called and I answered.

I love my day of birth. I have a great relationship with it. Particularly, these past couple of years, I have loved my birthday celebrations, as I have been able to fully make my birthdays everything I want them to be. Usually, it’s been getting all the people I love in one room, having Dominican cake, and the party snacks we used to have as kids at birthday parties in the Dominican Republic. Empanadas, quipes, croquetas — this is called “picadera” and it is absolutely essential to a birthday party.

As I saw other Taureans sharing their birthdays online, my takeaway is that we are interested in framing our birthdays as an “event”, whether it is conscious or unconscious, that is how a lot my Taurus peers’ birthdays read, and I definitely did not differ.

I’m not a morning person, but on this particular day my body naturally woke me up at 6am — if it was any other day I would have rolled over and gladly went back to sleep, but I thought “I only get one of these a year, I want every second of it.”

A sweet church moment with my mom officially began the day for me. I got a special blessing at the mass, and hugged by every single church lady there. While I begrudgingly said yes to going at first — how can I say no to the woman who gave birth to me, I am happy we got this beautiful moment together. The church ladies loved me, and I felt famous.

In Taurean nature, what followed was a dip into my favorite things, but only some of the best versions NYC has to offer. A fancy lox bagel from Sadelle’s, it was my first time here and certainly not my last — and a cup of coffee from Arcane Estate Coffee, number 12 on the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list. Both were perfection.

After a birthday stroll around New York, it was time to pick up the cake! Very important! In fact, maybe the most important part of a birthday in my eyes is, what kind of cake are we having? What will it look like?

For the first time, maybe in all my life, I decided to not go with a Dominican cake. It was hard for me to stray away from this, very hard — I felt like I was betraying tradition, but I wanted to lean into the NYC-girl thing of it all. And, something about 26 called for a DECADENT, over indulgent, chocolate cake. Little Cupcake Bakeshop’s “Brooklyn Blackout” was just the cake for the job. Even people who don’t like chocolate (bad take) told me they thought it was delicious.

PARTY TIME!

Okay, this part of my birthday exceeded my expectations. I usually like to host my friends at home, and party in my small, minimally furnished apartment, but this year I thought we needed to leave my living room, and I’m so glad we did!

I made a reservation at The Folly, a small-ish bar that feels like a cozy ship. ( I was going for a nautical thing this year) They have a semi-private upstairs section, which you usually have to have a bar minimum to reserve. But, being that no one reserved it the night we were there, they allowed our group to cozy up there and have the best time mingling, taking pictures, dancing, and vibing, in a space all to ourselves! It was actually better than I imagined it.

My outfit was a sparkly set from Guizio, and feather-lined black kitten heels from Vince Camuto. The Guizio set screams “I’m 20 and in New York” to me, so I had to go for it, even if the sparkly mini has been done into oblivion.

PARTY FAVORS

I made these custom matches by hand! for my guests by buying plain matches, creating the design to the correct measurements, and getting the design printed at Staples. They a were hit, and absolutely so me! I am a crafty girl after all.

The Sail Boat

We partied till late… 3am… something like that… but woke up early, running only on adrenaline because we chartered a sail boat. AH!!! For whatever reason three months ago when I began to think about turning 26, I got this wave of desire to be on a sail boat with people I love, soundtracked by Lana Del Rey’s NFR.

This was originally the only thing I was going to do to celebrate turning 26, but I told you, birthday-weekend energy called, and I answered.

I thought the desire was a little crazy and random as I have only been on one other sail boat before, but, then I talked myself out of that real quick.

“Why not? Why not?” Is what I kept asking myself, and so we sailed on the Hudson on this beautiful sail boat named the Genesis, with Narwhal Yacht Charters. Our captain, Eric, was wonderful, and although it was rainy, and I was regrettably hungover, we rolled with the waves and I got to sail into 26. CORE MEMORY for sure.

My outfit was BEYOND cute. I had been eyeing this rollneck sweater from the Tanner Fletcher x J.Crew collaboration, and had a hard time justifying the purchase, until the opportunity to wear it while sailing presented itself. It could not have been more perfect than that.

In all, turning 26 was beautiful. It reminded me of how much I am loved. It is not lost on me, but how cool it is to have the opportunity to feel all that love, all at once. It was like an attack of love, it was incredible.

Although birthdays can feel overly indulgent to some, I think that allowing people the opportunity to show up for you is important. And that is something that I need to remember to do more of. Seeing all of the different circles in my life, in one room, connecting, was so, so beautiful, and definitely my favorite part of it all.

However, 26 feels a little unclear to me still. I can’t say that I have a clear idea as to what this year of my life will be, at the moment, but I am up for the challenge of discovery, and at least I can say I had a grand time ringing 26 in!

Always in a positive light, his name would come up in conversations about the Latin art scene in New York City, and in the past few years, I have found myself in the same rooms as Anthony, kind of making him an enigma in my brain. I would say to myself, “oh, hey, there’s that guy!”, followed by “mhm, I think I need to talk to him.”

This is our first conversation. I wanted to learn more about the film he is currently working on, Sweet Plantains, gather a little insight into his creative process, and overall get a better idea of the artist behind the art.

I enjoyed the pure honesty he brought, and his extreme and hilarious acceptance of his star sign being Cancer. I couldn’t help but notice that there’s a little bit of a “chosen one” air to him, the kind that makes you feel like you need to be on the lookout for what he’s up to next.

However, my favorite part may be that we have the same coffee order (he prefers oat milk, I prefer whole), so in my book, that’s already star points worthy.

2pm, Dutch Baby - Washington Heights, NY | April 12th, 2026

MVP: So, you’re in the neighborhood?

Anthony Rojas: Yeah, born and raised. We’ve been in that apartment since the ‘70s. A very long time. There’s a lot of history there.

I’m sure you’ve seen the change, too. Since you’ve been here most of your life.

Yeah.

Because you went away right? For college?

I dormed away. But Purchase College is in White Plains so every other weekend I was back down. I was homesick. I’m the youngest and only boy in my family, so, I’m sure you’re aware, as a Dominican…

You just told me everything.

Yeah. Yeah. That’s it, that’s the interview right there.

Let’s roll it back because every time I start an interview, I always like to ask, how do you like your coffee?

I like cortados with oat milk and one Splenda.

How many times a day do you drink coffee?

Probably just once a day, in the morning. I usually get a cortado at the top of my day, and that kind of holds me down.

Where did you go to school?

I went to elementary school at Juan Pablo Duarte, PS 132. It’s right on 182nd and Wadsworth. Both of my parents actually worked there. Then, middle school, I went to Columbia Secondary School, which is in Harlem. It was a newer school at the time. It was really focused on math, science, and engineering.

Were you always focused on the arts, or did you have, like, a science, math thing?

No, actually, I really wish my parents knew about all the, like, artsy schools because I would have loved to go to fucking LaGuardia. Even though people say they hate it, I would have loved that. But I kind of just ended up there. I was always the artsy kid. I’ve always done this, like, when I was 11, I used to make YouTube videos on my iMac. Just myself, just talking, doing little skits.

Who were your favorite YouTubers at that time?

There’s this duo called Rhett and Link, which I still watch every day, actually.

Can you pinpoint where your interest in filmmaking began?

I’ve always loved movies. There was a movie theater on the corner of 181st and Broadway called the Coliseum Theater, that’s where I watched all the movies that made me who I am. The tickets were, like, seven bucks. Did you ever go there?

I did.

I would go there like, every week to watch a movie. That was a ritual on my birthday, my dad would take me. I guess that’s where my love of filmmaking started. From there I made YouTube videos. I always love cameras, I took a photography class, and I was really in love with, like, Wes Anderson.

Would you say the internet had some kind of doing in the things that you became interested in? Filmmaking wise?

I guess just YouTube, in general, the thought of making videos and entertaining people like that. I guess that enticed me. Sorry, I’m not being so specific. People are always like, “I watched this one movie,” and I don’t know, movies were always like an escape for me. Especially in the neighborhood I live in, it was the only thing to do.

Wait, what was college like for you?

I was raised really sheltered. Very sheltered, very spoiled. I didn’t want to go away for college. I was gonna go to Parsons, The New School, but they’re real good at tricking you into thinking you can pay for it. But I did fall in love with cinema studies and history of film. It’s just super boring at first because you have to start from the beginning, silent films… it was rough.

What’s your take on the college experience in your life?

I am so happy I went to Purchase. That’s where I met my lifelong friends. It’s where I made my first film that got me into the whole film festival scene. Purchase is a special place in my heart, and I miss it. Just living with my friends, doing fuck shit, and not worrying about, like, the seriousness of life.

Once in a lifetime for sure.

I understand it now, when you’re experiencing something, you never truly get it, it’s only after the fact that you’re like, “well, I get it now.”

I want to talk about you being a New Yorker. I rarely get to meet people who are born here, raised here, still here, anymore. What is your relationship to that part of your identity, being a Latino from Uptown?

I’m proud, you know? Growing up, I didn’t realize how special being all of that is. Actually, I think I just kind of realized that recently in my life. It’s like, “yo, it’s really dope being Dominican.” Like, it’s top tier. 80% of the city is transplants, you know? So I’m mad proud to be from the city, but specifically from Washington Heights. There’s a sense of community that a lot of people don’t have. I’m super grateful to be here and have this life and be surrounded by the people I’m surrounded by. I wouldn’t want any other version. I could have been well off and raised wherever the fuck, and I would take this every single lifetime.

Are you fully Dominican, or is there a mix?

I’m mixed, so I’m Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban. I’m the big three.

Do you have any favorite places uptown? You can gatekeep, but I did want to ask.

Bunni Coffee. They’re really hip, and they’re very artist-focused. Forever Coffee, they have really great breakfast tacos.

Do you have any favorite New York eras? I’m kind of obsessed with the 2000s right now.

Early 2000s, I mean, I’m biased, ‘cause that’s when I was raised. The pompas open, the ice cream truck, running around in front of your building. That doesn’t exist at all anymore, which is really sad.

While I was writing this interview, I was thinking about how even the heat’s different… it smells different. Everything is just so different.

I’m, like, a super—I don’t think nostalgia is the right word. I guess it is, but, like, I’m very nostalgic. I almost mourn these time periods.

You would say you are kind of nostalgic, then? In general, as a person.

Yeah, deeply nostalgic to a fault, to my own demise, you know? I feel like everyone is okay with things disappearing and time moving on. And I’m like, guys, “let’s not do this, please.” I think that’s why I like old shit.

Have you ever thought about leaving New York?

Um, not really.

What is your favorite season in New York City?

Definitely summer. Nothing beats a New York City summer, a Washington Heights summer. I love when it’s warm out. I love that people are outside doing things. I’m a summer baby, I’m a Cancer, if that wasn’t obvious already.

Do you identify with being a Cancer?

I fall into all the tropes, fortunately and unfortunately.

You have a lot going on, you have a lot of different art mediums. In general, what’s your creative process?

That was such a difficult question. Let’s say I’m gearing up to write a film. I have to be inspired first. That’s usually watching other films or listening to music. Music is a big inspiration for me.

I feel like people romanticize it a lot of the time. I wish I can tell you some great process I have, but it’s like a sucky process. From writing draft after draft to having to kill certain ideas because of the resources you have. There’s a lot of factors that go into it. But one thing that motivates me is visuals. I’m a very visual person. I create a lot of mood boards. I use Pinterest a lot. I’m a Pinterest girly. I really just like to visualize what I’m going to create.

So, visual first?

Yeah, I tend to work backwards. For example, with Papi Chulo, my last short film, I wanted to shoot a Dominican carnaval sequence. I started with that idea, and then I worked backwards to figure out how I can make a story that involves shooting that. Which is ridiculous, but…

No, it makes sense.

How do you keep yourself focused on your projects? Do you get in your own way sometimes?

I am a super anxious person and super uncertain person. Uncertain in myself, which doesn’t come across online, I don’t think. Other people motivate me to keep going. My community motivates me to keep going. This sounds really silly, but what I’m doing is a responsibility. I’m super grateful to be in the position to create art and create impactful, meaningful art. I feel a sense of responsibility to do that, even when I don’t believe in myself or life.

What’s the typical timeline for one of your films?

Ideation, pre-production, production, post, probably a year. Then the film lives on in film festivals the following year, so the lifecycle of the film is probably between two and three years, I would say.

Would you say that’s enough time, or by then are you like, “I’m done with this, I want to move on?”

Yeah, I’m always like that. I’m always over it—over whatever project. People are always shocked by that. I’m over it before it’s even done, kind of thing. Papi Chulo, by the time it was actually popping in film festivals, I was moving on to the next thing. I’m always moving on to the next thing. I’m actually trying to be present for once in my fucking life.

Are there any people, mentors, personal, or in your work, that you have encountered in your journey so far? Because I do think that we don’t get anywhere without people.

It took me a really long time to learn that you need people, which sounds really silly. Eventually, I realized you need a crew and a community and all that stuff. Calixto Chinchilla, he’s the executive director of the New York Latino Film Festival. In a lot of ways, he helped get my career going. Calixto is a connector. He has a good eye for choosing people who are early on in their careers and seeing their potential, having faith in them, and giving them opportunities. Like, I didn’t know shit. I was this 19-year-old kid from the Heights who never did anything, and he really just opened up that world. So... yeah, shout out to Calixto.

What’s your relationship to social media? Are you addicted, like all of us?

Yeah, unfortunately. It’s a pretty unhealthy relationship, lowkey. I compare myself a lot to other people. I’m never where I want to be in my career, I guess. Because I see other people further along in their careers, sometimes younger than me, all that stuff. I’m on TikTok, scrolling and shit. It’s the whole—it isolates us, but it also connects us. I mean, at this point I feel like my profile is a community, a digital cultural hub. I just know that if I put out an open call or a casting call, my community is gonna show up for me.

Have you given much thought about how you may want to have a relationship with social media moving forward? Or are you kind of just like, it is what it is?

I mean, my page has always been my career. It’s basically my website. But I want to be a little less private and share more of my life. At the same time, I don’t want to be perceived by people, you know? I don’t know what that looks like necessarily. Like, “close friends”—I’ve never had the close friends feature.

Do you think you may want to?

Yeah, that’s—I think that’s my way…

Starting the close friends… that’s funny.

Let’s talk about Sweet Plantains. What can you tell me about it?

I am a part of this fellowship with the Latino Film Institute out in L.A. They’ve had this fellowship for a couple years now. It’s a partnership with Netflix to give 10 Latinx filmmakers the opportunity to make a short film. You get a grant of $50,000, and you get to make a film and be supported by them. I’ve applied to this same fellowship for the past five years. This was just the year that I got it. Before, it was kind of an open submission, and then they switched it to invite-only. My friend, fellow filmmaker Imani Celeste, had gotten it the year prior and referred me.

Funny enough, because I just finished Papi Chulo, I didn’t have a film written when they did ask me to apply, and the deadline was in two days. So I wrote Sweet Plantains in two days.

Where in your process are you right now?

We’re in post-production, we’re editing. It’s a super tight deadline. It’s not a lot of time at all.

What has been a moment of delight during this process?

The film follows this young man named Santi who runs into his estranged mother on the street, who’s unhoused and addicted to drugs. To avoid that situation, he goes into a nearby church, and there happens to be a community theater group program going on. And he’s kind of thrown into theater, essentially. He learns to navigate his trauma. He learns how to be present in his body, how to connect with others, and be vulnerable through that.

Casting was a very difficult process, but the most rewarding. They all became a family. It was completely unintentional, but each of them resonated with their characters on a scarily deep level. Each of them were like, “you wrote me.” That was deeply rewarding.

So where does that idea come from? Have you taken a theater class before? Like, two days? I’m just trying to figure out, how do we get from here to here?

I took a theater class in college, and, a lot like the character in the film, I found myself feeling ridiculous. Being from New York, you’re guarded all the time. I’m in this acting class, and we go up to do a fucking zip, zap, zop, or some theater exercise, and it’s really silly. And it made me uncomfortable. I was like, why are we...? I’m not used to being this silly in front of people. I don’t enjoy being silly in front of people.

You don’t enjoy being silly in front of people?

No, no. Um... yeah, I mean, that’s a different conversation. I don’t know. I’m so in deep with this, like, my career and being professional and shit…

So when do you get to be silly?

With my family. I’m really close with my family and close friends. But definitely something I want to work on. Just dropping the... the act.

We haven’t really seen much of your behind the scenes for Sweet Plantains. Is that intentional?

Part of it is we’re very early on in the process, so there will be a whole rollout. Part of the subject matter is super personal, actually. So, kind of scary putting that out there. But I chose that. I kind of fucked myself.

Are you getting yourself ready?

I guess this is the beginning of that. I’m just figuring out ways to talk about it. Slowly getting comfortable talking about it.

Do you have any self-care practices as an artist?

I wish I did. I go to the gym a lot. It sounds so, like, stupid straight-guy thing. The gym really helps me keep my cool…

So, what’s your hope for the film?

That it connects with people and that people leave feeling moved in some type of way. Maybe with the want to be a little more vulnerable in their lives. This is all ironic because of this *gestures to himself*

You’re very self-aware.

Too self-aware. It’s at my own detriment, honestly. Truly.

Are there any projects you’ve finished that you still feel a connection to?

The Last Movie Theater in Washington Heights, definitely has a very special place in my heart.

What is Limping Devil?

It’s my production company. I put off starting one for so long because I feel like everyone does that before they’re ready to do that.

After Sweet Plantains, do you think you’ll focus on a different medium?

Yeah. I really want to get into theater. Like playwriting.

You want to write a play?

I want to write a play.

Oh my God, cool.

I’ve fallen in love with theater. I think it’s a super powerful platform.

How does it feel to get to say Emmy nominated?

Jesus Christ.

I just wanted to ask because, like, it’s in your bio, and I was like, I gotta ask.

I don’t know. I feel like an imposter. No, it feels amazing. It was just a thing that happened, and it was super unexpected, and, like, meant a lot, and meant a lot to my mom.

Rapid fire

What song can’t you get enough of right now?

Sweet Boy by Malcolm Todd.

What’s your bagel order?

Cinnamon raisin bagel, cream cheese, toasted.

We talked about this, but your star sign?

Cancer, Leo moon, Libra rising.

What was the last movie you saw?

The Drama with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.

If you could drop into any movie and be a safe spectator, which movie would it be?

Oh, such a corny answer. Spider-Man.

Which one?

All of them.

All of them? Do you have a favorite Spider-Man?

Tobey Maguire. I have a Spider-Man tattoo, and it is specifically Tobey Maguire. It’s on my arm. I haven’t posted it ‘cause I’m lowkey embarrassed by it.

Why?

‘Cause I have Spider-Man on my arm now, but…

I like the style you went with.

Thank you. Yeah, I didn’t intend to, uh... be so tattooed.

If you could magically fix any problem, big or small, by tomorrow, which would you pick?

The unhoused slash drug addicts on the street in Washington Heights specifically. And then apart from that, just, like, my own mental health, if we can just, like, figure that out, please.

Just, like, sprinkle that in there while we’re at it? What are you hoping to get out of the rest of the year?

Well, finish Sweet Plantains. We have a special screening at the end of May in L.A. I hope that goes well. And just dedicate the rest of my year to this film. Making it the best it could possibly be. And talking to people more, connecting more, being a little less private.

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I was introduced to Don Carvajal Café through a captivating news story done on Hector and the brand in 2022 by CNBC. 7 minutes and 44 seconds is what it took for me to become a fan. I had the pleasure of getting my first taste of Don Carvajal coffee at a coffee shop in Harlem called I Like it Black in 2023. Two years later, Don Carvajal Café holds a top spot on my list of where I like to go for a little more than a great cup of coffee.

I had the chance to have coffee with Hector and talk about his journey as a business owner and bits of his life story. He was incredibly generous with his time and although in his late 20s, his level of wisdom makes him come across like your favorite Dominican uncle who somehow has all the answers.

Hector Carvajal’s entrepreneurial story almost reads in the divine, like all of this was supposed to happen, one way or another. In my eyes, he is an example of someone born with a purpose, someone who waited for the moment that purpose was ignited, recognized it, and ran with it. Many of us are glad he did.

2:06 pm, Don Carvajal Café - Irvington, NY | November 7th, 2025

MVP: How do you like your coffee?

Hector Carvajal: I like my coffee black. To some people it is boring. But I personally believe that if you are a true coffee connoisseur, you have to try something for what it is. You have to accept it and embrace it. I don’t really enjoy sugar or milk like that, I’m not saying I won’t drink a latte or a cortado, it just depends on the mood. I think for you to truly understand the coffee, you have to take it for what it is.

How many times a day do you drink coffee?

Sometimes I drink too much. Sometimes I’m too busy, and I don’t drink coffee at all, which is very rare. There have been days where I don’t drink coffee at all, and at the end of the day, I’m like, “Wow, that was crazy. I never drank coffee.” The most coffee I have in a day is four cups, but I try to limit that to before 4 pm.

How would you describe the perfect cup of coffee?

Coffee is very subjective, so everybody has a different perception of what the perfect cup of coffee is, but for me, it really is a black coffee and a change of scenery. You know what I mean? Like, I’ve had coffee on a mountain, brewed inside of a tree house in Jarabacoa, looking at the mountains with birds chirping that, like, don’t even exist in certain parts of DR. I mean, like, that’s a vibe — in the woods, surrounded by nature, on a mountain, inside of a solar-powered tree house. You made some greca coffee, and now you’re sipping it on the balcony of the tree house, like, that sounds crazy. I love making a cup of coffee at home in the morning and just embracing it. You know, it just slows life down.

When did you start drinking coffee? We become coffee drinkers; we’re not born being one.

I respect everybody’s decisions, but my mom was not one of those who was like, “Here, try this,” at five years old. She was definitely not about that. My mom was like, “Coffee’s not for kids.” She would make me hot chocolate and ginger tea. When I was an early teenager, I started making coffee at home. I just started randomly getting into it. One day I made it, and I burned the handle off because the fire was too high. I was like, “Man, Mom’s gonna kill me.” That’s one of my strongest memories of making coffee.

What was Hector pre-business like? What would he say to current Hector?

A lot of the things that I’m living now is stuff that I wanted, but when you plan things or when you want something, you don’t really know what comes with it, and I think everything comes with something. What I would tell myself is that, for most entrepreneurs, for you to survive and do what you’ve got to do, you have to continue rolling with the punches. The main word is pivoting. I think the main thing is to find that balance. I’ve always been a people’s person, I’ve always liked helping people, I’ve always wanted to achieve some leadership success, and I wanted to provide opportunities for people around me and people in my community. I’ve always wanted to grow. There are a lot of things that I’m living now that I’ve always wanted to do; I just didn’t know how I was going to do it or what, and then that’s kind of how it turned out.

Part of where I’m at right now is, like, everybody talks about, “What’s your five-year plan?” I’ve been doing it seven years. So it’s like, I did the five-year plan — now what? I think that nobody talks about the plan after the five years. Nobody talks about a 10-year plan or a 20-year or 30-year plan. I put my head down and just started grinding, and here I am — achieving what I wanted to achieve and just making it happen. I think that was a big one for me, figuring out what’s next and what’s important.

How different is life as a business owner then and now?

Back then I wasn’t that busy, I used to pray to be busy, I used to pray to have clients, for people to buy my stuff. I used to pray to be where I’m at now, and then, when you have so many people that depend on you, you think about that. I think about people who work here who pay their rent with this check. Now I’m here, and sometimes I wish I had the availability and the peace of mind I had back then.

Can you tell me about Don Carvajal’s opening day in Irvington?

The grand opening was a dope situation. That day was a movie. So many different kinds of people that came here from so many different places, even from out of state, and it just showed what that sense of community is. Three weeks before that, we had gotten an inspection on a Friday to open up; they approved it. I was like we can open up tomorrow, and then we just opened up. It was interesting, because when I first walked in here, my goal was to just make this like a prep space. I was actually on the fence about doing a coffee shop. Then when I saw the space I was like, “Man, this is kind of perfect for a little coffee shop,” like, just how cozy it is. It’s like a perfect size. It was a good feeling; you know, even my mom and my family was here. So it was a good time. There was a lot going on. Sometimes when you’re hosting something, it’s all kind of like a blur. But I was surprised by how many people showed up. It was so many different kinds of people here interacting. I think that was one of my favorite parts.

In the weeks following the opening, was there ever some worry on whether people were going to keep coming to the shop?

When you’ve been doing something for five years, there’s a lot of people who you interacted with or came across in that journey. The reason why I wasn’t really worried is because I’ve worked at Irvington’s farmers market since 2019, so I’ve interacted with this community for five years already. That was under our belt. I was looking at the numbers the other day, and I was actually surprised. Last year was a pretty busy year, and then we got busier. I was like, “Why doesn’t it feel that way?” And it’s because everybody on the team, I think, has learned a lot. There’s days that we’re just so busy here that no matter how much experience you got, somebody gonna have to wait 20 minutes. I mean, it’s just that busy. It’s been good. Numbers are good. Everybody’s happy.

My goal is to keep everybody growing with us, provide opportunities. It’s really hard to manage numbers, because running a business is no joke. Especially with so many factors being thrown at you, from tariffs to increasing prices in the marketplace.

How often do you think about money? I think about money a lot. Did you think about it a lot before your business? Did you kind of have to?

I’ve never been motivated by money because I just understood that when you build something from scratch, it’s not gonna make money. I just kind of understood that. Everybody thinks, “Oh, I’m opening my own business, I’m gonna be kicking it tomorrow.” There’s people who sell millions of dollars, and at the end of the year, their account is negative. How does that make sense?

Numbers are really important, you know. So I’ve never been extremely motivated by money, but I do like what money does because at the end of the day, I like traveling. Can’t travel for free. I like doing stuff for the community; that also is not free. I like having good equipment, good machinery, good staff—none of that is free. I like buying good quality things. Like, I’d rather buy something one time than buy something five times.

So then at the end of the day, money’s important because this is the type of country where, if you don’t have insurance, money is the reason if you get seen by a doctor or not, money is the reason why you could get medicine or not. Money is important. I think everybody thinks about money because it’s inevitable.

If money is not the motivator, then what is?

Aside from money, the people you meet in the journey. I’ve done a lot of things, a lot of cool things that not even money can get you. It’s just who I knew, or the phone calls I’ve got that had nothing to do with money, more about people who I got to interact with, the places I’ve been. The dopest thing is really the people you meet in the journey that rock with you, that will open certain doors for you, that not even money could get you in there.

What is your relationship with social media? I like to ask young people this.

Instagram is weird. I don’t know, like for me, it’s a balance between the two. When I was building this brand, I don’t know why or how, but I just understood that me being the face of the brand and me telling my own story was important, and that’s kind of the identity of the brand. Like, when you think of Don Carvajal Café you think of me, and if you think of me, you think of the brand. So it’s kind of like they’re two on one.

It’s really meant to keep people connected as a social network. The relationship I have with it is really promoting what I do. I’m not really super personal on there. Sometimes people think they know you, but they don’t really know you. For me, it’s mostly work. It’s also a way for me to support people that I’ve met through the journey.

Do you doom scroll?

Oh, yeah. My algorithm is super funny. Extremely funny.

What are some things that are exciting you about Don Carvajal right now?

The most exciting thing right now is I made a syrup, Canelita de Otoño. I try to be different. Like, if we’re gonna do what everybody else is doing, then all right, cool, then that’s what we’re doing. But that’s not what I signed up for when I did this. You know, when I did this, it was to be different and to be unique and to start something new and different.

How are people responding to it?

Everybody likes it. It feels seasonal. Given this is a Dominican coffee shop, I want it to be something that’s true to that. So “pumpkin spice,” like, where do they do that in DR? I mean, no parts. They use auyamas [pumpkins] for the soups and shit, so there’s that. I wanted something true to the culture. In Dominican Republic, they always put cinnamon and nutmeg in the coffee, and they use a little brown sugar. So I wanted to do something that was inspired by the grecas that people brewed in the morning, that’s kind of what Canelita is.

What roast on your shelf are you most excited about currently?

It’s not out yet, we’re gonna drop two natural coffees, something different.

What does it mean to you to be a Dominican man from the Bronx and be a successful business owner?

We all have different measures of success, but this is definitely the first one. This is the first level. It’s definitely a big deal. I think the most important thing for me is when parents come here with their kids and be like, “You see him, he’s Dominican, and you see him, he’s from where you’re from, and you see him, look at what he’s built.” And then they’re like, “Well, he’s the owner. He looks just like me.” I think that’s dope.

I think that is the dopest thing about doing what I do because it shows that it’s possible. To be able to tell my story, and for people to be inspired by it like, “Oh, I could, too, be an entrepreneur. I could, too, be the first one in my family go to college.” I just think that if you really apply yourself for something, it’s doable.

Nobody’s born knowing, nobody’s born sabio [wise], nobody’s born a genius. You have to study, you have to read, you have to watch. We have so much access to information that we could achieve a lot of things. I think there’s a lot of us that could do a lot of great things. We just need the opportunity.

Do you ever think about how different your life would be if your parents didn’t immigrate to the U.S.? I think about this a lot.

I think about it sometimes. I’m like, “Man, it would have been dope to be a farmer” Probably wouldn’t have paid that much. But I enjoy the fields, because that was normal to me. I enjoy the fields and planting a seed. I mean, being a farmer is like creating a business in a different light. It’s the same kind of situation.

It would have been dope to grow up in DR. There’s definitely an educational gap. I feel like when you’re in a place like New York City, you just adapt to the environment. There’s a lot of information, there’s a lot of access, and then there’s a lot of different kinds of people, so you get to learn a lot about different personalities, different religions, different parts of the world.

In the campo I think you develop differently and you see things differently. I’ve always been the same kind of person, like the business minded. Even when I was a little kid, I was trying to sell fruits from my backyard, but, but I don’t know. I don’t know what my life would have been. I’m pretty sure I would have been into agriculture or, like construction or something like that. That’s what most people do where I’m from.

So many companies and brands have figured out that coffee is profitable, so they stick a coffee shop in their stores or slap their logo on beans. Where do you see specialty coffee going?

Coffee is interesting because I feel like it is profitable, but it’s also not. Like, it’s profitable per cup; when you add so many expenses to it, it gets complicated.

In the long run, I’m not really worried about us. I think that we’re definitely different, and we’re going in a good direction, because we’re not waiting for anybody else to do something, to drop something. So all that to say is, the industry is going in the direction where culture is going to be extremely important. I think that the United States relies heavily on culture, and I think it’s getting more and more important as people become tastemakers and craftsmen and craftswomen of their thing.

I think the most important thing is going to be people culturally representing something, a commodity, and them owning it. The transparency is going to be extremely important. The education behind things is extremely important. I think those are the main things.

Is there a chance for a New York City brick and mortar?

I’ve thought about it, but I’ll be honest with you, as of this week, politically, it was looking tough. I think that as a business owner, I should be worried about what’s in my best interest and what’s in the best interest of my people, and I don’t think that a $30 an hour minimum wage is ideal. You’re already operating on thin margins. New York City is very expensive. It’s very complicated.

I’ve thought about it, I want to one day, I just don’t know how. There’s a lot of things that make this place special. If I’m going to do another one, it has to replicate a lot of things. I don’t want to compromise anything.

I watched your first podcast episode and I could tell you have a deep appreciation for your time at Rochester University for being the place where the idea for Don Carvajal was born. Can you tell me more of your point of view on higher education? Do you think you would have arrived here if you didn’t go to Rochester University?

No, no. I mean, I know I would have been successful, and I have a very optimistic, positive mindset. I was a high school dropout, and then I went back to a different school to finish it, an alternative school. Second chances are extremely important. Some people make mistakes, and they just need a second chance. For me, going back to school was a second chance, at education, at life, at bettering myself.

I really appreciate that I was able to find a school that accepted me, I went to CUNY, and then I was also afforded another opportunity to go up to Rochester. It made all the difference, because for the first time in my life, I was in a space that didn’t really need anything from me. It just needed me to perform and for me to use my brain and my creativity. It was dope to just walk to school from campus, like it was crazy. Even though it snowed a lot, you still have to walk through the snow, but it was smooth. We had tunnels anyways.

It was one of the best things that could have happened for me, because I didn’t know that that’s what I needed to thrive in the way that I am now. At the end of the day, because I was in that environment, I think this is a product of that environment, because I was able to sit there, think, learn things, and then take what I learned and expand it a little more and be like, “I have this business idea.” I think that higher education is important. I don’t think it’s for everybody. I just think that it’s better knowing than not knowing, and I think it’s better to try something and fail than not try at all.

Can you name the feeling you got when you realized Don Carvajal Café the class project could turn into a real life business?

I was excited. It’s like butterflies in your stomach. It just felt like I was onto something. I think that growing up, you’re always trying to find your niche or your way, or what your thing is gonna be. And then when you get something that feels like, “Oh, this is real, and people like this, or people want this.” It’s like, wow this is something I can form myself around and make this a part of my identity, and like this is going to get me further. This is going to probably get me to where I want to get to in life. This is going to do for my family what I wanted to do for my family.

Are you happy you were the one to grab the idea and run with it? Because, in my opinion, ideas have a life of their own. They jump from people to people. If you don’t catch it, it’s going to go to someone else.

I’m gonna tell you something funny, people always come here and they’re like, “Oh man, I always wanted to do what you do, but I never did it.” And it’s like, well, then don’t tell me that shit. Just keep it to yourself. You sound mad salty.

But I think a lot of our ideas will work if we just don’t give up. If we just don’t give up on an idea, it just might work out. Sometimes I feel like people are not willing to put it through the ringer, like nobody wants to struggle. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and like now life is like a little bit better. I’m really glad I followed through on it. I had a really good feeling about it. I really saw something that was coming. I saw an opportunity for the Dominican coffee market, and the specialty side of coffee, it needed that.

Do you rely a lot on your intuition?

Oh yeah, all day. You got to follow your gut. For the most part, you can’t even be mad if somebody next to you doesn’t believe you, because at the end of the day it’s your dream and your vision. You can’t expect even your partner or your mom to believe in that vision, because it’s not your mom’s vision, it’s your vision. It’s up to you to carry it out. It’s up to you to turn it to reality, and it’s up to you to make it succeed and stay afloat every day. It’s your idea.

Where do you find the drive to show up every day? What is your work ethic like?

This is everything I wanted, and now it’s like “what’s next?” This is not the ending of my journey, this is like the beginning. I think the next big thing is me figuring out what’s the best thing for my family, for myself, for my future, for my legacy. I think nowadays, my mentality is, how do I work smarter and not harder? I’m at a point in my life where I want balance, and wear more of the CEO hat rather than the Founder hat.

What’s your perfect trip back home to DR? What are the spots you need to hit when you’re back?

I’m not crazy about the beach, I’m more of a river guy. Like rivers and nature surrounded by trees, eating the local grub, just immersing yourself into the culture, into the everyday life of DR. I love La Zona Colonial, I always go back home to the campo at least for a day. I just love going back to see my people. I think that sometimes less is more.

Rapid Fire

If this current era of Don Carvajal Café was a song, which would it be?

Two of them: “Nadie Sabe” by Bad Bunny. “Café con Ron” by Bad Bunny.

What is the best album to open the café to?

Glad you asked. There’s an album that I bought last year that we only play for Christmas time. It’s Frank Sinatra, a holiday one. It’s a vibe in the morning.

Best album to close the café to?

Debi Tirar Más Fotos. My team members are tired of it because I just play it all the time.

What is next? What can we expect from Don Carvajal Café?

That’s a question I still haven’t answered for myself, but I’m thinking big. A lot of the things in my life happen organically. They just spark on their own. So we’ll see what’s next. I don’t know yet. If I knew, I would tell you.

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My mom didn’t understand the foreign concept of wearing your hair curly, and I was met with immediate pushback. She herself gets a blowout at least once a week, and a relaxer a few times a year. This has been her routine since she was a teenager. I respect this commitment to the Dominican salons, and I love seeing my mom come home with a fresh blowout. I think she looks so beautiful and glamorous. But at 15, the ripe age of discovery on many fronts, the waves and kinks in my hair were the missing part of my forming identity.

I must mention, hair is just hair, until it isn’t. Hair in the Dominican Republic holds a lot of societal and cultural weight. Hair is deep. If you are reading this and asking yourself, “why is a young girl choosing to wear her hair curly important enough to warrant reflection or a written piece about it?” I would answer that to wear your hair curly, in its natural state, is defying the cultural dominance of straight hair being the only socially acceptable way to wear your hair as a Dominican woman. To go against the “pelo malo” antics, which directly translates to “bad hair.” Yes, many of us grew up hearing our beloved family members look at us and our hair and say “pstt esa muchacha si tiene el pelo malo.” Can you imagine growing up with the narrative that your curly, kinky hair is “bad.” I have horrific memories of living in the Dominican Republic as a child, and being turned away at hair salons because they did not want to deal with my natural hair.

I am wincing as I write this remembering specific moments in hair salons where my hair would be pulled and yanked with a comb in the wash basin because in the early 2000s not many knew or cared to know how to properly care for someone without a relaxer in their hair. Even crazier, having a stylist who my mom trusted very much tell me to close my eyes and pull the remaining relaxer from the cup she used on my mom, and run it through the fronts of my hair, somehow she thought I wouldn’t catch on. I was 8 years old. Yet, no matter how much pulling, yanking, or crying I did, my hair was never fully straight in the end.

That is what many of us were fighting against interpersonally at the peak of the natural hair movement. The choice was to either continue this ingrained action of the weekly hair salon visit or learning how to wear and love my hair in its natural state – to present myself in a way that was not cherished by those around me, but that was inherently very me, because that is how my hair grows out of my scalp! It took years of fighting for my hair and my choice constantly to those around me. My family had such a hard time seeing me wear my hair curly, with me pulling up to Thanksgiving and Christmas with my curls and not straight hair, this went on for years. The constant remarks being “It’s Thanksgiving, are you not going to go to the hair salon?, It’s Christmas, are you not going to go to the hair salon” as if my natural hair wasn’t presentable enough for the dinner table on holidays.

The choice was made, and what followed was years and years of rebuilding my natural curl pattern, following the obliteration of any curl on my head by the infamous three piece combo, rolos, blow dryer, and flat iron. Rolos, blow dryer, and flat iron, every week. Thinking back, I am surprised I had any hair at all actually by the time I was in my teens.

Before deciding on my very first curly cut right before I went off to college, I had three years of braid outs, perm rod sets, twists, etcetera. Anything to help emulate a natural curl pattern, as for a lot of those three years, I had none due to extreme heat damage. I ultimately decided a mix of braiding my scalp with a perm rod at the ends was what felt the most like me, and how I went on to portray myself for the rest of my time in high school.

My first curly cut is where the real fun began for me. In 2018 I went to a Deva Curl certified stylist at some random salon in Manhattan and told her to cut off any and all damaged ends, I was ready to start fresh. This cut was something I was working towards so that I could finally start wearing my natural curl pattern without the help of any styling. Perfect, and just in time for my next phase of life, a young adult at college. I was so excited for this haircut, I barely slept the night before. I wish I was kidding, but this is the level of importance this had on me.

In the last 10 years, I have tried most of the big name curly hair salons in New York, and I feel very passionately about my experience at each one, whether it was good or bad. I have also travelled to other cities when my chosen stylists have moved away. Being the Taurus I am, I will travel for hours if I can and have to to get a good haircut.

For about 3 years of the 10, I was frequenting DevaCurl in SoHo. I would always visit the stylist Latoya Moore, and felt like she really nailed the important things for me at the time, which was primarily shape. DevaCurl specialized in dry cuts and for a long time that is the only type of cut I would get. Until I visited Miss Rizos hair salon by Carolina Contreras when they opened their first salon in New York City, this is where I experienced my first wet cut.

Miss Rizos is no longer in NYC, but I would be remiss not to highlight the name or Carolina as she was one of the pioneers of the curly hair movement in the Dominican Republic. Opening the first curly hair salon in the country in Santo Domingo and activating a group of people to learn and appreciate their natural hair, in a society where that was not the norm 10 years ago.

Through my perusing of natural hair salons, I visited Ouidad in 2023, and landed with my current hair stylist Horlenny Burgos. Horlenney currently has her own curly hair practice called the Good Curls Suite – and through our sessions over the last two years, I now know I prefer a combination of a dry cut and wet cut, which Horlenny is a master at.

To this day, my favorite days out of the year are when I get to get my hair cut. It’s quite therapeutic for me and feels like I’m cutting off physical and metaphorical dead ends.

What I wish I’d known at the beginning of this journey is that the state of my hair will change and fluctuate depending on what’s going on in my life. My curly hair has been a great teacher of detachment, it has a mind of its own, and I can never get it to look the same twice.

When I made the choice to go curly I thought that I would once arrive at the perfect state of curls, where my hair would be healthy, have all the length I wanted, and always be perfectly balanced with hydration and protein. But these 10 years have proved to be different. They have shown me that there is no final form, that my curls and texture will continue to change whether I like it or not, and the best I can do is enjoy my hair in its current form instead of yearning for a perfect state of hair. I look back at certain hair moments in my life, and I can’t help but think about how beautiful, lush, and perfect my curls were, yet I thought I hadn’t arrived at the goalpost I had set in my mind. That fictional goal in actuality was a combination of other curly girls Instagram pictures.

I would tell 15 year old me that she was making the right choice, I would validate her over and over, and over again. I would tell her it was only going to get better and easier to understand the hair on her head, at 10 years, she’ll finally have the routine down, and the curls will become synonymous with her name. For the past 7 years, I have happily worn my natural texture in a beautiful, coveted round shape, and I am never going back. I don’t see it any other way now.

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When I moved back to New York City in 2022 after graduating from college, I began to frequent the neighborhoods I am connected with once more and noticed a new coffee icon on my Google Maps when I typed in coffee, “The Plug.” Located on a street I used to walk to and from school as a middle schooler, now lives a small coffee shop serving its Washington Heights community delicious coffee and great vibes.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Abbie, who co-founded The Plug with her partner Ben. The Plug is where it’s at, and I am so happy to have had the chance to learn about the beginnings of The Plug. It is quite special.

2:36 pm Washington Heights | August 23rd, 2025

MVP: How do you like your coffee?

ABBIE: Right now, I've been having straight cold brew and oat milk, but that's more because it wakes me up and if I'm here in the morning I'm ready for business.

Are you a one-coffee-a-day or multiple?

Two. I wake first thing in the morning, I make my coffee at home. I use the Aeropress. Best at-home coffee maker. It's not the most glamorous looking, but it's so efficient, I'm done in, like, 10 minutes.

Do you use your own beans at home?

Yeah. Yeah. I'm guilty. Guilty.

Tell me about the beginning of The Plug.

We opened in January 2022, but we started with the idea for a coffee shop around May of 2021. It was something that we were just kind of talking about. It wasn't until September of 2021 that we got an LLC. So we didn't really get the ball rolling until September 2021. Then it was only like three months, and we were open.

Take me through those three months, because three months is not a lot of time.

No, and I was pregnant during those three months, so there was a lot going on. We didn't really have a choice. I had a full-time job as a food service manager and managed a lot of different kitchens, and I had a part-time twice a week. I was a food justice educator at a shelter in The Bronx. I was super busy. He (Ben) had his own business that he was no longer a part of anymore. We were just, like, trying to come up with something, and then it was like, "Oh, we could do this, right? Like, yeah, we could do this.” The idea wasn't super new; it was the reality of “is this something that we could do?”

How did you get to this location?

Fortunately, unfortunately, there were a lot of commercial spaces here in The Heights that had lost business because of COVID. Everywhere you went, three or four businesses on the block were gone. The only small good thing about that is that if you were looking for a spot, things weren't that expensive. So we initially had the idea of a smoke shop. That's kind of what Ben was thinking of incorporating in some way. Ironically, all the spots that we saw before this one eventually became smoke shops, so then it just got saturated up here.

We saw this place, and it was so busted. Like, it was just — it was so busted. I didn't see the vision, but Ben did. The landlord was cool, they wanted to rent it out, and things moved pretty quick. They were ready to rent it out and get started.

How did the name “The Plug” come about?

Ben thought of “The Drug Dealer” and I said, “Yeah, that's not gonna fly. I'm sorry.” Because he thought coffee is a drug. The Plug is more mysterious. And it's coffee, it's kind of the same. You're getting the same vibe there.

Where do you source your coffee?

We initially called Gotham, which is Gotham NYC. First thing we did was get on Google and see what we needed to do. We realized, “okay, well, we can use someone else's beans.” Usually for small businesses, there are always programs or things that you can get involved with and they'll help you open a shop or kind of guide you and all you have to do is just use their beans. That's what we did with Gotham. We had someone that was helping us and helping us find equipment. Once we got the space, then it was just finding all the equipment and the financing.

Now you roast your own beans?

We work with this roasting company called Shared Roasting, and they're in Brooklyn. We loved Gotham's beans, we loved the flavor. When we tried them, we were like, “Oh, yeah, this is the kind of coffee that we love” — me and Ben specifically. It was very bold, it was very rich. The cold brew was fruity, so it doesn't need any sugar or anything like that. We had a flavor profile that we wanted, that was close but different, more like what we liked. We went to Shared Roasting, and we discussed, “Hey, we want to have our own beans.” We discussed prices and that we're looking for this flavor profile, and they test the beans and they sent us different variations until we found exactly what we wanted. They have the recipe, they roast them for us, they ship them out, too. That is something that we do want to be more hands-on. We definitely want to have more coffees, different variations, flavors and from different locations. That might take a while— we have tariffs and all kinds of stuff you have to deal with.

What have been some of the lessons with owning a business? What are some things you wish you knew at the beginning?

There are a lot of things that you just don't understand about money in general, until you have a business. I'm gonna be very honest. It's a grind. Life and work is a grind, but when you have a business it's like your baby. If you come in trying to start something, start a business, or you have this great idea, and you're going in there because you want to make a lot of money, you're going in for the wrong reasons. That's with everything. If you don't have investors that's not where your mindset should be, right? Because with certain groups of people, especially when you're putting in your own money, there's all these limitations that are in your way. If you want to take a loan, you gotta jump through hoops for a loan. If you need employees, because you're actually growing, then you have to pay your employees and all kinds of taxings, you need to have an attorney, you have to have someone to help you with your taxes. You have to get an accountant or a bookkeeper. The system that we live in, is not built for small businesses. Or, let's say that little by little, it becomes less and less easier for small businesses to thrive because of the financial limitations and because you have so many factors taking from you.

Thankfully, we're doing very well, but that is something that if you don't understand that — the first three years, I would say it was kind of like staying afloat, but understanding that, like, this is a part of this. This is us doing well, and we're just hovering, floating above. We're doing good because we're successful. It's getting better, but for us, it takes a while. We're not this start-up with all this investor money.

Is there a day or a moment you remember that was really surprising to you about being a business owner?

Ben was definitely more stressed and anxious. He did most of the physical work. I was pregnant, I couldn't lift anything. Failure was not an option for Ben. Even though, physically, he was anxious and stressed, having a lot of coffee, not eating so much — I am a person of faith. I had a very calm hope the whole time. I had to be the rock in the relationship. I knew it was going to be hard. Nothing in my life has ever, ever, ever, ever been easy. Nothing. I was just like, I'm happy right now, this is the easiest that part of my life has ever been, like, my personal life, I'm happy. So it's gonna be hard, but I'm gonna be all right. We're gonna be all right, and I trust that. Knowing him and how determined he was, I was like, there’s no way we're gonna fail at this.

How has the community responded to The Plug?

Oh, they love it. We've grown mainly through word of mouth because this was like a dead street. This block right here, when I first saw it, I was like, nobody walks this block and I knew that from experience, just growing up here. I understand how Amsterdam works and Audubon, and I grew up on Audubon. No one walks these blocks except neighborhood people. And do people want specialty coffee? Yes. Are they going to walk all the way down here? At first, I was like, “oh, God, I hope so.” But then they did.

We did do some advertising, we had a one of these boards here. It was word of mouth and it was neighborhood people and teachers and our friends and our family and people posting about it. But it was the community people that grew the spot and our regulars. We're here for them, that’s what we’re here to do, we're not here to pretend to be something that we're not. This is The Heights. People used to come in the beginning and go, "Oh, wow, this reminds me of, like, a spot in Brooklyn." And like, no, it shouldn't. This is The Heights. I get the compliment, but it's so much cooler here, come on.

You are almost four years in, looking into the future, what are you looking forward to with The Plug?

Definitely investing and growing the space and the community that comes here.

If someone who has never been to The Plug stumbles upon this and makes their first visit, what can they expect?

A good morning, respect, good vibes, good coffee, hopefully a good memory.

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The coffee was delicious and worth the 30-minute drive from Manhattan. If you can’t make it to New Rochelle, no fret — Casaroma has a second location on the iconic Fifth Avenue.

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2:08 pm Casaroma Cafe - New Rochelle | September 13th, 2025

MVP: How do you like your coffee?

Yaretsy: I don't discriminate. My favorite coffee order changes on a weekly basis. I just want it to be delicious. I want it to be a good roast. I want the espresso to be pulled perfectly. I know when a shot is not pulled correctly, and that just hurts my soul. The one thing I have every single day is drip coffee. You know, café colao’, like in a greca, or a drip machine. I always have a cup of café con leche. I do oat milk because I'm lactose intolerant. So, a little, you know, drip coffee, steamed oat milk, a little bit of sugar, a little bit of cinnamon — that’s my go-to. Then I always get a fun drink after.

Tell me the story of how Casaroma came to be, so we have it in writing.

I grew up in the Dominican Republic, in Boca Chica, from ages 5 to 18. Living in DR, there's a different cultural experience that you go through that I didn't notice until I came back to the States at 18. Coffee was always present, but I never drank coffee. I came back to the U.S. for college and everybody was drinking coffee for the energy. So I started drinking coffee. I was exploring coffee in my own way and going to coffee shops, and then I started wanting a little bit more instead of like the “Dunkin” or the “Starbucks.”

During the pandemic, I got laid off, I got another job, but I was still kind of living that double life: creating content and working a 9–5. My partner, my fiancée, we were reevaluating life and how short it is and what do we want to do next? So he came up to me and he's like, “What do you want to do? Like, what is your dream?” He has an MBA, so he's like, “I can open a business, it can be anything, but I want it to be something that you're passionate about.” So I was like, “What do we need to do to open a coffee shop? What do you mean?”

We sat down, had a very serious conversation about what we wanted in life and what was making us excited and bringing out that passion, and for me, it was coffee. He had never drank coffee before, he was just supportive and started learning it. We were living in New Rochelle at the time and I was like, I think this is the perfect place for a Dominican coffee shop, because if I open a coffee shop, I want it to be representative of me, my culture, and my people. I almost never saw a Dominican owner or Dominican even working there, any type of Dominican flavors. Growing up, coffee was so present, it was always there. It's an essential part of gathering, community, and family where I grew up. Then to come here [U.S.A.] and see it be this booming industry and not have that part of it, I'm like, “What is going on here? Something is missing.” So I decided if I wanted to open a shop what would be different is that it is going to be a Dominican coffee shop, it’s going to be representative of my culture and Dominican flavors. We opened an Indiegogo account and we got $10,000 in donations. It was crazy because it was just a conversation, an idea, and he put his entire force behind me. He was like, “If this is what you want to do, you’re passionate about it, I will learn it, and I will help you get this off the ground.” That's kind of how the whole thing was born.

How long was that processes from ideation to running the business in real life?

It took a while. We started talking about it in 2021. We started crowdfunding, we got that money, and then we were looking for a place. We found this place, and it was a blank canvas. So from idea to being open, I want to say, like a year, year and a half of just planning, strategizing, getting the funds, finding a place. We signed the lease in April. We were like, “We'll be open by the summer” because the construction wasn't major — we just needed to do plumbing and electricity. We didn't even get the permit to start working until September 1st. That entire summer, we were waiting around, not able to open. So we got the coffee cart because we were like, we can't waste time. I can't sit around. I have to have a clientele, have some sort of social media presence, get the people informed about what we're doing. We were doing pop-ups and making videos, taking photos, doing all these events, and also making a little bit of money. But it wasn't… it was like a drop in the bucket, but it's just like something, you know? Then we finally were able to open on January 28th of 2023. We've been open about two and a half years now, and it just seems like so long ago.

Take me through your first day, opening day.

Opening day, January 28th, 7 a.m., I was sick to my stomach. I was so nervous. We did a soft open — testing hours, testing how many pastries we need, or how much milk and all this stuff. It's difficult because you don't know how much to buy, and you don't want to buy not enough, but you also don't want to buy too much because we didn't have that much money. But the first day was beautiful. So many people came, so many people showed up. It was beautiful.

Now, day two, day three, day four — I think we opened on a Saturday. It was a weekend for sure. So everybody was able to come out. Everybody went back to work, and that week where that novelty kind of wore off, I'm like, “What in the actual hell?” Because I was here open to close. I literally see every person that comes in, and every person that doesn’t, you know? It was scary. I quit my job, you know? I understand that building these things takes time, and I was fully aware of that. But to be in it is completely different. I was still kind of like trying to heal myself from the previous year of trying to open, and I'm a very anxious person. I feel like my entire energy source was anxiety. I was running off of just anxious energy. I'm a very confident person, and I'm confident in my abilities and my partner's abilities and our planning and everything. But to be in that waiting area, that waiting space of like waiting for people to walk in, is not for the weak. For the first couple of weeks, it was really, really slow. It was winter, so people are not walking about. But I never really had regrets. It never crossed my mind to quit or stop. I'm like, “This is, this is it.” I'm gonna ride this, and we will get through? But it's difficult to be in it.

How did you make that transition from the energy source being anxiety to “we will get through.”?

I think it was just being honest and vocal about it with my partner. We're business partners, but we're also life partners. We have a third partner, and he's one of our best friends. So it's literally a family vibe. I had to be honest with myself and with them about how I was feeling. It's always good to talk about things out loud. It would always bring me back to the present. Every single time they were like, “Here are the actual facts, this is what you've done.” Also, establishing very, very strict boundaries around what work and life was. I was constantly in the state of, like, “Casaroma, Casaroma, Casaroma.” I can't rest, I can't heal. I felt like I couldn’t have a lunch break, like I had to be here all the time. That's just not healthy. Boundaries, transparency, and vulnerability — which is so difficult. I would say at the six-month mark I was like, “I need a day off.” I was telling them, like, “I'm gonna take a day off. One day of the week, I'm not gonna come to the shop. I don't wanna hear anything about the shop.” That's how it started. But those first six months I was here open to close, seven days a week, just anxious as hell. Do not recommend.

Did you always have a feeling you were going to be a business owner or did it come with time? Did you ever have an inkling?

No, it’s so funny and interesting, I went to school for communication, I studied PR and marketing. I was always like, “I'm gonna work at a firm or something in media.” But I never thought about owning or entrepreneurship. It just never crossed my mind.

My partner, on the other hand, only thought about that. And we had very different upbringings and different college experiences. He was always surrounded by people who have done things, people who have achieved things. He had examples and I didn't. So I was just like, “I don't need to own anything. I'm good if I get a good job, like, I'm happy.” I had a little corporate job. I was very proud of that. So it was different because he was on the complete other side, he's like, “I want to own, I want to do this, I want to do that.” And I was like, “Okay, well, I'll support you.” And he's like, “Well, what about you? Maybe we could do it together.” It wasn't my dream to want a business. Mostly because I never seen it, so, so close.

Do you feel like you have risen to the challenge? [I knew the answer even before I asked]

Oh, absolutely. After I started this journey, I could see how my abilities and my creativity and the way I think can be utilized, I can't work for anybody else. I'm too powerful. My potential was just watered down and not valued, and not recognized or seen by others. I want to be seen and be heard without having to fight. And, I have to fight to an extent here, but I also have the proof. I'm like, “Look at what I did, you know?” Whereas working for someone else, I feel like you never get that entire platform. It's like, “Okay, we'll give you credit, but it belongs to the company, it doesn't belong to you.” I definitely think I rose to the occasion, and I'm so happy. It just allows me to be everything. Like, everything I want to be. So it’s just perfect.

Tell me about Casaroma’s second location.

It's like a dream, I still am like, Dominicans on Fifth Ave! The second location just made a year in July. My partner, Kevin, is just so incredible. He knows so many different people, he's in all these committees for the city, he's super involved, and he also knows the master developer for New Rochelle. The developer told Kevin, "We appreciate you so much. If you ever want to open another location, just let us know where." He was ready for the second one right away; I am was like, "Pump the brakes." He's always ready for growth. They have buildings all over the country, but the Fifth Avenue location, I was like, “Oh, wait, like Fifth Ave, everybody knows Fifth Avenue, New York City,” you know? So we went to look at the place. It's in the lobby of an office building; it's not like a cafe like this one, but we ultimately decided, “Let's give it a go.” It'll be a little drop in this entire cultural thing that Fifth Avenue is.

We did market research, we tried all the coffees in the area. We looked to see if there was anything else comparable, and we were like, “I really think we would make a mark out here.” It's been wonderful. Every day I'm living in one of my moodboards. I'm not, you know, romanticizing it — some days are really hard. Especially imposter syndrome wants to creep in sometimes, you see stuff online, or other people trying to minimize what I'm doing, and it's hard. But for the most part, it is like a dream.

What are some of the lessons you have learned in this journey?

Being the face of a company is so overwhelming. Especially for somebody with anxiety, like me, and high functioning, I mask very well, so people are like, "Oh my God, you're so happy. You're so bubbly all this time." And I'm like, "Nah, yes, but no.”

One of the lessons is definitely know your limits and not being afraid to set those boundaries with anybody. I am an eldest daughter, I'm very independent, I'm always, like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and spreading myself so thin. In the beginning of this, 150% of my attention and energy was put into the shop, but also, I was giving the same amount, if not more, to outside things like family and friends. Not to say that you shouldn't, but I was definitely not exercising any type of limits or boundaries, everything and everyone can have access. I have this joke that I use to tell Kevin: “I feel like a deflated balloon just on the floor, no air.”

This is my first time managing people, and that was a doozy. I didn't take into account how much work that would be — managing people, managing young people. It's very challenging in so many ways, because I want to create a safe and healthy environment for all my employees, and I want to be the manager and the boss I never had. At the same time, I'm doing it for the first time. So learning where to exercise a little bit of my authority, learning when to step in, or when to let things kind of work themselves out is a lot.

Especially online too, it can feel so immersive to have an online presence and to constantly be putting out content. And you put things out and people think that they know you because of what you put out, so they come in and they want to talk about what you posted. And it's just like, “That was the last week. I'm not there anymore, you know?” So stuff like that. But the lessons never stop.

What are some joyful moments that you didn’t anticipate at the start of this?

When I realized that my staff and my team look up to me, I was like, “Oh, my God,” because that could be a lot of pressure, but it's also very humbling and rewarding in a way to be able to show them, “I did this, you could do it too,” and breathe life into them and confidence. I always strive to empower them to stand their ground and be confident and know that whatever it is that you want to do, you can do. Realizing that I can be kind of like a guiding light for younger people, especially for women and Latinas, I’m like, “Girl, we are so powerful.” The ideas that we have, the creativity, how resourceful we are — those are all things that people pay other people to be. Some people don't have those abilities naturally, we do.

Another huge delight for me is being a part of people's routine. People will come every day on their way to work, or some people only come on Sundays. Just being a part of people's day is insane to me. That does not get old, ever, and I hope I never get used to it. I hope I never, ever lose that excitement of people enjoying what I created.

If you were to put it into words, what does it mean to you to be a young Dominican woman business owner?

I guess I never thought about it. I mean, it's very humbling, and it catches me off guard when people are like, “You're such an inspiration.” I’m like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like, what do you mean? Like, I'm still doing it.” Just because I feel my mindset is always, “I’m growing and evolving.” So I can recognize that this is a big deal. I know because I did it, and I worked hard, so I know it's not easy. But to see other people or hear other people vocalize how inspirational it is, how it's their dream, it's very overwhelming in the best way. I love being, I guess, an inspiration, or just an example of what can be done. I think that's why I wanted to focus so much on community, because I could not have done this alone. I know I'm the face of the company, I'm the majority owner, and it’s basically my brainchild, but I cannot take full credit for it because my partners have been incredibly supportive. Every single time somebody's like, "Oh, this is my dream, how did you do it?" I'm like, "Girl, do you really want to know?” Because it's not easy. So it means everything to me. It makes me happy to think that I'm building something that inspires other people to go for it.

Palma is your first in-house roasted coffee, how did that come about?

Palma was such a labor of love for us, and it took us months to really create a flavor profile that represented those Dominican flavors, but was also really good and versatile. It's good on drip, it's good on espresso. We had to go through so many different beans and roasts to have it taste perfect, so it took a lot of work and a lot of research. But I think that only makes it so much better and so much more close to my heart. We're so proud of it. Kevin got really, really into the roasting part of coffee, which I was not interested in, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm the people side of things, and he's more the logistics and back end. He got into the roasting process and how to bring out certain flavors, and we decided that that was going to be a part of the growth of the company — roasting our own beans, so we have more control over the quality and the taste, and so it's more aligned with our mission and brand.

In terms of your coffee education, are you self-taught?

I am a proud student of YouTube University. With coffee, I always had a curiosity for it, because I drank coffee and visited all these shops. I started developing a different palette and figuring out what I like, what I didn't like. I remember when I first learned about cold brew, I'm like, “This is crazy. What do you mean this took six hours to brew?” Kevin, who's like super intense and one of the smartest people I know, really started getting into it and studying it. So he was, like, showing me kind of like all the things that you can do with it. As soon as I started getting really serious about it, we did a couple of cuppings. 90% of it is self-taught and curiosity, and then the other is either YouTube or cuppings.

What is the best album to open the cafe to?

I have Khruangbin’s Essentials playlist or Eternal Sunshine, Ariana Grande in the morning when nobody's here.

Best album to close the cafe to?

I want to say something upbeat, because we're cleaning. So, I like to put my reggaeton playlist, Un Verano Sin Ti [Bad Bunny].

What are you looking forward to the most in the future of Casaroma?

When I started talking about Casaroma, obviously, it's a coffee shop and it's a product-based business. But I don't think I work in the coffee business, I think I work in the people business. I'm looking forward to the brand bringing more people together, and shining a light on the Dominican Republic and our people, and our culture, and the beauty of it. I went to the Dominican Republic when I was five, but it was under very dark circumstances; I grew up there and I was able to experience such a beautiful childhood, and such a rich culture. I always say, I am who I am because of where I grew up. So I want Casaroma to be what makes people see DR in that light. I'm so proud of being Dominican. One thing people don't have to ask me twice is, “Where are you from?” I will defend Dominicans to the end. So I'm excited to continue to shine light on the beauty of the Caribbean, specifically the Dominican Republic, because I've been through a lot, and the island has a lot of dark history as well. In every lifetime, I would pick being Dominican.

The funny thing is my mom is Puerto Rican, so I'm half Puerto Rican, and people are like, "You don't represent PR, you don't rep it as hard.” And I'm like, “I'm sorry. I grew up in DR. Like, what can I say?”

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With that said, I am on a mission to maximize the next 7 weeks of summer. To be honest, the first half of my summer was subpar, so I am making an active choice to make what is left of it more than just a humid work-to-home commute, and vice versa.

Here is my summer summary so far:

COFFEE

I have had approximately 30 cups of coffee from % Arabica since the start of summer. That is about 30 cortados over ice (sometimes hot) with a splash of simple syrup.

% Arabica is a coffee company that began in Japan and now has locations all over the world (an impressively expansive reach). I frequent the Midtown location, which opened about two years ago. I go here during my coffee break at work, and it is undoubtedly one of my favorite parts of my day. By the third time I visited Arabica, the baristas remembered my name and order — proof that the staff is as nice as they come. Every single cup of coffee I have had here has been as delicious as the last. There is something to be said for consistency, and this location nails it to a tee. Not to mention, the interior design, done by the Spanish architecture firm Selgascano, gives the space a cozy, wooden, subterranean feel. Knowing that I will always get a good cup of coffee, a pleasant chat with the baristas, and a calm 10-minute escape from the rest of NYC has made % Arabica in Midtown one of my slivers of summer goodness.

WEARING

Culottes. That is all I want to wear. I wear them to the office, I wear them to bars, I wear them at home… Culottes are my idea of a perfect pant! In fact, I don't think I have enough culottes, so I am looking into buying more as we speak. They’re the perfect representation of how I like to dress: comfortable, stylish, flowy—one with the wind. Yeah, it’s the summer of the culotte. Thank you.

LISTENING

Hermanos Gutierrez ft. Leon Bridges - Elegantly Wasted

Delicious summer sounds, featuring one of my current faves, LB.

Lana Del Rey - Venice Bitch

A 9-minute summer delight, the last 5 minutes of this song are the kind of summer trance I want to be in.

Talk soon!

MVP

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If we have not met yet, my name is Maria Victoria Polanco. I was born in the Dominican Republic and was brought to New York City at age 7 for a traditional Dominican-York upbringing in The Bronx. This is important. (This is the lens I use often)

I find myself at 25 years old, curious as ever, but still fighting myself on JUST DOING THINGS. The truth is, I need to hold myself accountable for the things I desire most. Mostly, firstly, give in to those desires. I feel the scales tipping over in the direction of “now is the time”. I spent the first few years of my 20s galivanting in “I have time”, “I’ll get to it”, “tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow”; a tale old as time.

Which brings me to this place: I’ve only heard of Substack in passing, but I felt a gravitational pull towards it. This is a test, a tryout of sorts.

*Some more context — I do not consider myself a writer, but I recognize the importance of writing. I have a lot of respect for writers, people who can string words together and make perfect sense, make your heart flutter, and make a complicated idea absolutely clear. In my mind, writers are some of the coolest out there. Writing in my life, for the most part, has been academic, and now I am searching for how else it fits into my life.*

To bring this hello to a close, I will be sharing my thoughts on whatever I cannot stop thinking about that week, my photography, conversations I have with other people in the form of interviews, and leaving it open for more fun. I would love for you to join me on here as I explore my interests, as a true child of the internet — publicly, of course.

More soon.

Walking the streets of New York City after work, Summer 2025

Fomapan 200, with a $6 point & shoot from a thrift store.