Melissa Villanueva of Brewpoint Coffee on Creating Avenues for Café Owners of Color Interview with Brewpoint Coffee CEO and Founder Melissa Villanueva about balancing community and larger ambitions, creating opportunities for people of color, and equity and inclusion in business.

By Shawn P. Walchef

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Takeaways:

Being Both Hyper Local & Hyper National - Melissa Villanueva prefers coffee shops without drive thrus to harbor the feel of local community. However, she is inspired by Chip and Joanna Gaines and hopes for Brewpoint Coffee to mimic the famous duo's national notoriety and simultaneous small town soul.

A Core of Equity and Inclusion - Melissa Villanueva has built Brewpoint Coffee on a specific set of core values. These days, those values have evolved to include equity and inclusion in every facet of the company.

Cultivate More Cafe Owners - Representation Matters. Melissa Villanueva represents a litany of minority demographics in the cafe space, but she has plans to make Brewpoint Coffee a place to cultivate more cafe business owners of color.

***

"If I was to say there were two words I would want my ecosystem to be defined by, it's a system that is equitable and a system that's inclusive."

Melissa Villanueva is the CEO and Founder of Brewpoint Coffee and author of "Starting and Running a Coffee Shop". Like the title to her book and her quote above suggests, she has aspirations to grow Brewpoint Coffee and teach other people of color how to effectively find their way in the café space.

Villanueva's personal journey to open a coffee shop mimics the trajectory of Brewpoint's growth from a shop to a company.

"While I was out in the Philippines during the self-discovery trip, I ended up dreaming about opening a coffee shop someday because it's a great way to build a community," Villanueva says on the Restaurant Influencers podcast hosted by Shawn P. Walchef of CaliBBQ Media. "Ended up coming back from the Philippines, found this coffee shop on Craigslist, ended up buying it with it within a month."

Just that quickly, Villanueva and her then boyfriend, now husband, were in business.

Always the dreamer, Villanueva jumped headfirst into the venture with the idea of incremental improvement. Her blissful ignorance, or self proclaimed "delusion", of what it took to run a coffee business allowed her to act on her dreams. Unlike most business owners, though, she was more interested than simply generating income.

"At the core of it was because I had amazing staff that I wanted to see if they could have a career in coffee," Villanueva says of her initial motivation behind expansion. "I started dreaming about, okay, let's have a second space. And can the second space be a place that we roast coffee and we have a second cafe within this? We could have enough cash flow to justify higher wages to be able to have a career in coffee."

Brewpoint's core values continue to evolve as the company evolves. Drawing inspiration from famous real estate couple Chip and Joanna Gaines, Villanueva wishes to grow Brewpoint Coffee while remaining true to the core value of community. In addition, it has become increasingly important for the coffee company to harbor an environment that is inclusive and equitable from top to bottom, and look internally to ask the right questions that ensure the plan is being executed.

Now eight years in, Villanueva is no longer delusional about starting a business, but remains as bold as ever in her endeavors. One thing is for sure, Villenueva and Brewpoint have made their mark in the Greater Chicago area and have plans of taking their ideas global by empowering others to embark on their own journeys.

***

NOMINATE A RESTAURANT INFLUENCER — Do you know someone who is killing it on social media? Let us know by emailing influencers@calibbq.media or sending the @calibbqmedia team a DM on social media.

ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS:

Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

Toast — Powering Successful Restaurants. Learn more about Toast.

Shawn P. Walchef

Founder of Cali BBQ Media

“Be the show, not the commercial.”

Cali BBQ Media Founder Shawn Walchef helps brands and leaders leverage the new Business Creator Economy with strategic Smartphone Storytelling and Digital Hospitality.

His Cali BBQ restaurant company has generated more than $35 million since opening in 2008. They operate numerous locations in San Diego and beyond.

Shawn’s weekly video series Restaurant Influencers (published by Entrepreneur Media and produced by Cali BBQ Media) has been seen by over 25 million people.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

More from Restaurant Influencers

Jon Taffer Teamed Up With This $300 Million Franchise Company to Build Something Bigger Than Restaurants

How This Massive Food Company Turned Its Fleet of Trucks into Rolling Billboards — And the Lesson It Teaches About Brand-Building

A Conversation About AI With Sam Altman Blew Their Minds — So They Wrote the Playbook for Businesses That Want to Use the Tech

His Bakery's Window Got Smashed — But What He Did Next Actually Helped His Business

Science & Technology

How I Went From Side Hustle to 7 Figures Using These 4 AI Tools (No Tech Skills Needed)

Scale faster, work less and grow a 7-figure business — no team needed.

Business Solutions

Manage Clients, Projects, and Sales Without Leaving Your Dashboard

Sellful gives you a suite of tools to run websites, CRM, invoicing, marketing, and more.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Travel

This $50 Lifetime Travel Hack Is Made for Remote Workers

OneAir helps you save on global flights and hotels even after you've already booked.

Health & Wellness

How Mastering Your Nervous System Boosts Leadership Presence and Performance

Discover a modern leadership system designed to boost your effectiveness, reduce stress and bring more clarity and joy to how you lead.

Real Estate

Why Buying a 'Second Home' First is the New Way to Build Wealth — and Enjoy Free Vacations

The dream of owning a home has never felt more out of reach. So, a growing number of aspiring homeowners are making an unconventional choice.