Would you like an Intro?
Would you like an Intro?
On today's edition of Would you like an Intro? we talk to Erica Escalante, a cafe and bakery consultant who helps independent coffee shop and bakery owners build profitable, people-first businesses — based in Los Angeles, working everywhere.
Erica Escalante opened her first cafe in Portland at 21. By the time she closed it nearly a decade later, she had two locations, a wholesale bakery program, a full food menu, and a commissary kitchen that was keeping other small businesses alive around her. She did every job in that building. The payroll, the hiring, the 6am opens, the pricing decisions made on the back of a napkin because no one was there to help.
"I help coffee shop owners the way I wish someone had helped me."
That line isn't a tagline. It's a statement of what was missing when she needed it most — and what she's built her practice around now.
After moving to Southern California in 2021 and stepping into operations leadership at Canyon Coffee and Goodboybob Coffee Roasters, Erica turned her full focus to consulting. She works with independent cafe and bakery owners across the country on the things that determine whether a business lasts: menu pricing, training systems, operational strategy, team structure, and the financial picture most owners don't look at closely enough until something breaks.
Her full cafe business audit is a deep dive — operations, financials, systems, menu, all of it — built for owners who are either scaling fast or barely staying afloat and need a real plan, not a pep talk. She also runs strategy sessions for owners who just need someone in their corner who knows the numbers, and leads workshops and the Reina Cafe Accelerator for owners who want structured support and a community that gets it.
Her work isn't prescriptive. It's built around the real-life experiences of owners who are doing everything themselves — and it meets them there.
Independent cafes and bakeries are some of the most locally powerful businesses on any block. They're where people start their mornings, meet their neighbors, and decide whether a neighborhood feels like somewhere worth staying. When they thrive, the whole street changes. When they close, that block gets quieter.
Erica helps owners build businesses that are worth keeping. The ones that pay people fairly, make real money, and are still standing five years from now. That's the kind of business that shapes a neighborhood — and the kind worth knowing.
If you're a cafe or bakery owner who's been running on instinct and could use a real outside perspective, she's worth a conversation.
Drop her a line — we'll be copied so we can make a proper introduction.
Say hello to EricaWould you like an Intro? is a NuMarket series spotlighting the advisors, operators, and specialists worth knowing — people in your corner as a local business owner.