Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brittany Mann, Founder of Hao Bao Bao Coffee, located in Winter Springs, FL, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We started Hao Bao Bao Coffee (meaning "precious baby" in Chinese) in the summer of 2019 as a way to raise money for adopting our second son from China. We did all the random fundraisers in 2017-2018 to raise money to bring our first son home from China in November 2018, as we are teachers and didn't have $35,000 in our back pockets to pay for international adoption. After spending a few hours in his orphanage on Thanksgiving Day '18, we knew we would be starting the journey again as soon as possible, as there are SO many precious children just waiting and waiting for a family.

We also saw a huge need to educate the general population on adoption awareness and, even more importantly, family preservation. Darren had learned to roast coffee in college from his penny-pinching coffee connoisseur friends. (Fun fact: They would hide and roast coffee in their floor's utility closet, as they were afraid of breaking the school's rules and setting off the fire alarm!) He had roasted coffee as gifts for family and friends, and they would always encourage him to sell it, but then we moved to Wuhan, China, and eventually Hong Kong, so we didn't think too much of it.

Once we started our second adoption in two years, we wanted to keep the fundraising "simple" and stick with something people already buy...so why not coffee?! We also knew that we could use the platform to share about adoption-related issues and precious children waiting for a family. Three years later, our "simple" adoption fundraiser has grown to a full-time business! We sell our roast-to-order coffee online all over America and have a mobile coffee trailer that we set up on Saturdays at Sanford's farmer's market and throughout the week at local places, as well as participating in private and community events.

When our second adoption was fully funded in January 2020, and China put a hold on all adoptions due to COVID, we had other adoptive families reach out and ask us if we could help them fundraise too. We now partner with an adoptive family per month, or a charity working towards family preservation and donate $1 from every bag of coffee we sell and a portion of our tips from events. To date, we have raised $12,000 (and counting!) for 19 adoptive families and two charities and helped fund heart surgery for a precious boy in China!

Tell us about yourself

We met in college in Chicago, even though we're both originally from Indiana. We are teachers and absolutely loved living in Asia for five years, exploring such a unique and diverse continent, and eating the most delicious food! We had both been to international orphanages as young people, so it was always on our hearts to adopt someday. When we lived in China, we learned first-hand about the need for families to say "YES!" too precious children by watching our friends adopt their precious son and having another friend who fostered so many sweet children. We were just waiting to finally qualify to adopt from China, which happened after we moved back to the States and our daughter turned three years old in 2017. The moment we saw our son's picture and his name (which just so happened to be the same as our last name!), we knew he was our boy. We were in China a year from the day we started the process, and he is an absolute blessing to our family. We were on track to bring our next son home from China in June 2020; however, due to COVID travel restrictions, we are still waiting to adopt him.

We have been SO blessed by the generosity of others to be fully funded to adopt our sons, so it gives us such great joy each month to write the check out to an adoptive family or charity, paying it forward for what others have done for us. We also love partnering with family preservation organizations to help support families so that abandonment doesn't have to happen. When families are properly supported, then everyone wins! We've been able to help feed families in Uganda and donate money towards needed home renovations for a Ugandan mother of five. We also have donated money and, through the support of our caffeinated village, raised all the funds needed for a precious four-year-old boy in China to have life-saving heart surgery. We know that if we were in these desperate situations where we couldn't afford basic needs and medical care for our children, we would want someone to stand in the gap for us. We are just so honored to be able to stand with these families to help vulnerable children around the world all through selling coffee. Coffee can truly change lives!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Our biggest accomplishment is not how much we've made or how fast we've grown, but how much we have given away! We will be coming up on two years in September of partnering with an adoptive family or charity every month and raising around $500+ each month to give away, as well as post donation links for others to give as well. Some months we have had people match our donation or give even more. We are always blown away by how generous people are and are just looking for ways to support a good cause. It's humbling to think that our little side business has raised over $12,000, and as we grow to a full-time business, we are excited about how much more we can donate to vulnerable children and families!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

We are teachers, so there was a BIG learning curve with starting a business. We had to rely on family and friends to help us learn the different aspects of running a business. But the neat part about that is that it has deepened our relationships. We needed them to teach and advise us, making them an intricate part of our mission and business. They have also been our biggest cheerleaders, and we truly couldn't have grown this business without their heart-felt support, guidance, and encouragement along the way.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Do what you love and share your story with others! We love coffee and helping others, so it truly is a joy and honor to roast coffee and connect with people every day, either in person or via social media.
  2. Give some of your profits away, even if it's just a little bit! If you make it a regular part of your business to give to others, it will motivate you to grow, and hopefully, others will join you when they see your passion. Be transparent about your giving (we post our donation total every day in our stories on social media so that people know exactly how much money we are giving) so your customers trust you.
  3. Ask for help and learn from others. As a business owner, you might feel like you have to be an expert on every aspect of business, but you can welcome your family and friends into your business's mission by asking for their expertise. Then they will feel invested in your mission and hopefully want to share it with others. Truly it takes a village to start a business!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://haobaobaocoffee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaoBaoBaoCoffee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hao.bao.bao.coffee

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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