Irma Mesa - Founder of Cafecito
When Irma Mesa (she/her/hers) started working from home, she quickly realized one thing she missed - the casual conversations with co-workers that not only provide a brief distraction from work but also help to create new ideas and push projects forward. How do you fill this space in a WFH world? You create the solution yourself. While Cafecito, a virtual coffee-break matchmaker that pairs you with creatives in tech and business with similar goals and interests, was founded before COVID, this platform is more relevant and needed now more than ever. We had the chance to chat with Irma about all things Cafecito and entrepreneur hacks for this week’s Featured Founder.
What is the most beneficial hack you wish you knew when you started your business?
Quitting all apps like Slack, Discord, and even my Gmail tab between 5-5:30pm. It has helped create separation between work and my personal life and also gives me a clear "end of day". In the beginning I was online until midnight sometimes working, talking with my devs, etc. but I realized not only was it not healthy for me but I wasn't setting a good example for the rest of the team. Biggest hack that impacts every aspect of my day and I practice it daily!
What hack or resource saves you the most time in your work day?
For me waking up early and then going straight into writing down my personal and work goals for the day in my journal make a huge difference because intentionally doing this provides me with focus. Since I work full-time at my day job and also run Cafecito (which is my company) having set goals and set blocks of time in my calendar saves me a good number of hours each day. Otherwise, I'd be scrolling Twitter and LinkedIn procrastinating what I should be doing next :(
Favorite motto or quote that keeps you inspired?
If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
Book(s) that inspire you/your company?
New Startup Mindset: Ten Mindset Shifts to Build the Company
by Sandra Shpilberg
In your personal life, what is one daily practice or habit you have to keep you centered and grounded?
Going out to my backyard and closing my eyes for a few seconds.
Who or what was the biggest motivator for you when you started your business?
My partner! She's my biggest cheerleader and once she heard the problem I was looking to solve in remote work and the impact I wanted to make she kept pushing me to keep going and to take risks.
What is one action you want every woman entrepreneur reading this to take this week?
Pay it forward in time, money, or connections. Find 1 person this week whether it's someone in your network or a stranger you scroll by on a social platform who's asking for help and offer your help. It means the world to folks who don't have the access or the social capital to have 20-30 mins of your time.
What has been the biggest highlight running your own company?
Meeting the folks that are signing up and using Cafecito! There are people from all over the world (Germany, Portugal, the US) and hearing their stories about how Cafecito is helping them break away from their day to day tasks through our 1:1 coffee meetings pushes me to keep going.
What are your top three goals for your company this year?
Grow to 5,000 members by end of Q4. Please share Cafecito with a friend or colleague no matter where in the world they are :)
Test and launch our v1 web app. Always looking for beta testers! Help me break the app so that we can make it the best platform before launch.
Find a partner or non-profit org we can give back to once we launched premium memberships.