Kindness and Mischief founder Mo Maravilla shares how she’s pivoting to maintain her enterprise afloat throughout attempting occasions.
BY MELINA DEVONEY
FOR BARISTA MAGAZINE
Featured picture courtesy of Kindness and Mischief
Mo Maravilla is the founder and proprietor of Kindness and Mischief Espresso Roasters (Okay+M) in Highland Park, Los Angeles. She is a Filipino immigrant with a fierce, energetic, colourful presence and a self-proclaimed “villainous snicker.”
After 9 and a half years of enterprise, Mo was pressured to chop Okay+M’s enterprise hours from every day to Thursday by means of Sunday this previous June. Though the transfer was a devastating necessity to maintain enterprise alive, Mo is really excited for this new period that she coined “Lengthy Weekend at Okay+M.”
Almost a Decade of Kindness and Mischief
Though it’s simple to go by Okay+M’s small storefront on essentially the most full of life road of Highland Park, as soon as inside, it’s unforgettable.
Each nook is colourful and stuffed with crops, disco balls, and seasonal decorations. An indication above the bar reads, “No additional cost for alt milk since day one, b-tches.” Energetic music—probably T-Ache, Beyoncé or Unhealthy Bunny—rounds out the vibe.
The complete Okay+M workforce proudly represents systemically marginalized communities and folks of colour. Mo describes Okay+M baristas and cooks as “joyous” and “completely so good and type.” Everybody on the workforce works onerous as will be within the café, the place they’re free to completely flaunt their personalities and values, even when that entails slightly mischief.
Fostering this spirit is Mo’s number-one precedence. Since opening the doorways of her café, she has aspired to assist passionate baristas and cooks thrive in doing what they love, with out counting on a number of jobs to pay their payments. “We might not be doing all of the sh-t that we do if I wished to be wealthy. I’ve by no means wished to be that place that solely focuses on the underside line,” Mo says. “I’ve solely ever wished sufficient.”
On the peak of Okay+M, Mo might fortunately give her workforce raises and deal with them to common employees outings. Nevertheless, like many small companies in Los Angeles, Okay+M by no means generated sufficient income to supply staff full monetary safety and medical health insurance. Mo continues to be decided to sometime make it occur, even in gentle of Okay+M’s current monetary struggles.
Making a “Gnarly” Determination
Okay+M will not be distinctive concerning its waning gross sales over the past half-decade, particularly not in Los Angeles. Companies of all sizes haven’t been in a position to escape blow after blow to the native economic system: the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the writers’ strikes in 2023, this yr’s Palisades and Eaton fires, and the Trump administration’s tariffs and ongoing stoking of social unrest.
“I had identified for fairly a while how unhealthy it was getting, however I didn’t wish to pull the set off on doing something drastic as a result of I like my workforce, I like my group. I need (the café) to be open as many days as doable,” Mo says.
In the previous couple of years, Mo had put certainly one of her favourite elements of the job—creating enjoyable menu gadgets and collaborating with pals and employees—on the again burner with a purpose to simplify bar workflow and reduce prices. Okay+M had turn into what “felt like a latte manufacturing facility,” with a line of baristas slinging an iteration of the identical seasonal drinks month after month.
“I like our seasonals, however if you’re working seven days every week attempting to outlive, there’s not a lot house for creativity, no bandwidth for brand spanking new stuff,” Mo says.
Mo didn’t need Okay+M’s struggles to increase to the store, the place clients might sense the misplaced religion and tanked morale as quickly as they walked in. This summer time, she lastly reached a degree the place she needed to grapple with closing Okay+M altogether.
Mo knew she’d remorse closing with out attempting completely every thing doable—every thing besides letting staff go or slicing their hours. However Mo had already reduce her personal pay, borrowed cash to make payroll, took out an Financial Harm Catastrophe Mortgage, and maxed out eight bank cards, totaling round $70,000.
After months of monitoring Okay+M’s funds and strategizing along with her workforce leads, “the mathematics was not mathing,” Mo says, “The writing was very, very clear on the wall.” Okay+M could be within the gap by summer time. And June confirmed Okay+M no reprieve.
Mo has discovered to behave quick on what her coronary heart tells her. This time round, it informed her “change or die,” and that ready it out would solely dig Okay+M deeper into its personal grave.
So she made what she calls the “gnarly” determination to shut up store half the week and make investments every thing in bringing clients one of the best Okay+M expertise doable on the 4 days per week it might be open.
Valuing transparency, Mo first informed her staff the deal individually, then shared her monetary spreadsheets in a workforce assembly. As Mo anticipated, not everybody agreed along with her technique, which she attributes to the norm of firms prioritizing the underside line. “It is rather tough to unlearn that cash is an important factor,” Mo says.
Redirecting Towards Pleasure
Mo calls Okay+M’s new format Lengthy Weekend. The technique nixes the demoralizing gradual hours and maximizes the worthwhile ones. Workers keep the identical variety of weekly hours—they’re simply packed into 4 days of intense work. And he or she joins them behind the bar.
“Time’s gonna fly, and I be ok with having everybody on shift as a result of we want them,” she says. “We’re simply gonna occasion all shift.”
Mo redirected Okay+M towards what brings her pleasure: sourcing distinctive espresso from new roasters, experimenting with flavors from all over the world, collaborating with native companies, and diving deeper into the “enjoyable, nerdy sh-t.”
Realizing full effectively {that a} recreation plan based mostly on “type of bougie” and “positively coffee-nerdy” drinks was going to be “costly as all hell,” Mo thought, “If we’re gonna do that, we’re gonna exit like a vibrant, shining star.”
And the Lengthy Weekend menu actually goes all out. Drinks are cut up into classes of “kindness” and “mischief.” The previous are signature drinks (regulars are hooked on “The OG Kindness” and the banana milk latte), and the latter are the brand new, rotating number of one-of-a-kind pourovers (e.g., SCOBY Anaerobic 72H and “Banana Break up” toffee culturing).
“I hadn’t had that a lot pleasure about our menu providing in a very long time,” Mo says of the expertise of dialing within the “mischief” pourovers. With extra time to breathe and brainstorm, Mo and her kitchen workforce are additionally arising with themed meals specials that includes cuisines from internationally, like an adobo mushroom breakfast burrito.
These three days that Okay+M is closed to the general public, nonetheless, is not going to be quiet ones. Having efficiently hosted espresso courses previously, Mo intends to supply up extra instructional workshops and different outdoors occasions Monday by means of Wednesday. “I’m so excited to have the ability to use the house in several methods to create accessibility in different methods,” she says.
Okay+M’s Strengths Poise “Lengthy Weekend” for Success
Main with authenticity and a “folks first” mission, the Okay+M model is really a mirrored image of Mo. “The one method I understand how to be is genuine to myself,” she says. “I don’t wish to put effort and time and sources into one thing that I don’t absolutely imagine in.”
Mo’s definition of a “profitable” enterprise is one which cares deeply for its staff and clients above all else. “Management is simply classes in humanity. Good leaders perceive the way to be an excellent human to others, and in addition to (themselves),” she says.
Treating folks with kindness and respect has at all times been Mo’s North Star. Her give attention to the well-being of her workforce and group is what units Okay+M aside, and its greatest power is the workforce that follows go well with.
Mo’s confidence in her enthusiastic and devoted workforce going full power into Lengthy Weekend by no means wavered. Because the chief, she exhibits as much as work every day and units the tone for a give-it-all-you-got tradition. She hires baristas who thrive within the hustle with top-notch latte artwork and customer support, and who can dial in and extract super-unique coffees to perfection.
Okay+M’s Strongest Advertising and marketing Asset Is Its Help Community
Mo has efficiently broadened Okay+M’s attain and income stream by means of public espresso courses, in addition to a cellular espresso cart; nonetheless, neither is as beneficial because the group she has cultivated by means of shared values.
“If this isn’t your jam, then that’s cool. You don’t gotta be right here,” she says. “We’ve all these superb people who come right here as a result of they wish to really feel seen and accepted.”
Mo says and does what she authentically feels on and offline. Her far-reaching involvement in her native and international communities, mixed with native word-of-mouth, organically grew Okay+M’s Instagram presence, which now boasts 13.1K followers and counting.
Okay+M’s enjoyable, vibrant Instagram grid is sprinkled with socio-political calls to motion and clear, considerate narratives. This resonates along with her buyer base, which is basically comprised of a various group of politically energetic creatives. Moreover, a good portion of them embrace the 50% of customers who’re prepared to pay extra for supreme high quality and sustainable espresso.
“99.99999% of our buyer base are simply type, good, good folks, artistic folks. And that’s what you see mirrored behind bar,” Mo says.
Working example: Upon listening to the Lengthy Weekend technique, one barista piped up instantly to ask, “What about our regulars who are available in Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday?” Mo was touched by the barista’s real “folks first” perspective.
Okay+M actually fosters a reciprocal relationship between its workforce and clients. All through all of Okay+M’s difficult occasions, regulars have continued to verify in on the well-being of the workforce, and even a number of have supplied Okay+M monetary assist.
“I knew so absolutely that my group would maintain me on this hell-ish second,” Mo says about launching Lengthy Weekend. “It looks like a child studying the way to stroll. However what feels so good and sure is that there’s a village serving to that child learn to stroll.”
Such robust assist for Okay+M didn’t seem out of skinny air, after all; it was fostered with a function. For Mo, establishing store wherever have to be finished with nice consciousness and intentionality of the encompassing group. She has developed a deep love for Highland Park and has at all times aimed to present again to the group.
“I absolutely imagine that companies can come right into a neighborhood and be like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do good by this group.’ However I additionally absolutely imagine that plenty of them didn’t try this and don’t give a sh-t. They see no humanity in anybody right here. They simply see greenback indicators.”
Till the very finish, Mo will proceed to place her group first. “If I can not uphold my worth system in the way in which I run this, then I don’t wish to run it,” she says.
Mo would like to return to seven-days-a-week service finally, however it doesn’t matter what transpires, she’ll by no means see the Lengthy Weekend venture as a waste. Mo is steadfast in her dedication to attempting every thing she will with out compromising her values.
This text initially appeared within the August + September 2025 concern of Barista Journal. Learn extra of the difficulty on-line right here totally free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melina Devoney (she/her) is a barista and freelance author in Los Angeles zeroed in on espresso and agriculture. She goals to amplify the voices of farmers and a variety of views throughout the espresso business, and she or he’s happiest when working on wooded trails and dancing at concert events.
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