Daily Inspiration: Meet Yazmine Vargas Root

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yazmine Vargas Root.

Hi Yazmine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Starting a small downtown cafe has always been something that I envisioned for myself. I grew up in a family that were filled with small business owners; my father, my uncle, my cousin… it was a very “normal” thing. So, again, it was something I did always picture for myself, it was something that I aspired for. BUT, it was always a retirement dream, I guess I never really imagined myself as a young adult opening something so influential here in Kalamazoo.

Since a young age, maybe about 15, I started working in the service and food industry. I did that all through high school then university and even into my career, I was interning as a graphic designer and working at a restaurant post college.

Early in 2022 my sister called me and told me about a business she was planning on opening in Gilbert, Arizona. A matcha cafe that was gluten-free and dairy-free. She knew that I had extensive experience in the food industry while she had little, so she asked me to come down and help her open up. I had just gotten married to my husband, Tyler Root, and a week after the wedding we packed our car, dropped our dog and cats off at his parents, and drove to Arizona to stay for 3 months… it would have been longer if I didn’t have to finish my last year of college.

And that is where we got our idea. Matcha cafes have been very popular on the west coast and even slightly in the east coast for some time by the time we got to Arizona. Though, us being from the midwest, it was very new to us. We learned a lot from my sister. With her permission, when we got back, we realized that maybe this was something that we wanted to bring back with us. We had noticed that in the Kalamazoo area, matcha had been growing in popularity and that there was a lack of good gluten-free, dairy-free/vegan baked good options. There were PLENTY of cafes, PLENTY of roasters, but no alternatives.

Tyler immediately started doing research. Was gluten-free, dairy-free/vegan something that Kalamazoo was asking for? Was matcha popular enough in this small midwest city? Did Kalamazoo want something like this? We started small; we started at the Kalamazoo Farmers Market with a couple matcha lattes. And our community LOVED it. And quickly, we grew from there. This was 2 years ago. In October of 2024, we got this wonderful opportunity to open a brick and mortar. With so much confidence because of the farmers market, we opened! Growing our menu even further and offering a completely gluten-free, dairy-free environment. Our community is supporting us and embracing us and we are so happy being here to offer them this.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Personally, I would say opening a business is never a smooth road. Especially one that is curated a specific way. There were quite some struggles along the way, whether it’s financial, emotional, mental and/or physical. There is so much that you don’t realize you need or you don’t think about. It’s very taxing… but it’s so worth it.

You know… going into this I was very sure that I could manage it all. That I knew what was coming: the physical labour, the paperwork, the late nights, I knew. I watched my mom and dad do it growing up. The first couple of weeks were hard, not only was I working the actual cafe during the day but, I was also staying late, sometimes till 2-3am baking for the following days. ALL while also working full time as a graphic design contractor for Landscape Forms. I won’t lie, there were many many tears and this overwhelming fear that I couldn’t do it. But, I am so lucky and grateful for my husband and the family that I have as they quickly offered to help.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I guess a little about my background… I was always an art student growing up. I graduated university with a Graphic Design Degree. Post University I worked at a company based in Kalamazoo, Landscape Forms for about 1.5 years where I then quit to take more classes to further my design background. All in the middle of all of this I was working in the service industry, working in restaurants here in Kalamazoo but also in Grand Rapids. I like to think that once you’re in for as long as I was, at least, it’s hard to leave. It really is hard being used to working in a fast paced environment, a little chaotic, to then go to work 8+ hours in an office. I love graphic design, I truly do. I love illustration, I love making art. But, as a job, it is a little hard and really caused me to lose enjoyment in design. But, I have been feeling more inspired and creative as of late, and maybe it’s because I am no longer designing as a job and I now get to do it with my free time. It’s great having a little bit of both, the fast paced/chaotic environment and the enjoyment of creating.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
We love the support. We love the reviews. We love the want to be a part of our shop.

There are many ways to support us! Even just word of mouth is amazing. Not everyone loves matcha yet we still get the “I am so excited this is here anyways!”, and we love that. Honestly, it doesn’t even have to be an official google or yelp review but when someone tells me that they are enjoying the things that I am making and baking, it really just pushes me to keep going and to keep growing with the cafe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://matchacitacafe.square.site
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matchacitakzoo