Today we’d like to introduce you to Parisa Ghaderi.
Hi Parisa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey to starting Parisa Cafe Co was anything but a straight line.
I have always been someone who believes in learning, working hard, and finding a way to stand on my own feet. Over the years, I pursued very different paths. I earned a master’s degree in law, studied cybersecurity engineering, became a certified nursing assistant with the intention of entering nursing, and spent several years working in social services. On paper, these paths may seem completely unrelated, but each one taught me something about myself, and eventually helped me understand what I truly wanted from my life.
For the past seven years, I have also spent a lot of time on self discovery. One question became increasingly important to me: Am I actually enjoying the life I am building, or am I simply working to earn a paycheck and continue the routine I am supposed to follow?
I think many people can relate to that feeling. Sometimes we become so focused on getting the degree, finding the job, paying the bills, and reaching the next milestone that we forget to ask ourselves whether the life we are creating actually feels like our own.
For me, that realization changed everything.
Food and creativity had always been part of my life. My mother is an incredible cook and baker, and growing up around her gave me a deep appreciation for flavor, quality, and making things with care. After moving to the United States, I especially missed the kind of cakes I grew up enjoying, balanced, flavorful, and not overwhelmingly sweet. So I started baking my own.
What began simply became something much bigger. I started receiving cake orders and discovered how much I loved creating something with my hands and then seeing someone genuinely enjoy it. Eventually, that passion evolved beyond baking, and the idea for Parisa Cafe Co began to take shape.
I realized that what made me happiest was actually very simple: creating something exceptional, sharing it with people, talking with them, and hopefully adding a small moment of happiness to their day. My years in social work had already shown me how meaningful human connection could be. I wanted to combine that part of myself with my creativity and my love for coffee, matcha, and desserts.
That is the heart behind Parisa Cafe Co.
From the beginning, I have been extremely particular about quality. I searched extensively for coffee and matcha that I would personally be excited to drink even without syrups or toppings. I source high quality coffee locally, and my matcha comes fresh from Japan. Then I bring my own creativity into it, transforming those ingredients into premium, dessert inspired specialty drinks and making many of my syrups in house.
Building the business, however, has been far less glamorous than it may sometimes look from the outside.
I started without years of experience in the mobile café or event industry, so there was a tremendous amount I had to learn on my own. I discovered some major events only after their application deadlines had passed. I sent emails that never received responses. I heard “no” many times. There were opportunities I missed simply because I didn’t yet know how the industry worked.
But I kept going.
Even now, when I close the trailer after a long day, my work usually isn’t finished. I come home and start researching new locations, finding events, sending emails, following up, creating content, improving recipes, and figuring out what I can do better the next day. There has been an enormous amount of work behind every small step forward.
And that is why the response from my customers means so much to me.
I now have customers who come back specifically for my coffee and matcha, and sometimes when I post that I am closed for the day, I receive messages asking when I will be back because they were hoping to get their favorite drink. Those messages may seem small, but to me, they are some of the most meaningful signs that all of the work has been worth it.
I don’t consider my story a finished success story. I am still building it. I am still learning, working long days, hearing “no,” making mistakes, and figuring things out as I go.
But today, I am doing something that genuinely feels like me, something that combines creativity, quality, human connection, and the simple joy of making someone’s day a little better.
And for me, that has already made the journey worth it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think building something you truly care about is ever a completely smooth road, and mine definitely hasn’t been.
The challenges actually started before Parisa Cafe Co ever served its first drink. When I decided to build a mobile café, I had no experience in the food trailer industry. I spent almost a year working through the process of getting my trailer, and what I initially thought would be the more affordable and practical way to start a café became much more complicated and expensive than I ever expected. There were permits, approvals, equipment requirements, unexpected costs, and countless details I had to learn along the way.
In the beginning, I didn’t really have anyone guiding me through the process. Professional advice often came at a cost that was difficult for a brand new small business, so I decided to educate myself. I researched constantly, asked questions, made mistakes, corrected them, and kept moving forward. Looking back, some of those mistakes became my most valuable lessons. The experience I have today came largely from the things I had to figure out when I didn’t know what I was doing yet.
Once the trailer was ready, I discovered an entirely different challenge, finding places to actually operate. I had no idea how competitive the mobile food and beverage industry was in Michigan. I would find an event or location I was excited about, only to learn that their vendor schedule had been filled months earlier. Sometimes an organization might host vendors several days a week for an entire season, but by the time I found them, only one or two dates were still available. I missed some wonderful opportunities simply because I was new and didn’t yet know how early these events needed to be booked.
That part was discouraging, but it also taught me persistence. I learned that one unanswered email or one “we’re already full” couldn’t be the reason I stopped. I just had to find the next opportunity.
There is also an entire side of running a mobile café that customers rarely see. Serving drinks is actually only one part of the job. After I close the trailer, there is cleaning and sanitizing, managing fresh and waste water, restocking supplies, grocery shopping, preparing homemade syrups and whipped creams, checking inventory, researching locations, applying to events, sending emails, creating content, and preparing everything to do it again the next day. There are also the everyday surprises of operating a mobile business, from equipment and generator issues to figuring out parking, transportation, weather, and vendor fees.
Some days, it feels much bigger than a full time job. But I chose this path knowing that if I wanted to build something of my own, I had to be willing to work for it.
I have come to believe that struggle isn’t necessarily a sign that you’re on the wrong path. Sometimes it is simply part of building something from nothing. Every challenge has made me more experienced, more resourceful, and more confident in my ability to figure things out.
The road hasn’t been smooth, and I am still learning every day. But I would rather work incredibly hard toward something I genuinely believe in than choose an easier road simply because it is comfortable. At the end of the day, even if something doesn’t go exactly as planned, I want to know that I gave it everything I had.
As you know, we’re big fans of Parisa Cafe Co.. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Parisa Cafe Co is not just about serving coffee or matcha. What I am creating is a premium, dessert inspired beverage experience built around quality, creativity, and genuine connection with my customers.
I sometimes laugh because when I start explaining to a new customer how particular I am about my ingredients and how much thought goes into every drink, they may not fully understand why I am so passionate about it. Then they try it, and that is usually when they understand. Some of those first time customers have become regulars who now look for my trailer, follow where I will be next, and message me when I am closed because they were hoping to get their favorite drink. That kind of loyalty means more to me than I can explain.
Quality is probably the biggest thing that defines Parisa Cafe Co. I never wanted to build a business where I simply bought ingredients, put them together, and sold a drink. I am extremely selective about what I serve because if I wouldn’t be excited to drink it myself, I don’t want to serve it to someone else.
I spent a great deal of time searching for the right coffee and matcha. My coffee is locally sourced and selected for its freshness and flavor, and my matcha is sourced fresh from Japan. To me, the foundation of a specialty drink should be exceptional before anything is added to it. The syrups, creams, and toppings should enhance the coffee or matcha, not hide it.
That philosophy is also why I make many of my components myself. Many of my syrups and whipped creams are homemade, and I put a lot of thought into balancing sweetness, texture, and flavor. I love taking familiar ingredients and turning them into something unexpected, which is where the dessert inspired side of Parisa Cafe Co comes in.
Some of the drinks I am best known for combine specialty coffee or matcha with flavors such as banana, strawberry, ube, salted caramel, and other creative combinations. They are designed to feel special and indulgent while still allowing the quality of the coffee or matcha itself to come through.
What sets Parisa Cafe Co apart, however, is not only what is inside the cup. I care deeply about the experience someone has when they come to my window. I want people to feel welcomed, to talk to me, to ask questions, and to leave happier than when they arrived. I pay attention to their reactions because their satisfaction genuinely matters to me.
That is probably what I am most proud of. I can say that I care about quality all day long, but seeing customers return is what makes it real. When someone comes back and tells me, “I’ve been thinking about this drink,” or brings a friend because they want them to try it too, that is an incredible feeling.
I don’t want Parisa Cafe Co to be just another place to grab a drink. I want people to remember what they tasted and how they felt when they were there.
For me, every cup represents my name, my effort, and something I have created from the heart. That is why I am unwilling to compromise on the quality of what I serve.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think the coffee and specialty beverage industry is becoming much more experience driven. People will always want a great cup of coffee or matcha, but I believe more and more customers are looking for something beyond the drink itself. They want quality, originality, personalization, and places or brands they can genuinely connect with.
There are so many options available today that simply serving coffee is no longer enough. I think the brands that will stand out over the next five to ten years will be the ones that give people a reason to remember them. That could be an exceptional flavor they haven’t experienced before, the quality of the ingredients, the creativity behind the product, or simply the way someone made them feel when they were there.
That is also very connected to how I see Parisa Cafe Co growing.
I have big dreams for this brand, but I also believe some parts of a dream should be allowed to unfold before they are explained. What I can say is that I don’t see Parisa Cafe Co remaining something that only a small community gets to experience. I would love for more people, first throughout my home state and eventually far beyond it, to recognize the name and understand what it represents.
And if that happens, I never want growth to take away the part that made the brand special in the first place.
No matter how much Parisa Cafe Co grows, I want someone experiencing it years from now to feel the same thing I want my customers to feel today. I want them to receive an exceptional product made with care, but I also want there to be warmth behind it. A conversation, a smile, or even a small interaction can completely change someone’s day.
To me, that is where this industry is heading at its best. The future isn’t only about what is being served. It is about creating an experience people want to come back to.
I have a very clear vision in my mind for where I would love to take Parisa Cafe Co over the next five to ten years. I am keeping some of those details close for now, but the heart of the vision is simple. I want to take what makes Parisa Cafe Co special today and share it with many more people, without ever losing the quality, creativity, and genuine human connection it was built on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.parisacafeco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parisacafeco/
