Excerpt: Building Confidence as a Coffee Shop Leader

Becoming a great leader at 787 Coffee isn’t about making instant changes or jumping into bold initiatives right away. It’s about building trust and confidence with your team over time. Leadership is a marathon, not a sprint, and it takes patience, consistency, and a thoughtful approach.

Start by setting a steady pace—don’t rush. Focus on a few important initiatives that show your team you have a clear direction. Make sure your leadership team is strong, aligned, and ready to support your vision. Communication is key—talk to your team regularly, and make sure they understand where you're headed. By picking your battles carefully, fostering a strong team culture, and always working on improving yourself, you’ll create an environment where your team feels heard, supported, and confident in your leadership.

Remember, earning your team’s trust takes time, but it’s the key to long-term success. When you build that confidence, your team will not only follow you but thrive under your leadership.

Sales isn’t about pushing customers into decisions—it’s about guiding them. As a coffeepreneur and business coach, I’ve learned that the key to successful sales is solving problems, not creating pressure. When you fix a customer’s problem, you create value, and when they see that value, a “YES” becomes easy. Certainty and value are the two most important things you can offer. If your customers feel confident in their decision and understand how your product solves their problem, they won’t hesitate to buy.

Take, for example, a customer who comes in for a latte at 787 Coffee but leaves with a coffee bag. By asking the right questions, highlighting the value of bringing that same great coffee experience home, and offering simple solutions, you can guide them toward purchasing without forcing it. Remember, sales isn’t about the hard sell—it’s about showing customers the results they can expect and giving them the certainty that they’re making the right choice.

Excerpt from "What is Leadership? And Who is a Leader?"

By Brandon Ivan Peña

Leadership isn’t just about titles or authority—it’s about human connection, vision, and simplicity. Whether you’re leading at home, in the workplace, or in your community, leadership starts with one core principle: putting people first. It’s about seeing potential, empowering others, and creating a shared vision that everyone can rally behind.

At 787 Coffee, we’ve learned that leadership isn’t confined to business. It’s a mindset that applies to every part of life. Leaders are those who recognize that things can be better, who can break down complex challenges, and who guide their teams toward solutions with empathy and clarity. Leadership isn’t about perfection—it’s about consistent improvement, celebrating small wins, and growing together.

As a business coach and a leader in both business and life, I’ve seen firsthand how defining leadership is crucial to building a thriving team, whether at work or at home. Leadership is about being human, showing up for people, and guiding them through challenges while celebrating every step forward. It’s a process of progress, not perfection, and it’s something we can all embody in our own unique way.

Brandon Ivan Peña lives by the mantra "Less is More," a philosophy that shapes not just his lifestyle but his approach to business. His all-black wardrobe and minimalist home design reflect his belief that simplicity leads to clarity and focus. This same mindset is infused into every corner of 787 Coffee, where intentionality is key. It’s about creating spaces that are not cluttered with distractions, allowing for more productivity, creativity, and connection. Want to learn more about Brandon's minimalist approach and how it can elevate your own life and business? Subscribe to his newsletter and stay in touch for exclusive workshops and webinars to help you simplify and amplify your impact.

Most people see a bustling coffee shop and assume it's a money-printing paradise—five bucks for a latte that costs around a buck-twenty to make, right? But here’s the dirty little secret: cafés fail all the time because owners forget to watch their numbers. As humans, we want to focus on the fun stuff—crafting the perfect latte art, picking out jazzy music—but there are three key costs that can wipe out your profit: Gross Profit, Labor, and Rent. If you don’t nail down ingredient costs, create smart staff rosters, and stay on top of rent, your shop can sink fast. That’s the hard truth nobody tells you until you’re knee-deep in espresso grounds and scrambling to pay the bills. But don’t worry, I’ve got a game plan for you—because when you understand how to keep these costs under control, you can rock a thriving business, keep your crew caffeinated, and make shit happen.”

Ever feel like you’re spinning your wheels in business, chasing strategies that don’t stick? Stop. The answer isn’t in doing more—it’s in becoming more. Brandon Ivan Peña, a coffeepreneur, business coach, speaker, and the creative force behind 787 Coffee, knows this better than anyone. With his Simplify, Quantify, and Humanize approach, he’s built a global coffee empire and inspired entrepreneurs around the world to rethink what’s possible.

On soybrandon.com, we share the secrets to:

- Transforming obstacles into opportunities

- Building businesses that align with your identity

- Creating offers that pay for your dreams

Brandon’s methods have scaled 787 Coffee from a single farm in Puerto Rico to over 30 coffee shops, proving that with the right mindset, there’s no limit to what you can achieve. Whether you’re a small business owner, aspiring entrepreneur, or seasoned leader, his insights will simplify your path to success.

As an entrepreneur, you have meetings, commitments, a team that depends on you, and a business that is constantly growing. This requires your attention, but sometimes you can focus more on your business than on your personal life. Sometimes you invest so much time at work that you forget to invest time in yourself ! Investing in yourself mentally and physically is the best investment YOU can make, but it can be difficult as a leader. In this BrandON blog, we will provide you with amazing tips you can follow to balance your life and keep pushing for GREATNESS!